Montara

[yotenation]

Dec 11, 2022 16:32:13 GMT -6 fanatic said:

How after the last several years defense was great have we stooped to no defense. Going to be a sad few seasons ahead. 10 yrs. of great defense to this. I believe paychecks are way too high for this group.

Could have something to do with no longer having any of the players that played great defense. Sjerven was a great defensive player and a total game changer on that end of the floor. Lamb and Korngable were highly experienced, tough defensive players. Watson and Krull were both outstanding defenders with athleticism.

Right now we have several below average defenders in the floor most of the time.

[usdguy99]

Dec 11, 2022 15:51:10 GMT -6 sdyotefan said:

Too much talk about shooting woes! There will always be times 3s especially won't drop but you HAVE to play good D EVERY time to be really successful! And really good D is a lot of work.

Not just talking about this team but, another thing that bugs me is not having proper form in shooting FTs. You'd think by college there would be better technique. Successful FT shooters don't shoot the ball flat, and they have good touch not just slamming it up there. Like everything else in life, it needs to be taught then practiced.

Obviously, this team has some good Qs and some bad Qs so they know, and we know they can play well but as Coach K said in the presser it has to be for 4 Qs!!

1 of 7 from 3 pt line, I can live with from time to time. 1 of 7 from the field, that's an issue.

[kiyoat]

Dec 11, 2022 16:43:04 GMT -6 GoYotes said:

We need to pay more attention to detail. This thread title is one of many examples.

You mean we DIDN'T just play the magical lost city of MONTARA?  Crap.  So that was just Montana kicking our asses?

[bedhogg]

Not to fuel the blame game but what about Dawn taking Watson with her? Is it ethical to take players with them? Idk… we likely lost Krull with the loss of Watson and they both would have been great leaders for this inexperienced team. We cannot blame these players or anyone for the lack of experience. I’m sure the returning players would have loved to see more or any minutes in the previous years. It is up to the coaching staff to teach and guide because aren’t they supposed to have more experience? Also the talk of lack of athleticism; while I agree to some extent, what about the lack of size and physicality/strength? We replaced strong physical players with weaker players (with the exception of Demers). Also all the comments about Hannah. Shouldn’t she be good after all the years she played? A post is only as good as the guards feeding her. Do you ever watch Ugofsky or Demers boxing out and sealing to open gaps for others to shoot? They work their butts off under the hoop and rarely get the ball thrown in. And all this while the three pointers aren’t falling. Something has to change. Why don’t they put Demers in as a post and Ugofsky in as a 3 or 4 at the same time? Change it up. Can’t keep putting the same line in and expect a different result. Sorry for the rant. I’m just sick of losing as we all are.

[Men's League Waterboy]

Experience is experience because it got on the floor because it had talent. There are plenty of reasons this team is inexperienced. Kids are just being asked to do things that they’re not currently or never will be capable of doing. At this point you just need to start playing harder (the start of the third quarter was a noticeable uptick in defensive intensity and awareness) and smarter and see if some of the youngsters show some promise and development. Because that’s what it’s about right now. Everybody needs to get markedly better. Top to bottom.

[hoopsmom]

Coaches take players with them to new teams all of the time. The Kansas City coach took a couple players with her to her new team. Kim Mulkey took players with her from Baylor to LSU. Vic Schaeffer took players with him when he went from Mississippi State to Texas. It happens everywhere, and with the transfer portal, it’s not going to stop. Players know that a coach they really had a good relationship with is going to a bigger and better school, and they approach the coach and say “hey, can I come with?”

[yoteforever]

What you say is true.

The exception I would take with your quote is where you say a coach is going to a bigger and better school I would say bigger and different. Being larger in size and part of a more known conference doesn’t make you better.

WV couldn’t have played with USD at any point the past 2 years and that’s in a large part due to your daughter. The trio of seniors we had last year might be once in a lifetime. Unbelievable group of young ladies. 3 graduated and 2 elected to transfer. That sucks for our fan base but it’s reality. USD womens basketball is now part of Coyote dna. Womens volleyball is getting closer.

For my money USD is smaller but better.

[MD]

I am not the brightest light bulb on the Christmas tree by a long shot, but with the current roster I don't think we ever want to get into a track meet with teams.
I'd suggest the path to wins is the opposite. Slow the game down, limit possessions and win the game 62-55. Of course no plan works great if shots won't go in.

Just my humble, non expert opinion.

[soofooyote]

Dec 12, 2022 8:14:03 GMT -6 MD said:

I am not the brightest light bulb on the Christmas tree by a long shot, but with the current roster I don't think we ever want to get into a track meet with teams.
I'd suggest the path to wins is the opposite. Slow the game down, limit possessions and win the game 62-55. Of course no plan works great if shots won't go in.

Just my humble, non expert opinion.

I agree wholeheartedly, but I don't think we have the athleticism or the desire to play the kind of defense we need to play for 40 minutes to win those kinds of games.  The biggest issue in my mind is effort, specifically the stretches we go through where we lack any kind of intensity.  When we play hard, we play well and stay with teams.  When we don't, we get run out of the gym.  There's zero excuse for some of the stuff we see, not getting back on defense, slow rotations, complete mental break downs on defense, slow close outs on the perimeter, no backside help, the list could go on and on.  I can forgive inexperience, learning curve, lack of size, etc. but when we don't have 100% effort, that's frustrating for me.  Our teams of the past played HARD for Dawn and Amy, and that is part of what made them great.  Those teams looked like they had been through a war at the end of their games and they were shot.  This team looks like they came back from yoga class.  I just don't see the effort and intensity.  That's partially on the coach, but it shows me a complete lack of leadership within the team.  Someone needs to light that fire and start getting accountability for lack of effort.  

[Men's League Waterboy]

Exactly.

Just play hard for now. Fight. Quit worrying about outcome and start worrying about effort.

[Men's League Waterboy]

And everybody needs to let Watson and Krull go.

They'd help defensively for sure.

But a couple of guards averaging 5 points a night on 30 percent shooting wasn't going to cure all that ails this current Yotes squad, either.

[yote18]

I’d also like to point out that we knew the lack of intensity was present, although not to this extent. There were a lot of games last year where we played the big 3 non-stop because we had to, not because we wanted to. We couldn’t rely on our bench to keep the flow going when we needed them and no body was willing to step up and work along side them. Imagine how deadly our team would’ve been had they done that. We asked for ALOT out of the big 3, and they gave us a lot in return.

Every returning player had the opportunity to learn from 3 of the best and keep momentum rolling this season but they chose their path and now we’re here.

[90yote]

I have a lot of thoughts, but my season-ticket buddy and I came to the conclusion that we are just going to temper our criticism because a lot of what has happened is out of their control, at least to a certain degree. I'm not implying others shouldn't be critical or that I won't to some degree, but that's just how I've decided to handle it. It's also why I've waited to post until today. 🙂

I agree with many others. MLB is right by saying that some of this is inexperience, but some of it is because there are players being asked to do things they aren't capable or talented enough to do.

I think soofoo is also correct with them not playing with "above and beyond" effort...playing harder than you ever knew you could.

The biggest concern I have is these ridiculous quarters they have. Looking back, I see 21-3, 19-5, 27-12, 28-5, and 30-6 (yesterday). There is something wrong there. Confidence seems to be a big issue...both self-confidence and confidence in teammates, IMO. They really did play an excellent first quarter. They shot the ball well, defended the lane, and forced contested jumpers. But when they start missing shots, things go awry on the other end. They had a tough time matching up in transition and finding shooters. They tend to over-help and give up wide open looks. Having those quarters against Creighton and Drake is one thing...getting outscored 30-6 on your home floor by a sub-200 team with one win is another. Not sure what to say about that.

Other observations:

Ugofsky came out in the 3rd period and played inspired basketball. As my buddy said, she just looked pissed. And she played like it. She led the run that cut the lead to 3. At that point I thought they would win. The crowd got into it, willing them and almost pleading with them to keep going. Jeniah does give great effort and may tire more easily due in part to that. She only averages 17 minutes per game. She's not super-talented or gifted, but she is a smart player and they seem more organized defensively when she is in the game. Dawn always used to talk about her basketball IQ.

Montana put on some pressure most all the game. MW alluded to this - teams are trying to speed them up and tire them out. And when Grace was out of the game, it went from token pressure to a full-out press. Hempe was really weak with the ball yesterday and probably played her worst game of the year.

Duffney fell out of the rotation yesterday. Kayla is searching for combinations.

This is tough, especially with what has been built here. Onward and upward.

[yotenation]

Dec 12, 2022 11:44:47 GMT -6 90yote said:

I have a lot of thoughts, but my season-ticket buddy and I came to the conclusion that we are just going to temper our criticism because a lot of what has happened is out of their control, at least to a certain degree. I'm not implying others shouldn't be critical or that I won't to some degree, but that's just how I've decided to handle it. It's also why I've waited to post until today. 🙂

I agree with many others. MLB is right by saying that some of this is inexperience, but some of it is because there are players being asked to do things they aren't capable or talented enough to do.

I think soofoo is also correct with them not playing with "above and beyond" effort...playing harder than you ever knew you could.

The biggest concern I have is these ridiculous quarters they have. Looking back, I see 21-3, 19-5, 27-12, 28-5, and 30-6 (yesterday). There is something wrong there. Confidence seems to be a big issue...both self-confidence and confidence in teammates, IMO. They really did play an excellent first quarter. They shot the ball well, defended the lane, and forced contested jumpers. But when they start missing shots, things go awry on the other end. They had a tough time matching up in transition and finding shooters. They tend to over-help and give up wide open looks. Having those quarters against Creighton and Drake is one thing...getting outscored 30-6 on your home floor by a sub-200 team with one win is another. Not sure what to say about that.

Other observations:

Ugofsky came out in the 3rd period and played inspired basketball. As my buddy said, she just looked pissed. And she played like it. She led the run that cut the lead to 3. At that point I thought they would win. The crowd got into it, willing them and almost pleading with them to keep going. Jeniah does give great effort and may tire more easily due in part to that. She only averages 17 minutes per game. She's not super-talented or gifted, but she is a smart player and they seem more organized defensively when she is in the game. Dawn always used to talk about her basketball IQ.

Montana put on some pressure most all the game. MW alluded to this - teams are trying to speed them up and tire them out. And when Grace was out of the game, it went from token pressure to a full-out press. Hempe was really weak with the ball yesterday and probably played her worst game of the year.

Duffney fell out of the rotation yesterday. Kayla is searching for combinations.

This is tough, especially with what has been built here. Onward and upward.

You're right. Every game has a stretch where things just spiral out of control. It's really ugly. You can see it happening. The other team goes on a run and you can see the team just deflate. There's a serious lack of confidence problem. They needs to find a way to dig deep in those situations. Runs will happen. It's the nature of the game. But they make runs worse than they need to be by being sloppy with the ball and falling apart defensively.

Ugofsky is tough and smart and she plays hard. Unfortunately, she's often being put in a situation where she is being asked to guard posts that have a lot of size in her.

Not much we can do as fans but continue to support the team and hope they start to figure some things out. We knew this would be a challenging year and it's turning out to be even more challenging than we expected. I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Karius. She's landed in a pretty tough situation with graduations, transfers, and injuries. This team is lacking in confidence, experience, size, and talent. There are a lot of issues here that aren't going to be fixed overnight. Let's hope she can right the ship a bit and that we see some steady improvement for the rest of the season.