Purdue WBB this year vs last year

[tomgloe]

I was watching the KG show last night and Lasha Petree was in town and at the show. CKG mentioned how they really miss her ability to just get a bucket when they needed it and how she's brought some joy to practice the last couple days being back on campus.(Guess she even practiced with the team). Rickie Woltmann and Cassidy Hardin were also mentioned as being really missed. I think alot of us(myself included) really underestimated how much we'd really miss these 3. I went back and watched 2 games from last year(Ohio st, st johns) and here are some differences between last year vs this year and probably why we're struggling.

1. We now do not have a go to bucket getter.(Our best is probably Stevenson a frosh or Caitlyn). Problem is both of them need to be fed the ball. More on them two in a bit.

2. Woltman may of been our best post defender and a solid rebounder. It's obvious how much we miss her, even if it was just for 12 mins a game.

3. Hardin played with passion. Now it's been replaced with Stevenson, who also has passion and fight. Heres the kicker. Out goes a guard who shot it about 35% from 3. Replaced with a forward who shoots 10.5% from 3.

Madison Layden moves to the 3. So we have two forwards(Stevenson, Harper) who aren't great shooters, both like to work inside but they need space down there to operate. They're clogging up the lane making it hard to post down low. Add in Terry and when her defender sags off her and it's a mess in the paint.

Another problem now is Madison is playing out of position. She's not quick enough at the wing and was better at the stretch 4 (which she played last year).

Now this is just my opinion, but I truly believe this is what our main problems are from this year to last, along with us just being a younger team of course.

 

[MichaelRR]

I was watching the KG show last night and Lasha Petree was in town and at the show. CKG mentioned how they really miss her ability to just get a bucket when they needed it and how she's brought some joy to practice the last couple days being back on campus.(Guess she even practiced with the team). Rickie Woltmann and Cassidy Hardin were also mentioned as being really missed. I think alot of us(myself included) really underestimated how much we'd really miss these 3. I went back and watched 2 games from last year(Ohio st, st johns) and here are some differences between last year vs this year and probably why we're struggling.

1. We now do not have a go to bucket getter.(Our best is probably Stevenson a frosh or Caitlyn). Problem is both of them need to be fed the ball. More on them two in a bit.

2. Woltman may of been our best post defender and a solid rebounder. It's obvious how much we miss her, even if it was just for 12 mins a game.

3. Hardin played with passion. Now it's been replaced with Stevenson, who also has passion and fight. Heres the kicker. Out goes a guard who shot it about 35% from 3. Replaced with a forward who shoots 10.5% from 3.

Madison Layden moves to the 3. So we have two forwards(Stevenson, Harper) who aren't great shooters, both like to work inside but they need space down there to operate. They're clogging up the lane making it hard to post down low. Add in Terry and when her defender sags off her and it's a mess in the paint.

Another problem now is Madison is playing out of position. She's not quick enough at the wing and was better at the stretch 4 (which she played last year).

Now this is just my opinion, but I truly believe this is what our main problems are from this year to last, along with us just being a younger team of course.

Good observations. The loss of Ava Learn cannot be over-stated as well. She brought a lot of heart and fight to the post. I believe Hardin guarded other teams 4s as she was far too slow of foot to guard small forwards. Madison Layden was poor last year and while not up to her sophomore level, playing much better this season back at SF full time and KG has stated she is the best defender on the team, followed by Terry.

 

[tomgloe]

Good observations. The loss of Ava Learn cannot be over-stated as well. She brought a lot of heart and fight to the post. I believe Hardin guarded other teams 4s as she was far too slow of foot to guard small forwards. Madison Layden was poor last year and while not up to her sophomore level, playing much better this season back at SF full time and KG has stated she is the best defender on the team, followed by Terry.

Yeah Madison's numbers from 3 were poor last year for some reason.

You know I've been adamant about finding a portal post but after this self discovery, I'd like to back pedal on that. I know Stevenson isn't your typical 5, but I'm starting to think it may be better to have her at the 5 next season and find a stretch 4 in the portal(or have Mckenna play that spot). Or if we do find another post, she better be able to shoot a bit from 3.. I guess I'd like to play a more 4 out 1 in like last season(IU does this quite well too).

I'm curious on what you think? Do you prefer the two post players in the starting 5?

It should also be said that I think a two post lineup could work but the other 3 players have to be able to shoot. Currently with ellis % from 3, we're basically rolling out a starting lineup where we only have one good shooter(Layden) from distance, and we're seeing how much that is hurting us.

 

[MichaelRR]

Yeah Madison's numbers from 3 were poor last year for some reason.

You know I've been adamant about finding a portal post but after this self discovery, I'd like to back pedal on that. I know Stevenson isn't your typical 5, but I'm starting to think it may be better to have her at the 5 next season and find a stretch 4 in the portal(or have Mckenna play that spot). Or if we do find another post, she better be able to shoot a bit from 3.. I guess I'd like to play a more 4 out 1 in like last season(IU does this quite well too).

I'm curious on what you think? Do you prefer the two post players in the starting 5?

It should also be said that I think a two post lineup could work but the other 3 players have to be able to shoot. Currently with ellis % from 3, we're basically rolling out a starting lineup where we only have one good shooter(Layden) from distance, and we're seeing how much that is hurting us.

My personal preference would be two posts, because we already are mediocre at rebounding at best. Going small ball just makes it that much tougher to get rebounds. But I do agree having three good shooters on the perimeter would work better in our current offense. That said I would like to scrap the current offense for one with more motion principles added in and a lot more screening and off the ball movement. Also without Terry, I think post feeds are going to be a lot more perilous, so playing more high low post and with some work on post to post passing maybe that helps create more interior shots and ball movement.

For me the biggest concerns for next year are:
rebounding
assists
defense
shooting/scoring, in that order.

 

[Russ Ford]

I was watching the KG show last night and Lasha Petree was in town and at the show. CKG mentioned how they really miss her ability to just get a bucket when they needed it and how she's brought some joy to practice the last couple days being back on campus.(Guess she even practiced with the team). Rickie Woltmann and Cassidy Hardin were also mentioned as being really missed. I think alot of us(myself included) really underestimated how much we'd really miss these 3. I went back and watched 2 games from last year(Ohio st, st johns) and here are some differences between last year vs this year and probably why we're struggling.

1. We now do not have a go to bucket getter.(Our best is probably Stevenson a frosh or Caitlyn). Problem is both of them need to be fed the ball. More on them two in a bit.

2. Woltman may of been our best post defender and a solid rebounder. It's obvious how much we miss her, even if it was just for 12 mins a game.

3. Hardin played with passion. Now it's been replaced with Stevenson, who also has passion and fight. Heres the kicker. Out goes a guard who shot it about 35% from 3. Replaced with a forward who shoots 10.5% from 3.

Madison Layden moves to the 3. So we have two forwards(Stevenson, Harper) who aren't great shooters, both like to work inside but they need space down there to operate. They're clogging up the lane making it hard to post down low. Add in Terry and when her defender sags off her and it's a mess in the paint.

Another problem now is Madison is playing out of position. She's not quick enough at the wing and was better at the stretch 4 (which she played last year).

Now this is just my opinion, but I truly believe this is what our main problems are from this year to last, along with us just being a younger team of course.

Another place to get good info on the team is Mike Carmin from Greater Lafayette Sports Report. It's free to subscribe and they send the articles about the team directly to your email. Pretty cool.

 

[MichaelRR]

Another place to get good info on the team is Mike Carmin from Greater Lafayette Sports Report. It's free to subscribe and they send the articles about the team directly to your email. Pretty cool.

I like reading those, but he is quite the homer so not much real "news" on there

 

[tomgloe]

Another place to get good info on the team is Mike Carmin from Greater Lafayette Sports Report. It's free to subscribe and they send the articles about the team directly to your email. Pretty cool.

Yeah I'm subscribed to his substack, glad he still covers the ladies team.