Sherri likes shooters

[j2d2]

If Sherri did tell Maddie to take ove the game against texass I'm not too surprised. I'm such a fan of Madddie. Her presence on the floor seems to make the team more efficient and it did help Peyton and Ortiz. That's the "Maddie effect". I doubt Sherri was at all surprised to see her do what she did vs. texass. I would start her and save Sharane for when the other team makes a run and we need defense and energy.

 

[tycat947]

There were signs during the preseason that this could happen. We have also witnessed a history of Sherri's teams in which they did develop during the conference season into contenders. Usually, it has been on a lesser scale and a bit more gradual.

I agree with this! I noticed a difference the first few home games of the season where there was less dribbling, more passing and passing into the post and kicking it out for a 3 or jumper. And the on court communication was very good for the first few games. Gabbi has been the leader on this from the very beginning. They then went on a long, long road trip and played good, tough teams and got beat up a bit but it made them stronger and they learned a lot. They got back home, relaxed and all the jumble in their head started to smooth out and they "got it". Still lots and lots of improvement to go but they "got it" mentally and I think now they can focus more on the things needing to improve and less on how to play. If this team finishes Top 2 or maybe 3 in the conference and makes Sweet 16, I think it will be successful year although I'm sure the team would be disappointed but with the youth and inexperience we began the year with that would be a good finish IMO.

The good thing about this year is if we get a high enough seed that 1st and 2nd rounds are held in Norman, OKC is hosting the Regional so we could set ourselves up very well to advance to another Final 4, if all the cards fall right!

 

[sybarite]

I agree with this! I noticed a difference the first few home games of the season where there was less dribbling, more passing and passing into the post and kicking it out for a 3 or jumper. And the on court communication was very good for the first few games. Gabbi has been the leader on this from the very beginning. They then went on a long, long road trip and played good, tough teams and got beat up a bit but it made them stronger and they learned a lot. They got back home, relaxed and all the jumble in their head started to smooth out and they "got it". Still lots and lots of improvement to go but they "got it" mentally and I think now they can focus more on the things needing to improve and less on how to play. If this team finishes Top 2 or maybe 3 in the conference and makes Sweet 16, I think it will be successful year although I'm sure the team would be disappointed but with the youth and inexperience we began the year with that would be a good finish IMO.

The good thing about this year is if we get a high enough seed that 1st and 2nd rounds are held in Norman, OKC is hosting the Regional so we could set ourselves up very well to advance to another Final 4, if all the cards fall right!

If we have no major injuries, I do see us as the host for the first round.

 

[SoonerinNC]

In some of the previous seasons there has been a great improvement in the teams between mid-December and early January.

Last year it seemed the opposite. A real eye opener was the game Vegas missed and we did just as well without her. 2 plus 3 didn't nearly equal 5 last year.

This year 2 plus 3 seems to equal 6.

 

[sybarite]

We hoped that Vegas was a Carter last year. We needed a Carter, someone who could open up the floor. But, that really wasn't Vegas. She was a spot shooter who could have taken advantage of a Carter. Vegas would be a nice spot up shooter this year with Carter or Maddie getting into the lane and finding an open shooter. But, she couldn't do it herself. We lacked the distributor.

 

[Stringmusic]

Reading the OP (Norm's) reminded me of what the OSU coach said post game "Sherri's got all the pieces" He is correct. And I agree with Syb's observation that Kay Kay sitting on the bench vs Arkansas galvanized her into action - plus she was sitting the bench watching and noting that Vivi could play Div 1 ball. When you play a certain position you are always watching your replacement play that position and how she plays it.

 

[womenssports]

Kay Kay after the OSU game:

On if she expects good things to happen when she comes out on the floor for the first time:
“Well, I think that we made a group decision toward Christmas break that we wanted to put two halves together and put in the first four minutes and last four minutes of each half and I think that was a big thing for us. When we come out the first four minutes and execute, it’s a key thing or us to do. If we get that first four minutes then we go from there.

 

[sybarite]

Kay Kay after the OSU game:

On if she expects good things to happen when she comes out on the floor for the first time:
“Well, I think that we made a group decision toward Christmas break that we wanted to put two halves together and put in the first four minutes and last four minutes of each half and I think that was a big thing for us. When we come out the first four minutes and execute, it’s a key thing or us to do. If we get that first four minutes then we go from there.

The first four minutes of the second half have been coffin-nail time during the past three or four games.

 

[womenssports]

The first four minutes of the second half have been coffin-nail time during the past three or four games.

I haven't been able to watch every game as attentively as I would have liked, but believe what you say. I wish I had the time to watch each game twice, so easy to miss things the first time round. But will be happy with watching as many as I can once and get ideas from the posters here as to what they see....to help fill in what I miss and to understand what others take from a game....as I think, it is often different. For that matter, we all take different things from the same experiences. But learning someone else's take enlightens me and makes me think.

People were asking about what changed with this team and I remembered Kay Kay's remarks in general, so went back to find the quote. Maybe this in a way answers part of what has changed for the team and why.