Has the tide turned?

[mikey1]

Hey Everyone,

 

Happy New Year to all. For the Lady Danes, it has been a rollercoaster ride recordwise. They got off to the great start outside the conference, then hit a rough stretch, but I really do believe that the win over the UMBC Retrievers the other night at the RACC will lead them in the right direction. Head Coach Trina Patterson brings a sense of calmness and tranquility and provides an environment whereby which the players on the club can succeed. There is no doubt that the talent is here for a strong run through the America East Tournament and maybe even the NCAA down the road! I was curious what everyone's opinion on the state of the Lady Danes and the future of this season and beyond!

 

Mike

Executive Sports Producer @ WCDB

If you have time, please do check out my website: Mike's Sports Caravan for the latest on the Lady Danes and the world of sports!

[Dane Pound]

Hard to say if it's a turnaround as UMBC isn't that strong of a team. Because of all the road games I haven't seen many games.

A few things I saw from the other night:

 

The guard spot still seems unsettled and is the achilles heel. I like Mikus as a point guard, she handles the ball well, is strong and can drive to the basket. She doesn't have a good outide shot though and opposing defenses can sag off her to help clog up the middle and defend on Hutch. Schumaker on the other hand is a great outside shooter but really doesn't drive to the hoop well. A couple of other slashers off the bench in Thrower, Johnson and James but still no outside shooting. I think in conference play your team is much more well scouted and you can't get away with as much as you can in OOC games. Just going from the box scores the other teams we've played know this and are defending the same way.

 

Just going from the box scores Alisha Learn doesn't seem to be playing as well as she did last year. I'm not sure if they changed her role or not. I suspect that when Hutch was out for a few games last year and Learn was the leading scorer during that time gave her alot of confidence which carried over the rest of the year. She doesn't look the same out there this year but I could be wrong.

 

Hopefully the guard play can be figured out because Mookie and Hutch are playing really well and a tough combo inside to stop.

[GODANESGO]

DP, I think you are EXACTLY right with Mikus about her outside shot. It is frustrating to see her numerous times get a pass when she's behind the arc and would have a BEAUTIFUL open 3, but the thought doesn't even seem to cross her mind. And the more and more she doesn't even at least attempt the shot, the closer and closer to the paint her defender stays. Which kills both her driving hopes and Hutch's chance for a lay-up.

[Dane Pound]

Reminds me of Courtney Johnson last year and I don't mean that as a slight to either player because I like them both. I knew they would miss Ayers and Sweetland and it's really apparent when you watch them. Kind of interesting, Mikus has taken seven 3s this year and Mookie has taken 29

 

I was surprised to see Thrower play so much the other night and neither James nor Johnson played at all.

[WCDBNuss]

Coach has been trying to mix it up as to who comes in off the bench, Thrower has shown alot of intensity in practice and is a very good defender...possibly the fastest girl on the team (and she can touch rim (shes 5'6" by the way))

 

As far as it goes with Mikus, she really broke out in the last game vs. UMBC, crisp passing, and good job leading her women to the basket. She has seemed to be more comfortable shooting from inside the arc in recent games, but is reluctant to take the 3, which is ok since our post players are so good. They definately miss Sweetland, but play overall has been picking up...the defense is there....if the offense comes back to early season form...look for the ladies to make a run.

[statefan]

I was going to wait until I've seen more than one and a quarter games to post my comments on the women's team, but they seem appropriate here. I was pretty impressed with Mikus on Wednesday. She handles the ball well and seemed to be a really good passer; i'd compare her more to Brian Lillis than to Courtney Johnson. So, I think the fall-off from Sweetland's leadership to Mikus' skills is minimal; yet the team seems like a far cry from the second half of last season. This leads me to believe that the difference is either the loss of Becky Ayers or the loss of the Assistant/Associate Coach. Since I don't see a lot of difference between Ayers and Schumacher; i'm wondering how much of the seeming lack of an offensive plan and flow results from the assistant coaching spot turnover, and I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's thoughts.

 

On Wednesday, the offense was very discouraging and in my opinion, and admittly based on a very small sample, Schumacher handles the ball too much. The ball was never attempted to go into Jones, Learn, Hutch or Majors until the bench was already counting down the shot clock; never giving the front court players time for more than one move, dribble or pass. To my way of thinking, the biggest sin was that nothing ever changed all night.

 

I'm hoping what I perceive was an aberration (I really thought we should have beaten UMBC by 25; as Schumacher said in the post-game, they are by far the least physical team in the conference) and will be interested to see how tomorrow's game plays out.

[Oldtimer]

I am not sure what is going on with the Lady Danes. I thought after the first 5 minutes and 15 pts. against UMBC they had exited their slump but after a great opening surge they proceeded to pass and pass and pass until someone had to heave with less than 5 seconds left on the clock. I understand patience but after the first pass in the offensive set you must look to score(even if you don't shoot), otherwise the defense just sits back and waits. I agree with previous comments that Mikus is a keeper. She is a Frosh and throwing up 3's might not be a priority for her. Hutch needs to play as a Senior. Plant your feet, square parallel to the board, go up strong and absorb the foul and then lead the AE in scoring. I have yet to see a team that I think the Lady Danes can't beat!!!

[WCDBNuss]

I agree that Hutch has to be the focal point of the offense...but i recall coach saying that she will always get her looks at the basket....its really up to the other players (Jones, Learn) to provide that extra lift the ladies need.

 

As far as Schumacher handling the ball too much, this has not been the case all season, just really in the UMBC game...when they (who knows why) left her open an awful lot, and shes not afraid to take that shot.

 

The thing I would like to see them work on...and in the practice i went to...was passing it in to Hutch and using the backdoor cut by the guards...I havent seen it work in the game, but Coach is trying to add that to the offensive mix as well.