Am re-posting what I wrote at the end of last season (scroll down a bit.
One big change tho is Bodnar transferring as she may have been our best center option.
There is no way to figure for sure what this team will be like, but it WILL be a re-building year and that is never very promising.
Interesting too is the virtual absence of fan comments, tho there are very few WBB fans that frequent this board anyway. Lack of interest is a bad sign,
Despite the valiant efforts in the two BTT games, it has been said to death what was wrong with this team which ended with the worst record in the modern era by far. Very, very hard to watch. But some perspective:
--Lost two great scoring guards and bad on Versyp for not having recruited replacements who can shoot. The lack of consistent outside shooters killed this team.
--Injuries etc were a big factor. Perry, including last night, was never able to play as she can from mid BT season on. Losing Thornton hurt and Moore and Bodnar and even Redmon loss really hurt. This was a really, really thin team without a huge amount of experience.
--Look back at the many, many really close losses for this team. 5 OT losses for example. They competed well in most games. Lack of depth really hurt them. And though April Wilson tried, her lack of scoring really stood out. Still this team competed above what it should have been able to given the deck they drew. I do not think that was appreciated enough on this board.
--Overall, however, it is impossible to ignore that this program has fallen on times far worse than any long time fan ever expected, even going into this season when we knew or should have known that this squad had a lot of holes. There was considerable talk about firing Coach V and that is not going to happen off one bad season, but, truly, for the first time, if she does not turn it around that is obviously something that is not going away. She is on, at least, a very warm seat.
NEXT YEAR;
--Looking at the REALITY of what we have and not projecting that just because we're Purdue we will be great:
--FRONT LINE: We will be very tall but very, very inexperienced on the front line. Horriocks, who has a long way to go, Bodnar and Kiesler will represent a huge front, Whether they can compete with their lack of experience is up in the air, but we will have size for quite a while. Thornton, a yeoman, will help. Moore has potential but no clue of how good she will be. MCBryde is certainly promising. But this is a puzzle with the pieces laid out on the table that has to be put together from scratch. The loss of Clemons and Bays cannot ever be underestimated.They were incredibly productive, with almost no help.
BACKCOURT: Good news, bad news. We have Wilson and Morrisette back, but they have shown no evidence of having an outside shot, a hallmark of Purdue teams for so long and it killed the team this year. Even last night, one or two threes late would have won it. It is just not there. If they find it, that will be huge. Perry and Keys are very promising, particularly if Perry can stay healthy which had a really negative impact when she went down and basically never recovered from mid BT. Murphy, Cooper and Hall are all at best promising unknowns. Hamby shows that just because you score a ton of points in rural Alabama, it does not necessarily translate into the BT.
PROJECTION: Impossible to make. Too many moving parts that have not been together. It will take a masterful coaching job and there is obviously mixed opinions about whether Versyp can do it. Truthfully, this team will probably be much better going into the season after next, but impatience of our fans cannot be discounted. Our crowds are a plus and another bad season may threaten that. Coach V will, however, have depth, with 14 on her roster. The lack of that was maybe the biggest reason for the collapse this year.
PREDICTION: Better record because how could it be otherwise? If it is the same or worse, put your hands over your eyes.
But I do not think we will return to competing for the top of the league next year. If we make the NCAA, it will be a real plus, but I think a WNIT bid is the best shot, launching a better following season. It is going to be hard, maybe impossible to return this team to national prominence any time soon, if ever. Perhaps a new coach can do that. We are not there yet, but may be soon. But another coach or what they could accomplish is no given. Do not think that Coach V is a bad coach. but clearly not a top notch recruiter. She had a lot of marks against her this year and this team DID compete in a lot of games with almost no depth.But failure brings change so we will just have to see.
Thoughts anyone? Sorry for such a long piece but I am a retired guy with some time now.
P.S. Very hopeful for the Boiler men both this year and in the future. Remember what was being said about them this time last year. We might remember that in assessing the WBB.
