Out & About: Minneapolis Lady Cats/Minnesota Suns

#2 Posting 6.2.2006
Your Daily Dose of Girls Basketball news & information

This game took place on Sunday May 28 in Menomonie WI
12u Gold Championship Memorial Day Classic
Minneapolis Lady Cats 46, Minnesota Suns 39

First off---why am I watching 12s? It fit into the schedule nicely between 16 games; and, more importantly, I knew the coach for the Suns--Erica Haugen, a former player of mine from the old days at Osseo. In fact I have been to a few of their practices. Since this was a championship game with Erica's team, I decided to see what the differences are with 12s and 16s.

MLC led early 8-0 and 12-3 as the Suns started off 0/10 on their possessions and 1/19 on the whole string. All of the MLC points came via turnovers. Sarina led MLC with six to begin with. Anna Gerdes, the lefty, dialed long distance for the first three Suns points. Once the Suns took better care of the ball, their fortunes began to change. They went on a 12-4 run to cut the MLC lead to 16-15. Alyson Berkas led the Sun Rising with six straight points.

In the second half the ball handling was better, if not air tight, for both teams. Neither team suffered the massive droughts that plagued them in the first half. Talia Shapiro tied it up for the Suns at 24 off a pass from Gerdes. Stephanie Davison hit a trey to give the Suns their only lead at 27-26. The Suns held the lead for two possessions when Sarina took the lead back for MLC for good on a drive 28-27. After a turnover Sadiqah knocked down a three to put MLC in the drivers seat 31-27. The closest the Suns came to MLC was at 35-33 when Gerdes hit a jumper. Keeping Sarina off the glass was a tough challenge for the Suns as she has a nose for the ball. She scored a put back to give insurance to MLC. The game wound down with out any fouling/free throw parades.

AAU ROSTERS

NUMBERS EXPLAINED
player, high school, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
PLAYER EVALUATIONS
MINNEAPOLIS LADY CATS
You will see only the first names of these players like the Brazillian soccer players. That is because I was only given the first names, No school affiliation was given either.
STARTERS
Sarina 17, 16, 106.3, .563 physical, plays in the low post, intimidating. Hustle & muscle. RF: I don't know how much bigger she will get. Should start to work facing the basket.
Laura 4, 5, 80.0, .400
Breanna 10, 14, 71.4, .357 good energy, leaping ability
Sadiqah 3, 9, 33.3, .111
Marissa 6, 8, 75.0, .375
BENCH
Jen 4, 6, 66.7, .333
Savannah 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Jasmine 0, 1, 0.0, .000

MINNESOTA SUNS
STARTERS
Alicia Johnson, Orono 0, 4, 0.0, .000
Kaylani Edwards, Bloomington Kennedy 4, 7, 57.1, .286
Anna Gerdes, Maple Grove 7, 11, 63.4, .273
Taylor Null, Roseville 4, 12, 33.3, .167
Stephanie Davison, Maple Grove 7, 10, 70.0, .300
BENCH
Amie Tunheim, Orono 0, 6, 0.0, .000
Talia Shapiro, Armstrong 8, 5, 160.0, .800
Alyson Berkas, Roseville 9, 4, 225.0, 1.000
What I am impressed with at practice with this team, when I have been there, is their shooting. This will serve them well down the road. Take a look at Berkas and Shapiro's numbers. Both very nice pp100 #s. Part of the reason is they are not handling the ball that much on the press, therefore not turning it over. As the years go by this team will get better at handling the ball, handling the pressure, and picking up their physical play (it has been talked about at practice). They are already working with a heavy ball to improve their strength. I think the Suns have a good future, and Erica is doing a good job with the youngsters.

TRENCH PLAYER
Sarina

BY THE NUMBERS
Team, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
Mpls Lady Cats 46, 64, 71.9, .359
MN Suns 39, 64, 60.9, .281
The pace was the fastest of all the games I saw on Sunday. This is because of rapid turnover rate. The Suns led in that dubious category with a turnover rate of .469; the MLC came in with a .250 rate. Another factor in the game was getting to the line, or not getting to the line in the case of the Suns. They were 0/4 while MLC shot 17 free throws and made 11. That was a healthy differance. The old adage of lay ups & free throws worked in MLC's favor. 14 points came via layups (usually on turnovers), and they added 8 points with second shots. The Suns had better shooters with most of their points coming on half court sets. My prediction is that the Suns will handle the pressure better in the years to come. They already have a little rivalry going with MLC. It will be interesting to chart their progress over the coming years.

Next Up: I am headed to the Lynx/Fever game tonight. My whole mission is to get defensive numbers. All the numbers you see are from the offensive side of things. Is their a difference on the individual level? I will be concentrating on
Forced Misses
Forced Turnovers
Forced Free throw miss. I don't know how you can force a miss, but the player will get defensive credit if the offensive player misses the shot.
Allowed Field Goals
Allowed Free Throws
The other standard Rebounds, Blocks, and steals will also be used, but that is visible all the time.