Northwestern Game Thread
- Thread starter RUClassof67
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Ugh! Lost 77-70. Obviously there are some issues on the team. Kaylene hardly played and Antonia didn’t play beyond the beginning of the game. 3 people fouled out and Coach didn’t wasn’t sure who to put in. Not a good feeling.
Give NW credit for being scrappy and turning up their game at the end. It just looked like we completely forgot how to play during that last quarter.
The team played well early despite the absence of Kaylene. When we had opportunities to blow the game open, our transition defense was not up to par. To many easy buckets for NW. I was wondering why we didn't see more of Antonia in the second half.
Watching the effectiveness and flow of the team offensively as Antonia and Lisa ran the point, I was saying to myself, Coach did a good job with the Antonia PG option. It seems to allow Mya to relax and play at her best as a scorer and also relieves Lisa from shouldering too much pressure. It was perfect.
Then we didn't see it down the stretch and get outscored 20- 4 or something crazy like that in the last quarter.....by Northwestern!!
We better get everyone healthy and ready because I'm seeing all these other B1G teams on the uptick(Penn St, Mich St, Minn). Right now, it's looking like, perception-wise across the league, we may have just wrestled away the spot at the bottom of the conference from Norhtwestern.
Better grow from it quickly and get this Purdue game because it just gets SO much tougher after.
The team played well early despite the absence of Kaylene. When we had opportunities to blow the game open, our transition defense was not up to par. To many easy buckets for NW. I was wondering why we didn't see more of Antonia in the second half.
Watching the effectiveness and flow of the team offensively as Antonia and Lisa ran the point, I was saying to myself, Coach did a good job with the Antonia PG option. It seems to allow Mya to relax and play at her best as a scorer and also relieves Lisa from shouldering too much pressure. It was perfect.
Then we didn't see it down the stretch and get outscored 20- 4 or something crazy like that in the last quarter.....by Northwestern!!
We better get everyone healthy and ready because I'm seeing all these other B1G teams on the uptick(Penn St, Mich St, Minn). Right now, it's looking like, perception-wise across the league, we may have just wrestled away the spot at the bottom of the conference from Norhtwestern.
Better grow from it quickly and get this Purdue game because it just gets SO much tougher after.
Hoping there is a reasonable explanation for the personnel usage with Antonia and Kaylene.
Antonia seems to make a noticeable difference on both ends. Her length on the perimeter makes things more difficult. I thought she should have gotten more of Jillian's minutes since she wasn't getting any clean looks, and really wasn't effective.
Sending this from Welsh-Ryan Arena, tried to ask around as to why Kaylene Smikle only played five minutes, unfortunately couldn't get an answer. Will have to wait and see until next time Washington speaks to the media.
Because I want the best for the program and when I think hard times ahead I feel bad.
I don't look for things to complain about when I post about the team, but know when the program might not be as good as I hoped before season began.
Some just come on this RUWBB board to complain after loses and go into hiding when the team does well , I come on this board to praise after a win and am disappointed when I can't
I like you want not only the women to win but every sport have been a 50 year fan and to see this program where it is troublesome and I know where CVS left this program has been discussed ad nauseum and we won’t go there but what now worries me is that we are seeing zero improvement and some troubling signs both on and off the court as recruiting and the portal have not helped as much as it should and going forward we signed only one girl so this is what worries me because no matter what you need talent to win
Agree troubling times right now and I'm wondering about my thinking maybe Rutgers should give Coquese another year(2024-25) to straighten the program out.
For now I keep that thought, but will change it by the end of season of I start thinking the program isn't showing anything to make me think Washington can make the program tourney material by her 4th year in charge.
Someone with the gravitas of CVS should not have left this program in the shape it is currently in… It literally should have been turnkey for the next coach… Remarkable
Exactly
Cvs should have took some pride not to leave a program in tatters
Thats why peeps have bad taste
Some great coaches just try to stay longer than they should when their health affects their ability to coach.
CVS made that mistake and Rutgers is paying for it now.
Now the question is :Kaylene Smikle playing time against Northwestern and if she is injured or has a health concern that is keeping her from playing
After watching the game a second time, I see the positive outweighing the negative. It's part of the growing pains of a young team. I feel we had slightly more talent than NW. With our normal starting lineup and Money working her way back coming off the bench, I think we continue to build on one of those 8 or 10 pt leads we opened up.
Kaylene and Antonia likely would have cut down on the winded appearance of some who haven't played as many minutes lately (Mya, Jillian, and Lisa). As Coach said in the B. Beck interview, Lisa still needs strengthening. Jillian does too. At least, she got playing time that will likely bring her along more quickly. She is finding out what she can do and what she can't against this level. Unfortunately, she found out attempting two tough drives with no off rebounding in place,...at a time when each possession was crucial, momentum-wise.
Gotta like what we saw from Lisa, Mya, KB(again), and Chyna(strong inside footwork and touch, smooth on the FT line).
We get Destiny's confidence up and Kaylene and Antonia back in the mix, hopefully that translates to more extended segments of the good play that this team has shown in flashes.
Kaylene and Antonia likely would have cut down on the winded appearance of some who haven't played as many minutes lately (Mya, Jillian, and Lisa). As Coach said in the B. Beck interview, Lisa still needs strengthening. Jillian does too. At least, she got playing time that will likely bring her along more quickly. She is finding out what she can do and what she can't against this level. Unfortunately, she found out attempting two tough drives with no off rebounding in place,...at a time when each possession was crucial, momentum-wise.
Gotta like what we saw from Lisa, Mya, KB(again), and Chyna(strong inside footwork and touch, smooth on the FT line).
We get Destiny's confidence up and Kaylene and Antonia back in the mix, hopefully that translates to more extended segments of the good play that this team has shown in flashes.
Oh.............This CVS thing that some people are stuck on is laughable! I suspect when they're 90 something yo, these people will be instructing their grand kids and great-grands, "Whenever anything at RU goes wrong, just say, 'It's CVS' fault' ."
At what point does the new coach become responsible for their impact/influence on the direction of the program??
How often do we see this "turnkey" situation occur?...and when it does, the new coach often cannot maintain the high level of the previous coaching legend's success.
I think a lot of our fanbase is spoiled by the opportunity to support a program that pulled off the rarity of back-to-back HoF coaches.
CVS has nothing to do with the loss to Nwestern. She has nothing to do with the recruiting of '24, '25, etc players to RU at this point(at least not in a negative sense). We just need to be patient and see what Coquese can do with the rest of this season and recruiting cycle.
At what point does the new coach become responsible for their impact/influence on the direction of the program??
How often do we see this "turnkey" situation occur?...and when it does, the new coach often cannot maintain the high level of the previous coaching legend's success.
I think a lot of our fanbase is spoiled by the opportunity to support a program that pulled off the rarity of back-to-back HoF coaches.
CVS has nothing to do with the loss to Nwestern. She has nothing to do with the recruiting of '24, '25, etc players to RU at this point(at least not in a negative sense). We just need to be patient and see what Coquese can do with the rest of this season and recruiting cycle.
You always state your opinion much better than I can. I’m tired of reading how CVS has anything to do with the issues going on right now. Posters need to give it a rest!
There is a lot of talent on this team. Hopefully they can get it together.
We have no idea what went down with Kaylene and Antonia and, honestly, we don’t need to know. Coach is building a culture.
IMHO: the way that Kaylene hogged the ball at the end of the VT game was troublesome. We had four other players standing around looking and wondering what they should do.
I didn't see it and have no actual idea, but there is always the question of "who's at fault".
Back in the day, this happened a lot with Cappie on the court, it drove Vivian crazy as Cappie wanted someone else to step up, all the other players wanted Cappie to do it, and Vivian at some points just wanted a score to happen.
So was Kaylene "hogging" the ball - or were other players deferring. Or was this ok with the coach - or not?
In recent interviews our Arizona coach has pointed out strict requirements for ball movement before shots, but there are 2 players that this doesn't completely apply to, in different ways - one won't take a bad shot and doesn't shoot enough, but can whenever she wants, the other it is fundamental to her game to drive and shoot whenever available. Could the Kaylene situation be something similar?
These are all good questions. I do not have the basketball knowledge to answer your questions or explain my observations well. I just know that Kaylene was often running into four defenders under the basketball while we appeared to have four open players. After listening to the coach in a recent interview, I‘m not convinced this was the coach’s directive.
From my view, we all marveled at how well Kaylene was able to score last season, as a Frosh, almost at will, at this level. The only thing was, I think we could all see that her scoring was at the expense of efficient team offense. She and Coach have made it a focus to make the necessary adjustments so that she can be more well rounded on offense.
I would definitely say that it compares to Arella's last seasons here at RU. The need to include her teammates more, instead of trying to shoulder the load by herself.
Cappie, on the other hand, IMO, always seemed to want to run Viv's offense, ironically by similar rules to what you mention Adia has put in place regarding required no. of passes before a shot. That drove all of us crazy because they usually turned it over before getting a shot or had to throw it up as the shot clock expired. Cappie, Piph, and Scaife were always safety valves that could get us a good shot when the clock got low.
Kaylene has done that at times, but she's ready to attack for the score whenever it hits her hands. That's the difference. Although successful most times, it often reminded me of a bull in a china shop when she forced some drives. Often ended with an offensive foul.
So far this season, she has shown huge improvement in assisting her teammates. The whole team is struggling with becoming consistent in this aspect, though they are slowly making progress.
I would definitely say that it compares to Arella's last seasons here at RU. The need to include her teammates more, instead of trying to shoulder the load by herself.
Cappie, on the other hand, IMO, always seemed to want to run Viv's offense, ironically by similar rules to what you mention Adia has put in place regarding required no. of passes before a shot. That drove all of us crazy because they usually turned it over before getting a shot or had to throw it up as the shot clock expired. Cappie, Piph, and Scaife were always safety valves that could get us a good shot when the clock got low.
Kaylene has done that at times, but she's ready to attack for the score whenever it hits her hands. That's the difference. Although successful most times, it often reminded me of a bull in a china shop when she forced some drives. Often ended with an offensive foul.
So far this season, she has shown huge improvement in assisting her teammates. The whole team is struggling with becoming consistent in this aspect, though they are slowly making progress.
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