Menu
Allard reflects on first season as Lady Tigers head coach
After having spent a decade as the Nevada Lady Tigers junior varsity head basketball coach, Jenny Allard replaced Brent Bartlett who retired from coaching last year after 18 seasons as the Lady Tigers varsity coach. Despite some early season struggles, Nevada had a nice finish to the 2015-16 season.
With her first season recently completed, Allard shared her thoughts on the journey and the challenges she faced.
"As I've stated repeatedly throughout the season to not only those outside of this team but also to the players themselves ---- our biggest obstacle going into the season was acclimating ourselves to team roles and responsibilities that none of us had been in before," she said.
"We knew coming into the season that all of us, both as players and coaches, would be accepting different roles than from anything we've ever had to do in the past."
After finishing the 2014-15 season 20-5 overall while earning a trip to the Class 4 District 13 championship game, Nevada lost a large percentage of its offense with the departures of key senior guards Morgan McNeley and Mikayla Bartlett, as well as center Rilie Good.
The Lady Tigers finished the recently concluded season 10-17 overall and 2-10 in the West Central Conference, falling to Bolivar in the semifinals of the district tournament.
"With five seniors, on paper we appeared to be a veteran team," Allard said. "However, the reality of the situation was that of those five players only two were returning full-time varsity players ---- Megan Payne and Madi Culbertson."
Allard said it was difficult filling the vacancies left by McNeley, Mikayla Bartlett and Good.
"Even (Payne and Culbertson) were being asked to fill positions they had little experience in," she said, "such as being our No. 1 scoring option (or) being our primary ball-handler and decision-maker offensively.
"So our biggest obstacle was not determining who was going to step in as the next 20 point per-night scorer or be our five blocks per-game defensive specialist. It was accepting a new role on a new team, while learning a new system with a new coaching staff."
Prior to the season, Allard described her coaching philosophy as up-tempo, while applying a full-court press when possible. Allard added, that in the half-court set, she preferred to utilize a man-to-man defense.
"As players, not only did we lose a majority of our scoring, but we also lost our primary ball-handlers and record-setting defenders," she said. "Initially, we knew that we would be relying on girls to step-up and take on the scoring load. We weren't sure who specifically those individuals would be. As it turns out, that proved to be an advantage for us, because as the season wore on we were led in scoring by six different players at one time or another.
"What we did not anticipate was how big the impact would truly be of not having any returning full-time varsity primary ball-handlers."
Allard explained that last season McNeley and Mikayla Bartlett shared point guard duties and were consistently strong with the ball. The back-court duo also added another element missing from this year's team ---- 3-point shooting, as both were lethal from long-range. In addition, McNeley eclipsed the 1,000 point scoring mark for her career.
"They did a fantastic job of handling full-court defensive pressure, making good decisions with the ball, and simply running the offense effectively," she said.
Accoring to Allard, the absence of a primary ball-handler was magnified during the early portion of the season.
"This year we knew we had players that were perfectly capable of fulfilling these roles and excelling at them," she said, "but it took longer than I anticipated for the current players to feel comfortable with these new responsibilities.
"I really believe that the biggest underlying factor to our team struggles in the beginning of the season was our lack of confidence in taking care of the basketball."
Allard said wasted offensive possessions proved to be a major detriment to her team.
"Because our offensive possessions were decreased significantly due to our team turnovers, our overall offensive efficiency was extremely low," she said. "However, as with all other statistical categories, the more we played the better our numbers got and the more effective our offense became.
"Throughout the season when we had sub-par game performances, undoubtedly we would revert back to old habits of not valuing the basketball properly, resulting in sloppy offensive play on our part."
Allard said her team gained confidence on the offensive side of the ball as the season progressed.
"Although I'm very proud we improved significantly throughout the season in the scoring column, I'm more proud of our overall improved confidence offensively," Allard noted. "This includes handling the ball full-court, making good decisions offensively, trusting teammates, understanding what a good shot is within the offense and taking it, and simply wanting to take responsibility offensively."
Allard discussed the high-points of the Lady Tigers season.
"I feel like our greatest achievements on the court this season were finishing at or above our seeding in every tournament we played in," she said. "That may sound like an odd achievement, but to perform above the level of expectations from other coaches and programs ---- I feel that is a great accomplishment. Immediately after Thanksgiving break we were seeded fifth in the Carl Junction Lady Bulldog tournament and finished fourth.
"In the middle of January we were seeded sixth in the Frontenac tournament but earned a spot in the championship game, finishing the tournament in second-place. The following week we began the Clinton tournament with a fifth- seed and earned the consolation trophy. And finally, in the district tournament last week, we earned the fourth-seed and finished our season by losing to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Bolivar in the semifinal round."
Allard said another memorable moment came when the Lady Tigers picked up its first conference victory of the season, a 55-53 defeat of Kansas City O'Hara, Feb. 5 at Wynn Gym.
"We lost to them by 14 points a month earlier at their gym," she said. "It was the first time we made and practiced a specific game-plan that was slightly different from how we normally play to prepare for a team, and were able to carry it out successfully.
"That game proved that as a team we had matured to the point that we could make specific adjustments in preparation for upcoming games instead of having to try to make those adjustments in the middle of playing those games. This helped us tremendously as we progressed through the remainder of the season."
Allard said her departing seniors will be missed.
"Megan, Madi, Jansen Miller, Renee Cox, and Carsten Warner have meant a lot to me as a first-year head coach, and the Nevada Lady Tiger basketball program as a whole," she said. "They taught the younger girls the importance of hard work and dedication in achieving goals, and that you are not owed anything just because you're a senior.
"I think the most important thing that these five young women taught all of us ---- is to believe in yourself especially when it seems not a lot of other people do. If there is something that you want badly enough, you will do whatever it takes, outwork everyone else to achieve it.
Allard said her team's motto was, "Whatever obstacles stand in your way are just excuses."
"This was the motto these seniors lived by this season," she said. "They used any negativity from the outside as fuel to make themselves better. They believed in their own abilities and talents and those of their teammates to continually improve throughout the season. And ultimately finish the season more successful than many thought they would. I hope that belief is a lasting legacy that players can learn from for many years to come."
2016-17 Outlook
Allard said she has high hopes for her team next season.
"Although our five seniors leave big holes to fill, we have high expectations for the 2016-17 season," she said. "We've made a concerted effort to teach the same offensive and defensive philosophies at all high school (and middle school) levels so that all returning high school players are familiar with what it will take for us to be successful year-in and year-out.
"We have a lot of very talented student-athletes at all grade-levels, dedicated to working hard in order to continue the success of the Nevada Lady Tiger basketball program."