Speculations for Next Year

Zone Defense. Good off-season subject. Since a lot of posters want to see Aston use this some next year.......thought I would jump into the fray early. And please don't research any of my old posts regarding zone defense as I am positive I will contradict myself now. Aston is old school by loving the man-to-man......that was what she was trained in. Me too. Especially if you have the players to do it well it is the best base defense. Even in those situations, there are times a zone can be a real weapon as a change of pace or to take a hot team off their run and make em think about how to attack it. A zone can really cover up a defensive deficiency, a foul-trouble situation or other. I remember one game late in the year where Aston came out in the third quarter in a zone and I couldn't believe it. It wasn't particularly effective.....and I don't remember there being a reason why she tried it. Playing zone with one or more small players out front or on the wing is not good. They simply pass it around and then with a very little space can shoot over your small players. And with small players, the passing lanes inside are open. If you know how to attack it and have someone who can get to the elbows inside the zone, or on the short corners, or way outside .............a zone will get you beat real quick. Also, rebounding is a typical deficiency with a zone. The thing is that a lot of teams don't have the personnel or skills or patience to beat it. A team with a lot of height and a little less quickness can be very effective in a zone. With height it is hard to get a good shot off at times........... and passing lanes have shrunk. With new personnel this year, we have lost a real small point guard(McCarty)...........and have picked up some REAL size inside (or perhaps on the wings) with Collier and Prince. With White, Olamide and Holmes in that mix, there is a lot of size there. So I think the zone will be more effective as a good change of pace this year. It will be interesting to see if Aston tries it. I don't want to get away from the base man-to-man, but mix in a little zone to see if the other team has the shooters and passers and patience to beat it.
 
flash34 said:
Zone Defense. Good off-season subject. Since a lot of posters want to see Aston use this some next year.......thought I would jump into the fray early. And please don't research any of my old posts regarding zone defense as I am positive I will contradict myself now. Aston is old school by loving the man-to-man......that was what she was trained in. Me too. Especially if you have the players to do it well it is the best base defense. Even in those situations, there are times a zone can be a real weapon as a change of pace or to take a hot team off their run and make em think about how to attack it. A zone can really cover up a defensive deficiency, a foul-trouble situation or other. I remember one game late in the year where Aston came out in the third quarter in a zone and I couldn't believe it. It wasn't particularly effective.....and I don't remember there being a reason why she tried it. Playing zone with one or more small players out front or on the wing is not good. They simply pass it around and then with a very little space can shoot over your small players. And with small players, the passing lanes inside are open. If you know how to attack it and have someone who can get to the elbows inside the zone, or on the short corners, or way outside .............a zone will get you beat real quick. Also, rebounding is a typical deficiency with a zone. The thing is that a lot of teams don't have the personnel or skills or patience to beat it. A team with a lot of height and a little less quickness can be very effective in a zone. With height it is hard to get a good shot off at times........... and passing lanes have shrunk. With new personnel this year, we have lost a real small point guard(McCarty)...........and have picked up some REAL size inside (or perhaps on the wings) with Collier and Prince. With White, Olamide and Holmes in that mix, there is a lot of size there. So I think the zone will be more effective as a good change of pace this year. It will be interesting to see if Aston tries it. I don't want to get away from the base man-to-man, but mix in a little zone to see if the other team has the shooters and passers and patience to beat it.
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You’re absolutely right. Playing a zone with long players is a lot more effective because you can distort the passing lanes. So playing zone with players like Brooke at the top isn’t as effective. I would like to see Coach Aston have a game plan that focuses on the opposing teams weaknesses.

If we’re playing a team like Baylor, I don’t want to see us being overly aggressive and jumping in the passing lanes like Texas always does the majority of the time. I would like to see Coach Aston use some zone or maybe even just play a sagging not as aggressive man-to-man. Make a team like Baylor that’s not a quality perimeter jump shooting team and strength is inside have to beat you by shooting the ball over the top.
 
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I agree with flash34 and kurupt on all their points, but I'm not holding my breath. Many of us have been wanting a mix-up of defenses, and a good zone to go to when needed, but it never happens.
 
Interestingly enough, this year Notre Dame demonstrated you can win national championships with a zone. I think our personnel cry out for more zone in the future. We have four bigs underneath who have to play. Two of them are freshmen who are the future of the team. They HAVE to play in order to develop the experience and skill to start carrying a major part of the load toward the end of the season. To my mind a zone would be easier for them on the defensive side, especially against quick tricky teams or outfits like Baylor with gifted large front court lineups.

Also, I think the arrival of Danni is a clear message: the U.T. coaching staff weren't sure our whole guard corps would be championship caliber, so they decided to strengthen the situation. It wasn't a casual decision like :"Oh, here's another good player, what the heck!" because it creates another personnel log jam where some players won't get enough minutes to fully develop or build team chemistry. The staff wouldn't have done it unless they thought they needed to.
I bet Danni starts.
 
Kirk Bohls' take on Danni Williams from today's AAS column:
https://www.mystatesman.com/sports/...temporary-soccer-home/FOUa8CGBaZAMrbqBsVwUvI/
Texas has been a huge beneficiary with the additions of Cal running back Tre Watson, Rice offensive tackle Calvin Anderson and Texas A&M women’s basketball player Danni Williams. … Karen Aston landed a real gunner in the Aggie sharpshooter who should move into Ariel Atkins’ role in the vacated backcourt. Williams made 71 treys last season and 143 in her college career. One school of thought is that Aggies coach Gary Blair didn’t let Williams shoot enough. She’ll get plenty of chances in Austin and fills a real need for Aston. “She has a lot of maturity and experience,” Aston said. “She also brings an ability to score in different ways. Can shoot the three very well, but she also can put it on the floor and shoot the jumper.”
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geez, 4.0 GPA. That's impressive.

I like seeing LaShann working on all of her shots, especially finishing with contact.
 
Moooooo said:
As I stated, you are a piece of work (I want to use another word, but it's not allowed on here).

Of your 30+ posts on this message board which started the night we lost to Baylor on February 20, half of them are in threads about Baylor or Mulkey. Heck, you had the gall to create a thread about Mulkey as our head coach; that tells me all I need to know about where your allegiances/interests lie.

Of course, this handle probably isn't the only you have on this message board.

Still waiting for you to post on threads involving games we win, when our players receive post-season awards, when they get drafted for the WNBA, or when we get good recruiting news about any of our current verbal commitments/signees. You know, positive news. But, that's not what you're here for, now is it?
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You've researched my 30 posts? I'm flattered. :)
 
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I posted this on the Recruiting 2018 thread but it probably belongs here:

I think the team's long term success depends on White and Collier playing a lot, starting this season. If Joyner Holmes doesn't significantly improve her offense, I don't think she should get the majority of playing time. Even if they have a rough start, it may be better in the long run to give the freshmen enough early game time to develop. They may not pan out, but if they don't, Texas is in a world of hurt over the next few years. It's ok with me to lose a few games early if it might pay dividends in March....As I've said before, I was shocked at Holmes' low skill level after she returned to action last season. It wasn't a matter of conditioning. Quite simply, she lacked shot making skills, even close to the basket. Sometimes her shooting and offensive footwork were so sloppy it seemed like she had regressed. She did not possess anything close to the finesse and skill level of the top front court players of Baylor, UConn, Notre Dame or Louisville. I like her and really wish her the best. Hopefully there will be a big improvement this year. But I don't assume she has a lock on her position.
 
I assume you mean Prince....not White. If indeed, Prince and Collier deliver what many expect, there should be little controversy over both playing a lot together.
 
Dr. D said:
I posted this on the Recruiting 2018 thread but it probably belongs here:

I think the team's long term success depends on White and Collier playing a lot, starting this season. If Joyner Holmes doesn't significantly improve her offense, I don't think she should get the majority of playing time. Even if they have a rough start, it may be better in the long run to give the freshmen enough early game time to develop. They may not pan out, but if they don't, Texas is in a world of hurt over the next few years. It's ok with me to lose a few games early if it might pay dividends in March....As I've said before, I was shocked at Holmes' low skill level after she returned to action last season. It wasn't a matter of conditioning. Quite simply, she lacked shot making skills, even close to the basket. Sometimes her shooting and offensive footwork were so sloppy it seemed like she had regressed. She did not possess anything close to the finesse and skill level of the top front court players of Baylor, UConn, Notre Dame or Louisville. I like her and really wish her the best. Hopefully there will be a big improvement this year. But I don't assume she has a lock on her position.
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I agree to an extent. There’s no question that Joyner has to improve offensively as a player. But offense alone shouldn’t necessarily dictate the impact a player can have. For example, Joyner is by far the best rebounder on the team. I’ve been watching some of the games from this past year recently and for all of the talk about the offense needing to be better it was actually the strength of this team. The players understanding spacing and playing free flowing offense was really good for the most part.

Coach Aston does need to run a better offense against a zone IMO but overall I thought the offense was very good this year. Ironically the defense was the issue this year IMO. Texas couldn’t get important stops in games when they needed to. So with all that being said, I just don’t see anyway that Joyner isn’t the starter at the 4 position next year barring injury.
 
"White?" Did I say "White?" I'm more frazzled than I thought. Anyway, go with what I meant to say, not what I said.
 
I was wondering why you picked Collier over Prince. Who knows at this point between those two? But now I agree with completely with your post. I don't think Jatarie's playing time as at any risk. She was too good this year. But, IMO, the onus is on Joyner to get her shooting game to a higher level.
 
One of the hardest things for true freshmen post players to deal with in college is the physical play, and the strength required to be effective, especially in conference play. Joyner had the strength to more than holder her own two seasons ago. Jatarie was very effective last season against OSU's and OU's post players because of her skill and strength; but, having her 3 years in college (at least practicing and strength conditioning) is irreplaceable. I certainly don't expect Collier and Prince to do what Jatarie did last season as a redshirt junior.

I don't know the plan for how Collier and Prince will be used this coming season. But, with Rellah and Audrey-Ann moving on, someone has to fill in for them. Don't want to forget about Aborowa, as she has gained a lot of valuable experience the past three seasons; and as a senior, will be relied upon to spell Jatarie.

When you think all the way to 2019-20 with no Jatarie or Olamide, someone among Sedona and Charli will be expected to play Center alongside Joyner. So, I hope they get plenty of experience this coming season.
 
I have watched Prince several times. The thing I really like about her. She is a Leader already. She will tell you quickly where you need to be on the floor.
She calls for the ball on Offense 2. I love that.
Hookem'
 
Moooooo said:
One of the hardest things for true freshmen post players to deal with in college is the physical play, and the strength required to be effective, especially in conference play. Joyner had the strength to more than holder her own two seasons ago. Jatarie was very effective last season against OSU's and OU's post players because of her skill and strength; but, having her 3 years in college (at least practicing and strength conditioning) is irreplaceable. I certainly don't expect Collier and Prince to do what Jatarie did last season as a redshirt junior.

I don't know the plan for how Collier and Prince will be used this coming season. But, with Rellah and Audrey-Ann moving on, someone has to fill in for them. Don't want to forget about Aborowa, as she has gained a lot of valuable experience the past three seasons; and as a senior, will be relied upon to spell Jatarie.

When you think all the way to 2019-20 with no Jatarie or Olamide, someone among Sedona and Charli will be expected to play Center alongside Joyner. So, I hope they get plenty of experience this coming season.
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I would think that Coach Aston laid out a plan to Sedona and Charli showing how they would be used together from Day 1 or I doubt Charli would've flipped to UT. Texas has benefitted from the last program who signed 2 posts in the Top 10 and then did not find a way to get both on the floor (2014 - A'ja Wilson and Jatarie White). While the situation is different (Alaina Coates was just finishing her freshman season at S Carolina), the coaches should have a plan in place to maximize opportunities for both and, more importantly, stick to it despite the bumps in the road when playing freshmen. We have all witnessed the jump in development/performance from season to season when players are getting minutes and staying motivated. Jatarie should not play more than 15-17 minutes against the weakest opponents on the schedule. She's a mature senior who will be needed as a leader and steadying presence when it's crunch time in big games.
 
Don't forget that Jordan also made a big jump in effectiveness last season primarily at the four. No reason to expect her to backslide her senior season. She may not start but she will be a part of the rotation.
 
jusme828 said:
Here's Sedona working!

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I , too, have only seen videos of Sedona Prince working out, but the videos say two things to me. First, she needs to keep improving her strength conditioning, and she knows it and is doing something about it. Second, this is a young woman who wants to be a star in the big leagues and knows that to do that you have to keep developing your game. She impresses me.
 
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My fixation with Collier and Prince stems from my hope that they can be instant contributors despite being freshmen. That's just a wish, of course, but a lot of other teams got that boost from frosh additions last season. We did not. After losing the heart of our offense with Brook and Ariel, Texas obviously needs other players to step up big time if we are to be an Elite Eight contender. Whether its from newcomers or from the current roster, we need extra juice. Otherwise it will be a disappointing season. Status quo performances won't do the trick. Last year I thought Patterson and Booth would be enough of an addition to take us to the Final Four, but that was wishful thinking. It would be immensely helpful if our now sophomore guards elevated to the level we expected of them when they arrived at Texas, or if one of the freshmen guards can play above her years.
 
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