Battle 4 Atlantis

Louisville is losing right now so we might still get to play them

 

I hope not.

 

Gonzaga is ahead of Louisville by 3 going into 4th.

 

Don't worry guys. No one will notice this loss. Ooops.

 

I didn't know they were playing Gonzaga. They're a quality program year in and year out. So no matter who they play tomorrow it's going to be a loss.

 

Tied game with 21 seconds left

 

OT for Louisville- Gonzaga

 

I’m hearing the Lville locker room is a mess right now. Might not be as unwinable as you think.

 

I would always rather face a team that doesn't necessarily match up physically than the one that does. I think tomorrow is another loss.

 

Gonzaga wins by 12 in OT vs Louisville

 

Shows what I know . . .

 

Listening to Schaefer plus seeing the UCONN game, the guards aren’t handling the ball well (turning it over) AND can’t guard anybody. Schaefer is frustrated the entire team is not playing fundamental defense. Heard him say they are not sharing the ball. Marquette scored 26 points in 4th when game was on the line. Missed a lot of bunnies….and apparently a lot of every other type of shot. Not sure why Holle was playing point guard some. Handling the ball and defense probably the reasons. The sun will rise tomorrow and maybe maybe they’ll play better against Louisville. 6:30 pm central

 

And, who's in charge of coaching the guards? A very inexperienced assistant coach, that's who.

 

My thoughts…. Hunter would have provided the BEST option at pg based on what we currently have. She also would be seeing major playing time at the 2 spot, BUT unless she has a very legitimate reason for this prolonged absence, she has let her team down big time. This was her opportunity to shine and help her team. Very disappointed with that. Very. Don’t think we will see her again. Shaylee looks physically overmatched and just out of it. Perhaps she will play better off the ball, but we will see. Front court has tremendous potential, but no chemistry. As a friend said, at this point Morris at the 2 spot and Jak at the 3 makes the most sense. Let Jak and Amina develop and take your lumps. Without Rori, this team is a mess. Vic has a lot of developing to do. And yes losing Matharu was big. We look very slow. Sonya Morris is a phenomenal player.

 

I don't think there's any doubt that Kyndall's absence is really hurting us at this point, and in more than one way. If she had transferred out in May, there is no doubt in my mind Vic would have looked for another PG. Instead , she stayed, everyone was happy about that, and the staff relied on her spot as part of the roster plans. But now she's not even practicing with the team, and seemingly gone. I really give Shaylee a lot of credit for trying to hold down the fort while Rory is out, having to play a position that is not her natural position, and not really having any help behind her. This is going to be a tough start for the season, but I'm hoping Vic can build on it like he has the last 2 teams he's coached here at Texas. I think we can reevaluate things over the next month and hope we get it all together before conference play. It sucks to see all the "overrated" chatter out there when we know the team is better than this, but that's the hand (or toe) we were dealt. So we'll just have to roll with it.

 

Vic makes a big point that the transfers have to learn a new system and not just play the way they have played on previous teams. They were a main point of criticism in his post-game presser, and also that the players are not playing as a team. I am still searching for a reason he barely played Morris in the second half. He actually said that we are getting more from the freshmen than the transfers. (How he can say that with a straight face, I don't know. Jak had a tough game, and Mohammed didn't play much.) Seems to me he is punishing Morris, or trying to teach her a lesson, by holding her out. He brags on Gonzales a lot, so it doesn't seem to be her he is directing his criticism toward. Making some inferences, it seems to me that he is saying Morris isn't sharing the ball or focusing on the team. Never mind that she is our main offensive weapon by far at this point, our only one from the guard spot.

I may be wrong, but it makes me think of the way he was with Matharu last year. As I remember, he seemed to imply in a lot of pressers last year that she was trying to do too much, or that she didn't know when to pass the ball. I thought he brought down her confidence last year, and IMO didn't not utilize her skills as much as he could have. Now I think a similar process may be going on with him and Morris. I may be completely off about all of this. Maybe there was some other reason he kept Morris out so much last night. The way I think about basketball, if you want to win the game, you leave in your best offensive weapon.

 

Jeesh...it doesn't take much adversity to get people questioning every coaching decision and assistant coaching hire, does it?

We didn't watch pretty bball yesterday, that's clear to all of us. What isn't clear is how quickly and easily we descend into thinking we know better than the person leading our program.

We got your back, coach. Just watch out for that pointy thing we like to stick in it.

 

It takes TEAM ball to win... both offensively and defensively. Vic demands that. Period.

I feel like the new players will eventually get it and buy in. They'll also understand the mental toughness required playing for a program that everyone guns for.

We'll play up to our potential as a TEAM once this all comes together. It'll be a little rocky until then... he's been warning us about this for a while now.

The entire situation is exacerbated at the moment due to Rori's absence. I, too, hate that Kendall isn't present to show how valuable her skills are.

 

UCLA leads Tenn by 13 in the second quarter. Lots and lots of time left, but this preseason is pretty unpredictable

 

I may be the only one here still calm and not worried about the team at this point. I said this would happen and be a bit of a rough stretch for us and that I expected multiple lumps so this isn’t a surprise at all.

I see a lot of “I know we’re missing Rori but..” posts and with all do respect, there’s no but after that with this team. We are starting 3 transfers and a freshman that have gone all off season with her at the helm. I wouldn’t expect a team like that to gel until January-ish but luckily she’ll be back by then and we’ll look like a completely different team.


Also I am not big on speculation so I won’t share the details, but I have knowledge from someone who would definitely know, that Kyndall is dealing with some mental health struggles right now and personally I hope she takes as long as she needs to get healthy. He well-being is far more important than anything she would provide to the team.

 

Tennessee trails UCLA 65-47 at the beginning of the 4th quarter

 

Watching the Tennessee/UCLA game, my observation is that the Vols are having the same identity struggles as we are. Both UT squads should be formidable once that's figured out.

On a side note, just as with yesterday's games, the officiating is freakin' HORRENDOUS. The whistles are blowing every 15 seconds with tic-tac foul calls.

I'll say it again... women's basketball gets the most sh_tty referees available (both female and male refs). The few that are exceptional (and I do mean few) are very exceptional. But generally speaking, it is the worst officiating of any sport I've ever seen.

 

Agreed, agreed, agreed!

 

Vols haven't been in this game at all, and generally got their butts kicked. Announcers saying don't worry about Tenn, they will get their defense together and will be a very formidable team. I don't remember them saying that about us last night, but the same thing applies. Also agree on the officiating - its been awful. Not something that would make me want us to return to this tourney. Looks like there will be 2 unranked teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. Not what ESPN probably wanted.

 

Strongly disagree!! Vic should have known what would happen with Kyndall months in advance of when Kyndall knew. What a slacker. While we're at it, he also should have known about Rori's toe back when he could have done something about it. My God, she only has 10 of them. One man can't keep track of 10 toes? Ridiculous.

Folks on this Board have much more foresight than this guy we're paying a fortune to simply react to what happens in the future.

 

I’m not stressing over preseason games because goal #1 should be winning the Big 12 and then we go from there. I’m pretty sure what we do in January, February and March will have a much bigger impact on NCAA seeding than November.

It’s NOVEMBER guys and gals. High season for doom and gloomers apparently. Relish while you can

 

Did I say Vic should have predicted this? Re-read the post. The post laments what Kyndall's chosen absence has done to the team. NOT anything Vic did. Before you make fun of things people post on these boards, why don't you read them first? And speaking of folks on this board, Moooooo was predicting problems with PG depth back in April. That kind of foresight has nothing to do with toes.

 

I guess I should have turned on the antiphrasis warning. Apologies for not making this clear.

For the record, I agree with your entire previous post. No irony intended this time.

 

Don't look now, but Marquette - only picked preseason #6 in their own conf. - is in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.

 

This back and forth has gone on this board (probably all boards), those questioning coaching decisions and those quick to jump to the coaches' defense. I see it as a forum to express your opinions, whatever they are. I am a big Vic fan. His records speaks for itself, and I love his personality. That doesn't mean he it is bad to question decisions he makes. After all, he is making a lot of money doing this. Taking some critique goes with the territory of being a coach.