WBB: Comparison with Nebraska

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cydney

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Mar 14, 2011
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Seeing that Nebraska WBB keeps getting some decent wins, compiling a pretty good record, 20-5 overall and 10-3 in the Big Ten, I wondered how their team compares to ours.

My impression was that they had a star in Jordan Hooper, in the realm of Hallie, but otherwise had graduated their star point guard from last year and didn't have an outstanding roster.

Here are the two rosters:
Nebraska: Women's Basketball - Roster - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
ISU: Basketball (W) - Roster - Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - www.CYCLONES.com - The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports

Here are the stat summaries:
Nebraska:
Screen Shot 2014-02-21 at 9.23.45 AM.png
ISU:
Screen Shot 2014-02-21 at 9.23.33 AM.png

Given all our recent debates on depth, Nebraska is not that much different than ISU. They mostly have a 7-player rotation with similar minutes as ours. They do have a 6-5 freshman who as the 7th player compared to Fallon for us. That is a key difference. They do average more height than us overall.

Otherwise, their statistics are very similar to ours, with only slightly better shooting and assists. So maybe their offense runs a little better.

They also average about one more steal per game than we do.

The have won a couple close games that comparably speaking we have lost. And they have gotten a couple quality wins that have escaped us thus far.

However, they have not done it with a deep bench or with significantly more talent.
 

cydney

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Mar 14, 2011
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I should note one other key difference: they are not starting 2 freshmen. They start 1 soph, 3 juniors, and a senior.
 

BoxsterCy

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Sep 14, 2009
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The main difference is that if we tipped off with them tomorrow on a neutral court they would be favored to win. We are probably similar as to rank of programs, generally, but they are the better team this year. I am not totally buying into the whole "our league is so tough" business either. Yup, the league is pretty strong top to bottom but not as tough (elite teams) as it has been and we are still struggling to be competitive. If the league was uber tough this year I don't know if Baylor would be just blowing through it like they are. NU will host with a decent seed and we might get a charity invite with a poor seed.

We are where we are because we are what our coaches recruited. A great player and Cyclone like Hallie is being forced to play out of position her senior year which just sucks. Johnson is doing great but is still going up against kids 4 or 5 inches taller every night. It's not just that we only go 7 deep, it's what we have to go 7 deep with and it's pretty darn unbalanced.
 
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Tornado man

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The main difference is that if we tipped off with them tomorrow on a neutral court they would be favored to win. We are probably similar as to rank of programs, generally, but they are the better team this year. I am not totally buying into the whole "our league is so tough" business either. Yup, the league is pretty strong top to bottom but not as tough (elite teams) as it has been and we are still struggling to be competitive. If the league was uber tough this year I don't know if Baylor would be just blowing through it like they are. NU will host with a decent seed and we might get a charity invite with a poor seed.

We are where we are because we are what our coaches recruited. A great player and Cyclone like Hallie is being forced to play out of position her senior year which just sucks. Johnson is doing great but is still going up against kids 4 or 5 inches taller every night. It's not just that we only go 7 deep, it's what we have to go 7 deep with and it's pretty darn unbalanced.

Well said. Just hope we have more of that "balance" you speak of next year, and we aren't chucking up so many 3's. Against Baylor, as we shot 3 for 25, it's as if we raised the white flag: "these are the best shots we're going to get, so here goes." Here's hoping we have more confidence to work for better shots next year.
 

acoustimac

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Jan 8, 2009
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I'm all for putting up 3's as long as there is an inside game to go along with it. Our guards/forwards have to get better with the deep shot.
 

Tornado man

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I'm all for putting up 3's as long as there is an inside game to go along with it. Our guards/forwards have to get better with the deep shot.
Every team, men's and women's, needs to be a threat from behind the line. But it's been way too easy for our women's team to say "we had open looks, they just didn't fall," as a way to explain a loss. I say BS. If the outside shots aren't falling, as has happened very often this year, you need to change and work for better attempts. Yes, an inside game, or guards who are willing to drive. We have ONE player who can dribble under pressure: Buckley.
 

twistedredbird

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Apr 26, 2008
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Every team, men's and women's, needs to be a threat from behind the line. But it's been way too easy for our women's team to say "we had open looks, they just didn't fall," as a way to explain a loss. I say BS. If the outside shots aren't falling, as has happened very often this year, you need to change and work for better attempts. Yes, an inside game, or guards who are willing to drive. We have ONE player who can dribble under pressure: Buckley.

Man, how did this team manage to do so well the last two seasons without Buckley? We have no size, and a coach who doesnt ****** mid range. All that is left against teams with major athletic players in the middle is 3s.
 

Kitkat

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Apr 10, 2009
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Neb. has a player, Cady, who we tried to recruit, but I don't know how she is doing for them. She is a 6-2 post.
 

Tornado man

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Man, how did this team manage to do so well the last two seasons without Buckley? We have no size, and a coach who doesnt ****** mid range. All that is left against teams with major athletic players in the middle is 3s.
We have just 2 players who make at least a third of their 3-pt. attempts in conference games: Buckley and Johnson. IMO, the rest should not just jack them up like they do. It's a losing proposition. I had anticipated Hallie to average 8-10 FT's a game this season in conference; instead it's 5.6. That's (1) not getting her the ball either high post of low with decent plays or ball rotation for entry passes, and (2) Hallie shooting too many 3 pointers, so she's not getting fouled. She's shooting just 25% out there...
 

theshadow

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Apr 19, 2006
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I had anticipated Hallie to average 8-10 FT's a game this season in conference; instead it's 5.6. That's (1) not getting her the ball either high post of low with decent plays or ball rotation for entry passes, and (2) Hallie shooting too many 3 pointers, so she's not getting fouled.

...and (3) Fouls not being called when she gets blasted across the upper body while shooting down low.
 

twistedredbird

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Apr 26, 2008
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Seeing that Nebraska WBB keeps getting some decent wins, compiling a pretty good record, 20-5 overall and 10-3 in the Big Ten, I wondered how their team compares to ours.

My impression was that they had a star in Jordan Hooper, in the realm of Hallie, but otherwise had graduated their star point guard from last year and didn't have an outstanding roster.

Here are the two rosters:
Nebraska: Women's Basketball - Roster - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
ISU: Basketball (W) - Roster - Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - [url]www.CYCLONES.com - The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports[/URL]

Here are the stat summaries:
Nebraska:
View attachment 25086
ISU:
View attachment 25087

Given all our recent debates on depth, Nebraska is not that much different than ISU. They mostly have a 7-player rotation with similar minutes as ours. They do have a 6-5 freshman who as the 7th player compared to Fallon for us. That is a key difference. They do average more height than us overall.

Otherwise, their statistics are very similar to ours, with only slightly better shooting and assists. So maybe their offense runs a little better.

They also average about one more steal per game than we do.

The have won a couple close games that comparably speaking we have lost. And they have gotten a couple quality wins that have escaped us thus far.

However, they have not done it with a deep bench or with significantly more talent.

They have two starting forwards in Hopper and Cady who are both of decent size, 6 2 or so, and have a decent 6 5 post back up. To me, that is a big difference.

When the whistles were blowing early on with the no touch emphasis, our smaller team was getting the benefit of calls, when that stopped around the time of conference play, the tide changed. I also think this team lost major mojo after losing to OSU and WV, and haven't recovered.
 

twistedredbird

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Apr 26, 2008
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We have just 2 players who make at least a third of their 3-pt. attempts in conference games: Buckley and Johnson. IMO, the rest should not just jack them up like they do. It's a losing proposition. I had anticipated Hallie to average 8-10 FT's a game this season in conference; instead it's 5.6. That's (1) not getting her the ball either high post of low with decent plays or ball rotation for entry passes, and (2) Hallie shooting too many 3 pointers, so she's not getting fouled. She's shooting just 25% out there...

I guess, I was agreeing with you, saying we need a mid-range game, but have a coach who doesn't run that as a part of his system. Jadda and Nikki both have this skill set, and it should be emphasized more.

Personally, I just think our lack of size, and Hallie playing out of position, are the issues.

I also think ISU could do better in the tourney playing non-Big 12 teams, that haven't learned ISUs systems and know our players like the back of their hand.
 

mitten1975

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Oct 27, 2012
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Man, how did this team manage to do so well the last two seasons without Buckley? We have no size, and a coach who doesnt ****** mid range. All that is left against teams with major athletic players in the middle is 3s.
Tornado man has a deep seeded antipathy toward Nikki.
 

geewago

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Jan 1, 2013
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They play in the Big Ten

Nebraska has a good team. I get to see them quite a bit on the Big Ten Network. But cyclone 13 has a decent point here. Things are a bit easier in their conference now. I don't believe their record would be quite as good with us.
 

StClone

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Dec 17, 2009
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If you want a team with a similar season (though much different team) check out how the men's Iowa State season parallels the women's. Starting with the 14-0 run, blow outs, big loses, close wins and overall wins it's crazy.