GDT: Wisconsin vs South Dakota State U 6:30pm Kohl Center Big Ten Plus

[KindofaHare]

I'm going positive here also. This team has FIGHT and didn't roll over. Look at the shooting percentage change from the previous game, holy cow what a difference! The defense and hustle is outstanding, just a little too much hustle that created those travels. The younger players are getting great experience. And Mesa is really starting to dig in, her shooting is really smooth. Mesa showed she can play inside and out. At the end with Brook and Mesa in there at the same time they were very complimentary. Tough schedule ahead, but conference play is looking good.

[Jackrabbit2012]

The tough thing about this whole situation is that it was avoidable!

I understand we wanted a good fit in a transfer… but wouldn’t a transfer have been a better fit than a former Class B 3rd team all-stater???

Obviously Behrens escalated the situation, but it is pretty negligent to start the season with 10 players.

I agree with this. The Timmer injury happened early enough in the offseason to where we should have been looking for some reinforcements. We started the season ranked as the number one mid major team in the nation. I find it hard to believe that we couldn't convince a one year transfer to come here.

[Roy]

Several posts seem to offer a critical audit of the staff. An auditor is one that arrives at the site of the battle, after the battle and attacks the wounded!

[Jackrabbit2012]

Several posts seem to offer a critical audit of the staff. An auditor is one that arrives at the site of the battle, after the battle and attacks the wounded!

If you are implying that hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy for us to point the finger after the fact, I think you should go back into prior threads and see multiple posters state the need to add to the roster all summer long. When you start the season with 12 girls on scholarship, your best player gets injured early in the offseason, 2 of your remaining 11 girls are true freshman, it is fairly apparent that Natalie Nielsen is not going to see significant minutes (no disrespect), and several girls on the roster have had significant injuries in the past, I don't think it took a fortune teller to see this scenario potentially playing out. I understand that we weren't going to get an All-American transfer, but I feel like the floor should have been Haley Greer.

[Jacked_Up]

Great effort by an injury-depleted Jacks' team. SDSU was only a couple of turnovers away from an impressive road win.

[ringthebells]

I really don't want to get involved in deciding whether the coaches should have pursued a one year transfer or not, but I do have a couple of questions. First, do we have any scholarships available for this year? Second, if we don't have any available, could a local business have stepped in with an NIL deal to get the transfer some money for playing? Third, does SDSU (donors, not the school itself) have any sort NIL fund set up to encourage walk-ons, transfers, etc?

[LetsGoRabbits]

I agree with this. The Timmer injury happened early enough in the offseason to where we should have been looking for some reinforcements. We started the season ranked as the number one mid major team in the nation. I find it hard to believe that we couldn't convince a one year transfer to come here.

everything you wrote at least appears to make sense, FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, which is the same as most everyone's on here.

do you KNOW who AJ and staff did or did not talk to about joining the squad for this year?
do you KNOW what conversations were had?
do you know what potential one or two players they perhaps targeted at the best fit for the program
OR if maybe while they were waiting on a decision for those one or two, how many other players perhaps made decisions and were off the board?

point being, I HAVE NO IDEA-LITERALLY ZERO, what they tried to do to add to the team, and my guess is that you, me, and everyone here has the EXACT same level of facts about what they tried to do

here is a fact that we do have- AJ has been here over 20 years and this program has done nothing but win and represent SDSU in the absolutely best possible way that anyone could ever imagine or hope for!!!

it seems that he is WAY WAY WAY more than deserving of EVERY benefit of the doubt

i will go out on a little bit of a limb right now and give you a near guarantee that this team goes to the ncaa tourney this year and by the time they get there there wont be a single team that will be happy to see the name SDSU Jackrabbits come up on line opposite from them on the bracket line. and even if this year happens to be one of the very VERY RARE years they fall short of that, they are going to do NOTHING other than battle and fight and represent SDSU like champions in EVERY sense of the word

some of us must live in houses without any windows at all when we start feeling comfortable to throw stones at this program. i would say it is beyond obvious that AJ deserves a little more faith and all of our support
AJ said it perfectly in one of the first two post games. the injuries suck for the players. after everything they go through to be able to play, having that taken away HURTS. it hurts them and everyone around them. but for the team every difficulty is an opportunity and this team WILL grab this opportunity and run with it and everyone is going to grow and get better and stronger

[Jacked_Up]

I recognize that it probably was difficult to recruit an extra player or two for this season when the team doesn't have any scholarships available for the following season. Good, one-year players probably are hard to find. SDSU would have been a good landing spot for one, though. So it goes.

[Jackrabbit2012]

everything you wrote at least appears to make sense, FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, which is the same as most everyone's on here.

do you KNOW who AJ and staff did or did not talk to about joining the squad for this year?
do you KNOW what conversations were had?
do you know what potential one or two players they perhaps targeted at the best fit for the program
OR if maybe while they were waiting on a decision for those one or two, how many other players perhaps made decisions and were off the board?

point being, I HAVE NO IDEA-LITERALLY ZERO, what they tried to do to add to the team, and my guess is that you, me, and everyone here has the EXACT same level of facts about what they tried to do

here is a fact that we do have- AJ has been here over 20 years and this program has done nothing but win and represent SDSU in the absolutely best possible way that anyone could ever imagine or hope for!!!

it seems that he is WAY WAY WAY more than deserving of EVERY benefit of the doubt

i will go out on a little bit of a limb right now and give you a near guarantee that this team goes to the ncaa tourney this year and by the time they get there there wont be a single team that will be happy to see the name SDSU Jackrabbits come up on line opposite from them on the bracket line. and even if this year happens to be one of the very VERY RARE years they fall short of that, they are going to do NOTHING other than battle and fight and represent SDSU like champions in EVERY sense of the word

some of us must live in houses without any windows at all when we start feeling comfortable to throw stones at this program. i would say it is beyond obvious that AJ deserves a little more faith and all of our support
AJ said it perfectly in one of the first two post games. the injuries suck for the players. after everything they go through to be able to play, having that taken away HURTS. it hurts them and everyone around them. but for the team every difficulty is an opportunity and this team WILL grab this opportunity and run with it and everyone is going to grow and get better and stronger

I am not trashing our coaching staff and understand that we are beyond lucky to keep AJ for this long. I am also very proud of the fight the team showed last night, and have a lot more faith in them going forward as a result. That being said, I find it a little hard to believe that in this day and age of the transfer portal if our coaching staff really wanted to add to the roster of the number one ranked mid major in the nation, they would not have been able to get anyone that would be an upgrade over a South Dakota Class B 3rd team all state performer. You can try and make me feel guilty for trashing our coaching staff as much as you want but you can't convince me of this.

[bigticket1]

I really don't want to get involved in deciding whether the coaches should have pursued a one year transfer or not, but I do have a couple of questions. First, do we have any scholarships available for this year? Second, if we don't have any available, could a local business have stepped in with an NIL deal to get the transfer some money for playing? Third, does SDSU (donors, not the school itself) have any sort NIL fund set up to encourage walk-ons, transfers, etc?

Don't know anything about the NIL situation. In terms of scholarships, since we have 12 on the roster, we are 3 under the 15 limit. That's for this season only, we will be at 16, or one over the limit next year.

[GrandpaLee]

Wisconsin player clearly traveled in the last few seconds. Gained control, hopped with both feet and returned to the floor. Then, passed to another for the winning goal.

Officiating error.

[LetsGoRabbits]

How about Mesa!!!
11 points
7 boards
in just 18 minutes!!! that is last year Kallie type of boards per minute but with 4 of 6 shooting. Mesa has always been an excellent athlete who has shown LOTS of potential. feels like it could be a lot of fun this year to see her get a much bigger opportunity to see how that potential can develop

Maddie M also 4 of 6. and she plays every second so hard!! also only 2 turnovers in over 30 minutes. definitely feels like 1 board in that amount of time is going to be rare for her. she was a good rebounder last year

7 of 12 as a team from 3!!! will be very very nice if we can shoot over 40% let alone 50. that will give Brooklyn plenty of space inside. most games we lost last year, that type of shooting would have been the difference

by far the biggest negative was the turnovers. and it is TRUE and simple to point out that Tori and Ellie had 6 and 7, but this was the first game without Paige. neither one of them is a true starting PG. ellie is a combo guard / backup PG and Tori is a combo wing / power forward who is talented enough to competently play EVERY position on the floor if circumstances call for it. i trust that they will get better, BUT if they can be even around 4 TO a game that is probably acceptable given all the circumstances. and that would have definitely been good enough to win the game last night

[LetsGoRabbits]

I am not trashing our coaching staff and understand that we are beyond lucky to keep AJ for this long. I am also very proud of the fight the team showed last night, and have a lot more faith in them going forward as a result. That being said, I find it a little hard to believe that in this day and age of the transfer portal if our coaching staff really wanted to add to the roster of the number one ranked mid major in the nation, they would not have been able to get anyone that would be an upgrade over a South Dakota Class B 3rd team all state performer. You can try and make me feel guilty for trashing our coaching staff as much as you want but you can't convince me of this.

i have no need for anyone to feel guilty. just pointing out that we have decades of evidence that AJ would do EVERYTHING possible to put this team in the best possible position for this year.

your / our perspective with our limited view of what goes on and lack of facts- makes it simple to say that the staff should have done something that APPEARANCES might indicate they did not do

but i have zero doubt they DID do everything possible. what i nor you have any facts about is WHAT happened to make those efforts unfruitful. WE DONT KNOW, but just because we dont know does not mean they did nothing. i am far far more willing to believe they tried to do something and it ended up not working out, than i am to believe they tried nothing!!

summary- if someone MUST focus on the lack of players, which everyone here is already more than aware of, then it seems more appropriate to say WOW it sucks that we couldnt find another player or two than to act like it is a fact that AJ did not do his job, because when we use words like NEGLIGENT (or agree with/ support that) that is what we are saying. but i am actually hoping that we will NOT have to spend the entire season discussing the lack of players (it is just gonna be a fact this year and it is not gonna change, move forward and make the best of it, just like the team is going to do). hoping we can just appreciate the efforts of the players that we have along with the coaches who help them to be prepared for the opportunities that are in front of them on a daily basis

[73alum]

everything you wrote at least appears to make sense, FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, which is the same as most everyone's on here.

do you KNOW who AJ and staff did or did not talk to about joining the squad for this year?
do you KNOW what conversations were had?
do you know what potential one or two players they perhaps targeted at the best fit for the program
OR if maybe while they were waiting on a decision for those one or two, how many other players perhaps made decisions and were off the board?

point being, I HAVE NO IDEA-LITERALLY ZERO, what they tried to do to add to the team, and my guess is that you, me, and everyone here has the EXACT same level of facts about what they tried to do

here is a fact that we do have- AJ has been here over 20 years and this program has done nothing but win and represent SDSU in the absolutely best possible way that anyone could ever imagine or hope for!!!

it seems that he is WAY WAY WAY more than deserving of EVERY benefit of the doubt

i will go out on a little bit of a limb right now and give you a near guarantee that this team goes to the ncaa tourney this year and by the time they get there there wont be a single team that will be happy to see the name SDSU Jackrabbits come up on line opposite from them on the bracket line. and even if this year happens to be one of the very VERY RARE years they fall short of that, they are going to do NOTHING other than battle and fight and represent SDSU like champions in EVERY sense of the word

some of us must live in houses without any windows at all when we start feeling comfortable to throw stones at this program. i would say it is beyond obvious that AJ deserves a little more faith and all of our support
AJ said it perfectly in one of the first two post games. the injuries suck for the players. after everything they go through to be able to play, having that taken away HURTS. it hurts them and everyone around them. but for the team every difficulty is an opportunity and this team WILL grab this opportunity and run with it and everyone is going to grow and get better and stronger

I know it’s easy to criticize coaching staff. Who doesn’t!!!??? I’m sure LGR and of course myself being most likely much older than most posters here, have somewhat a similar approach. We most likely would criticize younger less experienced coaches and say…’man they have a lot to learn whether life’s lessens or coaching’ etc, which involves the same implications!! But, AJ with his abilities to mold a team and be extremely successful, probably doesn’t need a tremendous amount of negativity!! But….I am wondering whether the coaches all agreed that the team should compete with no added transfers!! I wonder what that discussion entailed and if they all are generally saying…we messed up or AJ is saying that he totally messed up!!! No one is perfect!!

[LetsGoRabbits]

I know it’s easy to criticize coaching staff. Who doesn’t!!!??? I’m sure LGR and of course myself being most likely much older than most posters here, have somewhat a similar approach. We most likely would criticize younger less experienced coaches and say…’man they have a lot to learn whether life’s lessens or coaching’ etc, which involves the same implications!! But, AJ with his abilities to mold a team and be extremely successful, probably doesn’t need a tremendous amount of negativity!! But….I am wondering whether the coaches all agreed that the team should compete with no added transfers!! I wonder what that discussion entailed and if they all are generally saying…we messed up or AJ is saying that he totally messed up!!! No one is perfect!!

i like that perspective 73
maybe in hindsight, AJ and the coaches could be unhappy with some decisions they made?? we still have no idea what those decisions may or may not have been or if they would do them again or not. BUT what you say is possible
but i will say again, i trust that whatever decision they made, they were definitely TRYING to do everything they could do to help the team for this year

not gonna say a lot about it but i definitely have made critical comments before. i dont like it and i would far rather come here and be a fan. i like to hope that this is MOSTLY a place for cheering and supporting, as opposed to a place for criticizing and complaining. REGARDLESS (BTW pet peeve of mine- regardless IS the correct word. most people say irregardless. irregardless would technically be NOT regardless which would then mean you just say regarding and if you are not regarding it is regardless. there is no use at all for irregardless)

anyway, regardless of my thoughts on being critical or not, i just think AJ has MORE than proven himself and there is really no place for saying he did not do his job. i guess some think they would have handled the situation differently if they were in it, but if they were in it they would have different facts than they have sitting here trying to make decisions from the outside