THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- For Sara Hammond...hard work and transition an everyday situation.
- BIG EAST releases WBB Conference schedule today. See Louisville's full schedule HERE.
(WE continue our look at the 2012-13 Louisville WBB roster and today we feature sophomore forward Sara Hammond)
For Sara Hammond, it was a whirlwind of events in 2011 that eventually led to Louisville. Winning the state high school championship in Kentucky. Having a spot on the Parade All-American team. Playing in the McDonald's All-American Classic. The credentials that proceeded her arrival to the Belknap Campus were some of the most heralded in Cardinal women's basketball history. Then, reality sat it.
She speaks of this team in glowing terms.
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| (Photo by Charlie Springer - Card Game) |
The mission? The Final Four.
SARA BY THE NUMBERS
2011-12
Games played Started Avg. Minutes Rebs Pts Avg.
32 6 12.8 117 107 3.3
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The BIG EAST released the women's basketball conference schedule today at noon...here's UofL's part of it:
Date Opponent Time TV
Sat. 1/5 at DePaul ---- BETV
Tues. 1/8 Rutgers 7 p.m. CBS SN
Sat. 1/12 at Providence 2 p.m. ----
Tues. 1/15 at Connecticut 9 p.m. CBS SN
Fri. 1/18 Cincinnati 7 p.m. ----
Tues.1/22 at Marquette 9 p.m. CBS SN
Sun. 1/27 St. John 1:30 p.m. ESPNU
Wed. 1/30 at South Florida ---- ----
Sat. 2/2 Georgetown 2 p.m. ----
Sat. 2/9 Pittsburgh 2 p.m. ----
Mon. 2/11 at Notre Dame 9 p.m. ESPN2
Sun. 2/17 DePaul 1:30 p.m. ESPNU
Wed. 2/20 South Florida 7 p.m. ----
Sun. 2/24 at Villanova ---- ----
Wed. 2/27 Seton Hall 7 p.m. ----
Mon. 3/4 at Syracuse 9 p.m. CBS SN
Looks like the Cards WBB squad has eight national TV appearances...five on the road and three in the KFC YUM! Center. 16 total games...four on Saturday, three on Tuesday, Sunday, Wednesday, two on Monday and one on Friday.
The home schedule features four games on either Saturday or Sunday, two on Wednesday and one each on Friday and Tuesday.
We also have the complete UofL Schedule below:
31 games in all for the University of Louisville women's basketball team. For the third straight year in a row, all the UofL home games will be televised either locally or on the CBS or ESPN networks.
A schedule that looks like it could give the Lady Cards some challenges early, especially with Texas A&M, Kentucky and three games in three days in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.
Your thoughts, your comments? Leave us your take in the comments section or e-mail us at:
cardinalcouple@insightbb.com
Cardinal Couple (e-mail link)
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As some of you already know, I'm a big Sara Hammond fan. Some of her best efforts last year came against the toughest competition - most notably UConn. I look for more of that this season and an overall big year from her.
ReplyDeleteHammond will be effective for the Cards in combination with Monique Reid in the lineup. High post. Teams will expect the dump down to Reid underneath and double team her, which will lead to a wide open Hammond in the high post. If she can successfully nail that free throw line area jumper, she could have a very nice season.
ReplyDeleteBook
Sara was just getting her sea legs near the end of last season. I predict she is going to have a monster year!! I follow most of the girls on twitter and Sara was tweeting about being in the gym, working out all off season. I mean 2-4 times a day, hours at a time, the amount of work she was putting in sounded incredible. Coach Sam is also tweeting about how good Sara looks and the work this summer is evident.
ReplyDeleteAs she admitted, the transition to college was hard for her. I am so proud of her for gutting it out last season. It has to be such a huge transition, the whole big fish/little pond to little fish/big pond. Her hard work and work ethic will pay dividends for not only her, but for the team as a whole. Sara is one of the players I am most excited to see on the court this year!
I follow Sara on twitter, also, and like you, noticed how much time she spends in the gym. Can also tell she loves the game.
DeleteSchedule looks good. One of these years I'd like to see either ND or UConn game moved so that we play one of them here each year.
ReplyDeleteHope we've seen the last of games in the middle of the day on a workday...and this comes from a retiree.
The Louisville BIG EAST WBB home schedule looks good as far as weekday games...they're all being played in the evening. No extensive road trips...two in a row away from the KFC YUM! Center just once...at Providence and UConn in January. Cincinnati no longer a mirror opponent...with 15 teams in the WBB league, we have two now...USF and DePaul.
DeleteTough start to conference play...with DePaul, Rutgers and UConn three of the first four games and all three will probably be top 25 teams when those games roll around. Three out of the first four on the road, too...
Paulie
The good thing about the DePaul and Rutgers games this year is they have no one who can guard Mo or Bria. Unfortunately, UCONN will probably beat us by 20+ easily but we usually always hang with them until half.
DeleteI Can't help but think that attendance figures will rise without the weekday and week night games. Last year was a brutal schedule to be a fan.
DeleteSee you all soon either at the tip- off luncheon or the first game.
Sandy W
Full schedule is out...can't believe the Texas A&M games is not being televised nationally. Bummer! I thought Florida State would visit too this year, but I guess it was not a two game series deal.
ReplyDeletePosted as well.
DeletePaulie
Cardinal cupcakes early except for A&M and UK.
ReplyDeleteOur schedule has been brutal the last two years or so. It is good to see a few cupcakes and A LOT OF HOME GAMES. Not to mention we are hosting the first two rounds. I really hope this team can fight for at least a 3, 4, or 5 seed. We should have been a 4 or 5 last year but the NCAA screwed us and put us in College Park as a 7.
DeleteA&M is a very tough first game. We are going to have a hard time containing them inside. Which means we will let A&M basically shoot open 3's.
Are you saying Gonzaga is a cupcake?
Delete--PDX Phil
GOnzaga isn't a cupcake but they have lost a lot the last two season. Lady Cards should have a battle on hteir hands if they meet them but should pull it out. There's no Vandersloot, Standish, or Redmon on this ZAGS squad and we will have MO!!!!
DeleteAll of the games will be televised on WHAS? Not everyone can make it out to the home games every single week. I know WHAS had quite a few games on their optional channel last year. Is CBS sports network worth it? Lady Cards have quite a few road games there.
ReplyDeleteAll home games will be on the WHAS secondary channel (11.2..or Insight 432 an Comcast 207). Drew Deener with the call. As far as CBS Sports Network goes, value is in that they show a ton of women's college basketball throughout the year, so if you are a WBB fan, it's probably worth the extra $$$.
DeletePaulie
I, too, am a fan of Hammond and thought she was underutilized last year. She can play the 3 or the 4, which I think is very important, because against the best teams, Walz needs to go with big line ups to win.
ReplyDelete--PDX Phil
I agree. I just don't think you can compete against the top teams with a three-guard lineup.
DeleteI also agree. But if you guys have been paying attention to recruiting. It seems we are targeting a lot more posts/foward prospects. If we landed Harris, RUssell, and Henderson in the 2013 class....BRUTAL FRONT-LINE with what we already have. We still need a PG in 2013 tho...Fingers crossed for Chong!
DeleteI hope Vails has put in some time and added some muscle. She is a very skilled offensive player inside the paint but get pushed around by bigger posts. That and she seems to tire rather easily. She is probably our only post who can create her own jump shot.
ReplyDeleteOur first play of the A&M game should be a dump off to Vails in the paint for a turnaround J or hook.
I agree with your comments about Vails. The dump off to Vails in the paint was the first play of the second half against Maryland, and she scored over Hawkins, who is very good interior defender. Unfortunately, the play was never attempted again.
DeleteAs to the other comment about the interior players in the potential 2013 recruiting class, yes it would be great to get those players, given that Reid and Taylor are both seniors, but I don't think that lack of depth with interior players has been an issue the last two years, nor do I think it will be an issue this coming season. It really comes down to a coaching decision as to whether to go big at 3 (Hammond; Taylor; Slaughter, at least while Taylor is out) or small (Gibbs; Smith; Shoni).
Who plays the 3 and whether Shoni moves at all from point to 2 in close games are the two critical personnel decisions Walz faces.
--PDX Phil
If I'm coaching, Shoni never leaves the point in close games.
DeleteHuge Sara fan. Think it will be hard to keep her out of the lineup this year. Think there will be some epic practice battles between her and Mo, unless Walz uses her at the three and Mo at the four on the court together.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Shoni and the point guard position, of course, she should be in at crunch, but playing 40 minutes a game is just tooooooo much. To me, I am perfectly satisfied with either Shelby or Jude playing 2-4 minute stretches in relief. And Walz has stated that freshman Megan Dienes will play point some. Remains to be seen how much she will contribute this year.
Can't see how Walz can go any other way than a starting lineup of Shioni, Bria, Tia, Mo and Vails. With the depth, though...entirely possible that no one sees more than 30+ minutes than Shoni.
DeleteI'll watch closely in the pre-Big East games to see what combinations he uses and which are most effective. Wish Shawnta Dyer was 6'5".
Keith
What Dyer lacks in size she makes up for in heart and effort. Vails may start, but unless he has put some muscle on, I see Dyer off the bench quickly. Can't go wrong with a trio of Hammond, Dyer and Reid. Pepper in some Walton and Vails and we are deep, strong and can keep kids rested.
ReplyDelete