Don’t forget that Sydney Affolter and Addison O’Grady were both invited to the 2019 U16 USA team trials. They were among about 52 of the total of 152 players invited that were from the class of 2021, which infers that they were invited over many other players in their class that were ranked above them in the recruiting services. Furthermore, Sydney made it through the first two cuts to remain one of the 68 best players in all three of the classes represented and Addison O’Grady made the cut through three rounds to remain one of 42 of the total players to do so. These are commendable achievements for Sydney and Addison and bodes well for their career potential as young Hawkeyes.
Thanks for pointing this out! I assumed it was a lost cause and never would have gone back to check without this post.
Feuerbach is good. She's better at driving to the basket than any guard not named Clark, and also adds a lot in transition. Her athleticism should help the team defense and rebounding too. I think she will play starter minutes or close even if she doesn't actually start many games.
IUPUI lost in OT to Michigan tonight. Clones and Duke win big.I see that IUPUI(December 21) is the consensus pick to win the Horizon League.
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Goodman tore her ACL. I disagree that O'Grady is better than Goodman was at the end of last season. O'Grady has shown excellent potential. She needs to be just a little more under control. Goodman was a solid defensive player last year and always produced off the bench. Now, by the end of the season O'Grady could potentially be better than Goodman, especially with Goodman missing time. O'Grady also has a lot more range then either Goodman or Czinano. She has huge upside and played well tonight overall but did not look nearly as dominant as she did against Truman State. Sunday against UNI will be a good litmus test of where she's really at.
I'd like to see Ediger at the 4. For no more minutes that she plays she always produces. More potential than Cook in my opinion.Re: Cook vs. O'Grady. We're going to need both to contribute in addition to Monika. It's a longgg season, and even if O'Grady ends up being a better option at the 5 than Cook (which she likely will), we're still going to need Cook for stretches at the 4. Affolter as the back-up 4 could work against some teams but other times we will need more size.
Re: Feuerbach. Loved what I saw of her driving and her defense. Didn't realize her ballhandling was so good and her length and athleticism coming off the bench are a huge asset. She just needs to play within herself -- rushed a few drives into the heart of the defense which resulted in offensive fouls and/or turnovers. She'll get better at learning when to pull that trigger vs when to just set the offense up.
Re: Disappointments. Echoing what Gabe said about turnovers, I would add rebounding. I get that we can't pull down every board, but it drives me crazy when we have multiple bodies in the area of the paint but they are not in pursuit of the ball off the glass. Way too many of those.
Re: Michigan needing OT to beat IUPUI. Amy Dilk was injured (likely an ACL, sadly) at the very beginning of the game. Dilk isn't 100% healthy either but was relied upon more than Michigan had planned in Dilk's absence. Michigan seemed a bit shaken after that. But Naz is Naz and put the team on her back as usual. That said, IUPUI is legit tournament team (11-13 seed range IMO). Preseason favorite to win the Horizon league.
Re: Minnesota losing. Just very bad decision making down the stretch by Minnesota on both ends of the court. Turnovers, untimely fouls... big yikes.The team had zero chemistry, and no one looked like they were having fun. Not saying you should be laughing and smiling when you're trailing a "bad" team, but where was the fire? Where was the hunger to compete? Whalen just needs to hold on until that top-10 recruiting class gets there next year.
Other B1G: Nebraska looked better than last year. They don't have Kate Cain's large frame to block shots, but their smaller backcourt is more mobile and athletic. Jaz Shelley (transfer from Oregon) has shown great chemistry with Sam Haiby, both in their exhibition and today vs. Maine. Having two quality facilitators is really going to open up their offense so Haiby doesn't have to carry as heavy of a load. Nebraska is my new :dark horse" team in the conference...
Whalen will be on the hot seat going into next season but with a top class coming in I don't Minnesota making a change. I think Whalen is overrated and not a good coach. She doesn't get a long with her players and just not a good fit for the college ranks. She might have more success at the WNBA level where $$$ might negate the negative effect her personality has in developing a rapport with her players.
Which Megan?
Gustafson certainly was good, but Skouby was also very good as a freshman. Took the starting position early in the season after Stacy Schlapkohl got hurt and never looked back.She has a lot of upside as a freshman, but I think Cook's experience can't be discounted. Ediger will have plenty of time to develop. Cook offers leadership and knowledge that Ediger can't at this point. Cook is a senior. She's knows the offense/defense sets. It doesn't hurt to have another voice out there, especially if other veterans are on the bench. Cook hustles her ass off and deserves to get minutes her senior season. She stuck around and put in time in the program and does what's asked of her. Let her have her senior season. Ediger will get her shot down the line.
ESPN3. I have Hulu + Live TV for my "cable" which allows me to stream ESPN3 stuff at espn.com/watch/.
Fun game to watch with lots of Iowans involved. Drake likes to play fast and can really score (not unlike us in that way) as they put up 28 in the first quarter. Iowa vs. Drake on November 21 should be a good litmus test for our defense. If we barely survive another 103-97 shootout like last year, that will not bode well for our season. Grace Berg, a versatile 6'0'' forward, was and will be a difficult matchup for us.
I agree about the announcer. He went to high school in West Liberty and was an excellent football and basketball player. Played football at a small college and has announced a large nunber of high school games. He is very good.
I am still waiting for a dominant performance. Court awareness was very poor tonight. It just seemed like a lot of people going through the motions and the lazy passes and passes to nowhere. Offense needs to communicate. Use hand motions to signal and make more eye contact. We won tonight because we were playing against an inferior team.
