A Special Guest at Practice

Word came down from above. Newly appointed Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim would like to attend practice. YIKES!!

I scurried to retype and actually proof my practice plan. I broke out my new Nike sneakers, the ones I had been saving for summer recruiting, grabbed a whistle without bite marks and lamented that I had not chosen a more stylish sweat suit to wear that day!

I headed down to the gym early to make sure everything was in order. After all, company was coming.

Not only was President Kim already in the gym, but I had been misinformed. He did not want to watch practice. He wanted to PRACTICE! No fancy Brooks Brothers suit with trademark green tie for the 17th president in the Wheelock succession.  No … he was in his work out clothes, his sneakers were laced, a ball in his hands. He was ready to practice.

I decided shooting drills in close to the basket would be a good group activity. It would reduce the risk of injury to the President and allow him to return unscathed to Parkhurst. I learned quickly that President Kim needed no protection from the rigors of practice. He could shoot! He was nailing his shots, high five-ing the players and full of energy ready for a workout.

At the first break in the action, the President came over to me and asked, “When do we scrimmage?” Quick thinker that I am, I said, “Now.“ We went 5-on-5 in the half court and he picked Brittney Smith to be on his team — he knows the game. He guarded rookie Kylie Kufeld, who hit a quick three. He commented, “Okay, you get respect.” She did not make another shot. He rifled no-look passes to Brittney, helped out on the drive, rebounded and of course he shot. After all he is from Iowa and they learn to shoot at a young age in Iowa. What wonderful fun we had that day!

The players are still talking about is his visit. The buzz on the team — PRESIDENT KIM HAS GAME!

- Coach Wielgus

Monday Morning Update

Hi All,

Just a quick update on things here in Hanover. We had a good game yesterday at #25 Syracuse. You can find the full recap and boxscore here. We really hung tough against the Orange, who are still undefeated at 9-0, losing 56-42. They average 79 points per game so we were very proud to hold them 23 points below that and to force them into a season-high 26 turnovers. While we would have liked to score some more, it was definitely a defensive struggle on both sides and our players continue to take a lot of pride in their defense.

Betsy Williams deserves a ton of credit for her effort off the bench, scoring 13 points in 22 minutes. Brittney Smith went the distance, playing a full 40 minutes and posting 13 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Overall it was a team defensive effort and we gave Syracuse its second-closest game of the season (they beat Binghamton by 13, 87-74).

It's awesome to see how everyone has been coming along both individually and as a team. These trips that we take during the school break are such good times for team bonding.

That's it for now. Team will do some light work today to keep their legs. Then we're off to California for the Univ. of Southern California's tourney on Wednesday (12/16). First game in Cali is on Saturday at 4:30 PST against the Trojans. We'll be in touch before then!

- Dara

On The Road Again

Hey loyal Big Green fans!

Sorry it's been a full week since our last post, I actually didn't realize it! We've been traveling through New York this week and sometimes we don't have the most reliable internet access.

Anyhow, we picked up a big win at Stony Brook on Friday night! We came out strong, moving the ball really well and forcing the Seawolves into turnovers left and right. We went up 18-3 and eventually led by 19 in the first half. Our halftime lead was 12, 39-27, which was our high for first-half points this season.

Stony Brook came out on fire in the second half. Give them credit for responding to the deficit - they also had two starters out with foul trouble in the first - so with those players back they made a big run. We had a nine point edge midway through the second half but the Seawolves wouldn't back down. Thankfully we hit some big shots when we needed to never let them tie or take a lead. Brittney Smith took the team on her back late, scoring eight points in a four minute stretch before fouling out with 2:24 left to play. The rest of the team stepped up and made some key defensive stands for us to take the 77-72 win, iced by a pair of Meghan McFee free throws.

Brittney finished with a full statline - 17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and two blocks. We got awesome performances from sophomore forward Sasha Dosenko, with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and freshman guard Faziah Steen, who scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in just 24 minutes.

We spent the night on Long Island on Friday before driving over to Syracuse on Saturday morning. Team had a good practice at the Carrier Dome - see pictures below - and a good dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse. This morning we had shootaround, but not at the Carrier Dome, since the Syracuse men play at 1 p.m. today. Syracuse was nice enough to let us use their brand new practice facility, made possible and named after NBA star Carmelo Anthony, who led the Cuse men to the 2003 national title.

We tip-off against #25 Syracuse at 5 p.m. tonight - yup, the Orange, who are 8-0, cracked the top-25 this week. Game notes and livestat/video links are here.

We'll have some thoughts on the weekend from Coach Wielgus up tomorrow and some details on our upcoming trip to Californ-i-a this week!

-Dara

A Quiet Week in Leede Arena

Hi All

Just a quick update on the goings on, or lack thereof, for the team this week! Actually, the players have been plenty busy, but basketball has taken a bit of a backseat to academics this week. It's finals week for the fall term at Dartmouth - not fun for the students but a little break for the staff.

The team had both Monday and Tuesday off to rest their bodies after a grueling start to the season and a long trip home from Cincinnati. I think some folks hit the gym to get some shots up on Tuesday, but overall, a good chance to rest. Classes ended on Wednesday afternoon with a two-day reading period to follow. The coaches held practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but the team was off on Saturday and Sunday to take their finals and finish up papers. I'm always impressed by how the players work ahead and take care of their academic business in a timely manner.

Things will be back to normal for the on-court schedule soon and we hit the road on Friday for a long trip to Stony Brook (play on Dec. 11) then upstate to Syracuse for a game on Sunday (Dec. 13) evening. Then it's off to California on Dec. 16!

The coming weeks are my favorite time of the season and I know the players enjoy it too. The break between games allows the coaching staff to focus on our offense in practice and the ensuing break from school lets the players focus only on basketball and each other. We also always take some good road trips at this time of year and everyone is so much more relaxed and able to have fun.

- Dara

Some Perspective on the Schedule

I've said it before and I'll say it again: To be the best, you have to play the best.

In order to truly develop as a basketball team, players need to be tested against teams that are at a high level - be it physically, skill-wise or experience. Dartmouth has always held itself to the highest possible standard in its scheduling and this year is no exception.

If you follow college basketball, you have probably heard of the letter's RPI - Ratings Percentage Index. It's a mathematical formula, utilized heavily around NCAA Tournament time, that ranks teams based on their own record and the record of their opponents, home vs. away, etc. Another key set of letters is SOS. And not the one you might be thinking of! That stands for Strength of Schedule, which is also critical come tournament time. As of today, our Strength of Schedule ranks 11th in the nation - we have the 11th most difficult schedule out of 345 NCAA Division I teams!

While our recent losses have not been fun to endure, I think we'll take them knowing that they are making us better. The Ivy League is full of great teams and very talented basketball players. When we play teams like Temple, Hartford, Vermont and Syracuse, USC and Dayton (coming up this month), we face programs that are strong from top to bottom. Those experiences make our athletes better basketball players, test them physically, build teamwork and instill a mental toughness that will be needed down the stretch.

Three of our last four opponents have been receiving votes in the national top-25 polls and the combined record of teams that have beaten us is 18-4. Syracuse, who we play on Dec. 13, is undefeated and Dayton, who we host in the Blue Sky Classic is ranked #24th this week.

It is no secret that we have struggled early in the last several years, when we have consistently played the most challenging non-league schedule we could. Last year our SOS topped out at 4th in the nation. Since 2006, we're just 2-18 in the month of November, when we often face our strongest opponents who have often been playing together since the summer. In the last three seasons, we have then gone 47-27 after November, 33-9 in Ivy play including a combined 24-4 in the last two seasons.

Our schedule has prepared us well in the past to win four of the last five Ivy Championships including the last two. The year we did not win, 2006-07, we finished second.

While there is still no substitute for winning — those W's feel a lot better than L's — we have confidence that this is just part of the road to success for us.

- Dara

Fun Times in O-HI-O

We have had a great trip to Cincinnati so far. We arrived at about 4 p.m. on Friday and had practice at Cincinnati’s arena that evening. The team enjoyed a huge family style Italian dinner at Maggiano’s restaurant before heading back to the hotel for the night.
Today, Saturday, we got to have an exciting NFL experience thanks to some Dartmouth connections here in Cincinnati – Dartmouth alumni really are a family, no matter how many years or miles removed from Hanover.

Mike Brown ’57 is the owner and president of the Bengals and his daughter, Katie Brown Blackburn ’86, is the executive vice president of the team. Thanks to their Dartmouth ties and friends in common, we were able to visit the Bengals Paul Brown Stadium. Katie and her daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline, gave us the royal treatment! We got to watch the Bengals do their walkthrough for their game against the Browns tomorrow right on field level. The players got lots of pictures in the stadium and even some with quarterback Carson Palmer, head coach Marvin Lewis and other players.

After watching practice we got a full tour of the stadium, which also houses the team’s training facilities and offices. We went everywhere from the team meeting rooms, to the head coach’s office to the full size basketball court near the locker room, where the team and Elizabeth played a mean game of knock out. Meghan McFee `11 edged Michelle Meyer ’10 for the win!

The whole experience was a thrill for everyone, but especially for Ohio natives and Bengals fans, Michelle and Louise Vanden Bosch ’11.

We’re back at the hotel now for the afternoon and we’ll relax here until film and practice at 5. Then it will be a quiet night in as we prepare mentally and physically to take on the University of Cincinnati tomorrow at 2.

- Dara

Go Big Green and Go Bengals!

The Process Continues

We lost again to Vermont on Wednesday night. We faced an experienced and talented UVM team and they pulled away in the second half.

Okay, I admit I have a hard time losing and we are losing big. But there will be no pity party from me. I am watching some players grow up right in front of my eyes. Sasha Dosenko and Faziah Steen stepped up and competed as they saw significant playing time last night. Overall we are competing better, but we are not  “there” yet.  No sure I have ever been … "there."

Perseverance. That concept is at odds with this here and now world. It is dull and slow … not shiny and sleek. There are no short cuts to perseverance and its journey will be arduous. Those without a vision will never see the finish line. There is no vision without faith. Basically, you have to believe and put one foot in front of the other and get going … one step at a time.

Off to Cincinnati in the morning. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for following us!

- Coach Wielgus