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ST_Lawson
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The women picked up a nice home win over Bradley this evening, 91-77.
http://goleathernecks.com/boxscore.aspx ... ll&id=5554

They're 6-3 on the season, having lost to Milwaukee, Missouri, and Marquette. The good news...no more schools that start with M on the rest of the schedule. :lol:
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wiu712
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Western beats Bradley 91-77.

Emily Clemens led the Western scoring with 23 points. Morgan Blumer had 22. Michelle Farrow had 12. Taylor Higginbotham had 10.

Western out-rebounded Bradley 45-28.

Attendance at Western Hall = 676.
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sealhall74
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Emily Clemens gets my @DonnyDoubles "I Stepped My Game Up Bigtime" award for the 2016-17 season. Not sure how much of it we can credit to the offseason conditioning program but she is one smooth cookie right now. Also, this JD defense is going to be trouble for the Summit this year. Like a swarm of pesky gnats - there is always at least one messing with you. The seams are not easy to identify. They gamble well to get steals. The spacing is very good to keep them in rebounding position. WIU Athletics needs to find a good marketing label for it and use it.
Embrace the pace of the race.
LocalYokelFan
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It's been a fun group to watch so far this year. I was worried after that first exhibition game, but I guess that's exactly why you have exhibition games! JD, Seth and Co. have done a great job building a program that's fun to watch and competitive game-in and game-out. Sure, it'd be nice to have some conference championships by now, and hopefully that will come, but WIUWBB has been entertaining for years now. I don't know if Billy and Co. get around to "program building" type conversations much with other coaches like JD and Seth, but I hope they do.

Look across the board on the Women's side - every one of those young women have become better basketball players. Emily has taken a big step up each year she's been here. Boyle has gotten better and better each year. Taylor Higginbotham might set some records before she leaves Macomb and despite having a little shooting slump early this season, looks like she's gotten better in the off-season. The transfers into this program - Blumer and Braun this year, Patrick last year, seem like they come in and fit pretty perfectly right away. Even "role" players like Michelle Farrow seem to have gotten better. And in limited action, all 3 of the freshman have shown flashes of potential too.

I look at the men's side and I just don't know if I see that kind of player development and team cohesiveness. As excited as I was about Garret coming in his freshman year, I was equally excited about Jabari Sandifer. But has Jabari gotten much better over the last 4 years? Has Gilbeck? Delo? Miklusak? Just go down the roster -- I'm not sure you can point to many that have. One last point on the men's side that I think has to do with coaching -- the guys look lost at the end of games. Garret is a phenomenal player, but he can't be your whole offense down the stretch. If I was Coach Wright during practice and working on end of game scenarios, I'd sit Garret or make him play defense. You know what he can do at the end of games, make the other guys figure out something too.

Even that's a bit of a contrast to the Women - it's been interesting to see whose hands JD has put the ball in down the stretch in close games - from my perspective, it's been just about everyone. Clemens, Blumer, Farrow, Higginbotham, Boyle... they're all a threat to score down the stretch. So tell me, as an opposing coach, what makes you more worried? A team that can beat you with any one of their players on the floor, or a team that relies on a superstar going iso?

Go 'Necks!
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sealhall74
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LocalYokelFan wrote:It's been a fun group to watch so far this year. I was worried after that first exhibition game, but I guess that's exactly why you have exhibition games! JD, Seth and Co. have done a great job building a program that's fun to watch and competitive game-in and game-out. Sure, it'd be nice to have some conference championships by now, and hopefully that will come, but WIUWBB has been entertaining for years now. I don't know if Billy and Co. get around to "program building" type conversations much with other coaches like JD and Seth, but I hope they do.

Look across the board on the Women's side - every one of those young women have become better basketball players. Emily has taken a big step up each year she's been here. Boyle has gotten better and better each year. Taylor Higginbotham might set some records before she leaves Macomb and despite having a little shooting slump early this season, looks like she's gotten better in the off-season. The transfers into this program - Blumer and Braun this year, Patrick last year, seem like they come in and fit pretty perfectly right away. Even "role" players like Michelle Farrow seem to have gotten better. And in limited action, all 3 of the freshman have shown flashes of potential too.

I look at the men's side and I just don't know if I see that kind of player development and team cohesiveness. As excited as I was about Garret coming in his freshman year, I was equally excited about Jabari Sandifer. But has Jabari gotten much better over the last 4 years? Has Gilbeck? Delo? Miklusak? Just go down the roster -- I'm not sure you can point to many that have. One last point on the men's side that I think has to do with coaching -- the guys look lost at the end of games. Garret is a phenomenal player, but he can't be your whole offense down the stretch. If I was Coach Wright during practice and working on end of game scenarios, I'd sit Garret or make him play defense. You know what he can do at the end of games, make the other guys figure out something too.

Even that's a bit of a contrast to the Women - it's been interesting to see whose hands JD has put the ball in down the stretch in close games - from my perspective, it's been just about everyone. Clemens, Blumer, Farrow, Higginbotham, Boyle... they're all a threat to score down the stretch. So tell me, as an opposing coach, what makes you more worried? A team that can beat you with any one of their players on the floor, or a team that relies on a superstar going iso?

Go 'Necks!
They are a fun bunch to watch play. Regarding JD's recruiting and player development, all I can say is that a certain fight song comes to mind: On, Wisconsin (Lakers)
;)
Embrace the pace of the race.
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