A Sea Of Red

Where are all the cool people?!?

Not gonna lie. The team entrance is pretty legit. Very well done.
Apparently hoops now has a DJ.

Keeping up with Duke 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter? Not bad at all

LU back to their old ways.

They didn’t look bad. I think there were some locker room issues that aren’t there this year so the chemistry looked better. The biggest glaring problems were their press breaker. I almost called a time out to show then this great one from my Upward Coaching manual. Secondly their bigs just are not skilled. I know Smuda has all these points etc but she has not improved in 3 years. None of the post players have a ‘go to’ move let alone a counter. The big who comes off the bench (Howard?) is a tough and rugged player. Very good defensively and provides a well needed physical presence in the paint.
They are a whole lot deeper this year. Lots of players coming off injury. The guard play is greatly improved. Hess played with a ton of confidence. When she does that she’s very good. I really like Asia and Jordan in the back court. The whole team played pretty good defense despite the final score. Teams will be able to get out and run on them if they have the athleticism but their help the helper d looked very very good
This team has the potential to be one of the better teams over the last few years.
Did i mention the DJ is a great addition?

Attended the game in person and was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. The team came out flat and sluggish, but responded well late in the 1st quarter and all throughout the 2nd quarter, which allowed them to do into the half only down 2. Ball movement and chemistry looked good and our guards were knocking down shots (Hess, Boone and Hodges). Hodges is a SMOOTH operator with the ball. She has a great handle and she's a threat to score from anywhere - she's fun to watch.

Bella Smuda was the tallest player on the court by about 3-4", but you wouldn't have known it with the way she played. She needs to be more physical with the ball in her hand and back down opposing players. Both her and Howard missed several layups, which is maybe the most frustrating thing to watch as a spectator.

I also want to call out the coaching. I like Green - he's a mainstay and like McKay he's a perfect culture fit for LU. That being said, I don't understand the decision to take out your entire starting line-up early in the 3rd quarter and bring in less experienced players. We started the half down 2 and Duke came out firing and we went down 10. He then pulls the starters and the next thing you know a 10-point lead is now 20 and our best players are still sitting on the bench. When you're at home, the game is still within reach, and you're playing the #11 ranked team in the country - you leave as many of your best players on the floor as you can while keeping a rotation.

Overall, this team is better than last years' and may finally have what it takes to unseat MTSU. #1 Avery Mills is going to be good. I also think Pien played well and imho she's better than Elizabeth Aegisdottir and should be starting. She's a threat from the perimeter and is a more competent finisher at the rim.

Purple Haize wrote: ↑November 7th, 2024, 10:46 pm They didn’t look bad. I think there were some locker room issues that aren’t there this year so the chemistry looked better. The biggest glaring problems were their press breaker. I almost called a time out to show then this great one from my Upward Coaching manual. Secondly their bigs just are not skilled. I know Smuda has all these points etc but she has not improved in 3 years. None of the post players have a ‘go to’ move let alone a counter. The big who comes off the bench (Howard?) is a tough and rugged player. Very good defensively and provides a well needed physical presence in the paint.
They are a whole lot deeper this year. Lots of players coming off injury. The guard play is greatly improved. Hess played with a ton of confidence. When she does that she’s very good. I really like Asia and Jordan in the back court. The whole team played pretty good defense despite the final score. Teams will be able to get out and run on them if they have the athleticism but their help the helper d looked very very good
This team has the potential to be one of the better teams over the last few years.
Did i mention the DJ is a great addition?

The Upward manual is surprisingly solid. Used it some for other older teams too

LU 57 wrote: ↑November 8th, 2024, 1:02 pm

Purple Haize wrote: ↑November 7th, 2024, 10:46 pm They didn’t look bad. I think there were some locker room issues that aren’t there this year so the chemistry looked better. The biggest glaring problems were their press breaker. I almost called a time out to show then this great one from my Upward Coaching manual. Secondly their bigs just are not skilled. I know Smuda has all these points etc but she has not improved in 3 years. None of the post players have a ‘go to’ move let alone a counter. The big who comes off the bench (Howard?) is a tough and rugged player. Very good defensively and provides a well needed physical presence in the paint.
They are a whole lot deeper this year. Lots of players coming off injury. The guard play is greatly improved. Hess played with a ton of confidence. When she does that she’s very good. I really like Asia and Jordan in the back court. The whole team played pretty good defense despite the final score. Teams will be able to get out and run on them if they have the athleticism but their help the helper d looked very very good
This team has the potential to be one of the better teams over the last few years.
Did i mention the DJ is a great addition?

The Upward manual is surprisingly solid. Used it some for other older teams too

I’m keeping it on hand in hopes that day I get the call to coach an Upwatd team

Duke is a very good team. We looked like we belonged on the court with them.

LUGrad2000 wrote: ↑November 8th, 2024, 2:08 pm Duke is a very good team. We looked like we belonged on the court with them.

The ladies represented themselves well.

Humble_Opinion wrote: ↑November 8th, 2024, 10:54 am Attended the game in person and was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. The team came out flat and sluggish, but responded well late in the 1st quarter and all throughout the 2nd quarter, which allowed them to do into the half only down 2. Ball movement and chemistry looked good and our guards were knocking down shots (Hess, Boone and Hodges). Hodges is a SMOOTH operator with the ball. She has a great handle and she's a threat to score from anywhere - she's fun to watch.

Bella Smuda was the tallest player on the court by about 3-4", but you wouldn't have known it with the way she played. She needs to be more physical with the ball in her hand and back down opposing players. Both her and Howard missed several layups, which is maybe the most frustrating thing to watch as a spectator.

I also want to call out the coaching. I like Green - he's a mainstay and like McKay he's a perfect culture fit for LU. That being said, I don't understand the decision to take out your entire starting line-up early in the 3rd quarter and bring in less experienced players. We started the half down 2 and Duke came out firing and we went down 10. He then pulls the starters and the next thing you know a 10-point lead is now 20 and our best players are still sitting on the bench. When you're at home, the game is still within reach, and you're playing the #11 ranked team in the country - you leave as many of your best players on the floor as you can while keeping a rotation.

Overall, this team is better than last years' and may finally have what it takes to unseat MTSU. #1 Avery Mills is going to be good. I also think Pien played well and imho she's better than Elizabeth Aegisdottir and should be starting. She's a threat from the perimeter and is a more competent finisher at the rim.

I agree that Smuda has not improved her game. She has poor footwork and does not play physical enough. Neither of the European players were that impressive. Pien may have a better shot than Aegisdottir, but neither of them play good defense imo. They have slow feet and will not keep up with faster opponents. They cannot compete against higher level opponents. As I have spoken before many times, they need to replace Coach Green. At one point Aegeadottir contributed to 3 turnovers in a short time but Green never pulled her out. Green kept the freshmen players way too long in the floor in that 3rd quarter. He needs to utilize his athletic players such as Moore instead of the slower European players. People will see the weakness in defense if Green keeps the same starting lineup. Time will tell this season. We shall see.

We've all read your opinions on Coach Green. I'm going to agree to disagree. Aegisdottir and Pien are both slower, Pien's is more driven by her leg injury though I think. Still though, I'd rather have her start because she can knock down some shots. I think this team could play Moore in that SF spot though. She's one of the most athletic players on the team.
I think playing a lineup of: Hodges, Hess, Boone, Moore, Smuda would do very well.

The reason I do not believe Pien should start is that Hodges, Hess, and Boone can all shoot behind the arc. They need a good defensive player that can guard the opponent’s best player. Moore can do this and she can rebound because of her athleticism. The commentator made a comment that Moore might be able to dunk before she graduates. Not sure if she was serious but it is a testament to her athletic abilities that the team desperately needs on the floor. There are already 3 players that can shoot in the starting lineup. They need a defensive/rebounding player.