North Dakota Preps

Mandan girls would benefit dramatically by having all 5 girls play defense, instead of having 4 play defense and one cherry pick ahead waiting for the lay up. Even against Saint Mary's, the 1-2-1-1 press, or maybe 1-2-2 press was not working. Simply switching to a 2-2-1 could have given them a much better chance at success.

Also, Mandan no longer has a Kielpinski, Rogers, Finley, Collins, or any other Miss Basketball finalist like they have in the past. This is the first year in a long time where Mandan's only potential Miss Basketball candidates are 8th and 9th graders.

Anyone can have a cold shooting night but when you have a 15-20pt swing that to me is a failure to counteract an adjustment by the other team.

Their press this year has no ball pressure at the point of attack. Teams have all the time they want before the trap happens. There's no fear being put into the ball handler.

Deuce wrote:The coaching is killing them. Until he coaches for the team instead of 1 player they'll continue to blow leads and lose close winnable games. Other coaches are making better adjustments. But 9 of their 10 games have been on the road so hopefully they can turn it around with some wins at home.

The biggest challenge for Mandan's coaching staff right now is: Can they dedicate themselves to make another star? That is tough for any parent-coach. Last year, Collins was the only star coming back from a State Champion team, but dedicating a lot of the offense for Pedersen gave Mandan a lot of success. There is talent on this year's team, but they will have to adjust to create another scorer, if not 2.

From the way the looks at the sats from the west Pederson is having a good year. Why cant they feed off her and be successful like in years past.

I do not want to diss Pederson, but stats can be very misleading. If you get a chance to watch them play, you will see what I mean. Many, maybe even most of her points come from being in the front of the press and having the ball thrown up to her for fast break layups.

I have watched some of the games, and I think Pederson benefits from having her mom keep the team's stats, because those steal numbers are not realistic. I have not been at every game, but the people who have been tell me that they are stretched, a lot.

scoobyx2 wrote:

Deuce wrote:The coaching is killing them. Until he coaches for the team instead of 1 player they'll continue to blow leads and lose close winnable games. Other coaches are making better adjustments. But 9 of their 10 games have been on the road so hopefully they can turn it around with some wins at home.

The biggest challenge for Mandan's coaching staff right now is: Can they dedicate themselves to make another star? That is tough for any parent-coach. Last year, Collins was the only star coming back from a State Champion team, but dedicating a lot of the offense for Pedersen gave Mandan a lot of success. There is talent on this year's team, but they will have to adjust to create another scorer, if not 2.

Biggest difference in this comparison is that Collins was a mismatch no matter who was guarding her. Steph isn't that type player and she' putting up 20-25 shots to get her 15 pts the last few games. Last year if Collins wasn't creating her shot they put her in the blocks. Steph isn't quick enough to create and isn't strong enough to play inside. So they need to get more distribution to take some pressure off of her. This team most definately has talent. They've had 2nd half leads in 5 of their 6 losses. Its a question as to whether or not they'll use it.

Agreed. Meyer being gone will hurt a lot, but Vander Wal has potential as a player, as do some of those girls who aren't getting much time. Amber Riopelle had 7 rebounds in about 8 minutes against Saint Mary's. I have always been impressed with some of Mandan's freshmen, and there is an 8th grader who should be playing varsity. She is easily one of the 8 best players in the program, and one of the tallest.

balla45 wrote:Agreed. Meyer being gone will hurt a lot, but Vander Wal has potential as a player, as do some of those girls who aren't getting much time. Amber Riopelle had 7 rebounds in about 8 minutes against Saint Mary's. I have always been impressed with some of Mandan's freshmen, and there is an 8th grader who should be playing varsity. She is easily one of the 8 best players in the program, and one of the tallest.

That's why I didn't understand why he sat Vander Wal almost the entire second half vs St. Mary's. He already had 2 girls out with injury, Winkler was in foul trouble and he does them a favor by sitting his second leading scorer and leading rebounder. They went from up 6 to down 11 in the span of about 8 minutes.

One of the players that I think has a ton of potential is jr. Taylor Miller. She's lanky and really fast. There are several freshman but they just aren't strong enough yet. The soph's have a few good players. 2 are already starting and then you have Skylee Luger's little sister Jordan and Shalique Kary.

Deuce wrote:

scoobyx2 wrote:

Deuce wrote:The coaching is killing them. Until he coaches for the team instead of 1 player they'll continue to blow leads and lose close winnable games. Other coaches are making better adjustments. But 9 of their 10 games have been on the road so hopefully they can turn it around with some wins at home.

The biggest challenge for Mandan's coaching staff right now is: Can they dedicate themselves to make another star? That is tough for any parent-coach. Last year, Collins was the only star coming back from a State Champion team, but dedicating a lot of the offense for Pedersen gave Mandan a lot of success. There is talent on this year's team, but they will have to adjust to create another scorer, if not 2.

Biggest difference in this comparison is that Collins was a mismatch no matter who was guarding her. Steph isn't that type player and she' putting up 20-25 shots to get her 15 pts the last few games. Last year if Collins wasn't creating her shot they put her in the blocks. Steph isn't quick enough to create and isn't strong enough to play inside. So they need to get more distribution to take some pressure off of her. This team most definately has talent. They've had 2nd half leads in 5 of their 6 losses. Its a question as to whether or not they'll use it.

Unfortunately they do not have the quality of player like Collins or a Kelpenski and won't have one until their freshman play on varsity.

Pederson's defense is non-existent. From the games that I attended, they run everything through Pederson for points at the expense of the team. For instance, Pederson may get 20 points a game but it is at the expense of 40 points for 3 other players. The team has just lost 20 points. They need to establish a post presence in Vander Wal/Meyer(hurt) and develop a consistent 3 point shooter(Miller/Pederson). Mic Longtin was excellent at Century at the point position. Her defense was awesome. They need to run their offense around all these players.

With that said, If you are going to run your offense thru one player you need to either step up or shut up. Your star either wins it or loses it. You can't have it one way!

I think it should be pointed out that Pederson is a very talented ball player, and if there is 1 player on the team who is doing what is expected by the coaches, its her. She works pretty hard until she physically can't go on. The coaching staff needs to step up. They run a press that tires itself out before the opponent does because they aren't playing enough players for that kind of defense. Also, you can't just tell the other players to "step up"...you actually have to run an offense to get them the ball.

Absolutely, you have to run the offense thru the other players and get them the ball. The team is giving up 20 points by just running it through Pederson. They need set plays for Vander Wal and Longtin and Miller.

The coaching staff needs to step up or Mandan will be in last place. At least they play the last place team tonight.

Pederson is very talented, but I do not think she is talented enough to have the entire offense run through her. I think Mandan would be better off if Steph was around 16 a game, Vander Wal in that 10-12 range, and Meyer in the 10-12 range. Helmers has potential to be right there too. It doesn't need to be all of them every night, but if they can get 2 or 3 people in double figures every night, this team will be much better.

I think Pederson has talent but I think she has to work on her moves and definetly defense. She looks like she is always shooting to draw a foul instead of shooting to make a shot. She definetly needs to improve on defense.

If Meyer is out for a long time, that really hurts Mandan. The only inside presence or post defense they have is Vanderwalle and Meyer.

I heard Meyer is out 4 weeks. It wasn't a really bad fracture and should be back quicker than the normal 6 weeks.

balla45 wrote:Pederson is very talented, but I do not think she is talented enough to have the entire offense run through her. I think Mandan would be better off if Steph was around 16 a game, Vander Wal in that 10-12 range, and Meyer in the 10-12 range. Helmers has potential to be right there too. It doesn't need to be all of them every night, but if they can get 2 or 3 people in double figures every night, this team will be much better.

You are absolutely correct. This is Class A basketball, and there are no players (girls or boys) that can be successfully win the games without help. Even the previous basketball greats from Mandan (Kielpinskis, Collins, Rogers, Amundson, etc) never won the games alone. There was always another (or 2) all-stater on the court with them.

Mandan may have lost to Century this evening, but it was nice to see them pull it together a bit and come within three at the end of the game! It made for an exciting ending!

For only shooting 14% the first half and only being down 12 they managed to come back and make a game of it. Really missed Meyer inside because they need that 3rd defender and rebounder down low. 29/63 pts for Century was free throws. If they cut down on the fouls and get their other 2 starters back Mandan could be a sleeper team come WDA.

Mandan needs to look to take a shot earlier. They had a couple of shot clock violations and about 4 or 5 heaves because it was expiring. 5 or 6 wasted possesions is a lot in a close game.

Great night for Steph! 33 points against the top rated team. Also Vander Wal hit some big three's to get them started early in the game. They definetly miss Meyer, not only for defense but her scoring. Century didn''t look like a #1 team.

A great night for Mandan and Steph Pederson, and I think the senior Vander Wal can be that extra threat they have been looking for. Century knew that Pederson was the biggest scoring threat and didn't have an answer for her. Back to drawing board for Century. If they can't stop Pederson, then the girls from the East could suprise them.

GOOd JOB Mandan! a little trouble controling Century but in the end made Century look less than a # 1 team. I think Century can be beat by others and the future will tell the tale. Have they played Minot yet for the second time. How did they fare the first time?

No they play Feb 9. First game was won by Minot 54-53. Mandan had a 18pt lead in the first half, Minot battled back to down 12 at the half and hit the winner with 7 seconds left.

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/sports/h ... 002e0.html

northdakotamom wrote:GOOd JOB Mandan! a little trouble controling Century but in the end made Century look less than a # 1 team. I think Century can be beat by others and the future will tell the tale. Have they played Minot yet for the second time. How did they fare the first time?

i believe this question was asked about if Century has played minot twice yet..and no they haven't. they play on february 19th..century won the first time in minot 50-35. they played very good defense-offense wasn't quite there.

Probably should be on another board, but tonight CHS plays Minot (WDA #1 vs WDA #2) - could be an interesting game, since CHS lost to Turtle Mountain by 14, and as noted on this board, CHS has not been looking like #1