In Reply to: Re: OT: Texas women posted by UCLART on March 30, 2026 at 17:55:39
Ya, I don't think we're going to win (my prognostications are basically worthless. As I say many times a season, I'm just a fat guy on a couch).
They've all gotten better. Their D is UConn-like. They crushed Michigan, while going 2-15 on threes. They usually don't take many threes - they are one of the lowest in the country at 3 pt attempts. I don't know what happened tonight. Lee kept throwing up threes. 0-8. And, they still crushed them. Held Michigan to 23% shooting, 13% on 3's.
A huge advantage we have over Michigan is they don't have a center. Solfawhatever is 6'3" and plays smaller. They use Dudley (6'2") as their back up center. And, another Soph that's 6'2". Consequently, Texas' bigs went 5-6, and 4-5. It seems like Carlton (6'1") plays big, she went 6-10. So, we should defend them a lot better than Michigan did.
But, how are we going to score. Everyone is going to lean into All Lauren, All the Time. Walk, Don't Run! The way they pressure the ball, I think we'll have a hard time getting it into Lauren.
And, when we do, Oldacre is 6'6" and immovable. Cunningham is 6'4" and a good defender.
If it were me, I'd run off of live ball turn overs and Texas misses and try to get some spot up threes off the break, if they are there. And, I'd rotate posting up players. See who has an advantage on their defender.
On D, we should be able to hang. I'd have the bigs challenge Booker's shots on switches. Booker made 9 shots. If you look at her shot chart on ESPN, she's a short-mid range shooter. The longest shot she made was a 17-footer (2 of them). We should be able to get a tall helper on her on the switch. And, I think Bilic could get some minutes on Booker. Bilic is two inches taller, and moves well. Have her play her physically. Booker shoots 85% on FT's. But, she shot 90% on shots from 17 feet and closer today.
But, that's just me, on my couch, spouting forth. There are much more knowledgeable people on this board. Including at least one other that has said we'd beat Texi in a rematch. But, you know, I love the attention, thank you for calling me out.
Question: has anyone ever called you Happy?
But, ya, it's going to be hard for us to score.