This is not last year team. The talent is different but the head coach is the same. The past 2 years have shown me that Coach has a plan and a pattern. I think the past years results and the expectations of this year has this room kinda..... "Bucksgal" I enjoy reading your posts so keep writing!
Much like grief, everyone deals with losing in their own way. I try not to say anything about a player I wouldn’t say to their face since it’s their blood, sweat and tears not mine but I know I fail at times. I also think losing is much harder on coaches and players than us because they have to put so much of themselves into it and I detest losing as much as anyone, so I try my best to maintain perspective. It’s a basketball game, not life & death.
I remember feeling this way last season and then Vic righted the ship. I suspect he’ll do the same. If you recall, Vic said the players (last year) needed to learn the hard way that sticking to the plan is the best way to a W. I would imagine that he’s repeating the same thing in the locker room this year and I hope Harmon, Holle and Gaston preach it to the new faces. Had we played Vic’s normal defense, this game would have been a 10-15 win.
Tough loss tonight. We lost to a team tonight which lost its first two conference games by double-digits. Defensive problems from the last couple of games seem to have not been solved. No one here is going to jump ship, but Vic's got his work cut out for him for sure. I think we all thought we were trending up at the right time. This week will tell us quite a bit. But losing to teams like this when every game counts is certainly not conducive to winning the regular season conference champ. that has eluded this program for a long time. Frankly, I think the team looked past OSU a little since next weeks' games are so big, and since OSU was not perceived to be much of a threat.
Conradt used to say you should never put yourself in the position where a bad call can make a difference… that said those two carry calls from the exact same ref were utter ********. Not only is carrying almost never called anymore, but those were definitely not carries (carry’s??). That’s a ref who needs a talking to.
Carrying (basketball) - Wikipedia Carrying is a violation in the game of basketball. It occurs when the dribbling player continues to dribble after allowing the ball to come to rest in one or both hands and/or places their hand underneath the basketball. Carrying is like a double dribble, because the player momentarily stops dribbling, then resumes dribbling. If the player is in motion while carrying the ball, then it is similar to traveling (3+ steps). I don't know what they say Sonja do TWICE
They called Rori for carrying too. I just thought it was interesting that we didn’t carry the ball until we were starting to gain momentum.
Aside from Rori, our perimeter players lack the quickness to be the lockdown on-ball defenders Vic's defense is predicated on. Sure, they looked good against KSU because of the Wildcats' own lack of quickness. But against ANY TEAM with athletic guards who can put the ball on the floor we get exposed, and we give up lots of easy layups or put the other team on the free throw line repeatedly. These weaknesses get exposed regardless of the opponent's W/L record. This week's games against TCU and OSU proved that. That same lack of quickness shows itself in the dribble drive offense. Think about it, how often do we see our perimeter players get all the way downhill and right AT the rim out of that offense? Even in Vic's first season at UT with a limited roster, he had perimeter players who could lock down defensively and get to the rim (JAT, Celeste, Kyra). This observation is nothing against our current players, just saying maybe there are some slight adjustments according to personnel that need to be made.
I missed the game. Looking at the box score, Harmon was 6-20 field goals, 5-10 free throws, 5 turnovers in 40 minutes. Stats looked ok from others. Defense doesn’t show up in box scores.
Not sure what box score you were looking at but here's the one from ESPN Texas vs. Oklahoma State - Women's College Basketball Box Score - January 7, 2023 | ESPN
Well….I’m not sure what box score I was looking at. I looked at a LOT and can’t find one anywhere close to what I stated. Chalk this one up to senility. Thanks for correcting me.
