Texas vs UConn

I agree with justme828. I'd like to see Karen willing to change up defenses according to the needs of the moment, including some zone if they are eating us up inside. It won't happen, though. Our defensive philosophy is cool when it works, playing very tight, playing passing lanes, trying for steals, but it leaves us so vulnerable to the back door. UConn has a real motion offense, as I recall, with a lot of cutting. That's what I'd like to see us do on offense. If we fall into taking a spot on the floor and just standing there, we will have big problems.
 
Malcom said:
It would be good if Rellah could give us a few quality minutes tomorrow.
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I don't expect to see Rellah play against UConn; will be surprised if she isn't at the end of bench in warm-ups like she was on Saturday. If she was being disciplined by not being allowed to play against TCU and KU, then I can't imagine she gets rewarded by playing against UConn.

Whatever point Coach A is trying to make to Rellah, she seems adamant on doing it regardless of the end result (like a loss at TCU). It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
 
Moooooo said:
Whatever point Coach A is trying to make to Rellah, she seems adamant on doing it regardless of the end result (like a loss at TCU). It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
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Mmm, gonna have to say I disagree on that. Playing a player, who is not living up to your expectations or requirements, devolves into a coaching philosophy of "win at all costs". And then the players end up running the team. I'm not saying Rellah is doing anything bad. My point is if playing one player is more important than the team concept. I say no.
 
racerx5908 said:
Mmm, gonna have to say I disagree on that. Playing a player, who is not living up to your expectations or requirements, devolves into a coaching philosophy of "win at all costs". And then the players end up running the team. I'm not saying Rellah is doing anything bad. My point is if playing one player is more important than the team concept. I say no.
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I understand your point. And, we'll never know her reasoning. But, Karen is responsible for having recruited that player to Texas. Only Karen makes the decisions; so, she is responsible and accountable for those decisions (whether they result in wins or losses).

While I realize that "tough love" works for some players, it doesn't work for all players. Every action comes with a reaction. If she decides to continue to keep Rellah on the bench (regardless of the reasons), we really aren't much different of a team than last season as none of our 3 freshmen are making noticeable contributions. It's the same team (except Jatarie instead of Kelsey Lang).
 
JoeDallas said:
I don't know what to expect. We will have to be shooting a higher percentage than the last two games (obviously). Everyone will have to be hitting. Hopefully this will be Brooke's break-out game. And we can't have any of those "dry spells" where nothing goes in. As far as I know, UConn doesn't have any weaknesses. I would guess Ariel will start on Samuelson, since Samuelson is so tall. Ariel can't get into foul trouble. Brooke or Sutton on Danger, leaving Lashann to guard Nurse, I guess. We will probably change up a lot. Inside, don't know. Napheesa Collier is hard to guard, she has so many good moves. Audrey-Ann or Joyner if she is in maybe. I can't remember their other starter, but Azure Stevens will get a lot of minutes, and I don't know how we can guard her, since she is also so tall.

I will be satisfied if we give it our best, regardless of the outcome. I think we could surprise them and play them close or even win. Or, if things go badly, they could blow us out. (I doubt we will blow them out.)
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Uconn has weaknesses, teams just have not proven capable of exploiting them. Their depth is one of them. Teams just struggle with getting them in foul trouble. If we can do that, depth favors Texas. They also have a few dry spells themselves, but their defense is so great other teams are usually in the midst of one as well. They're not the Uconn of old, they're certainly not invincible. We have 8 players on our Roster that were recruited by Uconn and could've absolutely gone there had they chose. They expectation should be for us to win.
 
I agree with Racer. If Rellah playing is not about an injury but more of a failure to follow the "team first" concept, then Coach Aston cannot reward her for that.

True, Coach Aston recruited that player. But that player also was aware of the principles she would need to follow to get playing time, including learning the offensive and defensive schemes. Currently, if it is true that she is not participating in warmups as reported by at least one poster, I will assume an injury rather than anything else is keeping her from playing. There is certainly PT available as she continues to get in game shape.

And I also think that we are not the same team as last year, but better. Yes, Joyner is not the same player as last season but we have more scoring options from the backcourt, including Chasity who continues to get minutes. Not enough to let her get in the running for Big 12 FOY but enough to be effective. And Joyner is making progress as shown by her game versus Kansas. She just needs to sustain that as she will be key against UConn and the rest of the Big 12 season.

BTW, Horns and Coach Aston don't seem to be getting much respect from the Boneyard. Looks like they are expecting a typical 20-30 pt UConn win tonight. I'm expecting a close game with our guards leading the way to a Texas win. :hookem2:
 
Not sure what the reason is for Rellah not playing but I wish I knew for the context. If it is your run of the mill disciplinary issue, I probably have a different philosophy. See Geno's comments re: discipline. If its something more serious, then by all means don't sacrifice your standing with your team and your values as a program for a few W's.
 
Regardless of the reasons, our freshmen are not having the impact many of us expected. So, I don't expect them to have an impact tonight (assuming they even see the court). And, their lack of playing time gives us very little depth on the bench at important positions.

I think the issue(s) have to be shared between coaches and players. Unless someone budges, this will be the least impactful freshmen class under Coach Aston.
 
Thread is getting off track, but to follow up on Moooooo's comments about our frosh. While I didn't really expect any of the frosh to start, I did expect some solid contributions from them, especially Rellah with Chasity and Destiny providing good depth in the backcourt. I have to wonder if Destiny will play again this season or if she will be redshirted. Chasity is the only frosh on track, imo. I was happy to see her named preseason Big 12 FOY but doubted she would get enough minutes to make a serious bid for that, given the experience and talent in front of her. She is getting minutes and I was pleasantly surprised to see her play so early (second quarter) vs KU. I would really like to see her get around ten minutes vs UConn but not sure that it will happen.
 
I'm fixing to leave the Waco area and come down for the game. I'm supposed to be getting a ticket from Babhorn and sitting with him. I really look forward to watching this game.
 
time to get ready to head out to the Drum and an exciting evening of WBB! Glad the weather is projected not to be severe until well after the game is over.
 
Don't think Destiny will be eligible to apply for a medical redshirt (assuming her reported injury keeps her out the remainder of the season). Cannot have played past a certain point of the season (like 1/4 way through) before injury prevents her from playing further into the season. Destiny last played against Northwestern State which was our 9th game of the season.

Going into the season, knowing it would take Joyner a while to work her way back into the pace of the game, I felt we would need contributions from other players, especially our freshmen, in order to have a chance to beat UConn and contend for a #1 national seed.

Despite the injury supposedly keeping Destiny out of games since mid-December, she seems to have the best body language on the bench of all our underclassmen.
 
I was trying to think of the game this season that could compare to this UConn game. I would have to say maybe Georgia as far as build up/road game and Tennessee kinda matches up talent and athleticly wise. We beat Georgia but we underperformed against Tenn. It's our turn.
 
Hoping that tonight can serve as a tipping point for WBB. The sport has to get to a point where top 10 games aren't a foregone conclusion.
 
BabHorn said:
I agree with Racer. If Rellah playing is not about an injury but more of a failure to follow the "team first" concept, then Coach Aston cannot reward her for that.

True, Coach Aston recruited that player. But that player also was aware of the principles she would need to follow to get playing time, including learning the offensive and defensive schemes. Currently, if it is true that she is not participating in warmups as reported by at least one poster, I will assume an injury rather than anything else is keeping her from playing. There is certainly PT available as she continues to get in game shape.

And I also think that we are not the same team as last year, but better. Yes, Joyner is not the same player as last season but we have more scoring options from the backcourt, including Chasity who continues to get minutes. Not enough to let her get in the running for Big 12 FOY but enough to be effective. And Joyner is making progress as shown by her game versus Kansas. She just needs to sustain that as she will be key against UConn and the rest of the Big 12 season.

BTW, Horns and Coach Aston don't seem to be getting much respect from the Boneyard. Looks like they are expecting a typical 20-30 pt UConn win tonight. I'm expecting a close game with our guards leading the way to a Texas win. :hookem2:
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sheesh, is that what respect looks like on their board? That got me all kinds of fired up. No team should ever be 20-30 points better than Texas at home. Those days are gone. Hoping their team thinks like their fans, making them ripe for an upset.
 
utfannforlife said:
sheesh, is that what respect looks like on their board? That got me all kinds of fired up. No team should ever be 20-30 points better than Texas at home. Those days are gone. Hoping their team thinks like their fans, making them ripe for an upset.
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I visited the Boneyard and can verify they are all predicting at least a 20-30 point victory. I'm expecting a much more competitive game. They don't have much respect for Aston or Texas so we'll need to earn it tonight.
 
I don't blame UConn fans for their bravado. They were actually predicting us to win at Tennessee by 10-20 points, and we laid an egg. If we play like we did in recent performances against TCU and Kansas, and UConn plays like they have been playing most of the season, then UConn fan's prediction of a double-digit win is not outlandish.

We need to play significantly better tonight, and hope UConn doesn't play at the top of their game.
 
BabHorn said:
I agree with Racer. If Rellah playing is not about an injury but more of a failure to follow the "team first" concept, then Coach Aston cannot reward her for that.

True, Coach Aston recruited that player. But that player also was aware of the principles she would need to follow to get playing time, including learning the offensive and defensive schemes. Currently, if it is true that she is not participating in warmups as reported by at least one poster, I will assume an injury rather than anything else is keeping her from playing. There is certainly PT available as she continues to get in game shape.

And I also think that we are not the same team as last year, but better. Yes, Joyner is not the same player as last season but we have more scoring options from the backcourt, including Chasity who continues to get minutes. Not enough to let her get in the running for Big 12 FOY but enough to be effective. And Joyner is making progress as shown by her game versus Kansas. She just needs to sustain that as she will be key against UConn and the rest of the Big 12 season.

BTW, Horns and Coach Aston don't seem to be getting much respect from the Boneyard. Looks like they are expecting a typical 20-30 pt UConn win tonight. I'm expecting a close game with our guards leading the way to a Texas win. :hookem2:
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All I know is that when Boothe comes in the game, she ignites the team and the crowd. I think it was WVU (maybe OSU) when she cam in and immediately hit two back to back 3 pointers. We should sure use that energy tonight.

No clue what's happening behind the scenes - just know what I see when she's on the floor.
 
Heading out for the game, not sure what to expect. Just caught the latest video on the wbb twitter feed and I didnt see Rellah in the pregame prep/walk throughs. So I am not anticipating seeing her tonight either -_-
 
About to head down. No yellow seal, but I'll be there. Thankfully between MLK Day and a predicted period of cold weather lasting more than 24 hours, everyone in the city seems to be either at HEB or at home, so traffic shouldn't be too awful....
 
Watching the pre-game show in LHN. Team going through their shoot-around; Rellah in warmups like Destiny and Khaleann. Obviously, none will be playing.

I think 105.3 does pre-game 15 minutes prior to tipoff.
 
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