Texas vs Baylor, Game Two

Well, if there is one thing we know about Baylor, it’s that decency is not one of their core values.

 

Yes, she is and always will be unprofessional but to the victor goes the spoils. And until Coach Aston finds a way to put a stop to it she’s going to continue to be the unprofessional, immature coach that she is.

 

KM is a student of Barmore, KA a student of Conradt. I think JC beat La Tech one time.
#thereyouhaveit

 

Man I wanted us to win this one.
Higgs get out of your head and play ball.

Brooke do what you do! Keep raining 3s. Glad they're falling.

Holmes take your time. You're getting your basketball legs back in time for the tourny. Study more film so you will understand how to defend ur opponent.

This is when I wish our freshman received solid minutes during the season. I'm still perplexed by Rellah. What's up with her jacking up 3s? 0 for 3. SMH. I know she can make them occasionally but let' get to the rim. Now I think I understand why she didn't get playing time. It's not about you. We're playing team ball. Boothe you have game! Follow the process. Commit to the plan.
No I'm not beating up on Boothe. Read the RB thread. I'm crazy about the kid. I just want more out of her.

I want to know whose going to step up their game post season?
Will Higgs get back in her groove?
Will Boothe figure it out?
Will AA and Brooke have a 50 pt game together on the same night?

 

Kim's comments were not only a shot to Rellah but were a secondary shot towards Aston. I can only imagine what she says on the recruiting trail to recruits and their parents.

 

Kim loves to pick fights and put people down. A poor sport, always has been, always will be. It would be embarrassing to have her as a coach.

 

Yes, there's no doubt Milkey is scum and it baffles me why any good player would want to play for her and at rape enabling university regardless of how good a coach she is. I guess character has become less and less relevant.

That said, I don't we were out coached either. We scored 87 against one of the best 4 teams in the country. Our girls played their hearts out. We were simply out talented. They were taller, more athletic and simply were able to out jump our players to grab those rebounds. No coach can change that. And no coach can change the fact they simply have better shooters. They can score at will. We got behind the 8 ball early too by trying to go to fast and just throwing it to the other team. You can run like that against slow teams, but not teams just as fast with long bodies to get those interceptions.

I think Ariel is the only player that would start for Baylor and damn are we going to miss her next year. We don't have anyone else who can do all the things Ariel does. We're really going to miss Brooke too of course.

 

Good analysis. It came down to them having taller, athletic players who rebounded better, period. I don't agree that Ariel is the only one of our players who would start at Baylor. I think Brooke is equally as good as Wallace, if not better, though all the praise last night was for Wallace.

 

I watched the game with the sound off as I expected the announcers would be pro-Baylor. All they could say even during the pregame is how Baylor should be a one seed, yada, yada, yada. It was ESPN after all. Cox has an attitude, doesn't she? Should have been ejected for waving off the ref. There is no love lost between KA and Kim. Wonder what really happened when KA worked for her for that one year?

 

Baylor has proven through their men's basketball and football program that winning triumphs over any moral high ground they constantly bathe themselves in.

 

I too watched for their pre/post game handshakes and was pleased to see that their private attitudes toward each other come through. They barely shook hands, and the staffs didn’t talk. This will be a fun rivalry as time goes on. Hoping the media picks up on their rocky relationship because conflict grows the game. We could be the next coming of UConn/ND or UConn/Tenn

 

I've wondered about this myself as it seems very personal to Mulkey. Karen's success really triggers Kim and brings at her insecurities. Although Baylor has the edge on us, Kim certainly feels threatened by Karen closing the gap.

 

Was really looking forward to last night's game, hoping that Horns would pull this one out but just seems like there's something missing in the players and in Aston. I watched the replay of the first game in Waco before last night's game (yeah, apparently I'm a glutton for pain) and I thought it was odd that Aston asked her players if they were scared of Baylor. I think maybe that's a question for the staff or maybe Aston herself. She doesn't appear to be a very confident coach - and that always spills over onto the players. I watch coaches demeanors and she just seems to be pretty negative; that has to have some effect on the team too. And yes, Mulkey is obnoxious but somehow she gets results - I would think it's because she's a great coach - personality and sideline behavior aside. Wish we had her, just sayin'. Aston may be a good recruiter but she's not a strong game coach a'tall.

 

it's obvious to me that Mulkey is a narcissist and a sociopath when it comes to her ambition levels. John Wooden never had to act that way. But I guess they don't make 'em like that anymore.

 

great effort by Brooke, a personal high of 32 pts on 12-18 FGs including 7-9 3s.
Two things that the announcers said resonated: Brown and Cox were setting up in the paint where they wanted to-our players were not challenging them until they had set up, kinda late to stop them; Baylor uses that square better than anyone except maybe UConn. Tons of banked shots.

Joyner and the rest of our posts really need to understand the importance of how to use that square to shots, especially layups. Too many were hitting the rim or spinning out because they were shot too low on the square.

Rellah has to learn the same lesson that Joyner did. While she may want to shoot threes, at this point, she is better suited to play inside.

We have got to box out better, especially on defense.

Wallace is just flat out amazing. I thought with Brown going out early in the third that Texas could make a run and build a lead. Wallace just took over that quarter and helped expand the lead. Horns scored 11 pts after Brown went to the bench. Wallace scored 14 by herself, including four shots in the paint (3 were layups) as Baylor went from five up to nine up during that period.

We can beat Baylor but we can't shoot 59% from the FT line. 10-17 from the FT line did not help. Nor can we allow them to outrebound us by 15, including 14-6 on the offensive boards. Joyner is rapidly getting to be the player that gets to the FT line for the team. She needs to be able to hit better than 60% of her FTs.

We matched their energy last night, just did not box out well nor did we finish layups consistently. Horns have to take care of business this last two games and get to the Big 12 tournament to get another shot at Baylor. By that time, both Joyner and Rellah will have continued to improve and we will have an even better shot at winning.

Let's go, Horns. Build on this loss and get another winning streak going.

 

I don't know her but I can bet Kim doesn't feel threatened. They've won 8 straight championships. Why would she feel threatened? The gap is not closing. Wish it was but it's not. Until we can either split every year in regular season or sweep them, Mulkey is not concerned with Karen Aston or Texas. Period. We, as fans, need to wake up. They have OWNED us. We are better, yes, we are getting close, yes, but we are not there yet.

 

Pretty sure Mulkey is annoyed that she’s is getting outrecruited by KA and she doesn’t like the handwriting on the walll. She does not have an ounce of class to muster even when winning. Losing will send her over the edge no doubt.

I wouldn’t want her Coaching on the 40 acres. Ever

 

Mulkey is obviously good coach but a scum bag and an embarrassment, dresses like a..................! Be her blood pressure is off the charts with all her antics and raving and stomping and pounding!!
Does she own the officials....
'such a great role model for young people' (NOT)

Wallace is simply a great player....enjoy watching her perform

Brown...great player and unstoppable inside....too many easy baskets. Who can match up with her talent and size.

Cox....her antics didn't deserve being ejected but she certainly should have been given a tech....

 

You don't think the gap has closed between Texas and Baylor since Karen has been the head coach? Kim Mulkey is a highly competitive and successful coach but I disagree with you that she is not triggered by Aston/Texas. Her post-game quotes this year and last year wreak of insecurity. The most confident and secure coaches don't have to take jabs at 18 year-old players from the opposing team or say that there is not a "new sheriff in town". Neither Rellah Boothe or Aston have said any inflammatory or disparaging remarks toward Mulkey or Baylor.

Do I think Kim should feel threatened or insecure? No. Where you and I will have to disagree is that I DO think Mulkey is triggered and insecure when it comes to Texas.

 

We also have to remember that Kim Mulkey has about 12 seasons on KA as a head coach. So she's "matured" and had time to grow into the coach that she is today. Over their first 6 seasons as a HC, Karen is on pace in terms of what most great coaches have seen in the start of their career. For context, in her first 9 seasons in Waco KM only made it out of the second round only 4 times, missed the tournament once and won no league titles. Just so happens that one of those 4 times she won a national title. And looking at her resume and that roster in particular, it was almost in spite of her rather than because of her. So while everyone is quick to talk about how KM "owns her" and what not, those same things used to be said about BU when they were chasing Coale at OU and Deb Patterson at Kstate. We've to to remember that it was a process and a long journey for them to the top. Our journey continues.

 

Cox always acts like she never fouls. She got a tech in their game at Stillwater for over reacting a foul call.

 

Well this just isn't true at all. As someone who has met Kim (on multiple occasions) one she is very personable and authentic. A part of that authenticity is her admitting that the comments she reads from Texas players, and writers/bloggers (ESPN to be specific) get under her skin. She feels like teams have to "earn the right" tho say certain things or act a certain way. We have talked about at least 5 or 6 different instances where she has talked to or about Karen, our players or our program when she didn't need to. If you can take a shot at a recruit who didn't even consider your program for a comment they made OVER A YEAR AGO, I think its a pretty reasonable for folks to assume that you're concerned at the very least. Even great coaches know when other teams/programs are nipping at their heels. Pat commented frequently about times she knew UConn was going to be on Tenn's level. Geno of all people referenced vs ND. Kim is no exception. When she see's a rival program regaining strength both on the court and the recruiting trail she knows the battles are going to get tougher and not easier.

Reminds me of the adage "Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep". If she "didn't care" I highly doubt she'd waste so much time doing things that indicated something else.

 

Agree that Mulkey is not threatened by Texas...yet. The gap has definitely closed but how many times have we beaten them in the last 5 years? I didn't look it up but I'm guessing one or two. I think the world of Coach K and am so glad we have her but when they showed her during a timeout mic'd up she looked scared to me. I think losing to Baylor/Mulkey eats her up.
I read something that lead me to believe that Baylor was wearing Big 12 Championship hats in our gym after the win last night. If this is true this is a totally classless act, par for the course for Mulkey, and I wish our girls would have slapped them right off of Baylor's heads.

 

Your comments about Joyner and Rellah are exactly what I've been thinking. Why isn't Tina teaching Joyner where to hit the backboard? If you want to argue a lack of coaching, that's one thing I certainly see where coaching doesn't seem to be happening. She continues to place her layups too low, which can't be a matter of ability, but understanding. Some of the best shooters, (Curry, Turasi, etc.) often hit the top of the backboard way above the square and it floats down right through the hoop. OTOH, Rellah is just the opposite. She does seem to get it and has great touch, so why is she shooting 3's when she's almost automatic in close. She would need to be over 50% from 3 to equal her points from inside if those 3's were inside shots.

And I disagree with almost everything the new poster said. Our girls played their a**%s off. Let's give them some credit for their effort, fight and determination. It pisses me off constantly see our players hitting the floor, risking injury and leaving it all on the court to hear someone say, or write they just didn't want it bad enough, they were intimidated, etc. BS

 

Actually, I saw Mulkey in a conversation with Tina toward the end of the handshake line after the game. I wondered which one of those two initiated the conversation (just my inner thinking and disdain for the woman, makes me think Mulkey may have been talking to Tina about Jordan). I certainly don't know, but I did see them in a pretty tight conversation.

 

They're both finalists this year for the Basketball Hall of Fame so it might have been that.

 

True. I didn't think of that. Go Tina!!

 

Although Mulkey has dominated Karen her actions certainly says she’s concerned with Karen and the Texas program. Why would you even acknowledge a coach and a program that you’ve dominated?

If I were a coach in that position I wouldn’t even be thinking about the opposing Coach and player that I’ve dominated unless there was some kind of insecurity.

 

Fellow HF posters.....I've refrained from posting on this site for several years now as most of the posts are repetitive and spoken in true fan support of the program. With that said, I am/was a longtime supporter of Texas women's basketball during the JC days and even with GG. It has become increasingly difficult to travel to Austin to witness the same results year-over-year. I'm not an expert or arm-chair coach, nor do I pretend to be and I assure I would love for Texas basketball to be at the pinnacle yearly, but realistically, I don't see this in the future for multiple reasons:

1. We do not have an offense designed to showcase our talent.
2. We have failed to mentor these exciting freshmen and provide them with the playing time they have earned.
3. We do not adjust to game situations, period.
4. We do not match or sustain the intensity level to beat quality teams such as BU or UConn. The double-digit loss to BU earlier was inexcusable.
5. Erratic substitution patterns.

The list could get quite long and I assure I'm not here to bash a coach or anyone for that matter, but let's put it out there.........BU is walking away with another Big XII championship this year with a number 1 ranked incoming recruiting class and yes, for what my small opinion may be worth, they do own us. We can say what we want about Mulkey, but her results are proven. Do we want to hover around the Top 10 or 15 teams yearly or do we want to win Big XII and National Championships?? Mediocrity is not suited for the flagship school in Texas, nor should it be.

I am hopeful Coach A can continue her successful recruiting and then translate these young women into the mold of great players.

Let's go ladies....get aggressive and play with an attitude.