RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Gaucho Don]

OK, it's not even that late on a busy day yet, just started thinking (scary thought I know) and I'm curious what people would say (going into the tournament) are the strengths and weaknesses of your favorite NCAA bound team. (I'm sure I could probably take a rough run at this statistically through the category rankings on the NCAA stat site, but that would have all the inherent bugs of SOS etc... I want a more subjective approach (with all of it's inherent bugs)

For UCSB, I think our strengths are not entirely our traditional strengths of recent years (though I'm hoping some of those traditional strengths suddently show up Saturday)...

Strengths: Rebounding, taking care of the ball (much better than prior year's 20+ TO/g - though we're still not Villanova)

Weaknesses: Defense (alright so I'm comparing it to traditional Gaucho D), we still have a ways to go to get to that. Depth

Could go either way on any day: Three Point shooting, semi-stagnant Motion Offense (or a periodic tendency to watch Kristen go to work?)

Most of y'all are much better at these types of analysis than I am, but I'm curious to hear your take on your team (or any team you think you know about?)!

[pilight]

The only team on Mercer's schedule that made the tournament is Stetson. I'll tell you about them, even though there's virtually no chance of anyone but LSU seeing them.

Kristy Brown is their best player. She's a 6'2 post, not too quick by big school standards but with a nice shooting touch. They also have Nefertiti Walker, a transfer from Georgia Tech, shot can and will shoot from inside or out. They have ball handling issues.

_________________
I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[cthskzfn]

well, i heard the dartmouth coach interviewed tonight and, by the sound of things, uconn is in for some trouble sunday.

they have a 'great, quick 6'2 post', a 'great penetrating guard' and 'a couple of great 3-pt shooters'.

she sold me.

[Gaucho Don]

Yeah, gotta love a 14 seed with no weaknesses

[womens_hoops]

back off of Chris Wielgus, kids. Of course they'll lose to UConn. But you try building a top-100 basketball team at a school where:

(1) tuition is more than most families make in a year,
(2) you have no scholarships, and
(3) it's in Hanover, NH, which has two nice days a year (when the leaves turn).

She's a great coach, and she has a great team, considering.

[bballjunkee212]

Okay, thought I'd take a crack at this.

Iowa

Strengths: Jamie Cavey in the middle; she played well against the best posts in the B10, meaning some of the best in the country (Davenport, McCarville); a quick, athletic guard in Crystal Smith, who drive and dish and play great defense.

Weaknesses: Not in the Dance. But they may do something in the WNIT.

KSU

Strengths: Kendra Wecker is the best player in the country. She can do it all. Laurie Koehn is one of the great three-point shooters of all time. Kara Wheeler and Brie Madden are not all-anything, but you hafta play them. Claire Coggins can be gutsy when she has to be.

Weaknesses: Lost Megan Mahoney, the glue that held the team together. Instead of being able to treat their first round game as a formality, they will have to shore themselves up emotionally while doing some major restructuring of the offensive sets. Koehn tends to give up almost as many points defensively as she scores. If they allowed a dozen fouls per game, Wheeler would have nine before the 15:00 mark in the first half. Any 98-pound weakling can push Madden out of the blocks. Coggins still makes sophomore mistakes. Twiggy McIntire is 4-foot something. I hate to have to say it, but if KSU gets past the first round, they will probably fall to Vandy.

_________________
~Bill

[Gaucho Don]

[CamrnCrz1974]

Team: Duke

Strengths:
- Post defense
- Balance of perimeter scoring with points in the paint; manufacturing points from set plays
- Ball sharing leading to assisted baskets

Weaknesses:
- No true point guard
- Ballhandling (see above), especially against teams with quick, athletic guards
- Offensive execution against athletic teams
- Recognizing and passing out of double teams in the post
- Lack of depth (team only has 8 players who see a lot of minutes)

[womens_hoops]

Team: Minnesota

Strengths:
Post play on both ends of the floor (McCarville, Broback)
Physical strength
Perimeter defense, especially from Shannon Bolden

Weaknesses:
Offense, especially from the 1-2-3 spots
Lack of speed
Turnovers, vulnerability to the press

[cthskzfn]

[cthskzfn]

hey bbj- if that's the one who got away, i feel your pain.

[womens_hoops]