indsay Whalen's first season as Gophers coach is a lesson in expectations

[EaganGopher22]

http://www.startribune.com/lindsay-...on-in-expectations-and-adjustments/505260032/

Michael Rand and Kent Youngblood discuss Whalen's first year so far.

Concluding remarks:

Youngblood: The Gophers will lose Bell after this season but have a highly regarded, jet-fast point guard in Jasmine Powell coming in. She was ranked 78th in the nation by ESPN's Hoopgurlz. Ideally she would fill Bell's role. Stillwater's Sara Scalia will give Whalen another shooter to go with Pitts and, presumably, Hubbard, who could apply for a redshirt.
Whalen's cupboard shouldn't be bare. But for the rest of this year? It will continue to be a struggle for the Gophers to score consistently, and the small lineup that worked against Northwestern won't always work against bigger teams.

Rand: But hey, Whalen lost big as a player in her first seasons with the Gophers and Lynx. Everything after in both cases was legendary.

Final word: Youngblood
Her track record suggests success. But she might need more than one recruiting class to get there.

 

[GringaGopher]

I think we all knew this intellectually but were hopeful Whay would exceed expectations. They simply do not have enough talent to beat the good teams consistently. I am still very hopeful for the future.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

https://kstp.com/sports/1-on-1-with-gophers-head-coach-lindsay-whalen/5249796/

Brief Channel 5 video interview with Lindsay:


Lindsay Whalen did not know exactly what she was getting into when she took over as the head coach of the Gophers women's basketball program. But she knows basketball, she knows the University of Minnesota and she knows how to compete.

Whalen was a coach on the floor when she played for the Gophers and Lynx, but being a true head coach in the college games has been a whole new ballgame.

 

[Shades]

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[tripledouble]

I was in the camp that thought Whalen was inheriting an NCAA tourney team, a team that could possibly finish third or fourth in the BIG. I knew that Wagner would be difficult to replace, but based on Staples' high school rating, I thought she might be able to step in and contribute some scoring. Then Hubbard got hurt and we soon found out that the bench wasn't going to be able to contribute much at all this year. What was a really good offensive team last year quickly became a team that was offensively-challenged. The team's defense has been much improved over last year and I would say that both Brunson and Bello have become solid players, coupled with Bell and Pitts...a couple of all-conference type players. And Lamke has improved substantially over last year. All that being said, it seems that the cupboard wasn't as full as i thought it would be and the Gophers were not the NCAA tourney lock I thought they would be.

 

[thatjanelpick]

I was in the camp that thought Whalen was inheriting an NCAA tourney team, a team that could possibly finish third or fourth in the BIG. I knew that Wagner would be difficult to replace, but based on Staples' high school rating, I thought she might be able to step in and contribute some scoring. Then Hubbard got hurt and we soon found out that the bench wasn't going to be able to contribute much at all this year. What was a really good offensive team last year quickly became a team that was offensively-challenged. The team's defense has been much improved over last year and I would say that both Brunson and Bello have become solid players, coupled with Bell and Pitts...a couple of all-conference type players. And Lamke has improved substantially over last year. All that being said, it seems that the cupboard wasn't as full as i thought it would be and the Gophers were not the NCAA tourney lock I thought they would be.

I don't about full cupboards but I'd argue that, with a healthy Hubbard, this team would have been a tourney lock and would have won at least three more games than they have, perhaps more than that.

 

[tripledouble]

You might be right, janelpick. I'm thinking at least a couple more wins. The question is, with Hubbard in the lineup at the start of the season, how long would it have taken Whalen to switch to a four-guard lineup with Hubbard. As it seems I blame most of the team's problems on the crappy non-conference schedule, I also wonder if the Gophers would have gone to a 4-guard lineup and the accompanying press sooner or later. And would the Gophers have learned how to attack a zone defense earlier if they had some non-conference competition.