I have always considered MN to be an also-ran in women's basketball and so have
not paid any attention to them. So that was my outlook entering the game
the other night.
MN was obviously in a zone. But beyond that, what really caught my attention was the
quality of their coaching. Their schemes were fundamentally solid and their players
were highly disciplined to follow them. Their lineup was very well balanced between
outside shooters and physical bigs who are skilled and have been taught how to use
their physicality to draw fouls rather than commit them. Their rebounders establish
good position quicky with great spacing. Their passing and driving is effective and
low risk. In summary, based on a small sample size, their coaching appears to be excellent,
especially considering that this is only her third year and most of her talent comes from
MN with only 2 portals, neither of which is in their top 4 scorers.
Checking her background, Plitzuweit's Div I record is 293-130 across several schools.
That's amazing considering that most, if not all, were turnarounds. There may not be
a better coach in the entire conference and if she can recruit (and she probably can),
MN may be headed for a long term top 2 or 3 in the conference. Not much of an
also-ran! Other conference teams are going to have to up their games,
not paid any attention to them. So that was my outlook entering the game
the other night.
MN was obviously in a zone. But beyond that, what really caught my attention was the
quality of their coaching. Their schemes were fundamentally solid and their players
were highly disciplined to follow them. Their lineup was very well balanced between
outside shooters and physical bigs who are skilled and have been taught how to use
their physicality to draw fouls rather than commit them. Their rebounders establish
good position quicky with great spacing. Their passing and driving is effective and
low risk. In summary, based on a small sample size, their coaching appears to be excellent,
especially considering that this is only her third year and most of her talent comes from
MN with only 2 portals, neither of which is in their top 4 scorers.
Checking her background, Plitzuweit's Div I record is 293-130 across several schools.
That's amazing considering that most, if not all, were turnarounds. There may not be
a better coach in the entire conference and if she can recruit (and she probably can),
MN may be headed for a long term top 2 or 3 in the conference. Not much of an
also-ran! Other conference teams are going to have to up their games,
