Feeling a Draft: Langhorne to Mystics; Harper to Monarchs

If you watched the WNBA draft today you probably saw this:



And then roughly 10 minutes later saw this:



Thus giving Maryland two Top 10 picks for the first time in school history.

Later they posed with their jerseys:


and just as an FYI the Mystics don't have a #1 (or #24 Crystal's first number choice) and the Monarchs don't have a #15.

And also sat down to chat with fans. Crystal's response for shooting over 60% "I shoot a lot of layups"

Lastly, Laura's newest beat writer already wrote an article about her.

Crystal and Kristi Earn More All-America Accolades

What a week for Crystal and Kristi, despite losing in the Elite 8 they picked up three all-america honors. You heard about the AP honors earlier this week, but the other day they earned USBWA honors and today made the prestigious State Farm WBCA All-America Team

Congrats to both ladies. Now it's team to wait for the draft.

Wednesday Words

I would just like to point out that only one team scored more than 87 points in the Elite 8 and that just happened to be Stanford.

Crystal and Kristi were named second team AP All-Americans yesterday, while it seems Marissa was an honorable mention selection. It marks the first time since 1989 that we have had two players named AA in the same season.

My favorite Benedict Arnold - Jeff Walz earned the Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year Award from the WBCA. I am sure Natty06 felt that Daron Park should have received the award.

The Baltimore Sun gives an update on Dee Liles

Some articles on the day after:
Sports Illustrated
Baltimore Sun
Diamondback

As we head into the off season there are some questions that need to be asked:
Did lack of playing time for the young players make them think about heading elsewhere?
Will Coach Park's stint as acting head coach make him want to pursue his own head gig?
What kind of team will we have next year?
Will we land several top 10 recruits to go along with Dara Taylor so that we reload in 2010 instead of rebuild?

Lastly, thanks to all my loyal readers who visit this site almost daily. I probably don't have the readership of the basketcases but I hope you enjoy the site and continue to visit in the offseason as we now have to track the pro careers of Shay, Crystal and Laura. For those senior parents who read this board, I hope you continue to visit even if your daughter is no longer on the team. I know I expect a lot out of the team, but I wouldn't be a fan if I didn't.

Stanford Ends Terps Season in Elite 8

All I can say is wow, Stanford shot the lights out as did we, then just made more threes. I am so proud of the ladies' effort tonight that I can't be that disappointed. Not many teams will beat us when we score 87 and shoot over 50%. We ran into that team tonight. When the third and fourth scorers can't miss from 3, there's not a whole lot you can do. Missing free throws didn't help, but I am sure Wiggins would have drained another 3. I would have liked to have seen Coleman guard Wiggins at certain points to make it harder for her to shoot, but that's my only complaint.

Congrats to Crystal, Laura, Ashleigh, Jade and Christie. You will be missed.

The countdown to next year is on. I hope Lynetta, Dee and Drey can help us reload in the post and take us to the Elite 8 and beyond next year.

Game 37: Stanford (Elite 8)

After our best performance in over month, it's time to see if the play continues tonight. Tonight's opponent will be one of the best we have played all year and are nearly mirror images of us as they have an athletic wing, and two posts. The game is at 9:30 on ESPN2 and a win sends us to Tampa and the Final Four for the second time in three years. A win means another morning of extra coffee to make it through the day for the fans, but it will be worth it.

Stanford is 33-3 and the common opponents are Rutgers (W, 60-58), Temple (W, 63-54), UCLA (L, 69-56; W, 75-62; W, 78-45), Pittsburgh, (72-53)

Stanford scores 75 points per game, while only allowing 54.9. Since the back to back losses to start 2008, Stanford has only given up more than 60 points, three times and has yet to lose. They have only broken 80 three times, six times during the 21-game winning streak and they were all against subpar opponents. They are one of the best rebounding teams in the country and rank 10th in the country in rebounding margin (41.7 to 33.6). They also shoot well at 45.8 percent from the floor and .321 from behind the arc. Opponents shoot 34.8 and 29.1. They are steady with the ball, averaging only 13.3 turnovers a game. They also block 5.1 shots per game.

Stanford is led by All-American Candice Wiggins. For four years, she has tried to make the final four and has yet to do it, she is driven and does it all for Stanford. She leads the team in points at 19.6. She rebounds at 4.6 per game, is first in assists and steals and shoots 43.1 from the floor and 33% from behind the arc. She is a clone of Marissa and needs to be stopped. The first of the twin towers is Jayne Appel. She is 6'4 and scores 15.1 ppg and grabs 8.9 rebounds. She also leads the team with 89 blocks. Appel shoots 59.7 from the floor and doesn't take 3s. She has only fouled out once. The other twin tower is Kayla Pederson, a 6'4 freshman, who shoots more outside the box than Appel. She averages 12.6 points and grabs 8.5 rebounds. She will stroke the three, but is not much of a shot blocker. She also rarely picks up fouls. JJ Hones is a 5'10 guard and scores only 6.0 points per game. Hones is a three-point shooter, barely rebounds and is a distributor as she is second on the team in assists. Rosalyn Gold-Onwude is the fifth starter and averages 5.2 ppg at 5'10. She also barely rebounds and shoots 48% from the free throw line. She will shoot the three. Off the bench they have 6'1 forward Jillian Harmon, who scores 6.3 points, grabs 5.0 rebounds and has missed all nine threes this year. Next is Jeannette Pohlen, a 6'0 guard, averaging 4.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and shooting 26.6% from three. Cissy Pierce is a 5'10 guard who may also play and averages 2.8 points per game and is a shooter. Lastly, there is Morgan Clayburn, a 6'4 center, who goes to to spell the towers and that's it.

The Cardinal have experience against two great post players as they have done an effective job shutting down California's dynamic duo. Harper will have to bring her A game.

Keys on offense

Attacking the post. Stanford relies a lot on Pederson and Appel and if would could get them in foul trouble, it would help a lot.

Taking care of the ball. Stanford forces 16.5 turnovers a game and wants to get inside your head Rutgers style.

Attack Wiggins on defense. Make her work on defense and possibly saddle her with foul trouble or at least tire her out.

Rebound the ball. They have two main rebounders so the guards will have to help.

Harper must come up big with a double-double and stay out of the foul trouble that has plagued her most of the tournament.

Strickland has to continue to play the way she did on Saturday. She plays that way and we won't lose.

Keys on Defense

Don't let Wiggins get hot. She is pumped for this game and she can score 30 with no problem if we don't defend her. Either switch on screens or go under to limit the three-point shots.

Keep the ball away from Appel and Pedersen. Pedersen is more of the shooter where Appel goes for the layups. Probably front Appel.

Guards must help rebound. Since their guards don't we need Kristi and Marah to go after rebounds and limit second chance points.

Hands up to prevent threes.

Wiggins is the only main upperclassmen on this team so who knows how the young players will handle the pressure of the game. They could be like our kids or they could be nervous.

If we play man, I see Laura on Appel, Crystal on Pedersen, Marissa on Wiggins, Toliver on Hones and Strickland on Gold-Onwude.

We must force the tempo like we did on Saturday and see if Stanford has the fire power to do it.

I see us winning because Stanford can't keep up, but we must control Wiggins.

Lastly, as far I have read, no one is sick. (knock on wood)

Terps Defensive Effort Puts them in Elite Company

What a game last night. For the first time in over a month, the team we fell in love with in November - January reared it's head and said not so fast to those that were predicting an early demise. I guess the pressure of last year's loss we really getting to the team as I didn't recognize the team on the floor. The ball was fed into the post repeatedly, we weren't settling for jump shots and Marah or Big Strick as the kids call her made a triumph return (she needs another game like last night to completely come off the milk carton). Oh and we showed Vandy we can play a little defense too.

As an FYI, Vandy hadn't given up more than 47 in the tournament, they gave up 44 in the first half last night.

Like Terps25 said, how can you pick only one person for Player of the Game? My vote has to be Marah as we weren't a 4 on 5 team and our five can beat anyone's five.

I am having a really good feeling about Monday night. We still need to bring our A game, but when Kristi is a distributor first and scorer second most teams will have their hands full. I also think Monday will be Harper's breakout game of the tournament.

Articles

ESPN.com

Baltimore Sun

Baltimore Sun

Washington Post

Washington Times

Tampa Tribune

Game 36: Vanderbilt (Sweet 16)

Now that we have gotten over the hump it's time to make it to Tampa. Before I get to the the preview here are some things to read to kill time before our game at 9.

The Examiner writes about the senior class

The Burlington County Times talks about Crystal getting another week with her teammates

Milton Kent writes about Marissa Coleman

Mike Wise writes about Under the Shell

The Philly Inquirer remarks about how Harper and Langhorne spruned the traditional powers

The Diamondback's Greg Schimmel writes a wonderful article about Crystal

Kristi and Crystal were named finalists for the State Farm Wade Trophy

Graham wrote about my favorite turncoat

Mechelle Voepel previews the game

Now onto the preview.

I seriously hope the tightness we saw on Sunday and Tuesday was due to stress over not losing. From now on, we need to play to win not to not lose. I am sure most of you know what that means, but for those that don't it means we step on the gas and keep going until the game and don't let up for a second. We are the best team in the country and it's time to prove it.

Vanderbilt is 25-8 and 4-1 on neutral courts. Among the common opponents: Clemson (W, 74-56), Duke (W, 68-55), Princeton (W, 81-48), LSU (L, 51-62). They have only lost four games since Jan. 1, 2008. Problem is those losses have come to Tennessee three times and LSU once.

The Commodores average 71.2 points per game, but only allow 55.9 points per game. They have given up more than 60 four times, all to UT and LSU. Tennessee is the only team to break 70 on them since Jan. 1. Hence they are a defensive team. They only outrebound opponents by 3.7 per game. VU shoots .468 from the floor and .387 from three. They force 20.4 turnovers a game and get 10 steals. Opponents only shoot .363 percent from the floor and .292 from 3.

Vanderbilt is led by 6'1 guard/forward Christina Wirth. She can do it all, she's Kristi and Marissa combined as she shoots a ton of 3s (and makes them), rebounds, gets steals and distributes the ball. She averages 13.1 points per game and 4.9 rebounds. Next on the team in scoring is Liz Sherwood, a 6'4 center who comes off the bench. She averages 11.0 points per game and shoots 62 percent. She only averages 4.4 rebounds per game and leads the team with 39 blocks. From the little bit I saw it seems like she likes to go over her left shoulder in the post. Jennifer Risper is a 5'9 guard, who likes to take people off the dribble instead of shooting the three. She is a distributor and the team's leading rebounder and stealer. Meredith Marsh is another three-point shooter on the team. She's not that much of a rebounder. Jessica Mooney is a slashing guard, who will occasionally take a 3. While she doesn't rebound the ball, she does block shots and get steals. Hannah Tuomi is a post player, but doesn't see as many touches as Sherwood. She shoots 50% and is foul prone. Lauren Lueders is another three-point shooter and very rarely drives the lane. She is like Marah. Jence Rhoads is the starting point guard and is more likely to drive to the bucket than shoot the 3 as she has taken only 13 long-range shots all year. Amber Norton is a post player off the bench. She has taken only 80 shots all year and grabbed 38 rebounds.

Keys on offense

Attacking the post and getting Sherwood and their post players in foul trouble.

Getting Harper and Marah involved in the offense. If they are clicking, no one is stopping us.

Marissa playing hard and doing what she does best.

Toliver playing smart and not forcing the offense.

Taking care of the ball, by not telegraphing passes.

Rebounding the ball.

Keys on Defense

Limiting Wirth's touches, Marissa will have to lock her down and not let her get good looks.

Rebounding the ball. VU doesn't do that well and we must keep the off the glass.

Control Sherwood, either by fronting or forcing her away from the basket.

Hands up and preventing VU from having open looks from 3.

stopping penetration by Mooney and other guards.

Going under on screens.

Vandy will try to slow things down on O and try to milk the clock. We need to speed up the tempo. Chances are they will press like everyone else so we must be quick and smart with decisions. Also if we force the action on Vandy they will make dumb passes.

I am guessing we play zone or a gimmick defense, given the four-guard line up by Vandy.

I don't envision us losing, but then again, I never do.