Texas vs WVU - 2/06 @ 7:00 pm on LHN

Absolutely, but the mental mistake by Kyra Lambert getting a 5 second call on the inbounds was just unacceptable. WV is a very good team, but those two mistakes were crucial down the stretch..... Other than Charli, we simply don’t have a consistent scorer who can fill it up, and our guard play is spotty and inconsistent at times. Defensively, we simply don’t have the help side defense and rim protector needed to play Vics aggressive style effectively. Losing Gaston really hurt us. Add to that our lack of quality depth, and there you have it. Even though some thought it out of character and inappropriate, Jody was spot on in her assessment of this team’s talent level.... We were in a position to win this one, but fumbled it away....

 

After watching the game again I noticed that most of WV open layups came off of Celeste Taylor. That is very uncharacteristic of her and it's been a bit of a problem for her to stay in front of guards especially the quick guards. I don't know what it is but she has not been playing the defense that we all saw last season. Still a great defender and her steals show that but in terms of on ball defense she has not been the best.

 

Spot on re Celeste, but Audrey wasn’t any better. Audrey simply does not have the foot speed......AND....I think not having Celeste in there hurt us on the offensive end.

 

Post game presser. I think Coach Vic sums it up pretty accurately. "We played good enough to win, but played bad enough to lose." I like the way he takes full accountability, not throwing the kids under the bus.

 

Tough loss. Vic took that one hard. I thought our team looked a little more tired at the end and that showed in part in the mental errors. Vic mentioned one critical point and that is free throws. I looked up at the scoreboard near the end of the game, looked at the score differential, and the free throws. West Virginia made theirs. Texas did not. For all the other valid points people have made, Texas could have won by making more of their free throws.

 

I keep saying it ... we are not good enough to play most teams man to man. The zone we played in the second quarter got us the lead and then our coach in his infinite wisdom doesn't play it for the rest of the game. SMH The amount of layups we continue to give up should be worthy of some sort of change to address it. I guess we'll just continue with that strategy. If Mulkey insists on pounding the ball into her posts I think Ebo and Collier can match up. If she has her guards do what West Virginia did last night, it'll be over before it starts.

 

My knowledge of basketball strategy is the weakest of the 3 major sports, but I think I have to agree. It was obvious to me in the 1st qtr WV had superior athletes. It was just sickening watching their guards run past Ebo and Warren like their feet were in quicksand. And Ortiz wasn't much better. I think we just have to temper our expectations. It's going to take a couple of years of top notch recruiting before we've on Balyor's level.

 

So I do not have the basketball knowledge some of you but here are a couple of things from the stats. When the Horns can turn other teams over, defense looks good. After that? Well, the percentage defense is the worst I have seen from a Texas team. In conference play, the Horns are an abysmal 9th out of 10 teams. 3 pt% defense is significantly better. Horns are 4th in conference play.

 

I'm not as well versed in basketball strategy as some on this forum so I'll toss this out. Everyone agrees that it's disheartening to see how often opposing guards are able to blow past our defenders and score easy layups. A number of you have commented that "help side defense" is lacking. I understand the concept, but not the implementation. In the defense that UT runs, where is the help side defense supposed to come from, and who is supposed to provide it? Also, it was interesting that in the post game press conference Vic was asked about this several times, but he didn't mention help side defense. He always talked about needing to keep the ball in front of you.

 

Hate to lose, especially at home.

Much better effort than the team gave on the road at West Virginia. But, as coach said, too many mistakes; and, too many mistakes at critical times.

As much as I enjoy watching Warren play, she was a liability last night. She plays hard; but, she did not play smart last night (and that's not her norm).

Celeste has to find a way to bring it down a notch defensively; her getting into early foul trouble is deja vu of Ariel Atkins. The thing is, after just about every foul, she clearly shows the frustration that she doesn't agree with the ref's call; and, early fouls mean early bench time. So, it's gonna take a while before she sees the light, unfortunately.

Not sure we're gonna see it this season, but if we could ever have Charli, Audrey, Celeste, Joanne, and Kyra playing their best offensive games in the same game against a quality opponent, we'll win. But, that's unlikely due to the inconsistency of the majority of those players for one reason or another.

I am still lamenting us losing Esmery Martinez after she signed with Texas prior to the start of the 2019-20; guess we'll never know why she was abruptly removed from the roster after the official announcement that she joined that she joined the program; and, then ends up at West Virginia. She would have been such a great addition and would have complemented Charli so well in the front court.

 

I will say this, in reality a good defender should not need help side defense because you are supposed to keep your man in front of you. As a help side defender you are supposed to be in a position where if your teammate gets blown by on a drive you are there to stop the opponent from getting a wide open layup. You want help side defense to really meet the driver outside of the paint and this causes the driver to rethink going all the way to the lane and gives your teammate time to recover. What Texas lacks and has trouble with is off ball action that causes them to get confused and they are also what we call in the basketball world "glued to their man/women" when that happens then you are not in help side or if you are in help side your too far under the basket so by the time the drive comes it's to late or you are going to be called for a foul. It's hard to explain and it's much easier to understand in action. Texas just has to handle ball screens better and force their opponent to one side of the floor or funnel them. Taylor gets beat because she is playing straight up and when a ball screen comes it's hard for her to adjust her body accordingly.

 

Careful, you're not allowed to bring up that team that's dominated the conf on here. But I agree with you on the defense, this team doesn't have a bunch of players with the speed and quickness of a Rori Harmon or the length and athleticism of Rickea Jackson on top of not having a rim protector. A less aggressive man defense and zone should be played against the teams like WVU and Baylor that can match-up athletically in terms of guard play. This team isn't good enough on the offensive end where they can trade baskets and allow easy shots and layups defensively.

 

Well, after all that, the team came awfully close and I am hopeful the Horns will win the games they should the rest of the way. That would be everyone on the remaining conference schedule, including Ok St at home, except Baylor. And I may dare to hope for at least one upset win over Baylor.

 

Texas must recruit more speed and some three point shooters - a weakness forever.
The loss hurt - I was there. But I am certain better days ahead. And I think we can beat Baylor this year. Sure we gotta play our best - but this team has it in them.

 

Agreed... the main objective as an on-ball defender is to stay between your man and the basket. You're going to get beat sometimes, but it happens way too much with our guards.

Our help side defenders are typically late rotating over because they don't maintain that FUNDAMENTAL ball-you-man triangle. Never lose sight of your man, and never lose sight of the ball. With the restricted area, it makes this even more important.

We also get beat on the baseline way too much. We seem to have a hard time balancing on-ball pressure with maintaining proper cushion to keep from getting beat so often.

 

In my fair and biased opinion of “help side defense”, an example is such. If the ball is on the wing, it is the responsibility of the on-ball defender to stop penetration to the basket. The help side defender would be the one guarding the wing player on the opposite wing. The help side defender, as their guarded player is less of a risk, steps or fades to the ball side to help if penetration occurs. This help-side defender puts their behind to the basket, and their head on a swivel, seeing both their primary player.....and the player with the ball. This help side defender toggles their vision between those two offensive players....being ready to step into or through the lane to help. It can get more complicated, but that’s a simple way to think about it.

 

In defense of Taylor, she took a nasty fall and got kneed in the back. I hope you noticed the pain she was in on the bench. Yes....she got beat a lot in the second half, and I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I think in some form or fashion her back was hurting. If you’ve experienced even minor back pain, it is easy to remember how hard it is to play defense against a quick point guard. Both Dean and Gondrazek are quick. I give Taylor a pat for toughing it out.

 

I think our problem with the defense is we apply to much pressure in the half court. We don't have the speed to do that at a constant rate. I don't mind applying pressure on the inbounds but once they break the trap or pressure we need to get back and setup. When we pressure guards at the half court line it's almost impossible to stay in front when you're by yourself. We need to ease the pressure back in the half court and our defense would be much better. Once we get the speed in Harmon and Hunter then we can constantly apply pressure but we just don't have the personnel right now to do that at a constant rate

 

Yep, that's the fundamental BALL-YOU-MAN triangle.