ChanmanV

You offer them in HS for potential and Vic really wanted to address offense thus Crump and the Judd pickup in the off season. Both were also our worst defenders. Carlton is the bigger loss given her development of her 3pt shot but Crump wouldn't be playing much again next year behind Lee and Booker. She'd be in the same situation so I don't blame her for leaving. Both weren't ideal fits and I saw somewhere in Vic's season exit interview with Crump, he told her that she'd need to work more on full court defense and she immediately entered the portal. I'm confident both will be good somewhere else. I just don't think they fit Vic's system well enough to maximize their potential. Etute is pretty similar to Carlton (physical body and likes to use it on the inside) but with quicker feet so we might already have a good replacement between Crittenden and Etute. There are 1100+ players in the portal now so there's got to be a a handful that would be good fits for us. As long as we don't lose Lee and Preston too, we'll be ok.

A silver lining to losing Crump and Carlton (if those 2 are the only real losses) is both did not have the speed and quickness to play the 40 mins of hell defense I know Vic wants to ideally run. The defensive drop off from sitting Lee/Booker is huge and unless Crump was making a lot of baskets which she only did in a handful of games. Carlton was better because she had experience in the system so she knew where to be but her lack of quickness caused most of the fouls she committed. There were games where Sidberry's quickness was much more effective and at the same time Carlton's strength worked in other games. So it was nice we had 3 options at PF depending on the matchup but each had weaknesses. So if we can find SG/PFs in the portal that match Vic's system a little better, it could be an improvement. Crittenden and Bjorn will be good fits once they get some games under their belt and I think Etute is equally as physical as Carlton but with quicker feet.

Crooks is the epitome of what Vic doesn't want on defense. She has never hedged on the pick and roll (she barely leaves the paint on defense) and her feet are way too slow to recover on any play. She would get dominated by a lot of the athletic bigs in the SEC. She'll score her share though on offense. Word is she's going to OU which honestly is a perfect fit since they don't put much focus on defense there.

They better do everything they can to keep her. She's vital to our success next year. She was underappreciated this year because of a little slump offensively midseason but her defense is a cornerstone of our team. If Vic and the staff can help elevate her confidence, I think she can be a superstar on both sides of the ball. She's a coach's dream too culture wise.

I hope they can convince Lee to stay. The others hurt but Lee is a pillar of our team. She's on the verge of being a superstar as well. Everyone else is more replaceable than she is. It would have been interesting to see if winning a championship would have mended some of this ill will. We'll never know.

Another championship won by a team built completely in the portal. That's just the meta now. If you look at the Michigan players, they are physically bigger, quicker, and taller than every other team. The way they defend and challenge shots is another level compared to what we got. We got a center but we need more skilled and physically strong players at SG/SF/PF.

Oh interesting. None of those would describe Lee though. I wonder if Vic's "no heart" call out rubbed some of them the wrong way as well.

Oh really? Drama with who if everyone is leaving? Booker? Playing time is an issue for Crump but Lee, Preston, and Carlton will get tons of playing time.

I'm excited about Itute as well but it will take her a bit to get used to the physicality of the SEC. Justice has already adapted and is more physical than most PFs and can hit 3s, But Itute and Crittenden are more skilled offensively for sure. We need to see who we get out of the portal if we're losing all of our experience except Booker.

Disagree with a lot. All of them except maybe Crump is about money. It will take time for all the freshmen to really learn and integrate into our system. Carlton would have been absolutely the starter and a force on our team. Crump was in a tougher position if Lee was staying and Booker and Lee was in front of her. Preston is a much better defender than either of the freshman coming in. This is where NIL really sucks because the last 2 years of great recruiting just goes down the drain. That's 3 5* talent we've developed entering the portal. We can potentially match some offers and keep them so just wait and see what happens.

All of these players entering the portal is why not winning the chip with this roster is so painful. It's not easy building rosters good enough to win it all anymore. If Lee, Preston, and Carlton are leaving, it's pretty clear we're not allocating that much money for the women. Lee is a must keep in my eyes. Why even recruit 5* if they just leave after 1-2 years and another school will get them at their college prime? Note: Texas has a couple days to counter offer and possibly get them to leave the portal. This might be all postering with the agents to get their clients more money.

This is a bigger loss. Carlton was becoming a very important piece of our team.

Crump's offense is good but she doesn't have the quickness we need to play the type of defense Vic wants to play. It was ok this year off the bench but if she was a starter, teams would start focusing on attacking her. She made a lot of mistakes on defense this year that cost her playing time. Still would have liked her to stay but we can find better in the portal. Kymora Johnson from Virginia would be nice at PG.

I get that but I don't think UCLA forced Booker to have such a bad day. I think it was more self inflicted. Booker hadn't sped up like that mentally the entire year against equally tough defenses (even against the same defense) which is why it was so strange to see that happen to her. I don't think she realized the pressure of the moment had changed her perception of everything happening on the court. At times she wasn't even running our offensive plays and just forcing shots. Vic was baffled as well when Holly Rowe reported what was said during the early timeouts. It was weird. So I wouldn't say UCLA shut her down more so than it was Booker letting her focus get completely out of whack from where it needed to be. The rest of the team did their job and that's why this loss hurts so much. Today's whooping of SC is UCLA dominating another team top to bottom. I'm not mad UCLA won the chip given how well they executed their game plans, but just still very disappointed that we lost with what I think is the better team. This was the versatile roster to do it with.

If you remove Booker's stats, our offense stats from everyone else looked pretty similar to our averages or possibly better. It was just Booker that was uncharacteristically sped up mentally unfortunately. UCLA played well but they still committed 23 TOs against us and we put up 21 more shots than they did. We beat this UCLA team probably 8 times out of 10. It just wasn't meant to be for us. No question UCLA is a terrible matchup for South Carolina after watching this game. Joyce Edwards and Raven didn't show up once again in a finals 2 years in a row. They never really had a chance. The defensive intensity difference between us and South Carolina is night and day. UCLA got a lot of open shots and offensive rebounds today. It never was competitive.

Our ladies blow this South Carolina team out again if we would have met them in the finals. They can't make anything today. Very similar to last year's finals against UConn.

An all timer wore burnt orange for the last time tonight. Booker may get all the attention, but Rori has been the foundation of this Texas program from the first day she arrived. She's a program changer and injury adversity made her an inspiration. This program is not a Final Four contender if not for her. And it's so ironic given how small she is but that heart willed us to so many victories on the court and off the court. All the Texas records are amazing but what I'll miss the most is the juxtaposition of poofy hair, kind voice, and radiant smile with the relentless dawg mentality she had on court. She has the one thing you want from any player which is you can always depend on her no matter the odds. The NCAA's never give her the flowers she deserves. I just want to make sure she knows how much us fans appreciate her and joy she's brought to us.

The difference has been how good our 4s have been defending of late. Carlton and Sidberry have really stepped up their defensive attention. When you have all 5 players pressuring passing lanes and attacking any weak dribble action, it's tough to run your offense and have any kind of rhythm. They may make some tough shots, but not with any consistency and that's what we've seen the last couple weeks. Rori sets the tone and she's not as flashy as Hannah Hidalgo but she is similar in the chaos she can cause. But Rori is the better straight up defender taking less big risks and playing better position to challenge shots and take charges. If Rori has her way with UCLA's PGs early, we have great chance to get out to a lead. We're just really good at creating this atmosphere of chaotic pressure but it not being overly risky so the opponents don't get wide open shots if they clear the chaos. I expect immense pressure on Rice and Leger Walker and us to again 3/4 front Betts to make the entry pass tough. The only thing that could derail us is foul trouble. We've been excellent at avoiding that so far and having our rotations maximized.

It's always hard to judge much in this game because it's ball hog city but Crittenden looked good tonight. She was making a lot of good basketball plays and can hit 3s. Bjorn is as active and athletic as advertised. Spaight's pretty quick on offense but defense might be a problem for her since she's small height wise and in stature. She was getting owned on defense. But I can see Crittenden and Bjorn playing right away with Spaight's as a 2nd or 3rd PG. Preston's going to have to make a big leap next year taking over the reigns for Rori or else PG will be a concern next year.

Vegas has us as #2 so at least the bettors know.

I don't get the national media. Texas just destroyed a 2 seed (top 10 offensive team btw) and everyone else to this point including SC in the SEC championship, yet people still talk primarily about UConn, SC, and UCLA being the favorites to win the whole thing. Something about our style of play isn't sexy to the media or storylines. Tired of the Midrange Madi being the token Texas storyline and nothing else. Rori's leadership, control of flow, and mix of chaotic and discipline defense is not being noticed enough. She has been as important as Madi has to our success and possibly more because of the intangibles. It's pretty absurd that people would pick SC to go all the way knowing Texas dominated them a few weeks ago at a neutral site. These Final Four games will both be great but I've only seen a couple analysts that talk about our team in a way the shows they know our team. National media outlets just keeps getting lazier every year. Hopefully Vic uses this as a motivator. Time to get some respect for good and bring the BTA to UCLA Friday.

UCLA looks different now with another legit big next to Betts.

I meant to say THE chip. 🤣

For sure they will be the favorite and are good from 3s but I don't think they've been battle tested much this year. Even with a similar roster to last year, recency and feeling the heat matters. Every team has at least 1 bad night in the tournament. I wish we could play them in the Final 4 to catch them before some tough games but even if we do play them in the finals, Our physicality and ball pressure will catch them off guard for a half. Azzi and Ziebell are an incredible 3 pt shooters but I trust Jordan and Rory to chase and challenge them all game. Plus we hedge/show every time off picks so they won't get a lot of wide open looks. The only real bad matchup is Strong. She will get hers and more but the key to beating UConn is shutting down Azzi and everyone else which is possible with our team. UConn being undefeated adds an additional element of pressure on them as well. Of course we'll still have to beat Kentucky and UCLA again, but things just seem aligned to give us a real chance this year with having home crowds until the Final Four and I'll take us against anyone on a neutral court.

The women start their journey to a chip tomorrow but I really do believe this is the year for Vic and the women. They are battle tested and everyone is playing well right now. The team has a lot of versatility to matchup well against all kinds of teams which bodes well in the tournament. We have the easiest draw of the #1 seeds and we're playing in Austin and Dallas. Plus, we've pretty much beaten every contender except UConn and no team does well against the Texas pressure defense the first time they play Texas. UConn hasn't felt heat like our defense brings every game. So many things lined up this year, it's just up to the women to stay focused every game.