35TangoTango
11-24-2002, 02:16 PM
Just got back from Tulsa, have read everyone's comments, and will add mine from seeing the games first hand.
1. Allison Curtain should be the Naismith winner! I've seen Beard, I've seen Taurasi but this girl is much better offensively that either of those. She is the reincarnation of Jackie Stiles! You can't keep her from getting a shot off, and if she gets if off, it goes in.
2. That said, still the fact is that OU struggled to beat a team that got hammered by Mississippi State. Tulsa played a pressure man-to-man, and OU had no semblance of an offense. Those who (like me) hoped that after a couple of games all these new perimeter players were going to start looking like the 3 WNBA picks of last year can forget it. Forget beating UConn in Hawaii, forget beating Stanford in January, it's going to be a long winter. The progress of these girls is going to be two steps forward and one step back for a while.
3. After a long winter, it could be a very bright Spring! The talent is obvious, the attitude is there, and this coaching staff is working on the right things first; like defense. They got the lead against Tulsa by putting together some team offense and posting Chelsi up out of the motion game. The kept the lead down the stretch by having Senior attitudes - they were absolutely cool - handled the ball, made good passes, made the free throws, played good defense - did everything you would expect a more experienced team to do to win a tight game.
4. ORU the second night was a good contrast. Facing a zone defense all night, they got a lot of experience passing, looking for each other, and generally running offense. Lots of people played, and it was obvious that playing time is pretty well based on defense.
5. Nebraska will NOT finish in last place in the conference. OSU showed no signs of being able to play division one ball. No defense at all, no intensity, not much offense. For the Cowgirls, it's going to be a long winter followed by a worse spring.
1. Allison Curtain should be the Naismith winner! I've seen Beard, I've seen Taurasi but this girl is much better offensively that either of those. She is the reincarnation of Jackie Stiles! You can't keep her from getting a shot off, and if she gets if off, it goes in.
2. That said, still the fact is that OU struggled to beat a team that got hammered by Mississippi State. Tulsa played a pressure man-to-man, and OU had no semblance of an offense. Those who (like me) hoped that after a couple of games all these new perimeter players were going to start looking like the 3 WNBA picks of last year can forget it. Forget beating UConn in Hawaii, forget beating Stanford in January, it's going to be a long winter. The progress of these girls is going to be two steps forward and one step back for a while.
3. After a long winter, it could be a very bright Spring! The talent is obvious, the attitude is there, and this coaching staff is working on the right things first; like defense. They got the lead against Tulsa by putting together some team offense and posting Chelsi up out of the motion game. The kept the lead down the stretch by having Senior attitudes - they were absolutely cool - handled the ball, made good passes, made the free throws, played good defense - did everything you would expect a more experienced team to do to win a tight game.
4. ORU the second night was a good contrast. Facing a zone defense all night, they got a lot of experience passing, looking for each other, and generally running offense. Lots of people played, and it was obvious that playing time is pretty well based on defense.
5. Nebraska will NOT finish in last place in the conference. OSU showed no signs of being able to play division one ball. No defense at all, no intensity, not much offense. For the Cowgirls, it's going to be a long winter followed by a worse spring.