CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Tennis chasing a championship, basketball routs Loyola Chicago



SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(JENNY O'BRYAN TAKES US THRU SUNDAY WITH OUR INCREDIBLE WOMEN'S TENNIS DUO AND REPORT ON LOUSVILLE WBB'S ROUT OF THE RAMBLERS SAT. NIGHT)


**score update**score update**score update**score update**score update**score update**

Court 9 - Men's Doubles - Final 1 2 3 Court 6 - Men's Consolation Doubles - Final 1 2 3
Libietis/Reese (1) (Tennessee) 3 2 Giron/McDonald (1) (UCLA) 7
Narayana/Schnur (Columbia) 6 6 Kobelt/Metka (2) (Ohio State) 8

Court 7 - Women's Doubles - Final 1 2 3 Court 4 - Women's Consolation Doubles - Final 1 2 3
Kurey/Woodard (Georgia Tech) 4 6 6 Boren/Katz (1) (USC) 8
Fellerhoff/Shine (Louisville) 6 3 5

go to: http://www.gocolumbialions.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=9600&ATCLID=205326803  for updates.

SHINING ON IN NEW YORK


Do the names Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine sound familiar?  They should by now.   This tennis doubles team has roared on to the scene in early November and finds themselves playing for the programs first National Chanpionship in the schools history. 

In early November the pair competed in the Ohio Valley Regional in Memphis, TN.  At stake was a berth in to the ITA Indoor National Championship in Flushing, NY.   The pair pulled off 5 straight wins beating the #1 seed in the tournament, Purdue,  and two teams from the host city, Memphis, among others.  Doing so propelled the team into the ITA tournament starting this past Thursday. 

In opening play in Flushing, NY the pair knocked out the #4 seed of Texas.  They went on to play Michigan (whom they beat handily), and beat Georgia on Saturday morning to earn a spot in the championship game, playing for all the marbles on this morning, against Georgia Tech. 

It is an incredibly accomplishment from the pair as they represent the University of Louisville and are playing for the first National Championship for the program. 
Coach Beckham had this to say about Fellerhoff and Shine:
           
"These girls are amazing!" said U of L head coach Mark Beckham. "They are playing like this is just another tournament. They are not nervous at all. The programs they are playing are legacy programs with multiple national championships. For these two girls to develop into the best players in the country, shows a lot about their character and their dedication to the program. They will be playing for the first national championship of the program."

As many of you log on to read this morning’s edition they will likely be battling for the championship.  The action starts at 10:00 a.m.  We will keep our eye on the ‘net and inform you of the results just as soon as it is known. 

Regardless of what happens this morning for the pair it has been an amazing run and they have done themselves and the University proud.  Best of luck ladies, Cardnation is behind you all the way!

(Thanks to gocards.com for the quote from Coach Beckham)

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WBB PARKS THE RAMBLERS BY 47
 

Tennis was not the only team competing on Saturday.  Louisville Women’s Basketball tipped off the season in the preseason WNIT at The KFC YUM Center Saturday night against Loyola Chicago. 

The outcome of the game was never in doubt.  We here at the Couple had the Cardinals winning by at least 30.  They did a little better than that with a 47 point win, with a final score of 101-54.   Both this game and the exhibition game the Cardinals have broken the century mark. 

Ask Coach Walz about breaking the century mark and I don’t think you are going to get the answer one might expect.   Coach Walz was not terribly pleased with the game tonight stating in the post game interview that scoring the ball is not in question, but getting better is.  Tonight, the team did not get better. 

I have to say that I agree with Coach Walz.  As a fan in the seats it was hard to watch plays in the paint get swatted away 11 times!  That should have never happened, but very poor decision-making and just throwing the ball up when in the paint, surrounded by arms, will get you that.  

The first half of play saw the Ramblers very easily getting into the paint.  While they were not always successful with scoring, the penetration was too easy.  (This did seem to tighten up a bit in the second half). 

The foul shot shooting was atrocious.  While the final stats for the game are not posted as of this writing, the last time I looked at the stat board it was hovering around 50%.    With the new rules being enforced in regards to hand checking, teams may have the opportunity to really live at the line, until teams better adjust to how the game is being called.  In tough competition, this game very easily could have been lost at the line. 

I felt like the team started out sluggish offensively, but was playing some reasonably good defense for about the first 15 minutes.  The last 5 minutes of the half both sides seemed to quit moving their feet and got lazy on defense.  What followed was a long last 5 minutes of play with lots of time at the line.   The second half did not start any better in this regard and by 13 minutes left Louisville was already shooting the bonus, and by 7.5 minutes left both sides were in the double bonus.  

I know this aspect of the game may be hard to watch as teams all across women’s basketball adjust to the new rule.  The real hard part about this was the missed opportunities at the line.  This has to be cleaned up!

Not to be all doom and gloom, though, there were things to like about the game. 

-       I said at the start of the second half that I felt like Shoni was playing a very good, smart game.  By games end she did not have a single turnover.  (Shoni can thank little sister Jude for saving one when Shoni attempted a knucklehead behind the back no look pass to no one.  Jude got her hands on it and tipped it to an open player, getting the assist).  Beyond the one really bad pass Shoni played a controlled game, with very good shot selection.  I look forward to seeing the box score to see what her attempts were, but it was conservative by Shoni standards.  She often made the extra pass.  It was a mature Shoni on the court tonight, and Louisville basketball needs that.   Shoni also hit her 272 3 pointer tonight taking the lead for all time 3 point shots made.  With a whole season ahead of her it will be fun to see just how high she will set the bar. 

     Congratulations Shoni!!
 
-       Cortnee Walton is showing some very nice signs around the basket in both rebounding and in shooting.  She had a beautiful inside-out pass to Shoni notching herself an assist and looking very court aware.  I look forward to watching her continued growth.  She very well may be the most improved player from last season. 
 
-       Emmonnie Henderson continues to impress me with her strength.  She has a lot of work to do to adjust to the college game.  She needs some refinement around the rim offensively, but I know that will come.  Her size and her strength are going to be a huge asset to this program.  She is going up for rebounds and pulling them down decisively. 
 
-       Tia Gibbs really provided a huge defensive spark off of the bench.  Asia Taylor looked good and athletic.  Her long arms and athleticism will help to make up for the lack of height in the post. 

With the win tonight the Cardinals set themselves up in the winners bracket of the tournament.  The Cards will face Quinnipiac Uinversity (they are out of Connecticut)  on Monday evening at 7:00 p.m.    Quinnipiac got some early preseason love and is getting votes, although they are currently not ranked in the top 25. 

(Did any of you readers see an unexpected player on the bench tonight?  She was dressed in sweats and not warming up with the team. She is DIAMOND MARSHALL and played her high school hoops at Bowling Green, KY. Paulie did ask about her at the end of Walz's media apperance...but all the smiling Walz said was..."Oh, that's Diamond from Bowling Green"...as he dashed out the door. Welcome, Diamond!)

We will see you Monday at The YUM!

WALZ TALKS POSTGAME LOYOLA-CHICAGO

-jennyo

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EDITOR'S NOTES:

- Yes, it was a very nice win for the Cards but free throw shooting absolutely died in the second half. 18-34 free throw shooting is 52.9%. Unacceptable.

- Cheryl Swoopes was gracious in defeat in the post game media interviews. She loves the YUM!, thinks Emmonnie Henderson "is a beast" (in a good way) and marvelled at actually getting to see Shoni Schimmel play in person.

- #25 Taylor Johnson might grab MVC Player of the Year honors for Loyola-Chicago. What's up with the shorts tucked and gathered in, though? Sonja mentioned to me that it looked like she was wearing Depends. Someone get that young gal a tailor...

- Leave it to Bob Domine for tonight's game quote. He was asking about Emmonnie Henderson's size and strength. I mentioned she had won the Illinois State High School shot put four years in a row. He says: "She could probably throw both of us across the court."

- Unsung hero tonight? Jude Schimmel. 21 minutes with 3-4 from beyond the arc, three assists, and 11 points. Only Shoni had more playing time in the game.

- 29 offense rebounds is a dubious stat. Louisville missed over a dozen inside shots that puffed up that stat. Six of them from Henderson and Dyer each.

Full stats and play-by-play below:

http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2013-2014/game01.html

-paulie

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6 comments:

  1. Hate to be that guy but our lack of size will hurt us against the big times again this season. The two F for Loyola blocked and altered a lot of shots. We can't be missing 16 FT either. I bet Walz has lost at least 20+ games on missed FT alone during his time here. Hope to see improvement as the season progresses.. The effort on the glass was amazing, though.

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  2. 11 blocked shots for Loyola-Chicago. Their forwards...Crosby and Hambric had 10 of them. Pretty sure Coach will be showing those vid clips over and over again. It's early, though...plenty of time to learn and improve.

    Paulie

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  3. Our lack of height against other strong programs will be a challenge, but our game will continue to be inside out this year so our shooting and passing should rule the day. In any case we are much much stronger underneath than last year. Missing layups and free throws is something that will improve. I thought we looked good.

    It's Walz's job to create a sense of urgency even after winning by almost 50 which I think he did in the presser. If we would have continued the full court press in the second half we would have scored 150. Focusing on half court defense in second half was a great coaching move and helped Walz point out developmental opportunities in spite of the mismatch.

    Shoni / Jude / Tia combo looked really really good. Bria still needs an outside game. Henderson will be a force for years to come. I love her no BS attitude. She just needs to live within the new rules.

    A great start to the season! First time I've done the CARDS TV thing. Worked great. Felt like I was there in person with you folks while I was sitting her in AZ staring at my MAC and watching LSU / Alabama FB on TV at the same time. Very cool and a bargain at 10 bucks.

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    Replies
    1. CARDS TV is fantastic. Helps me stay up and in touch here in Naples.

      I think the Cards WBB basically let off the gas after the half. Welcome back Tia Gibbs!

      the real Joe Hill

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  4. I've been considering CARDS TV for quite a while now. It gives me a chance to watch the ladies on the road anyways. I will admit that I have gotten along fine with the radio. Do the games come in HD and are replays available?

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    Replies
    1. I'm no expert having only done it once, but as I understand it the broadcasts are only available for home contests. The quality came and went a bit. I've got a 27 inch monitor and it didn't look great that big. Smaller was pretty good. Does not look like HD to me. Contests are replayable although when I tried to look at the game against PIkeville I only got about 3/4 of the broadcast. Enjoyed getting the postgame Walz discussions although I think you can get some of those for free.

      Delete

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