Texas vs Gonzaga 3/29/24 Sweet Sixteen

Gonzaga will be our toughest opponent since we met UConn back when we still had Rori. Someone else on here might be able to give a good analysis of how we actually match up with their players, but their record speaks for itself. Ranked 16 overall with a Net Ranking of 12 on a regular season record of 30-3. Wow. They beat Stanford way back in December. Lost to Washington State, Louisville and Portland (WTH???) They had previously beaten Portland twice, once by 21 and then again by 50.

If you are a fan of Net Rankings, Gonzaga should have been a 3 seed instead of Oregon State.

BTW, they beat Alabama by 10 in November.

Here is how I feel about this game. I love our team. One of my favorites squads in years. However, I’ve felt for awhile now that sans Rori we have been living on borrowed time. But to have finished the regular season 30-4 and winning the Big 12 tournament without Rori… it is simply mind blowing. Truly.

After Rori went down, making the Sweet 16 was my bar. Anything after that is simply varying degrees of happiness.
  • Sweet 16 happy
  • Elite 8 thrilled
  • Final Four ecstatic
  • Championship game blown away
  • National Champs bury me the next day

Can this team win? Abso-f-ing-lutey. Will they win? I have no earthly idea.

But I know this. They owe me nothing. They deserve my undying gratitude. The future of UT WBB is bright and I couldn’t be more grateful to Vic and the entire team and staff.

Hook ‘em and beat the hell out of the zags.

:bevo:
 
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WCBBNUT, fantastic post. I love your appreciation of our team and the season we've had.

I just caught a bit of the Utah-Gonzaga game, and that was enough. We're going to have a huge challenge. I don't know a thing about the seeding process, but that process did not do the Zags justice. I tuned in enough to see Rebecca Lobo saying that they have exquisite balance between three point shooting and strength inside. Then saw them make 9 threes in a row. I haven't seen the final stats, but not sure I want to look at them.

It should be a great game. We need to do what we can to make their three point shooting hard, and our offense has to be on, like it was in the Big 12 Final with Iowa State. We won't have the luxury of missing all those put backs like in the Alabama game. I'm really curious to see Vic's defensive game plan.
 
WCBBNUT said:
Gonzaga will be our toughest opponent since we met UConn back when we still had Rori. Someone else on here might be able to give a good analysis of how we actually match up with their players, but their record speaks for itself. Ranked 16 overall with a Net Ranking of 12 on a regular season record of 30-3. Wow. They beat Stanford way back in December. Lost to Washington State, Louisville and Portland (WTH???) They had previously beaten Portland by 21.

If you are a fan of Net Rankings, Gonzaga should have been a 3 seed instead of Oregon State.

BTW, they beat Alabama by 10 in November.

Here is how I feel about this game. I love our team. One of my favorites squads in years. However, I’ve felt for awhile now that sans Rori we have been living on borrowed time. But to have finished the regular season 30-4 and winning the Big 12 tournament without Rori… it is simply mind blowing. Truly.

After Rori went down, making the Sweet 16 was my bar. Anything after that is simply varying degrees of happiness.
  • Sweet 16 happy
  • Elite 8 thrilled
  • Final Four ecstatic
  • Championship game blown away
  • National Champs bury me the next day

Can this team win? Abso-f-ing-lutey. Will they win? I have no earthly idea.

But I know this. They owe me nothing. They deserve my undying gratitude. The future of UT WBB is bright and I couldn’t be more grateful to Vic and the entire team and staff.

Hook ‘em and beat the hell out of the zags.

:bevo:
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Pretty much my thoughts exactly. At this point it's house money for me. My main thing was seeing this team make the Sweet 16, as I didn't want to be "that program" that was seeded favorably but couldn't get off its home floor two years in a row.

Seedings mean nothing to me once the tournament progresses to this point. It's all up for grabs depending on who plays the best for that designated couple of hours.
 
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WCBBNUT said:
Can this team win? Abso-f-ing-lutey. Will they win? I have no earthly idea.

But I know this. They owe me nothing. They deserve my undying gratitude. The future of UT WBB is bright and I couldn’t be more grateful to Vic and the entire team and staff.
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Among my fondest wishes is that all our fans could have this type of attitude.
 


Of all the Statesman writers, Danny D is the most consistent on tracking women's sports at UT. The others only show up when the women's team is doing well and into a tournament.
 
I have a bad feeling about this. Teams that can hit threes are tough for the Horns. Trading 2 for 3 each possession with our inside game and lack of outside shooting puts us in a hole quick. Hoping Shay and Shaylee get hot from outside.
Also, ouch 9pm? That’s my bedtime, I’m old
 
No secret we have had some stellar defensive performances this year, but our point production hasn't exactly been anemic either. We know what we'll try to do defensively, but my question is how will they defend us? That said, we have to do a better job finishing the layups and other good shots that our offense typically creates.
 
GlendaA said:
I have a bad feeling about this. Teams that can hit threes are tough for the Horns. Trading 2 for 3 each possession with our inside game and lack of outside shooting puts us in a hole quick. Hoping Shay and Shaylee get hot from outside.
Also, ouch 9pm? That’s my bedtime, I’m old
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I winced when I saw that Gonzaga hit 11 of 15 three's. Ugh.

Okay, how good or how bad can we handle this? Looking at the NCAA stats, I see that:

#4 Team in the country was Utah to 10.2/game (whew!)
#7 Team was/is Gonzaga at 9.5 (gulp)
#8 TCU (9.5)
game 1: 7/18
game 2: 4/14
#17 Iowa State (8.6)
game 1: 7/15
game 2: 6/12
#37 OU (8.0)
game 1: 10/27
game 2: 2/6

I'm a bit teeny nervous.
 
Sangre Naranjada said:
Me too. And I am wondering if we will see more of Jak and Amina in this game, since both have the length, agility, and maybe quickness to guard their three point shooters well outside the paint.
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What you gain of defense you lose on offense so it's a push. And given how much Vic values defense if they were a net positive they would be starting. The only thing I could see would be more of DeYona over Taylor in guarding Hollingsworth since she can shoot 3's. Amina over Amo is definitely not a net positive. But of course it won't be the same 5 for either team the whole game anyway so I guess we'll see what Vic does.

Except for Maddie of course. She'll have to play the whole 40 and she can't get in foul trouble.
 
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I’ve scanned the Gonzaga stats and don’t expect a bad shooting night from three. It rarely happens. They average almost 10 MADE threes a game while shooting them at over 40%. 35% is about good. I don’t think Schaefer can play Jones very many minutes. The Truong sisters are quick and can take you off dribble to the rack. So not just long range gunners. They WILL make threes, just have to keep ‘em from going on a momentum run. I’m done figuring out how to play em. Classic big vs little strategic matchup. Should be a stressful fun game.
 
No doubt Gonzaga is a really good team and will be a challenge for Texas, but their stats might be skewed a little based on the competition in conference. A conference that only sent two teams to the Dance and Portland only got in the tournament because of their one point upset of the Zags in the conference tournament after having lost to them by 50 a few weeks prior.

Gonzaga beat Stanford yes, but I believe Brink was ill or something and played very little and wasn’t 100% when she did. The Zags will be a difficult out, but I think the Texas defense will prevail and as long as Maddie isn’t having a rare off night shooting, will be fine. Shaylee certainly won’t be scared of them, nor will any other Longhorn. Leave that part to us fans.
 
Run Pincher said:
What you gain of defense you lose on offense so it's a push. And given how much Vic values defense if they were a net positive they would be starting. The only thing I could see would be more of DeYona over Taylor in guarding Hollingsworth since she can shoot 3's. Amina over Amo is definitely not a net positive. But of course it won't be the same 5 for either team the whole game anyway so I guess we'll see what Vic does.

Except for Maddie of course. She'll have to play the whole 40 and she can't get in foul trouble.
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Yeah, I didn't mean starting Jak and Amina. I just meant more minutes in the rotation. Sorry I didn't specify.
 
Listening to Schaefer’s presser, calmed my nerves somewhat. I have a tendency to get anxious about how to stop or match-up with other teams. Kinda forget the opposing coach has to figure out how to stop Horns attack. That’s formidable task. The almost home game for Gonzaga doesn’t help. I’m gonna go play golf today and tomorrow and forget. Until Friday at 9 pm. Ya’ll worry about Horns for me till then.
 
flash34 said:
Listening to Schaefer’s presser, calmed my nerves somewhat. I have a tendency to get anxious about how to stop or match-up with other teams. Kinda forget the opposing coach has to figure out how to stop Horns attack. That’s formidable task. The almost home game for Gonzaga doesn’t help. I’m gonna go play golf today and tomorrow and forget. Until Friday at 9 pm. Ya’ll worry about Horns for me till then.
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Coach will figure out how to zig when they zag. We’ll be ok! Hook ‘Em!!
 
racerx5908 said:
I winced when I saw that Gonzaga hit 11 of 15 three's. Ugh.

Okay, how good or how bad can we handle this? Looking at the NCAA stats, I see that:

#4 Team in the country was Utah to 10.2/game (whew!)
#7 Team was/is Gonzaga at 9.5 (gulp)
#8 TCU (9.5)
game 1: 7/18
game 2: 4/14
#17 Iowa State (8.6)
game 1: 7/15
game 2: 6/12
#37 OU (8.0)
game 1: 10/27
game 2: 2/6

I'm a bit teeny nervous.
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I put this on here because it seems that when Vic gets burned on 3's the first game, he's put an emphasis on face guarding them the second time (except ISU). However, during the first two rounds, there were instances where these new-to-Vic teams did have someone parked on the side waiting to shoot a 3 after pulling off one of the defenders with a mis-direction. Drexel: 3/14 and Alabama: 5/18. He's got to get the defense ready for that. And for the Alabama game, I think he said, "Okay, if they make a 3 they make it. But not in the paint!"

Added: But of course the second and last 3 that OU put up cost us, big time. I think they were just exhausted and just missed their assignment.
 
Stanford is a team like Texas that has a lot of size that Gonzaga has played and beaten easily. This is the team that's really a bad match up for Texas. A very balanced team that shoots lights out from 3 at all five positions. If Texas is constantly trading 2's for 3's against this Gonzaga team it could get ugly. The lack of guard play outside of Booker could finally catch up to them.

Which is why Gonzalez and Holle HAVE TO give them something on the offensive end. If Gonzaga is making their shots like they usually do, Vic is going to have to go small to match up with them. With this basically being a home game for Gonzaga and the match up problems that they cause, I think that Gonzaga will win. Also the twins from Texas will have a chip on their shoulder and will play well.
 
kurupt said:
Stanford is a team like Texas that has a lot of size that Gonzaga has played and beaten easily. This is the team that's really a bad match up for Texas. A very balanced team that shoots lights out from 3 at all five positions. If Texas is constantly trading 2's for 3's against this Gonzaga team it could get ugly. The lack of guard play outside of Booker could finally catch up to them.

Which is why Gonzalez and Holle HAVE TO give them something on the offensive end. If Gonzaga is making their shots like they usually do, Vic is going to have to go small to match up with them. With this basically being a home game for Gonzaga and the match up problems that they cause, I think that Gonzaga will win. Also the twins from Texas will have a chip on their shoulder and will play well.
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Yeah, yeah. You said the same thing about Alabama. Apparently everyone is a bad matchup for Texas in your world. How about looking where Texas is a bad matchup for our opponents too? Or is a little balance just completely outside your abilities?
 
I could have sworn that I saw on Monday night (on the ESPN ticker?) that our game would be the first game of the day in Portland. Then, I saw that the Gonzaga men's team is playing their Sweet 16 game at 6:40 PM Central time. So, perhaps they tried to avoid a conflict having our game against the Gonzaga women's team at the same time.
 
Gonzaga is #7 overall Three Points Per Game and Texas is #193 in Three Point Defense.

Texas is #5 overall in Field Goal Percentage and Gonzaga is #140 overall in Field Goal Defense.

This will be an interesting study of inside vs outside games.

Two really good teams.
 
This is going to be a battle but no do I expect or think we’ll lose unless we have on of those blank moment games and tbh we haven’t really this year the loses we have we could have all won. The Zags are good but I don’t think they are built to handle us inside. Their big is not going to be able to matchup with the likes of Tay/D/Hadi and AMo and Amina can take they whacks at Ejim. The guards are good but we’ve played better guards than them this season IMO. If we play D like we did against Bama where we didn’t press and just locked down and communicated I think we win by 5-11. They also had pretty easy games because if they played Bama I believe Bama would have beat them they played UCI and Utah. Pili had a field day with them and while we don’t have Pili we have a AMo who is coming on real strong in case yal are missing it as well as Booker who has proven in the first 2 rounds she can run this team whatever you need if it’s a bucket or a assist. Some of you make me question yal fandom.
 
I am confident that our team is well prepared and the coaches are able to make adjustments to counter Gonzaga. None of us likes a #1 having to go to a home court of a #4. But we did it in the Big 12 tourney and we can do it here. I watched the Zag's game and Utah is not Texas. We have length, we have defense and that defense countered Alabama's 3 point shooters that had more points with 3s that our entire team had. If something is working, we will go there and if something is not working, we will try another attack. This is not the old UT, post Conradt, this is a new era. I have had a lot of exposure to college womens sports and what Booker has done is close to a miracle. What drive and talent from that first game when she had to lead and the second game when she had to play Baylor to today's skill set. Booker is in the conversation of one of the best freshmen we have ever had. AMo and DeYona are capable of incredible drive and look for them to shine. Looking forward to the game.
 
Sincerely hookem said:
This is going to be a battle but no do I expect or think we’ll lose unless we have on of those blank moment games and tbh we haven’t really this year the loses we have we could have all won. The Zags are good but I don’t think they are built to handle us inside. Their big is not going to be able to matchup with the likes of Tay/D/Hadi and AMo and Amina can take they whacks at Ejim. The guards are good but we’ve played better guards than them this season IMO. If we play D like we did against Bama where we didn’t press and just locked down and communicated I think we win by 5-11. They also had pretty easy games because if they played Bama I believe Bama would have beat them they played UCI and Utah. Pili had a field day with them and while we don’t have Pili we have a AMo who is coming on real strong in case yal are missing it as well as Booker who has proven in the first 2 rounds she can run this team whatever you need if it’s a bucket or a assist. Some of you make me question yal fandom.
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You had me until that last sentence. But then again, I’ve muted some of the morons on here who just post negative stuff. You might be seeing some posts I am not.
 
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