Notre Dame

[PP1]

Most NDA volleyball players play club because they know to “make the team” they need to play volleyball year round.

 

Please clarify this statement.

[rjal]

Please clarify this statement.

 

It's nothing bad just to play for the caliber of team that NDA is you must play year round to have the skill set to make the team. I am sure it is the same for most elite high school teams.

[rjal]

This conversation has strayed so far from the original question. It is not meant to bash volleyball which is one of the elite programs in the state. It was to discuss why NDA has been struggling in basketball and what if anything can be/will be done to improve. At least that was my take on the intended conversation.

[Baller#3]

Now let me preface this with the fact that I know nothing about the Notre Dame girls and their basketball abilities but I want to add my perspective. As a team they went 8-18 last year with 2 seniors and 7 juniors on their roster. They averaged 46 pts per game and gave up almost 55. The 2 seniors were 2 of the 3 leading scorers and Abbey Tierney (junior 2017) was the leading scorer at around 10 pts/game. The seniors are gone and Abbey was able to play only 2 games due to an injury that basically ended her season so I'm told. That left 6 juniors to take over the team that between them averaged about 15.5 pts/game.

 

Did you really expect those juniors to carry this team to a better record? I'm just asking. Sometimes a program gets to the point where a coach has a tough decision to make on whether to cut older girls that may really not add a lot to the overall team record but have been with the program for 6 years, and whether to suck it up and try to develop the younger girls at the jv level. How did the jv team do this year? Do they have some really good talent in the pipeline? Now I'm not saying the coach had no fault in the overall record but looking at the stats on KHSAA in 12 games against the better northern Ky teams and some other good Ohio and Ky. teams they averaged about 30 pts/game and gave up nearly 60 pts/game. Those were 12 of their 21 losses. Sometimes too when girls get to be seniors they just lose interest in sports. I don't know and we may never know but sometimes we are too quick to throw all the blame on the coach.

 

How are the High School basketball schedule created? Is it a contract for 2 years or can you change it each year?

[Big Red]

I think some people tried to answer the original question, and the answer wasn't accepted and it caused the stray.

The simple answer is that outside of the fall soccer and volleyball high school seasons, many of the top players that could be top basketball players are dominated by their soccer and volleyball CLUB TEAMS. NDA coaches do not tell kids NOT to play basketball. Kids have tried to maintain their club (soccer and volleyball) schedules and play NDA basketball, but it is WAY too much on the kids and parents. Remember, the parents have a substantial investment on the club teams because that is where the recruiting happens. At this point, the clubs rule and dominate.

 

Don't shoot the messenger! I'm trying to explain the reality.

[EasyEdge]

This conversation has strayed so far from the original question. It is not meant to bash volleyball which is one of the elite programs in the state. It was to discuss why NDA has been struggling in basketball and what if anything can be/will be done to improve. At least that was my take on the intended conversation.

 

The original topic was a "should we fire the coach" shot fired across the bow and no one really seemed to buy into that. The majority of responses were to offer reasons (other than the coach) that the team has been struggling. I see why you might think it is off topic, but it actually offers up a pretty good theory. The people who think it is coached related didn't seem to respond.

[se7ens]

Just like most things in life, I don't think you can point to one thing and say "this is it!" If I could take a stab:

1) Nicole Levandusky and Wyatt Foust are great coaches at the high school level. Between the two of them there is a regional title (possibly two if Murray wins theirs in the near future), a state runner-up, a regional runner-up, and an All-A state championship. Coach Cooper is still unproven. Is she the issue? I don't know if we have enough information on that yet. Which leads me to...

2) The talent level in the last two years has been nowhere near what it was during the Foust and Levandusky eras. I will take this point just to say that talent can be naturally cyclical. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it isn't. I'm about to make two more points to this but regardless of them, there will be talent in the rotation for NDA again.

3) NDA cannot have middle schoolers called up. The big point here is that they are in the minority in this. If everyone were on the same page, it wouldn't matter. But it does put them at a disadvantage in terms of getting kids in the building and familiar with the system.

4) Club sports are a hindering factor, especially at NDA where there is excellence in soccer and volleyball. This hurts other schools as well, but it gets felt especially hard at NDA because of how strong the other programs are. I think St. Henry would be the other NKY school that can closely relate to this issue. However, there were several volleyball/soccer players on this year's NDA squad. So it isn't a complete blanket. On the flipside of that, there are two current seniors who would have been pretty stellar varsity basketball players that played basketball as freshmen that went soccer only afterwards. Soccer was almost definitely their better sport and they to pursue that full time, reaping great success. This is an issue that Highlands has dealt with as some stellar football players chose to also play basketball while some that would help basketball don't. It's just the kid's personal choice, something I definitely respect. My last point on this is that Levandusky and Foust each had stars from other sports help them achieve success (Clemons, soccer, and Ogle, volleyball) are the examples that come to mind first.

 

I think NDA is on the low-side of the cycle. Yes, they have inherent challenges but all schools do. The talent will be there again. Is Coach Cooper the right choice? I don't know if we fully know that yet. She definitely has her strong points as well as her weaknesses, but all coaches do. Sincerely hoping the best for her and the Pandas.

[BlueColonel87]

Thank you to all of the families that made up the Panda basketball program over the past four years. Going to miss our time together.

[BIGZIG]

Is it time for a new coach?

Last year record 8-18

This year 7-21

 

My sources tell me NDA is definitely looking to make a change and have actively been looking at coaches in NKY who might be interested.

[PP1]

Who would want the job? Apparently there is not a whole lot of talent coming up the line.

[Rap]

My sources tell me NDA is definitely looking to make a change and have actively been looking at coaches in NKY who might be interested.

 

So your saying the other coach has been let go and the job is open? Or your saying while job is still filled they are going behind her back and seeing what eligible candidates are out there and interested. If the later I first don't buy it however if so I wouldn't want to work for a school pulling a dirty move like that. I would hope Notre dame is better than that.

[coachforlife]

So your saying the other coach has been let go and the job is open? Or your saying while job is still filled they are going behind her back and seeing what eligible candidates are out there and interested. If the later I first don't buy it however if so I wouldn't want to work for a school pulling a dirty move like that. I would hope Notre dame is better than that.

I agree with your last statement 100 %

[Big Red]

PP1, your understanding of talent coming in is not correct. The current freshmen class has legit talent that saw varsity time this year, and the incoming freshmen class next year will be by far the most talented group in quite some time. Not athletes they will lose to volleyball, but real basketball players from multiple schools that play AAU basketball.

[PP1]

@Big Red Okay. Sounds like you know more about then I. I could have sworn that during the mid season there was talk of the talent level being down though.

[BIGZIG]

So your saying the other coach has been let go and the job is open? Or your saying while job is still filled they are going behind her back and seeing what eligible candidates are out there and interested. If the later I first don't buy it however if so I wouldn't want to work for a school pulling a dirty move like that. I would hope Notre dame is better than that.

 

Just saying what I've heard from a few people with connections to NDA