On The Road To Evansville and SIU

[NolenKemp]

'm too disappointed to comment. I know I'll see the criticism of coaches, but Alex typically doesn't miss like that. Our defense is typically much better. We are in trouble.

We are the worst team in team in the Valley, and I better not hear the coaches ripping the players. This is all on the coach.

Why the change of heart? The fact is we have proven players that can beat any team in the conference. But we have run 6 players into the ground the entire season. We have ran the same press, offense and defense all season. Not too hard to scout that. “Can anyone explain exactly what that high screen does we seem to constantly run, against a zone. Nothing except collect fouls on us.” The six players are now broke. You can’t keep beating a horse and expect it to win “and that goes for mental and physical”. We have mostly sat an entire bench of the highest recruited class wsu has had and given them no real floor experience, only with wasting a year of their eligibility instead of red shirting some of them. The bench is running so scared they have no idea what to do even if they are given a chance. And the 6 are ran ragged with no real game plan for teams that have scouted us.

You say you better not hear the coaches ripping the players? You know that is what has been happening all along, just not all of them at once.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Why the change of heart? The fact is we have proven players that can beat any team in the conference. But we have run 6 players into the ground the entire season. We have ran the same press, offense and defense all season. Not too hard to scout that. “Can anyone explain exactly what that high screen does we seem to constantly run, against a zone. Nothing except collect fouls on us.” The six players are now broke. You can’t keep beating a horse and expect it to win “and that goes for mental and physical”. We have mostly sat an entire bench of the highest recruited class wsu has had and given them no real floor experience, only with wasting a year of their eligibility instead of red shirting some of them. The bench is running so scared they have no idea what to do even if they are given a chance. And the 6 are ran ragged with no real game plan for teams that have scouted us.

You say you better not hear the coaches ripping the players? You know that is what has been happening all along, just not all of them at once.

I try to stick with the positive. Not a change of heart, just stating the obvious. The kids, need some rest, a boost with some encouragement, and a change of strategy other than Alex dribbling around and clanging jumpers. Jessie did that last year as well. The team is tired, but most teams are at this time of year. Kelsey needs knee surgery at the end of the season, so I'm sure she is struggling, Michelle has an injured foot, and I'm sure there are other players banged up. The kids need strong positive leadership from their coaches, come up a solid game plan for MSU, practice it and execute it. They don't need to run until they puke for punishment. They are not going to get out of shape by resting. I don't know if the staff can or will do this, but it appears the team is just mentally broken. Congrats to the men!!!! Go Shox.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

I try to stick with the positive. Not a change of heart, just stating the obvious. The kids, need some rest, a boost with some encouragement, and a change of strategy other than Alex dribbling around and clanging jumpers. Jessie did that last year as well. The team is tired, but most teams are at this time of year. Kelsey needs knee surgery at the end of the season, so I'm sure she is struggling, Michelle has an injured foot, and I'm sure there are other players banged up. The kids need strong positive leadership from their coaches, come up a solid game plan for MSU, practice it and execute it. They don't need to run until they puke for punishment. They are not going to get out of shape by resting. I don't know if the staff can or will do this, but it appears the team is just mentally broken. Congrats to the men!!!! Go Shox.

The SIU coached was surprised they won and said we are a NCAA bound team; hardly, but a nice comment. Also, the men will probably be in the Valley Championship on CBS at 1:00 so with our losing ways and that game, we will have a sparse crowd.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

The SIU coached was surprised they won and said we are a NCAA bound team; hardly, but a nice comment. Also, the men will probably be in the Valley Championship on CBS at 1:00 so with our losing ways and that game, we will have a sparse crowd.

Just watched the Bob Knight and Gregg Marshall interview. Gregg asked for advice and Knight said don't over practice your guys. Light practice to get ready. I hope our women do the same, but we typically have a more punitive approach.

[flyingMoose]

Carbondale game article

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Carbondale game article

UNI and ISU won today, so we are depending on others to give us an outright championship if we win next Sunday. I know, who cares, we need to play better.

[1972Shocker]

UNI and ISU won today, so we are depending on others to give us an outright championship if we win next Sunday. I know, who cares, we need to play better.

Yes, definitely the most important thing at this point is to play better, make that much better, than we have been down the stretch. I realize we depend on our defense to win but we better figure out how to score the basketball against a zone.

UNI won 99-97 over Drake in OT in Des Moines while Indiana State won at home by 13 over Bradley.

UNI hosts Illinois State next Thursday and Indiana State plays at Drake. On Saturday Indiana State plays at UNI.

I think UNI will beat Illinois State. We need Drake to beat Indiana State which is possible and then for Indiana State to beat UNI.

If that happens the Shocks will clinch a co-championship and a win over MSU on Sunday will give them the outright championship.

If UNI and Indiana State both win Thursday, then the Shocks will need a win over MSU on Sunday for a co-championship with the winner of the Inidana State - UNI game on Saturday.

In any case the Shocks will know exactly where they stand going into the MSU game as that is the only game on Sunday and everyone else winds up regular season play on Saturday. Not exactly sure why they aren't playing on Saturday.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Yes, definitely the most important thing at this point is to play better, make that much better, than we have been down the stretch. I realize we depend on our defense to win but we better figure out how to score the basketball against a zone.

UNI won 99-97 over Drake in OT in Des Moines while Indiana State won at home by 13 over Bradley.

UNI hosts Illinois State next Thursday and Indiana State plays at Drake. On Saturday Indiana State plays at UNI.

I think UNI will beat Illinois State. We need Drake to beat Indiana State which is possible and then for Indiana State to beat UNI.

If that happens the Shocks will clinch a co-championship and a win over MSU on Sunday will give them the outright championship.

If UNI and Indiana State both win Thursday, then the Shocks will need a win over MSU on Sunday for a co-championship with the winner of the Inidana State - UNI game on Saturday.

In any case the Shocks will know exactly where they stand going into the MSU game as that is the only game on Sunday and everyone else winds up regular season play on Saturday. Not exactly sure why they aren't playing on Saturday.

I wish they were playing Saturday so we'd get a crowd. With the men on CBS at 1:00 doubtful many will come out.

[1972Shocker]

I wish they were playing Saturday so we'd get a crowd. With the men on CBS at 1:00 doubtful many will come out.

Doesn't help matters, but the way we are playing sure doesn't help either.

[1972Shocker]

Here is a look at the Shocker Valley finishes (regular season) in the past 4 seasons:

2010-11: Started 5-8, won the final 5 to finish 10-8. Our strongest stretch run under Jody Adams.

2011-12: Started 8-1, went 4-5 in the 2nd half to finish 12-6.

2012-13: Started 10-0 then 5-3 to finish at 15-3. Our first MVC Championship shared with Creighton.

2013-14: Started 12-0 but are 1-4 in their last 5 with 1 to play.

Perhaps this shows that it is a lot easier to finish strong after a slow start than it is after a good start to the conference season. Other possible factors are that opponents have figured out how to defend and attack you and perhaps there is some diminishment due to a the Shocks getting worn down physically and/or mentally. Personally, I think this year may be a combination of all these factors.

As far as being worn down a lot of that is attributable to our failure to develop any significant depth this year. I'm not going to get into whether that is on the Coaches or on the players because I really don't know. However, I think part of it is due to the class imbalance we are now faced with. We have 1 Senior and that is only because Michelle missed last year due to illness.

We have 4 juniors only because we added two Juco transfers. Historically, Juco transfers generally have not been a road to success in women's basketball. Jamillah is one of the better Juco's we have recruited, but Valerierose looks to be a take what you can get signing and she probably is in over her head a little bit at the D-1 level.

We have 1 sophomore, Michaela Dapprich, who has struggled to duplicate her late season play from last year. Probably because she came into this year as more of a known commodity.

We had 7 players in the freshman class until 6-2 Morgan Landers left the team before the season started. Morgan looked to be very much a project so her departure was probably not a big loss. This class includes Alie Decker who received a medical redshirt due to injuries to both knees last year.

So we have 1 Senior, 3 Juniors and 1 Sophomore and 1 RS Freshman that Jody has relied on for 90% of our scoring and 85% of our rebounding. These 6 players are the only players with Prouty Ratings > 334 (C Rating). The remaining 6 players, 1 Jr. and 5 Fr. have an average Prouty Rating of D-. Outside of Alex Harden, all of these players have some limitations and holes in their games.

Considering these roster challenges perhaps it is surprising we have done as well as we have this year. Personally, I think all 5 of the freshman have shown flashes of ability but only Jaleesa Chapel and Marissa Preston have seen much action and Marissa has kind of disappeared lately only playing 8 minutes in the last 8 games with 6 of those coming in 1 of those games. Not sure if Marissa is injured or just not getting it done in Jody's eyes. Briana Jones and Kayla White have only played a combined total of 121 minutes this season and IMHO should have been redshirted if you believe they are in our long-term plans.

It would seem to be a positive that we are only losing Michelle Price this year, however, I have heard that Kelsey Jacobs, who is a RS Jr, may not return next year as she will graduate this year and has been accepted into a PT program and will forego her final year of eligibility. Again, I don't know if that is in fact the case with Kelsey, but either way we need Briana Jones and Moriah Dapprich to step into the fray on the front court next year.

I would like to see Jody work toward balancing out her classes but that may take a little while. Ideally, you would like at least 3 in each class and no more than 4 in any one class. Of course, injuries and illness and recruiting misses can have an impact on actually doing that.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Here is a look at the Shocker Valley finishes (regular season) in the past 4 seasons:

2010-11: Started 5-8, won the final 5 to finish 10-8. Our strongest stretch run under Jody Adams.

2011-12: Started 8-1, went 4-5 in the 2nd half to finish 12-6.

2012-13: Started 10-0 then 5-3 to finish at 15-3. Our first MVC Championship shared with Creighton.

2013-14: Started 12-0 but are 1-4 in their last 5 with 1 to play.

Perhaps this shows that it is a lot easier to finish strong after a slow start than it is after a good start to the conference season. Other possible factors are that opponents have figured out how to defend and attack you and perhaps there is some diminishment due to a the Shocks getting worn down physically and/or mentally. Personally, I think this year may be a combination of all these factors.

As far as being worn down a lot of that is attributable to our failure to develop any significant depth this year. I'm not going to get into whether that is on the Coaches or on the players because I really don't know. However, I think part of it is due to the class imbalance we are now faced with. We have 1 Senior and that is only because Michelle missed last year due to illness.

We have 4 juniors only because we added two Juco transfers. Historically, Juco transfers generally have not been a road to success in women's basketball. Jamillah is one of the better Juco's we have recruited, but Valerierose looks to be a take what you can get signing and she probably is in over her head a little bit at the D-1 level.

We have 1 sophomore, Michaela Dapprich, who has struggled to duplicate her late season play from last year. Probably because she came into this year as more of a known commodity.

We had 7 players in the freshman class until 6-2 Morgan Landers left the team before the season started. Morgan looked to be very much a project so her departure was probably not a big loss. This class includes Alie Decker who received a medical redshirt due to injuries to both knees last year.

So we have 1 Senior, 3 Juniors and 1 Sophomore and 1 RS Freshman that Jody has relied on for 90% of our scoring and 85% of our rebounding. These 6 players are the only players with Prouty Ratings > 334 (C Rating). The remaining 6 players, 1 Jr. and 5 Fr. have an average Prouty Rating of D-. Outside of Alex Harden, all of these players have some limitations and holes in their games.

Considering these roster challenges perhaps it is surprising we have done as well as we have this year. Personally, I think all 5 of the freshman have shown flashes of ability but only Jaleesa Chapel and Marissa Preston have seen much action and Marissa has kind of disappeared lately only playing 8 minutes in the last 8 games with 6 of those coming in 1 of those games. Not sure if Marissa is injured or just not getting it done in Jody's eyes. Briana Jones and Kayla White have only played a combined total of 121 minutes this season and IMHO should have been redshirted if you believe they are in our long-term plans.

It would seem to be a positive that we are only losing Michelle Price this year, however, I have heard that Kelsey Jacobs, who is a RS Jr, may not return next year as she will graduate this year and has been accepted into a PT program and will forego her final year of eligibility. Again, I don't know if that is in fact the case with Kelsey, but either way we need Briana Jones and Moriah Dapprich to step into the fray on the front court next year.

I would like to see Jody work toward balancing out her classes but that may take a little while. Ideally, you would like at least 3 in each class and no more than 4 in any one class. Of course, injuries and illness and recruiting misses can have an impact on actually doing that.

As always great analysis. I've been more out of the loop this year than in the past, so I have not heard that about Kelsey other than I know she gets her degree and she will have her knee repaired. It would be nice to have a healthy Kelsey back. And the bench works hard in the off season to strengthen the team.

[1972Shocker]

As always great analysis. I've been more out of the loop this year than in the past, so I have not heard that about Kelsey other than I know she gets her degree and she will have her knee repaired. It would be nice to have a healthy Kelsey back. And the bench works hard in the off season to strengthen the team.

I wouldn't put to much stock into that comment about Kelsey. Just something I heard at the last home game. I really have no idea how much stock to put into it. Wichita State does have a Physical Therapy program. I don't know if that is where Kelsey has applied and been accepted to or not. Since WSU has a PT program Kelsey can not transfer to another school and finish her final year of eligibility there. It would not surprise me, considering Kelsey's history of knee injuries, that she may be ready to step away from the grind of D-1 basketball and focus on her real career. Would like to have Kelsey back next year, but I can see why she might decide otherwise. I guess will see how it goes but replacing both Michelle and Kelsey will be a challenge. IF Kelsey has already made that decision I would hope that they would honor her as a Senior along with Michelle next Sunday. It's possible it is something she is just contemplating and still undecided about. It's obvious she enjoys playing considering what she's had to deal with injury wise.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

I wouldn't put to much stock into that comment about Kelsey. Just something I heard at the last home game. I really have no idea how much stock to put into it. Wichita State does have a Physical Therapy program. I don't know if that is where Kelsey has applied and been accepted to or not. Since WSU has a PT program Kelsey can not transfer to another school and finish her final year of eligibility there. It would not surprise me, considering Kelsey's history of knee injuries, that she may be ready to step away from the grind of D-1 basketball and focus on her real career. Would like to have Kelsey back next year, but I can see why she might decide otherwise. I guess will see how it goes but replacing both Michelle and Kelsey will be a challenge. IF Kelsey has already made that decision I would hope that they would honor her as a Senior along with Michelle next Sunday. It's possible it is something she is just contemplating and still undecided about. It's obvious she enjoys playing considering what she's had to deal with injury wise.

Rather that is true or not; Kelsey gave us all she has and 1972 is correct how we recruit and we need to have balance is right on. If Kelsey moves on; we have to say thank you; she sacrificed quite a bit.