BIG TEN Regular Season

[bballnut90]

Totally agree. Coach Frese does not get a lot of credit for the remarkable job she has done this year and over her amazing coaching career. We still wonder what she would have been able to do here in Minnesota if she stayed. That one year was awesome and helped Coach Pam Borton for a few years on her run with the Gophers.

Frese per usual has done an outstanding job. Maryland has been a staple in women's basketball for almost 2 decades, she's won a title and coached in 3 Final Fours, but she never gets enough credit for the work she does since her teams usually flop in the tournament and all of her studs transfer out. IMO she's as good as anyone in the country at developing kids and putting together really good basketball teams on the court. Her 2019-20 and 2020-21 teams played some really high level and fun basketball. The team success just doesn't seem to translate in March for whatever reason and all of her players who she develops into great players transfer to other programs. It's quite bizarre but she's always able to pick up the pieces, build up the returning players and put together really formidable teams.

 

[CBus13]

It may mean nothing but Ohio State has posted on social media about Senior Night and it seems they are only honoring Taylor Mikesell. The first 500 guests get a signed Taylor Mikesell Poster. I assumed Jacy would return because she wouldn't want this senior year to be her final year, but wasn't sure about Rebeka Mikulasikova, Rikki Harris, (redshirt-jr), Eboni Walker, and Hevyne Bristowe all are academically seniors. Madison Greene is also an academic senior but is a redshirt-jr. That bodes well for next season where OSU kind of whiffed on high school recruiting. Granted, there is always the transfer portal out. I think having a healthy Sheldon and Green next season will help OSU stay competitive.

 

[sweetspot]

Frese per usual has done an outstanding job. Maryland has been a staple in women's basketball for almost 2 decades, she's won a title and coached in 3 Final Fours, but she never gets enough credit for the work she does since her teams usually flop in the tournament and all of her studs transfer out. IMO she's as good as anyone in the country at developing kids and putting together really good basketball teams on the court. Her 2019-20 and 2020-21 teams played some really high level and fun basketball. The team success just doesn't seem to translate in March for whatever reason and all of her players who she develops into great players transfer to other programs. It's quite bizarre but she's always able to pick up the pieces, build up the returning players and put together really formidable teams.

All of her players?

 

[LowkeyX]

Coach Bluder throwing some shade at the Terps fans

Actually the 9,065 in attendance was the 4th highest (out of 11 road games) crowd they faced this year on the road. Only Nebraska, Indiana & Ohio State drew better crowds. Ohio State was #2 & undefeated at the time, which garnered extra excitement in Buckeye land. Indiana is having a hell of year & breaking all their records & there’s not much else to do in Lincoln, Nebraska on a Saturday (hence why that school supports all their sports heavily). MD’s court “Xfinity Center” seats 17,950 so yes it was only half full but it’s likely the crowd would’ve been over 10,000 if it was played on a weekend.

The most important thing the butt hurt coach failed to realize is that any crowd north of 6,000 for any women’s basketball game is good for the game. It’s coaches like her who aren’t really about growing the game & her backhanded criticism proved that.

She should’ve just kept that snarky comment to herself but she was in her feelings obviously lol about not repeating as Big10 champs.

 

[sweetspot]

It may mean nothing but Ohio State has posted on social media about Senior Night and it seems they are only honoring Taylor Mikesell. The first 500 guests get a signed Taylor Mikesell Poster. I assumed Jacy would return because she wouldn't want this senior year to be her final year, but wasn't sure about Rebeka Mikulasikova, Rikki Harris, (redshirt-jr), Eboni Walker, and Hevyne Bristowe all are academically seniors. Madison Greene is also an academic senior but is a redshirt-jr. That bodes well for next season where OSU kind of whiffed on high school recruiting. Granted, there is always the transfer portal out. I think having a healthy Sheldon and Green next season will help OSU stay competitive.

Hard to replace Mikesell's shooting but I don't know if there's a bigger dropoff from offense to defense in the conference (or country). She is like a traffic cone. Ohio State should be fun again next season.

 

[cancontent]

Actually the 9,065 in attendance was the 4th highest (out of 11 road games) crowd they faced this year on the road. Only Nebraska, Indiana & Ohio State drew better crowds. Ohio State was #2 & undefeated at the time, which garnered extra excitement in Buckeye land. Indiana is having a hell of year & breaking all their records & there’s not much else to do in Lincoln, Nebraska on a Saturday (hence why that school supports all their sports heavily). MD’s court “Xfinity Center” seats 17,950 so yes it was only half full but it’s likely the crowd would’ve been over 10,000 if it was played on a weekend.

The most important thing the butt hurt coach failed to realize is that any crowd north of 6,000 for any women’s basketball game is good for the game. It’s coaches like her who aren’t really about growing the game & her backhanded criticism proved that.

She should’ve just kept that snarky comment to herself but she was in her feelings obviously lol about not repeating as Big10 champs.

I agree. Having close to 10,000 for a game is nothing to chirp about. It should have been commended to help reinforce that these games are worth attending.

It's unfortunate that she said this. The BIG10 is having a great year and it's due to competitive teams like Iowa and Maryland. Talking it up helps to enhance the brand of the conference which would benefit her program in the long run.

 

[JellyBean]

Frese per usual has done an outstanding job. Maryland has been a staple in women's basketball for almost 2 decades, she's won a title and coached in 3 Final Fours, but she never gets enough credit for the work she does since her teams usually flop in the tournament and all of her studs transfer out. IMO she's as good as anyone in the country at developing kids and putting together really good basketball teams on the court. Her 2019-20 and 2020-21 teams played some really high level and fun basketball. The team success just doesn't seem to translate in March for whatever reason and all of her players who she develops into great players transfer to other programs. It's quite bizarre but she's always able to pick up the pieces, build up the returning players and put together really formidable teams.

Yeah. Coach Frese does a great job. Just needs to close the deal. A few years ago, I thought for sure she would get Maryland back to the Championship game.

 

[Lorcan]

It's possible that Bluder wasn't aware of the actual attendance number. The overall size of the arena at 17,000 might've made it feel like a significantly smaller crowd than say sellouts in Carver or at Assembly Hall. I agree with the points that we should continue to support and encourage attendance wherever it is.

 

[azfan]

It's possible that Bluder wasn't aware of the actual attendance number. The overall size of the arena at 17,000 might've made it feel like a significantly smaller crowd than say sellouts in Carver or at Assembly Hall. I agree with the points that we should continue to support and encourage attendance wherever it is.

Good point. And 9,000 is an outstanding crowd for any basketball game. My earlier comment about being a little surprised was with Iowa and POY candidate Caitlin Clark in town I would have thought it would have been closer to a sellout. There's a large metropolitan area to draw from and this was a marquee game.

I guess perhaps in following the Huskies and the trail of large crowds or sellouts they generate at home and on the road might have also shaped my surprise.

 

[cancontent]

It's possible that Bluder wasn't aware of the actual attendance number. The overall size of the arena at 17,000 might've made it feel like a significantly smaller crowd than say sellouts in Carver or at Assembly Hall. I agree with the points that we should continue to support and encourage attendance wherever it is.

I get where you're coming from, however her teams have played in that arena many times. I have a hard time believing she's not aware of her surroundings and couldn't take things into consideration, including the size of the arena in comparison to Carver.

 

[sweetspot]

It's possible that Bluder wasn't aware of the actual attendance number. The overall size of the arena at 17,000 might've made it feel like a significantly smaller crowd than say sellouts in Carver or at Assembly Hall. I agree with the points that we should continue to support and encourage attendance wherever it is.

It's on the box score that every coach gets postgame.

 

[GoChips20]

It may mean nothing but Ohio State has posted on social media about Senior Night and it seems they are only honoring Taylor Mikesell. The first 500 guests get a signed Taylor Mikesell Poster. I assumed Jacy would return because she wouldn't want this senior year to be her final year, but wasn't sure about Rebeka Mikulasikova, Rikki Harris, (redshirt-jr), Eboni Walker, and Hevyne Bristowe all are academically seniors. Madison Greene is also an academic senior but is a redshirt-jr. That bodes well for next season where OSU kind of whiffed on high school recruiting. Granted, there is always the transfer portal out. I think having a healthy Sheldon and Green next season will help OSU stay competitive.

A healthy Sheldon and Greene outweighs the loss of Mikesell (even though you’d love to have all three). OSU might get a second chance next year at what started as a dream season. They really need to pick up a decent post from the portal. RM is crafty and can make a lot of different shots but she adds nothing defensively and OSU gets eaten alive by teams with talented frontcourts.

 

[bballnut90]

All of her players?

Obviously not all, but it sure feels like it. Going back 10ish years you have:
Lexie Brown-3rd Team All American as a sophomore, transfers out
Destiny Slocum-Big Ten Freshman of the Year, has a fantastic freshman year, transfers out.
Shakira Austin-All Big Ten 2nd Team as a sophomore, was becoming a really strong post presence for Maryland, transferred
Taylor Mikesell-2 year starter, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, still starting and playing at a high level as a sophomore, transfers out
Angel Reese-3rd Team All American as a sophomore, transfers out
Ashley Owusu-3rd Team All American as a sophomore, transfers out after injury riddled junior year

Others have transferred out and had brilliant careers elsewhere (Kiah Gillespie, Kiara Leslie, Jenna Staiti).

Aside from the UNC exodus in 2014/2015, I can't think of any other school that has had multiple high profile players transfer prior to graduation when they were a star player on a successful team. It's just bizarre that it only seems to happen at Maryland.

Worth noting, a lot of her standouts were not top 5/top 10 players coming out of high school (ex. Diamond Miller, Brionna Jones, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Kaila Charles, Shyanne Sellers) and her players often go on to become terrific pros.

Brenda clearly has an eye for talent and knows how to develop players, she just can't keep them.

 

[Darwin]

I have watched many B10 games this season, almost all of the games between the top 6-7 teams. Let me just say it, MD can beat anyone in the B10 tourney as can IU of course. I don’t see Iowa as being able to win that tourney, Czinano can pneumonia so easily negated from the big games, she just labors to move up and down the court and is 100% reliant on great passes to get a shot off, cannot create. Holmes is just the opposite. Md and IU are the class of the B10 which has not sent a team to the final four in forever.

 

[GoChips20]

I have watched many B10 games this season, almost all of the games between the top 6-7 teams. Let me just say it, MD can beat anyone in the B10 tourney as can IU of course. I don’t see Iowa as being able to win that tourney, Czinano can pneumonia so easily negated from the big games, she just labors to move up and down the court and is 100% reliant on great passes to get a shot off, cannot create. Holmes is just the opposite. Md and IU are the class of the B10 which has not sent a team to the final four in forever.

I’d be surprised if that streak doesn’t end this year. Any one of Indiana, Maryland, or Iowa (in that order, most likely) could make it.

 

[GoChips20]

I was surprised at the attendance.... around 50 per cent capacity.

I generally find Bluder to be pleasant but this was not it. I hope it was a genuine slipup moreso than an intentional dig at MD.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Obviously not all, but it sure feels like it. Going back 10ish years you have:
Lexie Brown-3rd Team All American as a sophomore, transfers out
Destiny Slocum-Big Ten Freshman of the Year, has a fantastic freshman year, transfers out.
Shakira Austin-All Big Ten 2nd Team as a sophomore, was becoming a really strong post presence for Maryland, transferred
Taylor Mikesell-2 year starter, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, still starting and playing at a high level as a sophomore, transfers out
Angel Reese-3rd Team All American as a sophomore, transfers out
Ashley Owusu-3rd Team All American as a sophomore, transfers out after injury riddled junior year

Others have transferred out and had brilliant careers elsewhere (Kiah Gillespie, Kiara Leslie, Jenna Staiti).

Aside from the UNC exodus in 2014/2015, I can't think of any other school that has had multiple high profile players transfer prior to graduation when they were a star player on a successful team. It's just bizarre that it only seems to happen at Maryland.

Worth noting, a lot of her standouts were not top 5/top 10 players coming out of high school (ex. Diamond Miller, Brionna Jones, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Kaila Charles, Shyanne Sellers) and her players often go on to become terrific pros.

Brenda clearly has an eye for talent and knows how to develop players, she just can't keep them.

Extremely accurate post. Just think of how many Final fours Brenda would have had if she was able to keep all her star players on campus.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

I’d be surprised if that streak doesn’t end this year. Any one of Indiana, Maryland, or Iowa (in that order, most likely) could make it.

I'll be shocked if Indiana doesn't make it this season. Maryland's shooting can be ice cold. They just had a 0 for 18 shooting night from three last week. Also, their last of post prescense could be a problem against South Carolina who is in their bracket in Bracketology.

 

[LowkeyX]

I’d be surprised if that streak doesn’t end this year. Any one of Indiana, Maryland, or Iowa (in that order, most likely) could make it.

Yeah whoever isn’t in SC’s bracket lol

 

[Lorcan]

It's also worth taking Bluder's comments in context. I'll leave you to judge for yourself.

 

[sweetspot]

I'm worried that Lisa Bludes thinks 9,000 is a small crowd and pronounces "raucous" like that

 

[GoChips20]

It's also worth taking Bluder's comments in context. I'll leave you to judge for yourself.

Kind of a foot-in-the-mouth moment but agree it was nothing egregious.

 

[GoChips20]

Yeah. Coach Frese does a great job. Just needs to close the deal. A few years ago, I thought for sure she would get Maryland back to the Championship game.

Was this 2020-21? I remember that MD team looked like a buzzsaw. A few ESPN panelists had them pegged as the likely national champion before they lost to Texas.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

I'm worried that Lisa Bludes thinks 9,000 is a small crowd and pronounces "raucous" like that

Just like someone has mentioned previously, when you play in an 18,000-seat arena, the crowd will look smaller than if you played at Eagle Bank Arena (George Mason) which hold 10,000. But the crowd was very loud. She needs to get her hearing checked.

 

[cancontent]

It's also worth taking Bluder's comments in context. I'll leave you to judge for yourself.

And what context is that exactly? Hearing it live doesn't improve how her words came across from my perspective.

On one hand she says she wants a large raucous crowd, and then goes on to say she doesn't believe the attendance numbers. So which is it? And if the media is asking about the crowd's impact, does that not imply that it was a large crowd in the first place?

 

[LowkeyX]

It's also worth taking Bluder's comments in context. I'll leave you to judge for yourself.

The most important thing she said was “MD was a factor in the way Iowa played”. Should’ve left it at that & moved on instead of commenting on the lack of a “rou-shiss” crowd.

 

[CBus13]

I am biased but Cotie McMahon needs to be in the discussion for national freshman of the year. Has her freshmen mistakes but she’s so impressive.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Going 8-20 from the FT line is definitely a way to lose a game. Remarkable they had the chance to tie it up with those numbers

 

[GoChips20]

I am biased but Cotie McMahon needs to be in the discussion for national freshman of the year. Has her freshmen mistakes but she’s so impressive.

LOVE McMahon. One of my favorite players in the country. She’s going to be one of OSU’s all-time greats. Played her heart out tonight, before the replay that shot looked true and what a moment that would have been.

 

[jdote33]

I am biased but Cotie McMahon needs to be in the discussion for national freshman of the year. Has her freshmen mistakes but she’s so impressive.

Literally came on here to basically post the same thing. I'm not even sure who else is in the conversation, but she is super impressive.