Minnesota Women's Basketball

sueshort · Forum Admin

Another exhibition game to see how things are progressing.

gopher5 · All-Star

Gophers prepare for final exhibition Sunday at Williams Arena

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/11/11/66097

sueshort · Forum Admin

Schoney had a great game today, hitting threes almost at will in the first half. But the highlight today had to be Emmy. I'm not sure about the stats, as the line that see on gophersports.com is very hard to read with no grid lines -- but it looks like she had 8 points, 8 assists, 1 turnover, and 6 steals! Can that be right? I think so, from the way things were going!

She hit a shot that Whalen still can't hit consistently, sliding across the top of the key and shooting an off-balance mid-range jumper. She did no-look passes, steals leading to fast breaks, thread the needle passes to the posts -- all the while handling the ball at PG with just one turnover.

Granted, SCSU wasn't the toughest opponent we'll face, but this kid is a freshman who hasn't even played in a regular season game yet! I'm excited for the future of Gopher basketball with Fox on our side!

Can't wait to see how they do against the Cardinal next weekend, but I'm very psyched about an interesting season.

gophers331122 · Veteran

I dont know about everyone else, but i think Emmy Fox will be a talanted player for a long time. She looked like Whalen at some points in the game today, she had great steals, assists, and just played great "D" today. I very impressed with Pod today too, she getting better and better each game, LL, Tasha, both had great games again, and how bout the "Rock" 5-5 from behind the arc, in the first half, wow!!! that was fun to watch her knock those down, so graceful.

p_d_swanson · All-Star

Gophers were +37 in 22 minutes with Fox on the floor, compared to +3 in the 18 minutes without her. Phenomenal player...

hoopsfan · Veteran

I agree. I was there too and all I can say is...WOW!!!

You hate to put any unneeded pressure on her, but you can see that this young player has a chance to be a very very special player. Her passing to me was unbelievable.

If you haven't seen her yet---one thing you may notice.... I would in no way ever compare her to the great Lindsay Whalen, the best player ever to play for the Gophers. But you know how you used to look at Lindsay and say to yourself, "Gee, she really doesn't look much like a player, she isn't that big, isn't all that muscular or toned, doesn't look that sleek when she runs, etc, and then you see her just play. Well, I think it is sort of the same thing in a way with Fox. You see her and you just don't think she looks like she would be that good, but then you watch her....

She is going to be fun to watch. Question is, with Shoeney, Roysland, April, and even Brittany Davis who looks like she will contribute---how is Pam going to find playing time for her???

p_d_swanson · All-Star

sueshort · Forum Admin

I agree with Paul -- there's no way Fox will not play this season. She may not start right away, but my guess is that she's starting before March.

I remember Laura, Debbie, and even Linda Roberts, and they were every bit as dominating (or more so) in their time as Lindsay was in hers. We actually have a wonderful tradition at Minnesota of great players, and, marketing aside, Lindsay is only one of them.

Curious · Team Captain

MinnyMe · League Champion

Guest

good thread.

These early games can be quite boring, but its fun to watch the new players, well in our case, playER, being that we only have one freshman playing this year. At halftime I was near the restrooms, when I overheard this man talking on this cell phone. I would say this man was in his 60's. He was calling to give a halftime report. This is what I heard....

"..... you know that Fox girl....that one from Colorado...the guard?.... well you know what, she is the REAL DEAL! She is so quick. She did this thing, well it looked like Whalen."

He went on to praise "the two girls from Chicago area" as well.

I just had to laugh. The crowd obviously loves Fox, we all gave her a standing O. Much potential.

As someone stated before, she doesnt look like she would be that quick. She looks 16. Just looking at her you wouldnt think she would be so talented. But wow, Im glad we have her. At times last year I thought our offense was much, much too slow. Stagnet and slow. This year, I think things could be much quicker. Fox really has the talent, and also looks like she likes the run and gun game. Should be exciting to watch. Both her and Brittany have given us the speed, quickness and athleticsm we have been lacking. I know it is easy to do, but I really dont want to compare Fox to Whalen. Whalen is a legend here in Minnesota, and I really dont want to compare the two. Fox is a freshman, with a whole lot of potential, and we need to let her establish her own identity.

Liz looked great today too. How about that move, from the wing to the hoop. She took the ball and drove from way out from the wing all the way inside, and looked very confident. Shocked me. The very next possession I was yelling, DO IT AGAIN LIZ! Seems like her confidence has really gone up.

whodatballer · All-Star

I have heard that fox has done some cool spectacular moves, but I don’t think I would compare her to Whalen either. Fox has a lot of learning ahead of her and some pretty big shoes to fill if she ever wants to surpass the greatness of what Whalen has done.

Normandale Herstory Guy · Rookie

Hi, All,

I would like to ditto everyone's remarks about Emmy Fox. She still has a long way to go to be considered in comparison to Whalen but there were more than a few times when I would say outloud (and I was sitting by myself because my partner wasn't there today) "oh my!" which is what I said whenever Whalen made an incredible pass or shot from an impossible angle on a drive to the hole. Indeed, at one point Emmy did a "Whalen" (either a verb or a noun which we will have to use until it becomes an "Emmy") when she had a clear path to the basket and then dished to (I think) Shannon Bolden who was too far inside for a good shot (although she was fouled and went to the line making 1 of 2). Immediately, Pam was in Emmy's ear and, I'm sure, telling her not to be too altruistic ( I could imagine Pam having the same conversation with Lindsey as well). Two points (and I agree that one or two preseason games does not a career make): 1. Emmy came in at a point when the fans were uneasy and St. Cloud was actually thinking they could play with us and Emmy simply dominated and for most of the time she scored only 4 points (she got an additional 4 points later in garbage time). 2. She played the kind of defense that only Corrine Van Wald, Shannon Bolden, and April Calhoun have played (and, yes, I came to Gopher's basketball late - notice I said "Gopher's basketball" because I really don't enjoy watching the men play on the college or pro level -- too much one-on-one -- a pass once in a while would be nice to see and the emphasis on dunking is overrated - Larry Bird and Magic Johnson rarely dunked - but I digress). Consistent defense is something that Lindsey did not learn until her first year with Pam and Pam sat her down at least once because she was doing the "olay" defense. In today's game, Emmy went in to replace Bolden who had been guarding their three-point shooter Sascha Hansen (a very good player - I also liked #50 Erika Quiqley as well, by the way, she stuffed both Natasha and Liz and played quality defense). Lindsey couldn't play the kind of "in-your-shirt" defense that Emmy pleyed until her senior year. Emmy is also taller than Whalen by at least two inches (I don't care what the "tale of the tape" says) and I can't wait until Emmy grows into her wingspan - is it just me or are her arms really long! As you can tell, I was impressed.

gophers331122 · Veteran

To make my self clear, i was not comparing Fox, to Whalen. All I said was that Fox, looked like Whalen, with some of her passes, and hang-time shots. Laughing

Fun to Watch too!!

sueshort · Forum Admin

I'm perfectly willing to talk about Fox in relation to Whalen -- and having watched Whalen her first year, I think that Fox is way ahead of where Whalen was when she was a freshman. It helps that Fox is getting good coaching, but she plays very smart and under total control, things that Whalen didn't learn until many years later.

Whalen was a good player, but she wasn't perfect in college (and isn't in the W, either). I agree that it's better to let Fox define herself, but it's normal to think in comparative terms when looking at Fox's potential. She's starting way ahead of Whalen, and that's just plain good news for Gopher women's hoops.