Next Season, What do we want to see?

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bball_craz_31

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Since this season is officially over and no tournament will be in cards for the gophers this year, it is never too early to look forward to next season. Whether you think it is good or bad, it is looking like Stollings with at the very least get a fourth season. My questions are what does everyone want to see out of this team next year? Not saying we will see these changes but from us fans who watched this season become more and more of a disappointment, I wanna hear what we feel needs to turn around or improve.

Here is my wants/list:

-Taiye Bello playing the PF/4 spot. I don't understand why Stollings was so against playing both Bello and Edwards or Fernstrom
-Carlie Wagner not having to play 35+ minutes. we saw he get worn down a lot this year because she was playing too many minutes. Even in games where there was a 30+ lead/deficit she was in there late in the 4th quarter
-A consistent rotation. Sorry to sound harsh but I am sick of the bull that Marlene states "she wants competition for starting spots". Get a starting 5 to go with and know who your 2-3 off the bench will be and to me things will be more smooth. This players starting and playing 30+ minutes one game then 2 minutes off the bench the next is ridiculous.
-Edwards and Fernstrom both to get in better condition. The B1G tourney showed that Fernstrom can be effect, but we need her to be able to stay in the floor for long periods of time.
-Bell slowing down. Don't get me wrong I love Bell's athleticism and speed but too many times it got her in trouble. I want to see a guard with better decision making and more effect use of her moves
-This may not be popular but I want to see Marlene start being a little more picky with her Junior College recruits, overseas recruits and 5th year senior recruits. Frankly IMO those are trying to take the easy road to filling gaps. Lets all be honest, the only time it has REALLY worked out was Shae Kelley. I still feel Fernstrom and Bell were good gets but those 3 have been overshadowed by the Barnes, Tinjum, Starr, Kennedy Johnson, and Sue Key type recruits. I want to see her start getting the freshman recruits and building up the program. Especially is Coyle is going to have a longer leash on her job.
-Free-throws and Layups need to be worked on. I would never expect them to be perfect at these, but too many times they were less than 50% on both. That wont win you games in D2/D3 let along the Big Ten in D1.

Frankly, the team I saw at the Big Ten tournament actually showed fight and promise. If they could get a defense half respectable I don't see why this team cant make big improvements. Would love to hear what other people are thinking.
 

Good thoughts, bball. Not much that I would disagree with. When you mentioned that Stollings should be a little more picky with her JC recruits, overseas recruits and 5th year senior recruits, I'd also add transfers to that list. And I'll add a few other items to things that should be worked on:

1) Defense. (You already mentioned, but I'll add to it.) Stollings now has some people who can defend, at least at the top. Defense got better as the year went on, but it still needs work. Was happy to see that the Gophers were occasionally using full court pressure and some traps near the end of the year.
2) Half-court Offense.
3) Entry Passes to the Post Players.
4) Someone please teach Edwards to not get so far under the basket when it comes to rebounding. She'd be much more effective if she wouldn't position herself so far under the hoop. She also needs to be much better at anticipating rebounds. Don't mean to single out Edwards. I'm a fan of hers and I think she could be a very effective player, however she has some things to work on to reach her potential.

A friend of mine and fellow Gopher fan asked me what letter grade I'd give Stollings for this past season. I give her a D+. My biggest beef with her was the fact that she never settled on a rotation, her allocation of playing time was often baffling, and she still doesn't focus enough on defense. I still prefer her teams' style of play over Borton's teams' style. Going into the season, I thought this team should be competing for an NCAA tourney spot. I think I also remember Stollings mentioning that this was the team's goal. The team, which stayed relatively healthy except for Hubbard, never came close to competing for any kind of post season spot. IMO, they underachieved. As for next year, if the first year players can improve, if Bell can consistently make better decisions at the point, if Pitts can be a first-year difference maker, if the Gophers can settle on a rotation...and a post player, if, if, if...a lot of ifs, but I still think they'll have a chance to compete for an NCAA tourney spot next year.
 

bball_craz_26 said:
Since this season is officially over and no tournament will be in cards for the gophers this year,
Click to expand...

I'm just curious, is it certain they won't be in a tournament? I know they are out of NCAA, and WNIT seems like a shot in the dark, but I thought maybe they would do the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament... It would be nice to see them play a few more games this year and get some experience under their belt for the younger ones.
 

footballchick8 said:
I'm just curious, is it certain they won't be in a tournament? I know they are out of NCAA, and WNIT seems like a shot in the dark, but I thought maybe they would do the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament... It would be nice to see them play a few more games this year and get some experience under their belt for the younger ones.
Click to expand...

There is still that possibility, however unlikely.
 

I am new to this forum but you guys are tough. I think you would have fired Geno after his first two or three years. A grade of D? I have never met Stollings but I do know that when she arrived we were lacking in athleticism and depth. We had ONE player this year who scored more then five points a game and who was here two years ago. The obvious reason she recruited some transfer and JC players was to quickly build up some roster while trying to get a freshmen pipeline started (which takes anyone a few years to do as the better players are recruited for several years before they make a decision). This year she got three good freshman. Next year there is a really good guard and a possible forward who will decide in April. A very important variable is whether we are getting into the top five choices of some top recruits. It appears that in the last year we have been a top choice of some good players that went to other top schools. If we keep doing that we will start to get some. Regarding playing time, again pretty obvious. We had nine players who were on the court more than five minutes a game in conference this year. Four of those were guards. They are all talented and athletic but two were freshmen and needed to play less than full time to learn to be more consistent (and one of those was injured half the time). They will all be back and joined by another frosh with talent. We are solid at the guard position and will be playing three or more guards a lot of the time. The "bigs" is a different story. We had two seniors (Hedstrom and Tinjum) that were less talented but more consistent. We had two others (Edwards and Fernstrom) who had more talent and will be back but who were more inconsistent. We also had the freshman Bello who had the most long term talent but needs time and experience to develop it. That is why there was a lot of changing in and out. We need more development and more recruiting in our "bigs". The success of that will determine how far we can go.
 


One more thing. In 2012 we finished at 15-17 after the BIG tourney. We were invited to the WBI and got four more home games out of it. That could happen again (this year we are 15-16). I believe they announce invites next Monday.
 


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