What the heck? Showing there will be live video of the men's game, but not even audio for the women's?

Rockets up 32-17 at the half but there are two troublesome stats: 1 for 5 from the foul line and 11 steals by Ferris State making the Rockets' turnover tally for the first half 14!

TOs still a problem but rebounds against a tall FSU team are overwhelming. 61-34 w 4 left.

21 steals! Ferris State must be one of the top defensive teams around.

(11-08-2014 02:14 PM)NewMex RocketFan Wrote:  21 steals! Ferris State must be one of the top defensive teams around.

A whole bunch of errant passes ended up in the hands of Ferris State players. Our women have a number of things to work on but there is talent on the team

(11-08-2014 03:33 PM)FredJay Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 02:14 PM)NewMex RocketFan Wrote:  21 steals! Ferris State must be one of the top defensive teams around.

A whole bunch of errant passes ended up in the hands of Ferris State players. Our women have a number of things to work on but there is talent on the team

Good to know Fred. Thanks.

Lots of depth for the women. Could be pretty good by tournament time.

I thought Harris and Rasmussen looked ready to contribute. Rasmussen has nice offensive skills. The team looked very sloppy, which isn't surprising. This year's sophomores looked pretty much the way I remember them from last year. I imagine that we'll see improvement over freshman performances, but I didn't see any signs of a radical transformation of anyone's game. I was surprised that Capotosto played less than half the game (from my observation; I have not looked at the stats). I assume and hope that she will play more when the games count.

It's too bad that injuries have hit us again this year. I'm guessing that Recker will not be able to contribute much since she is still sitting from a year-old injury. De Alfredo also seems to be suffering from the same injury that bothered her last year, which I understand was newly aggravated in the preseason. She was wearing a brace and was not dressed for the game. Recker was not dressed either. Dorr, of course, is lost for the year.

It does look like we have some shooters this year. Harris hit a couple of threes, as did Woody. (I wonder if Woody will get much time, though, given that she was the last one off the bench today.) Bravo-Harriott hit one three, I believe, out of a few attempts, but her stroke looked nice. Rasmussen appears to be a good shooter as well.

Nice to see others opinion on todays game. I am going to add mine.

I love the depth and how athletic the team is. Ferris State was not a MAC level team but they played a very good 2-1-2 zone defense. We had a lot of trouble with zones last year so it was nice to our offense work well against one this early.

All three sophomores have improved offensively and defensively. More composed and yet more aggressive. All three played with aggression that comes with experience. Very active around the boards.

The juniors showed they will be a big part of this teams success. Brenae is smooth, experienced, and gives height at the point guard. Ana will give fire power off the bench that could be used to ignite the team if needed.

Inma got off to a slow start offensively the first half but picked it up the second half. She will benefit from having team mates who can help carry the load offensively. She had some turn overs, but I am guessing that is the result of so many new team mates and getting use to the new offensive schemes. A great season ahead for her. No one in a rocket uniform has played harder for so many minutes. Her influence on her younger team mates will be priceless. Gotta love her!

The freshmen class proved it will make life tough for the rest of the MAC over the next four years. They bring depth and strength at every position. It is going to be fun watching them over the next four years. Imagine how nervous they must be, last year they were playing in front of 100 to 200 fans in a small field house at their high schools. Did they make some freshmen mistakes...yes. But with each game those mistakes will disappear. Their positives far out weighed their negatives.

Over all I think it was a good exhibition game. There are areas to improve on, but that there will always be areas to work on after each game until the end of the season. There were times that only freshmen and sophomores were on the court with no let up in play. Each game will show improvement as the players get use to each other and adjust to the new offense schemes. The defensive hedging was impressive for the first game, as was the help defense.

GO BLUE!!!

Final score on the women's game?

(11-08-2014 07:06 PM)emanoh Wrote:  Final score on the women's game?

66-35

I liked the way Coach Cullop platooned her team. I assume that is similar to the way they have been scrimmaging in practice. With so many new young players it should make the learning curve a lot less steep for them if they can play a lot of time with the same team mates and fortunately platooning is possible because they all look to able to contribute. I was most impressed by Harris's shooting----10 points on only 4 shots and Rasmussen's ability to score as well.

Inma's athleticism is remarkable and is heads and shoulders above anyone else on the floor today---she just keeps getting better and better. I suspect that Ferris State's low scoring was a combination of the UT defense and just poor shooting which I suspect may be the more important factor. The Rockets do need to seriously work on reducing turnovers and improve on free throw shooting. It is still early but I think that they may have the potential to be a fairly decent team this year.

Not that much can be drawn by comparisons of opponents in different games, but for what it is worth, last week Ferris State lost to Notre Dame by a score of 92-32 and today they by 66-35 to the Rockets.

It was disappointing to see Elena back with an elbow brace on. After missing about half of the season last year and then playing with a brace which seemed to destroy her shooting touch for most of the rest of the season, we finally got just a small glimpse in a couple of games of what she is capable of when totally healthy. I was hoping that she would be a major scorer for the team this year and maybe she will be yet, but this is not a very good start toward that end. Stephanie has certainly had a bad streak of luck with injuries as well.

Hwut: Surprised you felt we played well against the zone. I felt just the opposite-too many drives in the middle where they collapsed and a bunch of those 20+ steals were due to forcing passes to Reecher or Rasmussen who were between two or three defenders. When we went wing and back out to Harris or B-H we got some nice looks at threes but more often forced the ball down low.

(11-08-2014 07:27 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Hwut: Surprised you felt we played well against the zone. I felt just the opposite-too many drives in the middle where they collapsed and a bunch of those 20+ steals were due to forcing passes to Reecher or Rasmussen who were between two or three defenders. When we went wing and back out to Harris or B-H we got some nice looks at threes but more often forced the ball down low.

I said it because we did a better job against their zone combinations than last season. As the coach stated, most of the time has been spent practicing to compete against a man to man defense. The three ways to beat a zone, as you know, are from the perimeter, inside-out, or filling gaps. I think with the little amount of preparation, they did a good job. Not perfect but good. The first half they did force some passes inside to Reecher and Kessler, Rasmussen usually lined up high post or on the wing. The coaches made adjustments at half time that corrected some of the forced passes. They were going with four players rotation out front with our number five moving around from block to high post similar to the Princeton offense that will be used against man to man. Turn overs will be cut down as the young team learns to react rather than hesitate as they think.

My opinion is also is based on that it was an exhibition game with a very young team.

I appreciate your opinion. I am always open to others opinions. Some of the best coaching clinics I have attended, were sitting down over a beer and listening to other opinions.

Hwut, with your "glass is half full" (or maybe 3/4 full) attitude, you should visit our football threads. Maybe you could influence some of our hard-to-please fans over there.

(11-08-2014 11:12 PM)Dwight Wrote:  Hwut, with your "glass is half full" (or maybe 3/4 full) attitude, you should visit our football threads. Maybe you could influence some of our hard-to-please fans over there.

Do you really think there is any chance of influencing hard-to-please fans of any team? I wish we both could but I don't think it is possible.

(11-09-2014 08:26 AM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 11:12 PM)Dwight Wrote:  Hwut, with your "glass is half full" (or maybe 3/4 full) attitude, you should visit our football threads. Maybe you could influence some of our hard-to-please fans over there.

Do you really think there is any chance of influencing hard-to-please fans of any team? I wish we both could but I don't think it is possible.

All we can do is stay positive and keep trying. Thanks!

(11-09-2014 11:49 AM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 08:26 AM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 11:12 PM)Dwight Wrote:  Hwut, with your "glass is half full" (or maybe 3/4 full) attitude, you should visit our football threads. Maybe you could influence some of our hard-to-please fans over there.

Do you really think there is any chance of influencing hard-to-please fans of any team? I wish we both could but I don't think it is possible.

All we can do is stay positive and keep trying. Thanks!

Interesting point. The football team is undefeated in the MAC and some guys want the coach fired. WBB has fizzled late in the last few seasons, but the prediction here always seems to be that they will be good "come tournament time." Then, come tournament time, ... well, you know.

(11-09-2014 08:33 PM)rkt Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 11:49 AM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 08:26 AM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 11:12 PM)Dwight Wrote:  Hwut, with your "glass is half full" (or maybe 3/4 full) attitude, you should visit our football threads. Maybe you could influence some of our hard-to-please fans over there.

Do you really think there is any chance of influencing hard-to-please fans of any team? I wish we both could but I don't think it is possible.

All we can do is stay positive and keep trying. Thanks!

Interesting point. The football team is undefeated in the MAC and some guys want the coach fired. WBB has fizzled late in the last few seasons, but the prediction here always seems to be that they will be good "come tournament time." Then, come tournament time, ... well, you know.

I think the difference is that Cullop won the 2011 NIT title, which was quite impressive, and won regular-season MAC titles in 2011 and 2013. If you're complaining about that, I don't know what to say.

(11-10-2014 09:06 AM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 08:33 PM)rkt Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 11:49 AM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 08:26 AM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 11:12 PM)Dwight Wrote:  Hwut, with your "glass is half full" (or maybe 3/4 full) attitude, you should visit our football threads. Maybe you could influence some of our hard-to-please fans over there.

Do you really think there is any chance of influencing hard-to-please fans of any team? I wish we both could but I don't think it is possible.

All we can do is stay positive and keep trying. Thanks!

Interesting point. The football team is undefeated in the MAC and some guys want the coach fired. WBB has fizzled late in the last few seasons, but the prediction here always seems to be that they will be good "come tournament time." Then, come tournament time, ... well, you know.

I think the difference is that Cullop won the 2011 NIT title, which was quite impressive, and won regular-season MAC titles in 2011 and 2013. If you're complaining about that, I don't know what to say.

Complaining? I think she's terrific. I was commenting about the posts about this year. The WNIT championship was one of the great moments in UT sports but it doesn't have anything to do with how good this year's team is. The football team is undefeated in MAC THIS year. Yeah, I know, there's a game tomorrow, I'll shut up now.