Game day: Lady Techsters vs. Lady RedBirds 2nd round WNIT

[philgarris]

I didn't express myself well enough. I want Spoon as the HC. I think she will do well for the Techsters. She just needs some time. I have reservations on how quickly she will turn us around, though. I think she knows the game, but will have to learn the transition from coaching on the floor to coaching on the sideline. Cliff makes some good points, too. We need a true center and preferably a back-up. I was just disappointed the Spoon couldn't settle the girls down and try to move the ball around a little more for better shots. It was obvious we weren't going to get anything against their big down low. She was too disciplined to foul and we were trying to face her up and shoot. She was too tall for that.

The thing that I saw was our girls playing away from Thomas, Thomas was open several times on the wing and they went opposite from her with her waving like a mad woman for the ball. I am sure they just didn't see her but they must get better at knowing who has the hot hand on any given night.

Four trips in a row down one and they went away from her was absolultely stunning when she hadn't missed a three pointer all night and was the only offensive force that was consistent beyond the ARC.
HC should be Spoon if she is interested in it.

[Dirtydawg]

I agree with that.

We were flat last night. We came out flat, had a flash of how we had been playing the last 10 games, and then went flat again. ISU was very disciplined and deserved to win the game. We are much more talented than what we showed, though. Our athleticism only showed in a couple of flashes. It appeared that we were worn out from the beginning. Not sure what that was about, but it was NOT the Techster team that we had been seeing under Spoon.

I hope they make her HC soon now, though. She fired up a team for a late season run from a team that was dead in the water. She may need her players, but I think she can make these players into what she needs - especially with the 3 coming in next year.

I was upset last night, but not too upset. I HATE to lose, but see the potential is there and the future is bright. We had a bad game. Those are going to happen. Spoon is the one, though, that will turn it all around next season. I hope they announce something soon.

This is a VERY young team and has a lot of growing to do. I can't think of a better person to help them than Spoon. Can't wait to see Dowdell and Johsnson in the 3 and 4 spots, when our post players arrive. Those are their natural positions.

I'm just excited about moving back to Ruston and getting back in school so I can start making it to all the games again-MBB, WBB, Football, Baseball, some soccer and volleyball.

[Dirtydawg]

The thing that I saw was our girls playing away from Thomas, Thomas was open several times on the wing and they went opposite from her with her waving like a mad woman for the ball. I am sure they just didn't see her but they must get better at knowing who has the hot hand on any given night.

Four trips in a row down one and they went away from her was absolultely stunning when she hadn't missed a three pointer all night and was the only offensive force that was consistent beyond the ARC.
HC should be Spoon if she is interested in it.

I agree with this post. It was frustrating.

[Wes]

The fact remains just as Tennessee showed, you're dealing with 18-21 year olds. Anything can happen. Let's stop acting like Illinois State was some terrible team. Technically, the numbers say they were a better team than the Techsters coming in to this game and as much as some of you like to act like the numbers don't matter, they do.

I'm not trying to get into a debate on this, but as someone who evaluates coaches for a living, how do you determine someone's lacking in X's and O's after watching them coach 1 game?

I've watched Spoon from when she coached in the ABA through these 11 games and she does not lack knowledge in the tactical parts of the game. She is a much better communicator of the X's and O's than many college coaches who've been doing this for years. You can tell this by the in-game adjustments she makes and how much more prepared this team has looked. You can also tell by the fact that she's not drawing up a play every single timeout which is usually a sign of an insecure coach who lacks preparation pre-game. When the game starts a coach should be 90% done with their job.
Just because a team loses a game doesn't mean a coach got outcoached. You get outcoached by not being prepared for the opponent's schemes, not making adjustments, poor clock management and not communicating with your players. Coaches are managers, not magicians. Tech missed shots and got beat on the defensive end. Can a coach hit shots or cut off the baseline from the bench?

You don't get a better sample of what someone is capable of than taking the same players and doing a complete 180 mid season.

It is far too easy to chalk up former players as "motivators" or "recruiters" as opposed to tacticians when they become coaches and dismiss the fact that they just might actually know what they're doing while the coach who was probably the last pick on the playground as a youngster is an intelligent X's and O's guru and film junkie. It's not like the extent of her coaching and preparation is deciding which ref to staredown, which direction to pace on the sideline and how to come across more "intense" when the camera pans to her. Spoon doesn't need an X's and O's coach more than any other head coach does nor does she need to "translate being a coach on the floor to being a coach on the sideline" any better than she did during the 8 game winning streak. That's a fall back excuse that's far too convenient just because we're talking about a former player, not an honest evaluation of her abilities as a coach. Teams lose games sometimes. It's ok.

A true evaluation shows that Spoon's substitution patterns are too generous and a need to get on the same page as her point guard(s). Unless they're pressing, a 7-8 player rotation fits her scheme best. I also don't know whether or not it was a matter of using this as a learning experience for Bendolph but there were 3 times where she should have been taken out of the game for poor decision making.

What she needs is what Chris Daley is to Geno, what Mahorn is to Laimbeer, what Tex was to Phil Jackson, or what Jolette Law was to Vivian Stringer, someone to help cultivate a certain environment surrounding the program on and off the court and can handle working with such a dominant personality, not people in awe.

[fanfromafar]

I am excited about Spoon's leadership of this team. I hope she is named HC soon. That said, Spoon is not a miracle worker. Regardless of some of the more emotional members' comments, we do not have top 25 talent yet. That does not mean that Spoon can't train them and develop them INTO top 25 talent.

The harsh realities are still here. We can't get past the second round of the WNIT. Two months ago we couldn't get past weak WAC teams. So there is growth. But just because Spoon is here does not mean we'll sweep the WAC next season and return to the top 25 and get back to the tourney. Is that all possible? Of course. But some of the expectations that are being laid out for Spoon to achieve are, IMO, unrealistic. Should we as fans HOPE for those things to happen? Yes. But should Spoon be held responsible if they don't? No, imo.

Watching the NCAA tourney and and having watched some Techster games online (yes, ones that Spoon coached), there is a noticeable difference in the top 50 teams and their intensity levels and skill sets vs. the Techsters. We are climbing back, but we're far from there yet.

I, for one, will support Spoon. There may be some weaknesses when it comes to HC experience, but that can be supported by the right associate coaches. She has the passion, determination, leadership skills and connection to the tradition to return the program to one that is respected. Will it ever be what it was? Doubtful, but at this point, being a respected team would be miles ahead of where we now stand as a program.

[Brian96]

I saw the same thing. I'm depending on Spoon to bring that intensity back. This is the first game I've seen as Spoon as HC, and maybe I expected too much, but there were too many times I saw this team standing still on defense and just going through the motions. Maybe Spoon needs more time with them to whip them into shape so we can see that old Techster fire and energy. Overall, I'm proud with the progress this team has made. I was expecting a little more than what I saw last night but I tend to be impatient and was maybe expecting a little too much too soon. I'd like to see what Spoon can accomplish with an offseason and some recruiting. I'll hold off on my x's and o's judgement until she has a full season with these girls and her recruits although I do feel she got outcoached last night. We'll see, though. I am excited about having her and willing to see what she can do.

I have to admit, last night gave me pause with regard to whether she is what we need right now. That looked like the crap we were seeing before Long was let go. We played HORRIBLY against a barely mediocre team.

However, last night stands in stark contrast against the other 10 games Spoon coached this year. In those other games, we were playing pretty solid ball (definitely a few lapses here and there, but solid overall), were making better decisions with the basketball in terms of passing and shot selection, were playing excellent defense, and had a ton of intensity. Many of those things improved dramatically from the very first game after Long left. I'm really scratching my head about last night, though.

Last night SUCKED. I hope I NEVER see a Tech basketball team (men or women) play like that again. That said, if you were to plot Spoon's overall performance with this team, there is a VERY CLEAR upward trend. Last night was a major outlier, and Nevada was a bit below the mean. In light of the entire 11-game body of work, it is clear that Spoon has earned the chance to continue to rebuild this program. I just hope she has identified the specific problems that we had last night and can figure out how to keep that from ever happening again. We played about 20 seconds of decent ball last night, and that will never, ever cut it.

[Tech77]

This is one of those situations where no matter what I say, I come out smelling like a pile of crap. Let me first preface that I want Spoon as coach and feel she will do well. However, it was obvious to me that she got outcoached last night and has some to learn about coaching from the sidelines. I'd bet she'd be willing to admit that too, though. That doesn't mean, however, that I want to throw her out with the bathwater. I want Spoon as our HC. I'm excited about Spoon as our HC. It's possible to be critical of someone and still support them and feel they will be successful. It's obvious that our gameplan wasn't working, but I didn't see anything to change it. Perhaps it was because she was limited in what she could do with the players she had. I don't know. I do know that we did improve over the last month with her as HC and that says alot. If you'll recall in my post, I said I'm willing to give her the chance to make this her team and see what she can do. My main point was let's temper our excitement on how big of a leap to expect from this year to next year, and that if we don't make it to the NCAAs or even the top 25, don't get discouraged. It's going to take Coach Spoon at least a year to get these girls and her recruits to play the way she, and we, expect, plus she needs some time to learn how to run the sidelines.

Is this gonna be your new signature line?

[longtimetechsterfan]

there's only one undefeated team in the country and they've got maya moore. i'll gladly take the company of the other d1 teams in the country that are 9-2 in their last 11 games.

maybe the reason last night looked like the same stuff we saw during long's tenure was because they were the same darn players.

in case some of you haven't noticed the rest of the wcbb world, no one in the country is doing what you expect spoon to do.

tech needs to get back into the top 75 before it gets back into the top 25. let's try having an rpi that's not deep in the 100's first. let's try signing players that are in the top 50 of their recruiting class. like it or not, teams like illinois state and the rest of the nit are our peers right now, not the teams playing for the national championship. if you think teresa weatherspoon was going to change that in 11 games, or can even do it in a season, you're sorely mistaken. if you think anyone else is coming in here to do the same, well then i guess spoon better take that manhattan job.

dawn staley had a losing season at south carolina and didn't even make the post season. she must have a lot to learn. nell fortner got blown the hell out with a 2 seed and one of the nation's top players to a chronically underachieving team that couldn't score 80 points in 2 games just 3 weeks ago. auburn should be concerned i guess. our buddies leon and kim are having to sweat it out against teams that shouldn't even be in the same building as them according to the logic of some. duke was a 1 seed and lost to one of the softest teams in the country. pat summitt lost to ball state with what many considered the most talented freshman class in the history of the game. it really gave me reservations about her abilities as a coach.

[Dirtydawg]

The fact remains just as Tennessee showed, you're dealing with 18-21 year olds. Anything can happen. Let's stop acting like Illinois State was some terrible team. Technically, the numbers say they were a better team than the Techsters coming in to this game and as much as some of you like to act like the numbers don't matter, they do.

I'm not trying to get into a debate on this, but as someone who evaluates coaches for a living, how do you determine someone's lacking in X's and O's after watching them coach 1 game?

I've watched Spoon from when she coached in the ABA through these 11 games and she does not lack knowledge in the tactical parts of the game. She is a much better communicator of the X's and O's than many college coaches who've been doing this for years. You can tell this by the in-game adjustments she makes and how much more prepared this team has looked. You can also tell by the fact that she's not drawing up a play every single timeout which is usually a sign of an insecure coach who lacks preparation pre-game. When the game starts a coach should be 90% done with their job.
Just because a team loses a game doesn't mean a coach got outcoached. You get outcoached by not being prepared for the opponent's schemes, not making adjustments, poor clock management and not communicating with your players. Coaches are managers, not magicians. Tech missed shots and got beat on the defensive end. Can a coach hit shots or cut off the baseline from the bench?

You don't get a better sample of what someone is capable of than taking the same players and doing a complete 180 mid season.

It is far too easy to chalk up former players as "motivators" or "recruiters" as opposed to tacticians when they become coaches and dismiss the fact that they just might actually know what they're doing while the coach who was probably the last pick on the playground as a youngster is an intelligent X's and O's guru and film junkie. It's not like the extent of her coaching and preparation is deciding which ref to staredown, which direction to pace on the sideline and how to come across more "intense" when the camera pans to her. Spoon doesn't need an X's and O's coach more than any other head coach does nor does she need to "translate being a coach on the floor to being a coach on the sideline" any better than she did during the 8 game winning streak. That's a fall back excuse that's far too convenient just because we're talking about a former player, not an honest evaluation of her abilities as a coach. Teams lose games sometimes. It's ok.

A true evaluation shows that Spoon's substitution patterns are too generous and a need to get on the same page as her point guard(s). Unless they're pressing, a 7-8 player rotation fits her scheme best. I also don't know whether or not it was a matter of using this as a learning experience for Bendolph but there were 3 times where she should have been taken out of the game for poor decision making.

What she needs is what Chris Daley is to Geno, what Mahorn is to Laimbeer, what Tex was to Phil Jackson, or what Jolette Law was to Vivian Stringer, someone to help cultivate a certain environment surrounding the program on and off the court and can handle working with such a dominant personality, not people in awe.

The fact is Spoon got outcoached last night. She didn't make the proper adjustments when she needed to make them. That doesn't mean that she's incapable of doing it. Just that she didn't last night. For the record, I believe Spoon can be the coach we need. I believe she does have the knowledge to coach the Techsters or any team for that matter. If you go back and read, you'll see where I was one of the first and most outspoken in support of Spoon's knowledge of the game, but whether you agree or not, there is a difference between being a floor general and coaching from the bench. I have no doubt that she's familiar with the x's and o's of the game. She just didn't show it last night. It happens to every coach. No big deal. I'm not calling for her head. I'm not saying she shouldn't be made HC. In fact, it's just the opposite. I'm 100% for her getting the job. I just think she's got a learning curve to catch up on. I'm also inclined to try to temper everyone's enthusiasm when I feel there expectations are unrealistic. I think it's unrealistic to expect Spoon to coach us to the top 25 next year because she's still learning and we still haven't developed the talent to do it yet. Can it happen? Yes. But I don't think we should expect it.

[Dirtydawg]

Is this gonna be your new signature line?

Well, that's just my general state of existence as it is, so I might as well adopt it.

[Wes]

The fact is Spoon got outcoached last night. She didn't make the proper adjustments when she needed to make them. That doesn't mean that she's incapable of doing it. Just that she didn't last night. For the record, I believe Spoon can be the coach we need. I believe she does have the knowledge to coach the Techsters or any team for that matter. If you go back and read, you'll see where I was one of the first and most outspoken in support of Spoon's knowledge of the game, but whether you agree or not, there is a difference between being a floor general and coaching from the bench. I have no doubt that she's familiar with the x's and o's of the game. She just didn't show it last night. It happens to every coach. No big deal. I'm not calling for her head. I'm not saying she shouldn't be made HC. In fact, it's just the opposite. I'm 100% for her getting the job. I just think she's got a learning curve to catch up on. I'm also inclined to try to temper everyone's enthusiasm when I feel there expectations are unrealistic. I think it's unrealistic to expect Spoon to coach us to the top 25 next year because she's still learning and we still haven't developed the talent to do it yet. Can it happen? Yes. But I don't think we should expect it.

Sorry and again, not to debate this or belabor the point, but didn't you say you've watched 1 game of Spoon's coaching career? What frame of reference do you have to know whether or not she was outcoached? She could have sucked every other game. Is a coach outcoached every game their team loses? How can you pinpoint exactly what was wrong when you have nothing to compare it to? You can't gather someone's ability from reading stat sheets for 10 games and then watching the 11th. Did she not make adjustments or did we not execute? Any coach will tell you that at the end of the day, X's and O's ain't nothin but letters.

I did not say there was no difference in being a coach and being a floor general, I said fans who have no real knowledge of coaching like to label every former player who becomes a coach as not understanding the difference and like to dismiss their abilities to understand the finer points of the game. Former players always have their intelligence questioned either directly or indirectly. If Spoon was never a player, I doubt the same arguments would be being used. One of the very reasons opposing coaches and executives in the women's basketball world at the college and pro levels who've watched her coach praise Spoon is because she doesn't have the problem of not being able to adjust. I doubt she developed it in 1 game. We're talking about someone whose "X's and O's" once impressed Jeff Van Gundy, the biggest task master of them all.
All I'm saying is your assertion that she should hire a tactical assistant holds no merit because A) all coaches on staff should have that ability and B) she already is that person. Spoon's learning curve is no steeper than any other 1st time college head coach.

How does one "show it" to a fan watching the game on the internet as opposed to someone in film sessions, practices and huddles, and what makes you think an assistant coach just as knowledgable would have all the answers and wouldn't have an off night once in a while as well? Tech got outhustled and outworked last night. It had nothing to do with the alphabet or a clipboard. Tech had a great X's and O's coach and it got them nowhere by the way.

Tech's problem is the most intense person in the program is on the bench in a suit. That can't be the case when you're in a playoff situation. ISU wanted it more and it was obvious.

Tech fans would be better served worrying about Spoon brushing up on the NCAA rule book before she jumps into recruiting season than worrying about her X's and O's.

[Dawg06]

I think many of you are forgetting that Illinois State is actually a really good basketball team. Illinois State has an RPI of 47. Fresno State's RPI is 91. Tech's RPI is 146.

[dhussdawg]

I think many of you are forgetting that Illinois State is actually a really good basketball team. Illinois State has an RPI of 47. Fresno State's RPI is 91. Tech's RPI is 146.

Agreed, hate to put it like this, but it is time to realize we are not the Lady Techsters of the old days. We are 150 RPI Lady Techsters. The fact that Spoon had them playing this well down the stretch and competed in this game makes me have no reservations about hiring her as head coach. I know we have pride, but Illinoise State was simply better throughout the year and in this game.

[Champ967]

I think many of you are forgetting that Illinois State is actually a really good basketball team. Illinois State has an RPI of 47. Fresno State's RPI is 91. Tech's RPI is 146.

I posted this somewhere else, but I think it bears repeating --

The away teams are winning only 1 game in 6 in this years WNIT, by an average of only 8 pts.

Kudos to the Redbirds for a fantastic game -- but the format of this tournament gives the home team a huge advantage.

Our girls win this one at a neutral site.

[techboy09]

I posted this somewhere else, but I think it bears repeating --

The away teams are winning only 1 game in 6 in this years WNIT, by an average of only 8 pts.

Kudos to the Redbirds for a fantastic game -- but the format of this tournament gives the home team a huge advantage.

Couldn't SMU say the same thing?