Thoughts on the Baylor Game

[cowboysooner]

First, Sherri had a good game plan and the ladies stuck to it even after a couple outside shots went in. Tells me Sherri has this team believing and buying in.

Second, I kinda liked Maddie at the 4. She was a little slight and pushed around some but she played tough and offensively was a complete mismatch. Nice thought by Sherri and maybe she will join the 4 returning starters next year at the 4.

Third, Sharane -- what can you say, she played like she was the only senior on the team and its leader. Oh yeah, she is.

Previously I have posted that I didn't know whether this team had much of a ceiling. My basis for this opinion wasn't based upon our having a bunch of world beater recruits/players. It is just that we are normally flawed somehow. Some years we don't have height or depth in the post, but we do this year. Some years we don't have guards that can handle the ball against physical on ball pressure, this year we do. Some years we don't have 5 kids that will really defend, this year we do. And when someone gets lazy, Sherri has the depth to get someone else in there.

We are beatable, but me might be capable of just about anything. Every once in a while, at all levels of sports and in both the boys game and the girls game, a team comes together and buys in and the when this happens, the sum of the parts become better than the parts. Might be happening. Fun to dream anyway.

 

[YCN]

First, Sherri had a good game plan and the ladies stuck to it even after a couple outside shots went in. Tells me Sherri has this team believing and buying in.

Second, I kinda liked Maddie at the 4. She was a little slight and pushed around some but she played tough and offensively was a complete mismatch. Nice thought by Sherri and maybe she will join the 4 returning starters next year at the 4.

Third, Sharane -- what can you say, she played like she was the only senior on the team and its leader. Oh yeah, she is.

Previously I have posted that I didn't know whether this team had much of a ceiling. My basis for this opinion wasn't based upon our having a bunch of world beater recruits/players. It is just that we are normally flawed somehow. Some years we don't have height or depth in the post, but we do this year. Some years we don't have guards that can handle the ball against physical on ball pressure, this year we do. Some years we don't have 5 kids that will really defend, this year we do. And when someone gets lazy, Sherri has the depth to get someone else in there.

We are beatable, but me might be capable of just about anything. Every once in a while, at all levels of sports and in both the boys game and the girls game, a team comes together and buys in and the when this happens, the sum of the parts become better than the parts. Might be happening. Fun to dream anyway.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with dreaming. This team is indeed capable of accomplishing anything.

 

[j2d2]

The most outstanding characteristic of this team to me is their "togetherness" (for want of a better term). They just generate a whole greater than the parts-a Sherri ideal. Having a bench that fills in in the same spirit so that the whole remains intact is a big plus. They are good at reinforcing each other.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Speaking of the bench, did anyone else notice late in the game when Nicole Kornet (I think) must have fallen when celebrating a great play. She was trying to get back to her feet and celebrate all at the same time. Lucky she didn't hurt herself or someone else.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

I thought the game was well controlled by the officials. All three, but especially the two veteran female officials I thought made it clear they would not be intimidated. At one point one of them had what appeared to be a very serious - and somewhat extended - discussion with Kim and from the body language it appeared she was just saying they were in control and did not need or want any help. It appeared very respectful, but she was not intimidated.

I was disappointed that ESPN focused their article on two things:

1. That Baylor was not ready for the game and "took the night off" since they had already won the title. I can assure you that anyone who watched the game knows each team gave their best and was very focused on winning. It was a very competitive contest - and the best team won.

2. That OU got to shoot more free throws. It should be noted that at least 4 of the free throws were intentional by Baylor at the very end when they were trying to catch up. While both teams could likely find calls or non calls they disagreed with, it was very balanced.

As everyone knows those were not the main take-aways from the game. It was the kind of game that makes people love women's basketball. That should have been the story.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

Speaking of the bench, did anyone else notice late in the game when Nicole Kornet (I think) must have fallen when celebrating a great play. She was trying to get back to her feet and celebrate all at the same time. Lucky she didn't hurt herself or someone else.

Yes and I loved the shot when she was laying on her back on the chairs and kicking her feet in the air. There was lots of electricity in the building last night.

 

[sybarite]

I hope that Baylor keeps thinking that. If they do, we will win in Dallas as well. I think we are a better shooting team than Baylor. They have a couple of players who can shoot, but they aren't really a good shooting team. They depend on the opposition coming unglued to be able to score. They have to have the opposition make mistakes resulting in an open floor in which they can get to the rim. If they can't get to the rim, they can't score.

We DID NOT have a superb game. We just didn't make mistakes and let Baylor start their feeding frenzy off of our blood. I said before the game that it was essential that we forget that we were playing Baylor. Act like we belong. We just didn't feed the bears.

If you don't feed the bears, they really aren't a good scoring team. They feed off of your mistakes, not off of their excellence. If you don't make them, they can't begin their frenzy.

Look at our night. We had a couple of stretches where we couldn't hit a shot. But, neither could they. We didn't panic. We played defense. They made a run late and took a six-point lead. But, we didn't panic. We scored seven, and, if anything, Baylor cam unglued. After they took that final six point lead, their best shooters couldn't hit again: Wright and Prince. They took some shots that weren't even close. Wright and Cohen missed layups. If they were superior, they would have been able to hold us off. They couldn't hit a shot to stem the tide. Even when we missed free throws giving them opportunities, they couldn't score. We didn't give them a feeding frenzy off of which they could score.

We didn't shoot all that well. We did enough. They won the boards. We made it interesting. We just played like we belonged. We did.

 

[scrybe]

As a simple man, my take on the game is fairly simple:

Last night, the Sooners played with a "refuse to lose" attitude. That's the mindset that allowed them to start strong, and that's the mindset that let them take Baylor's best shots and never wilt. Their comeback in the final 3-plus minutes was something to behold.

Love this team and predict that at least a few of the players who saw action for OU last night will also play on Sherri's first national championship team.

 

[tycat947]

I thought the game was well controlled by the officials. All three, but especially the two veteran female officials I thought made it clear they would not be intimidated. At one point one of them had what appeared to be a very serious - and somewhat extended - discussion with Kim and from the body language it appeared she was just saying they were in control and did not need or want any help. It appeared very respectful, but she was not intimidated.

I was disappointed that ESPN focused their article on two things:

1. That Baylor was not ready for the game and "took the night off" since they had already won the title. I can assure you that anyone who watched the game knows each team gave their best and was very focused on winning. It was a very competitive contest - and the best team won.

2. That OU got to shoot more free throws. It should be noted that at least 4 of the free throws were intentional by Baylor at the very end when they were trying to catch up. While both teams could likely find calls or non calls they disagreed with, it was very balanced.

As everyone knows those were not the main take-aways from the game. It was the kind of game that makes people love women's basketball. That should have been the story.

ESPiN focused on this because Sulkey Mulkey focused on this in her post game comments THUS Davis focused on in her comments. She TRIED to be subtle, but it didn't work. Everyone saw thru her!

 

[j2d2]

Sybarite I think is exactly right: We didnt feed the bears and maintained our composure and focus. We were not great but consistently played good defense and stayed aggressive. But, most importantly, we didnt give them gifts.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

Let me just say this...

If it hadn't been for Nina Davis and her 20 points and 11 rebounds, we would have beat the crap out of them.

 

[OKUman]

Over on the Baylor board they are using lots of reasons for losing. First they used the Alabama excuse sort of, they already had the championship, so they didn't play hard. And the old excuse, the refs did it, and of course they also like Texas fans ragged on Sherri and her hair. The funniest one was them getting out of sorts because the girls on the bench were acting "crazy", and Sherri pumping her fist after the game going over to the TV folks. Those folks are spoiled, what will the do when it comes to a stop?

 

[MsProudSooner]

Over on the Baylor board they are using lots of reasons for losing. First they used the Alabama excuse sort of, they already had the championship, so they didn't play hard. And the old excuse, the refs did it, and of course they also like Texas fans ragged on Sherri and her hair. The funniest one was them getting out of sorts because the girls on the bench were acting "crazy", and Sherri pumping her fist after the game going over to the TV folks. Those folks are spoiled, what will the do when it comes to a stop?

Haven't they learned that they are supposed to blast the coach after they lose a game?