Danny Daly is a freshman who is pursing a degree in journalism at Northwestern. Daly, a native of Potomac, Maryland, is the beat writer for women's basketball for the Daily Northwestern. Daly, who has journalism blood in him as his father is a columnist for the Washington Times answered some questions about the Northwestern Basketball team past, present, and future.
Above the Rim: After a season in which the team ranked last in the Big Ten they brought in an excellent coach in Joe McKeown who has 509 career victories. How did they get him to come to NU?
Danny: He certainly had other opportunities to leave George Washington, including two chances to jump to the WNBA. There are two big reasons why he took this job: one, he wanted to move his family--his son had been struggling and he liked the educational opportunities of the Chicago region. Two, McKeown sees a lot of potential at Northwestern. It hasn't always resided in the Big Ten basement; it fielded some pretty good teams in the early '90s. He thinks he might be able to recruit better here and attract a level of student-athlete a notch better than he could at GW. Recently just about everyone NU has recruited has come from the Chicago region; McKeown thinks the university has a nationally appeal. He's already working on that--his first two recruits are from California and Las Vegas.
Above the Rim: What are the goals/expectations for the team this year?
Danny: It's been a while since this team has been any good, and the last few years in particular have been tough (24-95 under Beth Combs, only 7 Big Ten wins during that time). So the main thing this year was to lay the foundation for success in future years by implementing McKeown's system and changing the culture and so forth. I think the team was hoping to be more competitive, even in its losses. Last season, 20 of their 26 losses were by double digits. McKeown has also challenged the team to become the best defensive team in the Big Ten, but that might not be just for this season. Making significant progress seems to be the main objective.
Above the Rim: After playing in many close games including loosing 2 by a total of 4 points that is the reaction to the team's 2-7 record?
Danny: this team has been playing much better than its 2-7 record. They've been extremely competitive in every one of their losses. In the opener versus Chicago State they had a halftime lead, fell behind by as much as 11 in the second half, Against Kansas State, they blew a 6-point lead with four minutes to play With Marquette, they had a 14-point lead at the half and didn't giveup that lead until a minute left. Clemson might've been the biggest killer of all--three point lead with five seconds left, a 74% free throw shooter at the line, she misses both, Clemson hits a three with a second left and then wins in overtime. McKeown and the players have stressed learning to play 40 minutes, and let's face it--it's been a while since they've been in position to win as many games as they have been so far. And they're still adjusting to McKeown's system, especially the offense which has been turnover-prone. The main issue is inexperience. Of their normal starters, 2 are sophomores, 1 is a freshman and 2 are juniors. Only two seniors, three-point specialist Erin Dickerson and forward Ellen Jaeschke, see regular playing time.
ATR: How is McKeown reacting to the losses after being so successful in his past?
Danny: McKeown had never had a losing season as a head coach before coming here. So while he said that he wasn't worried about wins and losses this early, etc, he seems to be taking these early losses pretty hard--losing is as foreign to him as winning is to the players.
ATR: Talk about the play of Amy Jaeschke who is averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds?
Danny: Her size, as much as anything else, makes her difficult to defend. She's 6-foot-5, and so far she's usually been the tallest player out on the court by a few inches. This makes a big difference in her rebounding as much as anything--that seems to be much improved over last season. Jaeschke also doesn't take a lot of bad shots--those she attempts are fairly high-percentage layups or short jumpers. As much as anything, the attention she attracts opens up the outside for our guards. Reed and Eckhart have to start hitting more threes and taking better advantage of those wide-open looks.
ATR: What do you think about poor attendance at women's basketball events?
Danny: McKeown's teams at GW were accustomed to playing in front of crowds about 4 times the size of these. As far as how the players feel about it, I'm sure they'd prefer to play in front of bigger, louder crowds. But they also get to play in front of their parents since so many of them are local kids, so that's probably fairly important to them, too. A major roadblock to attendance at these games is that they aren't nearly as well advertised as the men's games are. People also associate the women's game with a slower, more boring style of play, but that's not really the case in terms of this team, anyway. Then the other thing is that this team has little to no history and tradition, which is a battle that a lot of sports here (football and men's basketball come to mind) fight and why the people of Evanston don't turn out particularly well.
ATR: What are your predictions for Saturday's game and the season for NU?
Danny: It seems like Indiana is a more experienced and battle-tested team--you guys managed to close out Missouri and win a close one against West Virginia. We're not quite at that point yet, where we have some (or any) confidence in those situations--though all the recent experience should help. Granted, Indiana also dropped a couple of tight games, but it's also beaten teams it should beat handily--NU hasn't gotten there yet, either (see the Chicago State loss). I would expect Indiana to win a competitive game this weekend, maybe pulling away in the last few minutes to win by about 8 points, especially since it's at your place and we haven't won a road game yet. But I will also say that the next time around, I wouldn't be surprised to see NU pull it out at home. I expect them to play spoiler in the second half of the Big Ten season, giving teams fits with their defense.
