Texas hosts Miss. State Bulldogs Wed. nite

lewishawks said:
Dominique was not on that nike championship team but yes they played together as did bri Taylor and Nevitt.
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That's right. Dominique is a class of 2013 and Brooke is class of 2014. I forgot they were in different classes because they've been playing together forever on every AAU team. Thanks.
 
Let's think about it from the other guys' point of view:
Miss. State Fan: "47 points! Horrible! Our offense averages over 90 against nobodies, but this shows what happens when we play a real top ten team that has guards as quick as our's. And we couldn't handle the big girl. We need a better offensive scheme to beat the top teams. Yeah, we held them to 53 points, but it wasn't as close as the score sounds. They controlled the game the whole way. We were always five to ten points behind. When they put in too many subs, we whittled it below five a couple of times, but then Aston sent more of the starters back in and their lead went right back up to eight or ten. They missed four or five easy layups, and if they had shot ok from the three throw line, the separation would have been much greater..."

This doesn't excuse our own imperfections of course. It was a lackluster shooting night to say the least, and bad free throw shooting will come back to kill us some night...though really, we won't meet many, if any, defenses as great as Miss. St's. A few observations: 1) We, too, play terrific defense; we destroyed Miss. St.'s offensive flow. 2) We need to find a way to get more medium range jumpers for Brianna Taylor. 3) The far end of our rotation, Foman, Hattis, Hosey, Sanders, had no offensive punch; we really need a fully operational Atkins against Elite Eight type teams. LaShann Higgs has magic in her feet, but not yet in her hands. You never know if one of her fantastic drives will end in a great finish or a crazy throw-the-ball-up-there-and-see-what-happens kind of shot. But, man, this kid is amazing. If she ever gets consistent with the jumper and settles down, we can ride her like a rocket. We might have to wait awhile, though.
 
First time in years that I have printed out the W-BB schedule and posted it up in my office....right on top of the 2015 Football schedule!!!!!! Hook Em' :hookem::hookem:
 
Dr. D said:
Let's think about it from the other guys' point of view:
Miss. State Fan: "47 points! Horrible! Our offense averages over 90 against nobodies, but this shows what happens when we play a real top ten team that has guards as quick as our's. And we couldn't handle the big girl. We need a better offensive scheme to beat the top teams. Yeah, we held them to 53 points, but it wasn't as close as the score sounds. They controlled the game the whole way. We were always five to ten points behind. When they put in too many subs, we whittled it below five a couple of times, but then Aston sent more of the starters back in and their lead went right back up to eight or ten. They missed four or five easy layups, and if they had shot ok from the three throw line, the separation would have been much greater..."

This doesn't excuse our own imperfections of course. It was a lackluster shooting night to say the least, and bad free throw shooting will come back to kill us some night...though really, we won't meet many, if any, defenses as great as Miss. St's. A few observations: 1) We, too, play terrific defense; we destroyed Miss. St.'s offensive flow. 2) We need to find a way to get more medium range jumpers for Brianna Taylor. 3) The far end of our rotation, Foman, Hattis, Hosey, Sanders, had no offensive punch; we really need a fully operational Atkins against Elite Eight type teams. LaShann Higgs has magic in her feet, but not yet in her hands. You never know if one of her fantastic drives will end in a great finish or a crazy throw-the-ball-up-there-and-see-what-happens kind of shot. But, man, this kid is amazing. If she ever gets consistent with the jumper and settles down, we can ride her like a rocket. We might have to wait awhile, though.
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You make good points Dr.D but the thing that annoys me is that coaches always talk about players needing to improve and work on their games, but it seems that the coaches don't try to improve on their games. I'm obviously a Coach Aston fan, but she needs to improve her offensive coaching. And it doesn't have to be some motion offense that Uconn or ND runs. Just an offense that will help players get open looks without them relying so much on the players athleticism to get them.

What you saw last night is what happens when you play a team with really good athletes that can pressure the basketball and the perimeter players outside of Lashann didn't have the physical ability to create plays with the offense being what it is. It's great that they've won back to back games against top 10 teams but Coach Aston needs to improve her offensive coaching.
 
[QUOTE="rattfatt, What you saw last night is what happens when you play a team with really good athletes that can pressure the basketball and the perimeter players outside of Lashann didn't have the physical ability to create plays with the offense being what it is.[/QUOTE]

You are right about that. I am not savvy enough on x's and o's to know exactly how Aston would change the offense to get more opportunities for open shots. Actually, I thought they executed the offense well in the first quarter (and were on a pace to score 72 points), then it kind of broke down. Part of it may have been Aston's substituting a lot of the bench in, which broke the continuity of the offense... I think she was trying to rest some of the players who played big minutes against Tennessee. Frankly, I don't know. I do know this: Miss. State is a buzz saw. Tennessee is supposed to play pressure defense, but they are just a pale shadow of Miss. State. I wouldn't want to play them twice in a season.
 
Looking at the box score, I see that Celina's game was even worse than I thought:

0 points; 0 free throw attempts; 1 assist; 4 fouls; 5 turnovers.

http://www.texassports.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wbball&id=8796

I recall Coach Aston stomping her feet in disgust as Celina was forced to call a timeout due to picking up her dribble and getting trapped along the sideline with no outlet. Expect more from a senior.
 
Moooooo said:
Looking at the box score, I see that Celina's game was even worse than I thought:

0 points; 0 free throw attempts; 1 assist; 4 fouls; 5 turnovers.

http://www.texassports.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wbball&id=8796

I recall Coach Aston stomping her feet in disgust as Celina was forced to call a timeout due to picking up her dribble and getting trapped along the sideline with no outlet. Expect more from a senior.
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When you don't have the physical ability to do anything against that type of ball pressure and everyone is just standing around on offense, that is what is going to happen to a player like Celina.
 
Yech, reading some of the posts, I thought we had lost the game. It was a rough game. The biggest surprise was the 23 TOs we had but we did force 30. It looked like we had a bit of a letdown, coming off the Tenn win. Given the way that Miss State plays, I didn’t expect a high scoring game nor a “clean” game in that our offense would be picture perfect. I expected a physical dogfight and that was what we got. It’s a game. Some games we will play better than others but as long as we do show improvement and win, we are headed in the right direction.

LaShann is exciting and is going to be an awesome player, but 1-7 from the field is not going to warrant a lot of playing time. Not to mention early foul trouble that kept her on the bench quite a bit. Tasia did enough to earn her PT this game and in future games. She’s steadier than she was last season. It’s funny. I swear I saw others that were able to take Miss State players off the dribble and score. We got a lot of guards and wings that can do that. It’s just that LaShann makes it look so effortless.

It speaks volumes (to me anyway) that our staff is confident enough in all of our players to try different combinations during a tough game that was still in doubt to see what clicks. What has to be disturbing is the recent downward trend of our FT shooting. I am thankful that Imani has been hitting her FTs or we would really be in a world of hurt.

UALR will play similar to Miss State, lots of pressure on the perimeter. They are not as talented from what I saw when they played OU. But they will hustle all game. While this game will on UALR’s home court, Miss State provided excellent experience in pressing teams. I expect a smoother game from Texas and maybe another breakout game from LaShann.
 
rattfatt said:
When you don't have the physical ability to do anything against that type of ball pressure and everyone is just standing around on offense, that is what is going to happen to a player like Celina.
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Except that Celina shouldn't be dribbling to the sideline (which is basically another defender).
 
BabHorn said:
Yech, reading some of the posts, I thought we had lost the game. It was a rough game. The biggest surprise was the 23 TOs we had but we did force 30. It looked like we had a bit of a letdown, coming off the Tenn win. Given the way that Miss State plays, I didn’t expect a high scoring game nor a “clean” game in that our offense would be picture perfect. I expected a physical dogfight and that was what we got. It’s a game. Some games we will play better than others but as long as we do show improvement and win, we are headed in the right direction.

LaShann is exciting and is going to be an awesome player, but 1-7 from the field is not going to warrant a lot of playing time. Not to mention early foul trouble that kept her on the bench quite a bit. Tasia did enough to earn her PT this game and in future games. She’s steadier than she was last season. It’s funny. I swear I saw others that were able to take Miss State players off the dribble and score. We got a lot of guards and wings that can do that. It’s just that LaShann makes it look so effortless.

It speaks volumes (to me anyway) that our staff is confident enough in all of our players to try different combinations during a tough game that was still in doubt to see what clicks. What has to be disturbing is the recent downward trend of our FT shooting. I am thankful that Imani has been hitting her FTs or we would really be in a world of hurt.

UALR will play similar to Miss State, lots of pressure on the perimeter. They are not as talented from what I saw when they played OU. But they will hustle all game. While this game will on UALR’s home court, Miss State provided excellent experience in pressing teams. I expect a smoother game from Texas and maybe another breakout game from LaShann.
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Lashann should have gotten a lot more playing time in the second half after sitting early because of foul trouble. She didn't shoot the ball well but who did outside of Imani. Like I said, she's the only perimeter player who can handle tight ball pressure. And we might have watched two different games because Tasia didn't do anything to deserve more playing time in my opinion.
 
Moooooo said:
Except that Celina shouldn't be dribbling to the sideline (which is basically another defender).
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How many times did the perimeter players including Celina dribble the ball in one spot in the half court picking up their dribble because everyone is just standing around on offense and the ball pressure is bothering the ball handler.
 
mchammer said:
I thought the team was losing reading these posts! Go horns!
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What's the saying, to whom much is given much is expected. Not only from the players but also from Coach Aston. And to be honest, for me it's not even about the non conference because we've seen them win against top 10 teams last year. For me, the reason that I'm being hard on the team but also Coach Aston in particular is because I want to see what they do when they get to conference play after the disaster that we saw last year.
 
As your program grows and expectations rise, the measuring stick isn't always about just the win or the point differential. The quality of play is definitely up for evaluation.
 
Quote from Schaefer:
"We usually win the grinder games," Schaefer said. "We're a grinder team and take great pride in that. (But) they have some really tough kids. They guarded us as well as anybody has guarded us in a long time. We probably set the game back 30 years on offense."
 
I listened to Karen tonight on Longhorn Weekly with Craig. She said Jordan was injured this summer and didn't work out so that is why she is so far behind. Karen said she expected her to contribute more later in the season. Brady's minutes in both practice and games are extremely limited so that is why she seems not herself yet, and may never be this season. Imani didn't practice this summer either to rest her leg, but she seems to be farther along this year. Ariel might be back in a week or two, but more likely by conference play.
 
I loved this game. Well, kind of. Yes it was painful to watch at times, and maddening when we made silly mistakes, but we were in control the entire game. We led start-to-finish. The closest the Bulldogs got in the 4th quarter was 8 points, until a layup with 3 secs left put the final margin of victory at 6. We still have to face some tough opponents these next few weeks, but the Vols and Bulldogs were supposed to be our toughest pre-conference matchups.

Consider the two streaks that just ended. Tennessee had won 27 consecutive home contests, and Miss State had won 26 consecutive regular season games. Who ended both of those streaks within a span of 4 days?!!

But the truth is we should have won this contest by 30. Hell we should have been up 20 at the half. Coach A talked about not getting the separation we needed, but (for the most part) that wasn't a result of the Bulldog's defense. We made silly mistakes each time we had the opportunity to pull away. Brooke losing the ball out of bounds with no player within 20 feet of her, Sara missing two easy (uncontested) layups, Imani trying to force the ball into Kelsey when the opening wasn't there, and when she could have taken the short jumper herself, a few mis-timed drives to the hoop by Lashann and Empress, Tasia (I think it was Foman) passing to an open Brooke with less than a second on the shot clock (the right play any other time) instead of putting the ball up herself. Yet for all of the sloppiness we beat two top 10 teams in consecutive outings, ending two impressive streaks in the process. What matters is that we found a way to win.

We have a chance to work on playing smarter this next month, and I hope we'll see fewer errors as the season progresses....conference play begins in less than 4 weeks!
 
Dr. D said:
Let's think about it from the other guys' point of view:
Miss. State Fan: "47 points! Horrible! Our offense averages over 90 against nobodies, but this shows what happens when we play a real top ten team that has guards as quick as our's. And we couldn't handle the big girl. We need a better offensive scheme to beat the top teams. Yeah, we held them to 53 points, but it wasn't as close as the score sounds. They controlled the game the whole way. We were always five to ten points behind. When they put in too many subs, we whittled it below five a couple of times, but then Aston sent more of the starters back in and their lead went right back up to eight or ten. They missed four or five easy layups, and if they had shot ok from the three throw line, the separation would have been much greater..."

This doesn't excuse our own imperfections of course. It was a lackluster shooting night to say the least, and bad free throw shooting will come back to kill us some night...though really, we won't meet many, if any, defenses as great as Miss. St's. A few observations: 1) We, too, play terrific defense; we destroyed Miss. St.'s offensive flow. 2) We need to find a way to get more medium range jumpers for Brianna Taylor. 3) The far end of our rotation, Foman, Hattis, Hosey, Sanders, had no offensive punch; we really need a fully operational Atkins against Elite Eight type teams. LaShann Higgs has magic in her feet, but not yet in her hands. You never know if one of her fantastic drives will end in a great finish or a crazy throw-the-ball-up-there-and-see-what-happens kind of shot. But, man, this kid is amazing. If she ever gets consistent with the jumper and settles down, we can ride her like a rocket. We might have to wait awhile, though.
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One of the few posts on this thread that shows any type of basketball IQ. Mississippi State played really tough defense, and so did we. I also can appreciate when two teams lock down on D and get after it. I can appreciate even more when my team wins that battle. I wouldn't call an offense that generates open looks, lay-ups, and about 30 FT's a bad offense. It was a poor shooting night. That's going to happen at times and it's extremely frustrating for players, coaches, and fans alike. But defense is all heart, head, and hustle... and if you stay focused with it on those poor shooting nights you give yourself a chance.
 
Moooooo said:
As your program grows and expectations rise, the measuring stick isn't always about just the win or the point differential. The quality of play is definitely up for evaluation.
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This sums up Texas in a nut shell. I agree a win is a win but win it comes to being an elite program quality plays a role. Your upperclassmen shouldn't be making the decision and mistakes at this point in their college career.
 
brnkj said:
One of the few posts on this thread that shows any type of basketball IQ. Mississippi State played really tough defense, and so did we. I also can appreciate when two teams lock down on D and get after it. I can appreciate even more when my team wins that battle. I wouldn't call an offense that generates open looks, lay-ups, and about 30 FT's a bad offense. It was a poor shooting night. That's going to happen at times and it's extremely frustrating for players, coaches, and fans alike. But defense is all heart, head, and hustle... and if you stay focused with it on those poor shooting nights you give yourself a chance.
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You can spin it however you want to spin it but the bottom line is that this is not the 1980's or 90's. You are not going to be an elite program or compete for championships by playing good defense with mediocre offensive coaching and try to out athlete teams. Like I said before, Coach Aston needs to improve on her offensive x's and o's.
 
Are we simply out-athleting teams? Are we substantially stronger, faster, and quicker than Tennessee and Mississippi State?
 
Statalyzer said:
Are we simply out-athleting teams? Are we substantially stronger, faster, and quicker than Tennessee and Mississippi State?
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Nope, their head coaches are just even worse offensive coaches than Coach Aston. And it's no surprise that Holly Warlick comes from the Pat Summitt coaching tree. The stone aged thinking that everything has to be about playing defense and not offense. It's time for those types of coaches like Coach Aston to evolve offensively.
 
rattfatt said:
You make good points Dr.D but the thing that annoys me is that coaches always talk about players needing to improve and work on their games, but it seems that the coaches don't try to improve on their games. I'm obviously a Coach Aston fan, but she needs to improve her offensive coaching. And it doesn't have to be some motion offense that Uconn or ND runs. Just an offense that will help players get open looks without them relying so much on the players athleticism to get them.

What you saw last night is what happens when you play a team with really good athletes that can pressure the basketball and the perimeter players outside of Lashann didn't have the physical ability to create plays with the offense being what it is. It's great that they've won back to back games against top 10 teams but Coach Aston needs to improve her offensive coaching.
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I agree that we could have better offensive flow and better offensive plays and yes, that is on the coaching staff, yet, we had 12 assists on 18 baskets so that says to me the players were not just running around creating their own shots, they were running offensive sets. I think we should have been able to get more shots off, but then I do credit Mississippi State's pressure defense. I agree with whomever said that we will face few defenses with that much pressure all year.
 
I just have to tell you all this. My 93 year old mom is a RABID women's basketball fan and she and I have had season tickets since the 80's, but she can no longer attend the games due to mobility issues, so she watched the Mississippi State game on LHN at home. When I asked her the next day what she thought about the game, her exact words were, "They had some mean bi$ches on that team." Oh my goodness, my mom tells it like it is!!! THEN, on the Longhorn Weekly show with Craig Way, when Karen was asked about the Mississippi State game she said to Charlie Strong, "We needed some of your football players for that game" I think both those statements about sum up the ferocity displayed by the Mississippi State defense and I think our team handled it admirably so early in the season. Karen also said that we wouldn't have won this type of game last year, and I tend to agree.
 
rattfatt said:
For me, the reason that I'm being hard on the team but also Coach Aston in particular is because I want to see what they do when they get to conference play after the disaster that we saw last year.
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And we will see that soon. And we do have a different point of view of things. Last season, to me, was not a disaster as much as it was a terrific comeback from a season ending injury to our best player and dealing with injuries that led to offseason surgeries for multiple players. Still, the team reached the sweet 16 for the first time in almost a decade.

I doubt our expectations for the team are different, just the way we process what we are seeing.
 
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