Freshman minutes

[Gophers112233]

SO...

Scalia played usually 38-40 a game last year... It's really frustrating to me and annoying that the Freshman WHO are our best players.. are not getting enough minutes... it just mind boggling..

 

[BBJones]

SO...

Scalia played usually 38-40 a game last year... It's really frustrating to me and annoying that the Freshman WHO are our best players.. are not getting enough minutes... it just mind boggling..

Well sure, Scalia was able to play that many minutes because she basically coasted on defense. Regarding our freshmen, are you suggesting that you just leave them in there when they're playing poorly? IMO there has to be some accountability. If they're not called out for making bonehead plays this late in the season, they'll never learn.

 

[Gophers112233]

Well sure, Scalia was able to play that many minutes because she basically coasted on defense. Regarding our freshmen, are you suggesting that you just leave them in there when they're playing poorly? IMO there has to be some accountability. If they're not called out for making bonehead plays this late in the season, they'll never learn.

I'm just saying if they are the only ones carrying our team.. then don't pull them out.. and don't pull all four at ONCE.. which seems that Whalen has done more as of late.. a couple times this year Mara scores like 6 straight points.. then gets pulled... sure they are going to make mistake.. but then hold others to those same standards.. you can't treat one player this way and another another way.. Katie can seem to turn it over back to back and doesn't get pulled... but Amaya takes one bad shot or makes a silly pass.. she gets YANKED for 2-3 minutes..

 

[walleye]

Our young players are up and down and it is difficult for Whalen or us to know who is going to show up and when.

Katie: people comment on her turnovers and wild shots. She makes some bad passes but she also makes some passes that no one else can. Her three-point shooting (30.6%) is similar to Heyer (31.1%) and Braun (34.4%). She plays the toughest defense on the team, she fouls a lot, but she draws a lot of fouls and turnovers. It is suggested that she shouldn't play in the last five minutes of the game. She played from 5.29 to 3.06 minutes in the 4th and had 2 assists, 1 3-pointer, and 2 turnovers.

Battle: has a great mid-range jump shot and likes to drive to the basket. She has 33% more assists than anyone else and is third on the team in rebounds. She leads the team in turnovers (98 to Katie's 92) partly because she plays significant minutes. She can't or won't shoot 3-pointers and only has 4 this season. She also gets beat on defense too much and needs to improve passing and ball handling. In the last 3.06 min today, Battle had 1 jumper, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, and 2 turnovers. So, I don't see Battle as being much better than Katie. I think Battle is the choice when you need to slow things down and get control and Katie is choice if you need to inject energy into the game and push the ball.

Heyer: has been very consistent this season except for the last couple of games. She is second in rebounding (17 behind Micheaux), has had many double-doubles, and is the only one that gives Micheaux help under the basket. She is second in number of 3-points shots (one more than Katie). She plays some good defense but gets beat and overpowered too much. I think she will get stronger and better on defense by next year.

Braun: is a fantastically, talented shooter and can take over a game. But, she has had a long slump that can't be attributed entirely to other team's strong defense. She doesn't like to shoot with someone in her face and she doesn't take it to the basket enough--if she did play in traffic, she would get double digits every game on free throws because she is outstanding at the line. On the other hand, she doesn't play defense hard enough, gets beat a lot, and maybe is conserving energy for offense. She has had several games without a foul and averages one foul per game, which suggests that she not having much contact. Braun is much taller than Katie but has about the same number of rebounds (82 to 73) and blocks (4 to 2) in spite of more minutes.

In conclusion, the freshmen are up and down and have strengths and significant weaknesses. It is hard to tell who is going to be on and when. I think you have to rotate them a bit to keep them fresh and maybe let them see what is happening from the bench. Some players are good at making adjustments in the game and inexperienced players may need time to be coached and think on the bench.

I won't go into detail on our upperclassmen. Micheaux is a double-double machine. She has cut down her fouls and traveling. I can't criticize her much because she is doing most of the physical work for the team. Cizinano has had some good minutes. She maybe doesn't have the speed and physical talent as the others. I think her development will be slower but she will be a great player by her senior year. Gradwell appears to be hitting her stride now. She is not afraid to shoot 3-pointers and has made them recently. I think she needs more playing time.

 

[bball_craz_31]

Katie: people comment on her turnovers and wild shots. She makes some bad passes but she also makes some passes that no one else can. Her three-point shooting (30.6%) is similar to Heyer (31.1%) and Braun (34.4%). She plays the toughest defense on the team, she fouls a lot, but she draws a lot of fouls and turnovers. It is suggested that she shouldn't play in the last five minutes of the game. She played from 5.29 to 3.06 minutes in the 4th and had 2 assists, 1 3-pointer, and 2 turnovers.

Battle: has a great mid-range jump shot and likes to drive to the basket. She has 33% more assists than anyone else and is third on the team in rebounds. She leads the team in turnovers (98 to Katie's 92) partly because she plays significant minutes. She can't or won't shoot 3-pointers and only has 4 this season. She also gets beat on defense too much and needs to improve passing and ball handling. In the last 3.06 min today, Battle had 1 jumper, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, and 2 turnovers. So, I don't see Battle as being much better than Katie. I think Battle is the choice when you need to slow things down and get control and Katie is choice if you need to inject energy into the game and push the ball.

If you look at pure numbers, that doesn't always tell the story. When it comes to turnovers, While yes Katie has moments of good defense and nice passes. However it seems WHEN the turnovers come or the substitution happens that all of sudden leads are gone or close games are not out of reach.

Yesterday, Mara hit a 3 to tie it at 53-53. Amaya comes out for Katie...BOOM down 59-53. Late in the fourth as already shown.. in a close 2-point game, multiple turnovers in a row and can't come back. Katie's 3-point ability and passing are not worth anything if its turnover after turnover.

In terms of Heyer, the team has to actually run plays for her before we talk about her up and downs. We all have watched this year and can anyone really remember specific plays run for Mal? No she is basically setting screens, rebounding and trying to find moments to score.

Another difference, I'll take Amaya's turnovers when she is giving 8-10 rebounds, 5-10 assists, 2-4 steals and 1-2 blocks along with her turnovers. Is Katie going to get you 10 boards?

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

In terms of Heyer, the team has to actually run plays for her before we talk about her up and downs. We all have watched this year and can anyone really remember specific plays run for Mal? No she is basically setting screens, rebounding and trying to find moments to score.

Another difference, I'll take Amaya's turnovers when she is giving 8-10 rebounds, 5-10 assists, 2-4 steals and 1-2 blocks along with her turnovers. Is Katie going to get you 10 boards?

This and this

 

[BBJones]

The last two games have been the exception to the rule for Heyer. In many ways, she's been the most reliable of the freshmen.

Katie may throw passes that nobody else can, but as long as her turnovers exceed her assists, that doesn't mean much. She does play tough person to person defense out on the floor, but she gets picked off by screens and allows her opponent easy layups too often. Also, teams have learned that they can post her up, as her size is a detriment. I think she is valuable as a spot player who can supply energy to the team and fire them up, but she would never receive major minutes on a contender or championship level team.

Battle needs to expand her range. Right now she's not an outside threat at all. The rest of her game (for a freshman) is quite good, however.

I think Mara is probably feeling some pressure and playing tight. She knows she's expected to score, and the team's chances of winning depend greatly on how well she's shooting. That's a lot to ask of a freshman.

 

[Belzx009]

In a losing season no matter what you do it’s going to be “wrong” to some people. You play the freshman that 38-40 minutes and there is complaining about wearing them out. No one was complaining about Borowicz being in at the end of the Penn state game when she made free throws to send them into OT.

The freshman are still learning. Braun and Battle have both had costly offensive fouls at the end of games. (Which I’m ok with, as I think they are close to doing the right things) Mara also gave up the game tying basket against Wisconsin. A coach may have reasons she doesn’t need to check with all of us. I know there is frustrations and I wanted to shock everyone and be an NCAA team this year, but the reality of their record isn’t shocking. Now the coaches have the task of keeping this team together, because they really have a talented team and are getting some nice recruits. I don’t care how many seasons Whalen has coached or not….she basically started over this year.

 

[Gophers112233]

If you look at pure numbers, that doesn't always tell the story. When it comes to turnovers, While yes Katie has moments of good defense and nice passes. However it seems WHEN the turnovers come or the substitution happens that all of sudden leads are gone or close games are not out of reach.

Yesterday, Mara hit a 3 to tie it at 53-53. Amaya comes out for Katie...BOOM down 59-53. Late in the fourth as already shown.. in a close 2-point game, multiple turnovers in a row and can't come back. Katie's 3-point ability and passing are not worth anything if its turnover after turnover.

In terms of Heyer, the team has to actually run plays for her before we talk about her up and downs. We all have watched this year and can anyone really remember specific plays run for Mal? No she is basically setting screens, rebounding and trying to find moments to score.

Another difference, I'll take Amaya's turnovers when she is giving 8-10 rebounds, 5-10 assists, 2-4 steals and 1-2 blocks along with her turnovers. Is Katie going to get you 10 boards?

when Katie is running the offense.. is she just dribbles and moves around at the top of the key not really setting up anything imho.. you can tell it's either going to be a silly/dumb pass or she will launch a 3..

when Amaya is in there the offense seems to actually run as an offense.. and I as well well take 8-10 points, 8-10 rebounds, 5 assists with Amaya then Katie.. plus Amaya might be our best defender with her body size and her height.

and I feel like it's happened all season that Amaya and Katie are treated differently when they turn it over or make a silly play.. one gets yanked right away the other is left in there to make another silly pass or turnover..

 

[Ragnor]

If you look at pure numbers, that doesn't always tell the story. When it comes to turnovers, While yes Katie has moments of good defense and nice passes. However it seems WHEN the turnovers come or the substitution happens that all of sudden leads are gone or close games are not out of reach.

Yesterday, Mara hit a 3 to tie it at 53-53. Amaya comes out for Katie...BOOM down 59-53. Late in the fourth as already shown.. in a close 2-point game, multiple turnovers in a row and can't come back. Katie's 3-point ability and passing are not worth anything if its turnover after turnover.

In terms of Heyer, the team has to actually run plays for her before we talk about her up and downs. We all have watched this year and can anyone really remember specific plays run for Mal? No she is basically setting screens, rebounding and trying to find moments to score.

Another difference, I'll take Amaya's turnovers when she is giving 8-10 rebounds, 5-10 assists, 2-4 steals and 1-2 blocks along with her turnovers. Is Katie going to get you 10 boards?

Only thing I am not sure I agree with is the Heyer piece. You can be part of a play and set a screen and still be one of the options on the play. I don’t have their playbook so I don’t know their plays. I think Heyer needs to be more assertive offensively, similar to Braun a couple weeks ago. If someone has their playbook please post some snap shots of them.

 

[bball_craz_31]

Only thing I am not sure I agree with is the Heyer piece. You can be part of a play and set a screen and still be one of the options on the play. I don’t have their playbook so I don’t know their plays. I think Heyer needs to be more assertive offensively, similar to Braun a couple weeks ago. If someone has their playbook please post some snap shots of them.

If they had a play for her, they would have run it at the end of regulation against Badgers at Home. She had 28 points and frankly it came off her setting up her own shot or getting to the openings behind the arc.

 

[MNGolfer]

I'm just saying if they are the only ones carrying our team.. then don't pull them out.. and don't pull all four at ONCE.. which seems that Whalen has done more as of late.. a couple times this year Mara scores like 6 straight points.. then gets pulled... sure they are going to make mistake.. but then hold others to those same standards.. you can't treat one player this way and another another way.. Katie can seem to turn it over back to back and doesn't get pulled... but Amaya takes one bad shot or makes a silly pass.. she gets YANKED for 2-3 minutes..

Katie gets pulled as much as anyone else. So do the other freshmen. She can’t play them 38-40 minutes as freshman. They need as rotation to manage fatigue. Come on. When they get taken out, it is because of a planned rotation. Unless they get into foul trouble, or are are really out of sorts, they play a lot of minutes. Look at Rose. Her rotation is come come out midway through the 1st quarter for a short rest and then back in. Unless, again, she gets a couple early fouls. There are plenty of things to complain about, but how much they are playing is not one of them.

 

[Roland Brooks]

The coach needs to make the team take care of the ball when that happens funny everyone seems to play better.