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freja

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:? what a sad ending for the seniors, they must be so frustrated in so many ways. One can point to so many things that have been a struggle all season but I think the most glaring is the inconsistent line-ups which have to be the result of an indecisive coach. How can it be at the end of the season that one still doesn't know who will be starting? How do you develop chemistry as a team when this happens... Additionally, it was distressing to listen to the postgame radio broadcast and hear the coach Murrell comment the she hoped somone would emerge this spring as a leader since there had been none this season. Leadership starts at the top and that would be the coach, players reflect the coach and all I can say is there seems to be a lot of dysfunction rolling down hill and landing on the players. Hard situation to play under. The seniors have worked so hard, 2 for all 4 years and 1 for 2 at PSU. They have been fortunate to have experienced the highest highs (winning the conference tourney, going to the NCAA's and winning the conference outright) and and now today probably something that feels like the lowest low, not going to the tournament at all.
This has to feel bad, but the coach has to own some of this and it disturbs me that she never can seem to accept any responsibility for her team's shortcomings, haven't ever heard her say "we all own this"....nope it's never her fault that her team can't pull out the win. That's so uncommon for a coach not to shoulder some of the responsibility, uncommon for experienced coaches anyway. Not sure what the issue is, but this inability to share ownership for the outcomes, at least partially, is a glaring fault that is not without consequence - just look at the erratic play of this team.
I hope the seniors know how much they are appreciated for all they have given to the program, they would have never had the highest highs had they not performed tremendously with their teammates in years past. I wish the new kids the same success but fear it may elude them a bit. There is not the same sense of unity nor does there appear to be anything predictable for the team except randomness. That doesn't work so well in basketball. Good luck to the seniors and hope the reamaining players and coaches figure things out for next season.
I have all the hope that they will. GO VIKS!
 
You are right..Murrell seems to think she can do no wrong. It was infuriating to hear her lambast the players after the game. She said, to paraphrase, that the players were lacking in the will to win and just mailed it in. She takes blame for nothing. Not for failing to play key players for long stretches of the season. Not for shunting players off to the Murrell doghouse where they languish whether they are needed or not. This practice has gone on for years but hit its zenith this year when the team didn't have the depth it has had in the past. Remember Erin Yankus during her junior year. Kate Depaepe not returning for her 4th year of eligibility. Courtney Cremer in he Junior year. Katy Wade in her junior year who was relegated to the doghouse and hit the road. Allie Brock this year. Samms for much of this season. Notice these are all posts.I just don't know what gets into Murrell. I mean what happened to Lampman and Brock? Lampman was lauded then benched. Brock was to be the starting post and soon warmed the bench. Why do so many players go from starters to not playing? With the exception of Jones, Van Brocklin and Lanz, who knew that they would play? Samms was treated like she had the plague for much of the season when she was by far the most productive post on the team. Keaton started many games then just disappeared by the end of the season. It is hard to have chemistry when no-one knows who is going to be on the court. A player who gets minutes and then does not reacts differently than one who never got minutes. In addition, Murrell seems to have problems with playing women who are over 5'10". I don't think she has any feelings of loyalty toward the players. They are treated like little pegs to be placed in holes whether they fit or not. "Lack of leadership" ? She had the player of the year who was respected by all of her teammates. The problem wasn't Jones who played injured most of the year. When a team is picked to win the league by the coaches and media and doesn't even make the conference tournament, something is wrong. With the exception of Jones, the team was healthy all season long and there cannot be any injury excuses. I mean compare this year to past years. PSU got beat by 20! By 30! Murrell needs to accept part of the blame and learn from this experience instead of questioning her players' heart.
 
We said at the beginning of the season that we have an under-sized team, and it proved accurate. Our so-called tall players - 6', 6'1'' - just didn't play that well. They rarely got rebounds (what they're there for) and didn't shoot well. Check the stats. No, they didn't play that much - but I'm satisfied they didn't deserve to. Never mind the coaching itself. Recruiting has to be better or we're doomed to a couple more mediocre years. The 3 seniors were great. What'll we have when they're gone?
 
Rebounding and defense are secondary in the PSU scheme. It is a guard oriented team that looks to posts as the last option. Samms should have been playing 30 minutes a game with Brock and Keaton filling in. How do you rebound from the bench. This was a 4 guard rotation all year and it included a small forward at least half of the time. Remember the 5'10" posts? With respect to rebounding, I don't have a clue why a top post rebounder and defender would even consider playing at PSU. They simply do not get starter's minutes. By the way Samms shot .536 from the field and .732 from the line. It is damn hard to score more than she did without the ball. PSU's problem wasn't so much lack of rebounding as it was lack of interior defense when playing small ball. Teams scored at will in the paint against PSU because they lacked an interior defender that would make up for the lack of size from the other players. If you are going to play small ball, you need a Bill Russell in the middle. PSU's best, Samms, played far less than half the game during the season.
 
Wade played 15 minutes a game her sophomore season. Yet she led the league in blocks and would have led the league in rebounds if she had played as much as the league's leaders. To understand what kind of a defender she was, she was substituted for Kelsey Kahle during the end of the Big Sky Championship game when Wade was a freshman . Kahle was voted the league's leading defender that year. She was a game changer and PSU's decision not to play her was juvenile at best. You reap what you sow.
 
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