RebKell's Junkie Boards

[mzonefan]

Shane Clipfel granted 5-year extension to 2020 at Western Michigan:

http://www.wmubroncos.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=24388&SPID=1925&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=210422312&DB_OEM_ID=4600

[shadowboxer]

Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriet, last year's MAC Freshman of year, should have been included on either the first or second MAC team, IMO.

[Joe Foss]

The "official" MAC preseason poll, a vote by the league's 12 head coaches, was released today. I liked it because it picked the Bobcats as both regular season and tournament champs. Shadowboxer should like it because Bravo-Harriet is named to the West preseason team (but it pegs the Rockets as fourth in the West).

http://www.mac-sports.com/news/2015/10/27/WBB_1027152144.aspx?path=wbball

[FollowtheCardinalRule]

[shadowboxer]

If you look at the Rocket's nonconf schedule, it appears Cullop is employing the same approach as CMU did, scheduling a baptism by fire season for a team of almost all freshman and sophomores. She has been able to recruit many 3 or 4 star local players whose teams have gone to state playoffs for several years.(See Notre Dame Academy and Rogers HS) This style of scheduling and recruiting paid off for CMU, just not immediately.*

If Cullop is able to continue recruiting at this level, this will be a powerful program for yrs to come.

Of course, the overseas and Canadiian pipeline Cullop has recruited from has been greatly beneficial from day one and the likes of Bravo-Harriet show this remains very fruitful.

*see www.toledorockets.com, Rocket Report for current Toledo WBB Roster and bio as well as verbals for 2016 and 2017.

[shadowboxer]

http://www.bcsn.tv/news_article/show/569475?referrer_id=986280

The above is the Toledo Blade's report on the MAC picks as well as Cullop's discussion of Toledo's rating and chances this year.

[shadowboxer]

http://www.toledorockets.com/index.html

Toledo Women Rockets exhibition game. Lots of positives against a perennial powerhouse in DII. Two top frosh, McIntyre & Printz, noted by this writer previously, performed at high level for 1rst D1 game. Brenae H an Ana C. were senior backbones. Red-shirted freshman Boyd fast and impressive. Read the story.

[shadowboxer]

http://utrockets.com/news/2015/11/14/WBB_1114151401.aspx

Above is U of Toledo's Summary of very close first season and OOC game between Toledo WBB and Arizona. Senior Brenae Harris, jrs Sophie Reecher & Janice Monakana, sr Ana Caposoto, and sophomores Jay-Ann Harris-Bravo & Jada Woody were major time and/or scoring contributors. Last yr's Rfreshman pg., Michela Boyd, as well as freshman C Kaayla McIntyre showed promising future w/scoring and ball handling.

Nice to have a deep, talented team spread from seniors to freshmen.

If there are no other MAC contributors, will allow this thread to end.

[Joe Foss]

The MAC went 6-7 in the first weekend of play, led by Bowling Green with a 2-0 record. All teams played except Eastern Michigan, who won't start until Tuesday (against a non-D-1 team).

The league was 0-3 against Power 5 schools, and Ohio did not help the cause, falling to Illinois today 62-53. The Bobcats had the edge in quickness at nearly every position, and ran out to a 23-11 lead at the end of the first quarter against Illinois man and halfcourt 2-1-2 defenses. But then Illinois sunk back into a 2-3 zone, which Ohio was completely unable to solve. They scored just 30 points in the last 3 quarters of the game. Illinois never really got untracked offensively either, but Ohio helped them out by continually fouling. 23 of the Illini's 62 points came from the free throw line.

It's going to be tough for Ohio to replace the only two players they lost from last year's MAC championship team. Mariah Byard gave them a 3-point shooter who could stretch zones, and Kat Yelle was very good at drawing double teams to her and finding the open teammate for the assist. No one showed today they were capable of filling those roles. None of Ohio's five true freshmen played today, but I expect they may be pressed into service soon to try to help on the offensive end.

_________________
Ohio Bobcats WBB Fan

[shadowboxer]

Nice to hear from you Joe. Sorry for my own delay from Oct to Nov. Hope we continue to hear from mzonefan regarding MI teams. Maybe BallSt84, BG and NIL will poke up their heads or any other voices w/MAC feedback like CardinalRule.

More than understand when the many other aspects of life take precedent.
Am periodically such an example.

Toledo plays Notre Dame at ND next week. Looking forward to it, sincerely. Watch on local TV, ESPN3, or online if unable to physically attend.

[marty]

Funny you mention Kat Yelle...she made an appearance in BG today, playing for Bradley. She played 30 minutes, but did not score.

Most impressive for BG in the win today was freshman Carly Santoro, scoring 10 points in 8 minutes. She was 4 of 5 from the floor, including 2 3 pointers.

I also like BG's freshman point guard, Sydney Lambert. She is very quick, and very confident. She scored 14 today, after putting in 13 in her first game.

Story of game:http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2015/11/15/WBB_1115151034.aspx

[shadowboxer]

Not going too say too much about Toledo/ND game yet. The Rockets' defense was mostly solid, but they seemed wound up way too tight on offense. Liked the play and attitude of Boyd, the rshirted freshman ptg. They never threw in the towel on the game, regardless of pt spread.

Most of posters here who followed game on Game Day Site know the final score was ND 74,- Toledo 39.

Will put up some links to game synopsis/stats in a.m.

[ArtBest23]

[shadowboxer]

http://www.bcsn.tv/news_article/show/579821?referrer_id=986244

The Toledo Blade/BCSN report above.

You are right about the zone changing game's direction. Toledo had problems with that last yr until adjustments made. Actually, noted the chemistry and energy of a mix of sophs and freshmen on the floor...Boyd, McIntyre, Printz, Harriet-Bravo, Woody. Well, it is on the Rhodes Tourney next for the Rockets never-say-die WBB team.


GO ROCKETS!

[BallState1984]

Ball State beat Western Kentucky 74-60 in a fugly ass game in Muncie. Moriah Monaco, Jill Morrison and Nathalie Fontaine did most of the scoring and the bench contributing just three.

WKU had a 15 point lead at one point and Sallee admitted he lit up the locker room at half time. Apparently that what was needed because a different team came out. Fontaine was quiet the first two quarters but had a career tying high of 30 points when it was all said and done.

Morrison's threes were timely, but she is becoming just as deadly on defense; picking up rebounds and forcing the other team into making mistake.

_________________
Terminally afffected with Our Girl Syndrome and proud of it!

[shadowboxer]

Congrats on the win, BST. Nice to hear from you.

Am beginning to think the word "ugly" in wins is a code word for old school "defense", rarely played seriously in higher level NCAA basketball anymore. Focus groups and D.Antonellie (sp?) like pretty 3 pointers, dunks and continual offense, aka run'n gun style.
In the NCAAW, maybe it also reflects the continuing ht growth and skill in women players, especially in post positions, but certainly not limited to them. Since the no#of 6'4 and up skilled women players is still limited, that favors the top majors. These players are being wooed in grade school these days. A fast transition offense may get around them to score and skilled, high % 3 pt shooters work, but crashing the boards, not so much. (When Toledo played Delaware an eon or so ago, the strategy Cullop used to defeat them was to concentrate defense on all other players, leaving Del Donne more or less to herself.)

Those highly skilled hs players in forward and guard positions are hitting college ready to start their freshman yr.They usually come from a combo of highly competitive hs programs plus 4 or more yrs of AAU team play or other skill enhancing summer play. As time has gone on, these top players are also taller, maybe 5'10-6'2 for guards as well as forwards(think Maya Moore). Solid, athletic, muscular from wt/body building&training by qualified professionals. They can run a fast transition offense and defense all day long. The top level of these players again are off to the high majors. With occasional exceptions, the mid majors get the next level down and now a high no# of overseas and Canadian players. So of course mid major coaches tend to emphasis team play and strong defense, trying to control the tempo of the game so they can make offensive runs as well.

Apologize for posting IMO musings reignited by the Notre Dame game. Clay has discussed aspects of this previously.

[BallState1984]

It was an ugly game, Box, because of all the turn overs and the general slop. Sallee is starting a freshman at point, Carmen Grande, and she was just full of nerves all night.

_________________
Terminally afffected with Our Girl Syndrome and proud of it!

[shadowboxer]

I hear you.You know how many freshmen and sophomores we have in ratio to the rest of the team. The description just triggered general thoughts on the term when used with a defense oriented team.

[Joe Foss]

Road trip to Akron today to see the Bobcats take on Winthrop! Yesterday the troglodytes at work rejected my modest proposal to close down for the afternoon to watch Ohio play Florida Gulf Coast. So I missed most of that game, a 69-57 Ohio win. From what I did see of the second half, point guard Yamonie Jenkins was impressive, ending up with a career high of 18 points. Jasmine Weatherspoon, a great leaper and 6'2", could be a real force if she learns how to finish better around the basket and stays out of foul trouble. Still waiting for pre-season all-MAC picks Kiyanna Black and Quiera Lampkins to get untracked. Maybe that starts today.

_________________
Ohio Bobcats WBB Fan

[shadowboxer]

Receiving tweets already in shoot around on road trip-East Coast Rhode Island Tourney. WRockets are in shoot around, play Albany at 3pm.

Congrats on OU's FGC win, Joe.

[Joe Foss]

Final Ohio 75, Winthrop 54. The Eagles came out in a 2-3 zone, with which Illinois had bedeviled the Bobcats. But today Kiyanna Black was hitting her threes, and she had plenty of help. Eight Bobcats made at least one triple for a total of sixteen, led by Black with five threes on her way to 23 points. Freshman Dominique Doseck hit four more from behind the arc. Maybe she'll be a second long range scorer to complement Black.

A more hopeful sign even than the good shooting was Ohio's ability to work the ball inside in the second half. Some pretty interior passing led to some acrobatic finishes by Lexie Baldwin and Quiera Lampkins. I was happy to see the inside/outside attack come together in this game.

Something I had never seen before today: Jasmine Weatherspoon picked up her fifth foul late in the game, a fact which was displayed on Akron's video board. None of the refs noticed that she had fouled out, and she stayed on the floor through two foul shots and about 30 more seconds while play continued. I think Winthrop's bench finally called it to the ref's attention, and she was given the DQ. If Ohio's bench or players on the floor noticed it, they did a wonderful job of staying mute.

_________________
Ohio Bobcats WBB Fan

[shadowboxer]

http://utrockets.com/news/2015/11/21/WBB_1121151223.aspx?path=wbball

The Toledo Rockets lost their first game to Albany, and their great player, Imani Tate, as well as due to continuing turnovers, foul problems, inconsistent effort, and hesitant shooting. Their shooting% of 3's, field goals, and foul shots were high, when taken. They rallied back in runs in part of the 3rd and late in the 4th quarter, but it was too late in the game.
Final score was 63-55.

The above link is to U of Toledo's summary as well as well as stats and some highlights. This poster will remark further in the a.m.

The Rocket's will play Harvard tomorrow at 3p.m. in the consolation game as the RITourney draws to an end.

[Joe Foss]

Through games of today, the MAC went 11-8 for the week against D-1 opponents, bringing the season total to 17-15. Two more losses to Power 5 schools means the league is winless against them so far this year at 0-5. Buffalo is leading the East Division with a 3-0 record. Central Michigan is atop the West at 3-0.

_________________
Ohio Bobcats WBB Fan

[shadowboxer]

After fighting to find visual of game, settled for some audio.

http://utrockets.com/news/2015/11/22/WBB_1122151329.aspx?path=wbball

Nice Toledo summary of very competitive game, losing to Harvard in final 23 seconds. Will hunt down total stream, read other reviews, comment more this week.
Do know Ana Capostoto earned place on all Tourney league and that Woody and Printz really stepped it up, along with bench composed mostly of other sophomores and freshmen.

Well, used to say here that babtism by fire nonconference play was combo suicidal and good experience for developing tough, more highly skilled players. Time is always the task master.

[Joe Foss]

Ohio picked up the MAC's first win against a Power 5 team yesterday, beating Indiana 63-56 at the Vanderbilt tourney. But the Bobcats couldn't repeat the feat today, losing to Vanderbilt 62-59.

The Commodores didn't look that much taller than the Bobcats on their roster. But you could see on the livestream how much bigger and stronger they were. Vandy mixed their power inside with some good 3-point shooting to jump out to a 20-10 lead at the end of 1, and it looked like a blowout in the making. But Kiyanna Black kept Ohio in it by getting hot from 3, and the lead was cut to six at the half.

The lead kept shrinking in the second half, as Ohio used their advantage in quickness to get to the rim and score or get fouled. Quiera Lampkins had her best game of the year, ending with 13 points. And when Black drilled a 3 with a minute left, the lead was down to one. But Vandy's Minta Spears answered with a layup with 30 seconds left, and Lampkins last-second triple attempt bounced off the rim to end the game.

Ohio got crushed on the boards, with Vandy's Marqu'es Webb doing a lot of the damage. She was too big for Ohio to stop all day. And poor free throw shooting hurt the Cats as well -- they went 13-23 while Vandy were 16-17. Another close one that got away.

_________________
Ohio Bobcats WBB Fan