Texas vs. Texas Tech

It was a disgusting game to watch.

When I review the stats, Texas did everything right except 1) make baskets and 2) defending without fouling.

Texas Tech had 26 turnovers to Texas 15 = +11 possessions for Texas.
Texas had 21 offensive rebounds to Texas Tech's 10 = +11 possessions for Texas.
Texas took 72 shots to Texas Tech's 38 = 34 more shots.

But Texas could not make a basket, 21-72 = 29% FG, and Texas Tech shot 44 free-throws and made 21 more free-throws than Texas.
 
What a crappy game. We're not "there" yet. Thoughts:
1. that was one of the more poorly officiated games I've seen. It was the younger, newer ref who was making a lot of the poor calls and non-calls. The older refs just stayed out of most of it
2. I wish I had the count of charge vs. blocking calls. When the Tech players would just use their elbow and shove our players down, no call
3. The Tech players are well coached under the basket. They blocked out our beefier players to get position on the ball and then when we occasionally got the ball, they actively worked to pull it out of our hands and did so a majority of the time
4. I look up and the rebounds are Texas 9 and Tech 14. Then I look a while later and it's Texas 9 and Tech 20. WTF?
5. Aaliyah Moore does give it everything she has. She also falls on her own, A LOT. Like Audrey falls a lot.
6. What doghouse is Hunter in? No in the lineup until the second half?
7. All the bunny shots, missed for Texas
8. All the roll-around-the-rim shots for Tech, in. It's just one of those games where everything was going in for them
9. Tech player doing the horns down as she was running off the court
10. Had a super-Tech fan who bought tickets and sat right behind us. She was CONSTANTLY yelling for the team. Never said anything negative about Texas. But it was a constant yelling of:
a. MOVE YOUR FEET, MOVE YOUR FEET
b. C'MON DEFENSE!
c. LET'S GO RED RAIDERS
d. THAT'S OKAY THAT'S OKAY
I mean, non-stop and loud. One of my ears was ringing a bit at halftime due to her screaming and I had to put a bit of paper napkin in my ear to help cut down on noise.
 
I was close enough to hear what happened:

The Tech coach was screaming at the scorekeeper about the line-up and Vic finally came over to tell her to stop mistreating the scorekeeper and to tell her to quit delaying the game. They got in a shouting match and suddenly the Tech coach tried to come at Vic and was screaming that she wasn’t afraid of him. She was a bit unhinged if you ask me.
 
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I don't know what's wrong. To go from our promising beginning with the upset of Stanford and being ahead of Tennessee most of the way, only losing in overtime. This team is not recognizable. We looked pretty bad against OSU, and now this. The Harmon of early in the year seems to have lost her confidence or something. Tech, on the other hand, had a great game plan, with their excellent zone doing a number on our offense, as zones usually do. And their offense centered on driving hard to the basket right around our pressure backcourt defense, going straight to the low block. Sorry to say it, but Vic does not show much ability to adjust. His answer is just to keep on doing the same thing, but to do it harder. Switching defenses on them might have taken them by surprise. A zone would have mostly shut down their paint game and forced them to make outside shots. But, no, Vic doesn't believe in a zone. Our full court press was a waste of time. I don't remember us getting any steals off of it. Instead, what we got from it was some fast breaks from Tech, and generally not getting back fast enough.

I don't know what the deal is with Kendall Hunter. We all saw her with our very own eyes make 7 three's out of 8 tries in just a few minutes in the first game. She came to the team with a great shooting history. She was injured for awhile, but ever since she came back, Vic doesn't seem to want her on the court much. Some have said it's her defense, but I've watched her defense closely in the few minutes we've seen her, and it is fine. Like Andrea Lloyd said with about 7:00 minutes left, Vic needed to look on his bench for someone who could knock down some threes. He put Kobe in, who made one three. To be honest, that's the first basket I remember her making all year. (I'm sure she must have made more.) I'm not in practice, so obviously I'm not seeing the whole picture. But it does concern me and brings back bad memories of Rellah Booth and Chassidy Patterson hardly ever getting off the bench with KA.
 
UTexRulz23 said:
Yeah but even that’s frustrating how it happened (other than maybe Aaliyah).

It’s got to be demoralizing for players like Hunter who know they’re only going in because others are in foul trouble. It’s like they’re the last resort. Just didn’t feel like players were managed well tonight.
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I have not been impressed with Hunter anyway.
 
We need to find some player's that can block out on Defense. Our post player's look so weak, except A. Moore. Damn Shame.
We looked a mess tonight. I am sorry to say that.
 
It was almost a “watch what you wish for” situation. Vic had all his players back but couldn’t seem to get any of them to gel. Something tells me that he’ll figure it out soon enough.
 
It's been difficult trying to follow the team and games in general due to the cancelation and such, but this team is obviously just not playing well right now. Hopefully they get it together and figure things out. Looking at the stats it just seemed that they couldn't make any shots.
 
JoeDallas said:
I don't know what's wrong. To go from our promising beginning with the upset of Stanford and being ahead of Tennessee most of the way, only losing in overtime. This team is not recognizable. We looked pretty bad against OSU, and now this. The Harmon of early in the year seems to have lost her confidence or something. Tech, on the other hand, had a great game plan, with their excellent zone doing a number on our offense, as zones usually do. And their offense centered on driving hard to the basket right around our pressure backcourt defense, going straight to the low block. Sorry to say it, but Vic does not show much ability to adjust. His answer is just to keep on doing the same thing, but to do it harder. Switching defenses on them might have taken them by surprise. A zone would have mostly shut down their paint game and forced them to make outside shots. But, no, Vic doesn't believe in a zone. Our full court press was a waste of time. I don't remember us getting any steals off of it. Instead, what we got from it was some fast breaks from Tech, and generally not getting back fast enough.

I don't know what the deal is with Kendall Hunter. We all saw her with our very own eyes make 7 three's out of 8 tries in just a few minutes in the first game. She came to the team with a great shooting history. She was injured for awhile, but ever since she came back, Vic doesn't seem to want her on the court much. Some have said it's her defense, but I've watched her defense closely in the few minutes we've seen her, and it is fine. Like Andrea Lloyd said with about 7:00 minutes left, Vic needed to look on his bench for someone who could knock down some threes. He put Kobe in, who made one three. To be honest, that's the first basket I remember her making all year. (I'm sure she must have made more.) I'm not in practice, so obviously I'm not seeing the whole picture. But it does concern me and brings back bad memories of Rellah Booth and Chassidy Patterson hardly ever getting off the bench with KA.
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Absolutely. Teams are going to continue to use the same blueprint that Tennessee and tech used and play zone. Coaches are going to have to come up better game plans and the players are going to have to make shots. You have to have players that can make shots.
 
Took the long way home, wanted to cool off a bit before posting because I haven't felt this negative about a loss in years and this was the first of what I hope will only be a few in the Vic era. I can't think of a worse loss (in terms of how it made me feel) since he arrived.

But just to give some unsolicited insight into what I personally look for when I watch any game, no matter if it's men, women, college or pro, i'll explain how I coached. There were 4 areas that I always told my players we needed to execute in order to win...
  • Win on the boards
  • Win the turnover battle
  • Make more FT's than the other team takes
  • Win the points in the paint
If you do those 4 things it's almost impossible to lose a game, regardless of the officials, regardless of how the other team shoots etc. Today Tech did 3 out of 4 of those things and pretty convincingly might I add. They were absolutely the tougher team today and it showed. I might be in the minority on this one but I loved the fire from the coaches in their dustup, and in particular from Gerlich. She showed her kids that she wasn't going to take our s%&# and they didn't have to either. I think we underestimate that from coaches sometimes especially when you're leading the underdog on the road against a top10 team. Thats why the Seahag was always so successful, opposing fans hated her......but her kids would run through a wall if she asked.

Getting the reasons why I thought the game went the way it did.... and before you bite my head off, remember that in my thousand+ posts on this board you know im not a negative nelly but I will point out when things arent always sunshine and roses.

1. Vic and staff had a poor plan coming into the game and no adjustments as the game went on.
- When teams break our press and don't give us "live ball" turnovers we tend to struggle. This was true even back to his MSU days. I think we've just got to know there will be nights like this.
- One thing I keep scratching my head about is why he just refuses to play zone for extended minutes under any circumstances. We played zone for the first 2 possessions of the 4th, got stops and then abandoned. I firmly believe in "dancing with the one who brought ya" but there are sometimes when you just have to find a way to win by any means necessary.

2. Our first half defense was the worst I've seen since Astons first year. The way that tech got to the rim consistently with layups and And'1s literally made my jaw drop. I'd have to go look but I know is been a cold day in H-E-double hockey sticks since a team has shot 64% against Vic for an entire half.

3. We couldn't hit a shot from deep to save our life.
- Personally I was yelling for Hunter to get in the game in the first half because while she struggles on defense (most frosh do) one thing thats not up for debate is that she can shoot the leather off the ball. If anyone is going to get wide open looks against a zone defense, I want it to be her! Tech made some adjustments in the second half when she came in and extended the zone a bit (something I am sure they got from the Tenn film) and made it harder for us to get open. We missed the window she would've had in the first half, because the energy definitely picked up when she came in. The back door cuts she gave up not withstanding.

4. Our 4 & 5 players were God awful tonight. Missed layups offensively, giving up layups defensively, ZERO ball pressure etc. Number 24 and Scott from Tech absolutely ate our lunch and we have to be better. Baylor getting postponed on Sunday might be a blessing in disguise because Naylssa Smith would've but 50 on our butt tonight.

All that being said, the sky is not falling and joy will cometh in the morning. The players who missed extended time (Moore, Kobe, Gaston) will get their wind back and be 2x better for the rematch. Hunter's defense will improve and she will play more, Rori will get more consistent and Jo very rarely struggles for too long. Let's take the lump and get better
 
kurupt said:
Absolutely. Teams are going to continue to use the same blueprint that Tennessee and tech used and play zone. Coaches are going to have to come up better game plans and the players are going to have to make shots. You have to have players that can make shots.
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For what it’s worth, almost every team has played a zone against us and most of the time it didn’t work. Tech played a match up zone that seems like it worked but honestly I think it was more of an off night for us rather than a good zone for them.
 
WCBBNUT said:
For what it’s worth, almost every team has played a zone against us and most of the time it didn’t work. Tech played a match up zone that seems like it worked but honestly I think it was more of an off night for us rather than a good zone for them.
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I hope you're right. I think Vic has to continue to work on zone offense but also into playing some zone defense himself. I know he says that he doesn't like to play hope you miss defense, but if the team can't play pressure man without fouling or giving up dribble penetration he has to at least consider it on a regular basis.
 
As previously mentioned, we have been playing this way for the last four or five games and getting away with it in ugly, sloppy wins. I said after the Princeton game that I didn't feel confident we could beat any Big 12 team with the way we were playing. Someone immediately corrected me and said there were a couple of teams in the Big 12 we would still beat. Well, here we have it... we got the bite in the @$$ that most of us knew was ultimately coming.
We've got a couple of positions on the floor from which no offensive production is coming. Matharu's spirit seems to have changed a bit and perhaps that's from not being rewarded with a starting position after leading the team in scoring, not to mention being one of the major reasons we won at Stanford and at A&M. Vic is going to have to tweak that line up to include her in there somewhere and NOT at the point guard position. Also we're going to have to have someone startbat the 5 that can produce some type of offense. It might be time for a lineup something like Harmon, Matharu, Moore, Gaston and Audrey/Jo. If those seniors are such leaders, then they'll understand that the team needs some production.
Also, better find a way for your shooters to get in the game when you need them. If that means that they are not ready to play the type of defense that you want to play, then you're going to have to come up with something that they can do for the time being in order to have them on the floor for offensive production. Look no further than that Tech game film to see how a matchup zone is played... And it's NOT "stand around hope you miss defense." I'm very fond of Vic and his coaching style overall, but he's going to have to do a little self-examining himself. I will never understand why a coach that is so defensive oriented, refuses to teach and play different defenses to keep opponents guessing. One way of playing defense creates one way of attacking it. In that sense, not much different from KA.
 
It was interesting to see that Karen Aston returned to coach last night. At least that's what I thought I saw. All the things that get you beat returned. Trying to shoot over a player 4” taller, lob the ball across the court without looking for a defender, out hustled for rebounds, missing easy buckets standing under the basket, failure to guard the lane resulting in fouling, missed FT’s, no offensive strategy, throw the ball into a crowd of 5 on an inbounds.

It seemed to me the only one that wanted to win was Shay, and she hardly saw the court. And why Lauren didn't get more time in the 2nd half is beyond me. None of the other forwards could score, or defend, so why not give the one player we know can score more chances? Words can't even describe Lattimore. Here defensive strategy was let the person drive right past me then foul when they shoot.

In the presser Vic said it was on him, and it was. But the also blamed the players mostly, then said it was on him. That's not good. His substitutions, offensive strategy and failure to teach how to use a backboard were all bad.
 
These are all great analyses by y'all. It seems we almost agree on the important issues. I like Vic still, but he is coming across as limited and as rigid as Karen. If his style is not working, then we do poorly or lose. I'm still flummoxed by the Kendall issue. Everyone says its her defense. May well be true, but I just don't see it as being that much worse than other players in the few minutes we've seen. There were many defensive problems last night. Matharu had a bad shooting night, but she needs to be on the court more often. In many ways, she is our best player. Lattimore has potential, but there is so much for her to learn.
 
Don't know what you mean by bandwagon. I still think this team has strong potential, some very good players, and a good coach. But this board is to call it like we see it, and these are some things we saw last night. Hoping for improvement as the conference play goes on.
 
For some reason, Vic seems to have Kyndall on a shorter leash than most other players. I’m concerned she’s lost confidence as she’s passing up shots or hesitating to shoot and then getting her shot blocked. From my perspective, she’s overthinking her decisions and playing not to make a mistake. Hopefully our assistant coaches are offering her encouragement as she navigates the growing pains of transitioning to college basketball.

Vic recruited Kyndall because she was one of the best shooters in the 2021 class. At some point, Vic needs to give her the green light to shoot so she can get into the flow of the game. If not, Kyndall will be a one dimensional player who simply runs plays so her teammates can take the shots.
 
Unlike most on this discussion I don’t think the offense and defense need a complete retooling and we’re looking at the second coming of KA. Vic’s style has been very successful for quite sometime you should remind yourselves. We hit a few more shots at the end of the game that moved the percentages UP to that abysmal 29% and 30% from BTA. Tech shot 50% and 40%. It was just one of those nights where nobody could make a shot and it felt like Tech got the lucky bounce from start to finish. It happens.

Look, hardly any wins under Vic’s style (especially in Conference) are going to be pretty. I thought you folks understood that from the get go.

Also I’m not sure it’s just defense that Kendall is having a problem with as I saw Vic talking to her on the court during FT’s and it looked like maybe she’s still having difficulty being where she’s supposed to be. She was asking him questions.
I’d put a lot more stock in your opinions of who should be on the court if you were attending practices, but I know you’re not.

But hey, don’t let me spoil you all from wallowing in doom & gloom, looking for Vic’s replacement and Monday morning quarterbacking it’s all part of the game I suppose. It’s just a part of the game I TRY not to get sucked in to. Literally just cannot win a basketball game when you’re shooting in the 20’s from everywhere on the court and luckily that’s a rare occurrence. That’s not sunshine pumping it’s fact.
 
HornView said:
Look, hardly any wins under Vic’s style (especially in Conference) are going to be pretty. I thought you folks understood that from the get go.

Also I’m not sure it’s just defense that Kendall is having a problem with as I saw Vic talking to her on the court during FT’s and it looked like maybe she’s still having difficulty being where she’s supposed to be. She was asking him questions.
I’d put a lot more stock in your opinions of who should be on the court if you were attending practices, but I know you’re not.

But hey, don’t let me spoil you all from wallowing in doom & gloom, looking for Vic’s replacement and Monday morning quarterbacking it’s all part of the game I suppose. It’s just a part of the game I TRY not to get sucked in to. Literally just cannot win a basketball game when you’re shooting in the 20’s from everywhere on the court and luckily that’s a rare occurrence. That’s not sunshine pumping it’s fact.
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You’re right wins won’t be pretty, but a LOSS should never be this ugly either. Not without you playing every player and trying everything under the sun defensively.

My coaching eye tells me that Kendall is that one player every coach has who for one reason or another isn’t living up to who you know they can be which contributes to a short leash. Some coaches let you play through it, some yank you for every mistake. This latter is just Vic’s style and if she stays mentally tough, she’ll be better on the other side of it.

lastly, didn’t see much doom and gloom on this board just honest analysis of our perceived weakness. And I certainly haven’t seen anyone remotely question weather Vic is still the right person to lead this team.
 
HornView, just to know, are you attending practices? If so, you probably have some insights others don't. To be clear, no one on here has called for Vic's replacement. You sound like an optimist, which is probably the best way to be. And you're right, our biggest problem of all last night was poor shooting. Tech's good defense had something to do with that.

I agree with LutherIsMyDog where Kyndall is concerned. When she played those first couple of games, she just knocked those shots up quickly and they almost all went in. To me, she now looks like someone whose confidence has taken a hit, and the few shots she has taken have not gone in lately. Don't know what to make of this, but even last year when Vic was interviewed about his incoming class when they were still in high school, he always raved about how fantastic Rory was going to be, but would mention Kyndall kind as an afterthought. That occurred in every interview I saw. I am not trying to create a problem where there isn't one. Hopefully the and she have a good relationship and he will be able to use her talents more as she matures.
 
LutherIsMyDog said:
At some point, Vic needs to give her the green light to shoot so she can get into the flow of the game. If not, Kyndall will be a one dimensional player who simply runs plays so her teammates can take the shots.
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I'm afraid that the "if not" could very likely end up in a very talented player leaving. I sure hope not though.
 
For the record I absolutely think Vic is the right person for our program. I also have been watching the Big XII since its inception and realize just how competent and crafty the coaches in this league are... particularly those who aren't capable of recruiting the type of natural talent that some of the others are. Sometimes we may need to be a little more crafty with them. That's all I think most of us are saying.
 
brnkj said:
I'm afraid that the "if not" could very likely end up in a very talented player leaving. I sure hope not though.
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brnkj said:
I'm afraid that the "if not" could very likely end up in a very talented player leaving. I sure hope not though.
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This has been my concerned with her lack of playing time too. Many players are quick to transfer these days, destiny Littleton comes to mind most recently. Best shooter in CA history if I remember correctly, and hardly saw playing time. Successfully contributing at SC now.
We need a pure scorer like Kendall. I just hope she “trusts the process,” and ultimately gets rewarded with more playing time, so we don’t lose her. Hoping her relationship with Rori helps keep her confidence up, along with encouragement from the staff. Her mental toughness seems strong based on her social media.
 
I don't think it's doom and gloom. I think it's reflecting on what we saw last night.

And I think Vic's press conference largely confirms it.
His presser seems like a funeral.
 
I know how many hours a head coach spends each day planning for the next game. If a coach isn’t playing a player, there’s a reason. If that player transfers, it was most likely inevitable. Skill is one thing. Attitude is another. Group dynamics still another. I have no insight into Hunter. Either she’ll get “it” or she won’t. She could be recovering from an illness. She could be struggling with personal issues. She could be doing exactly what she needs to be doing. And if I’m not mistaken, I’ve straddled every issue, assumed all the assumables and argued every side and have just posted a very meaningless post. :smokin:​
 
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WCBBNUT said:
I know how many hours a head coach spends each day planning for the next game. If a coach isn’t playing a player, there’s a reason. If that player transfers, it was most likely inevitable. Skill is one thing. Attitude is another. Group dynamics still another. I have no insight into Hunter. Either she’ll get “it” or she won’t. She could be recovering from an illness. She could be struggling with personal issues. She could be doing exactly what she needs to be doing. And if I’m not mistaken, I’ve straddled every issue, assumed all the assumable and argued every side and have just posted a very meaningless post. :smokin:​
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Actually I think you just made some very valid points.
 
I’m sorry folks I was over exaggerating in my earlier post(especially about replacing Vic), because honestly I think the “problems” are being over exaggerated for a two loss team hovering around the Top Ten. I don’t attend practice and didn’t feel like I suggested I do but maybe that’s a valid interpretation.

And I don’t really think I’m an optimist, but probably more of a realist. We’re not going to win the National Championship this year but I really think we’ll be knocking on the door. I guess in my mind it’s very early in Vic’s tenure here I’ve seen no reason not to “trust the process” yet.

I drove in from Dallas, paid downtown hotel costs and went to the game during a cautious time of the pandemic. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. It was hard to sit through but I stayed through the Eyes.

And for what it’s worth, I enjoy (and LEARN) from the discussion here immensely. I love seeing different perspectives especially from former coaches and armchair experts alike. And yes, I’m very optimistic about this program. I still think we overachieved a bit last year myself so I’m not expecting a Final Four just yet but I see it coming.
 
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