Texas vs Iowa St

[Run Pincher]

Nahhh... Vic has not "thrown away" anybody. Here's what you have to understand, and the players have to understand, when you have a combination of players on the floor that are on a hot streak and playing so well together at any given time.... Then you leave that combination on the floor until they either lose their momentum or they get tired and need a break. This has happened the last two games, and it is a very wise coaching decision not to disrupt the flow of the game when your team is hot.

This, and it was ovious their defensive game plan was don't let Matharu beat us. That's worked against Texas because we haven't always had a good shooting team. Just as our game plan was don't let Joens beat us, no one else stepped up for ISU and Ryan was flat out bad. So last night though Finelley got burned by that strategy. I just hope the excellent shooting from everyone else continues and we can go deep.

I'm not sure what to think about Matharu, but she has to know teams are scheming to not let her beat them. I'm more worried about Hunter. From the TV I didn't see a smile on her face 1 time last night. She coulda at least been in the last 5-7 min, even Gutierrez coulda been in for the last 5.

I still don't get how we blow out the best team in the B12 and lose to tech.

 

[JoeDallas]

Wow, if Harmon can have some more games like that, we are in business. Everyone was great.

Yes, you don't make substitutions when the game is flowing like that. But hopefully we will see Matharu (and Lattimore) incorporated into the rotation in the future more than last night. Last night, Harmon was the point maker than Matharu often has been, so we didn't need her as much, that is likely not to always be the case. We will never see much of Hunter and doubt we will see much of Moore,, this year anyway.

This was one of those games when Vic's defense completely dominates what is going on. Reminds me of how we controlled the Stanford game. The defense isn't always that effective, but it was a beautiful thing against the not super athletic ISU team last night. It is fun to see our defense against teams who haven't played us before. I think that's our main weapon for the playoffs.

 

[brnkj]

I'm a huge fan of Matharu and her game. She played 22 minutes and Audrey played 24. Audrey took 12 shots and Matharu was only able to get off five. Is she upset that she didn't get enough shots? If she didn't get enough shots then why didn't she take more? The answer to that is because they were all over her... that's why.

Matharu being on the floor and drawing the attention of the defense is what widened the seams of Iowa State's zone. Our offense recognized that and attacked those seams effectively. Once we started doing that, and scoring from different positions, everything started unraveling for Iowa State.

I don't see how anyone on the team could not be happy with the 25-point win over the #6 ranked team unless they just aren't able to put the team's success before their own individual stats. Hopefully what we saw wasn't her pouting, but just her irritated because the defense was all over her. Matharu is still our best offensive weapon and trust me there is a lot of scoring in her future on this team.

 

[Moooooo]

 

[Run Pincher]

I guess this is a really dumb question, but how does someone disagree with highlights with no commentary??

 

[Bucksgal]

Matharu did not look pleased tonight. She was the only player looking away as Vic gave his after game huddle speech.
Something took consider.

Vic said in the presser that she played 22 minutes and was seeing a lot of funky defenses. However, this opened up scoring by Rory and Audrey. Matharu needs to accept that this is part of the game and that she was still playing a vital role by garnering this type of defensive attention.

 

[hoopsalot]

I guess this is a really dumb question, but how does someone disagree with highlights with no commentary??

Rating undone. Fat fingers. Also, keep in mind that said poster recently posted ….Well, never mind. I actually do not want to remind anyone about that dumb post.

 

[CreakyHorn]

Ahh... That was enjoyable. Really like seeing Rori making shots and also Holle with the fast breaks and drives to the basket. I'm going to watch the game again tonight after work.

 

[flash34]

I missed the game. I may be excommunicated but chose to play poker instead. I enjoyed a late DVR episode of tremendous basketball. The Blue Belle put me into euphoria. A couple of comments. I keep wanting Warren in earlier than almost second quarter; however, it is apparent she has more energy and stamina to play tremendous defense. She was really good against Joens. It seemed that the Iowa St ate defense got tired in second half. The dribble drive penetration just kept collapsing their defense closer and closer to the basket. The pressure defense causes the other team to get tired and makes our offense more effective as the game goes along. The team just gets better and better as the season goes…..a Schaefer team core characteristic. After a lot of tough games, I am hopeful the WV game can be less stressful.

 

[WCBBNUT]

If anyone was able to listen to the pre-game radio show with Craig then you already know this…

What we saw last night was 100% Vic’s game plan. He told Craig that fans should not get worried in the first half. The plan was a crushing defense that would wear ISU out and then we would run away with it in the second half.

The best thing about last night was that the team seemed to have bought into Vic’s plan. That’s a huge step forward. The man knows what he is doing.

I’m going to stop worrying about who played what minutes and who didn’t. Vic said lineups are about match-ups and consistency. He also has told all the players exactly what they need to do in order to play more.

He took a mishmash of players last year and got them to the Elite 8. He has a whole new mishmash of players this year and he has us constantly knocking on the Top Ten door. His recruiting classes are very promising,

If we lose some players, I trust he’ll find suitable replacements each year. Losing players has become a part of everyone’s game. It is what it is.

All that said, I do have one thing that I personally am just thrilled about. Vic has proven he’s willing to put a freshman on the court if they are willing to do the work. And he has shown us that he can develop players if they are willing to learn. KA lost an entire top 5 recruiting class. I never got over that. If Vic loses a player, it will probably be for the best. That’s my opinion anyway. And I’m sticking to it.

 

[CreakyHorn]

If anyone was able to listen to the pre-game radio show with Craig then you already know this…

What we saw last night was 100% Vic’s game plan. He told Craig that fans should not get worried in the first half. The plan was a crushing defense that would wear ISU out and then we would run away with it in the second half.

The best thing about last night was that the team seemed to have bought into Vic’s plan. That’s a huge step forward. The man knows what he is doing.

I’m going to stop worrying about who played what minutes and who didn’t. Vic said lineups are about match-ups and consistency. He also has told all the players exactly what they need to do in order to play more.

He took a mishmash of players last year and got them to the Elite 8. He has a whole new mishmash of players this year and he has us constantly knocking on the Top Ten door. His recruiting classes are very promising,

If we lose some players, I trust he’ll find suitable replacements each year. Losing players has become a part of everyone’s game. It is what it is.

All that said, I do have one thing that I personally am just thrilled about. Vic has proven he’s willing to put a freshman on the court if they are willing to do the work. And he has shown us that he can develop players if they are willing to learn. KA lost an entire top 5 recruiting class. I never got over that. If Vic loses a player, it will probably be for the best. That’s my opinion anyway. And I’m sticking to it.

I agree with Nut's comments, but one thing I find curious is how we were able to "wear them down". Looking at minutes played, they really only played 6, but then we really only played 7. Are we better conditioned, or does our defensive strategy truly give us an advantage over other teams. If it's our defense, then why don't other coaches do it? Perhaps we get better athletes because we're Texas?

 

[flash34]

Yes and Yes and it’s hard to find players who want to play that hard, and coaches that can implement/manage/maintain that type of defense.

 

[longhorn47]

I hope Latimore is that kind of player.

 

[brnkj]

If anyone was able to listen to the pre-game radio show with Craig then you already know this…

What we saw last night was 100% Vic’s game plan. He told Craig that fans should not get worried in the first half. The plan was a crushing defense that would wear ISU out and then we would run away with it in the second half.

The best thing about last night was that the team seemed to have bought into Vic’s plan. That’s a huge step forward. The man knows what he is doing.

I’m going to stop worrying about who played what minutes and who didn’t. Vic said lineups are about match-ups and consistency. He also has told all the players exactly what they need to do in order to play more.

He took a mishmash of players last year and got them to the Elite 8. He has a whole new mishmash of players this year and he has us constantly knocking on the Top Ten door. His recruiting classes are very promising,

If we lose some players, I trust he’ll find suitable replacements each year. Losing players has become a part of everyone’s game. It is what it is.

All that said, I do have one thing that I personally am just thrilled about. Vic has proven he’s willing to put a freshman on the court if they are willing to do the work. And he has shown us that he can develop players if they are willing to learn. KA lost an entire top 5 recruiting class. I never got over that. If Vic loses a player, it will probably be for the best. That’s my opinion anyway. And I’m sticking to it.

 

[brnkj]

I hope Latimore is that kind of player.

From my observations I don't think we have to worry about Lattimore. She is one who looks like she has totally bought into Vic's system. She's going to have an off-season plus an entire summer & fall for strength conditioning and working on her craft. I just hope the others stay too because that crop of youngsters has a chance to be something really, really special for the next few years. But like @WCBBNUT said, when it comes to transfers it's going to be whatever it's going to be.

 

[HornView]

If anyone was able to listen to the pre-game radio show with Craig then you already know this…

What we saw last night was 100% Vic’s game plan. He told Craig that fans should not get worried in the first half. The plan was a crushing defense that would wear ISU out and then we would run away with it in the second half.

The best thing about last night was that the team seemed to have bought into Vic’s plan. That’s a huge step forward. The man knows what he is doing.

I’m going to stop worrying about who played what minutes and who didn’t. Vic said lineups are about match-ups and consistency. He also has told all the players exactly what they need to do in order to play more.

He took a mishmash of players last year and got them to the Elite 8. He has a whole new mishmash of players this year and he has us constantly knocking on the Top Ten door. His recruiting classes are very promising,

If we lose some players, I trust he’ll find suitable replacements each year. Losing players has become a part of everyone’s game. It is what it is.

All that said, I do have one thing that I personally am just thrilled about. Vic has proven he’s willing to put a freshman on the court if they are willing to do the work. And he has shown us that he can develop players if they are willing to learn. KA lost an entire top 5 recruiting class. I never got over that. If Vic loses a player, it will probably be for the best. That’s my opinion anyway. And I’m sticking to it.

I love love love seeing a completely reasonable post on this board about players’ minutes it feels rare to me, but hey, most people somehow think they know more than Vic even though they’ve never set foot in a practice session or in the locker room of this team. I’m pretty sure this veteran well accomplished coach is who we want on the Texas bench.
Y’all can have your opinions of course, I’m just saying my opinion is that song & dance gets old on here.
You worry about the portal all the time but you never worry about recruiting being hampered by bashing the coach (and some of you have actually accused Vic of unfair treatment and mental abuse of players). I really despise that take. Again, my opinion and everyone is welcome to theirs but that is so damn frustrating some times.

 

[Bucksgal]

I love love love seeing a completely reasonable post on this board about players’ minutes it feels rare to me, but hey, most people somehow think they know more than Vic even though they’ve never set foot in a practice session or in the locker room of this team. I’m pretty sure this veteran well accomplished coach is who we want on the Texas bench.
Y’all can have your opinions of course, I’m just saying my opinion is that song & dance gets old on here.
You worry about the portal all the time but you never worry about recruiting being hampered by bashing the coach (and some of you have actually accused Vic of unfair treatment and mental abuse of players). I really despise that take. Again, my opinion and everyone is welcome to theirs but that is so damn frustrating some times.

I think I can agree that some have thought it unfair that a player gets to play only this and that many minutes, but I think saying anyone on this board has accused Vic of mental abuse of players is beyond a stretch.

 

[Moooooo]

I love love love seeing a completely reasonable post on this board about players’ minutes it feels rare to me, but hey, most people somehow think they know more than Vic even though they’ve never set foot in a practice session or in the locker room of this team. I’m pretty sure this veteran well accomplished coach is who we want on the Texas bench.
Y’all can have your opinions of course, I’m just saying my opinion is that song & dance gets old on here.
You worry about the portal all the time but you never worry about recruiting being hampered by bashing the coach (and some of you have actually accused Vic of unfair treatment and mental abuse of players). I really despise that take. Again, my opinion and everyone is welcome to theirs but that is so damn frustrating some times.

And, if you still believe that Vic's strategy of holding out Mathuru for the first 13 minutes in Waco while Baylor built a 14 point lead and grabbed all the momentum would lead us to a win, then I'm sure it's a loss you're happy with.

 

[Moooooo]

Did anyone else notice that Lexi Donarski went 0-6 and scored zero points? I guess I was so focused on our players who were guarding Ashley Joens that I couldn't even tell you who locked down Donarski like that; props to them.

 

[HornView]

And, if you still believe that Vic's strategy of holding out Mathuru for the first 13 minutes in Waco while Baylor built a 14 point lead and grabbed all the momentum would lead us to a win, then I'm sure it's a loss you're happy with.

Of course I’m not happy with that loss or any other loss. Ridiculous

 

[HornView]

I think I can agree that some have thought it unfair that a player gets to play only this and that many minutes, but I think saying anyone on this board has accused Vic of mental abuse of players is beyond a stretch.

I’m not naming names but it was suggested about Kyndall Hunter’s treatment and the “mental aspect” of it amongst other things so I’m not making a stretch about that part at all

 

[Bobcat]

I’ve never seen anyone on here suggest mental abuse. I also don’t know of anyone on here who isn’t thrilled that Vic is our coach. The criticism early on was about our anemic offense and our best shooter in Matharu not getting enough minutes while the three seniors were all shooting at a horrendous clip, turning the ball over, and not being consistent. Over the past few games they have improved considerably, and thus big wins. Obviously the last game Harmon was a huge factor with nine assist and 20 points. Taylor and Warren hit their open looks, and Ebo has established herself more in the paint. Shay Holle has provided a HUGE uptick to our offense at the 3 spot and just oozes confidence and hustle. The defenses have to respect her more as a shooter. The question for me has always been how much offense can we generate with what we have without utilizing Hunter, Moore, Lattimore and Matharu because ALL of those players are far better shooters than our seniors. I love Vics tough defense, but you also put pressure on other teams with your offense, and up until a few games ago, we were underwhelming in that regard. I might remind everyone that Iowa St and OU are not the most athletic teams and aren’t overwhelming with their inside games. I’m hoping that the emergence of Ebo will help us and hopefully we are able to handle the more athletic teams and continue to score enough because you cannot win on defense alone. I still think we will need Matharu to make a deep run...

 

[Sincerely hookem]

“A hit dog will bark” is the saying I believe, but anyways I never referred to coach Vic mentally abusing anybody. I look up to the man dearly and attempt to us some of his scheme with my AAU team. My statement about the mental aspect was really a dig at players using that as a excuse when they leave a school. Although some do leave schools where they mental health was challenged I’m stating that in day and age it’s used as a cop out as well. So let me be crystal clear I love ALLLLLLL THE young women on this team and hope they ALLLL stay cause I feel like they could be special. Hook Em

 

[WCBBNUT]

I’m pretty sure many of us on here could start an argument in an empty room. Myself included.

 

[WCBBNUT]

Matharu has had good games and bad games just like our seniors who seemingly get a permanent black mark for being seniors. She played 25 minutes in one and 18 in another and still managed to get 4 fouls in each. It happens. But she racked up some points too. We actually scored fewer points in the game she had more minutes.

I’m just suggesting that Vic has his reasons and I trust them. He doesn’t strike me as someone who likes to lose. When it comes to defense vs offense you pick your poison… or your antidote. Sometimes one cures the other and sometimes it doesn’t.

The Baylor losses really got me down until a wise friend reminded me that they have not one but two starters projected to go within the top ten of the next WNBA draft. If anything, that squad has under-performed so far. By comparison we are doing pretty darn well.

Hey. It helps me sleep.

 

[Moooooo]

Of course I’m not happy with that loss or any other loss. Ridiculous

Great to know! Neither was Vic. That's why he was able to admit he made a mistake not playing Matharu the first 13 minutes of the game in Waco, as a day and a half later he started her against Baylor in Austin, and the game was much more competitive, and not lost in the first quarter.

If you don't think Vic is capable of making mistakes, not sure what to tell you. And, if you thinking some of us disagreeing with some of his coaching decisions is blasphemy, keep beating that dead horse. Vic will be the first to tell you that he makes mistakes, and is not above criticism.

 

[HornView]

Great to know! Neither was Vic. That's why he was able to admit he made a mistake not playing Matharu the first 13 minutes of the game in Waco, as a day and a half later he started her against Baylor in Austin, and the game was much more competitive, and not lost in the first quarter.

If you don't think Vic is capable of making mistakes, not sure what to tell you. And, if you thinking some of us disagreeing with some of his coaching decisions is blasphemy, keep beating that dead horse. Vic will be the first to tell you that he makes mistakes, and is not above criticism.

If you read my post I readily admitted everyone is entitled to their opinions here and that I was just stating mine. You can agree or disagree with Vic all you want but what is truth is that he will always have more information than you.

Seems you’re the one beating a dead horse. You haven’t stated anything we haven’t heard from you already

 

[Bobcat]

Matharu has had good games and bad games just like our seniors who seemingly get a permanent black mark for being seniors. She played 25 minutes in one and 18 in another and still managed to get 4 fouls in each. It happens. But she racked up some points too. We actually scored fewer points in the game she had more minutes.

I’m just suggesting that Vic has his reasons and I trust them. He doesn’t strike me as someone who likes to lose. When it comes to defense vs offense you pick your poison… or your antidote. Sometimes one cures the other and sometimes it doesn’t.

The Baylor losses really got me down until a wise friend reminded me that they have not one but two starters projected to go within the top ten of the next WNBA draft. If anything, that squad has under-performed so far. By comparison we are doing pretty darn well.

Hey. It helps me sleep.

I think you are missing at least my point. Matharu IS our best shooter and defenses have to pay attention to her thus opening up things for the others. She can’t shoot for the other players!!! Inserting Holle into the 3 spot was brilliant and has helped our offense a lot because her shot has to be respected too. It’s extended the other team’s defenses, opening up our dribble drive to be more effective. As far as the seniors go, I have been critical because quite frankly they have hampered our offense with careless turnovers and up until recently were not shooting it well. You can talk about defense all day, but you must put pressure on the other team with your offensive capability or all the defense in the world won’t cut it against the better teams. I’m happy to see Audrey, JAT and Ebo starting to show consistency, which is exactly what seniors are supposed to do. The emergence of Harmon offensively has been a BIG PLUS as well. Holle at the 3 spot has been huge for us...

 

[WCBBNUT]

I think you are missing at least my point. Matharu IS our best shooter and defenses have to pay attention to her thus opening up things for the others. She can’t shoot for the other players!!! Inserting Holle into the 3 spot was brilliant and has helped our offense a lot because her shot has to be respected too. It’s extended the other team’s defenses, opening up our dribble drive to be more effective. As far as the seniors go, I have been critical because quite frankly they have hampered our offense with careless turnovers and up until recently were not shooting it well. You can talk about defense all day, but you must put pressure on the other team with your offensive capability or all the defense in the world won’t cut it against the better teams. I’m happy to see Audrey, JAT and Ebo starting to show consistency, which is exactly what seniors are supposed to do. The emergence of Harmon offensively has been a BIG PLUS as well. Holle at the 3 spot has been huge for us...

The funny thing about having your cake and getting to eat it is who wouldn’t want to eat cake

By the way, what I did here was post a reply to your comment by actually posting it as a reply to your comment. When I don’t do that, I’m actually just posting a comment.

I like Matharu. I like her a lot. But statistically speaking she is the 6th best shooter on the team and two of our seniors have better field goal percentages. Our best shooter is Lattimore.

Of course, most of those players can thank Harmon for the assist and Ebo for getting the rebound and giving them the additional chances to shoot. And to be honest, we can thank Matharu for taking as many shots as she takes… no wait. Gosh this is hard.

I repeat. I like Matharu.

 

[Bobcat]

Matharu is our best shooter from the perimeter period....end of story. The reason we have struggled against zones is because we have not had the perimeter shooters to spread the floor and open up seams to attack. They’ve literally played 5 and 6 feet off of our perimeter shooters thus collapsing the zone. Ineffective perimeter shooting also renders the dribble drive less effective against man to man. You obviously have an aversion to seeing just how bad the seniors performed early on, with the exception as of the last few games. Warren is way too slow to be effective at the 3 spot and undersized at the 4 spot. She has been very effective when other teams don’t have a true 4. Vic saw that and inserted Holle at the 3 and it’s been big for us. Sky King to Penny....post players SHOULD have higher field goal percentages than guards. It’s quite easy to see from your posts why it’s so hard for you.....glad you see it too... AND....btw...I enjoy and agree with most of your posts...