Bears hunting Deines? -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

DEINES FUTURE UNCERTAIN AS WE ROLL INTO JUNE

The transfer process. It can be a tricky thing. When Megan Deines' name popped up as a transfer possibility/probability/seen on (fill in your choice campus) with (fill in your name choice)...the general consensus was this:

If she wants a year of significant playing time somewhere, then a transfer would be a logical choice. A mid-major seemed logical as well. 

We've heard Kansas State and Nebraska mentioned as possibilities. A buddy who knows very little about her or the program speculated that she might stay close to the Louisville area and go to Bellarmine or NKU. Maybe even WKU. We're not buying that hypothesis...even with your money. 

Deines has had an interesting career at UofL in three years. She started 15 games in 2012-13. Averaged 4.9 points on a team that went to the NCAA final game and a team that beat Baylor. She also hit 20 of 65 threes that year. She 2013-14 campaign dropped off..just 1 start in 33 games. 3.2 ppg average and was 5 for 23 from beyond the arc. Last season? She played in 24 games, no starts. She missed nine straight with an ankle injury. 

She is a Missouri girl, however (Glendale)...and the speculation arose that she might be interested (or vice versa) in a Missouri school. Here's an interesting piece from a Missouri State blogger that speculates on the possibilities of Deines and Missouri State:   

I've been asked numerous times if I thought that Kellie Harper and Missouri State would look to go the transfer route, specifically with high-profile area products such as Megan Deines (Glendale-Louisville), Michaela and Moriah Dapprich (Branson-Wichita State), and Kyndal Clark (Webb City-Drake) all announcing their decision to leave their current institutions within the last two weeks.

In short, the answer is no.

If we entertain the idea, assuming there is mutual interest from both sides and roster spots available, there wouldn't be a possibility of the Dapprichs or Clark coming to Springfield, as it is virtually impossible to transfer within the conference.

While the idea of an Ozarks return is nice and while we can certainly agree that the previous regime dropped the ball by not offering any of the three players, the chances of seeing them in maroon and white are about as likely as it is for me to stop binge eating Insomnia Cookies and Andy's.

Deines is  a different conversation.

Assuming that Missouri State and Louisville don't continue the current trend of playing every other year as they have in 2011-12 and 2013-14, Deines would likely be a viable option.

After sitting out a year, Deines would slide nicely in the spot vacated by Kenzie Williams, forming what could be the Valley's most dynamic backcourt in two years with Liza Fruendt and Riley Rose.

But, is it really necessary?

So....for the time being...she stays on the UofL roster until she heads elsewhere or decides maybe being a reserve on a top ten WBB team may not be such a bad gig after all.

paulie
xxxxx

Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Cards win one for Nita...91-49 over Missouri State

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

*******NITA SLAUGHTER UPDATE********

This from the UofL SID staff on #4:

Antonita Slaughter is still in the hospital undergoing tests today and tomorrow
to determine what caused last night's episode.  She is alert, in good spirits
and surrounded by her family. We hope to have testing completed by early
Thursday.  Once we have results and a diagnosis, we will be holding a press
conference to update everyone on Nita's condition.  At this time we ask that you
respect the family's privacy.

We'll discuss more on our favorite wing in the Thursday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE...which we may start calling "Slaughter COUPLE" until our pal is back on the court and draining treys.

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-Nita Slaughter rushed to hospital during game

It's the kind of thing one hopes to never see at an athletic contest. A player on the floor, surrounded by medial staff and EMS techs. Loaded onto a cart and hastened off the court...motionless and eyes closed. Players standing around in shocked disbelief and worry.

Shortly after coming out of the game Tuesday night at the 17:44 mark, Nita Slaughter grabbed a seat on the Cardinal bench and then went into seizure mode. Quick thinking medical and arena staff personnel went into action, laid her on the floor of Denny Crum Court and had her on the way to the hospital via ambulance.

The reports finally came in. Slaughter was responsive and answering doctor's questions at the hospital.

She is OK.

UofL sent this e-mail out at 8:15 about her to members of the media:

She was taken to Jewish Hospital and is awake and answering questions from the doctors. We will not know the official cause of her episode until all the tests are run. Head Coach Jeff Walz will be available following the game     It was, of course...the topic of discussion at halftime and on press row during the rest of the game. No one knew of any prior events events that Slaughter had had with similar issues. It was offered  maybe she was dehydrated and her electolyte level had dropped significantly. Trying to ease the tension...a jib about turkey poisoning from Thanksgiving leftovers made the rounds. I even heard one tale that she couldn't believe Shawnta Dyer converted a free throw and passed out in disbelief.   We can be a sick bunch on media row at times.

Hospital physicians and staff are evaluating and diagnosing why the senior forward suddenly started convulsing and seizing up and she'll spend the night in the hospital under observation

She had been pulled from the game early on by Coach Walz...along with Asia Taylor and Sara Hammond so he could question them on a designed play that backfired...with the Cards holding a 6-2 lead. Slaughter had scored the first goal of the game just 19 seconds into the contest.

Coach Walz gathered the players after the incident by the free throw line and discussed the matter. He told them that she was in good hands and that if Nita was there...she'd want them to play hard and well.

And, they did for Nita.

Louisville raced out to a 15-4 lead when Shoni drained her second three-pointer in a row with 14:22 on the clock. Her third three of the game made it 22-8 Cards and a Emmonnie Henderson jumper pushed the Cards to a 16-point advantage with 12:35 remaining in the first half. 

Two free throws from Tia Gibbs made it 30-11 Louisville...part of a 13-2 run over a four minute span that put Louisville comfortably ahead 37-13 with 7:36 to go. 

The shots kept falling for the Cards, who shot a blistering 61.1% in the first twenty minutes. A Shawnta Dyer jumper in the paint gave Louisville their largest lead of the half...47-19...at the 3:47 mark. the Cards would go on to lead 55-30 when the half ended. Shoni led all scorers with 11 first half points and Bria Smith contributed 10 on 5 for 6 shooting. 

The final half was a bit slower offensively but the Cards defense tighten up markedly over the final 20.  Missouri State would not score in the first 4:38 of action...and when Kenzie Williams hit a layup for the Bears...it made the score 61-31 Cards.

Louisville steadily increased the lead. Shoni's final three dictated a 67-41 margin at the 12:17 clock reading and Cortnee Walton scored a layup to increase the margin to 75-44 with 8:26 remaining. It was part of a 12-3 Louisville run over the next five minutes that culminated when Monny Niamke bounced home a layup to set the score at 87-47 and 3:12 to play.

Megan Deines jumper made the final 91-49 and the Cards had done what they set out to do...play hard and win one for their teammate.

The post-game presser with the players and Coach Walz was centered around the Slaughter incident and Walz was headed to the hospital to meet with the doctors and Nita's family after his media appearance. Shoni and Bria indicated they wanted to go also when asked in the presser.

A nice win under scary circumstances early on. Louisville solved the turnover bug with only 12 against the MVC foe. Louisville turned up the defensive effort in the second half...going to a zone and extending the defense in the Bears passing lanes. The Cards shot an acceptable 56.5% for the contest and created 24 MSU turnovers. Louisville also had 24 assists on 35 made baskets...a stat that Walz praised. Free throw shooting still can't quite get to the 70% mark,..the Cards going 14-23 for 60.9%. Shawnta Dyer's 2-6 and Cortnee Walton's 0-2 stats from the charity stripe lessened and otherwise decent effort for the Cards at the foul line.


THE FINAL WORD

Thoughts turned to Nita as we watched first half action...we relied on asst. women's basketball SID Kim Pemberton's updates and all breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced during halftime to us that Nita was alert and responsive.

As Shoni mentioned in her post-game remarks...this team is family and they were just as worried as Slaughter's family about the prognosis and event. We, as media, also have had great post-game interviews with the perpetually smiling wing and our concern was genuine and heartfelt.

As Jody Demlng mentioned to me as second half action began...it may have been one of the best early game substitutions in Walz's coaching history...even if it was purely coincidental. Imagine Nita running down the court, leaping in the air or battling for a rebound and the event occurring. She was sitting when the seizure struck and that may have been a blessing because her chances of hurting herself were greatly reduced.

We wish her a positive diagnosis and speedy return to the court.

LINKS:

FINAL STATS


POST-GAME WALZ WITH MEDIA



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In other news, Jeff Walz debuts his call-in radio show tonight at 6 p.m. on ESPN Radio 680 AM in the Louisville area. Matt Andrews will co-host with the Coach.

Let's hope they review the seven words you can't say on the radio with Coach prior to broadcast.

Here's the Louisvillle SID release:

LOUISVILLE, KY. -HEAD COACH JEFF WALZ WILL BEGIN HIS WEEKLY RADIO SHOW ON ESPhereN 680 THIS WEEK. THE FIRST HOUR LONG SHOW WILL AIR ON WEDNESDAY, DEC 4 AT 6:00 P.M. THE CARDS PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER, MATT ANDREWS WILL HOST THE SHOW.

THE SHOW WILL RECAP THE PREVIOUS WEEK AND PREVIEW THE UPCOMING SLATE.  FANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL AND ASK THE COACH QUESTIONS AT (502) 267-9680.

THE JEFF WALZ SHOW CAN BE HEARD LOCALLY ON ESPN 680 AM, STREAMING ON-LINE AT ESPNLOUISVILLE.COM OR VIA THE TUNE IN APP FOUND IN THE APP STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE.

THE DECEMBER EDITIONS OF THE JEFF WALZ SHOW WILL BE THE 4TH, 11TH, 18TH, AND 30TH ALL FROM 6:00-7:00 P.M.

So there you have it, Walz defenders and detractors. Your chance to call in and ask him the questions you bomb our e-mail box with.  Maybe I'll use my Russian accent and call in to ask him if he would like Memorial Coliseum marked for razing. Or have the Cardinal Dames from our radio show give him a ring and invite him out for pastries, shots of bourbon and one-on-one hoops out on the driveway of their mansion in Goshen.

Let's hope he doesn't get a call from Don Paulie...

paulie

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Bears wait for Cards...Veterans day

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Missouri State 3-0 in exhibition games...awaits Louisville

-Just say "Thank you."

The Louisville women's basketball team will open their 2011-12 regular season in Springfield, MO. against the Missouri State Bears. These Bears haven't been hibernating, either...going 3-0 so far in their exhibition schedule and facing LA. Tech tonight.

Casey Garrison is a deadly long range shooter for the Bears

The Bears started their exhibition schedule with a 88-56 romping of Harding. Jaleshia Roberson and Casey Garrison had 23 points each for Missouri State and Christiana Shorter logged a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Next up was N.E. Oklahoma State and the Bears turned up the defensive intensity in this one...winning 71-39. Garrison led the way with 21 points and Shorter contributed 10. The Missouri State squad won their third exhibition against Missouri Southern, on the road, 91-58. Garrison was the leader again with 22 points and Whitney Edie added 18.

Missouri State travels to play Louisiana Tech Friday night and then will host the #7 Louisville Cardinals on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears are a veteran, guard oriented squad. None of their starters are over 6'1" and Garrison (5'11" senior guard) gets plenty of back court support from Roberson (5'8" senior guard) and Edie (6'1" junior guard/forward). Shorter is the muscle in the paint (6'1" junior forward).

Missouri State plays in the Missouri Valley Conference and went 24-11 last year. They lost to Northern Iowa by 28 points in the third round of the MVC Conference Tournament. They accepted a bid to play in the WNIT postseason tournament...where they bowed out to Arkansas 65-64 in the second round.

The Cards recently got a letter of intent from Megan Deines, who plays her high school ball in Springfield. The Bears play their home games in JQH Arena. The Louisville game is set for 3:05 p.m.

(We like the obvious height advantage that Louisville has here and if the Cards can get the ball early to Cierra Warren like they did against Lindsey Wilson...they should be in good shape. Missouri State has proven they can put big time points on the board with 88 and 91 totals and also play defense by limiting N.E. Okla State to 39. Expect Walz to use heavy rotation and substitution against the Bears and try to force the defense and wear them out. Louisville wins here...but maybe not by the biggest of margins.)

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My neighbor and boyhood pal Herbie wasn't the brightest or most popular kid you would ever meet. He was almost painfully slow at times in decision making and motivation...but was likable and had a big grin that lit up a room. He graduated from high school several years before me and with no prospects of college in the future and a low draft lottery number...it wasn't long until "Uncle Sam" summoned him and he was inducted into the Army.

WE didn't hear much about him from his family...they were a tight-knit and closed mouth bunch for the most part...but bits and pieces revealed that he had a rough basic training, broke his arm falling out of a transport and was designated for the infantry after completing basic training.

That meant one thing. Vietnam.

He came home briefly before being deployed. The skinny kid with a bushy Afro had turned into a buzz cut, solid as a rock soldier. He and I, with a few other neighborhood guys in our "gang" spent a night drinking beer purchased with a fake ID at the old ball fields and listening to his stories of basic training. It was the last time we saw him alive.

Herbie died in heavy combat action in 1972 outside the city of Hue. It was a closed casket funeral.

To Herbie, and all who have served our country, a simple comment:

Thank You.

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tohonoransservearenotjustwordstheyarethewordsthatdriveourtroopsthatdefendournationandthefreedomsweenjoy.