[BillBradley]

My favorite thing about this game was how we won, how our players felt about how we won, and how they (and the press) have talked about it afterwards. This win was all about grit. The Stanford players matched the Texas level of aggressiveness, didn't back down, and in the end their superior talent, skill, and teamwork won out because we didn't lose the physical battle. This definitely wasn't a "Stanford nice" win. Oh, and we covered :>

I don't have much of an opinion about Vic Shaefer the person. I just don't think I have all the information to really know what he's like. I know some truly great basketball people with big hearts, but they say stupid things sometimes. I just don't hold it against them. My gauge of "classy or not" is all about how coaches treat players and how players react to their coaches. He seems like he has good relationships with his players, so that's good enough for me. And he's proven to me that he can really coach. I love how he utilizes Harman and their small guards and how they are able to compete with a very average frontcourt. The dude very much knows what he's doing. What he was able to accomplish at Miss St was pretty remarkable IMO. I'm also cool with their style of play and their defensive aggressiveness. I used to take stuff like that personally, especially on the court and as a coach. I wanted more of an organized game and for it to be played a certain way. But I've changed. I now accept that physicality is part of the game, it can be an effective strategy, and the knife cuts both ways. If you aren't refined enough at the defense/intimidation piece, you can foul too much and the other team can live on the free throw line. Or, your offense can really suffer if the players don't learn to play on both sides of the ball.  But they executed pretty well offensively, hit some really nice mid-rangers and they made more threes than we did so they aren't just maulers. 

Gotta mention the reffing. Once again, I thought the game was over-called and it really hurt both teams and could have decided the game. So many calls I wish they would have just let go. A couple obvious ones on us were the offensive fouls on Lacie and Cam and there were for sure some on Texas I would have let go. The one that's still a head-scratcher for me was the call on Harmon against Haley, 1 minute left, 4 point game, 8 seconds on the shot clock. What was the call? A hand check? The ref pointed at the spot, but I can't quite make out her signal. Someone please look at the video and tell me what happened there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVTap3QSS6A

I mean, that was a pretty critical moment. If she deserved the foul then fine, it was hard to see so I really don't know. But if the ref actually called a hand check after all the contact they let go during the game, I'm not sure how you make that call at that point in time. That was brobdingnagian.

[BillBradley]

My favorite thing about this game was how we won, how our players felt about how we won, and how they (and the press) have talked about it afterwards. This win was all about grit. The Stanford players matched the Texas level of aggressiveness, didn't back down, and in the end their superior talent, skill, and teamwork won out because we didn't lose the physical battle. This definitely wasn't a "Stanford nice" win. Oh, and we covered :>

I don't have much of an opinion about Vic Shaefer the person. I just don't think I have all the information to really know what he's like. I know some truly great basketball people with big hearts, but they say stupid things sometimes. I just don't hold it against them. My gauge of "classy or not" is all about how coaches treat players and how players react to their coaches. He seems like he has good relationships with his players, so that's good enough for me. And he's proven to me that he can really coach. I love how he utilizes Harman and their small guards and how they are able to compete with a very average frontcourt. The dude very much knows what he's doing. What he was able to accomplish at Miss St was pretty remarkable IMO. I'm also cool with their style of play and their defensive aggressiveness. I used to take stuff like that personally, especially on the court and as a coach. I wanted more of an organized game and for it to be played a certain way. But I've changed. I now accept that physicality is part of the game, it can be an effective strategy, and the knife cuts both ways. If you aren't refined enough at the defense/intimidation piece, you can foul too much and the other team can live on the free throw line. Or, your offense can really suffer if the players don't learn to play on both sides of the ball.  But they executed pretty well offensively, hit some really nice mid-rangers and they made more threes than we did so they aren't just maulers. 

Gotta mention the reffing. Once again, I thought the game was over-called and it really hurt both teams and could have decided the game. So many calls I wish they would have just let go. A couple obvious ones on us were the offensive fouls on Lacie and Cam and there were for sure some on Texas I would have let go. The one that's still a head-scratcher for me was the call on Harmon against Haley, 1 minute left, 4 point game, 8 seconds on the shot clock. What was the call? A hand check? The ref pointed at the spot, but I can't quite make out her signal. Someone please look at the video and tell me what happened there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVTap3QSS6A

I mean, that was a pretty critical moment. If she deserved the foul then fine, it was hard to see so I really don't know. But if the ref actually called a hand check after all the contact they let go during the game, I'm not sure how you make that call at that point in time. That was brobdingnagian.