Some of yal are walking headaches. Just make sure yal keep that energy when we figure it out and trust they will figure it out. As far as Sonya I think she on minutes restrictions because of the back but that’s my opinion. Why would she play and Rori isn’t is because she’s a super Sr and would have more say so but that’s just a guess. Ok everybody now knows we have PG issues but every team has weaknesses IMO at least we figured out ours early. All these ladies came to UT to compete so the losing won’t last long (I hope). We didn’t do like most people in nation like Stanford, LSU, etc and play 2 or 3 cupcakes b4 playing some real comp I believe we have a top 10 hard schedule.
As we get ready for tip-off against Louisville, aside from all the other issues that have been expressed on this thread, what I hope to see this evening is for us to play TOUGHER mentally.
Starters: Shaylee, Sonya, Ndjakalenga, Amo, Taylor 8 - 7 Louisville at 1st media timeout. Most possessions, they've been full-court pressing us like everyone else. Mixed bag so far on how we're handling it. Amo looking strong and taking multiple charges.
16 - 11 Louisville, end of 1st. We've had some good shots that just didn't fall, or it would be tied. Still having to use up a lot of energy getting into position offensively.
We had tied it at 20. Then some missed shots, turnovers, and easy transition buckets by LV has them up 29-20. Vic calls timeout.
AMO has drawn 4 charges in this game already and is giving big time effort tonight. Pulling down RBs like a boss. Deficit cut to 31-28, so the bad guys call timeout with 2:16 left.
One point game at halftime and not in any real foul trouble so far with Morris and the two freshmen with 2 each.
Halftime - 35/34 Louisville. Shaylee has looked a lot better. Towards the end of the 1/2, she intercepted an in-bound against a very good guard. She has played much better, though she's had some turnovers. At the end of the 1/2, she pushed the action and drew a foul, making both FTs. But the only reason we are in this game is because AMO came to play. She leads all scorers with 13 and had 5 boards. Plus she drew 4 charges. At the end of the 1/2 they interview Jeff Walz and he took a shot at the refs - "half the time, no one even knows what their calling". I think everyone agrees on that.
Did anyone catch the last part of the interchange between Coach Walz? Reporter must have asked him about adjusting to the officiating. He said “Well hell” (paraphrasing now) I don’t even know what they’re calling half the time, Did I get that right? Edit: Must have been typing when BorninATX posted.
Taylor really showing a presence on the inside now. Bad guys had pulled ahead by 6. But now its tied again at 42 with 4:34 left in the 3rd. Really like what I'm seeing out of Taylor and AMO.
Awful call by refs! Taylor gets a steal on the Louisville PG (great play), and then while she recovers the ball from the floor, they ruin it with a phantom traveling call.
50/47 end of 3rd. Rims have not been kind to us or we'd be winning. It would be worse, but Shay drained a 3 for us towards the end of the Qtr and then came right back with a great steal. We're going to have to hit our shots in the 4th to have a chance to win.
Tough call, tough breaks. We're down 57/52 with 5:58 left. We need to get AMO back involved in the scoring again.
Not gonna be our night when Shaylee has 3 pointers on the mark, but bouncing back out of the hoop. Plus Sonya can't buy a bucket tonight. Bad guys lead by 11 with 3 mins left.
This is frustrating. Yes Texas will get it together and figure it out but these games are important when it comes to post season seeding. Turnovers, inability to make shots, and fouling is our biggest problem right now. Gonzales and Morris need to sit down together and figure it out because this is not it. Never thought I’d see this team start 1-3 on the season. Our guards don’t look good right now. Losing Coach Jackson really hurt this team and it shows.
I agree about the guard play, but I don't think it has much (if anything) to do with losing Dionah Jackson.
She was a great coach and developer specifically on ball handling and the defensive end which our guards are completely struggling with at the moment. We can’t handle pressure and we can’t guard anyone at the moment. I think they played okay defensively the past two games but still not at the level it should be. I’m hoping this terrible start ends when Harmon returns because right now we might not be in the top 20 come tomorrow.
We lost 71 - 63. There were some positives tonight, but I can't really think about that right now because we've started the first 10 days of this highly anticipated season at 1 and 3 folks. We'll play an awful Rutgers team tomorrow for 7th place braggin' rights, and we won't be ranked by lunchtime tomorrow. What a disasterous beginning to the season.
My two cents: we need folks on the offensive boards; Morris and Gonzales need to be more aggressive as they had lots of open looks, and lastly, I think Gaston is still making silly decisions which leads to needless fouling.
And losing Matharu is coming back to bite us. She was that pressure defender along with Harmon and could handle the ball. We also desperately need her shooting
So you think she could've taught them skills in a matter of weeks that they haven't developed in 20+ years? Don't get me wrong, she was a great coach on Vic's staff for many years but she was no miracle worker.
Lots of ways to look at (spin) things. I will try to look at the glass half full by saying each of our 3 losses was by single digits, and without Rori being able to play. So, not gonna throw in the towel; and, neither will our players. I'm really glad we added Sonya and Shaylee to our roster so late in the offseason. While each is serviceable as a backup PG, neither plays the style which Vic wants running his system, or on the defensive end; so, that's on Vic for not "recruiting to a fit" which he preaches over and over again. We lost a lot of quickness in Matharu and Allen-Taylor at the backup PG and SG spots, and didn't replace them with similar type of players.
she is the reason Vic produced so many great guards. It was Vic’s system but she was a major part in their development. The point of a college coach is not to produce skills it’s to improve upon skills you already have and strengthen the ones you may be weaker in. She doesn’t need to magically produce any skills for Gonzales but her ball handling skills are very weak for a guard and Jackson could’ve improved that or made it look better than what it looks like now.
