Shocks Host Arkansas Little Rock

[1972Shocker]

Looks like a challenging matchup for the Lady Shocks tonight. Perhaps the best non-con home game outside of St. Joseph's.

The teams seem to matchup pretty well in terms of size, athleticism and style.

ASU aveages 73.4 points per game to 67.6 for the Shocks.

ASU is lead in scoring by RS Soph guard, 5-9 Aundrea Gamble, at 17.5 PPG on 49.5% FG shooting and 82.5% FT shooting and is ASU's second leading rebounder at 6.6 per game. Gamble also leads the Red Wolves in assists and steals. Sounds a little bit like the Shocks Alex Harden. My guess is Jamillah and Alex will share the primary tasks of defending Gamble.

ASU has turned the ball over 17.8 times per game while forcing 18.5 turnovers per game. Could get a little wild and woolly tonight and the outcome may come down to which team handles the defensive pressure the best and can take care of the ball.

Shocker Game Notes

[flyingMoose]

Actually, they host Arkansas State as the text of your post states. Arkansas State is in Jonesboro, and UA-LR is in, uh, Little Rock.

[1972Shocker]

Actually, they host Arkansas State as the text of your post states. Arkansas State is in Jonesboro, and UA-LR is in, uh, Little Rock.

My bad. I knew it was STATE, whose football coach BTW is taking over at Boise State. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to correct the title. May I will have confused the Red Wolves and they won't have scouted the right team. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Off to the game.

[flyingMoose]

Shockers 66-47 Arkansas State

Jody liked the press package and the defensive pressure in general and our knocking down shots that were open. We were 49% from the field and 10-12 from the line. I noticed, however, that we had lots of practice catching interior bounce passes with our shins.

[flyingMoose]

Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to correct the title.

I have had the same issue. It is similar to editing a post, but you only have about a five-minute window to change it. I personally think that is a design flaw; the OP should be able to change the title anytime.

[1972Shocker]

I noticed, however, that we had lots of practice catching interior bounce passes with our shins.

Yeah, an order of shin guards may be on the way. Actually, I thought the Shocks main weakness was their rebounding. Arkansas State grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. I the Shocks had not given ASU so many second chances and if they had not missed so many layups they would have won by 30+.

Overall though they played well. The defense was very good. Gardner got her average but the Shocks pretty much shut down everyone else.

Gardner had 17 points and 8 rebounds. Alex Harden had 14 points and 8 rebounds. However, while Gardner had 1 assist and 7 turnovers Alex had 7 assists to only 2 turnovers plus a block and a steal. Furthermore, Alex lost at least 3 assists due to the failure of teammates to finish layups on feeds from Alex.

While Gardner received very little help from her teammates Alex received plenty. Jamillah Bonner lead the way with 17 points and 7 rebounds while Michelle Price kicked in 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.

Among the freshmen Jaleesa is making the best progress and looks to be gaining some confidence. Jaleesa had 5 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes of play.

[Shox1979]

Would have liked to have seen Moriah and Valerierose play a few more minutes in the blowout, and try to establish some depth at the post. Not sure what put Alie in the doghouse 2nd half.
Sometimes Jody's substitution's surprise me. She pulls a player just to put them back in 10 seconds later. Sometimes I know it's to send a message, other times I'm not sure.
Outside Gamble, Arkansas State doesn't have much. You can tell she's a player but needs some help.
Thought Alex played well, Michelle played well. Was glad to see Jaleesa knock down some shots at home.
Hopefully we can carry some momentum into next weekends tournament. Might need a deeper bench to win 2 games in 2 days.

[mumdaddy316]

Preston could be a good addition to the rotation if allowed more minutes on the floor.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Preston could be a good addition to the rotation if allowed more minutes on the floor.

Kelsey's length gives teams fits. I saw Dana get on her to shoot the ball as she passed up several six footers, but did make nice passes. Didn't need her scoring, but will in much tougher games. I still think our ball movement and our controlled defence is better than last year. Green Bay will be tough.

[flyingMoose]

I saw Dana get on her to shoot the ball as she passed up several six footers, but did make nice passes.

Yes, as soon as she would drive around someone and get near the paint, she was looking to pass rather than taking it to the basket.

Didn't need her scoring, but will in much tougher games.

And next year. She has to learn to use her scoring opportunities starting now, not later.

[flyingMoose]

Not sure what put Alie in the doghouse 2nd half.

I wondered, too. Perhaps giving Marissa and, to some extent, Jaleesa some extra minutes?

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

I wondered, too. Perhaps giving Marissa and, to some extent, Jaleesa some extra minutes?

She was spectating instead of crashing the boards and got burned on the dribble drive one time. Her lack of quickness showed in this game as she couldn't get open for shots. This is my speculation.

[1972Shocker]

Would have liked to have seen Moriah and Valerierose play a few more minutes in the blowout, and try to establish some depth at the post.

I've said all along that I would like to see more of the youngsters in these blowouts but Jody has made it clear these youngsters will have to earn their playing time with their performance in practice. Not sure I totally agree with that approach but Jody sees and evaluates these kids on a daily basis.

I certainly would like to see Moriah get more time as we could definitely use the help in the front court. Valerierose looks to me to be a tweener. She doesn't have the quickness or athleticism to play on he perimeter and she really doesn't have he size and strength to play inside. Perhaps she is just adjusting to the speed and athleticism at the D-1 level. We've been more miss than hit with Juco transfers on the women's side, although looks like Jamillah will definitely be a hit and perhaps the best Juco transfer in program history.

Marissa Preston looks like she is starting to get it. Personally, I wished we had redshirted Briana Jones and Kayla White. They have played a combined 21 minutes between them so far this year. If they aren't going to play anymore than that seems like we are simply wasting a year of eligibility. Plus it was an opportunity to balance out the classes a little bit.

[1972Shocker]

Might need a deeper bench to win 2 games in 2 days.

Sunday's game @Wisconsin-Green Bay is our big remaining challenge on the non-con schedule. The Phoenix are one of the top non-BCS programs in the country but they have a pretty young team this year so I think the Shocks have a shot in this game, especially if they Shocks defense can rattle WGB's young roster.

WGB has 2 RS Seniors and a redshirt Junior on their roster. The rest are Sophs and Frosh but 4 of those are redshirts. 7 total redshirts. Obviously the WGB coaching staff believes in redshirting with 7 of 12 players on their roster having redshirted.

I don't think the back-to-back games with Austin Peay and Texas-Pan American will present too much of a challenge, however it should afford the opportunity to play our youngsters some decent minutes, however, I don't think that will be from necessity.

[ShockTalk]

Sunday's game @Wisconsin-Green Bay is our big remaining challenge on the non-con schedule. The Phoenix are one of the top non-BCS programs in the country but they have a pretty young team this year so I think the Shocks have a shot in this game, especially if they Shocks defense can rattle WGB's young roster.

WGB has 2 RS Seniors and a redshirt Junior on their roster. The rest are Sophs and Frosh but 4 of those are redshirts. 7 total redshirts. Obviously the WGB coaching staff believes in redshirting with 7 of 12 players on their roster having redshirted.

I don't think the back-to-back games with Austin Peay and Texas-Pan American will present too much of a challenge, however it should afford the opportunity to play our youngsters some decent minutes, however, I don't think that will be from necessity.

I don't follow the other Valley teams, so I don't know how tough their schedules were/are. However, just looking at their current records, the Valley sucks big time. WSU is the only team with a winning record. The other teams are a combined 21-50. Our younger players may have more of a chance at increased playing time in league play than OOC. Feel free to correct me as I'm just looking at the surface.