Ladies Bounce back vs WKU
- Thread starter Dirt Road Boiler
- Start date
Solid victory vs a decent team, but not one that would be competitive in the BT as I know longer think we will be. We play decent defense against teams we are better than, but our TO rate is atrocious and we miss a lot of layups. Today's game was strange because they blew a decent lead in the 2nd quarter when Versyp went to her bench and those lineups were terrible. She played the same 5 the entire third q, putting Mokolo in over Traylor and that five took the game over. In the 4th quarter she put Traylor back in for Mokolo for most of it and stayed with the same five and they responded well. Looks like we're going to have a short bench again. I am not saying this team cannot be competitive in the BT but my honest feeling is that it will be mid pack at best and get an NIT bid, not a good result when you have this many older talented players--Oden, Harris, Farquar, McGlauglin. Will be curious to see if there is a coaching change. The program has gotten stale and for that reason a change might be good, but a change is not likely to make us a national competitor. On the other hand, Indiana brought in Moren and she has made great strides with the Hoosiers and bypassed a program that used to beat IU like a drum and is making a mark on the big stage it appears.
I've been one who felt that the current staff should have this year to show improvement (upper level Big Ten finish, NCAA tournament) but it's not looking like that will happen without a pretty big change, and quickly. Frankly there's just too much local(Indiana and midwest areas) talent available to have the program be a consistent middle of the pack team. Not sure who would be the best candidate to take over the reigns but it's looking more and more as if a change will be needed. With Harris, et al set to finish their careers this spring may be a good time for a change.
There's really a couple ways to possibly go for a new coach. A promising up and comer whose proved themself at a lower level(i.e. MAC or other conference) or an established/successful P5 level coach. The first type is likely the most attainable, not the least of which due to budgetary considerations.
I would only add that for whatever reason Traylor seems to have reverted to last year's form where she is timid to shoot the ball. Several times she would pass up pretty much wide open shots - even towards the end of the shot clock. She does not look like she did in the first few games. Likewise Hardin, after looking good in her first few games back, has disappeared.
And Farquhar is great at rebounding and D but repeatedly gives the ball up in turnovers. Sigh. I realize TOs are going to happen when you are trying to be in transition as much as possible but some of the TOs are inexcusable.
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Appears that Traylor and Whilby both had their most complete games of the season today. Harris' game may fall into that category as well. I realize that today's opponent isn't at Big Ten level but maybe this game will serve as a springboard. Would love to see Traylor keep her confidence from today and Whilby continue to provide production off the bench. Going to need these types of performances moving forward.
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As I've said before it always comes down to recruiting...and Sharon has never gotten that one elite recruiting class, where she gets 4 or 5 verbal commitments and it's a top 5 rated class nationally... Look at what Oregon and Louisville have done with their program, IU is turning their program around..Maryland is always a top 5 program nationally, Baylor now is a top 3 program in the country...Why can't Purdue resurrect their program? It's been years since Purdue had a top 20 team... and if not for the 1999 NC team, the history of this program would be dismal. They've won a few B1G tournaments but it's not a top 25 program right now and hasn't been for several years which is inexcusable.
What is really disappointing is the bench...the starting 5 is very solid and experienced but not an elite starting 5 by any stretch... but the bench is mediocre and a few of the 15 scholarship players that aren't starters are taking up space..they're fillers who never see a minute of action on the floor..And because of that Sharon's recruiting classes have been very small... 3 players one year, 2 players the next...while if she had more open scholarships she could have larger recruiting classes and possibly bring in more talented players to fill the bench... Jamelle Grant has not lived up to the hype, Woltman has been disappointing, I thought she would be a force off the bench and the back up post players have been really disappointing..It's definitely time for a HC change.
I think the powers that be have pretty much given up on WBB and focused their efforts on Football. I guess it makes sense since football makes most of the $$.
But it’s hard to watch WBB die on the vine.
I don’t even expect a change anymore and just accept it for what it is- a mediocre program.
Time for a change in the Purdue WBB program. The talent is there to be better than we are. Furthermore we need to recruit even better. I’m tired of us looking like an a amateur program.
needs to be done with class and with full recognition that SV is a valued alum.
needs to be done with class and with full recognition that SV is a valued alum.
It has been tough to watch the team slowly fade from the glory of the National championship to the present. I hope the team can rally and can have a decent season and get into the tourney. I'm sure Bobinski has a handle on what needs to be done and will come to a decision after the season is over. In the meantime I hope the fans stay behind the team.
I think it is too early to call "Bust" on Woltman (freshman) and Grant (has sat out for a year.) Certainly there are players suiting up who really cannot play at this level, such as Ajah Stallings who is more inspirational than anything. She is also given a scholarship only after there was an opening and it was made clear to her that it was year to year so I don't think that is affecting recruiting. Something odd is going on with Leony Boudreau who has hardly played at all and the coaching staff is very mum as to exactly what the issue is.
We had 3 freshman, and one player who had sat out a year, become players this year and all have seen some on-court time. None are break-out players. I never heard any "hype" surrounding Janelle Grant but maybe I missed that. In my opinion no one expected that any of them would immediately contribute large minutes and I remain hopeful they will develop into skilled players but we will see. It is always amusing to me that comparatively the MBB team has more players sitting on the bench and not contributing but whatever.
Having said that, and as I have said before, if Coach can not meet expectations with this team then I think a change is needed. The B1G season starts after Christmas and this will be the proof of the pudding.
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Well said Doc. Everyone here wants to see a successful women's team and I believe that most of us would like to see that happen under the leadership of the current staff. Despite some struggles at times this year(so far) the overall record isn't bad. As you said, the proof will be in the conference results.
Bobinski seems to be a guy who doesn't shoot from the hip and I cannot imagine that he'd make a move without having a plan to move forward. As I mentioned earlier if(hopefully not) a change is necessary at the end of this season there may be department financial limitations to work with. Wonder if Ivey would take over a college program?
I think it has been mentioned on this board before, but I wonder what it would take to bring in Niele Ivey? It seems like we might have some leverage with her since her son will be playing on the men's team next year.
Does anyone know what she makes as an assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies? We'd obviously have to top that and have some kind of an agreement that she wouldn't leave for Notre Dame when Muffet McGraw retires (MM just turned 64).
At any rate, she has proven in the past that she is an outstanding recruiter. I truly believe she could return the program to national prominence.
We once had a large fan base for WBB and it should materialize again if we can consistently put a good team on the floor. Additional fans would help offset the probable higher salary it would take to sign her.
The hype around Janelle was done during early practices this season and radio interviews with Sharon Versyp and Karissa McLaughlin...they spent a lot of time in those interviews hyping Janelle Grant's return and how great she looked in practice and during their Australia trip and they both talked endlessly about how much she would contribute to this team and make them much deeper, etc.. I never said that Woltman is a bust... she will hopefully become a force as she matures and gets more experience at the college level... I just saw her play really well against great competition during the Australia trip and haven't seen that since, and it's disappointing I'm sure for Sharon and I've been disappointed. But the future is bright for her... It's a work in progress...I see sparks of greatness from this team on occasion but they need to be more consistent. Boiler Up!
We will know a lot after first four games. They have yet to really compete when they were the under dog.
