NCState Game Thoughts

Sug sat on the bench and was not taken to the dressing room so I took that as a good sign. Re: free throws - in the post game presser, a question was asked about the improvement over earlier in the season and Coach replied that she did have them practice free throws a few times but Jody always said not to worry about free throws as they seem to work out sooner or later. And, as for timeouts, Coach said she called more timeouts and at different times than she usually did because the starters were getting fatigued and needed to rest a little and refocus.
 
HornView said:
I tweeted her accordingly. You also can't tell me they wouldn't have called an and-one if not the right offensive foul call, so there was not going to be a no-call Rebecca
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I tweeted her as well. She has a chip on her shoulder about Texas, IMO. I've tried really hard to like and appreciate Lobo, but the truth is, I don't. In the end, the team pulled it out against any and all odds, including a really good NCSU team. #SurviveAndAdvance #HookEm
 
I do like Lobo's analysis for the most part, but I'd pick Kara Lawson over her every time. I prefer Lobo in the color analyst game broadcasts to the studio.

The flagrant foul and the overturned possession call were huge and very late in the game and Texas overcame it. The calls were evenly bad throughout the game and the best team won in the end.
 
Wow so Mack tells them they can't go up and down like their opponent. At times it looked like they were down but they NEVER quit. That was the difference.

Friday will be fun.
Who would they rather play? Stanford or Kstate?
 
Hope they work on the bonehead things they did down the stretch that nearly got them beat.
Taylor and Atkins need to play SMARTER, and Holmes needs to stay within herself and be a beast of a post player she is capable of.....If they do that, they well could be Final Four material.
Oh and who was the one who shot the ball from 8 feet away and missed, instead of just pulling it out and killing the clock and forcing NCSU to foul with less than a half minute to play ??? That was major dumb.

Outstanding win, and a huge pat on the back for pulling it out; but to get to Dallas they have to play better and SMARTER.
 
car54 said:
Hope they work on the bonehead things they did down the stretch that nearly got them beat.
Taylor and Atkins need to play SMARTER, and Holmes needs to stay within herself and be a beast of a post player she is capable of.....If they do that, they well could be Final Four material.
Oh and who was the one who shot the ball from 8 feet away and missed, instead of just pulling it out and killing the clock and forcing NCSU to foul with less than a half minute to play ??? That was major dumb.

Outstanding win, and a huge pat on the back for pulling it out; but to get to Dallas they have to play better and SMARTER.
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By the way, we won the game.
 
racerx5908 said:
Yes, but.....K-State would be a easier to beat. My wife is a KSU alumn, so playing them to reach the Elite 8 would be "testy" around the house.
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Yep, It's all about matchups in the tournament and Stanford is a bad matchup for Texas. If it is Stanford I think you will see the same things that happened in the first game. Texas over playing on the perimeter and constantly getting back door cut. And Texas not being able to stop their power forward Erica Mccall from playing well. And we all know that coach Aston isn't going to adjust and try something different.
 
It was a very strange. I watched a recording. Even though I knew the final score, midway through the third quarter, I found myself wondering how we could win this game. In the middle of the fourth quarter I was still asking that question. Then we won, and afterwards I wondered how we did it. I know, I know: McCarty, Holmes, free throw shooting, rebounding margin, terrific bench points, etc, etc. We scored 84 points. And yet there's this feeling that we were lucky to eke it out. Those effortless drives to the basket,drive after drive after drive, by the NC St. guards...all the silly turnovers by Texas...the seeming stagnation of the offense for much of the second and third quarters. That's what sticks in the mind, even though Texas made a bunch of wonderful plays, too, and deserved to win. I think that's why the ESPN commentators were not tremendously impressed with our victory. I doubt the free throw shooting will ever be so good again, so we better tighten up the rest of our game. And what's going on with Atkins? She's been playing way below her offensive potential for the last several weeks.
 
rattfatt said:
Yep, It's all about matchups in the tournament and Stanford is a bad matchup for Texas. If it is Stanford I think you will see the same things that happened in the first game. Texas over playing on the perimeter and constantly getting back door cut. And Texas not being able to stop their power forward Erica Mccall from playing well. And we all know that coach Aston isn't going to adjust and try something different.
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I just don't believe that Texas would play that poorly against them again. Call me crazy, but I think there would be some improvement. Or do you think the team hasn't improved since the first game of the season?
 
jusme828 said:
I just don't believe that Texas would play that poorly against them again. Call me crazy, but I think there would be some improvement. Or do you think the team hasn't improved since the first game of the season?
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So that also means that Stanford could have improved also. I just think that with coach Aston being so rigid and not really changing anything that the overly aggressive man to man would be back door cut consistently just like the first time. I also don't think that Texas can matchup with the power forward Erica McCall. And unlike coach Aston, Tara Vanderveer does adjust and would probably play the same sagging zone/ junk defense that has continued to give Texas problems all year.
 
It will be interesting to watch the game this evening. We will know soon which team we will face Friday in Lexington. :hookem2:
 
A junk defense is a triangle and two ..........or a box and one. In the first, three are playing a triangle zone and the other two are matching up man-to-man with your 2 best players. Say McCarty and Holmes or Atkins or any combination on the floor at the same time. In the second, four players are playing a box zone with one matching up on McCarty all over the court. There are other ways to junk it up but these are primarily it. Some might consider switching to a match up zone or a 3-2 zone or a 1-3-1 zones junking it up. I consider those 3 bonafide defenses and used to make the other team make quick changes. The triangle and two and the box and one are used so infrequently they are considered junk. The idea is that you know if you take the one or two best players out of the offense, the others cant beat you. It really works well for the defense when you have a player or two or three that cant score or are reluctant to shoot. Kinda our MO.
 
I rewatched the fourth quarter and paid special attention to the last minute. My breath was taken away on the charge call and then also on the rebound - put back. On both plays, they could have gone the other way. I thought the charge call was correct but when you have a small guard running square into a Lebron James type power forward it can always be a no call or a block as well. It just seems hard to fathom that a small object can put an unmovable object on the floor. Note that Aston said that was probably the only charge call Holmes ever has had in her life. I think it was correct but I understand it is the toughest call in basketball. On the rebound/put back, it could very easily be called an over the back on Holmes. I watched it 5 times and believe it was the right call. It simply was a much taller player reaching over the smaller player. However, there have been many instance that that same call could have been an over the back. Both correct calls but understand the other side of the discussion.
 
racerx5908 said:
The NC State coach and Aston has mentioned "junk defense" throughout the year. What exactly is considered a junk defense?
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Because this team doesn't shoot the ball consistantly well from the perimeter outside of Brooke. The opposing team will play a defense where they are guarding Brooke man to man but are playing a sagging zone on the rest of the players. Basically trying to prevent the best shooter in Brooke from getting/shooting the ball and forcing the other players that don't shoot the ball very well from the perimeter to take jump shots. That's what NC State did and was so successful at after the first quarter. And what many teams like Iowa State and especially Kansas State have and will do if they play them.
 
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If I remember it correctly, Holmes was REALLY struggling early when we played Stanford. There were games where she looked lost. She was missing bunnies right and left ..........and turning it over in some games and just trying to find her way in the college game. Even though there are still growing pains, I would think it hard for her to play that bad again. In the first Stanford game Holmes played 17 minutes, had 4 fouls, 3 points and 2 rebounds. Aston had not figured out a rotation. Foman played 20 minutes and was 0-4 from floor. Sutton played 7 minutes with zero points. Others were equally ineffective. Fortunately, the box score doesn't list how many points players gave up layups on poor defensive fundamentals. A lot of changes since then.
 
WCBBNUT said:
By the way, we won the game.
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For the first time in seemingly forever, I actually have to agree with the assessments of car54...the level of play HAS to be cleaned up in order to have a realistic expectation of moving beyond the Sweet Sixteen.

We are Texas...just winning on the first weekend doesn't hack it. For all of the personality faults, one of the reasons UConn is so good is that they DON'T sit back on their laurels. Geno will pick apart a 60 point win to find areas to improve. THAT should be the standard...ALWAYS striving to get better, ALWAYS striving to clean up sloppy play.
 
rattfatt said:
Because this team doesn't shoot the ball consistantly well from the perimeter outside of Brooke. The opposing team will play a defense where they are guarding Brooke man to man but are playing a sagging zone on the rest of the players. Basically trying to prevent the best shooter in Brooke from getting/shooting the ball and forcing the other players that don't shoot the ball very well from the perimeter to take jump shots. That's what NC State did and was so successful at after the first quarter. And what many teams like Iowa State and especially Kansas State have and will do if they play them.
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True but you often give up more than you gain when it comes to defensive rebounds and transition plays. The junk defense works well against us when Holmes and Atkins are in foul trouble or otherwise off their game.

I disagree that Karen doesn't respond to it. It only resulted in a loss this year twice - which is two too many - but both times fatigue seemed the bigger problem. (Holmes is on record as saying she has never been that fatigued before and had trouble playing through it the final two weeks of conference).

Even the NC State coach admitted he should have gotten out of the junk sooner than he did because our starters came back in and made the adjustment. And Karen admits her players didn't make the adjustment soon enough and credits fatigue with the young players as the primary factor.

This is a young team (two seniors) that has had an amazing season so far. I have zero complaints. "Dumb", "bonehead", "rigid" all seem to better describe the poster rather than the team especially considering the awards received and currently being considered.
 
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mb227 said:
For the first time in seemingly forever, I actually have to agree with the assessments of car54...the level of play HAS to be cleaned up in order to have a realistic expectation of moving beyond the Sweet Sixteen.

We are Texas...just winning on the first weekend doesn't hack it. For all of the personality faults, one of the reasons UConn is so good is that they DON'T sit back on their laurels. Geno will pick apart a 60 point win to find areas to improve. THAT should be the standard...ALWAYS striving to get better, ALWAYS striving to clean up sloppy play.
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Don't disagree but when we win and a "fan" still has nothing good to say... why bother?
 
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