Game One in Austin: Texas vs Baylor

After my 3 hour drive back to DFW, showered and now in the bed resting I've had time to think about the game.

WHERE WAS BRIE TAYLOR!?!?!?!

I understand Celina and Brook had fouls but this is when you tell your upperclassman do not foul and move your feet now get back in the game. You gotta risk it. We dug ourselves too far in a hole.

Our 2nd string of players need extra practice after every practice. AND WHAT'S WITH ALL THE SUBSTITUTIONS!?!?!?!?! That drove me crazy.

Imani, Imani, Imani you can't walk with the ball. I saw Tina talk to her several times. Coach Tina doing what she does...coaching!!!!!

I was sad to see Brady struggle. I know she had surgery and she's working thru the pain but it hurt me to see her not play like the old Brady.

Bad calls on both sides so they cancelled each other out.

BLOT...BU came into our house and took this game. Kim coached like only Kim can and told her players go and take this game. And Alexis Jones was on FIRE!!!! They should have face guarded her. TX wasn't ready for her.

Glad I made the drive. I Hated to see my Longhorns lose but I'll be at TCU Wednesday rocking my TX gear and saying FIGHT TEXAS FIGHT!!!!! HOOK'EM HORNS!!!

 

Agreed

 

That's because there's NOTHING to do in WACKO but sporting events. It's the armpit of Texas.

 

Couldn't agree with this more! Students should get in free by showing their student ID. Possibly have some sort of marketing specifically for them! Perhaps draw a seat number in the student section to win $$$$. That will win students over every time! Have a winner at every game only chosen from the student section. That's what other schools do. It works!

 

I hope that "ridiculous lineup" you refer to is not the bench. As the starters were down by 7 when the bench came in and only down by 10 when they starters came back in. Starters were all in when we went down by 18 for quite a time. Good try, but the so called starters flopped this one for us. Gave Baylor most of their free throw points also from the ridiculous and lazy fouls we gave. At least they fought their way to a respectable loss of only 9 towards the end!

 

She can't play a 6-8 man rotation with the lazy fouls we were giving. If our players didn't get in to foul trouble so soon they would have stayed in. It was working, at first, offensively, but our defense was crap. Usually when you foul on D it's because you're not moving your feet. Those fouls caused Baylor to score, and they did NOT miss FT's! Looks to me that our bench needed more playing time during those blow outs we had in the past to get them up to par in case the starters got in foul trouble. It WILL happen again!

 

Coach Aston had to go deep into the bench because of the foul trouble. And for the most part I think the fouls were the right calls.

 

I can agree with part of this....... our bench does need more practice time....but how about get them in practice during the regular practice! Have you ever been to a practice????? I've been watching for years. They hardly ever get reps! Seriously! Hardly ever! Probably for every 20 reps the starters get the bench gets 1-2! How will that make your team better????? It won't!!!! Especially when our starters were rolling the red carpet out for Baylor to hit FT's after ever foul we gave them! Did Aston not think of this? Uhhhhhhhh.....if your players get in foul trouble, somebody will be subbing in for them??????? Those subs need to be ready! To dog on the bench when you expect them to clean up the mess of the starters is ridiculous! They had no more turnovers than the starters and had less fouls!

As far as Brianna. If you cop attitude, you don't get a pat on the back! Why should she get to play? She let her team down! She knew this was an important game and rules are rules. Aston is the coach of this team. If she let Brianna play after the last practice I saw I would have been thoroughly disappointed. If I was a teammate I wouldn't let her forget it.

How did Brady struggle? She missed one shot and had a bad pass, maybe two. One of many through this game, by others. She wasn't in but for a few minutes. Remember? Trying to save a starters a** because of the stupid fouling. Tasia came in, and although played a little "wild" towards her last minutes, she at least scored right off the bat.....again, saving another starters butt because they were in foul trouble. Foul trouble, I might add, that let Baylor at the FT line several times!

Bottom line......the starters can't use the bench as an excuse for a loss. They need to own up to their mistakes and get better. We are better than this dangit!

 

Bench players are bench players for a reason. There are very few bench players that get any kind of valuable run or work during practice or a game.

 

Look, most of us knew that Texas probably wasn't one of the top four teams in America this year. Many of us thought Baylor was still the favorite. They've got better guards---and one super star forward. We have a very good team, but not yet a top championship team. I think we can beat Baylor on a given night. Oklahoma State did. But do I think we can beat Baylor, then Maryland, then Notre Dame, then South Carolina? No, honestly, I don't. It's a matter of personnel. We've come a long way and an even better future lies ahead. It's been a fun season, with lots more to come. I'm happy about it. But we do have some limits.

Here's how our MacDonald's All Americans did:
Imani: 15 points, 17 rebounds, 7 turnovers, 33 minutes
Hosey: 0 points, 8 minutes
Higgs: 9 points, 4-12 shooting, 23 minutes
Atkins: 5 points, 1-3 shooting, 15 minutes
McCarty: 16 points, 6-8 shooting, 27 minutes

Imani, at least on paper, and McCarty, too, played up to statistical expectations. (McCarty needs to shoot more.) The others were disappointing. Why did Atkins, who has shot extremely well lately, get only 15 minutes and take only 3 shots? Why did Higgs, who usually shoots about 25%, get more minutes and take 9 more shots than Atkins? The word on other teams' blogs is that a lot of Texas' All Americans under perform compared to their press clippings. Yes, Aston could improve as an offensive coach, but it's not accurate to think bad coaching is holding great players back. The truth is they're not playing like "great" stars because they're not great...not now anyway. Recruiting is not a science. Based on what I've seen on the floor, I can't figure why Higgs and Hosey were rated in the top ten nationally. Hosey has a good future as she matures. She will be a good contributor, but she doesn't seem that much better to my eye than a lot of good freshmen I see on other teams. As for Higgs, she's got fantastic quickness and potential, but, sad to say, she hasn't learned how to shoot the ball. I hope she does... though to be honest, most true "stars" are already good shooters when they arrive at college. These are good young players who will improve as they mature. Texas, however, needs some big time game changers who can do what Alexis Smith and Nina Davis can do. We're still a team without a star.

 

Hmmmm here we go again blaming the bench? Three of the starters had 13 of our turnovers. The remaining 8 were distributed through the other players. We have got to stop using this as an excuse people. All 5 starters were in when we went down by 18. It's not hard to see what is needed to be worked on.

Bri let her team down.....PERIOD......that Coach's decision is all on her. Kudos to Aston for holding strong to her convictions.

 

This statement might be somewhat true if you didn't look at the stats. The starters caused the FT to happen for Baylor. The starters were majority of turnovers. They were all in when the 18 pt. deficit occurred. When bench came in we were down by 7.....when they left we were down by 10.

 

I disagree with you on Higgs. She's not a good jump shooter but literally almost every single time she puts the ball on the floor she gets to the rim. Just imagine how much more difficult it would be to keep her out the lane if she could shoot the ball on a consistant basis. She needs to improve her jump shot and decision making on when to shoot and when to put the ball on the floor and make a play for herself or teammates.

But if/ when she does become a better decision maker and shooter, she will be unguardable. Also while your at it, pull up baylors McDonald's All Americans and you'll see that outside of Jones their numbers are very similar to ours.

 

Hey, it's only ONE loss....a long season just getting started. Every team loses games in basketball. Our play was disturbing, to say the least. I don't like to call out bad play by players....it serves no purpose, and we all saw the game. My question is why would our smoothest mid-range shooter (Atkins) only get 5 touches when Baylor was giving us the mid-range jump shot? And only 15 minutes playing time?
To me, keeping McCarty on the bench til the 2nd half (only 2 fouls the entire game), and not having a game plan to get Atkins the ball were coaching errors/decisions I just don't agree with.
Overall, the refs called a fair game......only 2 serious mistakes, as I saw. And they gave us a couple of questionable calls in our favor in the 2nd half.

 

The game was lost when the starters got into foul trouble and had to sit. Tasia did a couple of nice things but she was also out of control. She needs to play with pace, instead of one speed which for her is fast. Also, Brady came in and did not play very well. If they had come in and did a decent job and not turn the ball over and just tread water, we would have been in the game when the second half came around. Heck, if I were Tasia or Brady I would have looked at it has in opportunity to show coach Aston that I deserve to be getting more playing time. And I don't think neither of them showed Coach Aston that today.

 

The disturbing stat is our posts committed fully 1/2 of the turnovers....how can that be?

 

Did you watch the game? Imani committed a number of unforced turnovers. She was thinking too much when she would catch the ball in the post, and Kelsey also had the same issue.

 

I think Karen made some blunders today. When the game is getting away from you with the best guards on the bench, you'd better put them back in, even if they were having problems earlier and had 2 fouls (maybe not Celina, with 3). They are the starting guards because they have more skills and experience. The odds of them getting us back in the game are better than the odds on Foman, Higgs, etc. My other question...what could Karen's reason for playing Ariel only 15 minutes? She's been very strong for us since she started playing again and is one of our best 2 or 3 options on any play. It reminds me a bit of the UConn game when Karen kept Imani out for around half the game, even though she was playing strong and had our best stats at that time.

 

Team is a team is a team. All own the win and all own the loss. The starters were also in when we pulled within 6 near the end so you can't really point to one thing or one time. Sometimes things don't go your way. On to the next game.

 

I just feel like Baylor ran their offense through Alexis and it set up Nina in such a great way! We force the ball into the post so much! This scheme is not for Ariel. She thrives in a scheme similar to Baylor's with Alexis.. If you pull up her film everything would run through her! She seems so hesitant to shoot or drive! She probably has the sweetest midrange game I've ever seen in a female athlete yet we always force the ball into the post! I feel we are too nice on female athletes and sometimes we just have to state facts! Our offense should primarily feature Brooke and Ariel they are pure scorers! Baylor keyed in on our forceful inside passing so well! Whats the point of having superstar talent and holding them back? Our post are good but not elite ! It's just the truth we have to get this figured out or I see Atkins and Higgs transferring this offseason

 

They've got to contrive a plan to give Atkins twice as many minutes and twice as many shots, just to see what happens. If it doesn't work, OK, but at least try the experiment.

 

Sure didn't mean to imply Coach A was wrong to bench Brie, just that it impacted game in a big way.

 

Simply put the better team won yesterday! And they won convincingly which I will have to admit I did not see coming. I thought we were ready for the Big stage. The game certainly revealed our lack of depth at the post position. And the lack of future depth. Kelsey will be our only true 5 next year. Sara Hattis does not have the foot speed or strength to ever make an impact in the position and Jordan Hosey doesn't apprear to want to play under the basket as she proved yesterday by standing on the perimeter and chunking bricks from the 3 point line. The twins do not want to play with there backs to the basket either as I understand this is one of the reasons they left Vandy. Our next BIG will be Sadona in the 2018 class! Scary thought.
Another concern of mine I saw yesterday was the almost neuratic response Coach Aston had the last minute of the game with the time outs and fouls she had the team commit. I believe Kim Mulkey lives in her head......and lives there rent free. And Mulkey knows it!

 

Not a bad loss overall. Certainly one we can learn from, and as Babhorn said, we made uncharacteristic mistakes. And errors that weren't caused by the Bears, which makes them a little tougher to swallow. As said in prior posts, I expected us to lose this season, and in the long run expect that to be a good thing; I just wish it had been to a different team, given how many fans showed up (and drove in from far flung places).

But we're still a top 5 team - I expect us to drop just one spot in the polls, and for the Bears to replace us at #4. In particular since Miss State and Ohio State both lost, and to much lower ranked teams (OSU to unranked Northwestern, Miss State to #24 Missouri). And they won't bump current #8 Maryland above us, or shouldn't anyway, since the Terrapins have 2 losses.

I still think we're a better team than BU this year, but we're going to have to prove it when it counts. And we'll likely face them twice more, so let's see what happens going forward. And while I hope our underclassmen do well, and step up, they're going to have plenty more chances to get the Bear monkey off our backs. It's up to our seniors to get the job done this season; this is their last go 'round, and as far as the program has come these last few years, that is unfinished business.

 

Some will continue to blame the bench. Its funny how Texas strengh is suppose to be its depth. But because the best players were on the bench they lost. Your best players ( point guards) can not play good defense. Foman is fast I agree too fast. But she had guards locked down (Jones ) go back and watch the re-air of yhe game. Some get mad when the stars do not perform . Brady was nervous she took a good open shot that did not go in. Getting to the basket easy is so great how if the ball hardly ever goes in(Higgs) Baylor guards were huffing and puffing speed would have shot them down. But I understand that is girls/womens basketball. Cathy Self was a great coach because she let her players do what they were strong in. Foman is too fast I agree her individual mile was in the mens time( faster than 6 sec) but you wont see that posted because she is not suppose to be better or faster than the best players, but her speed and defense is what Self made everyone else keep up with. Thats why most post players were ineffective against D-Ville defense. Three players on Texas sucessfully guarded Jones before . They know her and what she can do. She schooled your all americans . She had 29 points only 8 came from FT. Its not cute to score 16 and give up 29 . Davis silently scored 24 pts . She blocked a six five player to the ground .By the way Davis was a three star nobody coming out of high school. The difference between Baylor and Texas is 1. Texas fans down some of their players and hold others on pedstals due to the made up paid for ranking systems. 2.Baylor coach will give who ever can get it done an chance (Davis). Foman made a huge mistake coming to Texas. Her loyalty to her best friend and hoping to bring to Texas what she helped bring to Dumcanville was a waste of her talent . baylorfan.com/fourms/showthread.php?t=237838 FutureLady Bear Recruites, Volume 4 . But she will get a wonderful education here at UT. I hope these bench players can dig deep down and find confidence to help the team, cause the superstar everyone wants to carry the team to glory has yet to arrive. Texas has a well balanced team , depth means just that ,but Coaches only give confidence to some. Bottom line is your startes played and lost the lead. And lost it even more by the time they got back in . If they stayed in they would have had more fouls . Basketball is defense. As many points as the point guard can score they are suppose to be able to defend as well. TCU has shooters and I am not talking about this third grade set shooting when you all alone. Those starters better learn to play defense . Maybe Foman can teach them to move their feet and move fast in all directions while playing defense. I hope Brady gets her confidence back to get her shot back on point. And yes Bree would have made a huge difference in that game, a win or lose difference. Lets not forget Bree was a bench player and now that she has the chance we see how much she brings to the line up . I know she would have been able to handle Davis. And yes I know the womans side slower. But thats why the mens side gets all the fans and the womens side gets slighted cause no one wants to change wnat to keep old school slow system. No disrespect to Jones or any player , but she was shooting that ball like a dude , she embarassed our starters. As the kids say she clowned us. I see every practice (on line)sometimes the bench beats the starters and thats a fact.

 

Nina Davis was a three star recriut and not a MDAA Alexis Jones was and is the real deal.

 

Higgs and Atkins will not transfer .Atkins is not that kind of player. She will work even harder . Atkins is loyal she is not selfish to bail out on her teammates . She worked her way back from injury to avoid red shirt, She comes from teamwork and unselfishness. She loves the game and will have a sucessful career. Higgs , her dad is here , where is she going ? What other school can you go to and not learn the plays? . These players get a lot and I mean a whole lot more that other schools dont get$$$$$. Trust me its not that easy to leave UT as a athlete. And yes even the bench players get that $$$$ just like the starters. . Geno said something interesting after a game. They were asking him about Katie Lou. He said he tells his freshman "you are getting the same scholarship money as the upper classmen".You dont have to wait your turn tou better get out there and get it. If the offense primarly goes through select players..... never mind .

 

Why does it always come back to Tasia? I've watched the game about 5 times now. And yes, Tasia did a nice job of keeping Jones in front of her and contesting her shot on several occasions. But she also had bad turnovers that lead to baylor getting easy opportunities on the other end. And I don't care what she did in high school. She's a nice player but she is not a starter at the high division 1 level. And when you're defending a team that utilizes ball screens which is how Jones scored the majority of her points, it doesn't just fall on the guards it also falls on the entire team. You have to talk and communicate as a team defensively.

Our post players are just as much to blame as the guards. Jones wasn't out there going one on one breaking guards ankles and making defenders look silly like she did when she played against Duncanville in high school. You obviously feel strongly about Tasia's abilities because you make it about her after every game. And maybe you're right, she might have made a mistake coming to Texas when it comes to basketball. But in my opinion, if Tasia wants to try and start or get more playing time she's going to have to do that at a mid major level.

 

Nina Davis was a four star recruit ranked around 50. She's obviously performed better than that. But she was a very solidly ranked recruit coming out of high school.

 

Nobody cares if you have some kind of inside information. Stop blaming the coach and lookig for reasons as to why Tasia isn't starting or get more playing time. Let's do this, Texas is a top 6 team which team out of the other 5 would Tasia start on? Now, look at the top ten, top 15 etc. And tell me what team she would start on.