GDT: SDSU Jackrabbits(10-1) vs Denver Pioneers(4-7) @ Frost Arena

[bigticket1]

It seems like part of the problem is that no one seems to take leadership out on the floor. In previous years Macy would gather the team together during breaks in the action and give "pep talks". I think Selland did some of that before she got hurt, but I don't see it happening much now. Lots of emotionless play and not much fire. AJ said post game that the team has been flat for three straight home games. That shouldn't happen on your home floor.

[98Jackfarmer]

I actually thought the girls came out and started the game decently. The cross court/skip pass was giving them nice looks. Had some of those shots fallen, who knows. But as the game wore on it just felt like they all started to slow down. The second half they had no urgency, the offense seemed to consist of standing on the perimeter, shaking the ball a few times then passing to the next one to do the same thing till the shot clock wore down then force it inside. As was said before, there is no go to player to look to for some leadership. They are playing like they have resided themselves to the role of a "dead man walking". And they will likely end the season with barely a whimper, unfortunately.

[OldHare]

It was a frightful game. It is amazing to see how much energy Denver brought to the floor. The 50/50 balls went to Denver all night. The offensive rebounds by Denver not always the first to touch or the Denver player was among a couple of Jackrabbits. The lazy passes and nonchalant ball handling was unbelievable. Larson may have been missing in action, but RCJ found a way for 7 turnovers in 23 minutes. Denver also had 6 blocks which may show they were ready for the post game as they packed the lane at times. The effort and attention will need to be turned up more than a little to be competitive. Senior leadership is very important right now. I think Irwin is doing a solid job as a junior, but the seniors need to chip in more guidance/leadership to get focused more. As AJ mentioned, losing tastes awful. I think we will see some adjustments.

[MontanaRabbit]

The biggest problem with this team is we really don't have any consistent outside shooting. It's our first women's team in forever that hasn't had outstanding outside shooting.

[jackdaniel]

Bultsma was effective in this game I thought, Paiton was 3-4, next I looked she was 3-8.....so she missed four straight....not dissing on her play....but jus say'n the 2nd half they kind of shut her down, I really like Tylie's athleticism, one possession on defense she was all over wherever the ball went, she defends well ,and like another poster observed, she can create her own offense, a lot of her shots are barely off, a little too hard off the glass and bounce off the front of the rim, off the back of the rim, etc, she should work at putting it up a little softer off the glass would help her finish, maybe up & under hand scoop shot like Larsen uses. The Pios defense bothered us a lot, we have a lot of trouble handling aggressive defenses, it throws off our offense and causes us a lot of turnovers, and sloppy play.

Larson just doesn't get a lot of chances to score, don't know if it's her fault entirely or just the way the offense is run. They only get a couple of chances per possession, a lot of movement,sometimes, sometimes standing around trying to id where to go next as it's all timed and choreographed, multiple routes and screens and passing , but not too many open lanes were created ,they pretty much sat down low and didn't move much and we missed a lot of three's, however, but that goes with not getting much under the basket. Should we have hit a few more 3's, then maybe that's different and opens the defense a little more. A lot of our 3 pt shooters are usually only good for 2-3 at the most, rarely they get over that unless they are hot, on how many shots determines how effective that is. This game we had a lot of possessions with 0 pts....too many. I've noticed the last few games, they fumble good passes, fumble loose balls, they don't seem to be able to grab a basketball and take control, maybe that's because they don't have the hand strength or technique,...when a player can hold on to the ball, a lot of times a foul will be called with a lot of, swiping, stabbing, poking , hacking arms going on, eventually the whistle sounds, or it might be me just me seeing that and not seeing why they loose control of the ball so much, their might be quick hands I don't see, etc. I trust our coaching staff will make everything run a little smoother our next game. Our last four games before the SLT are very important to get some confidence built up to have a good SLT, which we've usually have had. I'm getting a little too long winded,and tedious, sorry.

These ref's seemed to reward aggressive play on defense, at least they didn't penalize them any more than they did our less aggressive defense, maybe thats something we have to figure out, as both our losses in Summit play came from teams who played very aggressive defenses. They had 3 back minimum, a lot of times 4,double teamed and helped a lot, and jumped passing lanes and still seemed to bother the perimeter players at times.It was an effective defense this game against us, maybe next time not so much hopefully.I agree with the consenus, this may not be our year, but still hopefull. AJ seems like he's frustrated with the inconsistent play, he won't however, give up trying to get them as ready as he can for the SLT, that I know.

[JackrabbitGuy]

Not much mystery here. We hold then to 39% shooting but we shoot 37%. They attempt 24 FTs, we attempt 11. They had 11 more makes at FT line than we did.

Not good. But some time before SLT. We will see what they can do to have a chance.

[jackdaniel]

Not much mystery here. We hold then to 39% shooting but we shoot 37%. They attempt 24 FTs, we attempt 11. They had 11 more makes at FT line than we did.

Not good. But some time before SLT. We will see what they can do to have a chance.

How can you sum it all up in a couple sentences, and I type in 3 pages and still don't nail it like you do, Bravo!!!! LOL

[jackdaniel]

I have nagging thoughts, and I don't always have the brightest idea's...but my latest nagging thought is,,,be kind...I was wondering to myself, are we too structured and not resilient enough to find other ways with our offense and are kind of wasting our talented players,athleticism and unique talents by forcing them to stick with the schemes, even if they don't seem to be producing? I know team ball can be the best way, and is no doubt, when it's working as planned, so option #1 we either have to keep trying to adjust a structured offense to start producing better, which we usually do, but, just a wild thought, can we allow sometimes for our best players a little bit more freedom to use their unique skills to get points when we need them to try and force a stubborn defense to adjust to more our liking,when they see an opportunity to score....my thoughts are if the offense is stagnant, you have to throw something different at them, to not be just playing into their hands....this could backfire too, so maybe it's too risky, so, maybe the best option is sticking with option #1, although maybe one quarter just to try it,with the game pretty much decided with a big lead, just to see how it would work out would be the tell all I'd think. But that might not be the best use for that time either I guess. The reason I say this is, sometimes a player will make a real good move , be right in position for a great shot, and rather than take the shot, they throw it out for a pretty good 3 pt shot, or try to and it gets stolen, maybe we aren't hitting our 3 pt shots worth a dang, it just seems the player doesn't have the choice, maybe I'm wrong and the choice is theirs to make. Comments good or bad welcome.

[73alum]

Everyone has some really good thoughts on what’s been going on this year for the women’s basketball. We have for sure been spoiled. AJ has said the team does not seem to be in rhythm at times especially with all the injuries. I checked the Yotes site and nine of their girls have played every game....8 of those 9 are Jr or Sr. Only three of the Jack’s girls have played every game. And we are so much less experienced then the Yotes. I believe this is why at times we cannot make some of those passes on target like we are so used to seeing, the game doesn’t flow as well then and shots don’t go down… And probably our defense is off a little because of it. But, there have been many games where their game really flows.Yes, it will be very interesting to see if the team can get it all together in the next few weeks. No matter what happens, if it’s the Yotes year… So be it. And I hope they represent South Dakota well if that’s the case.

[jackdaniel]

Everyone has some really good thoughts on what’s been going on this year for the women’s basketball. We have for sure been spoiled. AJ has said the team does not seem to be in rhythm at times especially with all the injuries. I checked the Yotes site and nine of their girls have played every game....8 of those 9 are Jr or Sr. Only three of the Jack’s girls have played every game. And we are so much less experienced then the Yotes. I believe this is why at times we cannot make some of those passes on target like we are so used to seeing, the game doesn’t flow as well then and shots don’t go down… And probably our defense is off a little because of it. But, there have been many games where their game really flows.Yes, it will be very interesting to see if the team can get it all together in the next few weeks. No matter what happens, if it’s the Yotes year… So be it. And I hope they represent South Dakota well if that’s the case.

At least a first rd win....bare minimum if they are so good....yes, me too