Let's face it. Baylor's a "match-up nightmare." We just don't have the players to match-up with theirs. That's why we have 3 times as many fouls a Baylor.
We just don't have scoring at every position as is needed at the highest level. I've been saying for a while that we lack a scoring PF, and Coach A has not done a good job the last few years shoring that up; that is the main reason we can never get Nina Davis into foul trouble and make her work on defense. UConn, Notre Dame, and South Carolina are stacked at power forward. Overall, we just aren't gonna win those huge games unless Brooke, Ariel, and Imani are scoring in double figures and winning their matchups. Celina and Brianna are not natural scorers; Empress has not been the same offensive player in the last 8 games or so. Regardless, we are still in building mode from where we have been the last few years, and se continue to improve. Like it or not, but second place in the Big 12 standings and a #2 seed are huge achievements for this program; we haven't accomplished that in about 10 years.
Well you said a #5 or #6 seed earlier. Please list the 25 or so teams better than Texas. You'll be hard pressed not to leave out some we beat.
Depending on the bracket, Baylor may be the best team not named UConn. I can see them playing UConn for the National Championship. They're very deep, have exceedingly good guard play, and (bite my tongue) have an excellent coach. I think they're better than Notre Dame. Baylor is just one of those teams that's so hard to match-up against. That's our problem playing them. We're a top 6-8 team, for sure. Perhaps the bracket will be good to us, and we won't face a team that has such depth in the post because, quite frankly, our post players are not athletic enough, nor do they have the court presence needed against a team with physical and deep post players. I sure look forward to the day when we see more of Hosey, Higgs, Atkins, and McCarty on the court at the same time.
...and why do we lack that PF ??? Why can't we get the players we need ? They all go to UConn, ND, Baylor...Teams that are winning because nobody wants to work that hard to try to build a program. Kids these days want the easy road these days by joining the winners.
I'll GUARANTEE YOU that Mulkey is working their butt's off to make them great players. Not an "easy road" being coached by her. Looks to me like they're putting in really hard work and effort, and they're reaping the rewards.
Uh....we have the best power foward in the country coming in next year. And I would say this team being 28-4 and a top 10 team would make them a winner.
Agree. We don't have scoring at every position. Once other teams began to shut down Brooke, we did not have any consistent scoring threats. Even with the loss of Imani and Celina, I think we'll be better next year. I also agree with you that finishing 2nd is something to be proud of this year. As disappointed as we are that we did not play better against Baylor, I can guarantee that Mulkey is concerned about Aston and her coaching staff closing the gap and getting some of the recruits that used to pick Baylor.
Oh you could tell Mulkey knew the "arms race" was on with her antics in last year's Big 12 tourney championship game. I think she's learned/resigned to embrace it with time.
IMO, we are legitimately in the top 10, but Baylor is in the top 2 or 3 (to me, better than USC and probably better than ND). I believe they have an excellent chance to beat UConn, if that game comes about, as long as they aren't overwhelmed by the situation and the refs are even handed. Considering how we were four years ago, we are a flat-out miracle. Remember Celina and Empress as frosh? They were awful. Now they are very solid, but still lacking that pure ability to raise us to the highest level. (Maybe I'm being too harsh, and we will win the N.C.).
Creme currently projecting #15 seed Northern Iowa with the other first round game being #7 South Florida vs #10 Georgia
Let's pull our head out of the weeds for a minute.. Last year we were well on our way to a good to great season but an injury to Nneka threw us for a loop. I believe had that not happened we might have had 1 maybe two wins against Baylor last year. But it is what it is (or was). We pulled our act together and got to the Sweet 16. Good/great season by most standards. This year the only game we have dropped that wasn't against Baylor was a road game to OU. And we played several really good teams along the way. We competed again in the B12 championship game ending as a 2 seed. I believe we will once again make a deep run in the big tourney. An elite 8 is possible. We all should be giving huge credit to Karen for what she has done in 4 short years. If she continues to improve at this level, we are back as a regular contender for the final four in a year or two. Thank you to our Seniors for being a part of that accomplishment.
At this stage in the game, Baylor is simply a stronger team. We're getting there and I for one am pleased with the progress the program has made in four short years. As much as I want to overthrow Baylor from the throne, my expectations that we'd be doing it this season just weren't realistic. You don't come in and just bounce a program of that caliber. It's going to take a little while longer, but we're definitely heading in their direction.
Absolutely brnkj. When you think about it, the success of this program - and trajectory - is pretty spectacular. We're projected as a 2 seed, and if we take care of business in the early rounds in Austin, we're going to have a 30-win season. To go from where we were just a few years ago, missing the tournament altogether and suffering through the worst season in program history, to where we are at now....all I can say is . Worst season ever to an NCAA 5 seed, and first round winner in just one year. Then the next year another 5 seed and a sweet 16 appearance, and now - a 2 seed and likely 30-win season. And on top of that, we are now one of the top 3 or 4 programs in the country in terms of recruiting, and the caliber of players we're attracting. And that doesn't just apply to these past few seasons - we've got top players already signed and committed as far out as 2020. Those aren't just steps in the right direction; they're big, fat, giant leaps. Yes, there's still room for improvement, and we need to solve the Baylor puzzle, but the Bears were just a bit better than us this year. IMO the addition of Jones gave them that extra piece that put them just out of reach. But I'll take this season, and a 2 seed, and 30 wins if we get there. Now let's get excited about NCAA play, and see if we can go one better (or even farther!) than we went last season!
I'll disagree with that, I dont think they beat ND or USC and probably not even UMD as they all have great guard play, and then bigs that compete at a high level. Thats what we were missing last night, our bigs failed to compete.
That says quite a bit about the future of the program. As good as we've been this season, our younger players are going to carry us to bigger and better outcomes going forward. Last night our seniors, three of whom were starters, combined for just 13 of 63 total points. Two of those seniors scored just two points each. Let's hope their experience is more of a factor, and produces better results, during NCAA play. I'm not criticizing; all four in our senior class have been an integral part of the program's revival. I'm simply making the point the future looks very bright given the numbers our youngsters are putting up.
Well IF South Flordia is in Austin, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen is NOT a given!!! South Florida is a very good team. We can beat them, but it's not a gimme~~~
South Florida would be really tough game. They ended up losing by 26 to UConn Monday night but they hung with them for about a quarter and a half before UConn got some separation and USF kept pushing UConn even though they were unable to stop UConn. I think UConn has to be the favorite to win it. Baylor is very good but I don't think their posts would have the success they had last night. And while the BU guards are very good, I would put only Jones on the level of the UConn guards. Re LaShann's lack of playing time, she got plenty of PT in the OOC games. Wild finishes on layups and TOs have kept her on the bench, imo. That's what I mainly saw in the games she played in. I was very impressed to see her in the Big 12 tournament finishing her layups and making that short jumper. Except for one wild "someone please go get it" pass vs BU, she was our best offensive player. And maybe our best defensive player. But not finishing and careless TOs don't get you much PT. I do expect, given her play in the Big 12 tournament, that she will be one of the first, if not the first guard, off the bench. She really is the best we got at creating her own shot. And she can be a very good passer as well. If she can play at that level or better, we are just going to have another weapon, either coming of the bench or starting. This is going to be a long week as we wait to find out who is coming to Austin and when we play.
Mooooo I noticed you like to bash on Celina but we don't say that about Johnson from Baylor. Celina does what she is supposed to do as a point guard. Our problem has been our post players in critical games. Dare I say it, they are too soft and don't have toughness to play against physical post players. When we moved our post players to the high post, Celina, Brooke, LaShann all were able to get to the basket and finish. The problem is our post clog the lane and do not know how to move without the ball. Celina is the glue that holds this team together, so I can't understand why Aston pulled her in the 3rd QTR. Baylor jumped out earlier in the 1st QTR but we didn't fall apart, we fought back. IMO Aston has to develop as a championship coach. She is good but not championship level yet! I have witness her sit on the bench when the team needs coaching. Neither Mulkey or Geno sit on the bench and stop coaching. Again, just my opinion.
You make some really good points especially about the post players. The lane constantly being clogged up by the post players is one of the main things that I don't like about the offense. Kelsey and Imani should be put at the high post more to open up the floor especially when they're ineffective and not scoring in the paint like the baylor game. I've said all year that Coach Aston still needs to improve as a coach on the offensive end. But I didn't have a problem with her taking Celina out because the team needed more scoring at that time.
South Florida is a team that should not be overlooked. I hope Creme is wrong about his prediction to send them to Austin. We could beat them, but it would have to be a perfect game. Who will defend Williams? UConn had Jefferson face guarding her the whole game.
I tend to agree about South Florida. Tough matchup for a 2 seed in round two, but I still think we'd win the contest.
I know Lashann had some trouble finishing her layups earlier in the year and had turnovers. At risk of driving my opinion into the ground, I just thought, after seeing her talent in the Tennessee game, that you don't leave someone like that on the bench so much. I never thought she really got much playing time after Tennessee. We've had a lot of turnovers from many people. Empress makes some great drives and had some great games, but when she drives to the basket, I figure there is a good 50 percent chance she's going to bulldoze someone over and get the charge. No offense to her, that's just a risk she brings.
Everyone knows I've been a huge fan of Lashann since the first pre-season scrimmage. I love her style of play. But I think we have to trust the coaches with respect to her playing time. Remember, her father is on staff, and given how great our season has been, perhaps we should give credit where it's due. A better way of looking at Lashann's performance last time out might be to say it's a result of how far she's come, and developed as the season progressed. Whatever the case, I hope she continues to be a factor in the upcoming NCAA contests. As Babhorn pointed out, if that happens, it's just one more weapon in our already loaded arsenal.
