ChipperF1
01-27-2002, 12:42 PM
A fickle thing about kids. Just when you think you have them figured out, they make a sharp cut the other way on you.
I'm sure Iowa State fans feel that way. I'm know being a Nebraska fan, that's been the way the Huskers have been all season.
Saturday was primed to be yet another in the continuing series of Cyclone-Husker embarassments, instead it turned out to be a competitive effort by the lasses of scarlet and cream, an effort this fan hasn't seen from this team against quality opposition since November.
Granted the ladies got some help in the first half. Two fouls on Angie Welle (2 points, 0 boards in the first 20 minutes) levelled the playing field some, and at times Nebraska took the openings. Keasha Cannon was able to penetrate, shoot and pass, Stephanie Jones and Katie Robinette did a lot of good things inside, created some solid open looks.
The other thing I liked was each time Iowa State got their runs in the first half, Nebraska was answer. The downside was when Nebraska had an opportunity to control the game, each time the didn't take the initiative. If it wasn't missed shot, it was a turnover or worse the amount of times that Nebraska failed to come up with a defensive rebound. Five times in the first half, Iowa State got three shots on a single possession or more. This blunted a solid shooting edge for Nebraska. The Huskers outshot the Cyclones 51% to 40% in the first half. With numbers like that, one should be able to build a solid lead, instead Nebraska was only able to manage a tie at halftime.
The second half, Welle was back and Iowa State went to her. Three of first five possession they went to her, and the All-American responded the way she always does. Welle has such excellent post moves that she'll beat solid centers, and destroy players as poor as Nebraska's posts. That opened the door to two early runs for Iowa State as they were able to establish their ball movement, force Nebraska to chase and soon everybody was getting open looks. Tracy Gahan and Lindsey Wilson just couldn't miss its seems, They combined for 10 of 16 threes, and scored a combined 43 points.
Nebraska response wasn't the same as it was in the last game with Iowa State. I think a lot of it has to do with Keasha Cannon. Even when Iowa State was up 13, she was able to make a play or get someone else in position to make one. Instead of the game getting ugly, Nebraska was able to turned 60-47 into 60-53, before Iowa State was able to build another solid run, while Nebraska shooting at times went back to its normal frigidity (32% in the second half).
WHAT WORKED FOR NEBRASKA
1. Keasha Cannon. 22 points, 9 assists,4 steals, and showed a lot of poise and leadership for this team. She is the only gamebreaker on the squad right now, but her skills and ability could help forge another.
2. Katie Robinette (on offense) 11 points, 6 rebounds. A solid performance and a massive improvement on some of her recent efforts. She gets the "what worked" flag for showing that she is starting to settle into her offensive role and make plays. Now if we can get her to stop all those candypants fadeaway jumpers and get her to attack the basket (4-for-15 shooting vs. ISU), she'll be almost as good as that Wecker girl.
3. Shannon Howell. She played more aggressively, and it paid off. She was good on offense, hit some key shots, showed improvement on defense although more is needed. When Shannon takes the fight to people, she plays well. If Shannon can build on this performance, some good things will come about
WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR NEBRASKA
Before I even make the list, I have comment about how much Nebraska played 3 against 5 against Iowa State.
Nebraska would often have three players doing the job and two who didn't know what in the world they were doing. (Ya, das ist de time on Schprokets when vee bahsh!)
1. Katie Morse.....WHY IS KATIE MORSE PLAYING 19 MINUTES????
Morse spent the entire ballgame standing around watching other people play. Her only value was guard Welle on the inbound, but once the ball got inbounded, she was just taking up space. She took three shots, including the ugliest outside shot I've seen all season. Oh, and speaking of outside, SHE SPENT 14 MINUTES PLAYING THE PERIMETER! Katie Morse is not a guard, Mr. Sanderford she is 6'4" weigh about 215, get her under the basket in the blocks where she belongs (Better yet, get her on the last seat on the bench where she belongs).
The more I see Katie Morse, the more I'm reminded of Casey Leonhardt, AND THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING!
2. K.C. Cowgill....K.C. Cowgill only does three things, shoot, run around and play pathetic defense. She does the last two things very well. Saturday, she played 33 minutes and maybe gave us 32 minutes of an aerobic workout and bad defense.
Not to be completely negative, she did hit two threes in the game. Six points, nice, but Cowgill just doesn't fit it to the structure the team is trying to build on both ends of the floor. But then again, she has to play out of necessity. With Shah Roberts out, Margaret Richard ineffective, and Jina Johansen raw, who else do you have?
3. Pulling Stephanie "Charo" Jones out when she playing well. In the first half, Stephanie was getting open, challenging inside and she managed to hit some shots. The girl was getting warm, and Paul Sanderfraud rewards her, by benching her..and then you don't see her again until mid-second half.
4. Sanderford's Substitution Pattern....Paul Sanderford has been saying he's going to limit subtitution, select a corp group and play them. But in the game against Iowa State he still shuttled in a cast of thousands and the worst thing is, he was bench people when they were doing well. Alexa Johnson is working it inside, getting some looks, scoring 8 points and then Paul takes her out and puts in Casey Leonhardt Jr. He puts in Griechaly Cepero and then immediately yanks her within 2 minutes?
But notice, he isn't giving Lazy Morse the quick hook, and what in the world is K.C. Cowgill doing playing 33 minutes, while Shannon Howell is platoon with Margaret Richards?
Why do I get the feeling that this team's efforts are coming in spite of Paul Sanderford?
Overall Outlook: This team is showing some signs of improvement. They had opportunities to get butchered, instead they dug in and fought hard. This team wasn't the Monica Lewinsky Cornhuskers.
Next game they'll meet Baylor, and the K-Cars went Viper on Texas. The Huskers have yet to meet consecutive quality opponents and put together two solid games in a row, that's the next challenge. Thus, my enthuiasm is somewhat dulled.
One good thing I'm seeing in the press coverage in Nebraska however is that the beat writers and columnist are starting to ask whether this team's failure is a Paul Sanderford problem. This observer thinks much of it is a Paul Sanderford problem. I would hope Huskerfans would also consider this question as well.
---ChipperF1 http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif
I'm sure Iowa State fans feel that way. I'm know being a Nebraska fan, that's been the way the Huskers have been all season.
Saturday was primed to be yet another in the continuing series of Cyclone-Husker embarassments, instead it turned out to be a competitive effort by the lasses of scarlet and cream, an effort this fan hasn't seen from this team against quality opposition since November.
Granted the ladies got some help in the first half. Two fouls on Angie Welle (2 points, 0 boards in the first 20 minutes) levelled the playing field some, and at times Nebraska took the openings. Keasha Cannon was able to penetrate, shoot and pass, Stephanie Jones and Katie Robinette did a lot of good things inside, created some solid open looks.
The other thing I liked was each time Iowa State got their runs in the first half, Nebraska was answer. The downside was when Nebraska had an opportunity to control the game, each time the didn't take the initiative. If it wasn't missed shot, it was a turnover or worse the amount of times that Nebraska failed to come up with a defensive rebound. Five times in the first half, Iowa State got three shots on a single possession or more. This blunted a solid shooting edge for Nebraska. The Huskers outshot the Cyclones 51% to 40% in the first half. With numbers like that, one should be able to build a solid lead, instead Nebraska was only able to manage a tie at halftime.
The second half, Welle was back and Iowa State went to her. Three of first five possession they went to her, and the All-American responded the way she always does. Welle has such excellent post moves that she'll beat solid centers, and destroy players as poor as Nebraska's posts. That opened the door to two early runs for Iowa State as they were able to establish their ball movement, force Nebraska to chase and soon everybody was getting open looks. Tracy Gahan and Lindsey Wilson just couldn't miss its seems, They combined for 10 of 16 threes, and scored a combined 43 points.
Nebraska response wasn't the same as it was in the last game with Iowa State. I think a lot of it has to do with Keasha Cannon. Even when Iowa State was up 13, she was able to make a play or get someone else in position to make one. Instead of the game getting ugly, Nebraska was able to turned 60-47 into 60-53, before Iowa State was able to build another solid run, while Nebraska shooting at times went back to its normal frigidity (32% in the second half).
WHAT WORKED FOR NEBRASKA
1. Keasha Cannon. 22 points, 9 assists,4 steals, and showed a lot of poise and leadership for this team. She is the only gamebreaker on the squad right now, but her skills and ability could help forge another.
2. Katie Robinette (on offense) 11 points, 6 rebounds. A solid performance and a massive improvement on some of her recent efforts. She gets the "what worked" flag for showing that she is starting to settle into her offensive role and make plays. Now if we can get her to stop all those candypants fadeaway jumpers and get her to attack the basket (4-for-15 shooting vs. ISU), she'll be almost as good as that Wecker girl.
3. Shannon Howell. She played more aggressively, and it paid off. She was good on offense, hit some key shots, showed improvement on defense although more is needed. When Shannon takes the fight to people, she plays well. If Shannon can build on this performance, some good things will come about
WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR NEBRASKA
Before I even make the list, I have comment about how much Nebraska played 3 against 5 against Iowa State.
Nebraska would often have three players doing the job and two who didn't know what in the world they were doing. (Ya, das ist de time on Schprokets when vee bahsh!)
1. Katie Morse.....WHY IS KATIE MORSE PLAYING 19 MINUTES????
Morse spent the entire ballgame standing around watching other people play. Her only value was guard Welle on the inbound, but once the ball got inbounded, she was just taking up space. She took three shots, including the ugliest outside shot I've seen all season. Oh, and speaking of outside, SHE SPENT 14 MINUTES PLAYING THE PERIMETER! Katie Morse is not a guard, Mr. Sanderford she is 6'4" weigh about 215, get her under the basket in the blocks where she belongs (Better yet, get her on the last seat on the bench where she belongs).
The more I see Katie Morse, the more I'm reminded of Casey Leonhardt, AND THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING!
2. K.C. Cowgill....K.C. Cowgill only does three things, shoot, run around and play pathetic defense. She does the last two things very well. Saturday, she played 33 minutes and maybe gave us 32 minutes of an aerobic workout and bad defense.
Not to be completely negative, she did hit two threes in the game. Six points, nice, but Cowgill just doesn't fit it to the structure the team is trying to build on both ends of the floor. But then again, she has to play out of necessity. With Shah Roberts out, Margaret Richard ineffective, and Jina Johansen raw, who else do you have?
3. Pulling Stephanie "Charo" Jones out when she playing well. In the first half, Stephanie was getting open, challenging inside and she managed to hit some shots. The girl was getting warm, and Paul Sanderfraud rewards her, by benching her..and then you don't see her again until mid-second half.
4. Sanderford's Substitution Pattern....Paul Sanderford has been saying he's going to limit subtitution, select a corp group and play them. But in the game against Iowa State he still shuttled in a cast of thousands and the worst thing is, he was bench people when they were doing well. Alexa Johnson is working it inside, getting some looks, scoring 8 points and then Paul takes her out and puts in Casey Leonhardt Jr. He puts in Griechaly Cepero and then immediately yanks her within 2 minutes?
But notice, he isn't giving Lazy Morse the quick hook, and what in the world is K.C. Cowgill doing playing 33 minutes, while Shannon Howell is platoon with Margaret Richards?
Why do I get the feeling that this team's efforts are coming in spite of Paul Sanderford?
Overall Outlook: This team is showing some signs of improvement. They had opportunities to get butchered, instead they dug in and fought hard. This team wasn't the Monica Lewinsky Cornhuskers.
Next game they'll meet Baylor, and the K-Cars went Viper on Texas. The Huskers have yet to meet consecutive quality opponents and put together two solid games in a row, that's the next challenge. Thus, my enthuiasm is somewhat dulled.
One good thing I'm seeing in the press coverage in Nebraska however is that the beat writers and columnist are starting to ask whether this team's failure is a Paul Sanderford problem. This observer thinks much of it is a Paul Sanderford problem. I would hope Huskerfans would also consider this question as well.
---ChipperF1 http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif