WBB hosts Bellarmine tonight

[Sonja]

#10 UofL WBB opens the 2021 home slate with a visit from crosstown rival Bellarmine tonight at 7 p.m.

Tonight's contest against Bellarmine is actually part of a back-to-back home game series for the Cards, who will host UT Martin on Wednesday. The UT Martin game will be a homecoming game for sorts for former Cardinal Seygan Robins. Robins is one of three players on their roster from Kentucky. The sophomore who came out of Mercer County and was a Miss Kentucky Basketball selection, had a nice day against NC A&T with a full stat-line – tallying seven points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals

But back to tonight's opponent: Bellarmine. The Knights are in their second year in Division I play, and their women's basketball team has had a bit more difficult time adjusting than their men counterparts. There are eight players on Bellarmine's roster from Kentucky, including some local high schools such as Manual, Sacred Heart, Bullitt East, and North Bullitt.

The Knights went 5-17 last year, including 5-11 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. They started this year with a 72-59 loss to Cincinnati.

Chancellor Dugan (one of my favorite WBB coaches) will need some time to turn Bellarmine into a bonafide DI contender, but, if anyone can do it, she can.

My hope is someday the Bellarmine and Louisville series can turn into what they have north of us -- in Xavier vs. Cincinnati. With Scotty Davenport and "Chance" over on the Newburg Road campus, it's just a matter of time.

--sonja--

 

[KozmasAgain]

Seygan Robins is only a sophomore?

 

[Bardman]

The Cards did what was expected - hammered the Knights. My opinion, and I don’t like it, but..our posts are suspect. Olivia and Liz aren’t rebounding, blocking shots or scoring. This is scary because they should have had a field day tonight. Olivia got whipped defensively a few times and seemingly couldn’t recover after being out of position. Lastly, on more than one occasion she looked totally out of breath. Liz - dropping passes, missing layups, etc. Not good. Emily - thank goodness. Plays taller than she is - scores, shoots, passes, rebounds and blocks shots. She had s double-double in the first half. I’d live to se Ramani get some time as she moves well, hustles, etc. Konno and A. Smith had very nice games. On to the next opponent.

 

[CardsFirst]

Seygan Robins is only a sophomore?

She left the team two years ago. You mean Robinson. She’s a Senior

 

[CardsFirst]

The Cards did what was expected - hammered the Knights. My opinion, and I don’t like it, but..our posts are suspect. Olivia and Liz aren’t rebounding, blocking shots or scoring. This is scary because they should have had a field day tonight. Olivia got whipped defensively a few times and seemingly couldn’t recover after being out of position. Lastly, on more than one occasion she looked totally out of breath. Liz - dropping passes, missing layups, etc. Not good. Emily - thank goodness. Plays taller than she is - scores, shoots, passes, rebounds and blocks shots. She had s double-double in the first half. I’d live to se Ramani get some time as she moves well, hustles, etc. Konno and A. Smith had very nice games. On to the next opponent.

Not sure we benefit from playing BU, but I agree 1000% about our post play. I wasn’t a fan of Dixon last year and had hopes for Cochran, but it appears she has become more like Dixon. I agree they both appear to be out of shape. During the Arizona game Dixon refused to leave her feet and Cochran and Dixon can’t hit a 10’ jumper.
I had high hopes for this year but I’m questioning that now. Hoping the Dakota girl can develop into something special. She appears to have a similar frame as Shook. Jeff needs to recruit legit players at the five spot. It’s our missing piece.

 

[2330859]

Totally agree Bardman; both Cochran and Dixon were disappointing once again, despite towering over the Lady Knights. I did see Parker come in and contribute a few minutes, and while I trust Jeff knows these kids much better than any of us; but at least Parker shows some agility and athleticism that frankly Olivia and Liz have failed to demonstrate.

I am sure that Cochran and Dixon have the ability to jump, but for reasons that I do not understand, they both seem to think they can rebound by simply standing with their arms in the air. They both need to watch the film of Engstler rebounding; at 6’1”, Emily gets up in the air to retrieve the rebounds. Some of it is about positioning and timing, but clearly Emily uses her agility to go vertical and it is impressive.

 

[Bardman]

I thought Liz made great strides last year. However, it seems like she has not moved forward or even regressed a bit. Not seeing that second year improvement for Olivia either. Neither a t like getting a rebound is important to them. It has been mentioned, if our posts are blocking out this allows others to sweep in and snag the rebound and I get that. Yet, many of us are watching the battle as the ball is coming off the rim and watching to see who is going up to get the ball. BUT…it is early.
Sydni and Ramani - I was hoping to see more of them last night. Shen they did get in…
Sydni looked ‘shy’. She is going to have to be more aggressive #1 and get MUCH stronger #2. She runs/moves very well - so that’s a plus.
Ramani - She had some run at the end of last season and appered to be productive. My only guess is she lacks strength. But, she has bounce; she gets her arms straight up while defending (and she is long).

 

[WahooCard]

This team has lots of growth potential. Patience Card fans, we have the makings of a good team.

One other item of interest, was unable to attend last night’s game as well as tonight’s but thought our “attack Yorkie” did a great job as the color analyst on the ACC broadcast.

Great seeing and hearing Jessica Laemmle!

 

[2330859]

Good reminder Wahoo; probably too much fan expectation for this incredibly deep and talented roster so early on.

Not to over-state my concerns about Liz and Olivia; it’s just hard to watch tall women BB players who you know have the ability to jump, yet for reasons that are difficult to explain; some refuse to leave their feet when rebounding. Defensive rebounding in the ACC, particularly when playing NCST will be critical to our success.

 

[Sonja]

I thought Liz made great strides last year. However, it seems like she has not moved forward or even regressed a bit. Not seeing that second year improvement for Olivia either. Neither a t like getting a rebound is important to them. It has been mentioned, if our posts are blocking out this allows others to sweep in and snag the rebound and I get that. Yet, many of us are watching the battle as the ball is coming off the rim and watching to see who is going up to get the ball. BUT…it is early.
Sydni and Ramani - I was hoping to see more of them last night. Shen they did get in…
Sydni looked ‘shy’. She is going to have to be more aggressive #1 and get MUCH stronger #2. She runs/moves very well - so that’s a plus.
Ramani - She had some run at the end of last season and appered to be productive. My only guess is she lacks strength. But, she has bounce; she gets her arms straight up while defending (and she is long).

Liz is fine. She does what the CARDS need and that is being a teammate.

--sonja--

 

[armensmith]

Perhaps someone can explain this phenomena. In the Tennessee Martin game, Olivia played 19 minutes and Liz played 14 minutes. They did not play at the same time. Collectively, they played 33 minutes, scored 12 points, had 11 rebounds, and made 4 block shots. That is a double double, decent points, and good blocking stats. If an individual had done that, would we be prone to call them out?

 

[Sonja]

Look, both are hard working, important members of the squad. The way I see it, the starting lineup that works right now is guards Van Lith, K.Smith, Hall, Engstler and Cochran -- but Dixon, Robinson, Konno and/orVerhulst could be interchanged with any of the current starters and production should be unaltered.

If I had a squad with two effective, proven and productive centers, I'd be happy. And, I do believe that is wht Walz has.

--sonja--

 

[2330859]

Armen: I think most of us questioning the inside play of UL are thinking more about the level of competition with Arizona rather than TN Martin. The aspirations for UL Women’s BB is closer to Final Four, and not necessarily the level we see in the OVC.

Against Arizona, Dixon and Cochran combined for 42 minutes on the court, but only had a total of 6 rebounds and 9 points. Arizona’s duo of Reece and Copeland numbers were 29 points and 14 rebounds in 54 minutes of play.

I appreciate Sonja reminding us these UL Ladies are teammates, and I a totally agree that they most certainly contribute to the team as a whole. At the same time, as women expect and deserve to be treated as the serious D1 athletes that they are, right along side the Men’s program ……. so it is ok to apply the same critical opinion from media and fans alike.

 

[Bardman]

233 - agree. A few here get their feathers ruffled a little too easily. I love the WBB team. I haven’t read where anyone has stated any of the players are not trying their best ot or doing things on the court which would question them being ‘not’ good teammates. Fact is - in order to get to the Final4 (or more) we must have solid contributions from the ‘5’ spot. To many teams have bigs who can flat out play and ours must be able to play solid defense and counter them on the boards.

 

[armensmith]

And, of course, that was but a single game and the first real game of the season so the jury must truly be out on how they compare to last year. I am as guilty as anyone else in jumping to a quick conclusion about Liz and Olivia. That being said, I will be silent for awhile on the subject.