Quote from: sac on December 16, 2008, 10:26:39 PM
Way to post the score of the game you flew across the country to see FDF 

Hope 64 Carthage 46

Close one at the half, Dutch hold the Red ..uh women? to 19 second half points.  Philana Green 18, Cowen 13, Bruinsma 10.   Must have played some D on Snikkers, held to 2 points and no FG's.

Carthage packed it inside on Snikkers and Knox.  The starting posts faced at least a double team whenever the ball came inside, and sometimes were triple teamed.  The refs let the Red play very physical to say the least - you can read between the lines if you want.  When the starting posts were not in the game the defense was more straight up.  The Dutch did have a 40-29  rebounding advantage with Knox pulling in 9 (+5 steals) and Snikkers 7.

Adjustments were made at half time - more intense defensive pressure and the posts pulled away from the basket opening up the inside for Greene and giving Cowen some good looks.  Bruinsma found the seams and made some really nice moves.

This was the best the second unit has played.  Defense was consistently strong and the offensive ball rotation was very good.  I think the Dutch are moving closer to a full two unit rotation with no drop off when the second group is on the floor.  Although Kutney only scored 2 points I think it was the best (and relatively foul free) defense I have seen her play.

Carthage is a good team and I think this game should be a wake up call to future opponents.  It may be possible to slow the post players (although I think in most games both 30 and 34 would have been sent to the line a lot more often)  but this is not a one dimensional team and over emphasis on one or two players just opens up opportunities for others.


Congrats to Cowen and Greene (MVP) for being named to the all tournament team.

The Dutch scrimmaged GVSU last night.  Even though the coach played many different combinations the Dutch played well and came out ahead by a comfortable margin in  the first half.  The second half was closer, but there seemed to be less emphasis on winning than on seeing how groupings of players worked out.

The starters last night were Green, Snikkers, Knox, Kopke, and Cowen.

The second unit was Bruinsma, Kutney, DeKuiper, Greers with freshman Allie Cerone at point.  Abby Phillips, a sophmore up from JV also saw some good minutes with this unit and showed a really nice 3 pt. touch.  Bruinsma saw some minutes with mostly first unit players.

It appeared that others in line to receive some playing time are Boles and Kreuze, another sophmore up from JV.

No surprises.  Kopke looked healthy and full speed and did  a good job running the point.  Green played great defense, slashed to the basket and hit a couple of nice pull up jumpers.  Cowen looked to pass inside, but kept everyone honest with a couple of long jumpers.  Snkkers made some nice inside moves and her outside shot looked smooth.  Knox rebounded aggressively and went to the free throw line several times (and made most of them).

Everyone played hard defense. Very balanced - no one dominated and everyone scored.

It looked like the Dutch employed a match up zone defense more than I have seen in the past.  It helped the post match up with smaller, quicker GVSU players on the perimeter by providing a little back up help inside.  I thought the defense improved as the game progressed and the players adjusted to the opponents style.

Both units were strong on the inside and Kutney looked more confident and had a nice looking shot.  GVSU played small lineups and Hope was able to use their size advantage on the offensive end.

I would be surprised to see Boles taking many outside shots.  It looked like she was used primarily at the 4 position.

There are still some timing issues to work out.  Some passes were made a little late and I think that with some combinations there was uncertainty about each player's exact role.  But overall a good and encouraging effort for this stage of the season.

The best indicator was smiles on the coaches faces afterward.

Allow me to offer additional unsolicited input - although it might be worth less than $.02.

I normally follow basketball, but the Wabash football postings caught my attention.  I know nothing about either coaching candidate, but I am pretty sure moving from Lakeland to Whitewater as OC was a big move up for Zebrowski.

Lakeland has 836  US students (122 int'l) and only 19% scored above 24 on the ACT.   39% of the students are men.

Whitewater has great facilities, 9,400 students - 49% men - and 34% scored above 24 on the ACT.  Whitewater is in a "major" D3 conference and produces top flight programs.

Unless you have actually been to Lakeland you can not appreciate how small and isolated it is.

Check out the satellite view.

http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=h&lat=43.8335&lon=-87.820459&mag=6&tt=Lakeland%20College%2C%20Plymouth%2C%20WI&tp=1&q1=howards%20grove%2C%20wi

Although the administration has made efforts to improve facilities, enrollment and academics over the past couple of decades, its facilities remain subpar and it really is surrounded by dairy farms and corn fields.  It is almost 15 miles to Sheboygan which is a pretty nice community.

However, its immediate neighborhood makes Greencastle look cosmopolitan.