OK Watch Party?

I know the OU record looks bad and many of us think we should have left Norman with more points in our column but, in fact, we beat a pretty good team on the road. OU has actuality played the third toughest schedule in the nation so far (shocked me to read that) and has managed to beat one top 25 team. I did not like that final 2 minutes at all... but a win was far from quaranteed.

That said, we had too many turnovers and too many fouls. Holmes a non-factor going 0-3 with 2 fouls in 3 minutes. Can’t wait ‘til she’s back up to speed.

Going forward, I am more worried about OSU than I am about WV.

 

Post game presser.

 

Good road win. And credit coach Aston for saying she should have done a better job of making adjustments. The game that I’m most worried about is the next game.

 

We were like a house on fire in the first half. The coaches will have better answers for their full team press at the end next time. Lashann was fantastic. The game plan to control Pierre-Louis was great. She has eaten us up in the past. I think it's unusual for a coach to take such personal responsibility for not making adjustments as she wishes she had. I find it very becoming. Worried about Sug holding her head, though. I'm looking forward to Mooooo's take.

 

Some quotes from Sherri Coale and Shaina Pellington:

“Tonight, we were affected by (UT’s) speed and athleticism, which surprised me a little,” Coale said. “We were just on the floor with Connecticut and held our own. The athleticism of Texas is different, even though Connecticut is full of McDonald’s All-Americans too. The speed of Texas and the way they attack in transition took us out of any sort of rhythm and tempo, and I don’t know if we ever found it.”

“Everything UConn does is sharp and with tempo,” said Pellington, snapping her fingers. “That’s the thing we’re trying to strive towards. Texas is similiar. They’re a bit faster when it comes to transition. Actually, they’re a lot faster when it comes to transition. But (the Longhorns) do have their moments when five do not equal one.”

 

One of the things that was frustrating in the last 2 minutes was that the team was not thinking tactically. Maybe it's Karen's fault. I'm not sure if that falls under "adjustments". What I mean is that when we got some sort of successful inbound or got an offensive rebound we attempted to go to the quick transition mode, which then immediately resulted in a turnover on their side of the court. Until the last 40-45 seconds, we were in rush-to-score mode rather than burn-the-clock mode. We had a double-digit lead and we were playing like we were behind and that resulted in careless turnovers.

 

I too was encouraged by Aston taking ownership of of the 4Q troubles. Too often coaches deflect 100% responsibility back to the players. I'm hopeful the coaches will look at the tape and work on plays to counter-attack our opponents' full court press. If this game (and Tennessee) exposed a weakness with our team then we are fortunate to have time to work on schemes to improve those areas. I feel certain we will be tested again by WVU, UConn and BU.

 

Absolutely. Basketball IQ. Being able to understand time and score situations. You would think that the more experienced players like Brooke and Ariel would have the understanding of that. Maybe if they’re in the same situations in the future Coach Aston will call a timeout just to remind them.

 

Yes, OU sucks. They played a little "dirty" IMO. Elbows were really sharp and swinging. Sug took one right in the chest but no foul. Kudos to Coach Coale for apparently asking Sug if she was ok during the handshakes at the end. The announcers were both "homies" but I guess that was to be expected given it was Fox Sports OK but, really, there was another team on the floor. The "color" guy (can't think of his name, maybe Hughes?) was especially awful.

 

That witch from Waco would have blamed the refs and then suggested the other team should have given up earlier.

 

Dan Hughes is a former WNBA head coach. He's always been very complimentary of Texas in past TV broadcasts.

 

He was this game too, but the overall broadcast was def done thru sooner colored glasses. I am sure this is how other teams feel when watching a game on LHN.

 

Sherry teaching that NBA "off-arm pushoff" to her lane-driving guards.

 

Keep in mind that halfway thru the 3rd quarter, OU played UConn within 7 points. They are not a pushover team by any means.

OKState is now ranked and has been playing some good teams. WV, however, barely beat TCU and really has only had one quality win against Aggie - which they beat handily. Never an off nite in the B12

 

http://www.texassports.com/news/201...all-earns-first-win-in-norman-since-2010.aspx

One thing I posted on another board prior to the game was that I would be satisfied with an ugly win.
But, since we played so well for the majority of 3 1/4 quarters, I wanted us to maintain that level of play 'til the final whistle; perhaps that was unrealistic. OU was never going to quit at home.

Now, for the positives (will do negatives later):

- Lashann Higgs was just incredible in every facet of the game. Perhaps she was sending a message to Joyner that she won't be the one who loses her starting spot.

- Jatarie White played like a grown woman from the tipoff. She played a big role in completely neutralizing Vivi, something we haven't been able to do the prior 3 seasons. Vivi finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds and 5 turnovers in 21 minutes before fouling out.

- Free throw shooting was 75% (13-21); I'll take that every night.

- Team shot 51.5% from the field. And, outrebounded OU by 11.

- Team shared the ball to the tune of 16 assists; I believe that's close to the number Coach A mentioned (against FSU) that she wants each game.

- Jordan and Olamide provided some solid offense. Really happy to see both of them be aggressive and finish near the basket.

 

Jatarie’s ability to play in the post with her back to the basket, and at least make the opposing center guard her is something this program hasn’t had since Coach Aston has been at Texas.

 

You're right; it was White's best game so far. And probably Higg's best game of her career. She had a decisive impact. Having three guards on the floor who can all score has a destructive effect on defenses. Our offense is at least 15 points a game better than last season. On the other hand, it's obviously going to take a while for Joyner to return to full proficiency. We still don't have enough three point shooting; and other teams are still going to zone us. Our bigs can't go outside and hit the three. (UConn's can.) The offense in the first half had more movement than I've seen all year, then got a more static in the second. A lot of that came from Aston's line up juggling. Still ...we pretty effortlessly held them off and kept a big lead until that little melt down at the end. If we can get more offense out of Suge and from the power forward position, we can be hell on wheels. Power forward is a weakness for us offensively. We will need five scorers to go all the way. And what can I say---I still would like more minutes for Rellah Boothe.

 

"Amen" to more Rellah Boothe. Rellah looks more comfortable every time she's out on the court. (Although realistically she still needs more conditioning to play for extended minutes.)

 

I see some Stacey Stephens in her. Anyone else see that?

 

So, now for the negatives:

- .250 three-point shooting percentage only making 4-16. But, most were good shots except for Joyner's, IMO.

- 20 turnovers. Guessing most happened in the last quarter. Did not like the turnovers directly under the OU basket. Players (Joyner, Ariel, Jordan) were just rushing their initial pass after a defensive rebound; perhaps that's based on always wanting to get into transition as quickly as possible. Have to be smarter when the defender is in your face, though.

- Jada Underwood seemed rattled against the OU defensive pressure. Personally, I would have loved to see Chasity Patterson in her place in those moments. Perhaps that matchups didn't dictate that. Glad she scored 4 points, but the game seemed to fast for her.

- Coach A mentioned (in Statesman, I think) that Chazz had been doing well in practice and would probably get more minutes against OU; she did great late in the first half. Did not get enough minutes for my taste, especially with Brooke and Alecia getting into a bit of foul trouble and unable to hit any three point shots.

- Defense against the dribble-drive. Seemed like the same problems we had against Tennessee re-surfaced in the fourth-quarter against OU.

- Seems like we played a lot more zone defense against OU than I would have expected considering how many long-range shooters they put on the floor. Luckily for us, most of their 3-point shots weren't falling (3-17) because we left their shooters way too wide open for my taste.

 

The turnovers, if not solely the 4th quarter, were definitely in the second half as UT only had 6 at halftime (remember one of the commentators mentioning it).

 

One comment - I believe Underwood’s four points in the final minute or so were what finally put the game away. I believe they came right after OU got within 8.

 

That is a FUN building to win in. Beating the attack poodle in ANY building is FUN.

Congrats Coach on #225. Great road win. More transition basketball is great. Hook Em!!!

 

Probably a typo, but actually 16 of 21 for 76%. This got me thinking and this is the first year under Karen we are outperforming our opponent at the line. I'll take 76% every night too.

2017-2018: .693 vs .613
2016-2017: .670 vs .734
2015-2016: .695 vs .710
2014-2015: .688 vs .714
2013-2014: .691 vs .694
2012-2013: .649 vs .656

 

An interesting comp and I certainly see it on offense. But Rellah has a long way to go to match Stacy on defense.

The nice thing Rellah has going for her...she may be the best rebounder, inch for inch, we've seen around here for a long time, both on offense and defense. Great block-outs and great hands.

 

Great hands.

 

Love Rellah game.
Great hand's, catching the ball.