A&M Beats Texas

[Bob_Ballew]

70 to 65, GIG 'EM AGGIES. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by Zo3157 (edited 02-02-2002).]

[schooner2]

I've never been more perplexed in my life. How does A&M beat ISU and UT? Bizarre.

Meanwhile, that firmly places Kansas as dead last in conference. Their two-year drop straight down to the bottom of the barrel is nearly as bizarre as those two A&M wins.

I'm simply speechless. Never seen a team like A&M look so pitiful and then upset two different really good teams.

[ISUbballfan]

I wonder if the double overtime game took it's toll on Texas.

[Bob_Ballew]

Schooner....I'm speechless also. That is why I posted a big grin smilie face! Ain't life grand?!

[schooner2]

With a loss to KSU at home and now a loss on the road at A&M completely washes away Texas' great start with those road wins. Now Colorado and Baylor emerge as battling for third place - hoping to stay within eyeshot of Oklahoma and Kansas State.

[Press]

OMG!!! I'm in shock! Did anyone listen? I saw the half time score then went about my business and thought it was pretty much going to be W for the horns.

[Bob_Ballew]

I am curious to know if A&M pressed the whole game. It amazed me that they pressed the entire game when they played Baylor. Anybody know how this game played out?

Bearskin, I think you called this one!

[Bball Girl]

I think TAMU did press most of the time. Texas had 27 turnovers. Schrieber who scored 23 of UT's first 25 points only had 2 pts in the 2nd half. Texas outrebounded TAMU 45 to 29 but only shot 38% to TAMU's 57% in the 2nd half. Texas only got 10 points from the bench.

[Bball Girl]

Box Score is up on Yahoo

23 of those 27 TO's were steals by TAMU. Larkins and Stephens both had 4 fouls....but it appears the press and the steals were the difference.

[RaiderPower1]

Ya'll say you all are surprised? Well...I most certainly didn't call this one, but I knew A&M had a chance because of the amount of turnovers the Longhorns get when they are pressured. It definately doesn't surprise me though because if you don't have people that can pass the ball well, you're gonna get it stolen every time. How many times you ask? 23 times! Ouch!

[Texan]

Just got back from A&M - ouch! The Aggies did press the whole time, they also played really rough with few calls. It seemed to shake UT coming out of the half.

There were several good individual efforts from the longhorns - Heather, Stacy and Alisha - but all in all they did not play like a team. It wasn't just that they looked tired - they did - it was that they couldn't find each other and no one but Heather was even attempting shots.

[JK]

Hey folks. You guys haven't heard much from me this year. You're probably surprised that I haven't been burning the message board up, given how my 'Horns had such a great start in the conference race. Well, I've held my tongue long enough! Basically, it's like this: OU exposed our Achille's Heel in lack of quickness and quality play at the guard position. I told Bobcat after our first two exhibition games that I was concerned about our perimeter game - - particularly on the defensive side of the ball. I based this judgement solely from reviewing the box scores of those two games and seeing that we were giving up a lot of points to the opponents' guards. I also said that if we don't take care of the ball, it would eventually be our demise. Even through the great victories we've had, I have not been satisfied because that same Achille's Heel was still present. I knew it was only a matter of time... What has happened is that there is now a book out on our poor guard play, other teams have adjusted accordingly, and we have not. It's not like we don't have the pieces to the puzzle sitting right over there on the UT bench! And to make matters worse, those pieces have LOTS of experience under their belts! Bowers has done a good job, and though she may be able to play the "2" she is not our best option there. We need quickness at that position that she just does not have. Furthermore, if you're going to use her there, then create some offensive sets where she can post up the smaller defenders. Bowers, Schreiber, and Cook need to get the minutes at the "3" and "4" interchangably. Hastings needs her confidence renewed so she can get in that mix as well as at the "5". There's a lot of talent spread over the many good teams that make up the Big XII. But no other team in the conference has the mixture of depth, talent, athleticism, enthusiastic youth, and battle-tested veterans that Jody has sitting right along side of her. The last time we saw a Regional Final was 1990 for crying out loud!!!! Since then we haven't gotten past the second round of the NCAA's!!! SAME SONG...TWELFTH VERSE!!!!

[Bobcat4956]

Of course, I will second your opinions JK. I have criticized Conradt early on and though we were winning close ones, our guard play was terribly inconsistent. All the pieces are right there on the bench. Same song, same song. We don't have a clue offensively. Kala Bowers is NOT a 2. She is a 3. Jody seems hell bent on making it work her way. She is not a good adjuster and lacks the innovative mind we need to propel our team offensively. We'll just have to sit back and take it. All that talent and not a clue.

[elfdenmom]

JK, it is nice to see your name on the board again. I thought you had abandoned us, and I miss your posts. Not that I always agree with them, but I enjoy reading them.

[grojc]

Don't you all think its something mental with Jody's teams? She just seems to take the confidence out of them, especially the good shooting guards. This looks like last year and the year before ... mid to late season melt down.

Taking nothing from A&M, they played their hearts out.

[metromaniac]

Maybe Jody grew as an AD for women's sports and not as a coach over the last 10 or so years. There are totally different psychologies working in those two jobs. A trend has seemed to be apparent to the casual observor and apparently also to the close concerned fan.

[swok34]

Weren't last year's problems related to injuries?.....

Wisconsin is another team that seems to come out strong in December and January (at least last year) and then had a horrible NCAA tourney showing.....

Maybe, Jody is practicing 'em too hard. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Texan]

There were lots of injuries last years - Sare, Dillard, Hill and Hastings. But this year, we've had one injury - Coco Reed - and yet it looks the same. There has been some grumbling about Cathy Harston - the offensive coach - among the dedicated fans, and it will be interesting to see if Jody can pull this team back together mid-way through the season.
I've noticed that one big difference in this losing streak is Tracy Cook's leadership. She was very intense at the beginning of the season, and now is not. When she steps up, UT does much better. Don't know what happened to shake her.

[Big12Bear]

Wait a minute Zo. Here I thought you were a BU fan and all along you were an AGGIE. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/confused.gif Grrrr.

[Bevo]

Texan, good observation re: Cook. I've noticed that as well. Hope to see the fire back against Tech tomorrow.

[Bobcat4956]

I've said it all year and although some of you don't agree with me, the proof is in the pudding. Our offensive sets and philosophy STINK!!!!! I agree with the post about the confidence issue. It seems as though they just lose it. Our guards especially. Would still love to see Schreiber at the 4 and Bowers at the 3 where she belongs. That would put Larkin at the point and either Dillard or Sare at the 2. Better ballhandling just might result in fewer turnovers. Bring Cook off the bench. Just my personal observations. And if Harston is the problem with our offense, will be interesting to see if Jody makes changes in the offseason. Would love to have Kamie Etheridge. Boy has she done a job with the guard play at K State.

[Texan]

Nancy Lieberman's column on ESPN does a great job highlighting Ethridge. Would be fantastic to see her on the UT bench again.

http://espn.go.com/ncw/columns/lieberman/1322816.html

[Bob_Ballew]

BigBear12....I'm not an Aggie, my daughter is. I was very excited to see them saw the horns off however. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/biggrin.gif

[KSUron]

Originally posted by Texan:
Nancy Lieberman's column on ESPN does a great job highlighting Ethridge. Would be fantastic to see her on the UT bench again.

http://espn.go.com/ncw/columns/lieberman/1322816.html

Kamie Ethridge is the Associate Head Coach at KSU and by all accounts has a good relationship with Coach Patterson and the rest of the staff. For her sake (and ours) I hope she does not even consider leaving for anything other than a Head Coach position at a major D1 school. And then I hope she still does not leave.

Not disrespect meant, and I know that Coach Ethridge considers Texas to be a special place, but I don't see what she would have to gain by leaving KSU to go to Texas as anything other than the Head Coach. Actually the loss of coaches is one of the things one worries about when the team jumps into the national spotlight as KSU has. What I hear is that no one has any plans to leave. I sure hope not, but on the other hand the staff deserves the respect they are getting. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Texan]

Can only speak for myself, but my post about Ethridge was based on NOTHING but wishfull thinking and was meant as a great compliment to both her and the KSU team. I have great respect for her and Deb Patterson and would assume that it would take a lot to get her to consider being anywhere but where she is. But a girl can dream : )

[dem]

As we have learned at Iowa State, losing great assistant coaches is all part of the process. Although there are a few notable exceptions (Chris Dailey at UConn, Mickie DeMoss at Tennessee), many if not most outstanding assistant coaches are eventually looking for a D-1 head coaching position, and given the current market demand, are very likely to find it.

It is so obvious what tremendous impact a great coach can have on a program. Besides what we've seen in the Big 12 itself over the past few years, former Iowa State Assistant Coach Brenda Oldfield has almost single-handedly (well, with her sister's help) turned around two dead-in-the-water losing programs (Ball State and Minnesota) and made them into conference championship contenders -- all in less than three years! There's probably not a losing program in the country that doesn't salivate at the thought of landing the next hot young assistant coach who's destined for greatness. Somebody with Ethridge's pedigree is going to be fighting them off with a stick, count on it. If you keep her at K-State for two more seasons, consider yourself very lucky.

[This message has been edited by dem (edited 02-05-2002).]

[This message has been edited by dem (edited 02-05-2002).]

[KSUron]

I am in no way offended and took it as a well deserved compliment to Coach Ethridge. I just wanted to give you my view on the subject and have no special knowlege of her thinking.

You bet you can dream and I can dream about keeping this staff together for a few years. And I hope one of us Big XII teams gets the NC. I will of course be proud of our teams no matter what they do. In my view the Big XII is the 1st rate conference it is because we have first rate coaches. I think as time passes coach Kamie will show us all just how 1st rate she is.