http://www.utrockets.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml...M_ID=18000

Really a young team. Should be very interesting to watch them play and grow.

One of the freshmen tore her acl and will be red shirting. I think her name is Lindsay
Dorr

(09-26-2014 03:13 PM)NewMex RocketFan Wrote:  Really a young team. Should be very interesting to watch them play and grow.

I noticed you said "interesting", and not "fun" or "exciting". I would say the same...very curious to see where the Lady Rocket program is in a couple more seasons.

(09-26-2014 11:04 PM)flying dutchman Wrote:  One of the freshmen tore her acl and will be red shirting. I think her name is Lindsay
Dorr

Too bad. Isn't she the one who set the state shot block records? We could have used that.

(09-26-2014 11:04 PM)flying dutchman Wrote:  One of the freshmen tore her acl and will be red shirting. I think her name is Lindsay
Dorr

That's really a shame for Lindsay and for the team. It now seems even more likely that we will play for long stretches without a center on the floor. Between that problem and our lack of an experienced point guard, this team probably will be worse than last year's. (Hope I'm wrong, though!)

(09-27-2014 09:50 AM)Dwight Wrote:  

(09-26-2014 11:04 PM)flying dutchman Wrote:  One of the freshmen tore her acl and will be red shirting. I think her name is Lindsay
Dorr

That's really a shame for Lindsay and for the team. It now seems even more likely that we will play for long stretches without a center on the floor. Between that problem and our lack of an experienced point guard, this team probably will be worse than last year's. (Hope I'm wrong, though!)

I also hope you're wrong but on paper it doesn't look like this coming season will be anything special. Some of the MAC has passed us by and others have caught up. Time will tell.

(09-27-2014 11:45 AM)bcunn3128 Wrote:  

(09-27-2014 09:50 AM)Dwight Wrote:  

(09-26-2014 11:04 PM)flying dutchman Wrote:  One of the freshmen tore her acl and will be red shirting. I think her name is Lindsay
Dorr

That's really a shame for Lindsay and for the team. It now seems even more likely that we will play for long stretches without a center on the floor. Between that problem and our lack of an experienced point guard, this team probably will be worse than last year's. (Hope I'm wrong, though!)

I also hope you're wrong but on paper it doesn't look like this coming season will be anything special. Some of the MAC has passed us by and others have caught up. Time will tell.

I am surprise at the negative comments posted here before the team has started regular practice. If my memory is correct, we still have the outstanding coach, who recruited and lead those recruits to some of the most successful seasons in school history. We all enjoyed that ride. I really don't think she has lost the ability to recruit or coach.

Many people are being so critical of last years freshmen class. I think everyone should think back in time and try to recall how many freshman in the past have stepped in and been game changers. The answer is very few. Even Kim Knuth didn't open eyes her freshman year and we all know how great a career she had.

Many have made comments about our number five position. Again I am asking how many centers have had success as freshmen. Richardson, Goodie, Markwood, and others didn't have any better season than Sophie had last season. The difference is, they didn't have to play the toughest position to transition to coming out of high school. Most didn't start until their Junior year. The good news is Sophie got quality playing team as freshman. Granted it was due to injuries but she still gained a lot of experience.

This season is going to be a lot of fun for many reasons. As an ex coach, I enjoy watching a young team grow up. I believe the talent is there, but talent needs experience to develop.

I love that others are as enthusiastic about the Lady Rockets as I am.

Go Blue!

I think most people are excited about the season. It's always intriguing to see which newbies contribute and which returnees got better in the off season. That being said, I know several of us are skeptical of Cullop getting this program to NCAA tournaments. Sure she is a great ambassador for the program, she is very like able, she recruits internationally, and she has had some success...all reasons why no one is calling for her job. But, you can also define her tenure as missed opportunities, namely not finding a way to get a Naama led team into the big dance.

I know the program wants to reach that level of success...we all do...especially when you average 4,000 a game

As I wrote earlier...time will tell.

(09-27-2014 06:52 AM)bcunn3128 Wrote:  

(09-26-2014 03:13 PM)NewMex RocketFan Wrote:  Really a young team. Should be very interesting to watch them play and grow.

I noticed you said "interesting", and not "fun" or "exciting". I would say the same...very curious to see where the Lady Rocket program is in a couple more seasons.

Bingo. Lots of learning will occur. Wait and see how much and how fast.

Gee, good teams that recruit well don't rebuild. They have good even classes that they don't have to rely on Freshmen for. If they're fortunate to get an impact freshmen thats one thing. UT it seems has recruited either poorly, or unbalanced classes and are now bottom heavy which may mean a few couple years to develop players. Cullop has done alot of goods things while here, but so did Ehlen. Sometimes the assistant coaches can be a problem if they aren't good at recruiting.

I don't object to the point you are trying to make but I do strongly disagree with the one sentence in your post invoking the ghost of Kim Knuth , to wit:

(10-02-2014 02:10 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  Even Kim Knuth didn't open eyes her freshman year and we all know how great a career she had.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth did not make 1st Team All MAC as she did her sophomore, junior and senior years.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth was not selected MAC Player of the Year as she was her junior and senior years.

However during her freshman year she did help her team get to the NCAA Tournament (as did they 3 of the 4 years she played) and ----drum roll----she did open enough eyes to be selected MAC Freshman of the Year.

Toledo, and possibly the entire MAC, has not seen a player of the caliber of Knuth before or since she played

(10-03-2014 12:37 PM)T-Town Wrote:  I don't object to the point you are trying to make but I do strongly disagree with the one sentence in your post invoking the ghost of Kim Knuth , to wit:

(10-02-2014 02:10 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  Even Kim Knuth didn't open eyes her freshman year and we all know how great a career she had.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth did not make 1st Team All MAC as she did her sophomore, junior and senior years.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth was not selected MAC Player of the Year as she was her junior and senior years.

However during her freshman year she did help her team get to the NCAA Tournament (as did they 3 of the 4 years she played) and ----drum roll----she did open enough eyes to be selected MAC Freshman of the Year.

Toledo, and possibly the entire MAC, has not seen a player of the caliber of Knuth before or since she played

That comment was not meant to be anything negative about Kim. She truly was an amazing player and even better person.
Maybe I didn't express my point very well. Freshmen take time and experience to develop into division one players. The transition from high school is tough for many reasons. Let's give last years and this years classes time to progress at a normal rate as players.
Kim did help her freshmen year but she had some outstanding players with her. That combination brought us a standard that most of us are using to compare current and future teams.
Let's be thankful we got to watch her play for four years. Hopefully we can say that about some of last years and this years freshmen!

(10-03-2014 02:01 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(10-03-2014 12:37 PM)T-Town Wrote:  I don't object to the point you are trying to make but I do strongly disagree with the one sentence in your post invoking the ghost of Kim Knuth , to wit:

(10-02-2014 02:10 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  Even Kim Knuth didn't open eyes her freshman year and we all know how great a career she had.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth did not make 1st Team All MAC as she did her sophomore, junior and senior years.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth was not selected MAC Player of the Year as she was her junior and senior years.

However during her freshman year she did help her team get to the NCAA Tournament (as did they 3 of the 4 years she played) and ----drum roll----she did open enough eyes to be selected MAC Freshman of the Year.

Toledo, and possibly the entire MAC, has not seen a player of the caliber of Knuth before or since she played

That comment was not meant to be anything negative about Kim. She truly was an amazing player and even better person.
Maybe I didn't express my point very well. Freshmen take time and experience to develop into division one players. The transition from high school is tough for many reasons. Let's give last years and this years classes time to progress at a normal rate as players.
Kim did help her freshmen year but she had some outstanding players with her. That combination brought us a standard that most of us are using to compare current and future teams.
Let's be thankful we got to watch her play for four years. Hopefully we can say that about some of last years and this years freshmen!

I don't think anyone was trying to denigrate this year's freshman or sophomore classes. Due to issues with our upper classes, last year in order to be a top-notch team we would have needed an amazing freshman class - maybe a MAC freshman of the year and another not too far behind. Some freshmen do excel right away: Naama, Bradford, Fontaine (Ball State), Sweeney (Eastern). No one in last year's class was prepared to make that kind of contribution. That's not a knock on this year's sophomores. They need time to develop and may turn out to be great players. As freshmen, they were not good enough to make us a MAC contender, which is no surprise.

This year is more of the same. The only way we compete for a MAC crown is if we get enormous improvement from several returning players or if our incoming class is out-of-this-world. I love Cullop, but the program has slipped. I have faith that the slip is temporary and that in another year or two we'll be fighting for a conference championship.

(10-03-2014 02:28 PM)Dwight Wrote:  

(10-03-2014 02:01 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  

(10-03-2014 12:37 PM)T-Town Wrote:  I don't object to the point you are trying to make but I do strongly disagree with the one sentence in your post invoking the ghost of Kim Knuth , to wit:

(10-02-2014 02:10 PM)hwut1 Wrote:  Even Kim Knuth didn't open eyes her freshman year and we all know how great a career she had.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth did not make 1st Team All MAC as she did her sophomore, junior and senior years.

Granted in her freshman year Kim Knuth was not selected MAC Player of the Year as she was her junior and senior years.

However during her freshman year she did help her team get to the NCAA Tournament (as did they 3 of the 4 years she played) and ----drum roll----she did open enough eyes to be selected MAC Freshman of the Year.

Toledo, and possibly the entire MAC, has not seen a player of the caliber of Knuth before or since she played

That comment was not meant to be anything negative about Kim. She truly was an amazing player and even better person.
Maybe I didn't express my point very well. Freshmen take time and experience to develop into division one players. The transition from high school is tough for many reasons. Let's give last years and this years classes time to progress at a normal rate as players.
Kim did help her freshmen year but she had some outstanding players with her. That combination brought us a standard that most of us are using to compare current and future teams.
Let's be thankful we got to watch her play for four years. Hopefully we can say that about some of last years and this years freshmen!

I don't think anyone was trying to denigrate this year's freshman or sophomore classes. Due to issues with our upper classes, last year in order to be a top-notch team we would have needed an amazing freshman class - maybe a MAC freshman of the year and another not too far behind. Some freshmen do excel right away: Naama, Bradford, Fontaine (Ball State), Sweeney (Eastern). No one in last year's class was prepared to make that kind of contribution. That's not a knock on this year's sophomores. They need time to develop and may turn out to be great players. As freshmen, they were not good enough to make us a MAC contender, which is no surprise.

This year is more of the same. The only way we compete for a MAC crown is if we get enormous improvement from several returning players or if our incoming class is out-of-this-world. I love Cullop, but the program has slipped. I have faith that the slip is temporary and that in another year or two we'll be fighting for a conference championship.

I agree with this to the extant that I believe we should ALWAYS have a legitimate "Freshman of the Year" candidate each season on the Lady Rocket roster. To have now gone a couple seasons with no freshman player making those kinds of contributions--not necessarily being selected as FOY, but at least seriously being in the discussion--is of concern to me as a fan. This program used to be--and should be--the premier womens' basketball program in the MAC. I understand the "playing time" argument...but I think there would have been room on the court these past 2 seasons for the MAC FOY if they had been here at UT...which begs the question: did we not recruit them (for whatever reasons), or did we recruit them and lose them to the other MAC school?
We'll see. Perhaps one of this year's freshmen class will make those kinds of contributions this season at UT.

(10-03-2014 02:28 PM)Dwight Wrote:  This year is more of the same. The only way we compete for a MAC crown is if we get enormous improvement from several returning players or if our incoming class is out-of-this-world. I love Cullop, but the program has slipped. I have faith that the slip is temporary and that in another year or two we'll be fighting for a conference championship.

I pretty much share your assessment and the two players I believe are most likely to step up this year are Elena de Alfredo and Janice Monakana. The other big need is for Boyd (or somebody) to step up big time at the point----big time enough to get serious consideration for the MAC all freshman team.

Even so, I don't expect the team to seriously compete for a championship this year. I think a realistic expectation is see improvement over the season resulting in a winning season (improving a bit on last year's record) and make a bit of noise in the tournament as they did last year. A lot of players take time to develop but the really goods ones start out of the gate strong and we haven't had one of those in several years and there is a great need for one this year.

Still, as I pointed out last year, disappointment (or excitement) is always measured against expectations, and at season's end last year I was fairly satisfied with the team's overall performance whereas the year before I was seriously disappointed at the way that veteran team finished their season and their careers.

Unlike football, basketball players that are going to be great often show it as a freshman. Considering how bad some of the players were we had on the floor last year, there should have been plenty of opportunities for a young player to get playing time.

If we don't get a quality player from lat year's class and at least one from this year, I fear the program will continue to deteriorate.

It seems like recruiting got worse when associate head coach Todd Mitmesser left.

Oh the sky has fallen, the sky has fallen. No one saw this coming. What will happen to the program?!! BLAH. Anyone could have seen at least a 2 year hiatus from being a championship contender, a couple of years ago. Wen you combined who was graduating with who they had at the time, it was obvious. I have no idea, if having the quality of starters Toledo had a couple of years ago, shied some potential players away, who wanted to start. Did assistant coaches leaving have an affect on recruiting? I imagine. But I think everyone, whether you like it or not, could see a rebuilding period coming. Now if this large group of underclasswomen, falls short, then the program is in trouble. I don't expect miracles this year. I don't expect a MACC this year. I just want to see talented players that will contend/win championships the next three years. Until then, I am not going to panic about a young squad that will likely finish around 500.

Didn't we lose an entire class that would be juniors this year?