It's both. The players just don't seem to trust what Nikki does. I believe they are more upset that they had a top 5 team going into the season to now wondering if they are going to make the tournament. Multiple players have had to sit out due to disciplinary actions throughout the season so Nikki may run a tight bargain. They look unhappy on the sidelines and just have a disconnect between eachother. At this point it's no question some players will be in the portal
I don't think the players are naturally like that. They didn't have those problems when Vic was there so I can't say it's just how they act. I think frustration throughout the season has brought that out of them.
The program Is already going to shambles. If they enter the portal it's best they come make Vic and the staff good rather than going elsewhere. Might as well take them if they are leaving anyway. Now I wouldn't agree with anyone contacting players trying to get them in the portal before they decide to do so but if they are in the portal then it's fair game and we should make every effort to get them in Austin. We can't go into the moody center with another rebuilding season.
I have to disagree about the “almost the same starting players”. Last year, Joyner. Sug, and Lashann started most games. Jada started some and played a lot when she did not start. Consistent or not as a team, those players individually and as a group had tremendous athleticism and a fair amount of skill.During the year, when UT was doing better, I remarked that Vic was a coach who could make halftime adjustments, better than the last coaching staff. Hmmmm, going to have to eat those words. I went through the NCAA portal and looked up all the UT games by quarters for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 and recorded the different at the end of each quarter between Texas and their opponents. Last year Texas played no OT games. This year, I lumped the point difference of the 4th quarter and OT of our loss to OU to make the math easier.
So Vic currently has us at 18-8 and with Karen before the Big 12 tournament could start (and eventually cancelled) we were at 19-11. The numbers would seem to indicate that Karen's teams didn't let up as much as Vic's team this year with almost the same starting players.
The numbers tells me Vic builds up a bigger lead than Karen before the half, but blows it by the 4th quarter compared to Karen.
Players getting tired in the second half? One thing that I do see especially in the OU and TCU game, Vic has the lead and is trying to bleed, bleed, bleed the clock by playing half-court. And then turnovers, missed shots, missed free throws let them catch up.
Those fourth quarter numbers may be affected by the current lack of depth and fatigue. KA had nine players that she played pretty regularly last year. As we know too well that luxury doesn't exist this year.During the year, when UT was doing better, I remarked that Vic was a coach who could make halftime adjustments, better than the last coaching staff. Hmmmm, going to have to eat those words. I went through the NCAA portal and looked up all the UT games by quarters for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 and recorded the different at the end of each quarter between Texas and their opponents. Last year Texas played no OT games. This year, I lumped the point difference of the 4th quarter and OT of our loss to OU to make the math easier.
So Vic currently has us at 18-8 and with Karen before the Big 12 tournament could start (and eventually cancelled) we were at 19-11. The numbers would seem to indicate that Karen's teams didn't let up as much as Vic's team this year with almost the same starting players.
The numbers tells me Vic builds up a bigger lead than Karen before the half, but blows it by the 4th quarter compared to Karen.
Players getting tired in the second half? One thing that I do see especially in the OU and TCU game, Vic has the lead and is trying to bleed, bleed, bleed the clock by playing half-court. And then turnovers, missed shots, missed free throws let them catch up.
* Predict TEXAS-KENTUCKY *
Sat, Nov 23 • 2:30 PM on ABC
