Beat Up Bears

I know several of you are wondering about the status of a few of your favorite Golden Bear basketball players, so here is the scoop on a few of them…

Men’s Basketball:

Jeremy Coombs: Coombs has averaged 8 less minutes a game and his production has been down across the board this season as opposed to a year ago. According to Coach Bernie Driscoll, this can be traced to a lingering severe ankle sprain suffered earlier this season. “He is getting better each week and should be ready to go full speed soon,” said Driscoll via email on Tuesday.

Mike Connolly: Connolly is done for the year after suffering a torn meniscus. He had surgery on Monday, which accounts for his third knee surgery in the past two years.

Nate Edwards: As reported prior to the start of the season, Edwards received an injury redshirt for the 2008-09 season and will return to the court for his third year of eligibility next season.

Women’s Basketball:
(Note: I’m still waiting to hear back from Coach Malouf with an update on the status of the injured players. I’ll update this as soon as I have new information)

Vivian Melvin: Has been out with an injured finger since the season opener, but should be back by the end of this month.

Lara Dellegrotti: Has been out with an injured wrist since the team’s third game on November 22, but isn’t expected to be out much longer.

Vanina Bonanno: The freshman has yet to play this season due to suspension. She is expected to make her debut in 2009.

Linzie Stahl: Stahl is transferring from KU and will not play for the Golden Bears.

Cecily Scavicchio: She is also transferring from KU and will not play for the Golden Bears.

A Starr in the making?

With the women’s basketball team off to an impressive 6-0 start this season, it’s about that time where we will begin debating whether or not this team is for real or not. One way to do that is to review the improvement of some of the team’s key players.

Melissa McQuade, Lara Dellegrotti, and Rachel Wisemiller have received most of the spotlight for the early success, and while it is certainly warranted, the success of those three should not be much of a surprise. All three players were outstanding a year ago and are continuing that trend here in the early portion of 2008-09.

One player who doesn’t jump out in the scoring column of the boxscore, but who deserves a lot of credit for both her improvement this season and for the team’s strong start is sophomore guard Meredith Starr.

After hitting a game-winning three pointer off the bench in her first collegiate game, Starr was thrown into the starter’s role just two games later and suffered through some growing pains throughout the year.

This year, Starr entered her sophomore season as a starter in the backcourt and has quietly been sensational. She’s shown improvement in almost every single statistical category, which begs the question, is she for real or is this simply a product of the team’s relatively easy early season schedule? We won’t know for sure until PSAC games start in a few weeks, but it’s never too early to check out her progress. I’m usually a stickler for sample size, but I compared Starr’s numbers from last season to her numbers so far in six games this year.

Shooting Percentage:
Starr has been shooting the ball better this season, improving her overall field goal percentage from 29% to 34%. That is not a mind-blowing improvement, but it is easy to trace. Last season, 56% of her shots were from beyond the three point arc. This season, only 43% of her shots have come from long range. So, despite the fact that she has seen her three-point percentage drop one point to 27% this year, she has still improved her overall shooting percentage simply by improving her shooting percentage on 2 point field goals from 30% to 40%.

I already mentioned she is taking less three pointers per game, but another statistic that jumped out at me was the fact that she is actually taking slightly less total shots per minute of action, which is not a bad thing, as it opens up the opportunity for her to improve in other categories, which is a good segue (I’d swear that word was spelled ‘segway’ until today) to…

Assists:
This is where Starr has really stood out this season. She has more assists per minute this season (.201) than all but one Golden Bear (J. Needham 94-95) has managed since 1992. After notching 69 dimes in 685 minutes of 27 games as a freshman, she already has 40 assists this season in 199 minutes of 6 games. At this pace, she will put up 180 helpers this season, which would absolutely shatter Megan Bainbridge’s KU single-season record of 148. As of December 11, Starr leads the entire PSAC in assists and assists per game. Having committed only 11 turnovers this year (1.8 per game), she is also first in assist/turnover ratio.

Points:
Let’s be honest, Starr’s number one priority is not scoring. Her job is to run the point and set up her outstanding shooters with easy scoring opportunities. We know she’s done that well, but how well is she doing when she actually does have to shoot? Well, we already mentioned she is shooting more efficiently and taking fewer shots. That has translated into an increase in points per game from 4.1 to 5.7 and an increase in points per minute from .162 to .171. So, there is not much change here, but the improvement is worth noting.

Rebounding:
Am I really going to discuss a point guard’s rebounding statistics? Yes, I am. Starr already has already hauled in 31 rebounds this year, which is exactly half of her total for 2007-08. She is averaging 5.2 total rebounds per game (.156 per minute) compared to 2.3 RPG last year (.091 per minute). Her offensive rebounds are actually slightly down, which means many of her boards are coming on the defensive glass. Again, rebounding isn’t a priority for a point guard, but hey, 5 rebounds a game are 5 possessions a game.

Minutes:
In an article I wrote a few weeks ago about Head Coach Janet Malouf (Malouf ’08: Time for Change), I mentioned Malouf’s trend of giving her players a ton of minutes in their first year, just to see them drop considerably in their sophomore season. That has not been the case with Starr. After seeing 25.4 minutes per game last season, she has seen her floor time rise to a hefty 33.2 MPG. You are probably thinking “Holy Cow, that is a lot of minutes!” You’re right it is, but there is a good reason for it. The suspension of Vanina Bonanno and the injuries to Vivian Melvin and Lara Dellegrotti have left Starr and Wisemiller as the only healthy true 1-2 guards on the roster. Expect Starr’s minutes to drop under the 30 minute mark once Melvin and Dellegrotti return.

Other Notes:
Starr is also doing several of the little things better in her sophomore campaign. She is averaging one foul every 3 games this year after committing 1.6 fouls per game last season. Her free throw percentage is up from 67% to 75%. Finally, she is snatching 1.3 steals a game after averaging 0.7 last year.

In conclusion, is this enough evidence to anoint Meredith Starr as one of the PSAC’s best point guards? Probably not. Is it enough evidence to show that she has improved from last season and is a player who can effectively run the point for the Golden Bears over the next three years? Yes, it probably is. My only disclaimer here, is that KU has played what some would call “easy” opponents and Starr will need to prove herself once the PSAC games start in a few weeks. The moment she begins putting up 6 points, 5 boards, 8 assists, 1 foul, and 2 turnovers in 34 minutes against teams like West Chester, Millersville, and Shippensburg is the moment we can anoint her Saint Starr. I like the sound of that.

12/6: KU 90, PSU-Berks 49

David Ben paved the way to a win over PSU-Berks with 24 points.

Hollinger Game Score:

1. Ben 28.0 - Outplayed Dennis in this one: 9-of-16 for 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 9 (yes, 9) steals. Sheesh.
2. Dennis 20.5 - Just 5-of-14 for 15 points, but did his thing with 7 boards, 6 dimes, 4 steals, and 4 blocks. Not bad for a point guard.
3. Woodlin 8.9 - Not his best showing, but scored 11 and had 4 steals
4. White 6.9 - Hit 4 of his 6 shots for 8 points and hauled in 6 boards in just 14 minutes
5. Coffey 6.1 - Started over Woodlin and managed 6 points, 6 boards in 28 minutes
6. Gray 5.9 - 9 points and a pair of assists and steals in 23 minutes
7. Bower 3.7 - Only a field goal and a pair of free throws in 11 minutes from the starting center
8. Coombs 3.0 - Scored 3 points, grabbed a rebound, and committed a foul in 3 minutes
9. Washington 2.7 - 6 points, 7 rebounds in 18 minutes is about right, but 3 fouls and 4 turnovers is sloppy for a normally solid performer like Washington
10. Wenner 2.3 - Scored once, grabbed a rebound, and snagged a steal in 5 minutes
11. Ford-Bey 1.0 - 1-of-2 from the field during a relatively quiet 9 minutes of work
12. Vrabel 0.3 - Only one rebound in the boxscore in 5 minutes of work

Inactives:
Connolly - Injured - Out for season

Boxscore
YTD Hollinger Game Score

12/6: KU 74, PSU-Berks 38

Schroeder and the Golden Bears had a relatively easy go of it at Penn State-Berks on Saturday despite playing with just seven players.

Hollinger Game Score:

1. McQuade 19.5 - Another game, another double-double: 15 points, 13 boards to go with 4 each in the steals and assists department
2. Wisemiller 14.0 - Another solid shooting night: 16 points, 5 boards, 3 dimes, 3 steals
3. Starr 13.7 - Only 2-of-7 from the field for 4 points, but did her thing at the point with 9 assists and an impressive 6 steals. Also had an odd 7 rebounds.
4. LeVan 11.3 - Went for a team high 16 points (as did Wisemiller) in her first career start.
5. Schroeder 9.6 - Only hit a third of her shots, but 8 points and 6 rebounds is solid
6. Mertz 7.9 - 10 points in 20 minutes, but there is more to be desired in the rebounding department (3)
7. Greaves -1.5 - Far from her best effort: 2-of-11 for 5 points, 4 fouls, and a pair of turnovers

Inactives:
Dellegrotti - Injury (Wrist)
Dovey - Personal
Melvin - Injury (Finger)
Bonanno - Suspension (until 2009)

Boxscore
YTD Hollinger Game Score

Weekend Games

I'll be in Pittsburgh this weekend (at the Cowboys-Steelers game), so I will not be able to post my recaps (including the Game Scores) of the PSU-Berks games until Tuesday.

Update:

Women: Won 74-38
Boxscore

Men: Won 90-49
Boxscore

12/3: KU 97, Chestnut Hill 77

Stephen Dennis is shown here scoring his 1000th career point on Wednesday.

Hollinger Game Score:

1. Dennis 21.6 - Another superb day: 10-of-14 for 28 points, 5 boards, 4 dimes
2. Woodlin 14.4 - 6-of-8 for 19 points, 4 boards
3. Ben 12.3 - Just 3-of-8 from the field with 7 turnovers, but 8-of-11 from the charity stripe for 15 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds.
4. Washington 11.2 - Missed just 1 of his 6 shots for 12 points and 5 rebounds
5. Gray 9.9 - 4-of-7 for 12 points in 25 minutes off the bench
6. Bower 6.0 - Started and went for 6 points and 7 boards
7. Ford-Bey 2.7 - Hit his only shot in 1 minute of work
8. Coffey 2.3 - 3 boards and 2 assists in 10 minutes
9. Wenner 1.9 - Only played one minute, but hit a pair of free throws and grabbed a rebound
10. Vrabel -0.4 - Only a foul in a minute of work
11. White -0.7 - 2 points and 2 fouls in 10 minutes
12. Coombs -2.2 - Only played 5 minutes off the bench, contributing only 3 fouls and a turnover

Inactives:
Connolly

Boxscore
YTD Hollinger Game Score

12/3: KU 72, Columbia Union 37

Meredith Starr in action this season

Hollinger Game Score:

1. McQuade 16.3 - Another double-double: 17 points, 10 rebounds
2. Wisemiller 15.2 - 5-of-8 from long range, 17 points, 3 dimes, 7 boards
3. Dovey 9.7 - Stellar in her second straight start: 11 points, 6 boards, 2 assists
4. LeVan 8.1 - 10 points, 5 boards, 3 assists off the bench
5. Starr 8.0 - Just 1-of-5 from the floor, but made up for it with 6 boards, 5 assists
6. Greaves 2.0 - 4 points, 4 boards in 20 minutes
7. Mertz 0.6 - 5 points, but 4 fouls and only 2 boards in 22 minutes
8. Schroeder 0.2 - Started, but struggled in 18 minutes of work: 4 points, 2 boards, 2 fouls, 2 turnovers

Inactives:
Dellegrotti - Injury (Wrist)
Melvin - Injury (Finger)
Bonanno - Suspension (until 2009)

Boxscore
YTD Hollinger Game Score