Texas Rori Harmon out with leg injury

[Tonyc]

Listed day to day. Texas struggling in the first half against Louisiana. Picking it up in the second half.

 

[Bone Dog]

If she’s out, it’s hard to see how the game will be competitive. Without her, they’re just a bunch of transfers from mid major programs playing with Moore and Gaston.

 

[Zarathustra]

Texas 68 Louisiania 45 Texas with 27 personal fouls, 25 turnovers ( with only 13 assist)
and 42 rebounds. They are now averaging about 40 rebounds/ game ( 118 in three games)
UCONN had 47 against NE.
Besides those earlier Boneyard ( see above ) comments about Harmon and Sonya Morris, I noticed that
the Big Girl, Faye, 6'4" played limited time with limited points. High Scorer was Taylor
Jones with 21 points in 23 minutes , 6 rebounds. So... what Longhorn team will show up
on Monday night?? This is a prognosticator's dilemma!! Go Huskies. Note: Villanova
beat Princeton 69 to 59 and Seton Hall beat Rutgers 75 to 57 GO BIG EAST. !!

 

[jdote33]

Listening to Coach Shafer's post game press conference, it seems like Rori has a toe injury. She is day to day and being evaluated but thankfully it doesn't sound like it's super serious or season ending. I doubt that she plays Monday though.

 

[Tonyc]

All of a sudden UConn is looking like a top 3 team

 

[Skeets]

Listening to Coach Shafer's post game press conference, it seems like Rori has a toe injury. She is day to day and being evaluated but thankfully it doesn't sound like it's super serious or season ending. I doubt that she plays Monday though.

You wear a boot for a toe injury? Sounds like wearing an arm sling for a jammed finger.

 

[JellyBean]

Texas without Rori did not look like a top five team yesterday. They got it going but they struggled against Louisiana. It helped that Texas had the height advantage. They just threw the ball in to Taylor Jones and that took care of things. Not having Rori showed. Texas struggled with handling the pressure defense by Louisiana. 25 turnovers were the result.

 

[Bone Dog]

Listening to Coach Shafer's post game press conference, it seems like Rori has a toe injury. She is day to day and being evaluated but thankfully it doesn't sound like it's super serious or season ending. I doubt that she plays Monday though.

I listened to a few of his pressers from last week and heard the same thing. It’s interesting how protective he is of his players. He is critical of how they played but then insists it’s all his fault. In one of them, Taylor Jones was with him at the table. She’s the other big, transferred from Oregon St.

Jones remarked that they were able to score in the paint because Louisiana had no tall players. This would be true of DePaul as well. In effect, they’ve had no games against teams with any size. Morrow is the only sizable player they’ve encountered. This is true of us so far as well. Somehow, though, I think we will have a better first game against bigs than they will. For one thing, our front court is made up of some of the best athletes in the land. We’re not just a bunch of spare parts.

As far as the backcourts, without Harmon I don’t think there’s any comparison. We’re just too talented for them. I don’t think Gonzalez and Holle, even Moore and Morris (who also may not play) can run with us. Nika and Azzi will feast on them defensively. And so will Azzi and Lou on the offensive end. And think of the havoc Lou and Aubrey will wreak in the passing lanes, or if we press them.

 

[Charliebball]

I listened to a few of his pressers from last week and heard the same thing. It’s interesting how protective he is of his players. He is critical of how they played but then insists it’s all his fault. In one of them, Taylor Jones was with him at the table. She’s the other big, transferred from Oregon St.

Jones remarked that they were able to score in the paint because Louisiana had no tall players. This would be true of DePaul as well. In effect, they’ve had no games against teams with any size. Morrow is the only sizable player they’ve encountered. This is true of us so far as well. Somehow, though, I think we will have a better first game against bigs than they will. For one thing, our front court is made up of some of the best athletes in the land. We’re not just a bunch of spare parts.

As far as the backcourts, without Harmon I don’t think there’s any comparison. We’re just too talented for them. I don’t think Gonzalez and Holle, even Moore and Morris (who also may not play) can run with us. Nika and Azzi will feast on them defensively. And so will Azzi and Lou on the offensive end. And think of the havoc Lou and Aubrey will wreak in the passing lanes, or if we press them.

never underestimate Vic Schaeffer's coaching ability...........his teams are always good defensively and they hustle...... I expect this game to be quite competitive.......

 

[Bone Dog]

never underestimate Vic Schaeffer's coaching ability...........his teams are always good defensively and they hustle...... I expect this game to be quite competitive.......

Yup. Vic is awesome! I’ve always loved his homespun personality in pressers. He obviously loves his teams.

He also has a comical schtick going with some of the reporters. In one of them he had this funny riff on “lollygagging” and the press ate it up. They love him too.

 

[Inthepaint]

Watched the Texas - Louisiana game on the Longhorn Channel.
Don’t want to put the whammy on UCONN, but I just don’t see Texas coming out on top on Monday.
Kind of mystified as to what the pundits saw to rank them so high.
Saw a couple of talented players, but they certainly didn’t overwhelm a smaller and supposedly inferior team.

 

[Bigboote]

All of a sudden UConn is looking like a top 3 team

It’s not all of a sudden for everyone — one or ore more enlightened folks had them at #3 in the preseason Boneyard poll. I wish I could say that, but I was drinking the Texas Kool-aid and had UConn #4.

 

[Bigboote]

You wear a boot for a toe injury? Sounds like wearing an arm sling for a jammed finger.

But your fingers are not weight-bearing. The boot has a rigid sole in order to make sure your toes aren’t bending when your weight is transferred to them.

 

[Carnac]

Texas without Rori did not look like a top five team yesterday. They got it going but they struggled against Louisiana. It helped that Texas had the height advantage. They just threw the ball in to Taylor Jones and that took care of things. Not having Rori showed. Texas struggled with handling the pressure defense by Louisiana. 25 turnovers were the result.

Yeah......and they’re gonna need more than 68 points Monday to beat UConn. If Harmon can’t play.....oh well. We’ve got players that can’t play too. Play those that can lace’em up and go. Our first real test that in my humble opinion is very winnable, especially being at home.

I’m interested to see who shows up for our team, and who plays BIG. Our bigs need to play well against their bigs. In the last few years we’ve had some of our girls do “magic tricks” in big games. Most of them however are no longer on the roster.
This game is a precursor of what we can expect in BIG OCC games this season. Which one of our girls step up and say follow me?

 

[Going4Natty]

I am going to be very disappointed if Harmon can't play. I want to beat them at full strength.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I am going to be very disappointed if Harmon can't play. I want to beat them at full strength.

Paige, Ice, and Caroline are injured. There's no chance of beating them at full strength.

 

[eebmg]

I am going to be very disappointed if Harmon can't play. I want to beat them at full strength.

And we would learn a lot about how well we can defend lightning quick guards

 

[EricLA]

I am going to be very disappointed if Harmon can't play. I want to beat them at full strength.

We're not at full strength. Unsure if Ducharme will be available for the game, and even if she is, we are down 1 superstar and 1 uber-freshman. So we won't be at full strength for the entire season.

I know it's early but I don't see how this game is close (ie. within 15 points). Even if Texas had Harmon, who do they have that is better than Fudd, Edwards, LLS, or Juhaz? Is Taylor Jones better than Dorka? I'd say they are probably even. And who do they have better off the bench than Griffin and Patterson? Even without Ducharme I can't see how this is close.

The pre-season "experts" wet themselves with excitement over Tennessee and Texas as NC contenders and probable final 4 teams. I didn't buy it for either team. Texas is a few years away from being a final 4 team provided Vic continues to recruit well.

 

[oldhusky]

I am going to be very disappointed if Harmon can't play. I want to beat them at full strength.

My interpretation is Going4Natty is talking just about Texas being full strength. I don't think he is making any commentary about us being full strength or not. He wants to beat a full strength Texas team with whatever we have, not get an easy win because of an injury IMO. If you look at what was said carefully, you can see how it could be interpreted either way, but since he just talks about Harmon, I think the "full strength" applied to Texas.

 

[sun]

The Texas presser talks a little bit about the UConn game their team weaknesses.

 

[OldSchooler]

My interpretation is Going4Natty is talking just about Texas being full strength. I don't think he is making any commentary about us being full strength or not. He wants to beat a full strength Texas team with whatever we have, not get an easy win because of an injury IMO. If you look at what was said carefully, you can see how it could be interpreted either way, but since he just talks about Harmon, I think the "full strength" applied to Texas.

I agree. That's how I read it, too.

 

[Bone Dog]

Watched the Texas - Louisiana game on the Longhorn Channel.
Don’t want to put the whammy on UCONN, but I just don’t see Texas coming out on top on Monday.
Kind of mystified as to what the pundits saw to rank them so high.
Saw a couple of talented players, but they certainly didn’t overwhelm a smaller and supposedly inferior team.

I just had a chance to watch the full game and I saw exactly what you saw.

Even without Harmon they still run their characteristic pressing scrambling D. In the half court defense they tend to pack the paint. Our perimeter shooting is going to pick that apart. That means Vic will try to ratchet up the pressure to try to prevent us getting into any half court sets. I think we can handle that, but it will be an interesting challenge.

On offense, the picture without Harmon is a bit bleaker. Their offense tends to stand around a bit too much. Taylor Jones is a legit post player with good hands and quick moves around the rim. Her range is very limited, but that's not how they use her. The other bigs -- Faye, Moore, and Gaston -- are not really credible post threats, though they are active on the boards and sometimes scramble for putbacks. To illustrate this, Piath or Amari could probably start or be major rotation players in this squad. But Vic doesn't really count on steady post scoring, so this may not matter. It isn't the strength of their offense, and I suspect Jones would be neutralized pretty thoroughly by Dorka and Aaliyah. After her, there isn't really another significant post scoring threat.

The real threat Texas poses is their guard play, and even without Harmon they still have several effective scorers -- Morris, Gonzalez and Holle. I don't think they have the talent to run with Nika Azzi Lou Caroline or even Aubrey if she plays at the 3. But their backcourt is for real. The problem for Texas isn't a lack of shooters, as it has been in the past. Sonya is a significant perimeter threat and Gonzalez and Holle can score well in the midrange. In this regard, I think they're significantly improved over last year. Their problem against us will be that we're bigger and faster in the backcourt, if Harmon isn't out there. And we have too many perimeter threats for them to account for.

 

[BobbyJ]

I just had a chance to watch the full game and I saw exactly what you saw.

Even without Harmon they still run their characteristic pressing scrambling D. In the half court defense they tend to pack the paint. Our perimeter shooting is going to pick that apart. That means Vic will try to ratchet up the pressure to try to prevent us getting into any half court sets. I think we can handle that, but it will be an interesting challenge.

On offense, the picture without Harmon is a bit bleaker. Their offense tends to stand around a bit too much. Taylor Jones is a legit post player with good hands and quick moves around the rim. Her range is very limited, but that's not how they use her. The other bigs -- Faye, Moore, and Gaston -- are not really credible post threats, though they are active on the boards and sometimes scramble for putbacks. To illustrate this, Piath or Amari could probably start or be major rotation players in this squad. But Vic doesn't really count on steady post scoring, so this may not matter. It isn't the strength of their offense, and I suspect Jones would be neutralized pretty thoroughly by Dorka and Aaliyah. After her, there isn't really another significant post scoring threat.

The real threat Texas poses is their guard play, and even without Harmon they still have several effective scorers -- Morris, Gonzalez and Holle. I don't think they have the talent to run with Nika Azzi Lou Caroline or even Aubrey if she plays at the 3. But their backcourt is for real. The problem for Texas isn't a lack of shooters, as it has been in the past. Sonya is a significant perimeter threat and Gonzalez and Holle can score well in the midrange. In this regard, I think they're significantly improved over last year. Their problem against us will be that we're bigger and faster in the backcourt, if Harmon isn't out there. And we have too many perimeter threats for them to account for.

Piath has all she can handle just trying to get in a game for UMass. She got 8 mop up minutes vs C.Conn St. and was a spectator against Tennessee. And DeBerry? C'mon man.