I was going to start a thread like this where we could share our thoughts on this past season. For me: - was very disappointed and concerned while watching our first game of the season at Stanford. Even more disappointed that we did not schedule a game prior to this one (like Stanford did) as we had so many new players on our roster. I expected us to look much better; I knew it was the first game, but we just did not look like a Top 10 team. - Beating Baylor on the road was a shock to me as it didn't seem we had proven to be consistent enough up to that point to pull out a win. But, I was shocked as jump shots by Brooke, Ariel, Joyner, Lashann and Alecia were falling during the first half. It was a mid-range shooting clinic that we hadn't seen (and really would not see again) all season. We took care of the ball; caused Baylor to feel uncomfortable, and ran our transition game almost to perfection. The team put together 3 dominant quarters of play. The fourth quarter got tense as Baylor mounted their comeback, but we did enough to win. - Our 19 game winning streak was great to watch. Getting that win at Florida State was huge as it resulted in lots of positive publicity; people noticed. All of a sudden, we vaulted into consideration for a possible #1 seed if we continued our winning ways. But, we honestly didn't play that well for the first 2.75 quarters of the game. We turned it on in the end, and the team pulled out another win. But, we did not play "quality" basketball like we did at Baylor. Some on here felt the team was tired, and that very well have been the case. We will never know how that game/travel affected the players against OU the next game, but without that FSU win, we would have had no Top 25 non-conference wins and it would have been tough to impress the committee. - As it would turn out, we never really played the rest of the season as well as we did in Waco. Even during the 19 game winning streak, we would play 2.5 to 3 quarters of average to good basketball. Seemed like each game would include at least 1 really bad quarter of basketball where we would fail to score at least 10 points and we'd give up any sizeable lead we had worked hard to attain earlier in the game. This is kind of a summary of our post-season games against West Virginia, NC State, and Stanford. We were just missing something (and I don't know the word for it) that kept us from being a better basketball team.
Nice summary, Moooooo. We had an outstanding year. I enjoyed every game and love watching our players play. Brooke showed us that she has even more talent and leadership than I realized. Ariel also played some tremendous basketball, though she still has trouble keeping the fouls down. Joyner has so many talents, it's kind of mind-boggling. Her full court drives to the basket were breathtaking. (I'm particularly remembering the one at K State, but there were several of them.) I continue to see Lashann as a highly talented offensive weapon. Seeing Sug come on with her shooting at the end of the season was very promising. The Baylor game in Waco was our pinnacle. If it were possible to play like that every game, we would have the NC. Still, there were some weaknesses and disappointments, as we have all discussed on this board. We all agree that more great three point shooting is required to go higher. Chasity and Rellah appear to ready to remedy that quickly. I think we missed Imani more than the stat sheets show. We were still a great rebounding and shot-blocking team, but we didn't alter shots the way we did when she was here. It's amazing how much difference that extra two inches and longer arms make. The things I am most excited about for next year -- seeing what Chasity and Rellah can do, watching those imposing athletes Joyner and Rellah together on the court at the same time, seeing three's rain down from all directions on the court, watching Joyner's jumper get more accurate, seeing if Brooke and Ariel can get even better as seniors, seeing if Lashann and Sug can keep elevating their games, finding out what type of game Jatarie has and --- beating Baylor again, which I definitely think we can.
In her comments on the incoming freshmen, Karen Aston said Chasity would provide another long range shooter, that "we desperately need." Desperately. Maybe she reads Hornfans. Or maybe all basketball geniuses think alike.
When I do think about our first game of the season against Stanford versus our last game against them, it was definitely obvious how much we improved and learned from the first game. We played a much better first two quarters, whereas in the first game we were pretty much out of the game mid-way through the second quarter, IIRC.
Where the team/program is today, vs. when Karen walked in the door, is night and day. There is clearly work to be done going forward, but I hardly look at the Sweet 16 vs. the Elite Eight a step backwards. For me that night in Waco bought a lot of goodwill.
I agree 100%... And let's not forget we basically handed BU the Big 12 title by not clamping down and finishing them off in Austin. We're in really good shape for next year!
