12-18-2017, 11:25 PM
The post-mortem is done at the top.
I do not think the season is completely lost, since I think we will gradually improve as our young players continue to learn and as we get back McPhee and Carrington. We have talent, we have coaching, and we always play better later in the season than earlier. So it will get better than this sad, sad night.
But we are in a race against time, now. Can Tara improve this team fast enough to have a winning season? To make the NCAAs? Sadly, those are reasonable questions right now. I will count us quite lucky if we can win 1 of the next 3 and head into the new year 7-7.
I do not blame Marta for ball handling tonight. She had 6 assists to 3 turnovers. Kaylee had 4 turnovers, Williams had 3, and just about everyone else had 2. It is the nature of Western Illinois's defense--they always get a lot of steals. Marta's problem was that she had 0 points.
What I am grudgingly learning is what Tara has known all along--defense at the college level is very difficult for young players to learn. Despite the fact that Karlie was not a particularly gifted athlete she was always in the right place at the right time. Bri and Bird too. We have figured out ways to replace their offense. We are far, far from being able to replace their defense, as the 5'4" Western Illinois point guard made abundantly clear.
I do not think the season is completely lost, since I think we will gradually improve as our young players continue to learn and as we get back McPhee and Carrington. We have talent, we have coaching, and we always play better later in the season than earlier. So it will get better than this sad, sad night.
But we are in a race against time, now. Can Tara improve this team fast enough to have a winning season? To make the NCAAs? Sadly, those are reasonable questions right now. I will count us quite lucky if we can win 1 of the next 3 and head into the new year 7-7.
I do not blame Marta for ball handling tonight. She had 6 assists to 3 turnovers. Kaylee had 4 turnovers, Williams had 3, and just about everyone else had 2. It is the nature of Western Illinois's defense--they always get a lot of steals. Marta's problem was that she had 0 points.
What I am grudgingly learning is what Tara has known all along--defense at the college level is very difficult for young players to learn. Despite the fact that Karlie was not a particularly gifted athlete she was always in the right place at the right time. Bri and Bird too. We have figured out ways to replace their offense. We are far, far from being able to replace their defense, as the 5'4" Western Illinois point guard made abundantly clear.