2018-19 Duke Women's BB

[CameronBornAndBred]

Although I agree with your post, the flagship campus of the Univ of Tennessee (home of the Volunteers) is in Knoxville, not Nashville.

Knoxville has less holes, too!

[cspan37421]

Knoxville has less holes, too!

And any place with fewer Holes sounds good to me.

[jimsumner]

Warlick's dismissal shows how difficult it is going to be for K's replacement (and Geno's). What happened there under Summitt is not replicable but UT-Knoxville seems to think it is.

Gail Goestenkors was no Pat Summitt and Tennessee's storied program is a lot different than Duke's storied program

[CamrnCrz1974]

Haley Gorecki had a pretty good season.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...DB_OEM_ID=4200

Gorecki joined Alana Beard and Monique Currie as the only players in Duke women’s history to have at least 500 points, 200 rebounds, 100 assists and 75 steals in the same season.
Beard (2 002 and 2003) and Currie (2005) were all-Americans when they accomplished that feat.
Gorecki was not. Her blue-collar game doesn’t generate a lot of style points and almost every all-American comes from an NCAA Tournament team.

Thing is, Haley Gorecky shot 36.5 percent from the floor and 27.9 percent from three. She attempted 469 shots, averaging 15.63 shot attempts per game --- with the 15.63 shot attempts per game average is a DWB record.

Her shot attempts rank 8th on Duke's single season record, but she is not close to making the top ten in terms of made field goals in a season (Gorecki made 171 shots; 10th on the list is Elizabeth Williams at 215). By comparison, Leaonna Odom made 169 shots, two less than Gorecki, but on 135 fewer shot attempts.

Gorecki also tied the Duke record for three-point shots attempted with 208, but she only made 58 threes (tied for 9th on the list of made threes are Abby Waner and Jessica Foley at 68, but they will drop in next year's media guide, as Miela Goodchild hit 73 threes this year).

And while notching over 100 assists was good (she had 116 for the season), she also had 108 turnovers.

In other words, she is one of the few players to put up those numbers statistically. But she was a volume shooter this year. Some of it was out of necessity, with the injuries to Kyra Lambert and Mikayla Boykin. Some of it was the fault of the coaching staff, with the lack of offensive cohesion or structure designed to get everyone involved in the best way to maximize every player's skillset, often resulting in Haley having to create for herself. Some of it was Haley's fault, taking bad shots here and there.

And some of it was also Leaonna Odom's fault. Odom was unstoppable in the 2018 NCAA Tournament (three games), averaging 21.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest. Two of these games were against #4 seed Georgia (on the road, in Athens) and #1 seed UConn (in Albany). And against the Huskies, Odom went 9-17 from the floor and 4-6 from the line, racking up 22 points to go with her 8 rebounds and 4 assists (against only 1 turnover). UConn had a great game plan to face guard Greenwell and to limit Brown's ability to create (for herself and the team), so Leaonna often took the ball at the top of the key, created off the dribble to get into the lane, and elevated in the paint for a short jumper. It did not seem to matter which defender UConn put on her; Odom was still able to create her own shot (and, for the most part, took really good shots even if they did not fall). Yet this year, there were several games and several times within games when Odom seemed far too passive and disengaged. Perhaps she was adjusting to the role of initiating the offense, but even when she was not, she just did not seem to play with the intensity that matched her talent.

As an aside, I would argue that Odom is one of the most athletically gifted and naturally talented players that McCallie has ever recruited. But Haley Gorecki plays with far more intensity, drive, effort, and desire. I

As we all remember, when Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell were with Duke last year, Gorecki averaged 11.0 ppg (42.3 percent from the floor, 42.3 percent from three), with 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Haley is much better as a secondary passer/facilitator than a primary one.

While this year's numbers feel a bit empty because of the volume shooting and lack of overall efficiency, I expect Haley to revert back to her 2017-18 shooting percentages, better A/TO ratio, and overall better efficiency with the return of Kyra Lambert.

[CamrnCrz1974]

Warlick's dismissal shows how difficult it is going to be for K's replacement (and Geno's). What happened there under Summitt is not replicable but UT-Knoxville seems to think it is.

Gail Goestenkors was no Pat Summitt and Tennessee's storied program is a lot different than Duke's storied program

Take away Candace Parker (2007 and 2008 Final Fours and titles), and Tennessee has not made a Final Four since 1998.

And take away Jody Conradt's retirement and Chris Plonsky's "recruiting," it is a real possibility that Tennessee would not even have the 2007 title. Duke was undefeated in the regular season, beating UT in Knoxville -- and that was with the vaunted recruiting class of Candace Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Nicky Anosike, and Alex Fuller (who were all juniors...or redshirt sophomores in Parker's case).

As an aside, I have always said that Gail Goestenkors proved she could coach up players with the 1998-1999 team (and even 1999-2000, before Peppi's injury, with the losses to graduation from 1999). But Gail proved to be an even better coach once Alana Beard graduated. Without Alana to make a play (and amazing plays at that), Goestenkors switched lineups, maximized player skillsets, changed offensive and defensive schemes, etc. The offense from 2004-05 looks vastly different from 2005-06 and that from 2006-07. Goestenkors adjusted to her personnel and maximized what they could do as a team.

And this showed, as Goestenkors went 3-0 against Tennessee's heralded recruiting class listed above, winning two of those games in Knoxville (though Parker did not play in the first one).

But back to Tennessee...

Pat Summitt was a legend and a pioneer, not just in women's basketball but in women's sports overall and college sports overall. But after Nikki McCray graduated, Summitt was more about recruiting the elite of the elite in terms of talent (Holdsclaw, Catchings, Parker, Hornbuckle, etc.) rather than being a tactician. Again, take away Candace Parker's titles (2007 and 2008) and Tennessee has not made a Final Four since 1998.

And Holly Warlick was a true "Pat Summitt in the latter years" disciple -- no real offensive/defensive schemes, but relying on talent/ability of players and making rebounding a priority.

[uh_no]

Take away Candace Parker (2007 and 2008 Final Fours and titles), and Tennessee has not made a Final Four since 1998.

that's a bit of a weird thing to say...

take away <title team's best player> and <team> didn't win title!

Sure, by the end of her tenure, Tennessee had largely been replaced by Notre Dame as Uconn's main rival, but i'm not sure how you can simply wavy hand away back to back titles with "oh they had the best player in the country"...Baylor only won 1 title with griner...

[dudog84]

Uh, my limited research skills (5 seconds of my time) tell me Tennessee made the Final Four in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.

I'm not sure we have any Tennessee fans that are regulars on the board, but in any way comparing Duke to Tennessee as a storied program is laughable.

Sorry (not really) if I got in the way of the narrative.

[uh_no]

Uh, my limited research skills (5 seconds of my time) tell me Tennessee made the Final Four in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.

see, if you take away all their best players, then they don't count!


maybe he meant titles?

still stupid. if you take away Diana turausi, Tennessee has two or three more titles... it's just a bad argument.


that said, if Duke decided to move on, i hear a pat summit protege is available... that's a joke.

[CamrnCrz1974]

My apologies... I meant that TN had not won a title since 1998.

[CamrnCrz1974]

Princeton’s Bella Alarie is the Ivy League’s biggest women’s basketball star in a long time

A junior forward from Bethesda, Md., Alarie — the daughter of former Duke star Mark Alarie — is the two-time reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, and has made the all-Ivy first team in each of her three years at Princeton.

This season, Alarie became the first Ivy player since 1982 to average 23 points per game in a campaign. She also averaged 10.7 rebounds per game. She has gone over 30 points five times this season, and over 40 points twice. And she has delivered when it really matters. In the regular season finale at Yale that clinched a share of the Ivy title, Alarie had 31 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals.

Link: The Philadelphia Inquirer

Bella Alarie was named an Honorable Mention AP All-American

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...=.442fd57a3dd6

[uh_no]

great national title game, for those that didn't watch. Rough ending for Ogunbiwale. Baylor deserved to win. Don't think connecticut would have been able to put up a better fight. Baylor was the best team all year. congrats to them for winning in probably the most open tournament in a decade.

[dukelifer]

great national title game, for those that didn't watch. Rough ending for Ogunbiwale. Baylor deserved to win. Don't think connecticut would have been able to put up a better fight. Baylor was the best team all year. congrats to them for winning in probably the most open tournament in a decade.

Great last quarter- as good as it gets. Baylor loses their best player to a knee injury- ND hits clutch shot after clutch shot to take a brief lead and the guard from Baylor hits two amazing shots to win it. Both teams were deserving.

[chrishoke]

Great game. Congrats to Baylor.

[Saratoga2]

Great last quarter- as good as it gets. Baylor loses their best player to a knee injury- ND hits clutch shot after clutch shot to take a brief lead and the guard from Baylor hits two amazing shots to win it. Both teams were deserving.

missed FT's sealed ND's fate. They missed 3 in the final throes.

[wsb3]

Great last quarter- as good as it gets. Baylor loses their best player to a knee injury- ND hits clutch shot after clutch shot to take a brief lead and the guard from Baylor hits two amazing shots to win it. Both teams were deserving.

An amazing last quarter..

[sagegrouse]

great national title game, for those that didn't watch. Rough ending for Ogunbiwale. Baylor deserved to win. Don't think connecticut would have been able to put up a better fight. Baylor was the best team all year. congrats to them for winning in probably the most open tournament in a decade.

Ogunbowale of Notre Dame channeled RJ Barrett. With only a few seconds left and ND down by two, she is on the line for two shots. Missed the first and -- unaccountably -- made the second. Game over.

[DukieInKansas]

Ogunbowale of Notre Dame channeled RJ Barrett. With only a few seconds left and ND down by two, she is on the line for two shots. Missed the first and -- unaccountably -- made the second. Game over.

From her reaction, she was trying to miss it. Feel for her - such a different ending that it was for her last year - as I recall, she hit the shot to put them ahead to win last year.

[NSDukeFan]

From her reaction, she was trying to miss it. Feel for her - such a different ending that it was for her last year - as I recall, she hit the shot to put them ahead to win last year.

Twice, wasn’t it?

[Phredd3]

Twice, wasn’t it?

"Ice Twice" was seriously her nickname after last year's tourney. I guess "Third" doesn't rhyme as easily, so it's all for the best.

Seriously, quite the 4th quarter. Notre Dame closed a double-digit gap in the space of about five (OK, maybe seven) game-minutes before Baylor dug back in and played them toe-to-toe down the stretch. It was anybody's game in crunch time.

I felt better for Lauren Cox that her team was able to hold on. If you're going to blow out a knee in the final game, at least you get to admire your trophy during rehab.

[jimsumner]

Nell Fortner new coach at GT.

https://ramblinwreck.com/fortner-nam...ll-head-coach/