2013-14 OU womens basketball thread

Hell, I'm sorry that fans are unhappy too. It's just been one of those seasons that you'd like to pretend didn't happen, unless of course, this is the turning point/learning experience that finally gets Sherri her national championship.

In any event, the Big 12 has revealed their bracket for the upcoming tourney:

Here's OU's schedule this week:
8:30 p.m. Saturday: OU vs Texas
4:30 p.m. Sunday: OU vs West Virginia (probably)
8 p.m. Monday: OU vs Baylor (probably)

You can view more Big 12 tourney info on the Big 12 page here.

We are doomed to wearing our away-crimson jerseys the entire time as a 6-seed. The only thing left to do is have fun at this point.




I'm a terrible fan. Here, have some optimism:

Boomer!

 

I'm not unhappy, I'm trying to make a point that this staff is not getting the job done.

 

Unfortunately, that happens from time to time. Roy Williams, UNC, finished 9th in the ACC and out of the NCAA tourney the year after winning the NC. Muffet McGraw had a 18-12 record and 10th place conference finish 5 years after ND's NC. Sherri will turn it around.

 

We have some Big 12 honorees to mention. Link here.

Aaryn Ellenberg became a three-time First-Time All-Big 12 selection, and was a unanimous selection (coaches cannot vote for their own players).

Morgan Hook was on the second team, Nicole Griffin and Sharane Campbell were honorable mentions. We didn't have anyone on the froshie team or defense team.

There were three unanimous first teamers, Odyssey Sims on Baylor and Tiffany bias of OSU the other two. WVU Coach Mike Carey was Big 12 Coach of the Year, as he was the first coach in several years to take at least part of the Big 12 crown from Baylor (share this year, Baylor sole winner past three years).

 

Take this season and shove it I ain't losing games no more
My top 25 done left and took all the reason I was postseason bound
Ya, better not try and shoot threes all game
Cause you might as well be turning over the ball
Take this season and shove it I ain't losing games no more

Nov. 17: Louisville (97-92 OT)
Nov. 24: @UCLA (82-76)
Dec. 8: Duke (94-85)
Dec. 21: @Marist (76-69)
Jan. 5: Iowa State (82-75 OT)
Jan. 8: @Texas (79-74 OT)
Jan. 18: @West Virginia (77-63)
Jan. 29: @Kansas State (86-78)
Feb. 3: Baylor (81-67)
Feb. 13: West Virginia again (76-75)
Feb. 16: @OSU (73-57)
Feb 24: @Baylor again (96-89)
March 1: @TCU (76-66)
March 8: Texas again (82-72)

For these 14 reasons listed above, we are not going to make the NCAA tournament's 64-team (remember this is womens not mens) field. We have been consistently losing since December. We have lost at home to ranked and unranked opponents alike, as well as on the road. We have lost to conference and non-conference opponents alike. We have lost in overtime, we have lost in regulation, we have been blow out, we have kept it close. We have even lost to some teams more than once.

Our only consistency is the losing, and teams with 18-14 records don't make the NCAA field unless they're conference champions.

But please don't take my word for it. Sherri?

Wait, WHAT?

Huh???

OK, badger's a moron. We are in after all. Hey, I'm not gonna argue! We can totally go to the tournament!

Forget everything I said! We're postseason bound! Huzzah!!!!!!!

Boomer!

 

really?..wow...didn't think we'd make the cut...just hope we can win the first game.

 

The Big 12 Women's championship is on Monday night. They haven't announced the NCAA field yet. That happens on March 17th.

 

4th Regular Season Title (shared) in a row.
4th Big XII Tournament Title in a row.

I approve.

 

@Badger, WBB really deserves its own forum around here.

 

Not this season

 

I was extremely disappointed that Baylor beat West Virginia. I thought with 4-5 minutes remaining that West Virginia had the momentum and would win. They they began to make a lot of "dumb" mistakes that they normally don't make including turnovers, poor shots, fouling, etc.

 

And Hypocrite U got the calls as the officials were scared that Skeletor would rip them in the post game presser!!! :disgust:

 

At 6 p.m. tonight, we will know if we were good enough for the NCAA tournament. Sherri has said we're in, ESPN still says we're in... then again, SMU had many turn out last night to celebrate their return to the NCAA tournament only to leave empty handed (with the NIT's top seed, heh).

Worst case scenario: WNIT selection, which will be sometime after NCAA selection. As far as I know, there's no TV special for WNIT, just need to check twitter and SS.com for info.

Nightmare mode: There are no other womens postseason tournaments. It's NCAA, WNIT or bust.

Fingers crossed, go vBet if you want something virtual on the line. Boomer!

 

we are in as a 10 seed, NICE!

 

My expectations are low but my hopes are high.

Go Lady Sooners !!


5-0

 

Me too.

As per tradition, I will make my fearless postseason predictions before the start of the tourney. Even though I usually take random stabs, they have a history of coming true (Texas getting ousted in the first round even if they host the game, OU making Sweet 16s, etc).

 

I have not looked forward to a womens basketball postseason more than I have not looked forward to this one. But, as per tradition, here are my fearless predictions for Big 12 teams this postseason. Here's a bracket if you want to follow along. And, in the case of the WNIT entrant, here's one of those brackets too.


TCU (NIT)
I would normally be more inclined to predict that TCU will have an OSU-like run and take the entire thing before going off to make the NCAA and be ranked the following year, but then this happened. Teams abandoned by their head coach don't fare well.

Prediction: Out in one round (at Colorado tonight).

OSU: 5-seed in Notre Dame region
Due to declining attendance, increased transportation costs and badger's own recent apathy, the NCAA has done away with neutral early round sites (mostly) and just declared that the top seeds will be the home teams (mostly) till the Final Four. Somewhere, Skeletor is screaming like a banshee for getting stuck in OKC during Griner's final season.

As such, you can expect a whole lot of LESS upsets and a lot of near-perfection in brackets. Just choose the higher seed and you're correct (mostly)... except those pesky odd-numbered rounds where you might not be playing the home team.

Prediction: Second-round exit (at 4-seed Purdue)

OU (10-seed in Lincoln region)
This is where the *mostly* comes in. UConn is the top seed, but they don't get to play endless home games till the final four. But, since it's UConn, their fans will probably travel in droves. Any excuse to get out of the state of Connecticut.

I am going to be extremely optimistic and say we get by DePaul. BUT even the most optimistic badger cannot say we'll make it by Duke at Duke in round 2. After all, we already lost to Duke at home back before we were free falling early in the non-conference season.

Prediction: Second round exit (at 2-seed Duke)

Iowa State (7-seed in Stanford region)

Now here's an NCAA wtf for ya: Iowa State gets to host the opening rounds, Stanford gets to host the Sweet 16/Elite Eight... but has to go through ISU at ISU in the second round (likely) to get to its home games. OU had a similar situation (against Stanford no less) back in 2004. We went to Tempe for our opening rounds (and stayed at a resort awesome hotel... the male pep banders couldn't stop staring at Sherri sunbathing so she eventually left) and would have gone back to OU for the Sweet 16/Elite Eight if we had won our second round game. Sadly, Stanford won.

As much as I would love ISU students to come out and Marcus Smart-style flop for Stanford, I don't see it happening.

Prediction: Second-round loss (at home to 2-seed Stanford)

Baylor (2-seed in Notre Dame region)
They're beatable, but nobody is going to beat them till they should. Tune in for the Notre Dame loss. I expect epic jacket ripping off style melting down once again on the refs.

Prediction: Elite Eight loss (at 1-seed Notre Dame)

Texas (5-seed in Louisville region)
One of my favorite traditions in fearless predictions is to predict a first-round Texas exit regardless of the circumstance. 12-seed Pennsylvania, eh? Not even Penn State, just Penn? Well... why not

Prediction: First-round exit (to 12-seed Penn sans-State at Maryland)

West Virginia (2-seed in Louisville region)

What an awful way to treat a 2-seed. First, you send them to the home of the 7-seed (where they'll likely meet in the second round), then if they survive that, they have to go to the home of the 3-seed (where they'll meet in the Sweet 16). If you make it past those two away games, you get to meet Tennessee, which will probably have a lot of fans travel across their state border for that Elite Eight game.

But, my predictions must be fearless: They are a good team and they will make it to Tennessee. And then, their luck will run out.

Prediction: Elite Eight (loss to 1-seed Tennessee at Louisville)

Sooner game: 12:30 p.m. Saturday vs DePaul; TV is ESPN2.

Boomer

 

For those of you who haven't tuned in this season, let me introduce you to OU offense's
FIVE MOVES OF DOOM
1- Lob a three
Frequency: More often when OU is behind by 10 or more points; fairly common regardless
Preventative action: Camera cuts to Sherri fuming at the sideline, so at least you know she didn't call that "play"
Death mode: A lobbed three from several feet behind the arch that airballs.
2- Turnover the ball
Frequency: One in every three to four offensive plays, usually the end result of an errant pass, likely to a post/paint-are player.
Preventative action: The opposing team drives quickly to the other side of the court for points, and Sherri yells at the team to slow down.
Death mode: The opposing team intercepts the in-bounds pass after a change of possession and immediately gets an easy bucket (it happened at least thrice last night).
3- Dribble drive into traffic and don't get a foul call
Frequency: Often accompanied by a really bad shot, the dribble-drive-into-traffic maneuver happens when we need buckets that are not lobbed threes, usually when our margin of defeat is uncomfortably high.
Preventative action: Getting called for an offensive foul usually makes our player think twice about doing that, but since offensive fouls are rare this season, usually a TV or regular timeout talking-to causes players to consider an open jump shot in the future.
Death mode: Dribble driving into traffic when the entire defense closes on our player, resulting in 3-4 wide open Sooners who do not get the ball passed to them for an open shot.
4- Missed free throw(s)
Frequency: Oh so often. Way too often. Why why why why why
Preventative action: Cry
Death mode: Checking the box score the next day and find out the margin of defeat would have been overcome with a few more made free throws
5- Rebound and miss again
Frequency: The least frequent, but possibly the most frustrating move of doom on the entire list
Preventative action: At least the refs sometimes whistle the next miss so that we can miss at the free throw line instead
Death mode: Rebound and miss, rebound and miss and then rebound and miss a third time (happened at least once yesterday)

The irony
After enduring the five moves of doom from the OU offense for most of the first half of play to the tune of a 19-point deficit early in the second half, the five moves of doom ARE CONTAGIOUS. DePaul caught them from us and suddenly they were lobbing threes instead of wearing down the shot clock, dribble-driving foolishly, rebound and missing and missing at the line. I am very happy that I didn't tune out after the frustrating, saddening first half, because by gawd, the Sooners nearly pulled off a 19-point-deficit come back.

Not the womens basketball team:

On a sidenote, congratulations to our womens gymnastics team. This is the front page of SS.com right now.

OU 100, DePaul 104
We didn't run out of time unlike the men versus Baylor in the Big 12 tourney, we just got beat at the end. DePaul hit a go-ahead three with less than a minute left and then we didn't make our shots. A sad way to end, but at least we fought in the second half despite a huge deficit.

Stats:
Kay Kay started: I have such high hopes and expectations for her next season, I am so glad that she got the start. She will be key to us being competitive in the Big 12 and the postseason again next year.
Nicole Griffin sidelined: I don't know what happened, but she played only 5 minutes in the first half. Injury likely, I'll update if I find out.
Aaron deserves better: 36 points on 7 for 15 three shooting and 12 for 22 overall (perfect 5 for 5 for free throws). She would start on any team in this country. It's very sad that her final year here was enduring injuries and more losing than the other three.
20 of 21 for free: We finally, FINALLY got our free throws after a season of bonk-bonk-bonk. We've improved, I'm happy to say, but hopefully we won't start over next year at square one. This is a must in this era of whistle happy college ref ball.

Sherri had several good quotes on SS.com, so here's all three:

I really wish that this season and this game didn't turn out the way they did, but I hope we grow stronger because of it. See you all next November.

Boomer Sooner anyways

 

You and me both!!!

 

Baylor Goals for the First Quarter of 2014:
1)Play in a BCS Bowl -- CHECK
2)MBB to the Sweet 16 -- CHECK
3)WBB to the Sweet 16 -- CHECK
4)?
5)Profit!