Visual Progress of Basketball Team Over 14 years

[racerx5908]

I'm going to write some fanposts on Women's Basketball over at a mostly men's, mostly football forum. I gathered some visual guides to help explain what's been happening with UT women's basketball from a fan's perspective.

I gathered these stats from the TexasSports.com web site. I may have made some errors with hand-loading the data into Excel, so no promises on the 100% accuracy of these charts:

This is where data shows my emotion is better than my memory. I remember Gail being worse than the data shows. I think I was just very frustrated at the sloppy play during her tenure. And my memory of Karen being better than the first 2 years indicated shows my positive bias towards her. Although the 2-3 are almost identical, my gut feel was things were trending up.

Anyway, enjoy.

 

[BabHorn]

People tend to overlook what Gail did the five years she was here, whether because they didn't think she was a good fit or didn't like. I really liked her and was sorry that she did not reach the level of play that we expected (Elite 8s, Final Fours).

Just curious, what do the shaded areas represent and what do the numbers on the left of the chart represent? In other words, what are you measuring?

BTW, setting up Excel is really tough. Great once it is set up, though.

 

[racerx5908]

People tend to overlook what Gail did the five years she was here, whether because they didn't think she was a good fit or didn't like. I really liked her and was sorry that she did not reach the level of play that we expected (Elite 8s, Final Fours).

Just curious, what do the shaded areas represent and what do the numbers on the left of the chart represent? In other words, what are you measuring?

BTW, setting up Excel is really tough. Great once it is set up, though.

The bars are the winning percentage after each win/loss. The numbers on the left represent the percentages, albeit in lazy format. i.e. 1.0 at the top = 100%, and then 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, and 0.2 = 20%. That's why when they beat up on the small schools at the beginning of the year there is a flat plateau of 100% until their first loss. Also, I rounded two places in my excel formulas so...some wins raise the number from 0.672 to 0.674, but rounded it looks like 67% and then after a win 67%.

 

[BabHorn]

The bars are the winning percentage after each win/loss. The numbers on the left represent the percentages, albeit in lazy format. i.e. 1.0 at the top = 100%, and then 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, and 0.2 = 20%. That's why when they beat up on the small schools at the beginning of the year there is a flat plateau of 100% until their first loss. Also, I rounded two places in my excel formulas so...some wins raise the number from 0.672 to 0.674, but rounded it looks like 67% and then after a win 67%.

Thanks, makes it easier to interpret. Excellent graphics.

 

[racerx5908]

I think one of the reasons I wanted to create those graphs and post it here first is that I'm somewhat taken aback by the criticisms that go on in the basketball forum. There's complaints about coaching tactics and guard play and how the players are used during a game. We're 20-1! Even Jody in the final 4 and sweet sixteen year of 30-5 didn't start off this strong!

The graphs show how strong we started and STAYED STRONG this year, even with one loss.

 

[BabHorn]

there' s lots of All American coaches posting here.

 

[JoeDallas]

Great graph. To me, our results are even more about recruiting than coaching philosophy and tactics, not to say those aren't critical. I think Gail is an great coach, but for whatever reason, couldn't recruit well here. Karen has been a recruiting dynamo, and may that forever remain the case.

 

[rattfatt]

Great graph. To me, our results are even more about recruiting than coaching philosophy and tactics, not to say those aren't critical. I think Gail is an great coach, but for whatever reason, couldn't recruit well here. Karen has been a recruiting dynamo, and may that forever remain the case.

I've always disagreed with people who said that Coach G didn't recruit well. The majority of her highly touted recruits got injured early in their careers and ended up having to give up basketball. Without those injuries the program would be exactly where it is today imo. Keep in mind she recruited Nneka and the best and most important player on this team in Imani. That's not taking anything away from Coach Aston because she's done a great job. I do agree with you that Coach Aston is recruiting at a higher level overall. And i also think that Coach Aston still needs to improve as a coach on the offensive end of the court.

 

[BBV_Horn]

Great graph. To me, our results are even more about recruiting than coaching philosophy and tactics, not to say those aren't critical. I think Gail is an great coach, but for whatever reason, couldn't recruit well here. Karen has been a recruiting dynamo, and may that forever remain the case.

The "for whatever reason" with Coach G was the fact that she didn't take in to account that she needed ties to Texas High School / AAU teams / coaches...she dissed Mays and Davis, basically dooming her recruiting(or a lot of it)...great coach, but you live and die in this state!! ..... And Imani came here because of her (Annette Smith-Knight) family member, plus a desire to play away from home...not saying Coach G wasn't a factor with her stellar rep, but....

 

[rattfatt]

The "for whatever reason"Coach G was the fact that she didn't take in to account that she needed ties to Texas Highschool / AAU teams / coaches...she dissed Mays and Davis, basically dooming her recruiting(or a lot of it)...great coach, but you live and die in this state!! ..... And Imani came here because of her aunt Annettely member, plus a desire to play away from home...not saying Coach G wasn't a factor with her steller coaching but....

All of that is nice, but the fact is she recruited Imani. Cokie Reed, Cassie Peoples, and Tiffany Moore were Mcdonald's All Americans. Chelsea Bass was a highly touted recruit and so was Nneka. This myth that she didn't recruit well especially in the state of Texas is false.

 

[utfannforlife]

All of that is nice, but the fact is she recruited Imani. Cokie Reed, Cassie Peoples, and Tiffany Moore were Mcdonald's All Americans. Chelsea Bass was a highly touted recruit and so was Nneka. This myth that she didn't recruit well especially in the state of Texas is false.

I used to say that all the time. I would even attribute some of Aston's early recruiting success to this.

Not in any way saying that she didn't have to put in some serious and difficult work, but its a hell of a lot easier when you don't have to sell kids on the fact that the best kids in Texas still want to come to Austin.

 

[racerx5908]

This myth that she didn't recruit well especially in the state of Texas is false.

I liked coach G. But she herself said in more than one interview about 3 years into the job that she didn't adequately factor in the relationships with Texas HS coaches when she first arrived. Without throwing her assistants under the bus, I was left with the distinct impression she wished she had kept someone like Travis Mays when she filled out her staff.

 

[DFW_Horn]

I liked coach G. But she herself said in more than one interview about 3 years into the job that she didn't adequately factor in the relationships with Texas HS coaches when she first arrived. Without throwing her assistants under the bus, I was left with the distinct impression she wished she had kept someone like Travis Mays when she filled out her staff.

If that's the case, she may be the first coach who actually doesn't read local sports writers. There were a lot of articles written before and after she assembled her staff that hammered that point.

 

[Dr. D]

I have no interest in reviving debates about Goestenkors and I'm real happy with Aston...but...I have to agree Gail had amazingly bad luck with injuries to high quality players. Tiffany Moore, for instance, broke her hand her freshman year, then came down with a mysterious allergy at the beginning of her sophomore year and had to quit basketball. Chelsea Bass quit because of concussions. Cokie Reed had foot surgery, then had to quit because of a hypertension issue. Cassie Peoples had a hurt knee her freshman season. Brady Sanders injured her neck, had surgery, and missed her entire freshman year. That's a biblical plague of injuries. Texas definitely would have been better if they had all stayed healthy, especially when joined by Davenport and Imani.

 

[racerx5908]

I never understood the transfer of Peoples after one unlucky freshman year nor the "allergy" of Moore. Woulda, coulda, shoulda...

 

[utfannforlife]

I never understood the transfer of Peoples after one unlucky freshman year nor the "allergy" of Moore. Woulda, coulda, shoulda...

I believe that Cassie was told that she doesnt fit astons system. Which judging but those who are playing there now I would be inclined to agree. Much more athletic and defensive minded.

 

[Dr. D]

re Moore's "allergy," it was a genuine medical problem and condition that first surfaced when the team was on a European tour before the regular season. She had serious symptoms and could not play, then or later. If she had been dissatisfied, all she had to do was transfer.