Texas vs Stanford

BabHorn

10,000+ Posts
Stanford is the opponent as the Horns tip off the 2011-12 season on Friday, Nov. 11th. This will be the season opener for both teams. The overall record vs Stanford is 2-4; Horns won the first two games in 1981 & 1988. They have lost the last four, including last season by a score of 78-93 when the series resumed after a 15 year hiatus. Horns are 1-1 at home against Stanford, winning in 1988 by 79-58 and losing in 1995 68-72. Stanford is ranked 5th in the AP & ESPN polls while Texas is # 20 in the ESPN poll and #24 in the AP.

Stanford will present a strong challenge inside as they will start two of the best posts nationally in the sisters Ogwumike, Nneka (# 30, 6-2 Sr. F) & Chiney (13, 6-3 Soph. F). The question is whether they will man the four and five positions or the four and three. RS Jr. Sarah Boothe (# 42, 6-5 F/C) is the only true center on the roster. Has she improved enough to crack the starting lineup or will Tinkle start or a freshman guard or post? Returning players that had more than 2 starts last season: Nneka (33), Chiney (35), Joslyn Tinkle (9 starts; # 44, 6-3 Jr. F), and Lindy La Rocque (29 starts; # 5-8 Sr. G). At this time, those four plus Toni Kokenis (# 5-11 Soph. G) are my guess as the starters. Amber Orrange (# 33, 5-7 Fr. G) is likely to move into the slot that Kokenis had last season—instant energy & offense & disruptive D off the bench. Jasmine Camp (# 23, 5-7 Fr. G) is another very fast guard that will challenge for playing time. In the frontcourt, Erica Payne (# 6-2 Fr. F) could end being the first post player off the bench. Mikaela Ruef (# 3, 6-3 Jr. F) is the other post player with experience as she played in 34 games last season. Taylor Greenfield (# 4, 6-3 Fr. F) and Bonnie Samuelson (# 41, 6-3 Fr. F) are other the post players. On the perimeter, Grace Mashore (# 1, 5-10 Sr. G) and Sara James (# 21, 5-10 Soph. G) are the experienced options while Alex Green (# 00, 5-9 Fr. G) rounds out the freshman class. She is coming back from an ACL injury. Orrange, Camp, and Green give the Cardinal extraordinary speed in the backcourt.

Stanford, with its legion of bigs, has a rep as a team that depends on inside scoring. While true to an extent, what is sometimes forgotten, is that Stanford runs frequently off rebounds and turnovers. With the Ogwumike sisters, they have two posts that can leak out and get ahead of defenders for the easy layup. Orrange, in Stanford’s two exhibitions, led them in assists, pushing the ball.


Texas returns four players that started at least 24 games last season: Chassidy (# 24, 5-10 Soph. G), Ashleigh (# 33, 5-8 Sr. G), Yvonne (# 12, 5-7 Sr. G) and Ashley (# 22, 6-4 Sr. P). Chelsea (# 11, 5-10 Soph. G), Anne Marie (# 44, 6-3 Soph. F) and Tiffany (# 4, 5-10 Soph. G) all got into at least 28 games last season with Chelsea starting three. Cokie (# 45, 6-4 RS Soph. P) returns from foot surgery that kept her out last season. Four frosh join the team this fall: Nneka (# 3, 6-1 Fr. F), Cassie (# 21, 5-6 Fr. G), Brady (# 32, 5-11 Fr. G), and Ronisha (# 25, 6-1 Fr. F). Kayla (# 00, 6-1 Soph. F) will miss this game as she is not eligible to play until after the semester is over. Unlike last season, when the Horns were shorthanded in the post with two players putting in over 30 minutes inside, they will have three experienced posts in Ashley, Cokie and Anne Marie with Nneka and Ronisha capable of providing minutes.

Last season, from necessity as much as anything, the Horns relied on the outside shot. This time, they will pack more offensive punch inside and return four of their top five 3pt shooters from last season. They also add Brady, an outstanding 3pt shooter in high school. With an increase scoring presence inside, the outside shooters should find more open looks to knock down.

Stanford started three guards and two forwards in their first exhibition and two guards and three forwards in their second and last exhibition before heading to Austin. Toni Kokenis did not play in the second exhibition. Assuming everyone is healthy, I will project the following starters for both teams. The projection is based primarily on having experienced players starting in the first game.[pre]Starters: Texas Stanford
Ashley (6-4) Nneka (6-2)
Cokie (6-4) Chiney (6-3)
Chassidy (5-10) Tinkle (6-3)
Yvonne (5-7) Kokenis (5-11)
Ashleigh (5-8) La Rocque (5-8)[/pre]


Last season, the Stanford posts had a field day inside offensively. Stanford had 52 points in the paint to 20 for Texas. Included in that is an 8pt advantage for Stanford in points off TOs. Both Ogwumike sisters like to sneak out and run on the break. It should be harder to do as I expect Texas to be able to limit those opportunities through better rebounding and ball handling. Horns will have to limit Stanford’s offensive rebounding as a means to keep the Ogwumike sisters from doing that. That inside battle should be very interesting to watch. Cokie’s presence inside will force the Cardinal posts to play her straight or double if she is having success. That will open it up for other Texas players cutting to the basket. Of equal importance to Stanford will be their ability to close on the Horns’ open perimeter shooters. That and FTs from our guards kept the game within reach for Texas. Horns shot over 50% from BTA and 78% from the FT line.

These are two teams that like to fast break. Texas uses their guards and wings to finish the fastbreak. Stanford likes to have their posts beat their defenders downcourt and finish with layups. Don’t know if it will happen but I expect all players wearing “Texas” on their jersey to get double digit minutes if healthy. For Stanford, there are a couple that usually don’t get in unless it’s a blowout. If they get in, Horns are in trouble.

Stats for this first game of the season are the ones from last season’s game. Of course, there’s quite a few key players missing on both sides. For Texas: Kat (I’m not including Kristen because she didn’t play in this game); for Stanford: Kayla Pedersen & Jeannette Pohlen.

Texas brings back 73.4% of their offense; 69.78% of their rebounding; 67.5% of their 3pt shooting; and shooters that made 76.9% of their FGs. Stanford has 62.4% of their offense returning; 70.3% of their rebounding; players that made 42.7% of 3s; and that made 67.5% of their FGs.



TEAM STATISTICS Texas Stanford

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SCORING................. 78 93
Points per game....... 78.0 93.0
Scoring margin........ -15.0 +15.0
FIELD GOALS-ATT......... 24-62 39-68
Field goal pct........ .387 .574
3 POINT FG-ATT.......... 9-17 4-12
3-point FG pct........ .369 .333
3-pt FG made per game. 9.0 4.0
FREE THROWS-ATT......... 21-27 11-12
Free throw pct........ .778 .917
F-Throws made per game 21.0 11.0
REBOUNDS................ 32 39
Rebounds per game..... 32.0 39.0
Rebounding margin..... -7.0 +7.0
ASSISTS................. 13 21
Assists per game...... 13.0 21.0
TURNOVERS............... 18 17
Turnovers per game.... 18.0 17.0
Turnover margin....... -1.0 +1.0
Assist/turnover ratio. 0.7 1.2
STEALS.................. 10 7
Steals per game....... 10.0 7.0
BLOCKS.................. 1 4
Blocks per game....... 1.0 4.0
ATTENDANCE.............. - 5692


Ashley and Kat played 36 & 32 minutes while Anne Marie was in for 7. They combined to make 7-15 FGs inside the paint while grabbing 11 rebounds. Stanford’s Ogwumike sisters and Sarah Boothe were 23-29 and had 17 rebounds. Ashley with 9 pts & 8 rebs was the main force for Texas inside. This time around, she will have Cokie to help inside as well as a more experienced Anne Marie and two strong frosh in Nneka and Ronisha. I expect Stanford to counter primarily with the Ogwumike sisters, Boothe and Ruef. Payne and Samuelson should also find time in the paint. Both Tinkle and Greenfield have the height to play inside but are more likely to play on the wing, similar to Pedersen last season. Of course, she burned us for 19 pts and 12 rebs. Our guards were better scorers but not so our posts. This game will be won in the paint as that is the strength for both. it is in getting to the FT line. Last season, Texas was 231-626 for 36.9% and Stanford 225-623 for 36.1% from BTA. Not much difference there. A difference this season: The Horns lost their top 3pt threat but return four others that attempted at least 50 3pters. Stanford lost their top two 3pt threats. They return four that took between 76 and 36 3pters last season. Look for Tinkle and Kokenis to become the Cardinal’s top three point shooters. La Rocque (Sr. G) and Samuelson (Fr. F) are also sharpshooters that the Horns will need to be aware of. Texas, while depending heavily on Chassidy, will have at least five others capable of hitting the three. I am expecting Ashleigh to regain her shooting touch (she hit 29.5% of her 3s after coming in hitting around 36%) and Yvonne to continue her outstanding shooting from BTA (47% last season and 44% for her career). Those two especially will keep teams from focusing entirely on Chassidy. Chelsea and Tiff are also good 3pt shooters who should get more opportunities this season. Brady is an excellent 3pt shooter coming in from HS. She has a really quick release and good height at 5-10. I look for a game in the high 80s, maybe in the 90s. While logic would choose Stanford to win, I will concede that they are the favorable but still look for the Horns to pull off the upset. Home court advantage should help the Horns pull off the upset. Both teams will have similar defensive concerns-Texas needs to slow down the interior scoring and watch the perimeter as the Cardinal is capable of hitting open shots; Stanford will be more concerned with stopping the Texas outside game but will have to pay attention to the inside game due what should be improved offensive proficiency inside.

Both teams will press. Stanford’s freshmen guards are very quick and fast. Texas will need to not only protect the ball but be alert to help out the ball handler as needed. Screens set at various points on the court will help make the Cardinal play a bit more cautious on defense. Texas will also press but is more likely to trap with two players, preferably using the halfcourt line or sideline as an extra defender. Both teams’ perimeter players will take chances to steal the ball, knowing they have strong support behind them to help erase mistakes. They will look to turn those steals into easy layups.

Horns could be a bit short handed compared to what was expected. Three players (Brady, Tiff & Chelsea) either missed or had limited participation in practice Sunday. Hopefully, they will be available for Friday but they could still recovering from whatever kept them out or limited their participation. The good news is that they have five or six players that can play on the wing where those three would play. Still would feel better isf at least one of them was good to go against Stanford. Stanford had Kokenis sit out the second exhibition after suffering an ankle injury in the first exhibition although it looks like she had flu like symptoms which contributed to her sitting out. Also sitting out was Mikaela Ruef, who is recovering from a sore foot. Both are supposed to be ready to go Friday.

The game will be carried by KVET 1300 AM as well as the Longhorn Network. Rebecca Lobo and Andrew Monaco will call the game for the LHN. FYI, the longhornnetwork.com will be free for that weekend and the Stanford game can be watched online by those not attending the game and that don’t have the LHN on their TV package. Since the free preview will be all weekend, I am hoping that means I can watch the VB game on Saturday as well as the various FB shows. This should be good news for Cardinal fans that would miss this game otherwise. Now they can use the internet link to watch the game, either on their computer or by using their TV as a monitor.

The Stanford game is the inaugural Texas Women's Basketball Ladies Night . Lots of perks for the women attending, including: “FREE neck and shoulder rubs, nail polish changes, hand massages, blue oil sensory experiences, lip finishing touches and other fun surprises on the concourse from 6 p.m. until tip off at 7 p.m.” Wonder if us guys can get in on the neck and shoulder rubs and hand massages? We get tension, too, before the games.
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TheBlue oil sensory experience sounds like fun.

Stanford preview
 
Palo Alto Mercury News preview.

Sounds a like lot Texas-young, talented and deep. I’m excited to watch these two get after each other. Should be a physical battle.

Elliot Almond of mercury news.com preview of Stanford with short capsules of each returner and a general statement about the frosh, including how the speed of the guards will help against A&M & North Carolina.
 
When a member of the media calls a coach aloof, it is because the coach has better things to do than sit around with some knucklehead writer. Also, Bohls is pissed at Texas because Mack will not let him watch practice.

The Bohls article present a fair assessment of where the program is. Two statements stand out - GG's statement about not hiring a coach she did not know and Bohls' observation that Texas is falling further behind aggy and Baylor. GG's statement shows someone didn't do a good job in the hiring process as someone from the Texas side should have helped her understand the dynamics of coaching in Texas. She could have found out about any potential coach with ties to Texas high schools by asking. Very devastating decision which most of the fault lies at the feet of the AD for not properly briefing the coach during the hiring process.

As Bohls' points out, Texas seems to be making progress, but aggy and Baylor continue to make greater progress which means Texas is losing ground. Even with aggy running away next year, this is going to be the issue which will eventually decide GG's fate.
 
We'll see if my friend and I can fit the seal in section 26; usually I'm in the Ozone with empty seats next to me to sit the thing in.
 
I’ve got the game set to record at midnight on the LHN so I can watch again and see if it looks different to me the second time. My first impression was that this team is miles ahead of where they were at this time last year. Stanford is a difficult team to defend and I thought they did a pretty good job for most of the game. That was probably the thing I was most happy to see.

I expected a team that would not hit their peak for four to six weeks. You always want to win, but I saw a lot to build on in this game.

I really wanted to see them attack the basket more, and I thought there were some opportunities that were missed. Also plenty of opportunities for rebounds and easy shots that were missed. Got to finish those.

I’ll watch again and see what seems different in a second look. Obviously, I’m curious what the rest of you saw.
 
Great defense against a better team. Better inside game than we've had in years. Sad our outside game wasn't there tonight. I feel good about most of what I saw tonight.
 
I was disappointed in the outside shots too. But it looked as though most of them were forced, whereas we are use to seeing those wide open shots in transition. Looks to me like we've slowed the game down from last year in order to get the posts (Cokie) time to get set up. That's fine, and I think we'll see that work out better as the games go on.

I agree that the team looks much better than last year at this point. Hoping the defense steps it up a bit though. Stanford got too many chip shots in the paint for my liking. But, it will come too with time. I'm excited about this season!!
 
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Enemkpali, Nneka.... 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 9
21 Peoples, Cassie..... 0-3 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 18

Not exactly the performance I'd expect from 2 players from a Top 10 class in their debut!
 
Agree with WCBBNUT, we showed some good D against a very good team, and our inside game was stronger than I thought it would be this early on. Of course, I exepcted it to be one of our strengths this season, just didn't know it would be so evident during the first game against a team with as many bigs as the Cardinal. A couple of comments from the press conference summarize the obvious problems. We didn't know what to do, or didn't take advantage when Cokie was double-teamed, and our outside shots just weren't falling. We've got good outside shooters though and I expect that to also be a strength fo this team; going 1 for 11 from beyond the arc, or anything like that, isn't something we're going to see very often from the Horns (I hope!). Love the 9 blks vs. just 2 for Stanford, but hope to see AG score some this year also. Yes, Cokie is back and looking good, but Gayle is more than capable of contributing offensively as well. Sorry to hear about Ronisha, but hope the issue gets resolved and she's back sooner rather than later, esp with Kayla unavailable until January.
 
well i hate to say this, but i think it is going to be a long year - if we had lost by only 3 or so i might think differently - we just make too many fundamental basketball mistakes - we were at HOME and were lucky to score 59 points - we could never match their offensive runs - for whatever reason the coaches are not getting it done or the players are not responding - as a coach you have to make adjustments and it looks like the same old mistakes just change the calendar year - i thought coach g liked to run so run or if its half court play half court, but you better be very basketball smart and have scorers at every position - some of you like to give "seattle" a hard time, but he speaks the truth whether we want to hear it or not -
the coaching/winning on the women's side needs step up big time - basketball, soccer(he should be gone, hasn't done much - i don't think they have ever made it past the second round), softball(the postseason latlely has been a disaster) - with all the money and resources available to them, it's past time to produce or bring someone in who can
 
Very encouraged by what I saw last night. We must keep in mind that we only lost by 13 to the number 5 team in the nation. And the game was more than close for the first 33 minutes. It was in no way a blow out and very good to see the horns compete against a high level of competition. Rebounding hurt us and that's where I would've really liked to see major make an impact because she does that better than anyone on the team not named gayle. Nneka is already improving, and I LOVE her toughness. If you drive the paint while she's in there, she will not hesitate to let you know that your not welcome. And we've missed that. Cassie looked a bit slow tonight, but that may be because orramge looked so fast!! And I was more than impressed by our defense, we must finish the possession with the rebound though. We do that one thing and we're potentially looking at a different outcome. I would love to play Stanford again this season, 13 points is by no means a resounding victory. And also much credit is due to Harting, played a great game and will open things up for Cokie of she continues to hit those shots from the high post
 
First things first: Watching the game on LHN was a treat. I can't wait for Time Warner to make it available.

As for the game, I agree with those posters who thought the team looked good in spurts. However, breakdowns in rebounding, especially on the defensive end, gave Chiney Ogwumike far too many easy put-backs. During the game, Rebecca Lobo commented several times how Coach G was worried the team was not in ideal shape. I have to agree--they looked gassed which led to the defensive breakdowns, IMO.

What is concerning about the lack of fitness is that is something, above all else, that should not occur. With the exception of Cokie, who has to have her practice times monitered, there is no excuse for the rest of the team to be as fatigued as they were. I foresee more 'suicides' being run in future practices--at least I hope so.

While the team did stay within 10-13 points of Stanford, it is worth noting that Stanford was without Nneke Ogwumike. I fear that if she had played, the outcome would have been far worse.

Some positives I saw were the return of Cokie, Hartung's improvement in rebounding and overall tenacity, and Fussell--she's a player. Anderson looked good as well.

Some disappointments I had were with Gayle and Fontenette. With all the talk of Gayle's improvement on finishing offensively, it was not in display last night. Additionally, she still has not learned to not use her body to block shots, thus fouling is still an issue. Fontenette played in a funk--not something one wishes to see out of a senior point guard.

While some things are a bit better than last year, it is way too soon to tell where the Horns will end up. The offensive sets are still an issue and the overall health of the squad is of concern--an all too often voiced refrain.
 
I liked some things and didn't some. Really felt Horns let a winnable game get away. But I'm going to watch the replay later today after the FB game. I was really impressed with the play of Anne Marie, Nneka, & Cassie. Cokie will learn not to put the ball down when she's within five feet of the basket. Lots of her TOs came in that situation. The first five minutes of the second half (my impression)allowed Stanford to stretch a five pt lead to ten and Horns could not get the lead. Stanford has a bunch of posts and they are good. Nice to see Horns be able to run four effectiv posts in and out as well. Decent crowd, good game, wish Horns had pulled it out as I think they could have.

Well, I'm never as short winded as I think I am when talking about WBB.
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