women's basketball

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:54 pm

The women's team got a win last night against Utah Valley.

I saw the game against Kent State. They were a little overmatched in that one, but I hear Kent State is pretty tough. They were really fast and athletic.

I liked how our team fought back against Kent State after going through a huge scoring dry spell in the first half. They got it to 4 points in the second half, but could never hit that decisive shot to really turn the tide.

They're way undersized, and I'd like to see better outside shooting.

I was wondering what the thougths are on coach Kudrna. From the little I've heard, the players seem to like him, and he has them playing hard. Will he overcome his interim status? Or are we actively seeking a new head coach?

Neither the head coach or the assistants have any ties to the state of Montana, but 7 of the 13 players on the roster are from Montana, and their first signee for next year is from Livingston.

There are no Juniors on the roster-thus no seniors next year unless a transfer comes in. It's going to be pretty tough to have an impressive record in the next two seasons. Is MSU willing to give Kudrna a few years to get things straightened out?

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:07 pm

I have listen to Kundra on the radio for a preseason chat and he seems approachable guy. While the season is still young I am plesantly surprised on how well this undersized, young team is playing. I really felt Potera left/fired the program pretty much in shamble. Good players mind you, but only one great player, Burrows, and not a very well ballanced at all five positions. Again , it is still earlt, but some very young unhearlded players have stepped up and complimented Burrows very well. I hope if he can get this team in the hunt for the 3-4 spot in the B.S. tournement that he is offered the job without a Kennedy / Potera type interview process. That would be a very good accomplishment, and I think he should be rewarded for sticking around. If we are mired at the bottom of the league, go ahead and interview.

BUT PLEASE OLE' BASKETBALL GOD ABOVE, NO FOOLING AROUND WITH PLAYERS!!

velochat · Post by **velochat** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 2:37 pm

Sounds like Coach K

is a nice guy. I think we can only expect so much given the timing of his elevation to head coach. The most talented player on the team left also (nothing new there). I plan to see the Cats the first time against the Anteaters, Friday. They could be fun to watch, given that Coach K likes to run and the lack of power forward/center types, but they'll likely not be able to keep up with more balanced teams.

He needs a recruiting year before anyone can judge him as a college coach. Potera may have had some marbles loose, but the players who didn't leave always played well and she brought in lots of talent (who later quit). Time will tell, but I'm looking forward to watching this team, with moderate expectations.

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:51 pm

The team will overachieve if they win half their games. I don't think you can do anything until the end of the season. Who knows, maybe Coach won't want to stick around.

I know I don't understand all the financial and employee/employer details when it comes to coaching at a university in Montana, but it sure seems to me to just be nuts to call Coach Kudna, "interim" Head Coach. I mean, he would only get a 1-year contract anyway. Why not just make sign him up as HC? It probably does come down to timing with respect to budgeting.

bigcat · Post by **bigcat** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:37 am

Let's not forget, that coach K has never had a head coaching job in his career, unless you count AAU.(I don't)

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:27 pm

Coach Kudrna and Co. got a nice win tonight over Cal Irvine 67-52. They hit a bunch of threes in the second half.

Apparantly Hillary Scott had a rough first half and a great second half. On the post game show Kudrna said he doesn't yell at Scott because if you do she goes into a shell.

I thought his comments were pretty interesting and show that maybe this guy knows what he's doing. I think in this day and age coaches have to treat each player a little differently. Some respond to a good butt chewing and some do not.

Cal Irvine is 0-3 so I suppose we shouldn't be tearing down any goal posts over this win, but it shows this team has some hope. Burrows only had about 5 points-and they still won.

MSU01 · Post by **MSU01** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:45 pm

Scotta Morton and Jaimey Tanner had 5 3's each and MSU made 13 3's as a team...they'll win quite a few games this year if the outside shooting can consistently be anywhere near as good as it was tonight. Once again, MSU got off to a horrible start and trailed by 10+ early, but totally dominated in the second half. Tough game for Burrows, UCI double-teamed her the whole night but it left other players open. Scott had an absolutely horrible first half, with a bunch of turnovers, but played great down the stretch. She needs to improve her decision-making with the ball, but she's the best athlete on the team. Kudrna or whoever coaches the team after this year absolutely needs to get a couple of big players to plug in the middle...that is the one glaring weakness which teams will be able to exploit all year. They're good defensively though.

velochat · Post by **velochat** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 8:58 am

I saw both games this weekend, and despite a terrible shooting performance in the first half against the anteaters, the Cats really lit up the scoreboards.

This team is not tall, but they're a lot of fun to watch and they play tougher inside than one might expect. Brianna Fields is one of the most fundamentally polished inside players you'd hope to see. She plays as hard as possible all of the time and is quite physical. Goodman also plays a lot bigger than 5-11 and holds her own inside. And of course, you don't want to get in Burrows way! Proietti is physical and very athletic.

I don't see how the Cats can contend with much taller teams for a conference title, but this team is very talented and fun to watch. Against Tech, Coach K was platooning two different five-somes in the 2nd half, and both were doing the job. Every player got major time and contributed.

The freshmen, DeHaan, Buckless, Proietti and Goodman all looked very good. For freshmen, they all look better than they should at this point in their careers and there could be some real stars from this group.

Scotta is a big time shooter and Tanner is hot right now. Hillary Scott is energetic and athletic. Connolly is a question mark; she's doing some good things on defense, but not handling the ball well. Nelson is playing very nice point guard; flawless ball handling. Neubauer wasn't around this weekend, I don't know what's up with that.

This team is fun now, and only a couple of taller players away from being a contender in future years.