NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

I wouldn't neccessarily say bad habits more like a lack of being pushed on a nightly basis. It is hard for a team to take the next step when the next best team they play is the second 5 in practice.

I'm guessing this is a joke or said in jest. If not, you're wrong.

I'll just assume you're saying that they're not challenged in conference that often.

[jacksfan29]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

Let's see, our two conference loses were to IUPUI. USD took them out twice during the season, and we had so much trouble with their defense, that it was a struggle to keep the game close in score. I would put the Gamecocks as a team much like IUPUI, but more talented, quicker, and defensive than IUPUI. Our ladies had more than what they could handle yesterday. We are going to have trouble again next year with IUPUI since most of their players are back, and their coach is still coaching good defense. How USD could pentatrate IUPUI defense is a mystery to me, but one mystery that AJ might want to spend some off season on looking at their videos. I think competition is getting better in the SL, with IUPIU and USD doing their normal thing, trying to beat SDSU.

What no one seems to be talking about is that lack of steady leadership on this team. I think our seniors are great BB players, great people and were an asset to this program. But, not everyone is a leader capable of showing up every night. It seems as if we regressed as the year went on. Is there anyone on here who thinks that USD would have been able to stay with us around the time we were beating Nebraska? By the end of the season this team was tentative and playing incredibly sloppy basketball. I have never watched an uglier game then the Summit Championship against USD.

That being said, the Women's game is very different. There is far less parity in the game. That makes it incredibly hard for a school like SDSU to year in and year out play at the level we did in 2008 - 2009. It seems that we are getting the best talent in the region of MN, ND, SD. Would any of us trade the talent on this team for what the Gophers have right now? How about NDSU or USD? I think that continues. I also think that the next two years could be very special. Meagan is the real deal and Gabby has the passion to be that leader who shows up every night. Both of these women could very well lead us back to a top 25 ranking in the next year or two. Could we use more speed and athleticism, of course. Should AJ go outside of the region? I think he has earned to right to make that choice based on where he wants this program to go.

[NoVaJack]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

Stiffer competition makes everyone better come tournament time. The OH PLEASE came as a result of your claim that players 6-10 provide better competition than anyone else in the league. I know it's your board but that is a load of croc.

The Jacks' 6-10 would have finished where in the conference this year? No lower than 3?

[bigticket1]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

What no one seems to be talking about is that lack of steady leadership on this team. I think our seniors are great BB players, great people and were an asset to this program. But, not everyone is a leader capable of showing up every night. It seems as if we regressed as the year went on. Is there anyone on here who thinks that USD would have been able to stay with us around the time we were beating Nebraska? By the end of the season this team was tentative and playing incredibly sloppy basketball. I have never watched an uglier game then the Summit Championship against USD.

That being said, the Women's game is very different. There is far less parity in the game. That makes it incredibly hard for a school like SDSU to year in and year out play at the level we did in 2008 - 2009. It seems that we are getting the best talent in the region of MN, ND, SD. Would any of us trade the talent on this team for what the Gophers have right now? How about NDSU or USD? I think that continues. I also think that the next two years could be very special. Meagan is the real deal and Gabby has the passion to be that leader who shows up every night. Both of these women could very well lead us back to a top 25 ranking in the next year or two. Could we use more speed and athleticism, of course. Should AJ go outside of the region? I think he has earned to right to make that choice based on where he wants this program to go.

The Jacks have definitely gotten a lot of top tier players out of Minnesota. Almost all of them have been power forward/post type players. What AJ hasn't yet been able to get is that really elite guard ( Taylor Hill,Rachel Banham,Becca Dahlman,Carlie Wagner) that can take over a game. But he has stiff competition from programs like Ohio State,Vanderbilt etc.. for these players. Wherever they might come from,that is the type of player the Jacks need to take that next big step up.

[Just in the crowd]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

The Jacks' 6-10 would have finished where in the conference this year? No lower than 3?

http://warrennolan.com/basketballw/2013/conferencerpi

The bad thing is that the Summit League was the 23rd ranked conference. The conference ranked 17th out of the 26 mid-majors.

[Southeast]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

It's quite a luxury for fans of a school based in a medium-sized SD town to complain about how our team has done in the last five NCAA tournaments. We are indeed lucky, but there is nothing wrong with pushing for more. Obviously, the coaches feel the same way.

One thing I'm pretty sure about is that we are likely to get to discuss this again next March. We're returning seven players that saw significant action this year, plus adding Paulch (who averaged 25 min in 2012). That set of players alone would be ready to contend for another Summit title. I expect that Stuart and a couple of others will be ready to step up next year too.

The big question for me is how good does Megan W. get? Clarin looks like she has a high ceiling too. Someone has to develop into a true star in order for us to have a shot at winning an NCAA Tournament game. We have two more years with this very good sophomore class and maybe one of them will get there.

[jackdaniel]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

The Jacks have definitely gotten a lot of top tier players out of Minnesota. Almost all of them have been power forward/post type players. What AJ hasn't yet been able to get is that really elite guard ( Taylor Hill,Rachel Banham,Becca Dahlman,Carlie Wagner) that can take over a game. But he has stiff competition from programs like Ohio State,Vanderbilt etc.. for these players. Wherever they might come from,that is the type of player the Jacks need to take that next big step up.

How'd we get Andrea Verdegan out of Wisc to come here?I'm thinking we saw her play at the Miss Basketball Tournament in Kearney Neb and offered her when we were allowed to.She was a very good player not from Minn or S. Dak. She's about the last player to not come from either S Dak or Minn.

Hang on to your hats guys, this programs on the verge of really taking off in the next few years,with our super soph team maturing as juniors next yr,along with Heiser and Strop ,Steph taking over Eides roll,and we have very, very good recruits comming in the next four years.we'll have good roll players and excellent bench depth.If we don't six-peat , I'll be disappointed

Look at this impressive line up for recruits the next four years,...Stevens,Young ,Ober,Flaata...Severyn,Miller,Alexander,Thompson.. .Mieras....It only gets better for the Jacks,the challenge has been extended to the rest of the Summit to try and keep pace.

[jackdaniel]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

One thing about playing in the Summit reg season prior to going to the NCAA'S, as a,at best 13 seed ,playing ranked teams one thru 16,it doesn't help.

We get conditioned to slow ,mythodical,almost robotical play....then boom,we're playing South Carolina the next day.That's why our record is 1-5 in games won in the tournament.
We also need to be seeded like the '08-'09 team was,and Green Bay, and Gonzaga gets,even Chattenooga,and teams that win the conference tournament from conferences with higher rpi schools.We are alway's fighting an up hill battle in the Summit.

We should have known we weren't going to do too well in the tournament by 1) we lost our shooting touch toward the end of the season 2) we weren't beating real high rpi teams like we should have (20 + pts),so to me, we weren't comparable to South Carolina (who surely would have)We merely squeeked by ,beating them by 1,2,3, whatever pts.The one exception, was the 2008-2009 team,they blasted Summit competition and remained at a high level of play the entire season.Things will get better,enough said.

[JackJD]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

Stiffer competition makes everyone better come tournament time. The OH PLEASE came as a result of your claim that players 6-10 provide better competition than anyone else in the league. I know it's your board but that is a load of croc.

I hope the reference to the success of 6-10 players was made tongue-in-cheek and if it wasn't, then I agree with the sentiment expressed by yoteforever. I think IUPUI, USD and at least one other team knock out the comment about SDSU's 6-10. But, SoDakJack's 6-10 comment also refers to SDSU having the best bench in the league and I think that point is hard to refute. When we have to substitute, there is usually very little drop-off in ability. For the very near future, I don't see that changing.

Just like on the men's side, we need all teams in the league to improve against out-of-conference competition, to schedule tougher out-of-conference games, and then to (unfortunately) pound on one another once conference play starts. We cannot have the large divide that now separates the top teams from the bottom teams. IUPUI is there. Like it or not, rabbit fans, USD is there (and I fear USD's coach will be a formidable opponent in recruiting as well as on the sideline during games -- and if my guess on the future of a Williams-coached USD is accurate, then I'm not at all excited about USD once it gets a shiny new basketball facility). I think OldHare's comments about WIU and, sometimes, UMKC, upping the ante is accurate. If our goal of overall conference improvement is met, then that means we won't go to the NCAA tourney every year -- unless and until the league's RPI and other measures show the Summit League deserves two (or more!) teams in the tourney.

UMKC is making a move to try to be a bigger fish by dropping to a lower level of competition. ORU did the same thing to a degree (although ORU's decision was clearly supportable by objective factors including travel).

Do all the schools in the conference have the guts to schedule like Coach Kampe does with the OU men? I know that AJ and SDSU try to schedule tougher O-O-C competition but it is difficult -- people won't play us. I think USD under Amy Williams will soon have that same problem. We'll get some good O-O-C opponents but will there be enough of them?

I want to see the entire conference improve. I think the conference is doing that and I hope it continues. (And then, I hope we beat the heck out of all of them! )

[Just in the crowd]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

I hope the reference to the success of 6-10 players was made tongue-in-cheek and if it wasn't, then I agree with the sentiment expressed by yoteforever. I think IUPUI, USD and at least one other team knock out the comment about SDSU's 6-10. But, SoDakJack's 6-10 comment also refers to SDSU having the best bench in the league and I think that point is hard to refute. When we have to substitute, there is usually very little drop-off in ability. For the very near future, I don't see that changing.

Just like on the men's side, we need all teams in the league to improve against out-of-conference competition, to schedule tougher out-of-conference games, and then to (unfortunately) pound on one another once conference play starts. We cannot have the large divide that now separates the top teams from the bottom teams. IUPUI is there. Like it or not, rabbit fans, USD is there (and I fear USD's coach will be a formidable opponent in recruiting as well as on the sideline during games -- and if my guess on the future of a Williams-coached USD is accurate, then I'm not at all excited about USD once it gets a shiny new basketball facility). I think OldHare's comments about WIU and, sometimes, UMKC, upping the ante is accurate. If our goal of overall conference improvement is met, then that means we won't go to the NCAA tourney every year -- unless and until the league's RPI and other measures show the Summit League deserves two (or more!) teams in the tourney.

UMKC is making a move to try to be a bigger fish by dropping to a lower level of competition. ORU did the same thing to a degree (although ORU's decision was clearly supportable by objective factors including travel).

Do all the schools in the conference have the guts to schedule like Coach Kampe does with the OU men? I know that AJ and SDSU try to schedule tougher O-O-C competition but it is difficult -- people won't play us. I think USD under Amy Williams will soon have that same problem. We'll get some good O-O-C opponents but will there be enough of them?

I want to see the entire conference improve. I think the conference is doing that and I hope it continues. (And then, I hope we beat the heck out of all of them! )

To a degree yes, but at the end of the season the conference Oral Roberts moved to was higher ranked than the Summit. The Southland was #20, the Summit #23.

http://rpiratings.com/womensrpi.php

[JackJD]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

You're right on the relative RPI's and I recognize this is a thread about the Summit League Women.

I haven't checked but my guess is the Summit's RPI dropped when ORU left the Summit.

I had in mind the men when mentioning ORU: I think baseball and men's basketball are the #1 and #2 attention-getters for ORU. The men's Summit RPI was 19 and the men's Southland was 25.

[OldHare]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

We can all bring the reason that the women failed against the Gamecocks. It is true that we did not have that key player/leader to grab the reins. It is also true that we were pummeled by the bigs. It seemed very obvious watching the strength of their post play. The gal off the bench #33 looked like the one they would use in the remake of Zena. She was big, strong, fast, and she moved well. #21(6' senoir) took the game over every time needed. When the Jacks made a minirun at the end, she was back on the floor to end that risk. They took a few more offensive rebounds and defensive boards(12 more overall) and the ball went to the post at will. They shot better than the season averages, but that is a good thing at tournament time. The Jackrabbits did not have a great game, but it was equally disappointing for the Buffalo fans when the #12(I think)Kansas seed beat the home team easily. As an unrelated item, does anyone know the people from Yankton that were going from Detroit to Boulder? They were behind me on the morning going to Boulder and the weather was not good for travel. I did not see them at Boulder and I arrived during the national anthem.

[Kurt_Evans]

Look at this impressive line up for recruits the next four years,...Stevens,Young ,Ober,Flaata...Severyn,Miller,Alexander,Thompson.. .Mieras....It only gets better for the Jacks,the challenge has been extended to the rest of the Summit to try and keep pace.

Macy needs to beef up and shoot more threes, but she had a couple of drives in the AA tourney that literally made me say, "Wow."

Mitchell's Macy Miller earns Daily Republic player of year award:
mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/77750/

[jackmd]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

Jacks got their butts kicked by a better team that played its best. Too bad we can't complain that it was on "their home floor". AJ is a great coach with some talented players. Dawn Staley is a better coach with more talented players (in my estimation). Tough to win one big game against those odds.

The Jackrabbits are learning, the Summit is improving, I think we will be okay.

Hell, I will just say it, I think AJ could have done a better job with some of his personnel this year at that hurt the Jackrabbits against more talented teams. I have not credentials to back that statement up accept my receipt from the Jackrabbit club and a ridiculous number of posts on a fan forum.

[jackdaniel]

Re: NCAA Tournament: South Carolina

Gee,really surprised a bunch of superior athletes got beat today.Seems South Carolina,even though they were vastly superior athletes,got whiped by Kansas , a 12 seed.
Texas A&M meanwhile,got clobbered by a bunch of farm girls from Neb, after they did their chores first,mind you!Texas A&M the champion of the SEC conference tournament,a number three seed,getting beat by sixth seeded cornhuskers,makes our farm girls victory over Neb look pretty good right now.
After going toe to toe with SC til about 8 min left,their shots rolling on the rim fell in,ours fell off, they gained momentum and confidence, we started struggling and lost confidence ,that's basketball.Do you suppose we might have just had a bad game against SC?.....Hymmmmm!?

Not a slap at SC,they're a good team,it's just everytime we lose a game in the NCAA tournament,this "we're not athletic enough" comes up.Athleticism is great,but you still have to score more points than your opponent.Keep that in mind.

Update,no 3 UCLA lost to no 6 Oklahoma,i don't think UCLA is very athletic,or this simply would not have happened....