Live from Ann Arbor!

I know, my women's entries have been sparse. Maybe it'll pick up with conference season.

After I see more of this team this BT season, I plan to go on a long rant about Coach Combs and her coaching ability. So far, recruiting can't stand on its own. But I'll give her a little more time to adjust to Amy being in the lineup.

So let's talk about Amy. Tomorrow's match-up with Michigan features the first time in conference where Amy will go up against a girl taller than her. Krista Phillips is not a huge threat on the boards, and is barely averaging double figures. But the way Jaeschke's been playing down low, Phillips' 6'6" height might be enough.

The single most frustrating aspect of this NU team (and it's hard to pinpoint that) is the lack of post-presence. McInerney, both Jaeschkes, Boyd, Bielawski, Stedman: none of them move naturally in the paint. McInerney flops the ball up. Ellen pushes it toward the glass from 4 feet out. Boyd picks up a foul every other posession. And all of them drop the ball immediately when they get the pass inside before posting up...which they're unable to do.

Instead of following through on the post up, continuing to move inside, they give up on it, and decide quickly to try and draw a foul instead, which they rarely get. I hardly ever see them actually use the glass on the layup. I know it's possible...every other team does it against NU.

Unfortunately, Amy Jaeschke has been a disappointment thus far. How much can we blame on being a greenhorn? She settles for outside shots because she has "range", rather than positioning herself for the high percentage roll-ins, which her height naturally gives her a greater advantage in.

There seems to be no offensive game plan or philosophy. They go down the court with one play, and if it breaks down, Bibbs or Reed just try to do it all alone.

Tomorrow's game will be a solid challenge. Michigan's the only team NU has beaten consistently the past three years, but they seem to have improved more than Northwestern has. They don't do well on the glass, but they take their time, set up plays, share the ball, and take high percentage shots . They have a new coach who had tremendous success at UW-GB, and just beat Iowa handily. Maybe I'll finally see a new Northwestern team (like the last time they won here, two years ago, my first play-by-play....ah, memories). But I doubt it.