Sharon Versyp Show 11/18/2019
(with Tim Newton at 1910 hours)
(with Tim Newton at 1910 hours)
- It was a good week. Nice to go on road and have that experience on someone else’s court.
- Sometimes these mid-major games are taken for granted but tOSU (lost to Ohio by 6) and Penn State (lost to La Salle by 2) both lost AT HOME to mid-majors this last weekend.
- Scheduling is always difficult but “we try to play the top of the mid-major teams.”
- “You don’t guard these type of teams” because they spread you out. Sometimes you have your point guard on their post player. But our switching on man-to-man 1 thru 4 has been very good so far.
- Sunday that team (W. Illinois) was averaging high 80’s pts and we held them to 59.
- Tim said when Oden guards down low she is like a badger. Coach says gotta use your hips and knees and body and she is very good at that.
- McLaughlin has improved so much on D but “now we need her to shoot better.” (Coach laughs) She held Chattanooga’s best 3PT shooter scoreless until the end of the game when Purdue switched to zone.
- Tim: With larger roster (13 and soon to be 15) if they do not play good defense they can come and sit next to you for awhile. Coach agrees and says you must play D if you are going to get minutes.
- Chattanooga game - they were missing some pieces but will end up being good. We dominated the game and took them out of everything they wanted to do. One thing they did that was unusual was their point guard crashed the board which is unique. We controlled tempo and how the game was played.
- Tim says when Chattanooga came out at half time and you looked in their eyes they knew they could not score against Purdue.
- Harris early in that game got the ball 5 times in the paint and scored 10 points. That set the tone.
- Attention span lagged a little in 3rd Q when we got up by over 30 but Coach thought D stayed intense.
- W. Illinois game - Had won 3 straight after lost to Missouri in OT but scored 89 pts in that game. Coach said they picked 3 players to concentrate on and did good job. Our first 2 games did not do good job boxing out and tried to really concentrate on that. Did well until the last minute of the game when they got 4 offensive boards.
- Last year when we played them we shot 3PT’s well but not this year. But we need to learn how to win when the shots do not go down - D and rebounds. 56-34 edge on boards.
- Farquhar was very good - when she feels well she is one of our best rebounders. If she can get double/doubles along with Harris we are in good shape.
- Whilby can attack basket and played very well - communicating and “in the stance” on D which is where she has improved the most.
- Both Grant and Hardin are now running and getting close - Hardin will be before Grant. “We need their bodies and offensive skills.” There are certain things we can’t do (one of our zones for instance) because they are not playing.
- Tim comments how lovely Grant’s British accent is.
- Coach had a top 20 class last week with only two players.
- First is Rs’Shaya Kyle, 6’6” center from Marion HS. Top 50 player according to 3 different services. Interested in management. Basketball family with brother who played at W. Mich and Tulsa. Extremely athletic. Can affect on both sides of ball. Blocker and passer. In HS she will bring ball down floor. With height has good vision and can distribute ball. Plays high post; great post moves. Works hard to expand her game. Has “edge” that she wants to be physical - can’t teach that. Very open and conversive.
- Second is Madison Layden, 6’1” guard who is still growing. Won couple of state championships at Kokomo Northwestern already. Top 60 player in 3 ranking services. Plays for her mom. Father was also basketball player at Lawrence Northern. Lot of BB in family. Very versatile and can play 1-4. She keeps growing and will probably be 6’2” by time gets here. She can play point so will really be able to see court and can hurt you from 3PT range.
- Very happy to have Indiana kids stay here. Have to get on them early. “We were on these two from eighth grade on.” Getting Indiana kids helps both our recruiting and fan base.
- Could sign another player to get to 15 next year (only 14 now) and Coach says she will probably do that late in the spring signing period. Then in 2021 “already have one and will probably bring in three more in that class.”
- Gotta have bodies. Like our football team, if injuries decimate your team like it has ours last few years and you are left with young team, it is difficult.
- BTW, Nora Kessler who “we unexpectedly lost of concussions” is still finishing up at Krannert and is around the team. Amazing person and student. Coach is always happy to see her.
- Only one game - NIU - this week on Sunday. They are 2-1. Another Mid-American team that is picked to finish in the upper half of their conference. They just got some key players back for last game. Coach will be anxious to see how they do in their Wed game against Illinois State.
- Well coached. They hadn’t shot 3PT well until the last game when they did so like us - sometimes ball does not go down and sometimes it does.
- Courtney Woods, 6’0” redshirt senior guard is the one we need to limit. Avg’s 19 pts/game. Similar to Milwaukee and W. Illinois with players all spread out.
- This is an important week because come Thanksgiving week we have 5 games in 10 days (Fri/Sat/Sun followed by Thurs/Sun).
- Important to get both rest and practice. “You really are not in good basketball shape until mid-December” so will be difficult.
- Plus finals coming up in early December but Coach feels freshmen have done pretty well acclimating.
