We are 6-5 with 18 games left to play. NCAA participation is pretty much out of consideration short of shocking the world and winning the BTT. In those last 18 games we MUST win 9 to have a winning season. A losing season could jeopardize our recruiting for the next 2-3 years and set back the rebuilding process or kill it entirely. Of the games left, we have 3 should be easy wins, 4 almost guaranteed losses and 11 tossup games of varying difficulty. We need to win 6 of the toss up games. Some like at Maryland are barely out of the sure loss category, but others like both games against UWisc and against Illinois we should be favored in but cannot take lightly. I don't know if we can make it to 15-14 honestly. I don't think UMinn is top half of the conference quality this year, and that loss is going to hang around our necks like a dead albatross the rest of the season, much like the loss to a poor Florida team.
Looking at the rest of the season
- Thread starter MichaelRR
- Start date
One of the reasons I’ve been tough on Terry is her inability to score, sort of like playing 5 on 4 while on offense, if you watch the men (sure hope you do) Smith the PG can score, if they back off him he’ll drain a 3. I hope next year Purdue’s PG is sort of score first, what they have now isn’t Big Ten level. I think they can win 10-11 more games, not sure why just a hunch. Also, Coach needs to hit the portal hard with the goal of bringing in top notch players, these girls averaging 10-12 points from small conferences only takes you so far, also, Alaina, probably needs to move on after this season to a lower level, not a Big Ten player, nothing wrong with that, lower level she can prosper.
I agree with you that Terry's inability to score is a liability. Problem is she is one of the 3 best players on the team even without scoring. That is the hole we find ourselves in at this time...
PG next year should be a mix of Pool, Reynolds or Jones which will be a plus in scoring. They just have to make up for the rebounding that Terry does.
And the assists too. JT might not score a ton but she facilitates well.
Sorry to disappoint, but no, I don't watch the men. But you are comparing two largely different sports with significant differences in the depth of talent available. In the men's game the players are much more developed before they ever come to college, and they've been playing men's basketball for several decades more than the women's games. The talent disparity between ranked and unranked recruits is miles larger in women's than the men's game.
Why would a top flight transfer come to us instead of joining a team with a chance at the Final Four? We have nothing to offer a top flight transfer but playing time that they will get anywhere.
Totally agree on Alaina, and I'd guess at least one other player leaves into the portal at the end of the season as well.
