Sconiers Enters Transfer Portal

Well, transfers (in and out) are now a big part of college basketball. I could never blame a player leaving for sake of more playing time somewhere else. On Whalen's behalf, she had an unusually large and mostly healthy roster of 13 to 15 players throughout the year. It's hard to get playing time for that many people. Also, it should be pointed out that only one player transferred out last offseason. That must have at least meant the players were somewhat content here. Will there by more players transferring out? Yes, almost certainly. But if it's players who haven't been playing, I can't fault them and I can't say that's bad for the program. If it's any of the key players, that could be a problem. Although it might seem that I'm going out of my way to defend the coach and her staff, I will also point out that when you have players leave because of PT, it does mean that you either didn't do a good job of developing them or you didn't do a good job of identifying talent when you recruited them. I do hope that from this point on when they accept transfers, they take transfers who can contribute at a decent enough level that it won't impact the development of the younger players on the roster.

One other thought...Curious as to why Sconiers didn't wait until the end of the conference tourney to announce that she's entering the portal? I suppose it doesn't matter much because she probably wasn't going to play much anyway, but I'm also of the feeling that it sends a signal that you're abandoning them.
Maybe Micheaux has been cleared to play? With LBK and Sissoko playing better and would throw in Bailey and Mershon too, perhaps she didn’t see a way to get on the court? It would be hard to disrupt the rotation that has improved at the end of the conference season. Wish her the best tho, I always thought she had a nice jump shot, we just don’t go inside for our offense very much.
 

Class of 2020 (Hedman, Smith, and Strande) were ranked #18 in the country. What make you so sure the Class of 2022 will be any better? because their MN?
A reasonable question on its face, and perhaps the '22 class will disappoint, but the question suffers from relying on the outlier ESPN ranking of the 2020 class, which was based on an outlier ranking of Alexia Smith. ESPN had Smith at # 46, before dropping her to #68 in their final rankings. The apparent lack of an OSU offer for the hometown Smith should have been a tell for ESPN. In contrast, Blue Star (BS) had Smith at #152, ASGR had her at # 126, and Prospects Nation (PN) had her at # 121. When gophersports.com introduced Smith on October 1 by saying "She is the first five-star recruit for either the men's or women's programs at Minnesota since at least the 2011 class," it was not true. All it did was create false and unreasonable expectations. By the time she set foot on campus, no one thought Smith was a 5-star recruit, and most thought she was not a top 100 recruit.

In terms of class rankings, ASGR's 2020 class rankings (11/24/19) had Minnesota at # 13 in the Big Ten, and # 61 nationally. PN had Minnesota at # 34 and BS had them at # 36. So part of the answer to your question is that the consensus opinion of the Gopher 2020 class was materially worse than ESPN's # 18 preliminary ranking, or its # 20 final ranking. It's also hard to find complete and accurate offer information for WBB recruits, though the WBB Blog helps, but it appears that none of the 2020 Gopher signees had an impressive offer list. Offer lists are at least as helpful as recruiting rankings in judging prospects.

The consensus opinions of the Gopher '22 class are quite different. Mara Braun is ranked # 28 by ESPN, # 44 by BS, # 21 by Prep Girls Hoops (PGH) and # 48 by ASGR (PN has yet to rank beyond # 25). Braun's offers also included Maryland and Oregon State, which are national recruiting schools that prize athleticism and recruit at a high level. So one difference between the '20 and '22 classes is that the bell cow of the '22 class is universally regarded as a high level player, and was highly sought.

The consensus opinion of both Battle (# 39 ESPN, # 66 BS, # 29 PGH and # 79 ASGR) and Heyer (# 55 ESPN, # 86 BS, # 36 PGH and # 80 ASGR) also places them well above the consensus opinion of any player in the Gopher '20 class. Strande was # 178 by BS and # 187 by ASGR, not in the top 100 by ESPN, but # 70 by PN (I have not seen PGH rankings for the '20 class). Hedman was #94 by ESPN, # 80 by BS, # 133 by ASGR, and not in the top 150 by PN. So based on players ratings, it is reasonable to believe (but not guaranteed) that the '22 class will perform better as Gophers than the '20 class. ESPN's '22 class ranking of # 10 is also joined by ASGR at # 21, with PN and Blue Star yet to rank (or at least I haven't seen them).
 
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known Class 2020 offers:
Hedman - Wisconsin, Iowa, Green Bay, Illinois, Minnesota (OV)
Smith - Old Dominion, Depaul, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Minnesota (OV)
Strande - Bradley, West Virginia, Villanova (OV), Oklahoma State (OV), Penn State (OV), Illinois (OV), and Minnesota (OV)
 

Yes, thanks Big Ten Guy. Even with the simple eye test when the '20 class arrived, it was obvious that class was overrated. And you're right, Smith's rating was a big factor in why that class was rated so highly.
 


known Class 2020 offers:
Hedman - Wisconsin, Iowa, Green Bay, Illinois, Minnesota (OV)
Smith - Old Dominion, Depaul, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Minnesota (OV)
Strande - Bradley, West Virginia, Villanova (OV), Oklahoma State (OV), Penn State (OV), Illinois (OV), and Minnesota (OV)
Thanks for this info.
 

Its becoming apparent that these coaches are not big into player development. No need to develop what you can (hopefully) can get from the TP. Not a winning strategy BTW. Powell, Sconiers, Cummings.. plus the 5 seniors leaving. Not a good look.
Cummings was a medical retirement.
A reasonable question on its face, and perhaps the '22 class will disappoint, but the question suffers from relying on the outlier ESPN ranking of the 2020 class, which was based on an outlier ranking of Alexia Smith. ESPN had Smith at # 46, before dropping her to #68 in their final rankings. The apparent lack of an OSU offer for the hometown Smith should have been a tell for ESPN. In contrast, Blue Star (BS) had Smith at #152, ASGR had her at # 126, and Prospects Nation (PN) had her at # 121. When gophersports.com introduced Smith on October 1 by saying "She is the first five-star recruit for either the men's or women's programs at Minnesota since at least the 2011 class," it was not true. All it did was create false and unreasonable expectations. By the time she set foot on campus, no one thought Smith was a 5-star recruit, and most thought she was not a top 100 recruit.

In terms of class rankings, ASGR's 2020 class rankings (11/24/19) had Minnesota at # 13 in the Big Ten, and # 61 nationally. PN had Minnesota at # 34 and BS had them at # 36. So part of the answer to your question is that the consensus opinion of the Gopher 2020 class was materially worse than ESPN's # 18 preliminary ranking, or its # 20 final ranking. It's also hard to find complete and accurate offer information for WBB recruits, though the WBB Blog helps, but it appears that none of the 2020 Gopher signees had an impressive offer list. Offer lists are at least as helpful as recruiting rankings in judging prospects.

The consensus opinions of the Gopher '22 class are quite different. Mara Braun is ranked # 28 by ESPN, # 44 by BS, # 21 by Prep Girls Hoops (PGH) and # 48 by ASGR (PN has yet to rank beyond # 25). Braun's offers also included Maryland and Oregon State, which are national recruiting schools that prize athleticism and recruit at a high level. So one difference between the '20 and '22 classes is that the bell cow of the '22 class is universally regarded as a high level player, and was highly sought.

The consensus opinion of both Battle (# 39 ESPN, # 66 BS, # 29 PGH and # 79 ASGR) and Heyer (# 55 ESPN, # 86 BS, # 36 PGH and # 80 ASGR) also places them well above the consensus opinion of any player in the Gopher '20 class. Strande was # 178 by BS and # 187 by ASGR, not in the top 100 by ESPN, but # 70 by PN (I have not seen PGH rankings for the '20 class). Hedman was #94 by ESPN, # 80 by BS, # 133 by ASGR, and not in the top 150 by PN. So based on players ratings, it is reasonable to believe (but not guaranteed) that the '22 class will perform better as Gophers than the '20 class. ESPN's '22 class ranking of # 10 is also joined by ASGR at # 21, with PN and Blue Star yet to rank (or at least I haven't seen them).
Excellent rundown.
 


A reasonable question on its face, and perhaps the '22 class will disappoint, but the question suffers from relying on the outlier ESPN ranking of the 2020 class, which was based on an outlier ranking of Alexia Smith. ESPN had Smith at # 46, before dropping her to #68 in their final rankings. The apparent lack of an OSU offer for the hometown Smith should have been a tell for ESPN. In contrast, Blue Star (BS) had Smith at #152, ASGR had her at # 126, and Prospects Nation (PN) had her at # 121. When gophersports.com introduced Smith on October 1 by saying "She is the first five-star recruit for either the men's or women's programs at Minnesota since at least the 2011 class," it was not true. All it did was create false and unreasonable expectations. By the time she set foot on campus, no one thought Smith was a 5-star recruit, and most thought she was not a top 100 recruit.

In terms of class rankings, ASGR's 2020 class rankings (11/24/19) had Minnesota at # 13 in the Big Ten, and # 61 nationally. PN had Minnesota at # 34 and BS had them at # 36. So part of the answer to your question is that the consensus opinion of the Gopher 2020 class was materially worse than ESPN's # 18 preliminary ranking, or its # 20 final ranking. It's also hard to find complete and accurate offer information for WBB recruits, though the WBB Blog helps, but it appears that none of the 2020 Gopher signees had an impressive offer list. Offer lists are at least as helpful as recruiting rankings in judging prospects.

The consensus opinions of the Gopher '22 class are quite different. Mara Braun is ranked # 28 by ESPN, # 44 by BS, # 21 by Prep Girls Hoops (PGH) and # 48 by ASGR (PN has yet to rank beyond # 25). Braun's offers also included Maryland and Oregon State, which are national recruiting schools that prize athleticism and recruit at a high level. So one difference between the '20 and '22 classes is that the bell cow of the '22 class is universally regarded as a high level player, and was highly sought.

The consensus opinion of both Battle (# 39 ESPN, # 66 BS, # 29 PGH and # 79 ASGR) and Heyer (# 55 ESPN, # 86 BS, # 36 PGH and # 80 ASGR) also places them well above the consensus opinion of any player in the Gopher '20 class. Strande was # 178 by BS and # 187 by ASGR, not in the top 100 by ESPN, but # 70 by PN (I have not seen PGH rankings for the '20 class). Hedman was #94 by ESPN, # 80 by BS, # 133 by ASGR, and not in the top 150 by PN. So based on players ratings, it is reasonable to believe (but not guaranteed) that the '22 class will perform better as Gophers than the '20 class. ESPN's '22 class ranking of # 10 is also joined by ASGR at # 21, with PN and Blue Star yet to rank (or at least I haven't seen them).
good info, thanks
I had to chuckle at this comment "So based on players ratings, it is reasonable to believe (but not guaranteed) that the '22 class will perform better as Gophers than the '20 class"
 

known Class 2020 offers:
Hedman - Wisconsin, Iowa, Green Bay, Illinois, Minnesota (OV)
Smith - Old Dominion, Depaul, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Minnesota (OV)
Strande - Bradley, West Virginia, Villanova (OV), Oklahoma State (OV), Penn State (OV), Illinois (OV), and Minnesota (OV)
Hedman should of went to Green Bay or SDSU, they develop those kind of players.
Smith had promise with her physical style, but only as a role player at this point. She could start for a mid major
Strande is hard to figure out, there is something else going on there other then just not playing. You would probably need to watch practice to figure that one out.
 



Hedman should of went to Green Bay or SDSU, they develop those kind of players.
Smith had promise with her physical style, but only as a role player at this point. She could start for a mid major
Strande is hard to figure out, there is something else going on there other then just not playing. You would probably need to watch practice to figure that one out.
All of these 2020 are good players and can play at this level with good coaching. Let's be honest, this team is essentially a mid major with the Whalen coaching staff. Drake beat us handily for two years and was 6th in the Missouri Valley Conference this year. We beat Ohio by only 6 this year and they finished 8th in the Mid American. We lost to Jacksonville and they finished 8-8 in the ASUN. The BIG10 games where they were close had teams with injuries or transfers (Mich State, Indiana). This team has talent, but the coaching is clearly the issue. Records don't lie. Nothing but down since Stollings last year. 24-9 and 2nd round of NCAA (2017-18).
 

Gophers sports teams are pretty good; they produce some competitive winning teams and individual players. Except for basketball, men's and women's; it was tiresome watching the women's team fritter away a game tonight against a pretty average looking NW team. Men's BB is even worse. What's the root cause? Does the Athletic Dept not care for those programs? They should be revenue makers.
 

Call it selfish if you want, but as an athlete I never saw any reason why players who practice hard everyday and have a strong competitive drive but are relegated to benchwarmer in games should be so enthusiastic about team spirit. Why not transfer some place where they let you play in games and show your stuff in competition? Find a place where you get to play, not spectate.
I don't think I called anyone selfish, sorry if I did somewhere. If it is most important for a person to get more playing time and not being with their current teammates and improving on the practice court with the hope of gaining more time, then they should transfer. As long as someone is on a team they should be fully engaged and support their teammates though, otherwise they are hurting their team. That is my only expectation. If any teammate doesn't do that they need to leave, that is why it is probably good that Powell and Sconiers are leaving and this is where I think Strande and Scalia (in particular) should improve on next year if they are going to stick around.
 

Gophers sports teams are pretty good; they produce some competitive winning teams and individual players. Except for basketball, men's and women's; it was tiresome watching the women's team fritter away a game tonight against a pretty average looking NW team. Men's BB is even worse. What's the root cause? Does the Athletic Dept not care for those programs? They should be revenue makers.
I thought it was a good game, although disappointing. Still too many turnovers and two of the biggest culprits were Scalia and Smith, which is a really bad omen since they are the point guards. https://gophersports.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2021-22/northwestern/boxscore/19235
 



A reasonable question on its face, and perhaps the '22 class will disappoint, but the question suffers from relying on the outlier ESPN ranking of the 2020 class, which was based on an outlier ranking of Alexia Smith. ESPN had Smith at # 46, before dropping her to #68 in their final rankings. The apparent lack of an OSU offer for the hometown Smith should have been a tell for ESPN. In contrast, Blue Star (BS) had Smith at #152, ASGR had her at # 126, and Prospects Nation (PN) had her at # 121. When gophersports.com introduced Smith on October 1 by saying "She is the first five-star recruit for either the men's or women's programs at Minnesota since at least the 2011 class," it was not true. All it did was create false and unreasonable expectations. By the time she set foot on campus, no one thought Smith was a 5-star recruit, and most thought she was not a top 100 recruit.

In terms of class rankings, ASGR's 2020 class rankings (11/24/19) had Minnesota at # 13 in the Big Ten, and # 61 nationally. PN had Minnesota at # 34 and BS had them at # 36. So part of the answer to your question is that the consensus opinion of the Gopher 2020 class was materially worse than ESPN's # 18 preliminary ranking, or its # 20 final ranking. It's also hard to find complete and accurate offer information for WBB recruits, though the WBB Blog helps, but it appears that none of the 2020 Gopher signees had an impressive offer list. Offer lists are at least as helpful as recruiting rankings in judging prospects.

The consensus opinions of the Gopher '22 class are quite different. Mara Braun is ranked # 28 by ESPN, # 44 by BS, # 21 by Prep Girls Hoops (PGH) and # 48 by ASGR (PN has yet to rank beyond # 25). Braun's offers also included Maryland and Oregon State, which are national recruiting schools that prize athleticism and recruit at a high level. So one difference between the '20 and '22 classes is that the bell cow of the '22 class is universally regarded as a high level player, and was highly sought.

The consensus opinion of both Battle (# 39 ESPN, # 66 BS, # 29 PGH and # 79 ASGR) and Heyer (# 55 ESPN, # 86 BS, # 36 PGH and # 80 ASGR) also places them well above the consensus opinion of any player in the Gopher '20 class. Strande was # 178 by BS and # 187 by ASGR, not in the top 100 by ESPN, but # 70 by PN (I have not seen PGH rankings for the '20 class). Hedman was #94 by ESPN, # 80 by BS, # 133 by ASGR, and not in the top 150 by PN. So based on players ratings, it is reasonable to believe (but not guaranteed) that the '22 class will perform better as Gophers than the '20 class. ESPN's '22 class ranking of # 10 is also joined by ASGR at # 21, with PN and Blue Star yet to rank (or at least I haven't seen them).
Wow!o_O Bravo!:clap: Nice Breakdown! the only piece I knew before this was their constant ridiculous reference to smith being a 5 Star.
 

I don't think I called anyone selfish, sorry if I did somewhere. If it is most important for a person to get more playing time and not being with their current teammates and improving on the practice court with the hope of gaining more time, then they should transfer. As long as someone is on a team they should be fully engaged and support their teammates though, otherwise they are hurting their team. That is my only expectation. If any teammate doesn't do that they need to leave, that is why it is probably good that Powell and Sconiers are leaving and this is where I think Strande and Scalia (in particular) should improve on next year if they are going to stick around.
First, I'm sorry if I didn't explain myself well bec. I wasn't referring to you specifically. I meant myself, that is, if my attitude sounds selfish, I apologize, but it's how I see things. Second, what I mean by "things" is not a player's attitude toward teammates, but the relationship between a player and the coach. If a player works really hand and the coach doesn't play her/him in games, why stick around with that coach? That coach isn't doing you any favors. Go some place where there's a coach who will play you. College is only 4 years (or used to be), so why waste those short years sitting on the bench for a coach who favors some other player(s) instead? MO.
 

I thought it was a good game, although disappointing. Still too many turnovers and two of the biggest culprits were Scalia and Smith, which is a really bad omen since they are the point guards. https://gophersports.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2021-22/northwestern/boxscore/19235
we only had 14 TO as a team
Smith had 4..
Scalia had 2, is that too many for a kid that played PG for 40 min against the best defensive team in the league? Is 2 too many, but 1 awesome?

Indiana won today with 18 TO, 14 assists; Patberg 4 TO, Gulbe 6 TO, Berger 4 TO..
Ohio St won today with 11 TO, Jacy Sheldon 1st team all conf had 7 TO.

What are you looking for in a player, Ragnor?
 
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we only had 14 TO as a team
Smith had 4..
Scalia had 2, is that too many for a kid that played PG for 40 min against the best defensive team in the league? Is 2 too many, but 1 awesome?

Indiana won today with 18 TO, 14 assists; Patberg 4 TO, Gulbe 6 TO, Berger 4 TO..
Ohio St won today with 11 TO, Jacy Sheldon 1st team all conf had 7 TO.

What are you looking for in a player, Ragnor?

Well, good question, I am looking for a better assist to turnover ratio. One could say there are two seasons for Scalia on the year, With Jasmine Powell (WJP) & After Jasmine Powell (AJP). On the year WJP + AJP Scalia has 53 assists to 64 turnovers which with a 0.828 Ast/TO ratio. AJP, Scalia has 31 Assists to 36 turnovers which is 0.861 Ast/TO ratio. That would make her WJP season 22 assists to 28 turnovers or 0.76 Ast/TO ratio. She seems to have potentially improved on the season from WJP to AJP. I haven't done the stats on it but I doubt it is statistically significant given the small sample size.

Scalia really needs to have an ast/TO ratio over 1 for me to come close to quit pulling my hair out. A ratio of 2 would put her in the top 50 in women's college BB. A ratio of 1.12 would rank her at 250th in the country***. She is clearly our best scorer but she should be handling the ball less not more based on this ratio. I am no BB coach so I don't know all the potential ins and outs, they clearly want to get her the ball frequently to score and they may just think the best way to do that is for her to be the point guard so she has more opportunities. I would have liked to see someone else be the point guard. My wife suggested Hubbard and I initially brushed it off but I don't see her turn it over very much so I looked her ratio up and it is 67/29 and then looked up Smith's and it is 52/39, so they are both over 1. I know i'm just some schumck who plays and watches a lot of basketball but has never been coached in it. My analysis is clearly self taught and by observation, so take it for what it is worth.



*** I didn't see any players from Minnesota anywhere (Hubbard, Powell) in the list so there may be a minimum total number of assists + TOs to make the list. That would mean the minimum is more than 117 (Scalia) & 167 (Powell). BUT! I did find someone listed with as little as 122 in 2 pages of looking. :unsure:
 

Gophers sports teams are pretty good; they produce some competitive winning teams and individual players. Except for basketball, men's and women's; it was tiresome watching the women's team fritter away a game tonight against a pretty average looking NW team. Men's BB is even worse. What's the root cause? Does the Athletic Dept not care for those programs? They should be revenue makers.
The men's team was expected to be bad this year due to the hiring of a first year head coach amidst an unprecedented expansion of the transfer portal. They've far exceeded expectations and have established an identity that should lead to success in coming years.

My fear is that Whalen did not absorb the lesson that I thought she learned when Borton replaced Oldfield... defense needs to be a priority. This is what catapulted them to the Final Four. It seems that Whalen has not instilled this or recruited for this as her teams have not played D well. I have been unclear of the identify of any of her teams thus far. This needs to change.
 

Success in basketball relies most typically on a solid PG and a decent big. The other 3 players can be studs or role players but the first two are nearly a must to be successful.

I truly hope that having Shimmy Gray-Miller on staff will help attract a mobile solid big. I know that every team is looking for the same but this has to be the top priority for this team. I do believe that Micheaux shows some promise. The old cliche is that players make the biggest jump between first and second year. This summer is extremely important in her development so let's hope that the game slows down for her.

Solid ball handling is the next priority including a PG who can distribute. I would have loved to see what Borowicz could have added in her first full year but her back surgery derailed this. Braun and Battle have the ability to be a success here but will one of them be willing to play the role of distributor to improve team play? Looking forward to the fall already!
 

Well, good question, I am looking for a better assist to turnover ratio. One could say there are two seasons for Scalia on the year, With Jasmine Powell (WJP) & After Jasmine Powell (AJP). On the year WJP + AJP Scalia has 53 assists to 64 turnovers which with a 0.828 Ast/TO ratio. AJP, Scalia has 31 Assists to 36 turnovers which is 0.861 Ast/TO ratio. That would make her WJP season 22 assists to 28 turnovers or 0.76 Ast/TO ratio. She seems to have potentially improved on the season from WJP to AJP. I haven't done the stats on it but I doubt it is statistically significant given the small sample size.

Scalia really needs to have an ast/TO ratio over 1 for me to come close to quit pulling my hair out. A ratio of 2 would put her in the top 50 in women's college BB. A ratio of 1.12 would rank her at 250th in the country***. She is clearly our best scorer but she should be handling the ball less not more based on this ratio. I am no BB coach so I don't know all the potential ins and outs, they clearly want to get her the ball frequently to score and they may just think the best way to do that is for her to be the point guard so she has more opportunities. I would have liked to see someone else be the point guard. My wife suggested Hubbard and I initially brushed it off but I don't see her turn it over very much so I looked her ratio up and it is 67/29 and then looked up Smith's and it is 52/39, so they are both over 1. I know i'm just some schumck who plays and watches a lot of basketball but has never been coached in it. My analysis is clearly self taught and by observation, so take it for what it is worth.



*** I didn't see any players from Minnesota anywhere (Hubbard, Powell) in the list so there may be a minimum total number of assists + TOs to make the list. That would mean the minimum is more than 117 (Scalia) & 167 (Powell). BUT! I did find someone listed with as little as 122 in 2 pages of looking. :unsure:
Fair analysis, but dont forget your teammate needs to make the shot to get an assist 🤔 Without an inside presence it is hard to get assists on this team. You cant run pick n roll with Helgren for an asisst, Rose was more of a dribble 3 or 4 times for a basket, which is not an assist. How many times did you see Kadi catch and shoot for an assist, nearly 0, she had to dribble or ball fake a couple times. My point is until we get an inside presence expect assists for any PG on this team to be erratic.
The other thing to remember we were 5-5 in the BIG down the stretch with Scalia at the point, her job wasnt to do the highlight drive Powell did, her job was to cause the defense all kinds of worry because of how they had to play her on high ball screen picks and to make the right read if double teamed. From that standpoint she did her job and she became a weapon offensively. She only averaged 2.3 TO per game/40 min, that might of been the best in the BIG and that is after getting blitzed on every ball screen.
Bottom line we need to upgrade talent in the post, we were no threat. Diva was a shell of her former self, struggled to get shots. Deja had her moments but also was inconsistent for long stretches of games, you didnt know she was playing.
Part of it is recruiting, part getting better talent, part developing talent and part of it is coaching.
Thats my 2 cents.
 

Fair analysis, but dont forget your teammate needs to make the shot to get an assist 🤔 Without an inside presence it is hard to get assists on this team. You cant run pick n roll with Helgren for an asisst, Rose was more of a dribble 3 or 4 times for a basket, which is not an assist. How many times did you see Kadi catch and shoot for an assist, nearly 0, she had to dribble or ball fake a couple times. My point is until we get an inside presence expect assists for any PG on this team to be erratic.
The other thing to remember we were 5-5 in the BIG down the stretch with Scalia at the point, her job wasnt to do the highlight drive Powell did, her job was to cause the defense all kinds of worry because of how they had to play her on high ball screen picks and to make the right read if double teamed. From that standpoint she did her job and she became a weapon offensively. She only averaged 2.3 TO per game/40 min, that might of been the best in the BIG and that is after getting blitzed on every ball screen.
Bottom line we need to upgrade talent in the post, we were no threat. Diva was a shell of her former self, struggled to get shots. Deja had her moments but also was inconsistent for long stretches of games, you didnt know she was playing.
Part of it is recruiting, part getting better talent, part developing talent and part of it is coaching.
Thats my 2 cents.
This is a good post, I'll add that when teams zoned us the offense looked good, the ball moved and we racked up assists. Its when teams played man against us we would struggle, Diva and Deja are solid players but they werent really threats to put the ball on the floor. Add that to not having a post presence and you get a offense that is really limited in what they can do. We definitely need to upgrade in the post but next years guards can all handle the ball and are more versatile which should allow us to run more things.
 
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Fair analysis, but dont forget your teammate needs to make the shot to get an assist 🤔 Without an inside presence it is hard to get assists on this team. You cant run pick n roll with Helgren for an asisst, Rose was more of a dribble 3 or 4 times for a basket, which is not an assist. How many times did you see Kadi catch and shoot for an assist, nearly 0, she had to dribble or ball fake a couple times. My point is until we get an inside presence expect assists for any PG on this team to be erratic.
The other thing to remember we were 5-5 in the BIG down the stretch with Scalia at the point, her job wasnt to do the highlight drive Powell did, her job was to cause the defense all kinds of worry because of how they had to play her on high ball screen picks and to make the right read if double teamed. From that standpoint she did her job and she became a weapon offensively. She only averaged 2.3 TO per game/40 min, that might of been the best in the BIG and that is after getting blitzed on every ball screen.
Bottom line we need to upgrade talent in the post, we were no threat. Diva was a shell of her former self, struggled to get shots. Deja had her moments but also was inconsistent for long stretches of games, you didnt know she was playing.
Part of it is recruiting, part getting better talent, part developing talent and part of it is coaching.
Thats my 2 cents.
I like and agree with most of what you are saying and your last sentences I think is a great summary, maybe the only point we disagree on is what Scalia's assist to turnover ratio should be OR maybe how many turnovers she has that are bad turnovers. I will just leave it at that.

Another point I would add is I thought one of Kadi's most effective and consistent play was her baseline midrange shot. I thought she had quite a few of those this year. She really has a beautiful shot out to midrange. Seems to me she was most inconsistent inside until the last couple of games. Kadi improved on the year with her ball handling which really help reduce her turnovers and help her penetrate inside. She does best inside when she drives she struggles most inside when her back is to the basket but that improved the last couple of games. If she can continue with her improvement shown in the last couple of games, get a consistent outside shot and keep her fouls down she will be huge next year.

Lastly, I feel like I focus too much on what frustrates me about Scalia, probably because she is our first or 2nd best player (Kadi may have more potential) and is thus in the best leadership position for the team. I want to close this out with what I think is great about her.
  1. Very hard worker
  2. Good rebounder
  3. Plays hard
  4. Great at the FT line
  5. Phenomenal shooter
 

Well .. it looks like we have a mass exodus at Minnesota WBB. Not Surprising. Every now an then you miss on a coach hire. This is definitely one of those times. I agree Kadi and Scalia should seek greener pastures. I'm sure the AAU teams, players, and families are all talking. The more that leave the worse the look.
I hate to say it, but .. I told you so.
 


Well .. it looks like we have a mass exodus at Minnesota WBB. Not Surprising. Every now an then you miss on a coach hire. This is definitely one of those times. I agree Kadi and Scalia should seek greener pastures. I'm sure the AAU teams, players, and families are all talking. The more that leave the worse the look.
I hate to say it, but .. I told you so... again.
What player would want to come play for Whalen & friends? none
 




Doesn't seem like playing time would have been an issue with the Gophers, either, though...
 





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