Stay Classy Brenda

[divots]

"I thought tonight was a good tuneup for us," said Maryland coach Brenda Frese, per the team's website. "We have so many new players between our freshmen and Ieshia Small. We played with a lot of enthusiasm and played really hard. A lot of great things, and we got rid of those jitters."

Maryland women win exhibition by 129 points

 

[Plebe]

Is it a problem that Maryland ran up the score? I mean, let's face it, these preseason exhibitions between elite D-I teams and D-II teams aren't meant to be competitive.

 

[EricLA]

I think there's nothing wrong with playing tenacious defense. Having said that, if you look at the box score of many teams in preseason, they score less points in the 2nd half. Usually this is due to having such a huge lead that coaches tell the teams to slow things down and work on the half court game.

It appears that Maryland scored 74 points in the 1st half and 72 in the 2nd half. Not having seen the game, I can't speak to what the team did in the entire 2nd half, but you generally call of the full court press, and slow the game down when you are completely destroying the other team. It does NOT appear that Maryland did that. By the way, they held their opponent scoreless for the entire 2nd half.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I think there's nothing wrong with playing tenacious defense. Having said that, if you look at the box score of many teams in preseason, they score less points in the 2nd half. Usually this is due to having such a huge lead that coaches tell the teams to slow things down and work on the half court game.

It appears that Maryland scored 74 points in the 1st half and 72 in the 2nd half. Not having seen the game, I can't speak to what the team did in the entire 2nd half, but you generally call of the full court press, and slow the game down when you are completely destroying the other team. It does NOT appear that Maryland did that. By the way, they held their opponent scoreless for the entire 2nd half.

That's what UConn did. Crystal Dangerfield had a wide open uncontested layup going the other way and Geno made her put the brakes on to continue working the half court.

 

[huskyd]

I think there's nothing wrong with playing tenacious defense. Having said that, if you look at the box score of many teams in preseason, they score less points in the 2nd half. Usually this is due to having such a huge lead that coaches tell the teams to slow things down and work on the half court game.

It appears that Maryland scored 74 points in the 1st half and 72 in the 2nd half. Not having seen the game, I can't speak to what the team did in the entire 2nd half, but you generally call of the full court press, and slow the game down when you are completely destroying the other team. It does NOT appear that Maryland did that. By the way, they held their opponent scoreless for the entire 2nd half.

Some coaches, like Geno, believe that exhibition games are for working on stuff. For example, it was pointed out that against IUP UConn would not run in transition again after the first half but would spend the second half working on its half-court game. That's what happened. Remember when Crystal stole the ball deep in the second half and had a clear path to a lay-in? She stopped herself short at about the 3-point line, and the team came down, set up, and worked the ball. The number of points scored is meaningless in these games, although it can be argued that humiliating another team is, in general, bad sportsmanship--and may make them reluctant to play you again (even for fun). Knowing Brenda, I can't believe she intended anything unseemly.

 

[HGN]

I agree with all of you guys..........There's a lot Brenda could have done to not make the score so lopsided.. You pull back , work on half court offense , slow the ball down , play your subs more.....etc. I guess her good sportsmanship went out the window. How can you go over and shake hands with the opposing coach after beating them by 129 and not letting them score a point in the 2nd half ?

Now I know Geno beats teams bad too . Even those that his former assistants coach . Like Cincinnati , Temple , Hartford , etc. But he plays his subs and calls off the dogs ( Huskies in this case) in the second half as much as possible. If the score gets run up its when the shot-clock is about to expire and a shot is taken.

Bottom line I think the Maryland score could have been made to look more respectful. If not for the players , then for the sport itself.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Massey Ratings actually has ratings on D2. Right now it's more or less (maybe entirely) based off of last year's ratings. MD's opponent, Bluefield State, is #318 out of 318! So essentially this was MD playing a D3 opponent.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

I looked at the box score and all of the Terps played less than 25 minutes, and the one that played 25 was one of the freshman. Three frosh played for 20 minutes or more. Bluefield State finished 2-23, last year; IUP was 21-9, lost in their conference championship game and made the DII tournament. Barring pulling a Blue Hen and having a talent like EDD fall in your lap, it seems like there is a significant difference in level of competition between those teams.

That tells me that this wasn't a run-up, just a serious mismatch. I agree that it looks like Maryland played tough D in the second half. I don't hold this against Frese.

Of course, I have no issue with her. I really don't know why so many on the Boneyard seem to, she's a good coach.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

I agree they probably weren't trying to run up the score, but this illustrates why Brenda Frese can't be considered one of the best coaches. While Geno schedules D2 teams that are fairly decent (Massey ranks IUP #66, Pace # 151), Brenda goes for the lowest ranked team. Doesn't really help to prepare your team for the top D1 teams

 

[ed4ourgirls]

. . . Doesn't really help to prepare your team for the top D1 teams

I expect they'll be prepared for UConn when our kids go down to College Park.

Brenda probably has that game circled on her calendar.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I looked at the box score and all of the Terps played less than 25 minutes, and the one that played 25 was one of the freshman. Three frosh played for 20 minutes or more. Bluefield State finished 2-23, last year; IUP was 21-9, lost in their conference championship game and made the DII tournament. Barring pulling a Blue Hen and having a talent like EDD fall in your lap, it seems like there is a significant difference in level of competition between those teams.

That tells me that this wasn't a run-up, just a serious mismatch. I agree that it looks like Maryland played tough D in the second half. I don't hold this against Frese.

Of course, I have no issue with her. I really don't know why so many on the Boneyard seem to, she's a good coach.

I'll only speak for myself. There were, at one time, an awful lot of rumors out of College Park regarding some unseemly recruiting matters. It was long enough ago that I have forgotten the details, but a tad of stench remains. I'll add that these were rumors coming out of supposed folks in the know, not pure fan imagination, although they were not necessarily true, of course.

Secondly, she is ultimately a "rah-rah" coach, as was Carolyn Peck and some others. I don't have a problem with a coach delegating some of the x's and o's, of course, but the rah-rah behavior on the sideline is a turnoff for me.

As to the thread topic, of course the exhibitions are intended to allow work on some specific aspect of the game. Back when they were allowed, RU played some traveling teams and I remember some fans being upset to learn that types of defense against RU (i.e. zone or man) and that the opposition was to take 3's at any opportunity (so RU could work on its 3 point defense) were decided by Coach Stringer and the other team's coach before the game. Of course, the talent differential wasn't as great, as the traveling teams were generally recently graduated D1 players, though not necessarily from the top schools nor "stars" (who were over-seas playing professionally).

Since I didn't see it I won't say one way or the other on the Maryland game, except that it isn't really about competition.

 

[CocoHusky]

Last year Maryland went out of their way to schedule Maryland Eastern Shore just before playing UCONN. MD won by 76 points. This year MD's official schedule has the FF and National Championship games listed on the official schedule, although I'm pretty sure there is no subtle message there. She's a good coach, good recruiter but these elements along with her locker room speeches could use some serious wire brushing.

 

[reno tony]

She should be ashamed of herself. I hope UCONN pounds the daylights out of them.

 

[Charliebball]

I looked at the box score and all of the Terps played less than 25 minutes, and the one that played 25 was one of the freshman. Three frosh played for 20 minutes or more. Bluefield State finished 2-23, last year; IUP was 21-9, lost in their conference championship game and made the DII tournament. Barring pulling a Blue Hen and having a talent like EDD fall in your lap, it seems like there is a significant difference in level of competition between those teams.

That tells me that this wasn't a run-up, just a serious mismatch. I agree that it looks like Maryland played tough D in the second half. I don't hold this against Frese.

Of course, I have no issue with her. I really don't know why so many on the Boneyard seem to, she's a good coach.

Why the heck would any top 10 team want to schedule a 2-23 DII team for a tune up..........exactly how does that help her kids?..............at least the team UConn played made the DII playoffs last year............find it hard to believe they couldn't find a more talented opponent...................heck my daughter's teams scrimmage incredibly tough opponents early..........makes the regular season feel like a cake walk..................

 

[pinotbear]

At the risk of doing the unthinkable, and defending "Da Freeze", it's entirely possible that UMD wanted to play this game on a particular date, and that Bluefield was the only, or the first school to step up and accept. It's a two-way street: MD can't force another school to play them when and where MD desires. Or, Bluefield wanted the exposure, or whatever game revenue came with it, or, maybe there's some sort of connection that was being honored or acknowledged. I don't care for Brender, but, given the way playing time was distributed and given the relative strength of the programs, it's hard for me to see this as a deliberate attempt to crush another program for yucks.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Some coaches, like Geno, believe that exhibition games are for working on stuff. For example, it was pointed out that against IUP UConn would not run in transition again after the first half but would spend the second half working on its half-court game. That's what happened. Remember when Crystal stole the ball deep in the second half and had a clear path to a lay-in? She stopped herself short at about the 3-point line, and the team came down, set up, and worked the ball. The number of points scored is meaningless in these games, although it can be argued that humiliating another team is, in general, bad sportsmanship--and may make them reluctant to play you again (even for fun). Knowing Brenda, I can't believe she intended anything unseemly.

Teams like IUPget paid to play--the players and coaches know --a Div 2 team playing a 4 time in a row Div1 National Champ--they will get severely beaten--. If they feel they cannot take that beating without feeling "humiliated" they should not play the game. If they approach it right--it is a learning experience--the game and Geno's practices. They learn things they may never learn until their NCAA tourney. And they will tell all they faced the Uconn Lion and survived--that alone is success.

 

[Vowelguy]

I agree they probably weren't trying to run up the score, but this illustrates why Brenda Frese can't be considered one of the best coaches. While Geno schedules D2 teams that are fairly decent (Massey ranks IUP #66, Pace # 151), Brenda goes for the lowest ranked team. Doesn't really help to prepare your team for the top D1 teams

lol. No D2 opponent prepares a top D1 team. The goal is merely to get your players out on the court against somebody in a game situation.

 

[Kibitzer]

"I thought tonight was a good tuneup for us," said Maryland coach Brenda Frese, per the team's website. "We have so many new players between our freshmen and Ieshia Small. We played with a lot of enthusiasm and played really hard. A lot of great things, and we got rid of those jitters."

Maryland women win exhibition by 129 points

BFD

 

[HGN]

I looked at the box score and all of the Terps played less than 25 minutes, and the one that played 25 was one of the freshman. Three frosh played for 20 minutes or more. Bluefield State finished 2-23, last year; IUP was 21-9, lost in their conference championship game and made the DII tournament. Barring pulling a Blue Hen and having a talent like EDD fall in your lap, it seems like there is a significant difference in level of competition between those teams.

That tells me that this wasn't a run-up, just a serious mismatch. I agree that it looks like Maryland played tough D in the second half. I don't hold this against Frese.

Of course, I have no issue with her. I really don't know why so many on the Boneyard seem to, she's a good coach.

Hard hat , I can see your point but once it was clear to Brenda that this was way , way . Way . Out of hand and a complete mismatch, why not run the clock down before taking a shot.......Show some humility and sportsmanship. She can , and did , get the win. But at what price to the Bluefield coach and players.

 

[Plebe]

I really don't see the big deal. If people are saying that it's unduly humiliating for a lowly D-II team to lose by a top D-I team by 100, but not unduly humiliating from them to lose by "only" 60 or 70, I don't buy it.

If the D-II team's feelings and morale would be so devastated by a heavily lopsided loss to a team of Maryland's caliber, maybe they shouldn't agree to the exhibition game. No one is forcing them.

 

[GiladKatzDeli]

"....if you had Bluefield State and 128 points, you lost!"

 

[TBIF54]

Ordinarily, this type game would not hold much interest for me. But since Bluefield, WV is my hometown and many of the most important people in my life graduated from Bluefield State College, I paid attention to the result. I was very surprised, at least initially, that they would be an opponent for Maryland. I guess this is probably the only way the "Big Blues" can make any money. The school has not had a football team for several decades and the men's basketball team is probably not a cash cow. When you take a team with one senior, one sophomore and the rest freshmen to play the Big 10 champions and you are not even competitive in D-II, you really need the money.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

"I thought tonight was a good tuneup for us," said Maryland coach Brenda Frese, per the team's website. "We have so many new players between our freshmen and Ieshia Small. We played with a lot of enthusiasm and played really hard. A lot of great things, and we got rid of those jitters."

Maryland women win exhibition by 129 points

Where does the "stay" come into this?

 

[JordyG]

Last year Maryland went out of their way to schedule Maryland Eastern Shore just before playing UCONN. MD won by 76 points. This year MD's official schedule has the FF and National Championship games listed on the official schedule, although I'm pretty sure there is no subtle message there. She's a good coach, good recruiter but these elements along with her locker room speeches could use some serious wire brushing.

Relax Coco. This win and her reaction is all part of the plan. After all, with this great class she's going to show the world how recruiting is the easy path to a NC. All you have to do after that is just throw out any combo of players and buy a rocking chair. After all, that's all Geno did, right?

 

[CBear01]

Let me first start by saying I like Brenda Frese as a coach and a competitor. I really, really like her style. I'm fact when I came up with a new dessert (very amateur baker here) I even named them Brenda Frese Bars, in her honor lol. She's a sweet coach

But there's something like 600+ teams between the Terps and the team they just smashed in rankings, that's 600 other teams better than Bluefield State that Maryland could have scrimmaged against. Why she chose to do so is beyond me.

It's like watching Golden State play the JV team from East Bubblef**k, Nebraska. What the heck would they learn or work on? Ego I'd assume - only logical answer.

Shame shame Brenda
(IMO of course)