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WBB summer 2015

Carly just needs to slow things down on offense. She tries to go too quick,
Other stats from 6/24...
Whit had 29. She only took four 3 pts and made two. Her quick drives and pull up jumpers did the damage.
Claire had 24. she was 4-5 from #pt. I think she is shooting over 80% from beyond the arc.
Christina had 12
Hannah had 13 points and 11 boards.
Nicole had 12 and Hailey had 8.
Ashley Joens had 9 points and 15 rebounds.
Hannah Bluder had 6 on two threes.
 
The lifting explains a lot. I thought the energy level of the gals looked a bit down compared to last week with the exception of Carly and Tania who both played well and hard
 
Tania had 4 assists. The first time we saw Sam in one of these games there were many oohs and aahs over her great passes. The coaches will probably instill a bit more of a passing mentality in Tania. Whit does fairly well with it although she only had 4 assists last night also.
 
I don't think the assist stats are very accurate. I counted close to 10 for Tania. They had to pull someone from the crowd to help with stats. And she did have some oohs and aahs among them. The one I was most impressed with was a half court pass with a defender between her and the run out player. She made a bounce pass that was just out of reach of the defender, at shoe top level. It made the defender reach out and get off balance. Then the pass bounced up right into her teammates hands at chest level for the layup. Tania is a pass first kind of player but she was encouraged by her coach to go on the offense because Doolittle was all over Gustafson.
 
Can't wait to watch Davis in league play. I think UM and MSU are going to regret passing on her.
 
Oak, always appreciate your insights and positive viewpoint. I just want to temper expectations a bit and be pleasantly surprised when we exceed those expectations.
 
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They have to replace three very experienced SR. Eight of the 14 will be SO and FR. My expectations would be to win 20 games, finish in the upper half of the conference, and make the NCAA tournament. I think they can do this. Maybe more but there are a lot of factors that have to be determined. Lots of talent but not much experience. The SRs (Peschel, Till, and Smith) haven't had the burden of being the leaders yet. The JR (Disterhoft, Kastanek, and Schneden) are either coming off injury (Ally and Lex) or not seeing the court (Hailey).
We will probably be able to predict a lot more after 5 or 6 games.
 
Expectations will certainly be lower for next years team. I, myself, do not have expectations, but I do have a lot of faith and hope. I think this team has much potential and should improve greatly throughout the season. I also believe they can win twenty games and return to their ninth straight NCAA tournament. I am very impressed with the high level of talent and character of these players. Who knows, they could possibly host again and reach the sweet sixteen. It's not inconceivable. I wouldn't be surprised if Lisa was B1G COY. Regardless, I say just hope for the best.
 
Some GTL stats after two games......
Whit Jennings is playing some terrific basketball. She is averaging 31.5 ppg. She has made 9-15 from 3pt and 6-7 from the FT line.
Tania Davis is averaging 31 ppg and is 10-16 from 3pt. I think we are set at PG.
Carly Mohns is at 25.5 ppg and 14 rebounds per game.
Chase coley is at 23 ppg and 13.5 rpg.
Megan Gustafson is averaging 17.5 ppg and 17 rpg. She has hit 15-23 from the field.
Claire Till is at 25 ppg, 11 rpg, and has made 9-11 from 3pt. She is really shooting well.
Hannah Stewart is averaging 13 points and 10.5 rebounds/
 
A few more stats:
Alexa Kastanek is averaging 19.5 ppg but is only 2-18 from three.
Nicole Smith is at 10 ppg. she missed part of her last game with an ankle sprain.
Christina Buttenham is at 13 ppg.
Hailey Schneden is averaging 11 ppg. In her two games she has taken 11 shots, and made 10 of them.
 
It's too bad that with the injury Tagyn Larson is falling behind the other freshmen. It will be a big loss for all us fans if she does not see the court much during the season because of this, in more senses than one...
 
She shot threes at a Melissa Dixon percentage in HS. I was looking forward to seeing how she would do this summer. She has been doing some practicing. Maybe she will get cleared before the GTL is over.
 
Tonight in the GTL...
Tagyn is still out. She said she hasn't been cleared by the Hawkeye trainer. She is hoping to get on the court, maybe by the end of the GTL season. She said it is hard watching everybody playing.
Tania and Megan remained undefeated. They won over Chase and Carly. It was a good, physical battle inside.Pretty even in the first half. Megan came on strong in the second half. Carly was a woman possessed. Rebounding, posting up, stealing the ball, hitting some jump shots. Tania continues to impress
Whit and Claire's team scored 126 points in the first game. Tonight they shot their way to 140. I don't think Whit played beyond the third quarter. They had 102 at that point. Nicole was more aggressive on the offensive end tonight. Didn't seem bothered by her ankle at all. Claire got to the gym with just a few minutes to spare and didn't warm up at all. Her shooting suffered some because of it.
I only watched a quarter of the late game. Hannah Stewart was doing OK, but at this point she lacks Megan's willingness to be physical. She described her game as being a post-up guard.
 
I think everyone is working hard to get better. So much potential.
Some numbers from last night:
Tania had 23 and showed her all around skill.
Megan had 17 and 11 reb. She is getting B1G physical. Held chase to 2 points. Chase did have 12 reb.
Carly had 24 and was very active on both ends.
Whit had 42 including 6-11 from 3 pt.
Claire had 20 and she was 4-9 from 3pt. Their team hit 21 threes and scored 145.
Alexa had 25 and missed some time with an ankle tweak.
Nic0ole was more active with 19 and 8.
Hailey again didn't shoot much. four points on 2-3 shooting but she had 10 boards.
Hannah scored 26 on 11-18 shooting. without Christina she looked to score more. She is trying to improve her range and took 7 3ptrs. Made 2.
 
I wasn't surprised at Davis's performance, but Megan Gustafson, brought more than I expected. Could she start beside Coley much like Doolittle and Morgan Johnson.

I am guessing that Bluder will play a lot of players in the early going before settling on 7-8 players by the B1G play. There are so many possible combinations. Clearly it will be more than just raw talent. Hustle, desire, and hard work will be a huge factor. I am ready to be pleasantly surprised.
 
The girls should be good again next year. Big shoes to fill, of course, but a lot of potential. Thanks for the updates for the fans that can't get down to GTL games.
 
So Christina is off to Spain and Russia. Kali is back from Spain. I expect she will be at GTL on Wednesday. Then the team will be off to Italy. And later, Bethany Doolittle and Sam Logic will be off to Calais , France. World travelers.
 
It doesn't look like any one player will be as dominant as Sam Logic but the girls are deep. Hopefully that doesn't lead to team chemistry problems like the boys obviously had in 2013-14. I could see more pressing the usual next season. Ally Disterhoft is going to be a huge scorer but some other girls are going to have to step up. It sounds like some are ready to do so. Thanks for the update.
 
Megan Gustafson played in a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches All Star game in the middle of June. She had 18 points and 16 rebounds.

You can see on the board behind her that she is the all time leading scorer.
 
Gustafson appears to be a rebounding machine; I'm guessing Bluder will use her right away..... and, of course, she is a record prep scorer. I admit to being a casual WBB fan but try to watch as many games as possible. It was hard not to notice that low post rebounding was a big weakness last season. She seems to be exactly what the Hawkeyes need.

Who holds the IWB record for double doubles? Every time you see a Gustafson game stat there it is - double digits in scoring and rebounds.

...also -thanks to oakhawk and cyberhawk for their news and updates.
 
Carly Mohns seems to be outstanding in rebounding as well. Hope she becomes a major contributor this year.
 
Gustafson appears to be a rebounding machine; I'm guessing Bluder will use her right away..... and, of course, she is a record prep scorer. I admit to being a casual WBB fan but try to watch as many games as possible. It was hard not to notice that low post rebounding was a big weakness last season. She seems to be exactly what the Hawkeyes need.

Who holds the IWB record for double doubles? Every time you see a Gustafson game stat there it is - double digits in scoring and rebounds.

...also -thanks to oakhawk and cyberhawk for their news and updates.

I think Kachine Alexander has the record for career double-doubles. IIRC, she had 35. She also had at least one triple-double that I recall.

Thus far in GTL play, Iowa players have accounted for 12 double-doubles. Megan, Carly, and Hannah are each three for three, Chase has had two and Claire one. Whitney nearly had a triple double in her first game.
 
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Just back from North Liberty where I watched an instant classic. The two undefeated teams of Whit and Claire faced off against Tania and Megan. You would have thought you were watching two Parade AA PG. Well, you would have. Both Whit and Tania were fantastic.
Whit came out scorching but Tania's team built a double digit lead because Whitney's team (who came in averaging 120 ppg) weren't hitting their shots. Claire had been shooting lights out from three but they weren't going down tonight. Tania's team starting going inside to Megan and she racked up some big numbers. Claire also started going inside to good results. Meanwhile, Whit and Tania kept scoring on jump shots, drives, and 3ptrs.At the end of three Tania's team led 81-72.
Them Whit and company went wild. Whitney had two long threes and a couple pull up jumpers and her team went on a 19-0 run to lead 91-81. They held on to win 103-100. All four Hawks played great. I think they will be the top seeds and get a first round bye. If they are, they will play an exhibition. Should be anther classic.
 
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Whitney finished with 43 points. She was 7-11 from three with 7 assisrs. Claire added 16.and 9 rebounds.
Tania had 26 points (10-17) and 10 assists. Megan had 27(12-20) with 13 rebounds.
 
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In the other games.....
Lex Kastanek had her best game of the summer. Getting to the rim and finishing and hitting some threes.
Kali Peschel was back. she was a little rusty at first but then got going and had a pretty good scoring night.
Hannah Stewart continues to get more aggressive on the offensive end,
Nicole Smith had a good night. she was a scorer inside and hit some jumpers too.
I didn't see a lot of the other game since I was concentrating on seeing how Kali was doing.
But I saw Bethany looking like a pro. Carly was again very active on both ends. Chase was also playing well.
 
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This will be a talented and deep group. Hope the chemistry is good and Lisa can keep them all happy.
By Big Ten I can see a starting 5 of Tania at point, Whit at shooting guard Alllie at the 3, Megan at the center, and Carly at the 4.
Carly has really elevated her game. Very active, more confident. Rebounds, defends, very quick for her size and her offense is getting there.
 
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