predictions on this years' womens hoops...

[molly jabali]

...i'll go first...

somewhere between 0-30 and 36-0, i'll say....

8-23

any others?

[SpanglerFan316]

5-25???

[1972Shocker]

12-18 (7-5, 5-13)

[SubGod22]

15-15

[wxkid23]

10-20

[rrshock]

13-17 and that might be generous.

[1972Shocker]

So far Subgod is by far the most optimistic at 0.500 ball. Either that or he simply likes symmetry.

With expectations so low a 0.500 season just might be good enough to save Jane's job.

:shock:

[rrshock]

So far Subgod is by far the most optimistic at 0.500 ball. Either that or he simply likes symmetry.

With expectations so low a 0.500 season just might be good enough to save Jane's job.

:shock:

I really hope not. If they finish like that, she needs to go, no matter what we expect of the team.

[trufan]

I'll venture a guess on just the Valley portion of the schedule: 14-4.
I anticipate this improvement based on several factors:
1) The defensive coach has been replaced by someone who may be considered even OVERqualified. (I think that most people would agree that better team defense would have helped the women Shockers last year. )

2) The team leadership may be better this year. Annie was a strong rebounder and tough defensive presence in the paint, but certainly did not seem to be a firey leader. Likewise, Lexee was a great and positive team player, but did not seem to be comfortable in a leader-type role. Kiki,Taylor, Kyrie, and Alex, in addition to Jacie and others, seem to be more likely to really do the leadership thing.

3) As far as I know, no injuries yet. Remember that Jacie was completely out of the lineup last year, while Kiki had both back and knee problems (even required knee surgery). Daria needed surgery on BOTH knees. Whitney was not in playing condition due to some medical problem ( I've heard that she is in great condition currently). So that makes 4 of the top 6 or so players being disabled last year, but those same players should be at full strength this year. Keep your fingers crossed that this remains the case!

4) Word has it that this incoming Freshman class is very competitive and ready to contribute immediately, with several putting up nice stats in Canada.

5) I saw Val Siemens play in High School, and the word that I would use to describe her is "COMPETITOR" Even though she can't play games this year, it can only help matters to have a competitor like her playing against the individual shocker players day in and day out in practice.

Okay, so why did I not make a prediction about the non-conference record? I think this team may well struggle early on, what with new defensive coach and/or scheme, as well as trying to integrate these new players.

Now I'm getting excited! Go Shockers!

[molly jabali]

wow...you actually got ME fired up, and i had them at 8-23.

i want it clear...i don't dislike jane...i just have not seen that she is much as a coach, so i'm not holding my breath.

[1972Shocker]

No Message!

[1972Shocker]

I'll venture a guess on just the Valley portion of the schedule: 14-4.

Okay, so why did I not make a prediction about the non-conference record? I think this team may well struggle early on, what with new defensive coach and/or scheme, as well as trying to integrate these new players.

Actually I anticipate the Shockers will do better in the non-conference season than they will in the conference season.

I think they can win all 7 of their home games as the non-con home schedule is pretty week with Texas State being the only one of the 7 visiting teams to have a winning record last year. None of the home games are "name" schools.

On the other hand the 5 away/nuetral court games are all tough with Texas A&M, Indiana, Wake Forest, New Mexico State and Oklahoma State. I'm not counting on a win here.

Shocks go 7-5 in the non-con portion of the schedule. It is possible that they slip up and lose one of the home games, but I'm going for the sweep at home. So far, Jane's teams have not been good road warriors.

While you make valid points about the Shockers the fact is the Shockers were 4-14 last year in the league finishing only ahead of MSU. I expect all MVC teams to be better this year except for UNI and Bradley. Both lost quite a bit and the Shockers should be able to pull ahead of them. However, MSU did pull the plug on their unpopular Coach and replaced her with Goodland, Kansas native Nyla Milleson.

Nyla has a somewhat interesting and unusual resume. You can read about her here:

http://www.missouristatebears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=59272&SPID=6485&DB_OEM_ID=13800&ATCLID=859485&Q_SEASON=2007

Starting Division II Drury's first-ever women's team from scratch beginning in 1999-2000 she was 185-36 (0.837 winning percentage) in 7 years at Drury including six conference championships and 5 muttiple round NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.

Keep in mind the following facts which bode well for MSU resurrecting their program under Nyla:

1. Nyla is from a small Kansas town.
2. Jackie Stiles was from a small Kansas town.
3. Nyla Milleson has 12 letters.
4. Jackie Stiles has 12 letters.
5. Nyla was the Captain of the Rodeo team for 2 years at K-State.

In all seriousness, I think MSU has made a great hire and I look for MSU to be much improved this season and I see them moving ahead of the Shockers in the standings.

It will be very difficult to replace Annie's rebounding and defense in the paint. Last year, especially on the road, we generally got blasted when Annie's PT was limited. A couple of examples, in the game at Indiana State where Annie did not play at all due to suspension for fighting the Shocks lost 96-63. In the game at SIU late in the year, Annie only logged 17 minutes. Final score SIU 72, Shockers 39.

The Shockers lost 3 times last year to a Drake team that was absolutely decimated by injuries. The Shocker injury problems were nothing compared to Drake. Drake has all those injured players back this year.
Including POY candidate Jill Martin.

I just don't see the catalyst for the Shockers imrpoving very much over their 4-14 record of a year ago.

However, if the Shockers do go 14-4 in the MVC this year then Jane should be voted the MVC Coach of the Year.

Actually, I admire your optimism trufan, and personally, I hope you are proven to be on or close to the target. Unfortunately, I just don't see it happening. While it pains me to say it, I honestly think they will be closer to 4-14 than they will be to 14-4 in the MVC.

Not only does it pain me to say it, as a season ticket holder it will pain me even more to watch it. So again, I would love to be proven wrong on this one.

:goshocks: Prove this old man wrong. Use this for bulletin board material if it helps!

[1972Shocker]

I will say this about trufan's seemingly optimistic prediction of a 14-4 MVC record.

While unlikely, nothing is impossible.

Last year expectations were sky high for the Shockers and they failed miserably to live up to those expections.

This year just the opposite is true. Expectations, with the rare exception like trufan, seem to be at a low to a very low level.

Maybe, they will suprise on the upside this year. That would certainly be a welcome result.

[lemuel777]

I would not use the Canada trip as a way to gauge the up coming basketball season, because Jane did not go up there to win by putting every player on the court. Sure, other schools pounced the Canadians, but did they play everone like WSU did? I too think this year's team will greatly improve on last year's record and surprise us all. I actually think they have a good chance of having a winning record. If not, I think that personnel changes are inevitable. Go lady Shox!

[1972Shocker]

I would not use the Canada trip as a way to gauge the up coming basketball season

So far, no one has mentioned the Canada trip as a factor in their outlook. That, at least, appears to be one thing we all agree on.