Speculations for Next Year

OK. Kurupt's last comment on the old thread can start this one off.

"Agreed. Having to replace Ariel and Brooke will be difficult but I think they’ll actually be a better defensive team next year because of Sedona’s abilities as a shot blocker/rim protector.

And although young, Texas will have the size to matchup with Baylor. The obvious question marks will be on the perimeter. I don’t have any doubts about Sug, Chasity, and the other young perimeter players abilities but experience is the only issue IMO."

 

I think most of us can agree that Texas still doesn’t have a true, starting caliber W/SF and I’m not sure how ready Joanne Allen-Taylor is (took me a second to figure out who you were referring to in your lineup) so I’m going with this group to start the season off:
Sug
Lashann
Chaz or Destiny
Joyner
Jatarie

 

It's going to be tough on some of the Veteran's. Because J. Taylor and C. Collier along S.Prince will be good enough to start. It's just depend on what type of lineup K. Aston want to start.

 

I was really close to going with a lineup of Sug, Lashann, Joyner, Charli and Jatarie. Joyner isn’t great on offense away from the basket but we’ve all seen Jatarie hit consistently from the elbow and Charli showed considerable range in high school. It’s just tough projecting a smooth transition from prep ball to college ball even for someone with her skill level.

 

Unfortunately, I think we take 3 steps back. We're not a UCONN where we just reload. Losing our Seniors is huge for us. Sure wish our freshman got more playing time this year.
I hope the incoming freshman are all of that and a bag of chips but the 2017 freshman class was supposed to be all that and a bag of chips and they warmed the bench 95% of the time. So I don't know.
My number one question is who is going to LEAD the team? Higgs? Sug? Joyner?

 

I don’t think it will be quite that bad but your #1 question is mine as well. Higgs just doesn’t seem to have the personality to take over. My money would be Sug and Jatarie.

 

A lot has to do with opportunity. There wasn’t enough minutes to allow the freshmen to get a ton of playing time because of an already experienced team. Next year there’s no question that Chazz, Destiny, and Rellah if she returns will be better just because of the opportunities that they’ll have.

 

I'm nervous about the PG position. For all the accolades given to Sug, I cringe at her ball handling.

But, I just checked the stats. Sug had one more TO than Brooke. And Ariel had a higher TO ration than Sug. But her bad passes just made me cringe.

But mathematically, I guess Brooke and Ariel did as well. And yes, I realize Ariel wasn't a PG.

 

And my next speculation is on KA recruiting. Has she recognized WHO to recruit? OK, now we know she can recruit and pull in some AA. But now KA what type of player are you recruiting to fit into your style of basketball? Yes they may be a AA, #1 player in the state of TX, OK, NY but what kind of players are you targeting to fit your style of basketball? This is what I think separates Geno, Muffet and great coaches from other coaches. They just don't recruit every AA. If they don't fit their style of BB i.e. personality wise, BB IQ, shooting, teach ability, etc they don't recruit them. The Oregon coach recruited international to get his type of players. BRILLIANT!!!!

So my question to KA is do you know what kind of basketball you want your team to play? What is the KA stamp/style and can you recruit those types of players? And if you recruit them and they were not what you thought can you CHANGE AND ADAPT? ND lost 4 key pieces to the puzzle and Muffet changed the game plan and they are in the E8 maybe F4 if they win tonight.

My speculation is that KA grows this summer. She goes and trains with Geno and Muffet. Picks their brains apart. She attends offense school. She demands excellence.

I tried to watch UCONN and SC but I stopped before the first qtr was over. LOL!! I like Aja and I just couldn't watch UCONN annihilate the gamecocks. I tried but I couldn't. But I watched how smooth UCONN's offense flows. I bet they run their offensive sets 100,000 times a day. And I figure they have such an easy transition each year because the FR and SO are playing against the Jr and Sr. So the Fr and SO are getting annihilated every day in practice until they figure out how to play UCONN ball. By their Jr and Sr year they are ready.

OK, I went off on a tangent but to sum it up. I speculate KA GROWS this summer and recruits players to fit into her system. If you're going to be a run and gun, DON'T RECRUIT SLOW AND OVER WEIGHT PLAYERS! Recruit pure shooters!!! That's something else about Geno. He doesn't recruit players who can't shoot the ball. And if he figures they can't shoot, they become the defensive stoppers and the cutters/slashers to the basket.

 

Love your post cynt

 

Some good points. And I think Coach Aston has done a better job of recruiting players that can shoot the ball relatively well from the perimeter including Joanne Allen Taylor.

I too hope/wish that Coach Aston would take her own advice and improve as a coach not just offensively but overall. If you demand that players get better every year the same needs to apply to coaches. Or bring in an assistant coach to help improve the offense and overall coaching.

 

Kurupt I believe the Asst. Coach's are already in place at Texas.
But is she listening to their ideal's, that's the point.

 

I don't have much of an idea how we'll be next year. I guess I'm reluctant to predict much of anything, since there were such surprises this year, mainly the freshmen contributing so little and Joyner coming back worse than last year. (Sorry, Joyner... I know you can get much better.) Like others, I have concerns about the back court. More even than her technical skills, i think the team will miss Brooke's leadership. Doesn't seem to fit Lashann's personality, maybe Sug a little bit more? If Joanne, Audrey, or one of next year's sophomore guards can really come on strong, that will help tremendously. We still need 3 point shooting. Losing Brooke and Ariel, where will it come from? Lashann and Sug can hit it, but don't have the confidence they need. They are both drive first players, consider shooting a long one if they have to. Y'all work on that this summer, please.

Inside, who knows? The riches seem to be there, but how will Karen use them? If the Charli and Sedona have a lot of skill, I hope they get to play a lot and don't warm the bench because they're freshmen. It will be great if Rellah is also here, but where will she play? (Another one that needs to work on her 3 point shot.)

Honestly, I can see us going down a definite notch next year, or conceivably being even better than this year, if things fall into place just right. I must say, I am excited about what I think will be our front court height and skill. Ultra happy to have a 6'7" player again.

 

Sedona may be 6'7",but she's quite slim. Will need to bulk up before she can bang inside in college ball.

 

Pretty much every team across the country loses valuable players each season. So, yes, we lose Brooke and Ariel. UCLA loses Billings and Canada. South Carolina loses Wilson. Ohio State loses Mitchell. And, so on.

Obviously, finding good replacements for the departures is paramount to staying in the Top 10-15.

While I love Brooke and Ariel, neither was averaging 20 points a game. That type of offensive contribution is tough to replace. I believe each average around 15 points a game; so, those points have to be replaced.

I definitely see Sutton and Higgs staring in our back court. And, Jatarie will anchor the middle. Joyner is most likely a starter based on her 1.5 seasons played at Texas, and her size, speed, strength, and talent.

I've been preaching for a couple of years that we haven't recruited the 6'+ small forward we need to balance our starting lineup; doesn't look like we will have that player for next season. So, the options would be a 3-guard lineup where we sacrifice some size, or play a big lineup with 3 post players (White, Holmes, Collier). I will prefer the 3-guard lineup as it gives us more quickness to run in transition, and of course, provide more 3-point shooting (assuming Chaz, Joanne, Destiny or Audrey round out the final spot in the starting lineup).

 

Lot's of good thoughts on this thread.

An attribute I would like to add to our "wish list" is for our team to improve with consistent, mental toughness. Against UConn, we were not intimidated and we responded when UConn would surge ahead. However, against Tennessee, Baylor (game 1) and UCLA we played apprehensively and were rattled nearly the entire game. I don't recall a single game when Texas played 4 quarters of consistent high quality basketball. The UConn game was close and if not for missing our free throws, we would have won the game.

It's rare to have a perfect game but mature teams can get back on track and regain their footing when their opponent comes out with more energy and force to start the game. Mental toughness is a product of confidence, coaching and leadership.

A few years ago when Vince Young and Colt McCoy were our QBs, I always had confidence that we could come from behind and win the game in the 4Q. I want to have that same confidence in our WBB team. We're not there yet but we're making progress.

 

Let's start with two questions:

1. How did Oregon State beat Baylor?
2. What kind of team does best in women's basketball these days?

1. Oregon State played a zone to slow down Baylor's two big stars. They bet that Baylor couldn't beat them from outside, and Baylor couldn't. Oregon State started a talented, mobile 6' 5" center who could also shoot from outside. Baylor assumed they could stop her one-on-one with Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Cox. Cox failed. State's center ran wild. On offense Oregon State was able to put four three point shooters on the floor. They weren't as fast as Baylor's guards, but they were effectively fast, and they were trained in a very effective system. Oregon spread the floor and used lots of motion. They killed Baylor with the three.

2. Oregon State ran the same zone and offense against Louisville and got obliterated...Because Louisville employs the same ideas, only with better athletes. Louisville's quicker players were all over the Oregon State guards, and they double teamed the Oregon State center. Louisville's two centers aren't Godzillas like Kalani Brown, but they are good, mobile, excellent shooters not afraid to move away from the basket. Louisville has plenty of outside shooters and can spread the floor to open up the middle for drives. There's lots of motion. (Oregon State's zone was helpless to stop Louisville, but it would have been even worse if they had tried man-to-man.) Louisville employs the same fluid tactics as, wait for it, UConn. UConn is the incomparable model. No one does it like UConn, but the Final Four teams---Mississippi State, Louisville and Notre Dame---all employ most of the same basic elements. Strong inside presence, but not anchored to the basket area. Plenty of outside shooters on the floor at the same time, with a potent three point attack. Movement, movement, movement. Pass, pass, pass. Intelligent guards playing within a very flexible system,balancing drives and mid range and three point shooting. (Of those three teams, based on what I've seen, Louisville has the best players to stop UConn.) Here is where personnel enters in. You have to have those three or four outside shooters----and you really need five to reach the top. The problem for everybody is that UConn's big girls play like guards; they're happy on the perimeter. Everybody on the floor can shoot the three. UConn can spread you out to extreme lengths, bring everybody out beyond the three point line, then run loop-the-loop inside-out motion with loads of cuts, screens and backdoor passes, or even scoot inside and post you up. ...And by the way, when UConn steamrolled South Carolina, Gino did exactly what Oregon State did against Baylor. He played a semi-zone, packed into the middle against super star Aja Wilson, and dared South Carolina to win from outside. South Carolina simply wasn't equipped to win that way.

So, what does this tell us about U.T., beyond the fact that, gee, we'd like to be like that, too?

 

One year ago, we had every reason to believe that Joyner would get even better as a sophomore, and that our two freshmen shooters, Chaz and Rellah, who performed so well at the high school All-American games, would give us two players who excelled with their three-point shooting. Add in a bonus in late signee, Destiny Littleton, and on paper, it looked like we had added some great long-distance shooters to finally keep the opposition from playing zone defenses against us.

Well, things didn't turn out like we had thought/hoped. Regardless of the reasons, to not have our three freshmen even average 5 points collectively was extremely disappointing. Without their contributions, we were basically the same team we were the prior season except for Jatarie replacing Kelsey Lang, and with Joyner not being as steady as her freshman season.

Honestly, I'm not sure where we would have been this past season without Jatarie and Audrey-Ann. Credit to Coach A for getting them to transfer to Texas as we needed someone to play Center. And, each made valuable contributions on both ends.

 

Notre Dame runs an offense similar to UConn but Louisville, Mississippi State, and Oregon State don’t run anything similar to UConn. In fact, Oregon State runs a lot of 4 around 1 just like Texas. Going back and watching some of the games between these teams and the offense that they’re running involves a lot of ball screens which is something Texas does a lot of.

Louisville runs more of a dribble drive offense. And Mississippi State also runs an offense similar Texas’ but they use a lot of pin downs to get Vivians and William good looks. But these teams do have Coaches that will make the opposing team have to beat them with their weaknesses.

 

Biggest negative was the loss of Joyner for the Fall semester.
Biggest positive surprise was Audrey-Ann.

My gut feel is that Charli will come in equivalent to Joyner coming as a freshman - more college-ready than a typical freshman, but shining very quickly.

Sedona, I agree with others, will need a bit of seasoning (getting banged around under the basket)

 

I don't know "X's and O's" and can't draw up a play to save my life. I have a couple of questions for those of you who are more familiar with offensive sets/schemes.

Has Aston run the same offense during her time at Texas? From a novice's point of view, it seems like Aston has been preaching "ball reversal" more often over the past year. Is there something new she has implemented over the past 1-2 years?

Based upon next year's projected line-up, how would you tinker with the offense to take advantage of the strengths of our team?

 

in brief, offensive movement, cutting to the basket, a balance of outside shooting and driving or passing inside. Does that about get it? (As my dad taught me when I was about 6, it's up to you to get yourself open for a shot, i.e. keep moving!) Texas has gotten a lot better at all of this, but, IMO, there is still too much taking a spot on the court and standing there.

 

My biggest disappointment this season was Joyner not coming back in playing condition. I understand the coaches could not have any interaction with her but I would think she would understand the need to work out on a daily basis. I'm hoping she will devote her summer to working in the gym to maximize her strength and conditioning plus she must develop her shots and finish. I don't have a good feeling about Rellah or Destiny. Probably 50/50 if both will return.

 

Luther, my post above wasn't an answer to your question. We must have posted about the same time. I like your question about taking advantages of our team's strength.

I don't know why people say Charli will be more ready than Sedona. Of course, I haven't seen them play. You can be thin and still be effective on the block. Imani was, and got more so as the years went by. I would think quickness would be as important or more important than sheer strength, though I would take both.

 

Regardless of technical differences in their schemes, top teams these days have that inside outside capability and can put a lot of three point shooters on the floor at the same time. The point is that losing Atkins and McCarty is really losing the heart of our offense; and suddenly we may have a guard problem, especially if Destiny transfers. Rellah Boothe would be missed, but her departure doesn't really hurt much, with Sedona and Collier coming in. We'll have a logjam up front, but maybe too few scoring guards? We need Patterson to a) stay at Texas; and b) have a breakout year. We need at least three guards who can shoot the three. If Patterson doesn't play up to her potential, one of the incoming Freshmen needs to play well and play a lot.

 

A couple of things in this article. Aston says Sug realizes this will be "her" team next season. And, "It's not the right time to talk about Rellah." ?? That statement doesn't sound very encouraging. But I guess it is what it is.

 

We lose a lot this year, and Baylor loses just a little. They're getting a ton of potential stars. We're in a battle with them to prepare for the next several seasons. That's one reason I think Prince and Collier both need to play a lot of minutes, even if it costs us in early games. I can't prove this scientifically; it's just a feeling. They're the Future, literally, and we need to bring them along fast, especially if either or both can also hit the outside shot. I don't care if their defense is poor early in the year. Lose a few early to win a lot later. I suspect Joyner is going to be a low post player from now on and not the ultimate answer. I was shocked this year at the difference in her and Lauren Cox's skill levels. If Joyner starts displaying deftness and good shot making next year, that's terrific, but we shouldn't count on it.

 

Yeah, we probably should’ve waited for the dust to settle to see how the roster is going to look but I think whether or not Sedona and Charlie get valuable playing time will depend on what happens with Rellah.

If Rellah isn’t on the team next year I think Sedona and Charlie will be the backups at the 4 and 5 position and get quality minuets. And you’re obviously right about Lauren Cox and Joyner this year. It was almost as if they traded places from last year. Hopefully Joyner will continue to work on and improve her game.

 

Joyner has the skill set to be a star if she starts to take basketball seriously. I have to laugh each time she gets a defensive rebound and takes the ball the entire length of the court at full speed likes she's a point guard. No one on the opposite team wants to get in front of her. It's the same attribute that makes me nervous and frustrated as she can be careless with the ball or pick up a foul for charging.

It wont surprise me to see Joyner mature and dedicate herself to off season strength & conditioning and working on her shot. When college athletes reach their Junior year, they realize how little time is remaining in their college careers and they start to get serious.

 

I agree with Dr. D about playing Charli and Sedona a lot. It would maddening if they get the same minutes our freshmen got this year. And I agree with LutherIsMyDog that Joyner may get her act together and start using those athletic gifts at a much higher level. I know --- no one has the nerve to get in front of her when she runs a full-court break to the basket.