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Post by Super King on Feb 21, 2011 14:11:26 GMT -6
I assume he means Traci Edwards.
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Post by PantherU on Feb 21, 2011 14:55:33 GMT -6
I meant to add "in Wisconsin." Oops.
Only player to score 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 2, 2011 17:31:50 GMT -6
The Panthers have two games left in the regular season, and could wind up seeded as high as fourth for the league tournament if they win out and get some help.
Per the website:
Then they will need one of three scenarios to unfold: - UIC goes 0-2 and Wright State loses to Green Bay - UIC beats CSU, loses to YSU and WSU loses to GB - CSU goes 0-2 and WSU loses to GB
That actually seems somewhat realistic, at least the WSU losing to Green Bay part, since Green Bay has lost exactly one game so far this season (during the non-conference part of the season).
Finishing 10-8 (which would require beating Detroit and Wright State on the road) would represent a significant improvement over the last two years. Would that be enough to preserve Sandy Botham's job? i dunno. Reaching the fourth seed and making some noise in the tournament should count for something, if the Panthers make it that far.
At the beginning of the season, the Panthers seemed to have good depth at all positions. This season has been very hard on their post players, two of whom have been sidelined by back injuries for the majority of the season. Amanda Viehauser's recurring back problems are so severe that i've heard speculation that she's done playing basketball altogether.
That said, the Panthers have demonstrated that they are capable of playing really good basketball. They have also demonstrated the capability of playing really bad basketball. The men's team had the same problem, but has put things together in a way that the women's team has not. Time is running out for the women's team to do the same.
As Jimmy pointed out, there has been a lot of turnover in both the roster and the coaching staff, which raises questions. (Don't look now, but there's a notice for an assistant coach position with women's basketball on the UWM HR site. Anybody know who's leaving?)
The racial makeup of the roster (if that's what Jimmy means by "whitewashed") doesn't seem to be as much of an issue to me. Green Bay wins with a roster that's as "whitewashed" as UWM's. To Botham's credit, next year's recruiting class is more diverse: three of five signees are African American.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 10, 2011 11:34:31 GMT -6
9-9 in the regular season, which is, i believe, three games better than last year. 12-18 overall.
Lost in the quarter-final round of the tourney by five points to Wright State, who gets to go to Green Bay and get run out of the Kress Center.
Anyone want to speculate about the future?
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Post by PantherU on Mar 10, 2011 13:27:32 GMT -6
Without Laur, I shudder to think where we'll be. Sandy's team won a title in Traci Edwards' freshman year in 2006, but besides that we've had precious little to be proud of. A championship game appearance in Green Bay was perfect for a 20-point spanking on national TV, and a clutch victory at Marquette on New Years' Eve was the closest we've gotten
With the severe coaching turnover that Botham's program undergoes, it's hard to sell recruits when it's mainly the assistants that do the legwork. The team put together now is largely due to John Motherwell, who packed up and left for North Dakota this past season (you can see with the influences of Michigan, his home state).
I want Sandy Botham to do well - for one, she's an excellent person and a great cheerleader for the program. She wants the women's basketball program to hang banners more than anybody and she's the only one that has done so.
If I would have to hazard a guess, I'd say that her run at Milwaukee - the winningest coach in conference history, the two tournament titles, the great memories - should be nearing its end. I don't want to lose her; she still has great value here, and her loyalty to Milwaukee is unparalleled by most.
Should her time as coach be coming to an end, whether it's this offseason or one in the future, I would hope that she moves into an administrative role in the program like Kathy Litzau. Litzau did it when her program was still peaking (and thank the good lord Susie Johnson is continuing to kill it), and Botham's has hit a valley, but Sandy would still be a great asset in the administrative area of the program.
If our women's basketball program is committed to winning, I think that people may want her to gracefully exit. She wouldn't be the only women's head coach to move into the rest of the athletics program; M.A. Kelling has worked in the Klotsche Center long since her run as head women's basketball coach. Even Dr. Erika Sander, the first coach, was a professor until she retired a couple years ago.
Whether or not Sandy remains head coach, I think the program and university would suffer if she ends up employed elsewhere.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 11, 2011 12:12:38 GMT -6
Next season will be real interesting, especially at the start. Success will depend on key players remaining healthy and quick development of young players.
The backcourt should be in good shape. Angela Rodriguez is a player you can definitely build around. Sammy Theut is a competent point guard if she can stay healthy. Two of the five incoming freshmen are guards, and a third is a guard/forward, Ashley Green It's always hard to tell what you're going to get from freshmen, but Green has been a quality player for Nicolet. She's topped 1000 points in her career and is averaging about 18 points/game this year.
The frontcourt will be the x-factor. Sami Tucker can be a major scoring threat, but who else is there? Courtney Lindfors can be a factor, but she has to learn how to avoid fouls. If she makes a big step up in her sophomore year, that will be a big help. The other freshman center/forward players were injured much of the year. They'll have to get healthy.
The other two incoming freshmen are 6'1" tall twin sisters, Janna and Jasmine Swopshire. Their older brother is Jarod Swopshire, who plays for Louisville, and their father is a coach.
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Post by reggiewheelerfor3 on Mar 13, 2011 8:49:11 GMT -6
If UWM and Botham do part ways, I think current Wisconsin assistant John Barnes needs to be strongly considered. He's only been with UW for one season, but he had massive amounts at the D-II level as Michigan Tech's women's head coach and men's assistant coach before that.
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Post by mcdadenets50 on Mar 21, 2011 13:43:15 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 21, 2011 14:03:35 GMT -6
Not only was making the WNIT not enough, winning the first round game was not enough. In one of those amusing ironies, Stone's team beat Butler University in that first round game.
So does John Barnes (see ReggieWheelerfor3's post above) get considered?
The online comments on the JSO story suggests Marquette's Terri Mitchell or Kathi Bennett, who was on Stone's staff before taking over at Northern Illinois University. As to either coach's interest in the position, i can't speculate.
Green Bay won their first round NCAA tournament game. As this has been one of their more successful seasons ever (in terms of record and of receiving their highest poll rankings ever), perhaps Matt Bollant will be targeted by a higher profile program, too.
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Post by PantherU on Mar 21, 2011 23:20:59 GMT -6
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Post by Super King on Mar 22, 2011 0:26:09 GMT -6
Next year the team will be too young to make any real judgment. I'd give her two more years. She's got the pieces in place.
It's also worth noting that if Jeter leaves Botham might get a bit of a reprieve based on the fact that I don't think anyone in the department wants to go through two major coaching searches right after the other.
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Post by PantherU on Mar 22, 2011 8:24:29 GMT -6
Next year the team will be too young to make any real judgment. I'd give her two more years. She's got the pieces in place. It's also worth noting that if Jeter leaves Botham might get a bit of a reprieve based on the fact that I don't think anyone in the department wants to go through two major coaching searches right after the other. She's had...14 years?
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Post by Hack on Mar 22, 2011 10:29:06 GMT -6
Next year the team will be too young to make any real judgment. I'd give her two more years. She's got the pieces in place. It's also worth noting that if Jeter leaves Botham might get a bit of a reprieve based on the fact that I don't think anyone in the department wants to go through two major coaching searches right after the other. She's had...14 years? And how many asst. coaches?
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Post by PantherU on Mar 22, 2011 16:25:46 GMT -6
And how many asst. coaches? More than 14.
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Post by Super King on Mar 22, 2011 21:05:38 GMT -6
Eh, I just think you can't hold a coach particularly accountable when a very young team doesn't do very well. And the department missed the boat on firing her for failing to miss the Traci Edwards era expectations. The cards are definitely lining up for a one-last-chance scenario though, and I would expect that the heat is on.
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