Interesting Stats About Post Players in MAC and at BG

[BGSU96]

I got the following e-mail from Coach Miller in response to all the questioning of the size of the centers we recruit. I found the information very interesting.



Ed and Michelle,



I wanted to send a quick Hello from the basketball office. I also wanted to touch base with someone who consistently writes on the message board about women's basketball. I will enclose some interesting stats about post players in the MAC and the BG program to share with the board.



Point One:

The MAC Pre-season picked 11 players for their all MAC team. Only 3 post players made the Pre-season picks.



Ali Mann - BG

Lindsay Shearer -KSU (6'1")

Nikki Knapp -EMU (5'11")

*No Tall dominating centers in the MAC



Point Two:

The starting centers in the MAC during the last game: 2004

Akron -6'2" (no one taller on this team) avg. 4 points

Buffalo -6'3" (only two players over 6 foot on entire team...both foreign)

Kent -6'2" (avg. less than 3 points last year) 6'4" kid avg less than 1 pt.

Miami -6'4" (avg. 1 pt. last year)

Ohio - 6'1" (only two players on roster over 6 foot)

Ball State -6'2" (avg. 2 points last season)

CMU - 6'2" (no one over 6'2")

EMU -6'1" (Big East transfer has beaten out 6'4" foreign center)

NIU - 6'2" (avg less than 4 points a game last season)

Toledo -6'3" (good center..once again foreign post)

WMU -6'2" (tallest kid on team)



Point Three:

Stats from the BG post players:



Ali Mann -Ranks #1 all-time for rebounds as a Freshman in BG history

Honegger -Ranks#2 all-time for rebounds as a Freshman in BG history



Mann and Honegger -both rank in the top 6 all-time Freshman scorers



Honegger - Ranks #1 single season block record holder -EVER

more than Bonner, McNulty, McGuire, etc.



-Ranks #4 in steals as a Freshman



Honegger -shows up in the top six of four separate categories......Rebounding, Scoring, Blocks, Steals

Sounds like a good year for an undersized post player!!!



Mann has the third most double-doubles returning in the MAC.



Okay...enough from me.



See you tonight,


Curt Miller
Head Coach

[Metz]

I think that will shut us all up! Thanks coach!

[Flipper]

The sound of one hand clapping......is a smack upside the head

[HoustonFalcon]

Thanks for the info. I guess this just reiterates the point that I made on another thread that even if you have the post players that are tall, that doesn't mean success. It's how tall they play. So now let's just see how the season goes, and wait until the final results are in.

[Falconboy]

Ya know what I'd really like to hear Coach Miller adress here? Why it seems that we will only be succesfull if we have amazing nights shooting 3's and when we dont' have good nights shooting 3's we almost always lose. I'd like to know what Coach Miller's actually offensive stategy is. Because in my opinon you can't shoot 40% from 3pt. land every night. Its just doesnt happen. So if you got a good inside game you can over come bad shooting from the field. It seems Coach Miller is hell-bent on the 3 so much it might be hurting our entire offensive scheme at times. Ali Mann is our only talented post player. Lause and Kapfure don't even start for petes's sake and they're both 6'2 and are senior and a junior if I'm correct. Besides , all those stats on the MACs starting centers and that some of the tall ones don't average all of points is still mute , cuz it doesnt' factor in the just the physical presence effect a girl that is 6'3 or 6'4 can have in a game. Usually someone that tall can intimidate the other team from trying to go inside at all. A center that tall can also have an effect in the rebounding and shot blocking or shot altering department, which maybaye small but important parts of the game.
Yes, Liz plays more like a 6'1 girl than 5'11, but I do notice she has some problems the bigger the girl she's guarding. Also Liz is not exactly quick either. In fact Liz is really more dangerous shooting beyond the arc than she is down low. I'm not bashing anyone here. Coach Miller has done a great job getting some good talent here. I just hope we don't neglect the inside game of basket-ball and for shoot 3's and hope for the best mind set.

GO LADY FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRUSH YOUNGSTOWN ST.!!!!!!!!!!

[Flipper]

The point is "mute", it's "moot". I think you're biting off more than you can chew in questioning Coach Miller's strategy, but have at it

[transfer2BGSU]

Another non-hire of Paul Krebs that could turn everything around a get us a National Championship.

[BGSU96]

"Ya know what I'd really like to hear Coach Miller adress here? Why it seems that we will only be succesfull if we have amazing nights shooting 3's and when we dont' have good nights shooting 3's we almost always lose. I'd like to know what Coach Miller's actually offensive stategy is. Because in my opinon you can't shoot 40% from 3pt. land every night. Its just doesnt happen. So if you got a good inside game you can over come bad shooting from the field. It seems Coach Miller is hell-bent on the 3 so much it might be hurting our entire offensive scheme at times. Ali Mann is our only talented post player. Lause and Kapfure don't even start for petes's sake and they're both 6'2 and are senior and a junior if I'm correct. Besides , all those stats on the MACs starting centers and that some of the tall ones don't average all of points is still mute , cuz it doesnt' factor in the just the physical presence effect a girl that is 6'3 or 6'4 can have in a game. Usually someone that tall can intimidate the other team from trying to go inside at all. A center that tall can also have an effect in the rebounding and shot blocking or shot altering department, which maybaye small but important parts of the game.
Yes, Liz plays more like a 6'1 girl than 5'11, but I do notice she has some problems the bigger the girl she's guarding. Also Liz is not exactly quick either. In fact Liz is really more dangerous shooting beyond the arc than she is down low. I'm not bashing anyone here. Coach Miller has done a great job getting some good talent here. I just hope we don't neglect the inside game of basket-ball and for shoot 3's and hope for the best mind set."

Falconboy,

We were only 5-19 from 3-point land last night, so we only scored 15 of our 83 on three-pointers. The other 78 points came from foul shots and field goals (64 were field goals and 14 were free throws), so I guess that blows away your theory that if we can't score from 3-point land then we will lose. Kate did a great job last night creating shots and taking it to the rack to draw the foul. It was a great team effort and we had to score from inside because YSU didn't leave us open oftern to shoot the 3.

[Falconboy]

Yes, Kate Achter was awesome in getting into the paint and getting those running layups or floaters in the lane. That was one of major differences in us eventually pounding Youngstown. I wish we had went inside to Ali Mann more often. She's our lone true post player and has some pretty good moves down low. And yes, we seem to get a little more lucky in drawing fouls last night than we usually do. Most being from Kate driving to the hoop. I was a little worried at first glance when I saw all the huge girls Youngstown St. had. They had at least 3 girls that were 6'2 and one that was 6'3. Luckily for us they didn't really use the girls down low at all. In fact they kinda resembled us in throwing up alot of 3's early all thought they were making alot of them. If it wasn't for us switching to tough man-to-man in your face defense, that game is probably way closer. I particularly liked the defensive effort last night. Plus its helps when your at home with your crowd behind you.

GO LADY FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRUSH BROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BGSU99]

One interesting thing that is getting lost here is the fact that in the game of basketball, you sometimes have to take what the defense gives you. Our inside players are so talented (Mann, Thorburn, Honegger) that teams are collapsing on them (playing help defense) or playing zone (2-3) to try and take away our inside game. When that happens, you have to work the ball around until you get an open look from outside or find a seam in the zone and try to drive. Trying to find cracks in a zone and drive isn't as easy as it would seem and can result in steals by the other team, so we end up shooting three-pointers. That may appear to be our strategy to some fans, but I'm guessing it's more a result of what teams are doing to us defensively. I would venture to guess that if someone asked Coach Miller, he would prefer that we shoot layups for the entire game as it is a higher percentage shot than a three-pointer. Unfortunately for us, our opponents are well aware of our inside players and are not going to let them dominate the games. Thus, we may end up shooting 15-20 three-pointers on a given night. That doesn't mean shooting the three-pointer is our strategy or the main focus of our offense. Frankly, I don't care where the ball is shot from as long as the Falcons win. Our team has proven that it can win basketball games whether the three-balls are going in or not.

HoustonFalcon -- I agree with your point about height ... it's how tall they play. I've enjoyed your insights in this forum and hope to see more posts from you. I was an assistant coach on an AAU girls team in the mid-90's and love the game of basketball. I really learned a lot and got to meet some great kids and parents. Went to Nationals from 1995-1997. We were in Dallas-Fort Worth in 1995 (I think Grapevine was the host team for that), Spokane in 1996, and Chattanooga in 1997. Those places are laced with college coaches. They're either scouting (the younger groups) or they're watching their recruits, maybe a little bit of both. I got to meet Geno Auriemma in '95 in Texas. It was pretty cool.