Jersey numbers

Over at the Devil's Den, Cam has posted the jersey numbers for the incoming freshmen: Abby Waner #4, Carrem Gay #30, Keturah Jackson #31, Brittany Mitch #22.

So next year's roster will be:

#1 Mistie Williams
#2 Emily Waner
#3 Laura Kurz
#4 Abby Waner
#10 Lindsey Harding
#11 Chante Black
#22 Brittany Mitch
#23 Wanisha Smith
#24 Jess Foley
#25 Monique Currie
#30 Carrem Gay
#31 Keturah Jackson
#32 Caitlin Howe
#43 Alison Bales

The year in review

GoDuke has posted their final season review.

Gail to coach USA U19 team

Gail Goestenkors has been selected to be the head coach of the 2005 USA Basketball Women's U19 World Championship Team. This will be her fourth coaching opportunity with the US, having previously served as assistant coach to the 2004 Olympic team and the 2002 World Cup team, and as head coach of the 1997 R. Williams Jones Cup team.

Equally exciting, she may get to coach one of her incoming freshmen, Abby Waner. Abby started for the gold-medal 2004 U-19 Qualifying team, and is hoping to try out for the 2005 team.

This summer I'm ...: Trying out for the USA U19 team or taking summer school classes at Duke.

Possible replacement for LaVonda?

Tanya Haave, an assistant coach at Colorado (and therefore one of Emily Waner's old coaches) is apparently interested in the position at Duke. (Thanks, ColoradoDusk!) The new coach at Colorado, Kathy McConnell-Miller, is bringing in her own assistants from Tulsa, and Haave will not be sticking around. She is also a candidate for the head coaching post at Colorado State, so that may be a factor on whether or not she comes to Duke.

At Colorado, Haave was the top recruiter and the post coach. She was a star at Tennessee from 1980-1984, and played for 14 years abroad before becoming an assistant coach, first at Regis University in Denver and then at Colorado from 2001 on. As a Colorado native she may want to stay close to home, but on the other hand, maybe she wants a change!

We'll see...

More on USA Today's teams

I should have mentioned that in addition to Abby Waner making USA Today's First team, Carrem Gay was also named to their second team. Of interest, Carrem's teammate, junior Tina Charles (on Duke's wishlist) also made the second team, and Bob Mackey, Carrem's high school coach at Christ the King, was named coach of the year.

Another honor for Abby, too

Abby Waner has been named to USA Today's All-USA team. From the article:

Just the stats: Averaged 32.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.7 steals and 6.9 assists for the three-time Class 5A state champions. Twice named Colorado's Miss Basketball. Scored 2,670 career points.

College choice: Duke (signed).

Favorite class and teacher? Calculus/Terrin Kelly. "I like challenging classes."

In 10 years I want to be doing what? "Playing in the WNBA."

Greatest fear: Death.

Food you absolutely can't stand: Tomatoes.

College player who reminds you of yourself: Shea Ralph, formerly of Connecticut. "She was tenacious."

Why do you wear No. 1: "My sister (Emily, now at Duke) wore No. 2, so since elementary school I took No. 1."

Best movie you've seen lately:Coach Carter.

This summer I'm ...: Trying out for the USA U19 team or taking summer school classes at Duke.

More on the Banquet

Rob has an excellent report on the banquet up at DBR. Check it out!

Another honor for Carrem

Carrem Gay has won the Dave DeBusschere Award, given out by the New York Knicks to the top male and female athlete in the New York area. Geoff McDermott of New Rochelle High School won the boys' award.

Duke-bound Gay was named Miss New York State Basketball this season after helping lead the Lady Blazers to a New York State Federation Basketball Championship and #1 National Ranking by USA Today. Gay averaged 18.1 PPG, 12.4 rebounds, 5.3 blocks and 4.7 assists per game for Christ the King and was also named a McDonald’s All-American for her efforts on the court. In the classroom, Gay has maintained a 96% GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society and the Principal’s Honor List.

Congratulations, Carrem!

2004-2005 Awards Banquet

Duke held it's annual awards banquet last night. I was very sorry not to be able to go due to my mother's surgery, but according to goDuke.com these were the awards given out:

Offensive Player of the Year: Monique Currie
Defensive Player of the Year: Alison Bales
Most Improved: Chante Black
Heart and Hustle award: Mistie Williams

Top Free Throw Shooter: Monique Currie
Top Rebounder: Chante Black
Academic Award: Caitlin Howe
Practice Player of the Year: Mistie Williams

The team also said goodbye to Wynter Whitley as the lone senior, and to LaVonda Wagner as she heads off to Oregon State.

A happy note: according to Mothra, Coach G is practicing her chinups for next year!

Offensive number analysis

So what do the numbers mean?

Some of the numbers are influenced by position; post players tend to have higher shooting percentages because they're playing nearer to the basket, and in a similar way floor percentages tend to be higher for posts than for guards. It is not therefore surprising to see that Alison and Mistie lead the list on floor percentage. Mo being next with .53 is what you would expect for the star, especially one who drives as much as Mo does.

Some numbers that will certainly look different next season are the percentage of possession figures. Mo "used" 21% of Duke's possessions, which I imagine is a little high. Next year with 14 players instead of 8, that number should be lower, and as a result Mo should become even more efficient.

Duke had six players with an offensive rating over 110, a very good thing indeed.

Next up are the defensive numbers.

Katie Meier to Miami

Former Duke star and current coach of the Charlotte 49ers has been hired as the new head coach at Miami. Congratulations to Katie and the 'Canes!

Carrem Gay

There's a nice article on Carrem Gay being named Queens' Player of the Year at Newsday. Of interest:

"You have to find a balance on top of what's supposed to be done," said Gay, who plans on studying math at Duke in September.

Also exciting to read, from her coach Bob Mackey (who calls her maybe the best player he's ever coached):

"She's a great practice player with a great work ethic - usually the first one in the gym and the last one out."

Mackey singles out Gay for her "unselfishness" in looking out for her teammates and never complaining or attempting to hog the spotlight.

Offensive numbers for 2004-2005

	ScPoss	TotPoss	Floor%	OffRtg	PPGm	%Poss
Wynter	95	212	.45	96	5.8	8 %
Monique	290	544	.53	116	17.6	21 %
Mistie	202	350	.58	123	12.0	14 %
Jess	155	330	.47	120	11.6	13 %
Caitlin	19	53	.36	94	4.5	2 %
Alison	142	240	.59	125	8.3	9 %
Wanisha	187	418	.45	104	12.1	16 %
Chante	112	216	.52	110	7.0	8 %
Laura	70	150	.47	122	5.2	6 %

ScPoss = Scoring possessions
TotPoss = Total possessions
Floor% = Floor percentage
OffRtg = Offensive rating
PPGm = Points produced per game
%Poss = percentage of team possessions

(For more on these terms, see stat geekery.)

Stat geekery

Last fall I discovered Dean Oliver's book Basketball on Paper, basketball's answer to baseball's Moneyball. I've been tracking the Duke women's statistics for a few years now but this book gives better tools to get at the ideas behind the numbers.

Oliver mostly considers stats in terms of possessions: for teams, points per possession and points allowed per opponents' possessions are the most salient indicators to success.

For those with strong intestinal fortitude, he also offers a way to calculate individual player ratings. On offense, the crucial numbers are floor percentage (defined as the number of scoring possessions/total possessions for an individual player), offensive rating (individual points produced/total possessions, normalized by multiplying by 100), and percentage of team possession (how many of the total possessions did each player "use").

On defense, he offers a way to calculate individual defensive stops, stop percentage (basically individual stops per possession, but adjusted for the number of minutes played), and a defensive rating (points allowed per defensive possession, again normalized to 100).

Numbers for the 2004-2005 team to follow.

The Cajun connection

Yesterday when I posted about all the Louisiana girls, I overlooked Aiysha Smith, formerly of LSU, and Tamicha Jackson of La Tech. Barring trades and free agency (Jackson), that's five from the bayou state playing for the Washington Mystics.

Mystics draft day

Well, although I know Temeka Johnson is considered too short for the W, I am happy that the Mystics drafted a point guard. Now Alana can go back to doing what she does best. Plus I really enjoyed watching Johnson play, even though her team did beat Duke. And I'm excited to watch Alana play with Iciss again. Now if the Mystics will only pick someone good as coach...

With Erica Smith-Taylor from La Tech at pick #19, there's a pretty strong Louisiana connection; I wonder if Momma Beard will be up there cooking for all those La. girls.

Changes for the Mystics!

Michael Adams, the head coach of the Washington Mystics has resigned to become an assistant coach for the Maryland men.

More importantly, Iciss Tillis has been traded by Detroit to the Mystics for the 13th pick in tomorrow's draft! Alana and Iciss, together again. And I can stop dividing my allegiances during the WNBA season...

Team USA

I have heard that Mo, Alison, and Wanisha have been invited to try out for Team USA, probably for the World University Games Team, since I think they are all too old for the U19 team. The team trials are May 19-22 in Colorado Springs, CO.

Of course, Abby Waner was a starter on the 2004 US U-19 team that won Gold last year, and I would imagine she will also be getting an invite.

Back in 2001, Monique Currie and Wynter Whitley were on the Junior World Championship Team led by Alana Beard and Diana Taurasi which won bronze.

Pix from the Wooden Awards

GoDuke.com has some great pictures up from the Wooden Award presentation, including a very cute one of Mo getting a basketball signed by John Wooden. It's neat to think of our heroes having heroes of their own...

LaVonda moving on up

Well, we will really miss her on the sidelines, but I'm sure she will make an excellent head coach for Oregon State. Go, Beavers! Go, LaVonda!

(Who knew I would feel so sad about this?)

Trading Spiders for Golden Bears

The ContraCostaTimes is reporting that Joanne Boyle will be the next head coach at Cal. Good luck, Joanne!

Updated to report that Joanne's hire has been confirmed by the Richmond Times. Joanne told the Spiders late last night, and there will be a news conference in Berkeley this afternoon.

Joanne Boyle heading west?

According to a California paper, Joanne Boyle has been offered the head coaching position with the Cal Golden Bears.

More on coaching openings

Another interview for LaVonda, this time at St. Louis University.

According to this article, Duke alum Katie Meier is one of the finalists for the Miami coaching position, and former player and assistant coach Joanne Boyle has been linked to the opening at UC Berkeley as well as the job at Miami.

Wynter at the draft

There's a list over at the Houston Roundball Review of attendees at the WNBA pre-draft camp, and Wynter's name is on it. While she will probably not make a team, it sure doesn't hurt to try!

(Thanks, Lynn, for the heads-up.)

Alana bowled over

Well, Alana did not have a good night bowling on ESPN's Bowling Night, but she did have a good time. As one of the announcers said, "How can you not love her?"

Willis McGahee won, with Ephraim Salaam coming in second.

Coaching changes

Of the three programs that we thought were interested in LaVonda Wagner, both Louisiana Tech and Alabama have filled their head coaching positions: La Tech hired Chris Long, a long-time assistant there, and Alabama hired Stephany Smith of Middle Tennessee State.

Though there could be other programs out there interested in Wagner, the only other that we know of is Oregon State. They are feeling a lot of pressure to hire a woman after their initial search list was made up of only men. (In an interesting aside, La Tech's last three coaches dating back to 1985 have been men.)

The issue of gender aside, there is also the issue of race. According to this article at the Washington Post:

In a sport in which 41.6 percent of the players are black, less than 8 percent of the coaches are black women.

Incoming freshmen-Abby Waner

- 5'11, 150 lbs, born 10/31/1986
- Played for ThunderRidge HS and the H.S. Hoopsters AAU team in Highlands Ranch, CO. Wears number 1.
- 32.5 pts, 7.5 rebs, 5.9 asts, 5.7 stls

Abby is a truly complete player. She is an excellent passer at the 2-guard spot, she can rebound, especially on the offensive glass, and has a smooth shooting stroke from behind the arc. Her no-look passes are incredible. Scout.com describes her as a "dynamic scorer and passer" and a "good offensive rebounder from [the] guard position". Bob Sienicki of Old Gold Free Press says she "defines the entire game" and at the camp that she "took game after game into her own hands and single-handedly wrought the result to her own likeness."

Over a two-game period in February she averaged 50 points per game, and broke the state record with 61 points in one game. She also carries a 3.95 GPA. She and her sister Emily are extremely close, and their tandem play should be a lot of fun to watch.

Behind her shooting, ThunderRidge won it's third straight state championship and ended the year ranked seventh in USA Today's prep poll. She was also a starter on the 2004 USA Junior World Championship Qualifying Team team that went 5-0 and won the gold medal.

Abby was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, the Morgan Wootten Award winner for the best girl's high school player in the country, a first-team Parade All-American, this year's Miss Colorado, and started on both the McDonald's and WBCA All-American teams.

Incoming freshmen-Carrem Gay

- 6'3, 180 lbs, born 6/5/1987
- Played for Christ the King HS and the NY Liberty Belles AAU team in New York, NY. Wears number 30.
-18.2 pts, 12.4 rebs, 7.4 asts, 4.2 blks

Carrem is a power forward and an excellent defender and rebounder. In addition she sports a variety of offensive moves including hook shots, jump shots, and finger rolls. It was widely reported that she had dunked in a high school game this winter, although CamrnCrz1974 saw a tape and was not convinced it was a true dunk.

Bob Sienicki of Old Gold Free Press described her as the smoothest player at the Nike Camp. Other adjectives he used were intelligent, fluid, addictive to watch, and a complete player. Bob Edwards described her as "silky". He also praised her ball-handling and her ability to run the floor.

Her high school team, Christ the King, ended the season ranked first in the nation in the final USA Today poll and won the NY State Federation Class AA championship as well as the Catholic HS Div 1 championship, and were undefeated for the season . The Liberty Belles won last summer's National 17U championship.

In 2005 she was named New York's Miss Basketball, was a starter on both the McDonald's and WBCA All-American teams, and was a third-team Parade All-American. She was also awarded the Naismith Sportsmanship Award at the McDonald's All American Game.

Incoming freshmen- Brittany Mitch

- 6'2, 155lbs, born 3/28/1987
- Played for St. John's and the Fairfax Stars AAU team in Potomac, MD. Wears number 23.
- 14.7 pts, 5.8 rebs, 8.6 asts, 7.8 stls, 1.8 bls

Brittany played much of her early years in basketball as a point guard, and still has those ball-handling skills to go along with her relatively new height. (She may actually have grown another inch, since many publications now list her at 6'3.) She has been described as excellent in a motion offense, is very speedy, and can cut and flash open. According to Bob Richards her shot is better on the move than off a pick, and he compares her favorably to Katie Douglas. Gail says she can play any of the one through four positions, and "has a great overall understanding of the game."

With Maryland signee Marissa Coleman, she led her AAU team to national championships three times, and her high school team, the St. John's Cadets, were ranked 14th in the nation in the final USA Today poll.

In 2005 she was named to the All-Met first team by the Washington Post, was a third team Parade All-American, earned WBCA honorable mention, and was one of the top 100 finalists for the 2005 McDonald's All-American game.

Looking ahead

Duke will have four new faces suiting up next year, and we will finally get to see Emily Waner in action instead of sitting on the bench. I'm going to try and distill some of the information up on the web about each of these new players. For the freshmen, I am indebted to Bob Richards and Old Gold Free Press for his impressions on players at the 2004 Nike camp, to Rob at DBR, and to all the posters at the Devil's Den (especially Cam), for all the reports on incoming players throughout the year.

Incoming freshmen- Keturah Jackson

- 6'0, 144 lbs, born 11/14/1986
- Played for the Dreher HS Blue Devils (!) and the Carolina Shooting Stars AAU team in Columbia, SC. Wears number 44.
- 19.8 pts, 9.0 rebs, 4.4 asts, 4.0 stls

Keturah is a wing player with impressive hops. She is a good rebounder on both ends of the floor and a good passer. If her shot isn't falling she steps up in other areas. When this happened at the 2004 US Development festival she set a single-game assist record with 11. According to Bob Richards of Old Gold Free Press, she likes to drive, and finishes and dishes well.

In 2005 she was named South Carolina's player of the year for Class AAA, was a fourth-team Parade All-American, earned WBCA honorable mention, and was one of the top 100 finalists for the 2005 McDonald's All-American game.

Wow, Monique!

Augustus wins the Wooden Award

As expected, Seimone Augustus has swept the NPOY honors and won the second annual women's Wooden Award. And Andrew Bogut won for the men... J.J. and Mo will have to wait till next year.

Not as expected, the show was on at 1 pm eastern instead of noon, sorry for the mixup...

Wooden Awards announced today

The Wooden awards will air today (Saturday, 9 April) at noon on CBS. Although everyone and their aged mother expects this award to go to Seimone Augustus also, it's still worthwhile to tune in and catch Mo up on the stage... The other three women's finalists are Jessica Davenport from Ohio State, Minnesota’s Janel McCarville, and Kendra Wecker of Kansas State.

And J.J. Redick is one of the five men's finalists.

Honors for recruits

The Parade All-American lists are out, and all four Duke recruits seem to have made the list (although they apparently left Jackson off the web version accidentally). Abby Waner is on the first team, Carrem Gay and Brittany Mitch made the third team, and Keturah Jackson made the fourth team.

Also, back in March, Carrem Gay was named New York's Miss Basketball, while Abby Waner was named Miss Basketball for Colorado.

More on Mo

Here are a few more stories about Mo staying: Currie makes it official, Early entry into WNBA not a good idea, and at the Chronicle: Currie to return.

LaVonda links

LaVonda Wagner's name has been linked to other coaching vacancies at Oregon State and at Louisiana Tech. And, Alabama continues to be interested.

She is also featured in a radio show about her association with Stack magazine and on training college athletes. Listen here.

Early thoughts on next year

Already, people are speculating about next year's preseason #1 team, and many are giving the nod to Duke after Monique Currie's announcement. Mechelle Voepel says Baylor could repeat, and Tennessee will be strong, but she thinks Duke will be the number one team going into the season.

Baylor Golden Bears

Overlooked in my excitement over Mo Currie; congrats to the Baylor Golden Bears!

LaVonda Wagner interviewing for other jobs

While this would be a great thing for LaVonda, and for women's basketball as a whole, we would sure miss her. Follow Mo's lead, LaVonda, and stay!

The Final Four is a place for coaches to meet, converse and look for new jobs. Duke assistant LaVonda Wagner has been linked to some head-coaching openings, including Alabama's, and Goestenkors confirmed Tuesday that Wagner has been interviewed by some schools. Goestenkors said Wagner has not been offered a job yet.

Mo is staying!

At the last minute, Monique Currie has decided to return for another year at Duke. Thanks, Alana, for advising her:

Beard gave Currie some insight into what she could expect if she were to turn professional, but Beard also gave Currie an opinion: Stay at Duke.

"She wants me to come back and try to get a national championship for our school," Currie said.

I will post more about the implications later, but am just thrilled that we will get to watch her another year!

McDonald's Box Score

McDonald's finally posted a complete box score from last Wednesday's game.

In addition to Carrem's 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-4 from the line), she also pulled down 5 offensive and 1 defensive rebounds, and had 2 blocks and 1 steal. She also had 4 turnovers, but that's not unexpected in an all-star game where players are not so familiar with one another.

Abby was 4-11 from the field only making 1 of 5 threes for 9 points. She had 3 offensive and 1 defensive rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists with only 1 turnover.

WBCA All Star Game box score

The White Team beat the Red Team 92-88 yesterday in Indianapolis. This time, Abby and Carrem got to play together for White. It looks like White was a better rebounding team with an overall 55-38 advantage on the boards.

Abby had what seems like another off shooting night, yet still managed to score 16 points on 3-14 shooting (2-8 from three). She did hit 8-10 free throws, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and 2 steals.

Carrem was 2-7 and hit both of her free throws for 6 points. She also had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.

Future Tar Heel Rashanda McCants was named the White team MVP with 27 points on 10-15 shooting. Future Terp Marissa Coleman took home the Red Team honors with 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Augustus wins Wade Trophy

As expected, Seimone Augustus has beaten out our own Monique Currie for this year's Wade Trophy. Congratulations, Seimone!

Mo has been selected to the Kodak All-America team, a well-deserved honor.

Gail speaks out on transfers

From an article on the whole mess up at Penn State:

Duke coach Gail Goestenkors is not [a] stranger to the problem. "Some transfer because they're homesick and want to be closer to home," Goestenkors explained last summer. "Some transfer because they had expectations that they would start or play major minutes and don't get to. Some transfer because things aren't the way they thought they would be.

"There are so many reasons why kids transfer. ... I feel like we are in a fast-food society and people want things right away and are unwilling to wait and work. Many transfers come from people that feel that they should start right away instead of really working for that."

By the way, I don't really buy into this as the reason behind the difficulties at Penn State: Those girls didn't want to transfer; they were dismissed and tricked into requesting transfers... This article is trying to blow a little smoke our way.

Alana goes bowling

Alana is participating in ESPN's Bowling for Benjamins which will air at 8:00 on April 12. This is a new six-week series airing on ESPN, with professional athletes competing for charity.



Love the shirt, Alana!

Next year's team

This will be the largest team Duke has fielded in quite a while. After a year of often only eight players (and even seven during the early rounds of the NCAAs) we will have at least thirteen on the team, fourteen if Mo Currie decides to return.

By projected position:

Center:

Alison Bales, 6'7, Jr
Chante Black, 6'5, So

Power Forward

Mistie Williams, 6'3, Sr
Carrem Gay, 6'3, Fr

Shooting Forward

Monique Currie, 6'0, Sr
Laura Kurz, 6'1, So
Brittany Mitch, 6'2, Fr
Keturah Jackson, 6'0, Fr

Shooting Guard:

Jess Foley 6'0, Sr
Caitlin Howe 5'10, Jr
Wanisha Smith 5'11, So
Abby Waner 5'11, Fr

Point Guard

Lindsey Harding 5'8, Jr
Emily Waner 5'8, So

WBCA High School Game

Today at 4:30 the Women's Basketball Coaches Association presents it's annual high school All-Star game. Abby Waner and Carrem Gay are scheduled to appear, while Brittany Mitch and Keturah Jackson made the second list.

Welcome

It may seem silly to begin a blog dedicated to a basketball team which has just ended it's season; on the other hand, if not now, when? Last night was the airing of the McDonald's All-Star Girls game, featuring new recruits Abby Waner and Carrem Gay. If as predicted, Abby becomes the next star Blue Devils, leading the team to even greater heights, we can say we got in on the ground floor.

Despite a somewhat rocky shooting game, Abby shone as a passer, with two beautiful no-look passes that were finished along with quite a few that were not. She was very speedy, and moved quite well without the ball. She had 9 points on not-so-great shooting to help lead the West team to victory.

Carrem Gay showed off a nifty jump hook and ended with 12 points and 6 rebounds for the East team.