Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Women's Basketball
* The team has had flashes of being able to play that tenacious, aggressive defense. Was just talking with Coach Blair about going to Oklahoma State and holding them to 53 points and then somehow coming home and embarrassing yourself on the defensive end against Iowa State. A&M was able to get the first punch in Ames and keep the Cyclones on their heels, but here, Iowa State was much more aggressive and didn’t play scared which played to their advantage. Iowa State attacked the team in areas where they have continually not managed well and those are things the team works on every day. The only way to get better is to keep working on your weaknesses. The saying on the practice board yesterday was, “When you play bad and win, that’s always a good sign.”
* The best win all year was against Kansas in Lawrence. Kansas is a good team and A&M went up there and played really well on both ends of the floor. Kansas will be back at Reed on Saturday playing with something to prove and the team is going to have to adjust to a new game plan.
* Sydney Carter is definitely who the staff wants around the ball in crucial situations, whether it’s the ball in her hands on the last possession, or having to guard the player with the ball on defense in the waning seconds of the game. Carter is the player he is taking to battle and the team will live and die through her play on the court. Coach Blair benched her the other night, not because she wasn’t giving maximum effort, but because sometimes her maximum effort gets her in trouble. Every once in a while she will let the other team sneak in the backdoor behind her and it happened one too many times that night. Pressure should always be attacked with pressure, and that’s what other teams are doing to her. The other night, it was a matter of getting her out of fifth gear and back into fourth gear to get control back. As a senior, this team is counting on her to be perfect every night and that’s probably not going to happen. Those are the demands this team has placed on her, and those are the demands she has earned over the years.
* No doubt Adora Elonu is this team’s best player right now. She is certainly the best defender in the post, the best rebounder in the post, and the best help defender down there as well. She is really playing well right now. He and Coach Blair were just talking about how at this time last year she was benched. When the team went to Lubbock last year, they started Karla Gilbert who played 27 minutes in her place. Adora wasn’t playing well this time last year and tried bringing her off the bench to relax her and keep her from pressing a little bit. This year she is having a tremendous season and she’s someone this team can’t afford to come off the floor very much. Adora’s being more comfortable and familiar with how things are run have really helped her improve this year. The staff doesn’t run many plays for her specifically, so she is getting most of her points off of offensive rebounds and broken plays. She is able to make a lot happen in a limited role. She is a kid who is willing to sacrifice stats for the better of the team. A&M has always had that type of play. Last year Danielle Adams could have cared less if she scored her six points against Baylor, she just wanted the team to win. She knew she had to help on the defensive end in that game and she was able to do just that.
* Has no idea how Texas Tech lost five games in a row. They are a very talented team and play in transition as good or better than Texas does, and that didn’t go so well for A&M. Transition defense and making them beat us in the half court will be a focal point for the team on Wednesday. There is always a good crowd in Lubbock when A&M comes to town. It will be loud and it will be hard. Freshman point guard Alexia Standish will get a real test in a hostile environment. Tech is really athletic on the wing and they have veteran players all over the court. The team will have their hands full and will need to stay poised, execute on both ends of the floor and guard well in order to come away with a victory.
Vic Schaefer on ISU thriller, Elonu's improvement & trip to Tech
Notes from Vic Schaefer Interview
* Iowa State played great on Sunday. You have to give credit to their staff, as well as their players. They came out and played like a completely different team. People have no idea how hard it is to hold someone to 33 points and our kids were able to do that in Ames, and then they come down here and score 39 in the first half. Iowa State was able to make adjustments and A&M didn’t come out ready to play but they were able to fight through and come away with a win.* The team has had flashes of being able to play that tenacious, aggressive defense. Was just talking with Coach Blair about going to Oklahoma State and holding them to 53 points and then somehow coming home and embarrassing yourself on the defensive end against Iowa State. A&M was able to get the first punch in Ames and keep the Cyclones on their heels, but here, Iowa State was much more aggressive and didn’t play scared which played to their advantage. Iowa State attacked the team in areas where they have continually not managed well and those are things the team works on every day. The only way to get better is to keep working on your weaknesses. The saying on the practice board yesterday was, “When you play bad and win, that’s always a good sign.”
* The best win all year was against Kansas in Lawrence. Kansas is a good team and A&M went up there and played really well on both ends of the floor. Kansas will be back at Reed on Saturday playing with something to prove and the team is going to have to adjust to a new game plan.
* Sydney Carter is definitely who the staff wants around the ball in crucial situations, whether it’s the ball in her hands on the last possession, or having to guard the player with the ball on defense in the waning seconds of the game. Carter is the player he is taking to battle and the team will live and die through her play on the court. Coach Blair benched her the other night, not because she wasn’t giving maximum effort, but because sometimes her maximum effort gets her in trouble. Every once in a while she will let the other team sneak in the backdoor behind her and it happened one too many times that night. Pressure should always be attacked with pressure, and that’s what other teams are doing to her. The other night, it was a matter of getting her out of fifth gear and back into fourth gear to get control back. As a senior, this team is counting on her to be perfect every night and that’s probably not going to happen. Those are the demands this team has placed on her, and those are the demands she has earned over the years.
* No doubt Adora Elonu is this team’s best player right now. She is certainly the best defender in the post, the best rebounder in the post, and the best help defender down there as well. She is really playing well right now. He and Coach Blair were just talking about how at this time last year she was benched. When the team went to Lubbock last year, they started Karla Gilbert who played 27 minutes in her place. Adora wasn’t playing well this time last year and tried bringing her off the bench to relax her and keep her from pressing a little bit. This year she is having a tremendous season and she’s someone this team can’t afford to come off the floor very much. Adora’s being more comfortable and familiar with how things are run have really helped her improve this year. The staff doesn’t run many plays for her specifically, so she is getting most of her points off of offensive rebounds and broken plays. She is able to make a lot happen in a limited role. She is a kid who is willing to sacrifice stats for the better of the team. A&M has always had that type of play. Last year Danielle Adams could have cared less if she scored her six points against Baylor, she just wanted the team to win. She knew she had to help on the defensive end in that game and she was able to do just that.
* Has no idea how Texas Tech lost five games in a row. They are a very talented team and play in transition as good or better than Texas does, and that didn’t go so well for A&M. Transition defense and making them beat us in the half court will be a focal point for the team on Wednesday. There is always a good crowd in Lubbock when A&M comes to town. It will be loud and it will be hard. Freshman point guard Alexia Standish will get a real test in a hostile environment. Tech is really athletic on the wing and they have veteran players all over the court. The team will have their hands full and will need to stay poised, execute on both ends of the floor and guard well in order to come away with a victory.
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