I've been silent all season....

It has been a difficult season for Rutgers Women's Basketball, my team of choice. I have grown up going to Rutgers games, my first one was Wicks & Sticks era. Over the years I have watched good years and bad years. But every team over ever season had pride and passion while wearing the Rutgers uniform. This year is a little different....I just don't see the pride on their faces or in their play.

So many people have been asking for Coach Stringer's head on a platter. I have read the message boards that speculate that perhaps the coach has lost her touch. Who are we, Henry VIII? Do we just start chopping heads off if we become "tired" of someone? We'll let's try this take: it's not the kids, it's not the coaches. In my humble opinion, it's the adults who influenced the younger players on the team. This can be parents and/or coaches. Why do I say this? Simple: For all of their lives they have been told how wonderful they are and how they are the best players on the team. They are given the ball not only in clutch situations but all of the time, on every possession. When their teammates get the ball, they would pass to them and they would shoot. They did not have to play defense because there was no competition to what they could do offensively. Who can forget a recent transfer's mother's comments, "My daughter is trying to get the the WNBA and you can't go to the league sitting on the bench." Hmmmmmmm.

This type of "greatness bestowed on these athletes" did not translate to the Stringer Philosophy. The classic style of Coach Stringer is defense. Logically this makes sense, at least to this writer. If you don't stop your opponent from scoring, then it does not matter what you do on the offensive end. This is where the problem comes in: the younger players did not play defense to the level college requires to be a successful team. They do not know the fundamentals enough to let them flow naturally so they can learn the defensive sets. Certainly there has to be offense to win games and perhaps Coach should reevaluate some of the offensive sets but let's be honest, defense helps set you up to win a game. Look in the past at Rutgers successes, their big wins on their run to the 2007 National Championship game were won with their defense. In each game they held their opponent well under their season average. Duke was averaging nearly 90 points a game that season and they scored 52 points in that game. They held LSU to 35 points, in the entire game!

I think that this season has had a share of missed opportunities along with missed defensive assignments. I have not seen so many back door passes and easy layups scored against a Rutgers defense. And the "55" press? Forget about it! I think I've only seen it work once? And we were beaten deep several times on the press against Syracuse, that NEVER happens. What has happened is that the kids don't understand the value of solid defense. In other words: they have not bought into the Stringer Philosophy. Practices probably consist of constant defense because that is the philosophy. Then when they work on offense it is stressed as important but the players are so focused on defense that they can not think offensively. Who's fault? You can't blame the kids because they have been influenced by adults. The adults who were part of their lives are those that may not have instilled the value of teamwork, hard work and dedication. Personally I think that some of our younger athletes seem out of shape. Something I have not seen on a Rutgers team. It also seems that fundamentals are lost, and that makes it so hard when you are a college athlete. Who has time to learn many defensive and offensive sets as well as basic fast break techniques?

I do hope that the kids buy into the Stringer Philosophy because it has worked in the past. Defense leads to offense....steals lead to fast breaks which leads to points. Until the players get that and get the Stringer Philosophy then they will not have pride wearing the Rutgers uniform.

:14.4

55-52 with 28 seconds left, Brittnay Ray puts up a three pointer, it's short. St. John's gets the rebound and the player is fouled with :14.4. The clock stops and the fans put on their coats and leave. What? You are leaving? You have got to be kidding me! Do you know something about the fate of the two free throws that Nadirah McKenith is going to attempt? Really? You are leaving?!

What is it with "fans" that leave a close game with seconds left? And I do not mean 10 or 15 people, I mean 1/2 of the crowd getting up and leaving. Most of the people leaving are those who have the opportunity to sit in the lower lever seats where you have to donate your life to obtain tickets.

I've been seeing this scenario unfold for many, many years at Rutgers University. Frankly, I'm sick of it. Granted yes, it's been a difficult year for every RU fan and I might just let this slide if it wasn't for the fact that this happens at every game. It does not matter if we are winning, it's a nail bitter or we are getting blown out....the fans leave. Really, how difficult is it to leave the parking lot when there are 3,667 fans in attendance? It's not like going to Yankee Stadium on Opening Day and trying to leave with 54,000 other fans at 4:00 in the Bronx!

How do you think it looks to potential Rutgers players to see fans dropping support with 14 ticks left? If I were a recruit I might shake my head at them and think "wow, they can't even stay a few more seconds and show support?" If your team plays well or not, you owe it to the student athletes to show your support. Being a Division I student athlete on a top tier program is a feat in and of itself!

Come on people, support your student athletes. The least you can do is to wait until the end of the game and applaud them for their effort (which they showed quite a solid effort Wednesday night). Don't get me wrong, the fan support is great and the RAC can get quite loud when it needs to....just hang in there a few seconds and applaud their effort. They appreciate that we trek out to each home game and show support, so why can't you just wait and applaud their effort? Why stop at support during the big moments of the game? Why not wait the last :14.4 and applaud their effort?

I guess the only upside is that it sames me some time exiting the parking lot.

The Husky Hurt

A brief hiatus.....but it's nearly March.

UCONN will win in San Antonio in the same fashion they did 8 years ago. Destroying anything in its path like Godzilla did to Tokyo. There is no question in my mind that UCONN will be Champions again. However, should Hawaii become the 50th state this winter to get snow, there is a chance they may stumble. Chances of either happening...no chance.

In research for this blog I decided to look at the stats for the team that I think could beat UCONN, the one that already has been beaten by them but played a good game against them, until the second half. That team is Duke.

We all know Duke is really good this year and we all know how good UCONN is this season. But then I looked at the stats and UCONN is in a class by itself, like the 2002 team. Here are some numbers I pulled:

Points Scored
1,812-Duke
2, 162-UCONN

Points Allowed
1,345-Duke
1,194-UCONN

Points per game
72.6-Duke
83.2-UCONN

Points Allowed per game
53.8-Duke
45.9-UCONN

Field Goal %
42.7%-Duke
52.0%-UCONN

3-Point FG %
30.1%-Duke
33.5%-UCONN

Free Throw %
67.6%-Duke
74.6%-UCONN

Score by Periods
852, 964-Duke
1200, 962-UCONN

Final Stat of interest....and just a side note...
All 5 starters (all 5!) are shooting over 40% in field goals (not 3-pointers) for UCONN. Let's break it down further: Maya Moore-52.8%, Tina Charles-62.6%, Kalana Green-59.1%, Tiffany Hayes-45.2%, Caroline Doty-41.8%. Most top caliber teams, including Duke would be lucky to have 2 hitting over 45% from the floor, UCONN has 4!

Bottom line, UCONN is a power and the National Championship will stay in Storrs for one more year. Player of the year will also stay in Storrs, but not a repeat for Moore as her teammate Tina Charles will walk away with POY and Wade trophy. If she doesn't, it's a travesty!