September 26, 2010

The Huskies need more Bite

Last year the Washington Huskies had 13 wins with 18 losses and went 7-11 in the Pac 10. However two plusses, they were 8-5 at home and had an average attendance of over 2,500 for those home games, 2nd in the Pac 10. The fans are there, and if a key player, Liz Lay, comes back from her injuries it could mean a winning season.

LOSSES:

Washington lost 4 Srs from a year ago. Sami Whitcomb was the leading scorer last season at 13 per game. She also pulled down almost 6 rebounds per game, which led the Huskies. Sami was also the leading three point shooter in both number made, 46, and percentage, 36%.

Center Laura McLellan scored 7 points and had 4 rebounds in 19 minutes per game.

Christina Rozier and Sara Mosiman each scored about 4 points per game. Mosiman missed half the season with injuries.

The Huskies also turned over their staff as all three Assistant Coaches and two support people have left the team.

ADDITIONS:

Let’s start with the three new Assistant Coaches. Greg Nared is one of the new Coaches. His experience is working with high profile athletes for Nike and working with Travel Teams for Nike. He also coached High School basketball in the Portland area. He has two daughters, one who just transferred from Maryland but I don’t know to where and the other is an outstanding 2014, (entering her frosh year) at a Portland High School.

Kyle Locke is the second of three new assistants. Locke was an assistant coach for Coppin State for the past nine years. Locke also worked for FILA, another Travel shoe company.

The 3rd new member is Kari Duperron who previously worked with Head Coach Tia Jackson at UCLA. Kari was an assistant the past two years at UNLV under Kathy Olivier.

Mercedes Wetmore is a 5-7 Frosh guard who was ranked as the # 28 Guard by HoopGurlz.

Marjorie Heard is a 6-1 Frosh forward, rated about the # 50 forward by HoopGurlz.

Ashley Moore is a 5-10 Frosh guard rated as the # 55 guard by HoopGurlz. Moore is from Vallejo and played for the Bay Area Lady Warriors.


Kassia Fortier is a 5-8 Frosh guard who was not rated in High School. Her father is a Husky Assistant for the Men’s basketball team.

Amanda Johnson is a 5-5 Soph who redshirted as a Frosh due to an injury. She was not rated in High School.

NON CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

At Utah, a weak team except for Michelle Harrison, at home vs Georgia Tech, at BYU. The other 7 games, one short by the way, are against weak teams.

BY POSITION:

CENTER:

Well facts should be stated so I’ll say this: the Huskies need Regina Rogers to play more than 17 minutes per game. Rogers is a 6-3, 4th year Jr who averaged 8 points and 4 rebounds in those 17 minutes. If she is able to play 25-28 minutes the Huskies could be a different team.

Mackenzie Argens is another 6-3, 4th year Jr who scored 6 points and had 4 rebounds while averaging 22 minutes playing Power Forward and starting every game.

POWER FORWARD:

Liz Lay returns after sitting out last season with a knee injury. Lay is a 6-1, 3rd year Soph, who hopes to come back strong from her second knee injury. That knee bothered her as a Frosh so Pac 10 fans really haven’t seen a healthy Liz Lay. She was a top 20 recruit, and the MVP of the great End of Trail Travel Tournament in the Portland area. I saw her healthy and she can be a great player. She did act in a student play in the spring.

Mollie Williams is a 6-2 JR who will back up Lay. Williams averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds as a back up while playing every game this past season.

WINGS:

Kristi Kigma is a 5-10 Jr who was the 2nd leading scorer on the team and the top returning scorer. Kigma averaged 9.4 points per game, starting 24 games and had the only positive assist to turnover ratio on the team. Like Lay and Rogers she was highly rated out of High School and has lived up to her billing. She was 2nd on the team in three point shooting, making 33 at 32 %. This will be a key for the Huskies as no one returning made more than 11.

Charmine Barlow is a 5-10 Jr and Jeneva Anderson a 6-0 Soph. Both played a bit last season, but scored only 25 points between them. Frosh Ashley Moore will be an option on the wing.

POINT GUARDS:

Sarah Morton will be the Point, I presume. She averaged 2.5 assists per game and no one else returning averaged even one. Morton is a 5-8 Sr who was a top 100 player out of High School. Morton averaged 6 points per game last season.

Mercedes Wetmore, a Frosh, will possibly be the back up.

FORECAST:

This is a team with no depth, two poor recruiting classes in a row, and will place a great deal of hope on Lay being healthy for the first time in 2 years and Rogers able to play 10 more minutes a game than she has in the past. It could be a very long season in Seatt

September 19, 2010

Washington State hopes for a reversal of fortunes

Last season was very disappointing for the Cougars. They were 8-22 overall and 3-15 in Pac 10 play. Even worse maybe, they won only 4 home games. The positive spin is they went 2-4 over their last 6 games including a win at USC and a win at home over Oregon. Several players have transferred out, several injured players have returned, and they have a decent recruiting class.

LOSSES:

Both the starter and back ups at Point Guard transferred out. Kiki Moore was 2nd on the team in scoring, 12 points, and 1st in steals, 3, and first in assists, 3.5 per game. Camille LeNoir averaged 3 points per game, had had a positive assist to turnover ratio, the only one on the team. But they transferred for a reason and maybe it will help not hurt the Cougars.

ADDITIONS:

Rosetta Adzasu is a 5-5 Point Guard who played at Central Arizona JC as a frosh and is transferring from Yakima JC where she played last season. She played High School basketball in Oregon.

Hana Potter is a 6-2 frosh Post from Minnesota where she was the # 43 Post in the country per HoopGurlz.

Brandi Thomas is a 6-1 frosh Forward who Coach June Daugherty calls “the best athlete from the State of Washington in a long time. Thomas had games of 12 blocked shots and 23 rebounds. She was not ranked.

Sage Romberg is a 6-1 Forward who was the # 73 Player in the US per All Star Girls Report and # 87 per HoopGurlz.

Two players return from injuries. Katie Grad is a 5-8 3rd year Soph Guard and Jessica Oestreicher is a 6-8 3rd year Soph Center.

NON CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

Washington State has one of the tougher schedules in the Pac 10. Nebraska, North Carolina, Gonzaga (maybe twice as they are in a tournament with them). Also they might play Mississippi, same tournament and will play San Diego State and South Dakota State.

BY POSITION:

Center:

Carly Noyes started 25 of the 30 games last year as a Frosh. Noyes is 6-5 and averaged 6.6 points and 5 rebounds per game. She set the Washington State record fro blocks in a season with 57, 2 per game.

Jessica Oestreicher is a 6-8 Soph who missed last season with a knee injury. She missed some of her frosh year and also all her Jr year in High School with a knee injury. When she played her Frosh year, she averaged 8 minutes a game. However she was a top 100 player per several sites out of High School. Jessica is also agile enough to be an all league player in High School in Softball.

Hana Potter is a 6-2 Frosh who could also play Forward. She was born in the State of Washington although went to High School in Minnesota.

Power Forwards:

Rosie Tarnowski is a 6-1 Jr who started almost every game last season averaging 4.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Katie Madison is a 6-0 Sr who also played some Center due to lack of depth there and averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds per game.

6-1 Jr Lexie Peterson played 12 minutes a game last year scoring 1.4 point per game.

6-1 Frosh Brandi Thomas may also play here.

Wings:

5-10 Jr Jazmine Perkins averaged 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals per game. She’ll be one starter. She has a load of potential, All League potential, but has lacked offensive consistency and focus thus far. I believe she is the key to this team, if she matures, she could be very good.

April Cook is a 5-8 Jr who averaged 14 points per game to lead the team. But here’s a key stat, Cook and Perkins averaged only 3 assists per game between them last season. That must improve by two fold for the Cougars to have a decent season.

Three point shooting was very weak last season, both Cook and Perkins made about 45 each, but neither shot 30% this must improve. But there’s no lack of effort from these two, they are both fine defensive players.

Sage Romberg, is a 6-1 Frosh who could play the 4 also. She is their # 1 recruit and should play quite a bit. She averaged 11 rebounds per game as a Sr and scored over 2,000 points in her High School career.

Katie Grad is a 5-8 3rd year Soph. Grad missed her frosh season with an injury. Last season she was the only Cougar to shot better than 30% on her threes, while making more than 10. OK she made 12, still they need the three point skill. She played every game and averaged 4 points per game.

Ireti Amojo is a 5-10 2nd year frosh who played one game, 19 minutes last year before a season ending injury. She scored 7 points and hit a three.

Point Guards:

Rosetta Adzusu the 5-5 JC transfer should be the starter. April Cook will also play here.

FORECAST:

A tough pre season schedule for a team that only won 8 games last season then the tough top half of the Pac 10 means that an improved WSU team still might only win 12 or so games. Still I think they will be the most improved team in the Pac 10.

September 14, 2010

Colorado just a year or two away

I’m not sure as I write this when Colorado will join the Pac 10 for Basketball, but I thought it would be interesting to know a little about the Buffalos. Actually it appears not until 2012, will Colorado join, as Utah appears set for next year.

Colorado was 13-17 last season, 10-4 non conference and a woeful 3-13 in the very tough Big 12. They lost three of their top five and 5 of their top 8 scorers so will be relying on newcomers this season.

Their non conference schedule is pretty weak as it was last season, with Illinois and USC the only major opponents. Of course the Big 12 Conference will be very strong again this season. The Big 12 doesn’t play divisions, but an unbalanced schedule. This season Colorado will play Texas A & M, Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State just once. The Buffalos play Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska and Iowa State twice each.

The Coach is Linda Lappe, now in her second season. Lappe was the youngest BCS Head Coach last year at 29. She coached Denver’s Metro State to a 50-36 in her three seasons as their Head Coach.

Colorado’s 12 person roster includes 4 Frosh, 4 Sophs, 2 Jrs and 2 Srs.

Top Returnees:

Brittany Spears, no not that Brittany, is 6-1 Sr Forward who averaged almost 18 points and 8 rebounds per game. She has been their go to player from the moment she arrived in Boulder.

Chucky Jeffrey, no not that Chucky, is a 5-10 Soph Guard. She averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds a game.

Meagan Malcolm-Peck is a 6-2 Soph Forward who was 6th in minutes played last season and averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds per game. Her twin sister Brenna is also on the team.

Four Players, including Brenna Malcolm-Peck averaged between .7 and 1.3 points per game. One is 6-7 Soph Melissa Macfarlane. All Star Girls Report had Melissa as the # 20 Center and # 70 overall player out of High School, so the potential to contribute is there.

Colorado adds four Frosh this season. Rachel Hargis is a 6-4 Center from Texas, named the # 43 Center out of High School by HoopGurlz. Shae Kelley is a 6-0 Forward from Denver, named by HoopGurlz as the # 58 Forward. The Wilson twins, Ashley and Brittany come to Boulder from Long Beach Poly. Brittany was the # 32 Guard and Ashley the # 58 Guard per HoopGurlz. Long Beach Poly was the team Sara James and Oakridge beat for the State Championship.

Summing up the Buffalos of Colorado, they don’t seem to have to players to compete with many of the Pac 10 teams. It’ll be interesting to follow their recruiting to see if that picks up.

September 8, 2010

Preview of the Arizona Wildcats

Last season the Wildcats were 14-17 and 6-12 in the conference. But their last 7 games resulted in 6 losses, to Cal, USC, UCLA, ASU and Stanford, twice. A tough way to end but they clearly showed they are a team on the rise. Now whether that rise can get them into the first division remains to be seen, but they seem to be the best team to challenge going from the bottom half of the top half of the conference.

LOSSES:

Only 8 players played more than 8 games however all except one of them return. And they have a decent recruiting class.

Ashley Frazier started every game and while she only scored 3.4 points per game she did play 29 minutes per game and was the only Wildcat was a plus of assists to turnovers.

Jennifer Kioa had transferred from Foothill after some of us watched her at Kezar the previous summer. However she only played 8 games last season before leaving.

ADDITIONS:

Shanita Arnold is a Jr 5-5 Point Guard who transferred from Arkansas last year and sat out the season. She was the # 24 player in the country per Mike White, now Blue Star, and started all 32 games as a Soph at Arkansas. She averaged just under 6points and just over 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game in her second and final season at Arkansas.

Erica Barnes is a 6-2 Frosh Forward who played travel ball with our Sara James. She was rated the # 36 Forward last year by HoopGurlz. Although she had to sit out her Sr High School season after transferring from Sacramento to Richmond. She’s a strong rebounder, and scored about 16 points per game as a High School Soph and Jr.

Taylor Dalrymple is a 6-1 Jr who played JC ball the past two years and was the # 34 Power Forward out of High School. Last year at JC she averaged 6+ points and 6+ rebounds per game.

Candice Warthen is a 5-3 Frosh who averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 steals at her High School, Warren County in Georgia. HoopGurlz named her the # 27 Point Guard in the country.

NON CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

The Wildcats play at Mississippi, at New Mexico and at home against New Mexico State and in a tournament against Texas A & M. The other seven games are pretty easy, or should be.

BY POSITION:

POSTS:

This category does fit Arizona as they don’t have a Center, only 6-3 Sr Amanda Pierson is listed as a Forward/Center. They have been playing a 3 guard lineup and given their personal I suspect that to continue. They have recruited a top 100 6-5 player for the next class however. Pierson played all but one game last year, but only 11 minutes per game. She averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds.

POWER FORWARDS:

Ify Ibekwe is probably one of the five best players in the conference. The 6-2 Sr averaged 14 points and over 11 rebounds per game this past season. She is an outstanding player and the offense will be geared to feature Ify.

Soana Lucet is a 6-1 Sr who started every game with Ify last season. They will be the post players, the 4 and 4.2 as it were. Lucet averaged 13 points and almost 7 rebounds a game.

Erica Barnes is a 6-2 Frosh who is a strong rebounder and a decent scorer. She will be eased into the rotation, and will benefit from two good players ahead of her.

Taylor Dalrymple is a 6-1 Jr, a JC transfer, and the # 34 Power Forward out of High School 3 years ago. She had originally committed to South Carolina out of High School.

WINGS:

Davellyn Whyte is a 5-11 Soph who was the Pac 10 Frosh of the Year last season. Whyte led the team in scoring, almost 16 points per game, and made 67 threes, 35%. Like Ibekwe and Lucet, Whyte played about 33 minutes per game.

Brooke Jackson is a 5-8 Jr who averaged 8 points per game. Jackson is the only three point shooter other than Whyte who made more than 10 threes and is returning. Jackson hit 44 threes, 33%

Reiko Thomas played more the 2 last year but the 5-8 Jr may play both the Point and the Off Guard this year. Thomas averaged 7 points per game and had a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio, the best of the returnees.

Tasha Dickey is a 5-10 Jr who play 8 minutes per game last season.

POINT GUARDS:

Shanita Arnold is a 5-5 Jr who was a starting Point Guard at Arkansas two years ago.

5-5 Jr Candice Warthen will be in the mix here. The JC transfer from Georgia scored 25 points a game at her JC but was a touted High School Point Guard.

FORECAST:

This is a team that will be tough at home. They should have a winning pre-season and a good chance of winning most of their northwest road games. It will be tough to finish top five in the Pac 10, but this is the best Wildcat team since Pokie.

September 5, 2010

New Format for the Pac 10 Tournament

It has already been announced that the location will change with the Semifinal and Final Games moving to the Staples Center and being held with the Men’s Semifinal and Final games. However a new twist has come up where the # 1 and # 2 seeds get byes for the first TWO days. In the past it was one Day. Thus if say Stanford and UCLA finish 1-2, they will each get two days of byes and play only one game, if they lose, or two days if they reach the Final. If they are indeed 1-2 they would not play at the Galen Center at all.

All so very interesting. I wonder what this means when Colorado and Utah join the now Pac 10. It will be hard to continue with this format.

This could help the # 3 and # 4 teams in league play, they get an extra game and that could be the difference between an NCAA berth or not. Here is the format:
The Pac-10 Tournament takes place March 9-12 in Los Angeles and will begin at the Galen Center on the campus of USC before the semifinals and finals are played at the Staples Center.

The tournament will have a different seeding beginning this season:

Wednesday, March 9 (First Round, Galen Center)
Game 1: Seed #3 vs. Seed #10, 12 p.m. PT
Game 2: Seed #4 vs. Seed #9, 2:15 p.m. PT
Game 3: Seed #5 vs. Seed #8, 5 p.m. PT
Game 4: Seed #6 vs. Seed #7, 7:15 p.m. PT

Thursday, March 10 (Quarterfinals, Galen Center)
Game 5: Winner 3/10 vs. Winner 6/7, 3 p.m. PT
Game 6: Winner 5/8 vs. Winner 4/9, 5:15 p.m. PT

Friday, March 11 (Semifinals, Staples Center)
Game 7: Seed #1 vs. Game 6 winner, 12 p.m. PT
Game 8: Seed #2 vs. Game 5 winner, 2:30 p.m. PT

Saturday, March 12 (Championship, Staples Center)
Game 9: Championship Game, 11:30 a.m. PT