[GK3]

I find it hard to know how to judge the coaching this year.  Not just Kate, but the overall coaching staff might well be the most qualified in the nation, with all the WNBA players and all the experience under one of the best (Tara.)  So clearly our lack of success this year is not due to lack of know-how or experience at winning and knowing how to do so.

So what is it?  There it is a ticklish calculation about how well we did with the talent/experience we had on hand.  Did we underperform our level of talent?  If you think our level of talent is high, then obviously we underperformed.  If you think our team just was not as richly talented as in the past, then maybe having a winning season (which we just barely did) is not so bad.

My own view is that we had a dearth of both talent and experience.  Our seniors (Demetre, Bosgana, and Harriel) all had particular talents, but none of them was talented enough to be the kind of player that can put the team on her back in clutch time.  And all of them had weaknesses that the opponents could exploit.  They were not up to the level of Brink and Iriafen, obviously, but I also don't think they were up to the level of leaders who were not superstars like Brittany McPhee, Erica McCall, Dijonai Carrington, Amber Orrange, etc.  It has been a very long time since we have not had one of those kinds of talents to lead the team.  So I'm not convinced that our seniors had a higher ceiling that a better coach could have helped them to reach.  And of those seniors, only Bosgana had ever started a game before this season--and for less than a season.  Not since the beginning of Tara's time here have we had such a complete dearth of experienced leadership.

Turning to our junior class...that is the class that was devastated by transfers out.  Lepolo was injured, and the others were Papadaki and Green, who never played a significant role in a game.  So other than Tess Heal transferring in, there was NO junior class, to go along with a weak senior class.

This was a team whose talent and future promise was centered on the sophomore class.  Agara, Clardy, and Ogden all made important strides this season compared with last season.  Agara and Clardy were asked to play positions outside of their most natural "fits" for the sake of the team.  Agara really should not be a 5, and Clardy was not really supposed to be a point guard.  But they both acquitted themselves well, and some of that has to be attributable to player development and coaching.  Ogden remains more of a mystery to me.  Many of us thought she was making important improvements in her game, and then last night reminded us of her inconsistency.  So while I think the coaches have done a splendid job helping Agara and Clardy to mature into improved players, they certainly have not with Ogden. 

The freshmen don't tell us a lot about coaching--but we know from a lot of past experience that the best time to judge new players is after they have been part of the system for one year.  Ijiwoye simply has to develop a consistent offensive purpose.  I am a bit disappointed we did not see more of that from her late in the season.  Umeh has done a fabulous job getting into better shape--but it won't be enough for the ACC unless she continues.  Large centers are not going to be everyday players in the ACC unless they can sprint up and down the court for an entire game.  However, she has made a great deal of progress, so the coaching/conditioning is doing something right.   Peterson has been injured all year, and I wonder whether she will be able to get healthy in time to transform herself before ACC play.  She needs to do a "Hannah Jump."  But there is nothing really to judge when it comes to coaching her.

Our transfers had big transitions for themselves.  Each of them made very important contributions.  MAS has not reached her potential yet, in my opinion.  I think she did improve over the season, as a whole, but last night reminded us of her offensive inconsistency.  She may be our best rebounder, and her defense seems to have improved too.  But I did not think her offense improved nearly enough over the season.  Not sure how the coaches can get more out of her, but they need to.  Tess Heal was more of a finished product when she arrived, and she also absorbed our system relatively quickly.  I always though she was the most aggressive player on the court.  But as last night showed, she could be victimized by opposing offenses who figured out our switching schemes.  Coaches can't make her taller.  She is who she is--one of my favorites--but she will have to be a role player in a league like the ACC.

Moving from player development to X's and O's, I was surprised that Kate Paye did not perform better at making halftime adjustments, or at anticipating opposing schemes.  She has always been Tara's best scout and game planner, by far.  But there were some head-scratchers.  Last night, we could not adequately respond to the Portland halftime adjustments.  As she herself said, the offense went stagnant.  We knew in advance what Portland did on defense, but seemed flummoxed and ill prepared to handle it.

My overall assessment is still that Kate Paye deserves two more years, although she has somewhat depleted my reservoir of patience.  I expect her to install a new offense, I expect her to settle in as she and the team learn how to deal with the travel and new opponents, and I expect her recruiting to continue to be good.  We can't expect a return to greatness next year--the incoming class that she recruited will need a year to be integrated into the team--but I would expect that next year will be significantly better than this year.  One BIG factor in our favor is the complete ending of COVID years.  If it were not for those extra 5th years teams like Portland and most of the ACC teams we played would have been entirely different, and our experience levels would not have been so vastly different.

I think with her incoming class, Kate has a very good chance to turn things around.  What concerns me is how patient will the potential stars we join us next year.  A so so year could easily see people leaving

[GK3]

I find it hard to know how to judge the coaching this year.  Not just Kate, but the overall coaching staff might well be the most qualified in the nation, with all the WNBA players and all the experience under one of the best (Tara.)  So clearly our lack of success this year is not due to lack of know-how or experience at winning and knowing how to do so.

So what is it?  There it is a ticklish calculation about how well we did with the talent/experience we had on hand.  Did we underperform our level of talent?  If you think our level of talent is high, then obviously we underperformed.  If you think our team just was not as richly talented as in the past, then maybe having a winning season (which we just barely did) is not so bad.

My own view is that we had a dearth of both talent and experience.  Our seniors (Demetre, Bosgana, and Harriel) all had particular talents, but none of them was talented enough to be the kind of player that can put the team on her back in clutch time.  And all of them had weaknesses that the opponents could exploit.  They were not up to the level of Brink and Iriafen, obviously, but I also don't think they were up to the level of leaders who were not superstars like Brittany McPhee, Erica McCall, Dijonai Carrington, Amber Orrange, etc.  It has been a very long time since we have not had one of those kinds of talents to lead the team.  So I'm not convinced that our seniors had a higher ceiling that a better coach could have helped them to reach.  And of those seniors, only Bosgana had ever started a game before this season--and for less than a season.  Not since the beginning of Tara's time here have we had such a complete dearth of experienced leadership.

Turning to our junior class...that is the class that was devastated by transfers out.  Lepolo was injured, and the others were Papadaki and Green, who never played a significant role in a game.  So other than Tess Heal transferring in, there was NO junior class, to go along with a weak senior class.

This was a team whose talent and future promise was centered on the sophomore class.  Agara, Clardy, and Ogden all made important strides this season compared with last season.  Agara and Clardy were asked to play positions outside of their most natural "fits" for the sake of the team.  Agara really should not be a 5, and Clardy was not really supposed to be a point guard.  But they both acquitted themselves well, and some of that has to be attributable to player development and coaching.  Ogden remains more of a mystery to me.  Many of us thought she was making important improvements in her game, and then last night reminded us of her inconsistency.  So while I think the coaches have done a splendid job helping Agara and Clardy to mature into improved players, they certainly have not with Ogden. 

The freshmen don't tell us a lot about coaching--but we know from a lot of past experience that the best time to judge new players is after they have been part of the system for one year.  Ijiwoye simply has to develop a consistent offensive purpose.  I am a bit disappointed we did not see more of that from her late in the season.  Umeh has done a fabulous job getting into better shape--but it won't be enough for the ACC unless she continues.  Large centers are not going to be everyday players in the ACC unless they can sprint up and down the court for an entire game.  However, she has made a great deal of progress, so the coaching/conditioning is doing something right.   Peterson has been injured all year, and I wonder whether she will be able to get healthy in time to transform herself before ACC play.  She needs to do a "Hannah Jump."  But there is nothing really to judge when it comes to coaching her.

Our transfers had big transitions for themselves.  Each of them made very important contributions.  MAS has not reached her potential yet, in my opinion.  I think she did improve over the season, as a whole, but last night reminded us of her offensive inconsistency.  She may be our best rebounder, and her defense seems to have improved too.  But I did not think her offense improved nearly enough over the season.  Not sure how the coaches can get more out of her, but they need to.  Tess Heal was more of a finished product when she arrived, and she also absorbed our system relatively quickly.  I always though she was the most aggressive player on the court.  But as last night showed, she could be victimized by opposing offenses who figured out our switching schemes.  Coaches can't make her taller.  She is who she is--one of my favorites--but she will have to be a role player in a league like the ACC.

Moving from player development to X's and O's, I was surprised that Kate Paye did not perform better at making halftime adjustments, or at anticipating opposing schemes.  She has always been Tara's best scout and game planner, by far.  But there were some head-scratchers.  Last night, we could not adequately respond to the Portland halftime adjustments.  As she herself said, the offense went stagnant.  We knew in advance what Portland did on defense, but seemed flummoxed and ill prepared to handle it.

My overall assessment is still that Kate Paye deserves two more years, although she has somewhat depleted my reservoir of patience.  I expect her to install a new offense, I expect her to settle in as she and the team learn how to deal with the travel and new opponents, and I expect her recruiting to continue to be good.  We can't expect a return to greatness next year--the incoming class that she recruited will need a year to be integrated into the team--but I would expect that next year will be significantly better than this year.  One BIG factor in our favor is the complete ending of COVID years.  If it were not for those extra 5th years teams like Portland and most of the ACC teams we played would have been entirely different, and our experience levels would not have been so vastly different.

I think with her incoming class, Kate has a very good chance to turn things around.  What concerns me is how patient will the potential stars we join us next year.  A so so year could easily see people leaving