So Carolina's Conditioning Coach.

[Wbbfan1]

http://www.thestate.com/sports/coll...na/usc-womens-basketball/article28832089.html


She was interested, Staley reciprocated and Fowler came south in mid-June. After meeting the team, she expressed her goals – to make the Gamecocks the fastest team in America.

Traditionally UNC has been one of the FASTEST teams and where has that gotten them I'd rather be the best conditioned team.

 

[Nuyoika]

There are tons of teams that play fast, doesn't mean it is pretty nor does it mean it gets results. Didn't Oregon play super fast run and gun style basketball? They certainly lit up the scoreboard and stunk up the game big time.

 

[Sonny44]

Not easy to do when you rely so heavily on your bigs, especially when they are such poor ball handlers.
How many teams have a player even remotely like Breanna who is often the first one down court?

 

[UcMiami]

But Sylvia has been quoted as saying she doesn't care about how many turnovers - as long as the team is running. I doubt you will ever hear anything like that from a former star point guard at SC!
It is a strange way to approach fitness, but with the speed of some of their bigs, I can see how that might 'stand out' in a first meeting.

 

[Nuyoika]

I do have to admit I have really tried to watch SEC games because I have the sports package so why not (as long as it doesn't conflict with a UConn game) but its like watching paint dry. Everyone is moving in slow motion, the offense is miserable. Maybe they will make the SEC more exciting.

 

[DavidinNaples]

South Carolina's new conditioning coach came from Maryland. How fit was Maryland last year?

1. Against UConn last year, Maryland scored 25 points in the 2nd half. They looked tired. UConn scored 37.
2. Maryland shooting in 2nd half = 9-28 or 32%
3. Fast break points in 2nd half = Maryland 0
4. 3 pt shooting for Maryland in 2nd half = 2-9 (22%)
5. Maryland scored 2 points in the last 3:45 of the game.
6. In the last 5 minutes of the game, Maryland had 4 missed shots, 2 fouls and 2 turnovers.

Not impressed.

 

[Nuyoika]

South Carolina's new conditioning coach came from Maryland. How fit was Maryland last year?

1. Against UConn last year, Maryland scored 25 points in the 2nd half. They looked tired. UConn scored 37.
2. Maryland shooting in 2nd half = 9-28 or 32%
3. Fast break points in 2nd half = Maryland 0
4. 3 pt shooting for Maryland in 2nd half = 2-9 (22%)
5. Maryland scored 2 points in the last 3:45 of the game.
6. In the last 5 minutes of the game, Maryland had 4 missed shots, 2 fouls and 2 turnovers.

Not impressed.

Good point. I guess the question would be to Fowler, well what was your goal with Maryland and did you reach it? I'm guessing not to many questions were asked by Staley. She probably chalked it up to just another incoming transfer from another school and said meh, i'll take it.

 

[Huskies Rule]

- After watching the SC bigs evaporate under the relentless pressure of UConn's transition game this past February, nothing short of a miraculous physical transformation by Coates, Wilson, White, Dozier and Imovbioh will change things very much.
-Sessions, Cuevas and Mitchell can run like the wind, but they'll be off to the races by themselves, leaving their huge front line far behind (despite Wilson fancying herself a guard).
-SC's frontcourt players are really big, but lumbering and plodding- their abilities (and limitations) far better suited for the half court, dump-it-into-the-paint, low post game. Yes, they'll be much bigger and taller than almost all of their opponents, and maybe even a tad quicker and better conditioned, but as a team, they'll never run with UConn.

While they're at it, Staley should also grab Stu Singer, Maryland WBB's "performance enhancement coach," whose job it is "to help keep players' minds in the right place." Hmm, how'd that work for the Terps last year?

 

[Nuyoika]

- After watching the SC bigs evaporate under the relentless pressure of UConn's transition game this past February, nothing short of a miraculous physical transformation by Coates, Wilson, White, Dozier and Imovbioh will change things very much.
-Sessions, Cuevas and Mitchell can run like the wind, but they'll be off to the races by themselves, leaving their battleships far behind.
-SC's frontcourt players are really big, but lumbering and plodding- their abilities (and limitations) far better suited for the half court, dump-it-into-the-paint, low post game. -Yes, they'll be much bigger and taller than almost all of their opponents, but as a team, they'll never run with UConn.

I can agree with that. It seems that their bigs struggle when facing an equally sized opponent. Even if that opponent isn't nearly as talented. Or even if the opponent is a bit under sized but defensively more disciplined. I think that's why they had so many games that they needed to grind out that on paper should have been cake walks for them. Also their defensive positioning and awareness could use a bit of work. Too many lapses combined with lack of effort had them with a few games that should have been complete blow outs that wound up as either a loss or within 10 points. No one except UConn or ND should've come within 10 points of them last year.

 

[Nuyoika]

Well... it was against UConn, of course the stats don't look favorable...

After UConn (2 x championships) and ND (2 x finals), Maryland (2 x final four) has been the best tournament team the last 2 years. So they are doing something right.

You certainly could make that argument but given the large margins in their exits as a professional I would hope Fowler wouldn't want to make that argument. If she hangs her hat on that she can effectively say, "I can get you back to the FF like I did for Maryland, but... expect to get beat by atleast 15 points." If that's the case SCar was better off without her.

 

[HGN]

You really can't blame Staley for trying to kick in the door of a Championship. Just like most things you have to take your shots when they present themselves. She knows she has the horses in Wilson, Coates , Mitchell , etc....And she knows she has to ride them now or never. I'd say she has a 3 year window.

So she's trying to make sure that since she has the talent she wants them in shape. I guess thinking that Fowler's previous stops lacked the talent thats on the Gamecocks roster.

Most horses that run The Preakness , The Kentucky Derby , and The Belmont are in tip top condition too.
But only one horse wins each.

Bottom line , it takes more than just talent and conditioning.

 

[DavidinNaples]

Well... it was against UConn, of course the stats don't look favorable...

After UConn (2 x championships) and ND (2 x finals), Maryland (2 x final four) has been the best tournament team the last 2 years. So they are doing something right.

You completely missed the point of my post. It was about Maryland's CONDITIONING..!! The "stats" indicated Maryland got tired legs and played poorly in the 2nd half....
Please don't edit my posts and then comment on a point I was NOT making... Thanks.

 

[SCGamecock]

I typically TRY to avoid threads dedicated to South Carolina on UCONN's board but it's early, I'm bored at work and curiosity won out.

Must be a slow news day in Storrs/Connecticut.

 

[xHunt3r]

You completely missed the point of my post. It was about Maryland's CONDITIONING..!! The "stats" indicated Maryland got tired legs and played poorly in the 2nd half....
Please don't edit my posts and then comment on a point I was NOT making... Thanks.

I didn't miss your point... A. It was just one game. To small a sample to state that their condition is not good(they shot better in the 2nd half of their previous two games). B. It was against UConn. You're completely ignoring the UConn factor. Down double digits in the 2nd half against UConn?? In the final four?? You're not going to win. Players start to mentally check out... take bad/ill advised shots... rushed shots... rushed passes(turnovers). And whenever UConn senses the other team letting at all, they kick it up another notch. Most teams that are losing against UConn are going to have bad second half stats... no matter how good or bad their conditioning is

 

[DavidinNaples]

I didn't miss your point... A. It was just one game. To small a sample to state that their condition is not good(they shot better in the 2nd half of their previous two games). B. It was against UConn. You're completely ignoring the UConn factor. Down double digits in the 2nd half against UConn?? In the final four?? You're not going to win. Players start to mentally check out... take bad/ill advised shots... rushed shots... rushed passes(turnovers). And whenever UConn senses the other team letting at all, they kick it up another notch. Most teams that are losing against UConn are going to have bad second half stats... no matter how good or bad their conditioning is

I'm not ignoring anything. I was at the game. I watched Maryland play. IMO, their conditioning was not good. UConn's conditioning was very good. Have a nice day.

 

[UConnCat]

There are a lot of factors that can contribute to a team playing poorly in the 2nd half or in the closing stretch of a game.

In the semi-final game between ND and South Carolina, ND scored 2 points in the final 7:50 of that game, and that one basket was after an air-ball fortuitously fell in to the hands of Madison Cable with 18 seconds left. I doubt anyone would say that the ND players weren't well-conditioned enough to score and close out that game. Pressure, confidence, mental breakdowns, fatigue, are all factors in big games. Talent matters too!

 

[Kibitzer]

I typically TRY to avoid threads dedicated to South Carolina on UCONN's board.

Ahem.

The poster used the verb dedicated to mean that South Carolina (wcbb) was the focus of discussion in this Boneyard thread. Fair enough - the meaning was clear and such usage is common and acceptable.

But I think that dedications are better applied to honoring someone or a group. We see this most often in books (authors always seem to do this), warships, buildings, bridges, airports, etc.

Think about it.

 

[SCGamecock]

Ahem.

The poster used the verb dedicated to mean that South Carolina (wcbb) was the focus of discussion in this Boneyard thread. Fair enough - the meaning was clear and such usage is common and acceptable.

But I think that dedications are better applied to honoring someone or a group. We see this most often in books (authors always seem to do this), warships, buildings, bridges, airports, etc.

Think about it.

Thought about it.

I'm content with my word choice.

 

[Kibitzer]

Thought about it.

I'm content with my word choice.

OK.

 

[BroadwayVa]

http://www.thestate.com/sports/coll...na/usc-womens-basketball/article28832089.html


She was interested, Staley reciprocated and Fowler came south in mid-June. After meeting the team, she expressed her goals – to make the Gamecocks the fastest team in America.

Traditionally UNC has been one of the FASTEST teams and where has that gotten them I'd rather be the best conditioned team.

Many ask how is Uconn so successful? Answer is Conditioning!! Geno's teams can run for 4 hours in practice and are asked to push through the tired muscles . Then too, last year they "conditioned" with the Marines. Stewie runs and runs and runs even KML ran and ran the opponents sometimes had Uconn out scored in the first half--but only one beat them in the second half, by a fluke.
Give Staley credit for seeing what was lacking and hoping to correct it. For Conditioning training to work the coach and the team has to buy into the training--maybe Md chose not to????

 

[BroadwayVa]

Ahem.

The poster used the verb dedicated to mean that South Carolina (wcbb) was the focus of discussion in this Boneyard thread. Fair enough - the meaning was clear and such usage is common and acceptable.

But I think that dedications are better applied to honoring someone or a group. We see this most often in books (authors always seem to do this), warships, buildings, bridges, airports, etc.

Think about it.

It would appear that you are dedicated to correct words dedicated to dedications. Aggravated usage, common usage, has been the normal way for unaccepted word to become accepted and placed in our current dictionaries. Ain't that so??

 

[PhillyCoach]

Many ask how is Uconn so successful? Answer is Conditioning!! Geno's teams can run for 4 hours in practice and are asked to push through the tired muscles . Then too, last year they "conditioned" with the Marines. Stewie runs and runs and runs even KML ran and ran the opponents sometimes had Uconn out scored in the first half--but only one beat them in the second half, by a fluke.
Give Staley credit for seeing what was lacking and hoping to correct it. For Conditioning training to work the coach and the team has to buy into the training--maybe Md chose not to????

Broadway - Agree that conditioning is a foundation for UConn's success. It is also clear that Staley had to look for other methods of improvement to keep moving up the ladder. IMHO I believe it is the second part of UConn's training method that sets them apart from everyone. That is---UConn does all basketball drills; fast breaks, set plays, lay-ups, moving without the ball, (on and on) --OVER AND OVER AND OVER UNTIL IT IS DONE RIGHT (probably need 5x in a row done right.) Staley mentioned last year in an interview that she DOES NOT do repetitive drills/skills/plays (not at that intensive level). She mentioned that Temple's men coach John Chaney was a talker, teacher, motivator, and not a "let's do that drill again" type of coach. (Chaney was saving many kids from the tough hood and put his focus on that part of teaching ) She learned some of her coaching style from Chaney--not Bobby Knight or Geno. Wilson and Coates are good players, but they were not trained in the style of UConn (who is??-nobody.) **A throw-in note--some people might remember that Collier won the "overall skills contest" at the All-American tournament. Phee was a Pheenom and rolled everyone--even the pure guards. Collier outperformed Wilson in 5 categories at the U-19 (well stated by Eric) and has all the skills, with motivation, fast motor, and awareness. Collier is going to be awesome.

 

[PhillyCoach]

Sorry David - it was DavidinNaples who had the great post that made it very clear how dominating Collier was in the U-19 tournament. EricfromSanDiego (now in LA?) does so much good stuff too that I got it discombobulated!

 

[Sonny44]

On fatigue - I once heard a professional hockey coach say that it's easy to tell when athletes are tired; during a break they put their hands on their hips for extended periods of time. Whether they realize it or not this position helps expand the chest cavity and the lungs get more air. Believe it or not, but I agree after watching thousands of games. Look at the SC players in the 2nd half against us.

 

[Wonkster]

Sorry David - it was DavidinNaples who had the great post that made it very clear how dominating Collier was in the U-19 tournament. EricfromSanDiego (now in LA?) does so much good stuff too that I got it discombobulated!

Before Kibitzer gets his motor warmed up again, I think you meant to say you got discombobulated, not that you got it discombobulated. At any rate that's what I've heard over the last 60 years.