Getting women back on track and Coaching Philosophy

[aucat]

I am certainly no coaching expert but since this is a discussion forum, I wanted to
bring this up. Coach Binford seemed to blame the really bad home loss to UNC on our kids
getting tired. She said that she needed to get more minutes of playing time to the
other players.

However, if you were at the MSU-UNC game, did you notice that UNC subbed very infrequently?
In fact, their super star, Savannah Smith (number 10) was an absolute gem all game long,
and if I am not sadly mistaken, she NEVER came out of the game.

I was amazed at how Smith paced herself throughout the game. When she had breakaways
down the court, rather than go in for a layup, she would pull up and nail a 3 pointer.

In some sports circles there are sayings like, "You run with the horses that get you a win" etc.

Sometimes when I see Madeline Smith in a groove, Rebecca Hatchard in a groove, Olyana Squires
lighting it up, etc. and Coach takes them out, I wonder, "were they really tired?"

As I say, I have never coached, so what the heck do I know? But gosh when I see a player on fire
and they don't appear to be tired, I think, "dang, I sure wouldn't take her out right now

I guess there are two coaching philosophies when it comes to this. If you watch the greatest women's coach
of all time, Geno at UConn, he pretty much sticks to his starting five unless someone gets in foul trouble.
His record speaks for itself.

Coach Binford likes to play pretty much her entire bench, which I suppose is good for morale, and maybe it
does provide for more energy late in the game. ALthough, I think if you stick with a small core, you might
have more spirited competition during practice, as well as motivation to be in top condition.

All I know is, Savannah Smith tore us apart all game long, and I don't believe the young lady
ever came out of the game. Kudos to her.

Just having fun discussing and I hope the Lady Cats get back on the winning track.

These home losses make me appreciate that 31 game winning streak even more!

Go Cats!

[BelgradeBobcat]

I haven't noticed this too much with Binford, but Mick Durham used to do this and drove me absolutely crazy. If a guy hit two or three in a row-he was coming out. You could count on it.
I suppose we should keep in mind the coaches are watching more than just the scoring. They might see a player trying to rest on defense which can be a big problem. Some players have better endurance than others. Some coaches may want to pull them and give them a blow after a make so they're feeling good about themselves. And some coaches have their rotations in mind and they want to keep their best players fresh for the end of the game.

[BobcatDel]

I guess there are two coaching philosophies when it comes to this. If you watch the greatest women's coach
of all time, Geno at UConn, he pretty much sticks to his starting five unless someone gets in foul trouble.
His record speaks for itself.

You know me. Always gotta look at the stats behind the perceptions. So for whatever its worth.....

Connecticut starting 5 average 28.3 mpg. Bobcats starting 5 average 27.6 mpg. So the Bobcat starters are getting 40 seconds less time on the floor than the Connecticut women.

Top subs for Connecticut (6,7,8 ladies up) average 17.4 mpg. Bobcat 6,7,8 ladies up are averaging 17.8 mpg. So top three subs for Connecticut averaging less time on the court than lady Bobcats.

All the rest for Connecticut (players 9 through 13) average 5.6 mpg. Bobcat (9 through 12) players average 4.3 mpg. So the Connecticut players that are last up are getting more time on the court than the Bobcats.

Just from the data it doesn't say that Geno pretty much sticks to his starting five unless there is foul trouble. Tight ball games probably warrant more time from the starters and blowouts he probably gives the bench more time, but his 6,7,8 players time on the court is significant.

[BobcatDel]

I am certainly no coaching expert but since this is a discussion forum, I wanted to
bring this up. Coach Binford seemed to blame the really bad home loss to UNC on our kids
getting tired. She said that she needed to get more minutes of playing time to the
other players.

However, if you were at the MSU-UNC game, did you notice that UNC subbed very infrequently?
In fact, their super star, Savannah Smith (number 10) was an absolute gem all game long,
and if I am not sadly mistaken, she NEVER came out of the game.

I was amazed at how Smith paced herself throughout the game. When she had breakaways
down the court, rather than go in for a layup, she would pull up and nail a 3 pointer.

In some sports circles there are sayings like, "You run with the horses that get you a win" etc.

Sometimes when I see Madeline Smith in a groove, Rebecca Hatchard in a groove, Olyana Squires
lighting it up, etc. and Coach takes them out, I wonder, "were they really tired?"

As I say, I have never coached, so what the heck do I know? But gosh when I see a player on fire
and they don't appear to be tired, I think, "dang, I sure wouldn't take her out right now

I guess there are two coaching philosophies when it comes to this. If you watch the greatest women's coach
of all time, Geno at UConn, he pretty much sticks to his starting five unless someone gets in foul trouble.
His record speaks for itself.

Coach Binford likes to play pretty much her entire bench, which I suppose is good for morale, and maybe it
does provide for more energy late in the game. ALthough, I think if you stick with a small core, you might
have more spirited competition during practice, as well as motivation to be in top condition.

All I know is, Savannah Smith tore us apart all game long, and I don't believe the young lady
ever came out of the game. Kudos to her.

Just having fun discussing and I hope the Lady Cats get back on the winning track.

These home losses make me appreciate that 31 game winning streak even more!

Go Cats!

Certainly not at Coach Binford's level either but I haven't noticed her pulling out the hot hand as much as noted. Nor has she pulled out the cold hand either. Since we have three or four ladies shooting nearly 40 percent from 3 she doesn't want to have them quit shooting. And certainly don't want to stop Ollie and Becca from driving.

On playing time, Coach was asked about this. She admitted she was a 40 min player herself. Other comments she made......

- Game is a faster pace than when she played
- Some of the girls have a signal when they need to come out, I haven't picked it up on all the girls, but I have noticed Rebecca give her signal that she needs to come out.... and soon.....others on here that know Becca know what I mean
- It is a long season and it wears you down, getting more time on the subs really helps the starters, in particular a Thursday with a Saturday recovery game (myself I actually liked two days between games for full recovery)
- Come tourney time where you are potentially playing games on consecutive days, an experienced and capable bench is invaluable (watch the UNC girl come tourney time if they have tight games several days in a row)
- She has recruited a great group of ladies and giving them all some playing time helps with the team spirit. Coach does a good job pointing out how valuable their contributions are. Watch next time when some of the "last up" ladies get on the court and are able to score or make a great play, you see the entire bench up and cheering them on. Wow that is so nice to see... really points to good team chemistry.

And as to the UNC lady, Coach said in her opinion she is the best player in the league....

My comments for whats it worth.

[BobcatDel]

Another interesting tidbit on UNC, did you notice they don't operate with a large roster other teams. Don't recall if there were 9 or 10 in uniform for MSU game. But the starting five for UNC averages nearly 34 minutes per game. Much higher than even Geno's team.


Since we are in a discussion board, I have some friends from Tennessee. Maybe I should send your comment about Geno to them. I could see the board "light up" then!!! Ha! I am sure they would provide you all kinds of "appropriate??" comments about Pat Summitt vs. Geno. I know Summitt would still have more wins than Geno if she was still at it but Geno has a better win percentage. I haven't looked lately but I think Geno will surpass Pat in numbers of wins this year... or perhaps already has... should check I guess. Anyway, two great coaches and would hate to have to play against either one. Too bad Pat had to retire with her alzheimers diagnosis and she passed away.

Another tidbit about Pat Summitt, when she was early in her career (perhaps like Fish) she yelled at her players all the time and gave that "icy stare" when they came off the court after a bad play. Later in her career she admitted she mellowed and greatly reduced her yelling. But she was always tough on her players, she was known for that.

[WyomingGrizFan]

Some coaches may want to pull them and give them a blow after a make so they're feeling good about themselves.

Is that right?

[John K]

They certainly didn't get back on track tonight. Lost to Sac by almost 20, which was only their 2nd conference win, so that was a pretty bad loss. The MSU women have been maddeningly inconsistent this season. Nice win by the men though.

[aucat]

Well, I'm going to start a new thread on the WBB game with Sac State, but more on coaching first.

Thanks for the updates on Uconn, etc.

As for Pat Summit, she was absolutely the greatest. Not only did her players excel on the courts, they were model
citizens off the court and were top notch students. This at a time that the UT football players were constantly getting
into all sorts of trouble.

I only ever had one complaint against Coach Summit: Pat absolutely DOMINATED women's basketball for a long time.
Heck, she practically INVENTED it. But when another coach came along who could match her---Geno at Uconn--Pat
quite playing him. It was a huge annual game, played before sellout crowds, usually in December, but Pat quit playing Geno.

She didn't like losing to him, nor did she like his audacity. Geno once walked into the UT Vols arena and said
something like this: "You know this particular color of orange sort of makes you want to vomit!"

Geno knew how to get under Pat's skin and he knew how to beat her, and Pat couldn't take it.

Still, I have nothing but the greatest admiration for Pat. I have read her books and they are great.
She is sorely missed. I had hoped that one day I would see Pat and Geno play each other again.
We were robbed of this by a hideous disease that took Pat way, way too early.

[thefrank1]

Lack of toughness has always been an issue with Binford's teams. Idaho State's win in the tournament opener two years ago is a typical example. Their team played tough basketball and we fell apart. Need more John Wooden philosophy here.