Texas vs UConn

Just watched the post game interview with White and McCarty. Both seemed in a positive mood. Lesson learned folks. I hope every player for Texas has the same take away as those two. No days off. Practice matters. We have to play at that level every second of every game. Last year we came out of the FSU game with a win but beaten to a pulp and fatigued. This might be a loss but the players seem enthusiastic. I think just maybe we finally turned a corner. Fingers crossed. Crush Tech and then CRUSH the bears.
 
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utfannforlife said:
Whew, what a tough loss. Happy with the way the team played, happy with the way KA coached and prepared them. I give her a lot a grief and "armchair quarterbacking" when it comes to some of her decision making and substitutions, but she was on top of her sh&* tonight. There are no moral victories in this game, but definitely some things to build upon.

Some perspective, our defense can stifle a good team when all 5 players are locked in. That was something I was unsure about. And it should speak to our depth that we were able to hang in the game with Ariel being on the bench the entire second quarter. A lot of what ifs left on the court. Some very makable layups and a lot of missed FT's. Button those things up and we're looking at a different result. This loss can be a good thing if deployed the right way. Next test will be how we play a very different but equally talented BU team on the road with 12k strong cheering the opposite way.
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This effort tonight would have crushed any other team in America. Moral victory? No. But look how far KA has brought this team. UConn isn't down. They played VERY well, because if they had not, they would have been run off the floor.
 
I just now had the chance to re-watch the game. Man, if the team we played tonight had any other name across their jerseys other than UConn, there would've been so many moving screens called against them. Not saying that's why we lost, we had a couple of chances to win, but still...

Oh well, on to Lubbock!! Go Hook 'Em, ladies!!
 
tough loss but we had our chances to win it and that has to do nothing but good things for the team's confidence.

Biggest things noted was leaving several layups short, simply not getting the shot up higher up on the square and the poor FT shooting (57%).

It was awesome to see such a big and loud crowd.
 
BabHorn said:
tough loss but we had our chances to win it and that has to do nothing but good things for the team's confidence.

Biggest things noted was leaving several layups short, simply not getting the shot up higher up on the square and the poor FT shooting (57%).

It was awesome to see such a big and loud crowd.
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Sure would like to see that crowd more often and especially when Crazy Kim and the Wacko Bears come to the big city.
 
utfannforlife said:
Happy with the way the team played, happy with the way KA coached and prepared them. I give her a lot a grief and "armchair quarterbacking" when it comes to some of her decision making and substitutions, but she was on top of her sh&* tonight.
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Same here!
 
I know a lot of us here have different philosophies on when to pull a player after picking up a foul early in the game, and we have discussed this a lot with Ariel Atkins and her tendency to pick up two fouls way to early before halftime and having to sit on the bench extended minutes. Coach could have pulled her with less than on e minute to go in the first quarter, and Ariel might not have picked up that ticky-tacky second foul with like 20 seconds remaining; that decision cost Ariel the entire second quarter. Was it really worth it to leave her in that last possession for one offensive play? As much as I've watched basketball over the years (at all levels), I've seen plenty of coaches make the move to pull a player with seconds remaining simply to avoid a careless foul. Yes, sometimes refs make bad calls; but, that's why you avoid leaving a player in the game and in a position to get called for a foul.

Just think about what might have been had Ariel been able to play most of the second quarter. That was a huge turning point in the game as we can all agree that we are a much better team with Ariel on the court than without her.
 
WCBBNUT said:
Jatari and Audrey have earned every minute they have been given this season. Both played great ball tonight.
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Audrey played great defense but she’s a liability on the other end. Too slow, can’t shoot, spends too much time on the perimeter.
 
jusme828 said:
One more thing...why did Geno get interviewed twice and Coach A didn't get interviewed at all?
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Homer.
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Moooooo said:
I know a lot of us here have different philosophies on when to pull a player after picking up a foul early in the game, and we have discussed this a lot with Ariel Atkins and her tendency to pick up two fouls way to early before halftime and having to sit on the bench extended minutes. Coach could have pulled her with less than on e minute to go in the first quarter, and Ariel might not have picked up that ticky-tacky second foul with like 20 seconds remaining; that decision cost Ariel the entire second quarter. Was it really worth it to leave her in that last possession for one offensive play? As much as I've watched basketball over the years (at all levels), I've seen plenty of coaches make the move to pull a player with seconds remaining simply to avoid a careless foul. Yes, sometimes refs make bad calls; but, that's why you avoid leaving a player in the game and in a position to get called for a foul.

Just think about what might have been had Ariel been able to play most of the second quarter. That was a huge turning point in the game as we can all agree that we are a much better team with Ariel on the court than without her.
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I think you're right Moo, that tt foul might have cost us the game. Ariel on the bench allowed ucon to make a comeback. I'm really pleased at how hard our girls played, but you can't beat ucon shooting 23% from 3 and .571 FT%. And those numbers were heavily influenced by Ariel being on the bench.

I just don't know what Jada brings to the table. She can't score and she's too slow on defense to guard athletic players. She's just a turnover and foul machine. I woulda rather seen Chasity. And AGC had one of her best games, but she can't be taking those 3's early in the shot clock. Joyner is getting better too, but 3 careless turnovers in 12 min isn't going to cut it for a top 10 recruit I don't care how many games they have been back. Secure the damn ball.
 
jusme828 said:
One more thing...why did Geno get interviewed twice and Coach A didn't get interviewed at all?
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Don't even bother looking at the damned "highlights" from the game on espn.com because basically all it did was show UCONN making baskets but stating how they were behind... it didn't show any highlights of our team lighting their asses up to PUT them behind. Near the very end of the segment it shows Ariel making a second-half jumper and LaShann's 2-ft miss to tie near the end of the game.
 
Have to agree that Ariel sitting out the second quarter cost us the game. She was not shooting as well as in the first when she came back out in the second half, at least that's my impression. Given her tendency to pick up that second foul, it would have been the safe option to pull her with a minute or less in the quarter. But, she is a senior and should know better and has acknowledged this as well. We needed to her and Brooke to play the entire 40 minutes. Didn't happen.

One good thing, that UConn mystique should be gone, at least as far as Texas is concerned. Ideally, we will meet them in the national championship game with different results. That would be sweet.

Meanwhile, there's the Big 12 schedule to finish out.

texexted said:
Audrey played great defense but she’s a liability on the other end. Too slow, can’t shoot, spends too much time on the perimeter.
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Run Pincher said:
I just don't know what Jada brings to the table. She can't score and she's too slow on defense to guard athletic players. She's just a turnover and foul machine.
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Geez, they wouldn't have been recruited to Texas if that was the case. Audrey-Ann plays where the scheme dictates. Joyner does the same thing when she is in. And for a post, Audrey-Ann is not slow. She is usually the first post down the court. I would rather have her take the occasional three than any other post not named Rellah. I should state that Audrey-Ann is my favorite player along with Brooke. My long past playing as an undersized post makes me appreciate the way she plays every practice and every game.

Jada brings a lot to the table as well. She was overmatched on the perimeter in this game given UConn's quickness but she does contribute.

Frustration is fine, but no need to eat our own. Take it out on the coaches for starting such a slow, no offense post and subbing in a turnover machine. :rolleyes1:
 
I alluded to this earlier; summarized nicely by someone on UConn's board:

One interesting statistic from last night's victory is UConn's runs to close out each of the four quarters. For example, in the final three minutes of the 1st period, UConn made a 9-2 run to cut the Texas lead to 3 points. Their push in the last 2 minutes, to close out the first half, was even better at 10-1. From down 8 points, the Huskies took a 1 point lead.

The end of the 3rd period saw the same push, with UConn outscoring the Longhorns 7-4 to raise the lead to 6 pts. The game ended in similar fashion with a UConn mini-run of 6-3 to stretch the final margin to 4 points.

Taken together, UConn's edge in the final 3-4 minutes of each period adds up to a 32-10 advantage. To be sure, Texas had their runs as well, but a Huskies' trademark is conditioning and tenacity. It really shows in final moments of each period.
 
utfannforlife said:
I want to be fair here....they usually interview the team whose leading or made a big push going into the half, and the winner of the game. UConn fit both of those. If our 10 pt lead held, they would've interviewed KA
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Correct. Some stations also interview the coach who's team is behind at half prior to the start of the 3rd quarter.
 
Moooooo said:
Correct. Some stations also interview the coach who's team is behind at half prior to the start of the 3rd quarter.
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I want to say the usual practice on LHN is to interview Coach Aston going into the half and the visiting coach coming out of the half.
 
ESPN interviews the leading & winning coaches. LHN interviews KA going in and other coming out. FS1 interviews leader going in, trailing coach coming out
 
Hosey only played 7 minutes or so, but they were 7 really quality minutes. Underwood looked a little outmatched. McCarty played Dangerfield to a draw at worst and maybe even won the matchup, so that's a win there.

I really thought we were going to win it when Brooke hit that buzzer-beating scoop under the defender's arm. I thought we were going to win it again when Katie Lou Samuelson improbably bricked those 2 FTs. This is a good enough time to point out that Katie is a foot taller than Brooke but only has 1 more block on the season than she does.

The best thing about this? We didn't lose because "Well we played the best we could but UConn is just too good for us to beat", like we did the last couple of times. We lost because they did a few more little things right than we did and because our ball movement slowed down in the 2nd half. But we can play the rest of the year like we expect to win every game we show up for.

2. How does an incredible player like Joyner Holmes play 12 minutes and get one rebound and one point?
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I think she was clearing out of the post to make room for White, who UConn couldn't really deal with effectively.

UConn isn't down. They played VERY well, because if they had not, they would have been run off the floor.
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They seem slightly down (for them). Even aside from us being improved, they didn't look like quite like the "5 invincible dominators" that I've seen in the past at times. Still may be good enough to win the title though. Hopefully we get a 2nd crack at them.
 
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Former walk-on and current member of the Texas media staff Emily Johnson got some great pics last night:





Love the shot of Ariel when Dangerfield is reaching (fouling).
 
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