Texas vs TCU (Elite 8), Monday 3/31 @ 6:00 CDT - ESPN

🐸s are playing like us - good team chemistry and they play hard, don't quit. But they don't have a deep bench. HVL is the real deal, will be a handful for Rori and Bryanna. Our defense should be the difference.

I'm no expert, but I noticed that Sedona had a tendency to dip her shoulder as she moved toward the basket. She may have corrected that move. Noticed it earlier this year and wondered if she could do that in the pros where tall, quick players can grab the ball when she brings it down.(And large humans like Taylor and Kyla could, too.)

I go to several TCU games every year because I enjoy seeing live 🏀, parking is easy and tix are $15 - a good deal for sports fans, especially this year. I expect higher ticket prices next season!
 
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Horns have been really good at playing (and beating) the team in front of them. They played hard and did what it took to win the game with Tennessee. TCU likely requires a different defensive scheme and I think this is where our players feel like Vic and his staff lift them up high, and that is the scout and a specific defensive focus. Shifting gears has been a strength so far. Like I posted yesterday, we've got lots of folks coming in hot, and I think there's no doubt you can add Jordan and Bri to that list. Time to break the Elite 8 ceiling. Play the team in front of them with the defensive intensity and focus we came with today and we'll take it from TCU.

Even though I have ZERO credentials for having an opinion on this topic, I think I'd like to see it go into Taylor and Kyla over and over again to make Prince play defense. She may block some, but she WILL foul and make rushed plays, or just move away from the basket to avoid the additional contact which she really doesn't seem to care for. Either way we get her off the floor or at least further away from the basket.

LET'S GO HORNS!!!
 
It dawned on me that Taylor Jones and Sedona Prince may have crossed paths when they were both members of the old Pac12. I looked up the records.

In the 2020-2021 season (with a lot of postponed or cancelled games), Jones' OSU team played Prince's Oregon team 3 times. Twice in the regular season and once in the PAC12 tournament. OSU went 2-1 and in those three games Jones and Prince logged significant minutes. So it wouldn't be a stretch to see they've battled against each other under the basket.

They were also on the same squads 2021-2022, but in the two games against each other, Jones didn't have any minutes. She may have banged up by then and done for the year.
 
And then it dawned on me that we played against TCU and their new first year coach last year when we were still in the Big 12. And that Prince was actually active that year, sorta. She was hurt for multiple games and we never went against her. The reason I'm highly focused on Prince is:
1. Former player who dissed Texas on the way out
2. We typically have the big posts compared to other teams. Now the other team has an equally big post
3. Prince has so much more national focus than our players, is all that press real?
4. Texas' game is focused on paint points. Few teams have been successful in keeping us out of the paint. Does Prince have that ability?
 
Prince has gotten more national attention for sure but it’s not necessarily based on her play on the court. She got quite the springboard with her TikTok post in the Covid year about the inequity in the NCAA’s between the men & women’s treatment/experience. And then of course her domestic violence issues that apparently happened at all three of her schools she’s played for. I do think she’s having her best year out of the six she’s had in college.

Get her into foul trouble early and we activate the 4-guard lineup to take away their excellent perimeter game is my best advice as a Couch Coach. I know they’ve struggled in games when Sedona is in foul trouble and we have more fouls to give with out two-headed monster. However her midrange shot is quite good from what I’ve seen.

I just don’t want HVL ending our season again and I’m sure Rori has some thoughts on that
 
kcjem said:
Horns have been really good at playing (and beating) the team in front of them. They played hard and did what it took to win the game with Tennessee. TCU likely requires a different defensive scheme and I think this is where our players feel like Vic and his staff lift them up high, and that is the scout and a specific defensive focus. Shifting gears has been a strength so far. Like I posted yesterday, we've got lots of folks coming in hot, and I think there's no doubt you can add Jordan and Bri to that list. Time to break the Elite 8 ceiling. Play the team in front of them with the defensive intensity and focus we came with today and we'll take it from TCU.

Even though I have ZERO credentials for having an opinion on this topic, I think I'd like to see it go into Taylor and Kyla over and over again to make Prince play defense. She may block some, but she WILL foul and make rushed plays, or just move away from the basket to avoid the additional contact which she really doesn't seem to care for. Either way we get her off the floor or at least further away from the basket.

LET'S GO HORNS!!!
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Think she sometimes backs away from contact to avoid fouls. She needs to play the entire game to make TCU successful. She has athletic skills - can't help but wonder how good she could be without baggage and with a coach like Vic.
 
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UTSUgrad said:
Think she sometimes backs away from contact to avoid fouls. She needs to play the entire game to make TCU successful. She has athletic skills - can't help but wonder how good she could be without baggage and with a coach like Vic.
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"Baggage" hasn't affected her game. She has been beset with nagging injuries throughout her career.
 
HVL and Sedona Prince will control and win this game for TCU with ball screen offense and the size inside of Prince. This is the best ball screen team that Texas has played and HVL is what makes it work. I also don't think that the strategy of throwing the ball inside and trying to score on Sedona Prince will work because of her size.
 
We might see both jones and oldacre on the floor at the same time. What will TCU do to counter that?
I believe Rori is ready for the challenge of taking on HVL. After listening to her pregame press conference remarks, I know she is!
 
Harmon certainly remembers the nice game VanLith had for Louisville against Horns. I forgot ……but Schaefer mentioned it, Horns had the two guard transfer from DePaul injured. Horns struggled to score without her shooting. Current Horns team is much better shooting team. And better defensively as well. I imagine Harmon wants to make VanLith work VERY hard tomorrow night to duplicate prior results. I think Harmon can slow her down just enough. I worry more about their other guard/wing players. Can’t remember names but very impressed with them. Schaefer mentioned a couple of times, those frog players and shooting skills. I’m more comfortable with this game than the Tennessee game. TCU won’t press us and in my fair and biased opinion, froggies will have a hard time defending our half court offense.
 
I will find it very interesting how Schaefer rotates Holle and Preston. Preston has shown her impact. Holle couldn’t stay on the court against the quickness of TN. Bringing in Preston and sliding Harmon to Holle’s spot seems effective. I’m sure he’ll start Holle but may have a shorter leash than normal to bring in Preston. He’s already committed to Lee over Jak. I think. Matchups might change that some.
 
The Horns need to make TCU work on the defensive end. Transition offense is fun when the shots fall. But Notre Dame hurt themselves with too many quick shots.
 
I wonder if anyone has pressed Froggies this year? I like Horns chances against a more traditional team. I think Schaefer goes hard after Frogs and makes Prince be involved in press break and run to keep up.
 
flash34 said:
I wonder if anyone has pressed Froggies this year? I like Horns chances against a more traditional team. I think Schaefer goes hard after Frogs and makes Prince be involved in press break and run to keep up.
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TCU beat West Virginia twice this season. West Virginia relied heavily on its pressure defense.
 
Went back and looked at the box scores on TCU. They play a 6 player rotation with a couple others getting a couple minutes each. They took good care of the ball. West Virginia turned em over 18 times in game one but only 12 in game 2. I still think pressure for 40 minutes against a 6 player rotation will pay dividends…..even it turnovers are not high. I think Madison Conner is the key player outside of VanLith and Prince. I’ve been very impressed with her. TCU beat NCState, Notre Dame twice, Louisville, West Virginia twice, Baylor twice, etc. So they are legit. South Carolina beat em by like 32 points but that’s an aberration. I still like Horns chances.
 
TCU’s 5’11” Guard Madison Conner leads the nation in 3-pt FG’s made shooting 46%. She can be lethal.

TCU mostly uses a 4 guard lineup and counts on their five starters (they played two players off the bench 5 minutes each against ND) for the majority of playing time.

Texas does a pretty darn good job with their 4 guard lineup when needed.

I’m looking forward to a good game and think it’s time for Cinderella’s Cowtown Carriage to turn back into a pumpkin. The Cinderella thing is a bit of a push for a #2 seed if you ask me but that’s ESPN/Media spin for ya.
 
I worry about our 3-point defense. I went to the NCAA stats page and looked at the rankings of the top 100 teams in terms of their 3-point percentage made. Then I looked to see how Texas did against those teams. While not a lockdown situation, we did better than I thought.
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Holle might be a key. She’s got the size and D to make it hard on Conner. Just can’t lose Conner in transition. If Holle struggles stopping her, it’s nice to have Preston to hound her. Preston’s wing span and quickness/speed are problematic to big guards.
 
Media spin? That's the only coverage Texas is getting...about their opponents. Always about UCONN, USC, UCLA, SC, but not much about Texas. Don't know what the media bias is about, but it's a real thing. Even LSU is receiving more coverage today following loss.
 
Bucksgal said:
Media spin? That's the only coverage Texas is getting...about their opponents. Always about UCONN, USC, UCLA, SC, but not much about Texas. Don't know what the media bias is about, but it's a real thing. Even LSU is receiving more coverage today following loss.
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Seems like it's been that way the entire tournament.... just another motivational reason to win and get over that Elite 8 hump.
 
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