STrib: Souhan: Whalen Teaches Bell to Bring Some Swag to the Court

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.startribune.com/much-like...eet/505648222/


Sunday, Bell, a senior, produced 24 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and five assists in 38 minutes. She guarded Northwestern star Lindsey Pulliam, helping hold her to 10 points, and played a key role in the Gophers’ trap.

“She was all over the place,” Whalen said. “She just plays so hard, so hard, every possession.”

Gophers stars don’t have to look for career advice these days. Whalen took Bell to lunch before the season began to discuss the unique challenges faced by a senior guard with pro ambitions.

Coming from a Gophers star who became a WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, there was no need for a guest speaker.

“We talked about what I needed to be and what I needed to do outside basketball and on the court to be more vocal and be the leader on the team, being the oldest on the team,” Bell said. “She told me if I want to be a WNBA player I have to do the little things that might not matter to other people but that should matter to me if I want to play at the next level.”


Also, If you were wondering; Lindsay was wearing "Kyrie Irving Black History Month Air Force 1s".

[EaganGopher22]

Another interesting point from the article:

Whalen noted that Bell made 50 percent of her shots on Sunday, going 11-for-22. That is a point of emphasis for the rest of this season and for her pro prospects. She is quick and aggressive enough to get her shot whenever she wants, and that can lead to inefficient performances.
Only twice in Big Ten play has Bell made 50 percent of her shots, and the Gophers are 2-0. Overall, the Gophers are 7-0 when she shoots 50 percent and 10-7 when she doesn’t.

This speaks to many different posts about Bell being out of control, etc. Very good player, but I suspect that 50% also means better shot selection in those games? Not totally sure if that is true, but it seems like she played a little more under control, especially after the fourth foul (charging call).

[Shades]

Bell misses some easy shots. From yesterday, remember the breakaway steal that rolled off the rim? There was another transition bucket I remember that Bell bricked. Perez was following to clean up and put back. Bell plays with an admirable amount of energy. Too bad this energy seems to come at the cost of focus and IQ.

[EaganGopher22]

Bell misses some easy shots. From yesterday, remember the breakaway steal that rolled off the rim? There was another transition bucket I remember that Bell bricked. Perez was following to clean up and put back. Bell plays with an admirable amount of energy. Too bad this energy seems to come at the cost of focus and IQ.

Isn't that a bit harsh? 5 steals and 11 rebounds for a guard in yesterday's game. I believe she is our second highest rebounder and she has 200 career steals, so I think focus and IQ are there. But I agree, offensively she doesn't always make good decisions which resulted in 7 turnovers.

[CutDownTheNet]

Another interesting point from the article:

Whalen noted that Bell made 50 percent of her shots on Sunday, going 11-for-22. That is a point of emphasis for the rest of this season and for her pro prospects. She is quick and aggressive enough to get her shot whenever she wants, and that can lead to inefficient performances.
Only twice in Big Ten play has Bell made 50 percent of her shots, and the Gophers are 2-0. Overall, the Gophers are 7-0 when she shoots 50 percent and 10-7 when she doesn’t.

This speaks to many different posts about Bell being out of control, etc. Very good player, but I suspect that 50% also means better shot selection in those games? Not totally sure if that is true, but it seems like she played a little more under control, especially after the fourth foul (charging call).

More importantly than Bell's shooting percentage alone, it is the combination of Bell's shooting percentage along with Bell's total turnovers that is the best predictor of whether we win or lose any non-cupcake game. I threw out all cupcake games (that would be all non-league games except Syracuse) as irrelevant, since we were able to beat those teams in spite of whatever performance Bell turned in. I kept all Big Ten teams (calling them non-cupcake even for Wisconsin).

In the stats below I recorded Team/game followed by Bell shooting percentage followed by Bell total turnovers in that game followed by Win/Loss indicator. They are grouped into Won games (first section) and Lost games (second section). In parentheses for each section is the summary of what predicts Won or Lost.

Team Bell Pct Bell TO W/L
@Wisc .571 1 W
Wisc .269 2 W
@Indiana .238 3 W
Syracuse .360 3 W
@NW .412 3 W
Rutgers .357 7 W
NW .500 7 W (but effectively lost in regulation)

(We win if Bell shoots > 45% AND if she has < 4 turnovers; exception: Rutgers W)

Team Bell Pct Bell TO W/L
Purdue .368 0 L
Iowa .450 2 L
@Mich .222 3 L
@MSU .429 4 L
@Nebraska .267 5 L
Ohio State .273 7 L
Illinois .385 7 L

(We lose if Bell shoots <= 45% OR if she has >= 4 turnovers)

The two conditions (win condition vs. lose condition) are logical opposites. Together they predict Win vs. Lose almost perfectly - the main exception not predicted correctly is the Rutgers game in which we won in spite of Bell shooting too poorly and having too many turnovers to match the Win condition. The other "exception" is yesterday's NW home game. We won that one too (like Rutgers) in spite of the predictor condition not being met (shooting percentage OK, but way too many turnovers). I'm going to call that game a Loss, actually, since for all intents and purposes we lost it in regulation. We were only granted an OT due to two missed NW free throws, which should not have happened. In other words, we lost in regulation for statistical purposes, but for official purposes were granted a second chance (with which we won it).

Other than that, the logical predicate is a perfect predictor. And the shooting-percentage cutoff can be set at 45% (i.e., one need not use 50%).

It says that we will lose either if Bell shoots at or less than 45% or if she has 4 or more turnovers. On the other hand, we will win if Bell shoots higher than 45% and at the same time makes 3 or fewer turnovers (with the Rutgers game noted above as the only exception to this rule).

Others have stated how important it is for Bell to maintain some semblance of control. That's tantamount to saying that she needs to keep her turnovers in check. To 3 or less, precisely. While at the same time shooting over 45%. That's a challenge. Bell needs to own up to that challenge if she wants the WNBA to be interested in her.

As noted elsewhere, live by Bell, die by Bell. Kenisha Bell is the soul of this team. As important as other players are (and they are very important), the data shows that whether we win or lose turns mostly on how Keke plays.

Go Gophers! Go Keke! Channel your inner Whalen!