(04-02-2013 08:10 PM)rocketpaul Wrote:  I like what I saw from Recker and Caposto. I think Recker will be really improved next year. I haven't seen Hayes much but at the WNIT I had a couple people tell me she will be a good player next year. Personally I think the ladies will be in the thick of things in the mac next year/ Reecher will be really really good.

I think that Recker is one player who has really improved this year. At least on the defensive end she has become a force. She is long and athletic and can defend near the basket. She also has good ball rotation on the few free throws I saw her attempt. The problem is that when she gets an open look on the perimeter she looks like an old man putting...with the YIPES...she clutches....and seems to miss the rim as often as hitting it. She will need to dramatically improve her shot, or her confidence in order to be an offensive factor.

As I said earlier I saw a couple of flashes of offense from Capatosto but others on the blog say that her playing time has been limited by substandard defense. And defense is mostly about hard work, and somewhat about mobility. Capatosto has had two years to improve her defense so what is the problem? She certainly knows that minutes will be severely limited if she doesn't apply herself defensively, so what gives? Either way I just don't see her as a pivitol player next year. Who knows, maybe she will make Inma type improvement.

Next year there will be only 5 players returning who have significant real game experience. Therefore, unlike this year, there will be lots of new faces thrown into the fray early on and hopefully they are able develop quickly. If they can find someone to play as well as Smith on defense or protect the basket area as well as Richardson on defense they will be probably be OK but if there is a significant drop in the quality of the defense, then they could be in a heap of trouble.

In any event, they should be experienced by the time the second (real) season starts in March. If they can make it to Cleveland they can do no worse than 0-1 there which is exactly the same record as this year's team, so there is some potential upside here.

(04-02-2013 06:52 PM)temoxley Wrote:  

(04-02-2013 06:03 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(04-02-2013 04:46 PM)temoxley Wrote:  

(04-02-2013 04:40 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(04-02-2013 09:47 AM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  The article also did not mention Janelle Reed-Lewis who was supposed to be a big-time point guard.

Personally, I have no faith in any of our assistants as recruiters except for Vicki Hall. Cullop needs to expect more from her assistants. Either produce, or out the door.

Next year we will have to count on a number of freshmen to come in and produce right away. Always dangerous, but I agree that 6-3 Sophie Reecher will have to start at center, The 2014 class has to have a quality center, because we can't get by with one.

Wonder if it was an oversite by the reporter or some other reason. Maybe Janelle is being considered a number two not a number one position player. But you are right it was strange that she wasn't mentioned. The assistant coaches have done a great job. Have you been to any practices? I have. They do an outstanding job of scouting other teams, breaking down their offenses and defensives, breaking down individual players tendencies, and presenting a game plan to the team in a manner that helped achieve the number of wins we have over the past five years. As for recruiting, Vicki Hall did not recruit any of the players, who were on the team this past season. However I think she is great post player coach and will be a good recruiter. All of the players on this years team were recruited by the assistant coaches!

I was not impressed with Hayes this year. She seemed to deteriorate as the season went along. I also noticed that she slid down to the end of the bench and was the last player in the game at the end of the season. I also think that Janelle Reed-Lewis was better as a freshman than she was this year. So I don't see either one of them providing quality minutes unless they make Inma type improvement over the summer.

Michelle Hayes got better as the year went on. You didn't see her play as much unless you went to practices which alot of people didn't have time to do. She played in games behind the two first team all leagues guards and a third team all league player. She did improve alot by practicing against them everyday. It takes most freshmen time get use to the speed of the college game, as well as pick up the new defensive and offensive styles. Janelle has really improved in her shoot and defense. You are right there are still times she gets out of control but not nearly as much in the past. Again she played behind the same three players mentioned earlier.

I disagree. At least in the games where I saw Hayes she was less effective at the end of the season. And I don't get what has happened to Janelle. She seems to have the quickness and a good enough shooting stroke but just doesn't get it done. She is also a bit of a liability on defense against bigger guards.

I respect your opinion. There is a reason that Michelle wasn't as effective at the end of the season....to put it simply...she didnt play because the coach...rightfully so...played her first team all league guards in the MAC and WNIT tourn. games...a decision that any good coach would have made...as for Nelle....she is good on defense because of her quickness...her time deminished at the end of the season for the same reason that Michelle's did...as an ex coach, I can tell you that any good coach will make the decision to win or lose with her/his best players on the court...that meant playing our three all league players as much as they could handle..anyway respect your opinion and glad you care about the team.

temoxley Wrote:  Who knows, maybe she will make Inma type improvement.

Of course Inma STARTED as AllMAC freshman team. Anna is the player most likely to increase production dramatically, though. She looks like she can be a gunner and a succesful one. If Kendall (preseason pick as MAC FOY) is as advertised we'll be OK but there were precious few signs that is likely to happen.

(04-02-2013 05:30 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Has it really come down to judging the quality of our recruits by whether one reporter mentions them in an article or not? Really? Ryan didn't mention several players - including incoming freshman Lindsay Baker, who looks to me like she could be another great addition. Let's give them an opportunity to play before coming to any conclusions. Just remember that up until now our freshman & sophomores were playing behind players named Naama, Dola, Yo, Kyle, Inma, Deuce, Halie ... which one of those players would you have sat so some of the young players could get significant minutes. Several of them will get their opportunities to show what they have this year. I trust that at least a few of them will step up to the challenge and have good seasons next year.

Sometimes we tend to expect that every freshman will be either an immediate star or a bust, but most players are in between, and several of them take a couple years of seasoning to hit their stride. That's true of a Cullop team more than most because of the emphasis she places on defense. Many of these girls are so much better than their competition in high school that they don't really have to play defense that hard, let alone learn the little things needed to play it right. I think that's why many of the young players in Coach C's system struggle a bit on offense their first couple years - because they are working so hard to bring up their defensive skills to the level expected of this team.

I am standing up...you stated it perfectly...in basketball alway bet on the best defensive team...at practice Coach C spends alot of time working on defense...you will not see one her players walking or jogging back on defense like some all league players from BGSU or CM...every player on a college team, was a "super star" in high school...it take times for them to understand that everyone they compete with and others on their team... have earned the same "all everything" honors..plus there is a learning curve for them to understand what the coach demands from them offensively and DEFENSIVELY ..as you said they have to wait their time to play when they are behind some good upper classmen....thanks for sharing those key points...

I don't think a lot of you realize how weak the bottom of the MAC is. Hypothetically for 20 wins, Toledo could go 11-5 in the MAC regular season, with 1 win and 1 loss in the MAC tourney, plus 8-7 OOC??? That is 20-12 overall. 20 wins would be have been doable for the team now minus the seniors, and without all summer to get better/ incoming players coming in!!!

The MAC is young, and Toledo had games where they couldn't shoot 30% from the field, but they still ran through the conference. Many games they could have won by 40 or 50 had they kept pressing and playing the starters.

Teams that will be at the top NEXT SEASON: CMU- they lose the Iowa State gal and that's it, Akron-return MAC POY, Toledo-Inma is the most atheletic player in the conference and UT plays outstanding D, Ball State- somehow was 12-4 this year and they keep all starters.
Next tier: WMU-all sophmores this past season with a great coach, BG-not much outside of a good defense, Miami-lost seniors Osborne being the main one.
Bottom: Buffalo, EMU, OU, Kent, NIU

Inma can do a lot but if you think she's more athletic than Bradford you are mistaken. I expect first team AllMAC from her but Bradford should be POY. Fortunately they lose three key players, Baker, Scholl (both start) and Olive the backup point guard who was awful IMO but still logged a lot of minutes, especially after Bracey got hurt.

It seems to me that Ball State will be the team to beat, followed by Akron and Central Michigan, in that order. Ball State returns six of its seven players and has six freshmen coming in, including a couple who are quite highly touted. Akron returns its best four players. Central loses some key players but still has quite a bit of talent returning, most notably Bradford.

Since I don't know what next season's schedule looks like, I have no idea whether I think the Lady Rockets could possibly win 20 or more games next season...I do think we'll still have a winning season in the MAC, and may end up fighting it out with WMU for 3rd in the West (just don't see anyone stopping CMU except themselves, and Ball State really kinda impressed me with what they had, and they should only get better). And that's OK with me--I'm actually a little excited to start down this "new path" with some new(er) players--will miss the graduating seniors, for sure, but that's what happens, and now we get to start over, in a sense. Inma & Dola are known quantities, Recker & Capotosto will be fine, Jones will give us some good minutes, but I really do think this team's success will largely be measured by how good Nunn and the incoming 4 freshmen are...

(04-03-2013 07:21 AM)bcunn3128 Wrote:  Since I don't know what next season's schedule looks like, I have no idea whether I think the Lady Rockets could possibly win 20 or more games next season...I do think we'll still have a winning season in the MAC, and may end up fighting it out with WMU for 3rd in the West (just don't see anyone stopping CMU except themselves, and Ball State really kinda impressed me with what they had, and they should only get better). And that's OK with me--I'm actually a little excited to start down this "new path" with some new(er) players--will miss the graduating seniors, for sure, but that's what happens, and now we get to start over, in a sense. Inma & Dola are known quantities, Recker & Capotosto will be fine, Jones will give us some good minutes, but I really do think this team's success will largely be measured by how good Nunn and the incoming 4 freshmen are...

Agree that it will be fun next year to see some new faces and watch them develop as the season progresses (kind of like watching Boothe this year on the men's team) without the added pressure of high expectations. While most people seem focused on the offense for next year, I think that the real key to the season will be how well the defense adjusts to the loss of three starters, particularly Richardson's intimidating presence under the basket and Smith's tenacious defense everywhere on the court. Inma and Dola have proved to be excellent defensive players but a defense is only as strong as it weakest link.

Coach Cullop and her coaching staff have lots of work to do in preparation for next fall. The players all have the opportunity to carry the torch of UT's successful program. Their task will be to each work their tail off and improve every facet of their game. Collectively they are in the position of becoming the team that carries the banner and continues the standard of Rockets' basketball. I'm looking forward to seeing Inma's progress next season. She totally blossomed this year and should be the Rockets' leading scorer next year. What is unknown is the leadership of Inma, and Brianna. Dola demonstrated that she plays a key leadership role on the floor this past season but she had lots of help from Naama. She will need help this coming year. A huge piece for this team is the ability of multiple players to hit three-point shots. That ability was lacking this past season. BTW, percentage wise, the leading 3FG shooter with more than 100 minutes playing time was Ana Capostosto hitting 35.3% on 6 of 17. Kendyl Nunn hit one of her two three point attempts for those statistical purists.

CMU will be the pre-season front runner. Bradford had 37 vs. Oklahoma and at her best is the best in the conference, with Inma and a Rachel Tecca. Numbers of players coming back doesn't mean much to me. I saw all three CMU games first hand, and they are better than Ball State tallent wise. I don't care if BSU beat em twice or not, gameplans I assume. Ball State may have the better coach. The Cardinals looked like a D2 team when they didn't hit shots at Savage. That game wasn't ever close!!

Ball State was horrible OOC, losing to Evansville and some other poor poor teams. I do like that they return everyone, and they will be good. Ahead of CMU??? They'll have to prove it next year... right now I say no way.

http://espn.go.com/high-school/girls-bas...endyl-nunn
The above link is to ESPN's evaluation of Kendall Nunn. When I also recently went through her stats, first noted that she played a total of 10 minutes during Toledo's first 6 nonconference wins. She had attempted and earned one trey against St.Clara. She made one foul shot against SIU Edwardsville. She also made a few offensive and defensive rebounds. The two negative stats about the freshman were problems drawing fouls, and turning the ball over whenever Coach placed all the young players in the game.
Until her stress fracture, while observing her in practice, she almost never missed a shot. Another WBB practice fan said,"It is like there are eyes on the ball..." when Kendall was in shooting practice. Hopefully, those early fouls and t/o's were only a sign of her youth.

(04-04-2013 08:04 AM)jazzie Wrote:  http://espn.go.com/high-school/girls-bas...endyl-nunn
The above link is to ESPN's evaluation of Kendall Nunn. When I also recently went through her stats, first noted that she played a total of 10 minutes during Toledo's first 6 nonconference wins. She had attempted and earned one trey against St.Clara. She made one foul shot against SIU Edwardsville. She also made a few offensive and defensive rebounds. The two negative stats about the freshman were problems drawing fouls, and turning the ball over whenever Coach placed all the young players in the game.
Until her stress fracture, while observing her in practice, she almost never missed a shot. Another WBB practice fan said,"It is like there are eyes on the ball..." when Kendall was in shooting practice. Hopefully, those early fouls and t/o's were only a sign of her youth.

It would nice to have her healthy and improved defensively next year. Notice neither review addressed the defensive side of things.