Drury Panthers

[crazznewt]

The Lady Panthers showed they are still a competitive team with the close road loss to Lewis in Romeoville. Drury was within 1 point with 35 seconds left despite being in serious foul trouble. Not a bad showing on the road in front of a loud crowd and against a team that returned all their good players -including four who were all conference.

This game also showed why Aiden Moxness' continued improvement is important to this team, as she contributed 11 points and 6 rebounds in another game where Drury was beat inside.

[crazznewt]

Some player updates:

*Former Lady Panther Allie Clevenger starts for a thin, but undefeated Central Missouri team, averaging 33 minutes and 7 points a game.

*Bella Sparaco comes off the bench for Lynn University and averages 6 points, 3 rebounds and 17 minutes. Her team lost to Allie's last Saturday in Florida.

*Former Truman Lady Bulldog Hannah Belanger starts for Iowa State, averages 8.5 points and 28 minutes.

*Former Lady Panther and current NBA Referee Lauren Holtkamp, on a national stage, stood between an angry Russell Westbrook and a heckling fan in the closing moments of the Clippers home loss to a shorthanded Denver Nuggets team.

On the subject of women's basketball:

*After starting the season undefeated at 3-0, not including the exhibition win over D1 Indiana State, Illinois Springfield then got hammered by Rockhurst and Kentucky Wesleyan in their last two.

*Maryville lost at Lewis by one, then returned home and lost to Mckendree by 4.

*Mckendree also beat Truman in a game that featured a couple of crappy calls against Weltha.

[crazznewt]

Quick thoughts while waiting for better half:

Props to Drury for stationing camera operators under each basket for the GLVCSN broadcasts, but I'm sure staff knows by now, the basket standards blocked the view of much of the court when those camera angles were used. Once that issue is corrected, this system will provide a nice viewing experience.

The Lady Panthers are sure missing injured high scoring freshman guard Kaylee King. Hopefully she returns this season. Drury still has players capable of making the big play, including:

*Beth Matas Martin, who has the ability to make threes when no one in the gym sees it coming. She loves body contact at the three point line where she has a variety of moves to shake the defender. On one move while being bodied, she jab stepped toward the basket, dribbled behind her back as she settled back into the perfect shooting stance, finishing with a nothing but net shot with perfect back-spin, all while the defender scrambled to get a hand in her face.

*Anna Hitt is a blur in the open court while filling the passing lanes, is a top defender, and is always active on the boards.

*Makaiya Brooks has a very quick shot and can score in bunches. Everyone in the gym knows she's going to shoot, and yet she still is able to shoot anyway and with accuracy.

*Caitlynn Daniels is a very good playmaker. Her no-look passes often leave the crowd buzzing. She also gets on top of her shot nicely.

*Reese Schaaf can drop step to either side and score with either hand. She also can score mid-range or deep. When she gets healthy, she will be a handful.

*When Andjela Kremenovic is on, she has the ability to create a lot of space to shoot her jump shot. She also slip cuts to the basket well.

This team being undefeated at this point is significant for several reasons:

*This is a whole new team (except for 6 players).

*Whole new coaching staff.

*Significant injuries to key players.

I mention all that to make this point: This is the most playing time the latter five players mentioned above have had in college by far. This is one reason why I believe this team will be good by season's end - If they can keep their players healthy,

[crazznewt]

Cam Martin isn’t there any longer - he was at KU last year and is now at Boise St (I think). It’s a different big man.

Oops, wrong Cam. I've made that mistake before, when I rebuilt my mom's station wagon engine and it sounded like a pro-stock dragster when she pulled up to a red light.

[DUPanther]

I thought Juok set the tone early with the dunks, drives and three point shot. The whole arena heard Missouri Southern coach Mahon yelling for double teams on him often. Impressive, as the Lions are big, athletic, and mature, including the 26 year old Cam Martin.
This freshman had seven dunks in the two game classic. This is not an over rated stat, as he is often getting to where he wants to be on the court, shooting 72% FG, 50% from three and averaging almost 17 points a game as a result.

Logan Applegate, the reigning GLVC Freshman Of the Year, can get his shot about anytime he wants. Whitley adds a dimension that is similar to the injured Ryan Gordon, who is a top player on this team.

After years of turnover and the coach missing a LOT of time with health issues, compounded by Covid, I believe this program is on the rebound. The overall talent, athleticism, and size is there. Hopefully, there are no more injuries. Looking at what the two who are injured will add to the team, Drury should have a good season.

Cam Martin isn’t there any longer - he was at KU last year and is now at Boise St (I think). It’s a different big man.

[crazznewt]

Good win over Missouri Southern last night. We didn’t always play smart basketball, but the effort was good. Sophomore Elijah Whitley had his best game as a Panther. They’re going to need to clean up some of the turnovers on the road trip next week.

I thought Juok set the tone early with the dunks, drives and three point shot. The whole arena heard Missouri Southern coach Mahon yelling for double teams on him often. Impressive, as the Lions are big, athletic, and mature.
This freshman had seven dunks in the two game classic. This is not an over rated stat, as he is often getting to where he wants to be on the court, shooting 72% FG, 50% from three and averaging almost 17 points a game as a result.

Logan Applegate, the reigning GLVC Freshman Of the Year, can get his shot about anytime he wants. Whitley adds a dimension that is similar to the injured Ryan Gordon, who is a top player on this team.

After years of turnover and the coach missing a LOT of time with health issues, compounded by Covid, I believe this program is on the rebound. The overall talent, athleticism, and size is there. Hopefully, there are no more injuries. Looking at what the two who are injured will add to the team, Drury should have a good season.

[DUPanther]

Good win over Missouri Southern last night. We didn’t always play smart basketball, but the effort was good. Sophomore Elijah Whitley had his best game as a Panther. They’re going to need to clean up some of the turnovers on the road trip next week.

[crazznewt]

Following his second four dunk game Tuesday, the Panther's 6'8" freshman, Juok Riak, scored 23 points on 8 of 10 from the field and 7 of 8 and from the line in a close road loss to ArkansasTech Thursday.
As he gets stronger, he might eventually break Elwayne Campbell's 42 year old (gasp) unofficial single game dunk record of 7.

[crazznewt]

The GLVC Women's teams look to be more balanced than in recent years. Illinois Springfield defeating Indiana State on Wednesday is one example of this.
The conference could be decided by which team can avoid injuries the best. The Lady Panthers in particular, have been bitten hard by the injury bug.

Lady Panther, Makaiya Brooks, showed off her amazing streak shooting today by going 7 of 9 from 3, many of these were deep and defended well. Hopefully her conditioning catches up soon.

Former Lady Panther foe, the 0-3 Bellarmine Lady Knights, lost to the University of Louisville 111-33

[crazznewt]

Despite several unforced errors, the Lady Panthers beat a very good Trevecca Nazarene team on the Trojan's home court where they were undefeated last year. Drury guards Beth Matas Martin and Caitlynn Daniels were especially impressive as they played practically every minute of both games.

The Lady Panthers were the only GLVC pre-season top 3 team to go undefeated for the weekend, as pre-season number 1 Lewis, and number 3 UIndy each went 0-2.

The Indy "Lady" Greyhounds technical foul tally stands at one so far this young season. This, after finishing with three in their last game of the previous season and handing Rockhurst a win after two techs in the closing minutes in another late season game.

The Drury men also went 2-0 this weekend in games played at SBU. Yesterday, 6'8" freshman, Juok Riak, scored 28 points on some nice drives to the basket, a deep three, and 4 dunks. He has quick hops. It is disappointing the Panthers had to start the season without Ryan Gordon who will hopefully return to the lineup soon.

Edit: I failed to mention Juok was 10 of 11 from the field.

[crazznewt]

Good shooting and a big rebounding margin won the game for the Lady Panthers, as Beth Matis Martin, Kaitlyn Daniels, and Reese Schaaf carried Drury against a decent Kentucky Wesleyan team.

Based on what we saw in the exhibition, It wasn't surprising that Drury had 7 more turnovers (20) than KWC. I think it's safe to say DU hasn't come up short in that category in more than a decade.

Another concern is KWC winning points in the paint 46 - 26. There is some upside, as a handful of players have combined to miss significant practice time with injuries hurting the depth of this team.

Women's GLVC pre-season number 1 Lewis, and number 3 UIndy both lost, as did SBU. (It's an unusual sight to see a baptist university player wearing a headscarf)

I didn't have time to watch the Drury men play, but saw they won.

[crazznewt]

A good start to the season for former SBU head coach Kelsey Keiser as her Pepperdine team defeated a loaded Cal Irvine Lady Anteater team, who were 25-7 overall and 16-2 in the conference last season.

[crazznewt]

Saturday's Lady Panther opponent, Trevecca Nazarene, scored a convincing 16 point road win against a good D1 Austin Peay team who were picked 4th in the A-SUN Conference. This, coupled with Kentucky Wesleyan Men's road win at THE University of Louisville last week, further prove that D1's are not always invincible against D2's.


Also last week, D2 Missouri Western beat the D1 Missouri State Lady Bears, whose best player is a D2 transfer. The Lady Bears scored a D1 road win their following game. By the way, the reigning MVP in the Lady Bear's Missouri Valley Conference was a D2 transfer from Drury.


These upsets obviously aren't the norm, but are still impressive considering D1's historically start practice 2 weeks before D2 and have more available scholarships.

[crazznewt]

It's apparent the Lady Panthers have a lot to work on before their challenging and important first conference road trip later this month.
Some observations from last night's exhibition:

*The defense needs a lot of work. The D3 Lions scored 77 points and the smaller Scots seemingly scored at will inside.

*The ball handling needs work. There are no Bernard, Robinson or DaMitz types on this team to single handedly break a press. It will have to be a team effort.

*Makaiya Brooks has the green light to shoot. She is proficient at creating the space she needs to get her shot. She will have some huge games.

*It's imperative the 6'4" Aiden Moxness continues to improve for this team to be successful, as the smaller Scots outscored the Lady Panthers inside the paint.

*At least Drury did win by 36.
The night before and a mile south, the Missouri State Lady Bears were embarrassed by D2 Missouri Western in their exhibition.

*I think this team will be good by tournament time. We'll see.

[crazznewt]

Wow, former SBU head women's bb coach, Kelsey Keiser, has moved up the ladder quickly at Pepperdine University. She was hired as an assistant, but was promoted to interim head coach for this season when the new Pepperdine head coach took a sabbatical just before school started.
What a turn around for her. I always felt that she didn't have adequate support to help her be successful at SBU. A season later, she is a D1 head coach in Malibu, California. This will be a huge challenge for her as the Wave have lost 51 total games in the last three seasons.