bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-01-20 09:15 PM - Post#298309
In response to welcometothejungle
Weekend - mission complete - double digit wins on the road. Would have been nice to win by 20 pts plus. With some good fortune, will Tigers sneak back to top 25. Tigers are winning comfortably due to D but offense needs to improve when they get to Tournament
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-04-20 07:36 PM - Post#298566
In response to bradley
Rankings:
AP - 26
Coaches -- 27
Mid Major -- 3
** RPI - 19
*** Projected RPI - 13
**** ESPN Bracketology -- 6 seed
Bella just named semi-finalist for Mid Major POY
Yale women are #36 RPI -- Yale men #56. Ivy women have three teams including Penn being top 60 teams with 6 teams under #160. Ivy women RPIs are significantly stronger than Ivy men.
Tiger women fortunately face two good teams at home this weekend and then face Yale on the road the following weekend. They must win all 3 games to get into the top 25. A few current top 25 teams have 4, 5 and one team with six losses but it is tough for the IL team to crack and remain in top 25.
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SecS3
Junior
Posts: 246
Age: 75
Reg: 03-17-16
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02-04-20 11:11 PM - Post#298574
In response to bradley
Women are also #1 in scoring defense this week giving up just 49.3 ppg.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-05-20 07:42 PM - Post#298662
In response to SecS3
Good point. The Tiger defense has been just crazy good allowing teams less than 50 points per game and it is not a function of running a slow offense as Princeton has the 10th highest scoring margin differential at 20.1 points per game while having a competitive strength of schedule, 105th in the country.
Other than giving up 76 points on the road to Seton Hall without Bella and 77 points in an OT loss at Iowa, no team has scored more than 55 points against the Tigers even with subs play a fair number of minutes in blow out games.
During the most recent interview with Carla, Price asked her what tricks/magic does she have up her sleeve. One item is that she has every player position themselves with their hands up in order to defend a quick shot or reduce a passing lane. Obviously, Geno had a major effect on her philosophy based on her playing days at UConn. At the end of the day, she states that so much is mental and desire. Ivies have 3 of the top 25 defensive teams in the country including Penn and Harvard.
Last night, it was interesting to hear Mitch talk about defense before offense and utilizing the inside out game.
The one major concern regarding the Tiger women is that they do not have great 3 pt shooters. It may come back to bite them against strong competition.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-07-20 09:38 AM - Post#298769
In response to bradley
Cornell currently has a 139 rpi ranking with a year-end projection of 125. Their best two players are 6' and 5'11 inches - seniors.
The line seems very high at 25.5 although it is a home game for the Tigers. They have played well on the road against ranked teams, West Virginia and TCU and they had Yale down last week at home. They are a competitive team with a 9-7 record with a SOS of 130.
Tomorrow's game against Columbia should be reasonably competitive as well although Cornell may match up better against the Tigers.
Hopefully, the Tigers take nothing for granted at home this week.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-07-20 07:56 PM - Post#298890
In response to bradley
20-8 1st qtr - 31-11 at halftime. Offense was uneven at best but defense was once again outstanding -- 14 turnovers by Cornell primarily due to Tiger's defense. Cornell did not even contest the opening tap.
Bauer 10/5 - Bella 8/6. Worst half of the year by Cunningham - 0 pts and 3 turnovers. No points by Littlefield (I have a feeling that Carlie is dealing with an injury over the past several weeks and they will need her offense in the tournament.
Yale gets knocked off by Harvard which gives the Tigers breathing room for what is important -- IL regular season title.
Offense does need to get in sync. There are some issues that need to be resolved if the Tigers have a chance to make a run.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-07-20 10:04 PM - Post#298928
In response to bradley
60-29 final and somehow they covered the spread with their second poorest offensive performance of the year including 22 turnovers. You could tell that Carla was not a happy camper regarding the offense but the defense was truly outstanding. Cornell had the highest FG percentage in the IL at 45% going into the game and they shot 7 of 45 (15%) including 3 of 27 in the first half.
Tigers are playing at a historic level on the defensive end. Literally, every pass and shot was contested this evening. Having a 6'5" and 6'2" frontcourt certainly does not hurt at the women's collegiate level. Shooting percentages against air tight defenses are going to suffer although there can always be an exception.
Cornell tried to rough up the Tigers in the 4th qtr and other teams may also try this tactic.
Carla does need to strengthen the offense and the Tigers may come out ferocious tomorrow and she probably gave them an earful in the dressing room.
If the offense improves, they will be dangerous.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-08-20 10:11 AM - Post#298958
In response to bradley
27 1/2 pt spread today and it is a tempting line due to Columbia's OT loss to Penn last night in a heart breaking loss plus Carla's displeasure as to how the Tigers played last night. They did not protect the ball and did not handle the press well.
Tigers need quadrant #1 wins -- both Yale and Penn are projected to be top #54 rpi teams so best scenario is that these teams keep winning other than when they play the Tigers. Irony may be that Harvard has beaten them both and may be the second best team in the league. Nolan projects 6 IL teams with rpis' below 160 at season end with 2 remaining teams below 230. League is very strong and yet Tigers have dominated so far.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-08-20 06:56 PM - Post#299070
In response to bradley
No great surprise but offense woke up in the 1st half, 39-19. Bella has 16 pts, Carlie and Myers 8 pts each. Even with the spread, this game was appealing.
I like the moxie of Columbia after playing a OT game last night. The Lions are an up and coming team but probably over matched.
Fast pace game unlike last night's game when Cornell tried to play slow to stay in the game but obviously did not work.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-08-20 11:47 PM - Post#299149
In response to bradley
Took the foot off the pedal in the 4th qtr giving up 19 pts and being outscored by 6 but still a 22 pt win, 77-55. Bella had 24 and Carlie 18. Bella is shooting 50% on 3 pt shots for the season and today she was 3 for 6 on 3 pointers with 4 assists and 3 blocks -- multi skilled.
The string of double digit wins continue on with games being blow outs with 10 to 20 minutes left in the game. It is rare indeed that you watch game after game as blow outs against reasonably good competition -- go figure.
Possibility that the Tigers will be back in the top 25 this week.
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welcometothejungle
Masters Student
Posts: 788
Age: 27
Reg: 07-31-19
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02-10-20 03:21 PM - Post#299429
In response to bradley
Tigers end up just 1 point out of the AP Poll this week, with 46 points to #25 Tennessee's 47
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bradley
PhD Student
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Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-11-20 06:22 PM - Post#299591
In response to welcometothejungle
Princeton received a #25 ranking in the Coaches Poll and they are close to several teams ranked just ahead of them. ESPN still has them a #6 seed in its latest bracketology rating.
The Tigers have a tough road game at Yale, #41 rpi, this weekend. It will be a quadrant 1 game with a significant impact as to the seed that they will receive. Yale has one of the top two point guards (senior) in the league plus a center Bella's height that can compete, twin sister of injured Tiger C. Yale has a high powered offense but not a great defense so it will be interesting to see who controls the tempo.
Tiger's point per game defense, #1 in country of 48.5 pts is almost 2 points lower than 2nd place Baylor. Baylor has a SOS rating of #46 vs. Princeton #95 and obviously plays tougher competition. The Tigers have a year-end projected rpi of #15 which is helped by the IL women having the best 8th conference --- Ivy men are 17th. Conference games are not hurting Princeton this year which is somewhat different than prior years.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-13-20 07:27 PM - Post#299837
In response to bradley
Even though Bella missed 4 games due to injury, she is eligible for the Women's POY award (30 players). She is the only finalist from a mid-major program.
Bella was also named as one of 10 finalists for Katrina McClain Award which is given to top PF in the country with 8 finalists coming from Power 5 conferences.
One can only hope that it might give the Tigers some additional credibility when they seed teams for the Tournament that the Tigers have a 6'4" probably 6'5" BIG that has talent although probably not.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-14-20 08:52 PM - Post#299990
In response to bradley
Tough start - picked it up with defense in the 2nd qtr - bad shooting in the 3rd qtr with only a 5 pt lead going into the 4th qtr but they still win by 16. Carlie had a big game and Tigers totally dominated the boards with 14 by Mitchell and 10 by Bella. Bella really had an off night shooting but she still contributes with her versatility.
HUGE WIN and if somehow, they run the table, they will be a 5 or 6 seed. Still have Yale, Penn, Harvard at home with games on the road with Columbia and Cornell.
The Tiger's defense and rebounding defies the concept that randomness in 2 or 3 pt shooting is a factor when you play shutdown defense. If the Tigers are simply this lucky that teams shoot this low of a percentage game in and game out, Carla should go to Atlantic City and cash in.
Should be a top 25 team come Monday with a convincing quad 1 win.
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Tiger69
Postdoc
Posts: 2814
Reg: 11-23-04
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02-14-20 09:39 PM - Post#300014
In response to bradley
Still have Brown tomorrow.
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whitakk
Masters Student
Posts: 523
Age: 32
Reg: 11-11-14
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02-14-20 11:18 PM - Post#300044
In response to Tiger69
Absurd to complain about anything with this team, but the offense really limits their ceiling. Great offense generally beats great defense so they can't count on holding anyone under 50 in March -- need to score.
As long as they don't get screwed by the selection committee they should be seeded well enough to win a first-round game regardless, but won't get to the second weekend unless more shots fall.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-14-20 11:27 PM - Post#300045
In response to Tiger69
Still have Brown tomorrow.
You are absolutely correct. Brown played a very competitive game against Penn and Princeton had to expend a of effort tonight.
Looked at the replay and the effort by the Tigers and Yale was tremendous and it resulted in a sloppy game at times. Tigers missed several wide shots and are down 12-0 on the road after 6 1/2 minutes but they allow only 27 pts over the rest of the game against a high scoring offense with a very good point guard and center.
Littlefield said that Berube told everyone to take a deep breadth at half time as the Tigers may have been too hyped up. Littlefield was simply brilliant and confirmed that she is a 1st team IL PG. Tigers missed so many open shots. It had the potential for an upset loss if defense and rebounding were not so dominant.
There is such a difference between the shutdown defense played CONSISTENLY by the women vs. the Tiger men. Women's game does not have a lot of great one on one play so if you can play great team defense, you can shutdown the other team.
With the win, Nolan has Tigers with a #16 rpi and a #11 rpi by season's end.
It is always enjoyable to watch a great team. They still need to get better offensively to beat a 4 or 3 seed in NCAAW Tournament in order to get to the Sweet 16 but it is indeed possible.
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-15-20 11:29 PM - Post#300305
In response to bradley
Domination 18 minutes into the game with a 44-7 lead with only 3 pointer by Brown being banked in.
Thank goodness that Brown played better the rest of the way with the Tigers also take their foot off the defensive pressure.
Pete Carril had a motto going into a weekend of holding both teams to less than 100 points. Berube's club for back to back weekends have held opposition to a combined 84 and 85 points. Kinda crazy.
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welcometothejungle
Masters Student
Posts: 788
Age: 27
Reg: 07-31-19
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02-19-20 08:25 PM - Post#300763
In response to bradley
Tigers check in at #23 in the coaches' poll and #25 in the AP poll this week
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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02-20-20 12:05 AM - Post#300782
In response to welcometothejungle
On Carla's radio show, they asked her what did she think after being down to Yale 0-12 on the road. Her reply was basically "I tried to get the players to clamp down on the defensive end and simply relax when shooting". Her theory was to keep Yale under 40 points and that would require the Tigers to score only 41 points in 3 plus quarters. She certainly stays consistent with her message. At the end of the day, it may turn out to be a good thing that the Tigers faced a tough situation like the Yale game to put in their memory banks for future use.
Tigers have 5 games in 8 days at home with 3 of them against the top teams Harvard, Penn and Yale.
Point spread against these 3 teams -- 22, 13 and 18 points. The only way to stay in the top 25 is to win every game from this point on. Fortunately, out of the remaining 7 games 4 of the games will be quadrant 1 or 2 games which helps to get a 6 seed if they win them all.
Watched a game between UCLA, probable 2 seed and Oregon State probable 4 seed and it was impressive as to their ability to move the ball and get open shots. It will be very challenging to beat a 3 seed in round 2 if the Tigers draw a 6 seed but possible. They will have to play at a very high level and shoot better than what they have done in many recent games.
They still have a long way to go.
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