How high is up?

[sybarite]

I can almost hear Etta James in the background, At Last.

Given what we have seen in the past six games, how far do you see this team going: comfortably, and possibly.

Right now, I am comfortable with saying that we will make the Sweet Sixteen. I think a Final Four is a possibility---if.

This is the best balanced team since 2002. We do have people inside. They have learned when to shoot and when to pass out. We are rebounding well. We are, for the most part, blocking out well.

We have solid guard play. This was a team that rattles people, like a Kentucky or South Florida (or A&M). We handle it pretty well now. We are as likely to score off of it as the defense is to take it away. We can hit from outside. We have several who can hit short jump shots. We have about four who can drive the lane at will.

I don't know that we are moving all that well on offense yet. But, Gioya, Maddie, and Gabbi can pretty much get wherever they wish, and it turns into points or assists.

We play pretty good defense. We simply shut down Texas.

We seem to be able to handle whatever a team has. We beat a big team. We have now beaten a pretty good guard-oriented team. We handled both, by at least eleven. Our least margin of victory in conference play is eleven. Even Baylor can't say that.

As I look across the nation, it appears that Notre Dame and UConn are pretty good again. Tennessee seems to be good. S. Carolina seems a step below UConn and Notre Dame to me. Stanford seems down just a notch. Maryland looks good. I think that FSU, South Florida, Oregon State, Arizona State, Kentucky, Duke, and Miami are in the mix, along with Baylor, and maybe Texas. Right now, I would put UConn and Notre Dame at the top with Baylor, Maryland, Tennessee, OU, and Miami in the next tier. But, I do not see the usual superteams. We might just make it.

Every year that we have been to the Final Four, UConn has been undefeated.

 

[euphguy]

This stretch of games is the best I've seen OU play in about four years or so.

 

[rocjunkie]

What I see also, is kids flying around the court, in a good way. Peyton hounds the passing lanes and comes up with timely steals. We now have kids that go to the glass when the ball is shot and jump for rebounds, or tip the ball to potential team mates. Our defense is not quite there yet, but close. Sherri is doing a masterful job of changing up and finding the best scenario to use against the offense we are facing. I will be one of the first to say, after UALR, and Arkansas, I didn't think the kids would get to this point this year. What a great learning process they have embraced. We have a really good chance to be 7-0 in conference before we go to Austin. Man I am looking forward to Monday.

 

[YCN]

Who knows, the season is still young. Maybe OU is the superteam this year.

Don't count out any potentiality right now.

 

[sybarite]

I thought we would win it when Courtney was a freshman. We were so dominant over some good teams that year, beating Baylor three times with Sophia Young. Then, there was the Smith encounter.

Since that year, I have seen something every year that suggested that we would not make the Final Four. We had no outside shooter when Courtney was a senior, but a freshman, Hand, emerged. We had no Courtney the following year, but Abi emerged. After that, there was always something that said we weren't really a strong contender.

This year, I'm not sure what the limitation might be. We have no immediate and glaring deficiencies. We may not be good enough, but we are getting there. We have different players who are best to face specific systems. We lose Kay Kay, Gioya, and Sharane for long stretches, and we still find a way. Gioya plays nine minutes, and we win.

There are things that Gabbi does, especially now that she is learning the D-1 game. There are things that Gioya does that nobody else does. Peyton has emerged as the garbage collector, often the most valuable member of the team. Sharane plays hard defense. I don't know if we beat Texas without Maddie. She was the right person to break down their defense.

Kay Kay looked lost much of the non-conference season. But, she has emerged. Wonder if the benching had anything to do with it? When she gets into foul trouble, Vivi and/or McKenna have stepped up. Vivi steps up to star under the most stressful situations.

Someone lit a fire under this team, and it has people who like to play with fire. Although Gioya is the scorer, and Kay Kay is the finisher, Peyton, Maddie, and Gabbi seem to have a different temperament than we have had on this team since Maria and Dionnah, or since Stacy. I get the feeling that they don't begin to play until they get pushed around. They like to push back. They like the battle. I don't think they get off on thirty point wins. I think they loved sticking their noses into that 5-5 preseason schedule, and they ended up as the winners. They may have been knocked down, but that just got them started. I think that mentality has been missing, and they spread it through the team. I wonder if they cook their steak or eat it raw.

 

[YCN]

I thought we would win it when Courtney was a freshman. We were so dominant over some good teams that year, beating Baylor three times with Sophia Young. Then, there was the Smith encounter.

Since that year, I have seen something every year that suggested that we would not make the Final Four. We had no outside shooter when Courtney was a senior, but a freshman, Hand, emerged. We had no Courtney the following year, but Abi emerged. After that, there was always something that said we weren't really a strong contender.

This year, I'm not sure what the limitation might be. We have no immediate and glaring deficiencies. We may not be good enough, but we are getting there. We have different players who are best to face specific systems. We lose Kay Kay, Gioya, and Sharane for long stretches, and we still find a way. Gioya plays nine minutes, and we win.

There are things that Gabbi does, especially now that she is learning the D-1 game. There are things that Gioya does that nobody else does. Peyton has emerged as the garbage collector, often the most valuable member of the team. Sharane plays hard defense. I don't know if we beat Texas without Maddie. She was the right person to break down their defense.

Kay Kay looked lost much of the non-conference season. But, she has emerged. Wonder if the benching had anything to do with it? When she gets into foul trouble, Vivi and/or McKenna have stepped up. Vivi steps up to star under the most stressful situations.

Someone lit a fire under this team, and it has people who like to play with fire. Although Gioya is the scorer, and Kay Kay is the finisher, Peyton, Maddie, and Gabbi seem to have a different temperament than we have had on this team since Maria and Dionnah, or since Stacy. I get the feeling that they don't begin to play until they get pushed around. They like to push back. They like the battle. I don't think they get off on thirty point wins. I think they loved sticking their noses into that 5-5 preseason schedule, and they ended up as the winners. They may have been knocked down, but that just got them started. I think that mentality has been missing, and they spread it through the team. I wonder if they cook their steak or eat it raw.

Whatever the future may be, I can't wait to see what happens. This is a very real team with people who are obsessed with performing as well as they can. It's way too early to set any ceiling on what they may do, but I'll sure watch in the meantime.

 

[SoonerinNC]

I keep pinching myself to see if I am dreaming.

Suddenly a team that couldn't rebound is blocking out and getting rebounds.

A team that couldn't stop penetration is moving their feet (especially Little, Carter and Ortiz) and keeping people out of the middle.

Carter who couldn't hit a trey and lost the ball on half of her drives is playing like a super-star. Six of Eight treys today.

And KayKay who couldn't hit a layup and spent most of her time on the bench with fouls is now turning in double doubles.

And Maddie who couldn't get into a game is playing something like she did as a freshman who won a starting job.

I don't know how good we are but a lot better than we played most of the 5-5 stretch.

 

[euphguy]

I keep pinching myself to see if I am dreaming.

Suddenly a team that couldn't rebound is blocking out and getting rebounds.

A team that couldn't stop penetration is moving their feet (especially Little, Carter and Ortiz) and keeping people out of the middle.

Carter who couldn't hit a trey and lost the ball on half of her drives is playing like a super-star. Six of Eight treys today.

And KayKay who couldn't hit a layup and spent most of her time on the bench with fouls is now turning in double doubles.

And Maddie who couldn't get into a game is playing something like she did as a freshman who won a starting job.

I don't know how good we are but a lot better than we played most of the 5-5 stretch.

:woot

 

[OUALUMinTX]

This is the best defense I can ever remember us play. They don't let up from beginning to end and they don't just use one defense. We switch it up at will and they all seem to be effective with each. I am just in awe. If we can keep it up, we can win a lot of games.

 

[sybarite]

I found it interesting that Sherri said that they used a special defense for the last seventeen seconds before the half against Texas, trying to keep them from scoring. It was the only time they used that defense the entire game.

She also said that Vivi was such a quick study that she calls out the defense when it changes, and Vivi knows what to do.

 

[j2d2]

The two things that wil take us very far are the good defense-that must continue- and the spirit of this bunch. /They generate a very difference ambiance than last year and much different atmosphere playing together. I am struck by the difference.

 

[Stringmusic]

This team has grit and toughness. Money can't buy grit and it cannot be coached. Toughness can be coached but it is tough to do throughout the team. We have a bunch of gladiators for a women's BB team and it is fun to watch them.

 

[brokebacksooner]

I'm not sure. First OU has to make the tournament. With 13 regular games remaining anything could happen. Secondly I'm not sure how this team will respond to the pressure of success. Right now they are the hunters, what happens when they become the hunted?

I think Sweet 16 is a long shot, I'd be thrilled if they made it that far.

 

[YCN]

I'm not sure. First OU has to make the tournament. With 13 regular games remaining anything could happen. Secondly I'm not sure how this team will respond to the pressure of success. Right now they are the hunters, what happens when they become the hunted?

I think Sweet 16 is a long shot, I'd be thrilled if they made it that far.

You're kidding, right? The way this team is playing there's no way that they will face a team better than them in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, and maybe not in the first four.

I'm not afraid to say that if they keep growing as a team, they are not at all a long shot for a #1 seed.

I don't think that even the 2000-2002 teams had this kind of chemistry, and they certainly didn't have this level of talent.

 

[womenssports]

Barring injury in the starting 5, plus Maddie and Vivi, and, of course, we would still need others on our bench but think we have to have those 7, then I see a sweet sixteen.

 

[sybarite]

I think that we need to take the lid off Maddie. We need another shooter from outside, and she can hit the three. Maddie is four of seven for her career.

It may be a bit early to reveal that we have someone to help Gioya outside. I still remember that nobody knew about Breanna Stewart until the NCAA tournament began her freshman year. She killed them before they figured her out. I guess she still does.

Maddie and Gabbi can be gunners as well. Based on last night, Peyton may be regaining her stroke. If this team continues to hit the three, as well as the fifteen footer, we will be a problem.

I can actually envision an Elite Eight, a Final Four with luck.