The reply to CDC’s tweet is from @jusme828 and addresses a recurring topic of discussion on this board. Based on his recent tweets, the new AD has been getting this question about all the major sports.
This. Audrey was terrible until she blocked a shot in the final minutes. She rarely scores. She drove the basket twice with easy layups and missed. She contributed fouls and turnovers. Rellah provides offense, defense and energizes the crowd. I watched her after the game and she appeared to be down/frustrated and other players were trying to pick up her mood. She's going to be a star. Must keep her engaged.
Hopefully she sticks around... I, too, am very frustrated and perplexed with the choice to play non-productively from one spot on the floor. I can't, however, say that I'm surprised seeing how it's been done the past few years.
Texexted--I noticed the same body language as you with Rellah last night. She's young so it can be difficult to understand the big picture (if there is a big picture). But it must be frustrating to play a great game vs WVU and get zero minutes vs OSU. I'm not saying she should be starting but only that it would have been great if Aston would have given her a few minutes to see what she can do against OSU bigs. I was hopeful the lessons from the Tennessee game were behind us.
I don’t get get it. What’s the problem? Texas won the game. It’s not about one player it’s about the team.
Actually.....it can be about ONE player. ONE player who is not productive basically makes it 4 against 5. If a player is a non-factor on the offensive end, it makes it more difficult on the other 4 as we saw last year with Brianna Taylor. Why do you think UConn is so effective offensively.....because they put FIVE players on the floor and pressure you offensively from ALL FIVE POSITIOINS. We simply have not been getting much productivity from the 4 position all year, with the exception of a few times with Jordan Hosey and Rellah. This isn't about just "winning the game".....it's about if we are to be an elite, Final Four team. While I certainly appreciate Audrey's hustle, desire, etc., she simply is not as talented as Joyner or Rellah......not EVEN CLOSE!!! If we are to truly be an elite Final Four caliber team, we need Joyner and Rellah to play. It's that simple!!!
No it’s not about one player. It’s annoying when the TEAM wins an important game against a good team and some fans want to continue to complain about certain players not getting playing time. And trying to play armchair psychologist and read into every little thing a player does including how that player is drinking their Gatorade on the bench. There’s a reason that Coach Aston is getting paid close to a million dollars a year and we’re here on computers at home thinking we have all the answers.
You have to think long-term. Players want to develop their skills and they need playing time to do so. Rellah should have been rewarded for her great performance in the WVU game. Was her defense a little shaky? Yes, but she is a freshman, so I expect a learning curve. I think Audrey has improved immensely this season and does all the little things well, especially defense. However, she is a liability on offense because she doesn't look for her shot and she doesn't have the offensive skills that Holmes and Boothe possess. Speaking of which, it bothers me Holmes is not getting many minutes in games. Yeah she is a step or two slower because she isn't in prime condition, but she needs playing time to get more of a feel of the game.
My two-cents: 1) Before the game I was thinking, "This board always says their worried about [insert-next-opponent]. Yeah OSU is not a pushover, but I think we'll do okay" 2) I was WRONG 3) During the game, our basketball neighbors and I kept muttering, "Put in Rellah, we need a big body on those big bodies." 4) But I was thinking in my head, "Yeah, this game is too tight for the luxury of throwing in a freshman into the fray." Noticed that no true freshman got to play. 5) Not that playing sophmores, juniors and seniors didn't keep them from committing self-induced turnovers like......holding onto the ball too long! 6) Audrey, Audrey, Audrey....why are you even in the ga - Oh that was a might block! 7) Lashann has sure made a big change her junior year. Instead of just driving into the lane and tossing up the ball in hopes it goes into the basket (usually into the arms of taller players), she's actually doing it right. That's coaching and a player taking coaching! 8) Jordan, still has to improve. Caused 2-3 turnovers by herself. 9) On the start of two fast breaks, I saw Joyner ahead of the team down by our basket waving the "I'm open! I'm open!" signal and once Brooke and once Sug passed on her. My gut feel was, "They don't quite trust her to handle the ball if they were to zing it to her". But, I thought, "Last year they would have" 10) Joyner is getting there though. Twice I saw her come out of nowhere and grab a rebound like the olden days of last year. 11) With 5 minutes to go, I sighed to my neighbor, "We're gonna lose. We just can't claw our way back" (to be fair this was after several comebacks from 7 points down to see it go back to 7 points up) 12) I was wrong and was stunned to see the mental fortitude of this team.
Coach Aston knows what she’s doing and when she feels it’s time for Joyner or Rellah to get more playing time they will. There are a lot of things that go into a team dynamic and I’m sure Coach Aston understands her team a lot more than we do.
I sat behind some members of the men's team last night. They wanted to see Holmes play. So did I. I was happy to see Holmes play a bit more than in the last game. I hope we see her a lot more in the next game. When she came in, I think she helped OSU pick up a couple of quick fouls, including a foul on Coleman. I am sure keeping Coleman on the bench for a bit due to fouls was a help to the final outcome even though I cannot attribute an exact point total. From my inexpert view, Boothe presents a bit of a conundrum. Clearly, she is a great rebounder and a powerful scoring force. I think she can help a lot when the team is forced to run a half-court offense. Those are the positives. She is slow to get up the court, which is a problem defensively. In addition, she does not appear to have learned much about playing defense under the basket before getting to Texas. She has already improved in both areas, but can only really bust it up and down the court for a few minutes at a time. If Boothe can continue to work and be patient, she could be a post season weapon, but I think in limited minutes. I expect her to have a HUGE sophomore leap from a combination of continued work with the conditioning staff and basketball practice with the coaches.
Rellah was celebrating and looked downright giddy after the game as did all the ladies including Patterson and Destiny. Please see my later post about Audrey. She did more than I realized.
Not saying she doesn't know what she is doing or that she doesn't understand her team. I am just stating that I am perplexed by Aston's substitution patterns. I am not alone. In fact, I think Boothe's size and ability to shoot would have been beneficial against Jensen.
Kurupt—To be clear, I’m not saying Rellah should get more minutes than AAG, White or Joyner. As others have stated, her conditioning and defense need work. Although Aston “knows best” it’s mystifying why Rellah did not get any minutes when we were struggling through 2 quarters with scoring and rebounding. We also could have used a little spark and maybe she could have provided it. Of course, maybe Rellah would have been totally ineffective. Who knows? I understand there is a pecking order and Aston has a system of players progressing to earn more playing time. However, I also believe Rellah is starting to find her groove and I hope she gets the opportunity to get a little experience in big games in order to grow. IMO, she’s a gamer and I think she will shine in pressure situations. Yes, I’m very happy we won the game. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t reflect on the game and provide critical analysis of what worked and what needs improvement. The exchange of ideas and opinions is what makes message boards interesting.
I understand your point and you may be right. But when Texas shoots over 50% from the field and scores almost 90 points, it’s pretty hard to complain about one player not playing and what she brings on the offensive side of the floor. I still have more of an issue with the defense. And I would’ve obviously felt the same way had they lost. As of right now I have no issues with offense the defense is what needs to improve. So if you tell me that Joyner or Rellah should have been on the floor a lot more because of their defense then I might agree with that.
Right! Make Jensen have to defend inside and outside. You see how once we started going to Jatarie in the third quarter it started to tire Jensen and she started picking up fouls.
We were down most of the game and they had 9 offensive rebounds I think in the first half. Both Holmes and Boothe are better rebounders than Audrey. Especially on the offensive end. I will say Audrey is a solid defender and is better than Boothe and Holmes at this time. However, I am comparing a junior to a freshman and a player who hasn't played competitive basketball since the summer. Basically, I am just saying I wish Aston would have more faith in her freshmen and let them get more experience. Additionally, I wish she would Holmes more time to get into rhythm. In conclusion, a rotation of White, Holmes, Boothe, Hosey, and Caron-Goudreau is a damn good frontcourt...but only if they are battle-tested. We can't keep relying on our guards to bail us out.
Exactly. On top of that, it benefits Boothe who right now is not the fastest, but I doubt Jensen is any quicker. You want to tire a team's main point producer out on defense. You can't do that when only 4 players are looking to score.
With the exception of Boothe, that was the rotation. We did not need another scorer but it would have been nice to have one. What we needed was a strong defender and right now I think Audrey plays that role as well as any of the others. Rewatch the game. Her contributions don’t show up in the stats. Her body placement, hustle and willingness to be vocal are very apparent if you focus on her which is what I did. During the game, I wanted her on the bench. In watching the replay, I knew why she was on the floor. I can only assume that Boothe didn’t get minutes because we needed defense more than offense.
Then that’s obviously a tactical error on coach Aston and the guards not a substitution problem for not establishing Jatarie early in the game. And that is an area that Texas has to improve on especially when they play teams like UConn and Baylor. The guards are very good and a lot of the times they don’t establish Jatarie enough in the post.
For those of you who are familiar with Baylor, how does OSU stack-up against Baylor? The match-up of Jensen/Coleman vs Brown/Cox seems to favor Baylor because Brown/Cox have a height advantage. What does OSU need to do to beat Baylor?
Well....none of OUR true freshmen got to play. As I recall, OSU had a TRUE freshman that lit us up for 23 points, 4 assist, and 3 rebounds. Rellah and Chasity were ranked #3 and #4 if my memory serves me correctly......yet neither even hit the floor last night.....AND right after Rellah had a stellar performance against West Virginia. The freshmen for Tennessee had no problem beating our upper classmen earlier in the year. We seem to be the only team that has a problem playing ours so far. I'm merely speaking the truth. If this team is to be an elite team and contend for a Final Four spot, we are going to need both Joyner and Rellah to contribute. Joyner WAS FIRST TEAM All Big 12 last year you know. It would certainly be nice to also have Chasity as a spark off the bench as well. If we are to compete against teams that have elite post tandems such as Baylor, etc. and contend for a Final Four spot, we need to get more production out of the 4 spot for sure. Just my opinion.
It is perplexing. I guess every team is different but you can’t ignore that OSU, Aggie, and Tenn all seem to have gotten immediate impact from their highly ranked freshmen.
