Texas to host KSU on Sunday, 02/17/19

Discussion in 'Women’s Basketball' started by BabHorn, Feb 15, 2019.

  1. kurupt

    kurupt 1,000+ Posts

    Ding, Ding, Ding, We have a winner. Also the spacing in the WNBA is much better.
     
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  2. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    @cc fan Apparently the experts on this board cannot grasp the concept of devising schemes that put your best players in positions to be as productive and successful as possible. It's called EXECUTION IN THE HALFCOURT (spacing is part of that). Texas under KA is where prolific scorers come to be wasted.
     
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    Last edited: Feb 20, 2019
  3. leanderhorn

    leanderhorn 25+ Posts

    While I am frustrated by this season, mainly with turnovers and court awareness, your last statement is just dumb. KA has lifted Texas back into elite status. We're a little off this year, but Higgs' injury was especially tough. Her penetrating play would have made a real difference. She's about the only slasher we have. Missing one key piece can make the other pieces seem disjointed. My opinion is we miss Higgs far more than we ever thought we would. But a "place to be wasted"?, you are wrong.
     
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  4. LutherIsMyDog

    LutherIsMyDog 1,000+ Posts

    After a quick scan of the archives, I found the following facts in reference to Aston’s players’ performance during her first seven years as a HC at Texas;

    · Imani McGee Stafford: First UT woman with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks…averaged 10.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game…All-Big 12 First Team as junior and senior…Big 12 All-Defensive Team last three years…three-time Big 12 All-Academic honoree…Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year…led Big 12 in blocks…2015 National Honda Inspiration Award…2015 Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year…only player to start in all 36 games for the Longhorns… led the team with 322 rebounds and 104 blocks…was second in points with 405.

    · Brooke McCarty: Averaged 11.6 points per game and 3.0 assists per outing for her career, appearing in 139 games. She is the Longhorn’s 15th all-time leading scorer and 10th all-time assist leader, holds the fourth best three-point percentage (39.8 percent), made the second most three-pointers in UT history (245), started the seventh most games in program history (118) and played the fifth most games in Longhorn women’s basketball history.

    · Ariel Atkins: Three-time All-Big 12 (First Team and All-Defensive as junior, senior); two-time All-America hon. mention. 2017-18: All-America Hon. Mention (AP; WBCA). No. 2 in Big 12 in steals … 2016-17: All-America Hon. Mention (WBCA), All-Big 12 after leading conf. in steals per game and ranking No. 2 among UT scorers2014-15: Big 12 All-Freshman despite missing 8 games with an ankle injury that sidelined her for start of soph. campaign.

    · Danni Williams: Currently Danni holds the fourth spot in the most 3-pt field goals made during Aston’s tenure. She is on track to surpass Brooke McCarty and advance to second or third place by the end of the season.
     
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  5. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    Take a good look at the Big 12 record books... In particular the scoring records.
     
  6. leanderhorn

    leanderhorn 25+ Posts

    I care about wins/losses
     
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  7. Bobcat

    Bobcat 500+ Posts

    Then perhaps you would enjoy taking a look at our 1 and 16 record against Baylor the past 7 years........
     
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  8. Run Pincher

    Run Pincher 2,500+ Posts

    And the way things are trending it's only going to get worse.
     
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  9. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    Yeah me too... as in Big 12 championships. Take a look at those records too.
    More cognitive dissonance...:rolleyes:
     
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  10. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    Excuse me, but we're talking about Big 12 stats...not just UT
     
  11. Hornzupp

    Hornzupp 25+ Posts

    On this press conference - too many of her answers are "I don't know the answer to that". Some of those questions the head coach needs to know his/her team. And when coaches start talking about athletes not playing hard, not giving effort, not sustaining concentration, not many people realize that there's a disconnect between coach and players. Yes all players lose focus occasionally but this Texas team has collectively checked out -- and that's coaching and leadership. And no amount of autographs are going to close the gap here. There's no connection between the coaches and players (not just Aston).
    I do. I think what you focus on grows and in the case of shooting, tends to improve. Texas just doesn't look confident and that has a lot to do with leadership from the coaching staff. A coach can make you feel like you can walk on water. Not sure that's happening at Texas though :). Wish it was because the players would be 10x better - half the battle in life and def in sports, is believing you can.
     
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  12. Hornzupp

    Hornzupp 25+ Posts

    100% true. It's been so long since Texas has had a truly elite team that we don't even realize what ELITE teams look like - what they do - what they DON'T do. This season Texas has looked like a solid mid-major team. Some folks are so disillusioned by their love for the program - that they can't even see what's killing the program. I think any coach who gets better and produces results should be given a shot at keeping their job but some of ya'll should do a historical search on this board - the same things we were pulling our hair out about 7 years ago are still the same. Oh well...some folks should prepare for not hosting. I don't like how unkind the NCAA committee has been to Texas' seeding in the past - but whatever we get this year, pretty sure we're gonna deserve.
     
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  13. Moooooo

    Moooooo 5,000+ Posts

    Obviously, each poster on here has a different opinion, and different expectations. The bitching and moaning after each loss is now the standard on this board; several posters take a loss as the opportunity to slam Coach A for things way beyond and outside this one loss; to each their own.

    Some folks have very high expectations for this program. Where do those expectations come from? Are they based on Jody's elite seasons back in the late 80's (like 30 years ago)? She certainly didn't have any elite seasons (other than 2002-04) in the modern era (64-team tourney). The expectations certainly aren't based on Coach G's success at Texas.

    The expectations, for most here, are based on the recruiting classes which only Coach A has been able to reel in consistently. Folks here know that when Coach A was hired, she came with limited head coaching experience. She didn't lead either UNCC or UNT to huge seasons. But, she was hired because she was familiar with Texas, and because she was a very good recruiter for Texas as an assistant coach. When she was hired, she wasn't paid a Top 20 salary. Yet, folks here expect Top 20 (or Top 4) results every season. Even after her recent raise, she's still not Top 15 salary-wise, IMO.

    Does she have a lot to learn coaching-wise? Absolutely. Did anyone here not know that when she was hired based on her resume'? Does she need a consultant to help with the offense? It would certainly help.

    For the success and heights Coach A has brought for this program the prior 4-5 seasons, there hasn't been a better run since the late 80's and early 90's. Folks don't want to acknowledge that because they keep seeing what Baylor has accomplished the last several seasons; folks want the results Baylor's getting.

    Anyone who believes Coach A isn't going to remain our head coach for the next several years is just in denial; she's made Texas relevant again nationally. She lost Ariel and Brooke from last season, and lost Lashann to injury; yet, folks on here expect no drop-off from last season, and some expect an even better season. Get real.
     
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  14. flash34

    flash34 1,000+ Posts

    Mooo has some great points, which I agree with and support. I have been an Aston booster as the program was "headed up" in my fair and biased opinion. McCarty and Akins tenure was sure welcome. They made Aston look good. I felt this year was going to be a huge adjustment with Sutton taking the most critical position (and she has for the most part done well). I did feel that Higgs would really help to take the pressure off Sutton and others. And for sure was disappointed with her and Prince's situation.....it changed the dynamics of what the team could be. So after next year (yes another next year), I will reassess my total buy-in on Aston(as if anyone cares). With Higgs back, and Prince and Taylor joining the rotation, and the recruits we finally get committed for 2020...……….. will be huge for my opinion and total support of Aston. Those 3 known players .........….and then some unknown players at this time for 2020...……make next year simply critical. I firmly believe next year will be better.....senior point guard(Sutton), senior two guard(Higgs), senior power forward(Holmes), and more athletic post (Prince), Taylor and Collier and Warren.....optimism abounds with me. If little or none of that happens and Aston gets very mediocre recruits, then I will commit to reassessing my allegiance. One of my coaching friends has consistently told me...…..great players always make the coach look good. I think our current players are good, not great and that is just reality for 2019. The next 12 months are super important. I have noticed several college coaches on TV that are wonderful, exciting, engaged with excellent body language, etc. at schools with much less reputation than Texas and wondered what they could make of a team in Austin. I would love for Aston to succeed......but it has to happen. No doubt in my mind that CDC will support Aston through at least 2020 or 2021. My expectations are high going forward. Hook Em
     
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  15. longhorn47

    longhorn47 500+ Posts

    All good points. Don't discount Jada Underwood's importance. I believe she'll need to fill the "Aborowa" role--tough post D/rebounding, even though she's 3 inches shorter.
     
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  16. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    Very good points by several of you. :beertoast:
     
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  17. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    I have to pretty much agree with all of this. My biggest concern is the apparent disconnect that @Hornzupp mentioned and that myself and a few others have noticed. When that's present, it doesn't matter WHO is on the roster. It also leads to attrition, and I would hate to see us lose even more great players like we lost Patterson and Boothe (KA gets a pass on Boothe) due to issues with the coaching philosophies and personality. I don't have a good feeling about potentially losing more to transfer. Again, no knowledge just a gut feeling that I hope is WRONG.
     
  18. UTSUgrad

    UTSUgrad 250+ Posts

    Historical reminder - When KA was hired at UNT, she inherited a team that quit on the previous coach. She turned things around and got a lot of national attention for her efforts (link also below). So, she should certainly recognize a team that has lost interest, which is what I see now. I'm hoping that this has been an all around bad year - injuries, graduations, struggling freshmen. ( ... and it is no help that fans/students are less interested in sports everywhere.) I hate it, but I remember when Baylor never won, no one had heard of UConn and the Oregons had zero chance of being on national TV. Now as a fan and alum, I'm hyper because I want Texas to remain relevant - win a few in the NCAAs, eventually another NC, send players to the pros and graduate successful young women. I definitely do not want Texas to join LaTech, Immaculata, Delta State, USC, Virginia, Old Dominion ... as former national powers that have faded from collective memory. You can think of other teams/coaches that get media props only because they were once nationally relevant - UNC, Texas Tech, Georgia, and, this year, Duke and Tennessee. Hook'em, hopefully.

    Aston Resigns As Women's Basketball Coach - University of North Texas Athletics
     
  19. flash34

    flash34 1,000+ Posts

    A few random comments from intently reading the good points made by immediate posters above. First...….I don't give Underwood her due. She plays hard all the time, is good defensively in most matchups, and just has good body language. Every team needs an Underwood and coaches appreciate them. She has her limitations that I and folks have pointed out. However, she can play on my team anytime. Similar can be said for Allen-Taylor and Aborawa. They are important, valuable glue players that teams need. Second...…..I don't see any danger of immediate transfers. I think Patterson and Boothe were both unique situations. Third...…….I don't think this has been a "bad" year. A 20-6 record that will probably end up about 25-9 is still a good season for most. It is just our expectations were for more. Fourth...…..I don't see any indication that the team or individual players have "given up" or "lost interest". I see them playing hard...…...sometimes not well as during their lulls......but they are trying. Fifth...…...I don't see Texas falling into the faded national power category like Old Dominion or La Tech. Certainly TTech, Georgia and others mentioned are good examples of where we don't want to be. And we were in that category in most of the last two decades before Aston. Don't want to go back there. Thanks to all for some points that made me think. Last comment before I run out of bytes. I like Aston for a lot of things. Some things I don't like. I don't think she would be the UT coach without the old guard of Conradt and Plonsky supporting her. Yes she was good at UNC-Charlotte and UNT......but there were better options at that time. After the Duke coach era, getting back to the old guard is understandable. I feel that organizationally we are in a much better place with CDC than we were with Dodds/Patterson/Conradt/Plonsky. If in 2021 or around that, CDC sees a need, I think he will break from the old guard and make his hire from one of those coaches I see on TV. I would hope so. And for clarity......I did and do like Conradt and Dodds.
     
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  20. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    I sure hope you're right, and that my gut feeling is wrong. :e-thinking:
     
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  21. txtreefan

    txtreefan 100+ Posts

    We are where we are. I am grateful to Aston because after her disastrous first year here, we do not have to worry about making the tournament each year. Texas missed the NCAA tournament the last two years of the Conradt administration and while TX made the tournament in Goestenkors's four years, it was always very close, and then with one exception, one and done. There is no question that Aston has been an elite recruiter. TX is getting the necessary talent to make a deep run.

    The frustration lies in the fact that player development is weak, and the same problems are evident, no matter the personnel. In Aston's first big game against UCLA in her first year here, the team was undone by a 2-3 zone, ditto for the the last loss against KSU. Spacing in the half court offense is always poor, no matter the players, and an Aston Texas team when the transition game is blocked has no plan B. In seven years now, we see exactly the same weaknesses: too many turnovers, very little motion on offense, zero double screens to get good shooters open, and Aston has had great shooters from Fussell to Dani Williams, plus most distressingly, the aforementioned inability to score against any zone with a bit of size and speed. This has been true of ALL Aston coached teams at Texas, so it is clear that this is a coaching problem not a player one. There has also been very little evidence of game planning for either the TX or opponent personnel, and in game adjustments have been mostly non-existent.

    I can only imagine Jamie Carey, who saved the TX team from the equally inept Conradt/Marsden offense philosophy in the last run to the Final Four made by a Texas team, is tearing her hair out. We have a coach who can teach excellent man to man defense, runs a clean program and is getting enough talent for Texas to be in the top 25 each year. That's the good news. The bad news is that after seven years it is clear that we have a coach who has a low basketball IQ on offense, cannot really game plan, and is mostly weak at making in game adjustments. Until Aston improves as a coach, the ceiling for TX is the sweet 16, or the odd Elite 8, no matter how good the talent. Last year was particularly painful. To have a backcourt of Atkins and McCarty and to lose in the sweet 16!!! i would love to be wrong, but this year depending on match ups, we are looking at a first or second round loss...
     
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  22. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    A first round match up of 7 vs 10 or 8 vs 9 could very well put us out in the first round. Heck if we somehow climbed to a 6 seed and match up with an 11 seed... even that could be really tough for us.
     

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