Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Women's Basketball
* The team has three big games left on their schedule that include Texas Tech and Baylor at home and Texas on the road.
* Against Oklahoma on Tuesday, the team had problems shooting the ball. They started off pretty well early in the game and had a 12-11 lead when they hit a bad stretch through the middle of the game, kind of like the men did against Kansas last night. The game got away from them, but they were able to close it back up. Even though they played ugly in the first half, they were only down three at half time. He felt good about that because both Kelsey Bone and Adaora Elonu were in foul trouble and Tyra White and Sydney Carter weren’t hitting anything. He felt like they could come back after being down at the half and win the game like they did last year in Norman. That didn’t happen and Oklahoma deserves credit for the way they played. Between their one, two and three players, they scored 53 points, while A&M’s one, two and three only scored 23. A&M needs to correct some problems and will do a lot of shooting drills in practice the next few days that will hopefully help them be able to run a zone offense better than they did the other night.
* 80% of conference play, this team has seen nothing but zone defense. What this team isn’t getting to fall are the lay-ups. The team is also not getting conversions off of turnovers and needs to take advantage of those breaks. Offensive rebounds and put-backs are another area of need. Against a man-to-man offense, this team can score easily, while against the zone they are hot and cold. The team is leading the league in offensive rebounds because their shooting percentage is low, but they need to learn to put some of those rebounds back in. They need to learn to be a better pressing team as well. Against Oklahoma, they had to get out of the press because they were inefficient and because Bone and Elonu were in foul trouble. Confidence is the number one thing this team needs. Having confidence in your shot, following through and getting to the free throw line will help this team immensely.
* The importance of Elonu and Bone are huge, but it’s also huge when they start getting into foul trouble. Oklahoma was not hurting A&M at all with their post players, but when they would get beat on penetration, it would make the post players come over to help and they would pick up a silly foul. The defense is built on help and the team needs to be able to take charges, block shots without fouling and do a little better job in general. Winning on the road is tough anywhere, but A&M is coming home and will be fine again against Texas Tech.
* Played pretty well against Tech in Lubbock this year. Their team goes as Kiera Mallard goes. Mallard has not played well in conference, but she is so capable of turning it on. She is shooting 29% as a five player, but when she goes off, it makes everybody else do better, too. Their key will be what mood Mallard is in and what mood their coaching staff is in. They use a lot of players so it’s hard for them to get the continuity of which five player is the best for them. They have some depth on the wing and players can be switched out there when needed. Expects Tech to come out in a zone defense but also to mix in a little of man defense as well from time to time. For A&M to be successful, they need to turn Tech over and convert on those turnovers. Making a driving lay-up will help a lot of shooting woes by getting your percentage up and helping your confidence. Tech is the best 5-10 conference team in the world and all of a sudden they have to win their last three to get into the NCAA Tournament. He thinks Tech has a chance of winning their last three games and getting in as an at-large at 8-10 in conference.
* Senior night will actually be held this Saturday instead of Monday against Baylor because of television issues for the Baylor game. Wants at least eight to nine thousand people at the Texas Tech game this Saturday and wants a sell-out against Baylor on Monday. He thought the men’s crowd last night for the Kansas game, was the most disappointing thing he has seen in his nine years at A&M. The guys played their butts off and no one was in the stands. Advises people to come out and see the new championship display at Reed Arena and thinks it’s the best looking thing in the building right now.
Gary Blair on the SEC, the loss at OU & last game vs. TTU
Notes from Talkin' Hoops with Gary Blair
* Ready to go to Gainesville, Florida (home of Sister Hazel … the band that played Blair's lead-in bumper music) next year in the SEC. Remembers walking around the University of Florida campus and seeing signs by their ponds that said, “Don’t go too close to the water” because there were alligators in them. Gainesville is a good little town, and he is looking forward to going back and playing there once A&M is in the SEC.* The team has three big games left on their schedule that include Texas Tech and Baylor at home and Texas on the road.
* Against Oklahoma on Tuesday, the team had problems shooting the ball. They started off pretty well early in the game and had a 12-11 lead when they hit a bad stretch through the middle of the game, kind of like the men did against Kansas last night. The game got away from them, but they were able to close it back up. Even though they played ugly in the first half, they were only down three at half time. He felt good about that because both Kelsey Bone and Adaora Elonu were in foul trouble and Tyra White and Sydney Carter weren’t hitting anything. He felt like they could come back after being down at the half and win the game like they did last year in Norman. That didn’t happen and Oklahoma deserves credit for the way they played. Between their one, two and three players, they scored 53 points, while A&M’s one, two and three only scored 23. A&M needs to correct some problems and will do a lot of shooting drills in practice the next few days that will hopefully help them be able to run a zone offense better than they did the other night.
* 80% of conference play, this team has seen nothing but zone defense. What this team isn’t getting to fall are the lay-ups. The team is also not getting conversions off of turnovers and needs to take advantage of those breaks. Offensive rebounds and put-backs are another area of need. Against a man-to-man offense, this team can score easily, while against the zone they are hot and cold. The team is leading the league in offensive rebounds because their shooting percentage is low, but they need to learn to put some of those rebounds back in. They need to learn to be a better pressing team as well. Against Oklahoma, they had to get out of the press because they were inefficient and because Bone and Elonu were in foul trouble. Confidence is the number one thing this team needs. Having confidence in your shot, following through and getting to the free throw line will help this team immensely.
* The importance of Elonu and Bone are huge, but it’s also huge when they start getting into foul trouble. Oklahoma was not hurting A&M at all with their post players, but when they would get beat on penetration, it would make the post players come over to help and they would pick up a silly foul. The defense is built on help and the team needs to be able to take charges, block shots without fouling and do a little better job in general. Winning on the road is tough anywhere, but A&M is coming home and will be fine again against Texas Tech.
* Played pretty well against Tech in Lubbock this year. Their team goes as Kiera Mallard goes. Mallard has not played well in conference, but she is so capable of turning it on. She is shooting 29% as a five player, but when she goes off, it makes everybody else do better, too. Their key will be what mood Mallard is in and what mood their coaching staff is in. They use a lot of players so it’s hard for them to get the continuity of which five player is the best for them. They have some depth on the wing and players can be switched out there when needed. Expects Tech to come out in a zone defense but also to mix in a little of man defense as well from time to time. For A&M to be successful, they need to turn Tech over and convert on those turnovers. Making a driving lay-up will help a lot of shooting woes by getting your percentage up and helping your confidence. Tech is the best 5-10 conference team in the world and all of a sudden they have to win their last three to get into the NCAA Tournament. He thinks Tech has a chance of winning their last three games and getting in as an at-large at 8-10 in conference.
* Senior night will actually be held this Saturday instead of Monday against Baylor because of television issues for the Baylor game. Wants at least eight to nine thousand people at the Texas Tech game this Saturday and wants a sell-out against Baylor on Monday. He thought the men’s crowd last night for the Kansas game, was the most disappointing thing he has seen in his nine years at A&M. The guys played their butts off and no one was in the stands. Advises people to come out and see the new championship display at Reed Arena and thinks it’s the best looking thing in the building right now.
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