Texas defeats LSU

[schooner2]

So, Longhorn fans, how was the game? Sounded like it was a nailbiter as UT defeated LSU 65-63. Texas has put together a solid, maybe almost great, beginning to the season beating Wisconsin, USC, and now LSU. They got off to a great start last season before wilting in the Big 12. If they can challenge for the title, this will be some Big 12 race between OU, TTU, ISU, CU, BU, and UT.

[Bevo]

It wasn't a work of art, but we got the job done again. Seems like we say that after every game these days. Actually, Texas was looking very good in building a 21-12 lead early, but then the refs took over the game. Now, you all know that I'm not the one to gripe about the refs, so I'll just say this - the only thing consistent about them was that they made bad calls against both teams. So I guess it evens out. Through the first 12 minutes of the game, the teams had 2 fouls apiece. By halftime, both teams had 10 fouls. That's a foul a minute on each team over the last 8 minutes of the half. But enough about that.

Again, lots of people saw action for the 'Horns. I was most impressed with the offensive ability of the two freshmen Heather Schreiber and Kala Bowers. Both are capable of hitting the three, but are even more deadly in driving the lane or baseline and working the inside shot. Kala went on a little mini-run of six points midway through the second half by doing just that. I must give props to Tracy for hitting a big-time jumper with 20 seconds left to seal the win. I must admit that with Stacy having fouled out at that point, I was a bit apprehensive about who would be the player in the crunch.

Not a great game from our leader, Kenya. Too many turnovers and she's hesitant to shoot. She needs to use more judgement on her passes and more abandon with her shots. I'm sure it was just an off night, though. I really believe that she is the most indispensable player on this team.

All in all its a good win for the 'Horns and a good win for the conference. Texas now has wins over solid teams from the Mountain West, Big 10, Pac-10, and SEC. That's a great start!

Hook 'em! http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/ut.gif

[ChipperF1]

Great jobs by Texas and Oklahoma last night. For the Longhorns, they beat a very good LSU team. The Texas radio crew really gets into it, and thats makes listening enjoyable. I think I'll catch more Texas tussles this season.

I didn't realize Texas had frontcourt like that. Cook and Schreiber are rawhide tough back there.

Oklahoma outslugged a physical Wichita State team team. Having seen the Shocker on more than few occasions and they always leave a bruise or two as a calling card. OU mixed force and finesse well. Lane Caulfield didn't hurt either http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif I cannot wait to see the Sooners come up to Connecticut to face the Huskies. This Big 12 kid is looking forward to seeing them show the effette snobs of the Eastern Establishment that they have something cooking.

But the Big 12 has started well. Oklahoma's out of the blocks. Texas looks strong. Texas Tech had a little bump on the road but are getting it together. Baylor somewhat untested but we know the talent's there. Colorado? Had a rough stretch with two good teams (I'm a little surprised that their guards haven't broken out yet). Iowa State? Doing what they always do

Just behind. Kansas State is off a great start. Missouri won their state championship. Even Nebraska had rolled out to a 5-1 start..9 of 12 so far being competitive..not too shabby.

[carolann]

Bevo about covered it. At the end of the first half, the fans got so tired of watching players walk from one free throw line to the other that people booed even when the calls went against the Tigers. By the middle of the second half, we were more or less resigned to our fate. The players did not get back from the Virgin Islands until 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday night so tiredness could have been a factor in the Longhorns play.

Schreiber had her first double double but it was Kala Bowers' night. The fans got a glimpse of how good Kala might be. She is intelligent and poised on offense.

My favorite quote:
"We could have used a couple of more players," LSU coach Sue Gunter said. "I thought about asking Jody if I could borrow a couple." As I walked by the Tiger bench after the game, I heard someone say 'it's hard to beat the Longhorns with only 8 players'. That is true enough though the Tigers played hard throughout.

[swok34]

carolann, I was coming to post that same Gunter quote....

Great win for Texas!! hmmmmm, how do you fit 5 Big 12 Teams in the Top 10?.....or perhaps Colorado has fallen out of the Top 10?yes, but now by much and Baylor is right there by them.

[Press]

The Horns on another roll, nice game it sounds like and the Frosh are stepping up big time. That makes for a really fun team because you just don't know what to expect each game.

[JK]

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! That's how I would decribe last night's game. However, I'd rather win and ugly one than lose one. So I'll take it. Our starting backcourt combined for NINE turnovers and THREE assists. These weren't turnovers due to lack of chemistry. There were just some awful decisions made and some even more awful passes made (like the cross-court floating ones against a zone!). Keep that up and see how far we get.

I have to feel, however, that at some point the turnovers will begin to decrease. Kenya is just not playing like a senior at this point. We really need her to settle down and run the team. Kaira had some great plays, but I'm not happy with our not having a lot of assists. That in itself says we're not swinging the ball around the horn the way we need to.

As far as our ranking goes, you all know how disgruntled I always am with the polls but we are NOT one of the ten best teams in the nation -- not yet. We have the potential to be, but we've got to cut out the turnovers and be better from the line. Right now putting us in the "TOP 10" would just place a Bull's-Eye on our backs that we don't need.

I was appalled with our perimeter defense. I've been noticing in the previous games' box scores that we've been giving up a lot of points to other teams' guards. With that I went to this game looking at our perimeter defense, and I'm afraid I saw just what I suspected. It was pathetic! JC is a great "guard's coach" and I was thus a bit shocked not seeing us extend into the passing lanes and put that patented pressure defense on the perimeter. I'm sure this will change also. JC will make them step that defensive intensity up.

Having said all of this, I think we've got a great group of talent and seemingly the chemistry is there (or almost there). If we improve in our areas of weakness, I think we can look forward to a very exciting season. We also need to get Anissa Hastings more involved. She made a huge difference last night. There's just things she can do at her height that nobody else on our team can. Her first step is SUPER QUICK! She had a sweet move to the rack one time and blew by the defender for an easy bucket. I'd like to see more sets like that for her on the offensive end. Kala looked really good last night, too. Love how she's goes to the rack also! Our rebounding (another thing I'm a stickler about) was tremendous!!! Good to see us with a half-court offense that gets us better shots and thus improves our FG% from last season.

Here's hoping we get it all together. Right now we're winning on depth and all-out hustle. I'd say we belong somewhere between #13 and #17 in the polls. Give JC and the gang a little more time to tighten things up. Then we may be ready to defend such high accolades of being ranked in the TOP 10 http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/rolleyes.gif. I sure hope things get better by the Penn State game. That'll be my next trip to Austin to see my dearly beloved team play.

[This message has been edited by JK (edited 11-30-2001).]

[This message has been edited by JK (edited 11-30-2001).]

[Bevo]

JK, you make a good point regarding the perimeter defense. Its something that I have noticed in the BYU and LSU games, but really didn't fully register until I read your post. We've had lots of 3's scored against us in those games and I don't remember that happening last year (prior to the injuries). Last year, the Kenya/Tai/JoRuth combo really harassed the opponent on the perimeter. JoRuth is gone and Tai is not back to full strength, so I think that's the difference. Asha comes in off the bench and does a good job, but overall there's not as much pressure on the opposing guards. I realize that we're getting EXTREMELY nit-picky here. Overall, this is a better team than last year's, especially offensively, and that was the major fault last year. So I give them credit for fixing what needed to be fixed. This team is believing in itself and they are not afraid to step up at crunch time.

Re: Annissa. When she made that move to the bucket I was like, Wow! Why do we not see that all of the time!