December 10, 2025 • 22 mins
Texas Women's Basketball, at 10-0 and ranked number 2 in the country, is off to a fantastic start.
To put it into perspective, Jake Herman checks in with Craig live from Edinburg, where the Longhorns take on UTRGV later in the evening.
Craig shares his observations of a close-knit team, Vic Schaefer's message to the players tonight, and how the impending return of several rotational players could impact the start of conference play in a few weeks.
To put it into perspective, Jake Herman checks in with Craig live from Edinburg, where the Longhorns take on UTRGV later in the evening.
Craig shares his observations of a close-knit team, Vic Schaefer's message to the players tonight, and how the impending return of several rotational players could impact the start of conference play in a few weeks.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 4 (00:06):
You can do that.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yes, them with almost four hours away to my car,
it is still a yacht rock Wednesday here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred zone, and we've got America bumping
us back with you can do Magic, Craig. It's been
a magical start to the season for Texas women's basketball.
How's it been spending the last couple of days with
(00:30):
them as they get ready for UTRGV.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, they're always an interesting group to hang out with, Jake,
And it's one of the blessings that I have of
broadcasting both the men's and women's games is it's not
that there's a great deal of contrast. Because basketball teams
have the routines when they travel and they gather at
a certain point and then they get all the charter flight.
(00:55):
If they're flying somewhere, they fly to the place, they
go to the hotel. They usually have a team dinnery
either at the hotel or at a restaurant. There might
be a night before practice, in fact there usually is,
and then they'll be you know, a team breakfast the
next morning, and then they'll go to the arena for
shoot around and go back. They'll have some film study,
(01:16):
they'll have a pregame meal and then you know, they'll
get all packed up, check out the hotel, go.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
To the arena, play the game, and then go to
the airport and fly home.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And that pretty much holds true for both the men's
and women's basketball teams. There are some new minces. Vick
Schaeffer as a firm believer in ice cream, and so
on the night before a game, what he does with
(01:45):
the team is they'll land as they did yesterday afternoon,
come over to the hotel, check in, then went to
team dinner at a local restaurant, then went to the
arena just to get some shots up at the Ogden
Arena was it wasn't anything real heavy detailed, but just
getting some shots up, getting used to the building a
(02:06):
little bit, uh, and then back to the hotel and
they had ice cream brought in for him. So that's
that's kind of the uh uh. That's kind of the
tradition that you might say. But I will say this too, Jake.
One thing that I appreciate about Vick Schaeffer, and that
a lot of people do, in addition to him being
a really good coach, is he has a great appreciation
(02:30):
and affection for the game and the history of college basketball,
both men's and women's basketball. And he spent some time
after the team finished shooting last night in the burd
Ogden Arena talking to them, not about strategic points and
wanting them to play harder or this or that or
things like that. He was talking to him about what
(02:53):
it should mean to them to come down here to
the Rio Grand Valley, because it's almost unheard of that
a team that is ranked as highly as Texas is
would make a road trip down to the valley to
play UTRGV. But he has a great appreciation for the
program and respect for Lane Lord, their head coach, and
(03:15):
he also knows and this is the deal that they
work out when they come down. They don't normally play
in UTRGVS on campus arena the Fieldhouse. They did play
there four years ago. They played a game there four
years ago. But when they came here two years ago
(03:36):
and when the men were here three years ago, the
games were played in this arena called the bert Ogden Arena.
It is for anybody that's been to say the ATV
Center and Cedar Park, it's a lot like that. It's
a modern like eight thousand Seed Arena and it's the
home of the Rio Grand Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets
(03:56):
G League team, and it's a nice buildings. It's a
relatively new building. It's not that old.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
And it's seven years old.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, yeah, it's and it's it's a nice building. And
when they came here two years ago and drew the
largest crowd ever to see a women's basketball game down
here in the Valley, and that record may be met
or exceeded tonight. It may be in the seventy eight
hundred and eight thousand seat range. Because they're first of all,
(04:25):
as we know, with Texas having a large alumni fan base,
there are a lot of ut alums down here in
the valley, and then there's some other people as well,
and then there's people that want to come to see
the number two team in the country. So all of
those things play into it. And what Vick was doing
was trying to get the players to understand they're coming
down to see you guys play. How many of of
them will obviously be rooting for UTRGV, but they're coming
(04:49):
to see you play, and you owe it to them
to play the way that you know you can play.
And so he was appealing to them from that perspective, saying,
let's put on a good show, let's play well, because
that's what's expected of us.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And it's what the expectations come with good reason. I mean,
what this team is doing right now without Aleah Crump,
without Breonna Preston, and without Ashton Judd is start nine
to zero, beat South Carolina and UCLA back to back days.
I mean, can you put into context just how special
of us start this has been?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Well, certainly what happened in Las Vegas got everybody's attention,
and you know, and to be North Carolina ranked twelfth
in the country to do that, I think all of
that played into it.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
I think, you know, they started off preseason.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Number four and they were holding their own, but then
when they went to Las Vegas and beat the number
three team UCLA and then the number two teams South Carolina,
then it caught everybody's attention and people can see the budding.
I don't know if rivalry is the right word, but
maybe there is because of the competitive nature of those
(06:02):
two teams, Texas and South Carolina. They're going to meet
again next month in Colombia. It'll be their only meeting
in the regular season, but there's a decent chance they
meet in the SEC tournament, maybe in the finals like
last year, and who knows, maybe they meet in the
NCAA Tournament like they did last year in the final four.
So yeah, it's even the possible that they could wind
up playing four times again this year. But the mere
(06:24):
fact that they got those wins and that their best
players are playing really well right now. Rory Harmon is
playing some outstanding basketball. Madison Booker and Jordan Lee has
given them that third weapon and until they get Breonna
Preston back, and they hope that that is in the
next two to three weeks, maybe right around the time
(06:46):
conference play starts. For Leah Crumpet, maybe a while longer,
they're just kind of monitoring her situation. They're also hoping
to get Ashton Judd back right around the start of
conference play. And when they get them back, I think
folks feel that they can be a real threat on
the national stage.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You mentioned Jordan Lee, and maybe it's because of the
injuries to players like crump and like Preston who can
really shoot it from the outside. But outside of Jordan Lee,
who's had her nights where she's found the three point range.
Texas hasn't even shot it that well from three. They
haven't needed to yet to this point in the season,
which is pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And they didn't shoot the three well at all last
year and went to the Final Four, and they didn't
shoot the three that well a year before and they
were in the Elite eight. Historically, VIC hasn't had teams
that were great three point shooting teams. I will tell
you this, Jake, they're shooting the ball better right now
beyond the aren't thing they have in any of the
(07:43):
prior seasons that He's kind of chuckled about all of
that because he gets asked about it a lot. But
when you have players who can drive and slash and
dish and create, and when you got two big post
players inside and Brida Cunningham and Kyla Oldacre, and he
played a boat together in some sequences the other night
(08:03):
in their game or last Sunday in their game. So
he's done that. He's done that a little bit, and
I think he plans maybe to do that a little
bit more to see how those players work together. And
then we'll see what happens when the guards come back.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Well and Craig, you spend a lot of time with
this team, like we alluded to, when you're just hanging
around them, right, do you notice anything that's different from
last year? I know it's a question that Vick Schaeffer
kind of shook off in his media availability the other day,
But does anything feel or look different to you than
last year at this point?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I think it did at the start when a Leah
Crump was playing, because here was a McDonald's All American
that came in and she was lighting it up.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
The formula with.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Her out has been largely Madison Booker and Rory Harmon
with a healthy dose of Jordan Lee in there. And
Lee has stepped up. I mean she averaged last year
I think something like six points per game and she's
sort of like right around fifteen a game right now,
and she has emerged as the best three point shooter
on this team. A lot of the other things remain
(09:11):
the same, And I thought about this when I was
at breakfast with him this morning. They have thirteen players
with them that travel down here for this game.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
The way the setup works when you're on the road
with the team, and they have like a film room
that they could look at and it's you know, it's
kind of like meeting room, banquet rooms whatever. There are
usually five or six round tables that hold comfortably maybe
seven or eight people. And there's five or six of
(09:46):
those tables, and at one table, the coaching staff sits
together pretty much and they're mapping out some strategy. And
then there'll be another table where operations Pete Well the
manager and grand assistants and people like that set. Then
there's another table where like the operations tory Takeolo Handles,
(10:08):
the director of operations, and Kathy Harston and I usually
sit at that table with her and a couple others,
and so it leaves two full tables for the team.
But the team doesn't do that. All thirteen players pull
up chairs and they all sit at the same table.
That's the closest team is they all sit together. I mean,
(10:29):
it's pretty time watching them, you know, like you know,
cut a chicken breast and a pregame meal, e Thei're
keeping their elbows in, you know, but.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
It's nothing like a battle, nothing like a.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Battle for the rebound when they're all crashed in there.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
That's exactly right. That that's how close this team is.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
They all like to sit together and they talk about things,
you know, not even just the things they do in
film study, but just when they're when they're all just
having a meal.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
They all like sitting together. This team likes each other.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
A lot, and that's easy to tell when you watch
them play. To the Texas men's side. Now, where Sean
Miller talked this morning about some of the defensive points,
he continues to harp on with this group, kind of
hinting that the effort on that side of the floor
still needs to be a lot better.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Going into Friday's game against Yukon.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
What did you notice as a difference between maybe that
first half of the Southern game and the second half,
Because Sean Miller talked about the big contrast, he loved
the first half defensive effort, but he thought the second
half was was way too porous.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, and we've had quite a bit of time to
talk about this, including yesterday when we recorded Longhorn Weekly,
which airs tonight, I mean tomorrow night, excuse me, at
seven o'clock.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
So, and folks are going, by the way, folks are
gonna be in.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
For a treat on that show. To morning, Bill Raftery
is on with us us.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Well, I asked him for the origin of that. I
asked him for the origin of onions.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Oh, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh yeah, and and and he explains it. And I
asked him about getting your puppies aligned. But you know,
the funny thing about Raff is probably other than maybe onions,
his most famous line is send it in Jerome when
Jerome Lane shatters the backboard.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
It's send it in Jerome.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
That one when he's working on ESPN. Well, we all
remember seeing Jerome Lane get that lib pass and slam
it in. You know who threw the lib pass to him?
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Who is that?
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Sean Miller?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Oh, Seawan was an outstanding point guard on that pit
team that Jeromeline said, So we get both of their
perspectives on the send It in Jerome play and how
they're picking up glass and he said, in those days,
he raft said, we didn't have a studio. So they're
killing time on the air. They're just killing time. They
(12:53):
get Don Nelson was there scouting the game and they
had him on, and they're just having to fill this
long gap like a rain delay or something.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
People are picking up glass meet. Sean said he still.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Last a couple of pieces of the broken backboard, the glasses.
It took an hour to replace the shattered backboard and
get another one and get it and get it erected
in here. So we had we had great conversations about
that stuff. But to your point, the biggest thing that
bothered Sean the other night in the game against Southern
(13:22):
was the fouling, especially in the second half. And after
the game, we visit with an assistant coach because coach
Miller has to go to the press conference. But as
he came out, he walked over to me and Eddie
Orne and just kind of like did this and was
like the fouling, the fouling is just's just got to stop,
and the unnecessary fouling. And he gets into greater detail
(13:45):
about that tomorrow night. As to you know, the fouling
that takes place, some of it's necessary, you gotta do it,
and things like that, especially if it's to keep a
guy from having an easy layup or something like that.
But even a guy like mibus Fo Titus, who had
a career game the other night and just just played
tremendously well, had he said he could have been out
(14:07):
there a lot more. But there were just a couple of,
you know, from behind chippy fowls that did not need
to happen. So there's an education process that's still going
on with this team, and it's going to continue.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
For a while.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
As I've said this already several times and I'll say
it again and I'll continue to say it, I have
been really impressed with Coach Miller and his staff and
how they teach the game. And there's a lot of
teaching that has to go with a very young basketball team.
So it's just to sit in and practice and watch
them teaching this game from what they're expecting is pretty
(14:42):
impressive stuff. So yeah, they've got it. They've got their
hands full of Tomorrow Night. I mean, Alex Caravan, solo ball,
all the wrest of those guys for you kind of tremendous.
And Dan Hurley is one of the most intense driven
coaches you'll ever come across. I even asked Seawan on
Long Worn Weekly about Dan Hurley and what he's like
(15:04):
as head coach. So there's there's some good stuff on
the show about it tomorrow night. But to your point, yeah,
this is going to be a huge test. And they
played Ucon in the last three years. They just had
that much success against some They played him in Madison
Square Garden, they played him last year in Austin, and
of course now they're playing them at what is now
called I've just finally found this out today.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
People's Bank Arena.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Forever it was the Hertford Civic Center, the mall because
they're trying to buy the mall. Then it was the
Excel Center for a long time. Now it's called People's
Bank Arena, and that's where they'll be doing that on
Friday night.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
And you'll hear Sean Miller's thoughts on playing in that arena.
I think he did call it Excel Arena now the
outdated name as well as facing all.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
The Harvard I call it the Hertford Civic Center. Yeah,
we were, we were recording the program because that's what
its original name was.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
That's when the Hertford Whalers were playing there at the NHL.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So yeah, I called it the Hartford Civic Center, but
it's People's Bank Arenas the name of the building.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Was it the Whalers that became your Carolina Hurricanes.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
It was, And it brought.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
About a lot of grumbling up in the New England
area because they had met a stated goal that they
had to get I think to like ten thousand season
tickets or something like that. They met the goal, but
the owners had already decided they were moving the team
to North Carolina, and that still left a lot of
people very, very unhappy.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And it left a lot of fans with those Whaler
uniforms unhappy. I know you got to get yeah, I
know you got to catch catch a ride over to
the arena soon, but I wanted to get your reaction
first to the Dodgers big bullpen signing Edwin Diaz. It's
going to be wearing Dodger blue for the next three years,
and a lot of folks around the league have really
praised this signing because, like you discussed with me all
(16:57):
postseason long, the bullpen was the underbelly of the Dodger
dynasty and now Diaz shores it up back there.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Remember when we had Gene watch it on Monday from
Orlando and I I had not heard. Of course, he's
an insight, That's why he's our MLB insider.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
His ears to the ground, he's hearing what's going on.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And I asked him, are the Dodgers really going to
do much of anything, because you know, they didn't really
do anything in the trade deadline during the season because
they were waiting on guys to get healthy.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, they're still waiting on some guys to get healthy.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Evan Phillips had been a pretty effective closer before he
had to undergo Tommy John surgery, and the same thing
with Michael Kopek, and then River Ryan had been an
outstanding young starting pitcher had to undergo t J. Sir,
they're still waiting for Tony Gonsolin to get back again.
So there's all of those things. M and she and
just came off of that, and we saw that he
was pretty effective in the postseason. So that's why I
(17:52):
put the question of Gene. I said, are they and
he goes, oh, no, they're going to be active. And
at first you mentioned, you know, Kyle Tucker, and then
there's a cop other guys that they might take a
look at. But he said, now they're going to be active.
And when the plane touched down here in the valley,
that's when I saw that the Dodgers at signed Diaz.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I was like wow.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
So I texted Gene and I said, you were right
about this. And he sent me a three word response
or four word response. They're not done yet, so you
know they We'll see what else happens with that. I'm
curious to see how the Rangers and the Astros also
attack these winter meetings and what can they do to
(18:34):
help out their ball clubs a little bit. As well
as the big name thing, seeing Kyle Swarber, Schwarber re
signed with the Phillies, Pete Alonzo's names out there right now,
there's all these other big names. I'm certainly curious to
see where these guys wind up, as well as for
the team I followed.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, Pete Alonso landed in Baltimore with the Orioles. We're
going to get Cameron Parker's reaction to a lot of
the latest MLB hot stove news coming up in the
four o'clock But Craig any last keys and you know,
reasons fans should be excited to tune in tonight six
fifteen for our coverage of UT women's basketball on AM
thirteen hundred The Zone Ray.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Harmon is one assist away from eight hundred they've got.
I think also tonight we're going to see some of
those younger players that Vic has both sophomores and freshmen.
I think we'll see Justice Carlton get a lot of
minutes tonight, and we may see Grace Printer, the young
lady from Ireland, the freshman who had a career high
(19:32):
seven points the other day.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Her parents were in from Ireland.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Is really cool, by the way, Jake to see Grace
Printer's parents from Dublin, Ireland into watch or play the
other day, and then two nights ago to see Monuspokatitus
parents in from Lithuania. They had to leave today to
go back to Europe, but it's always good because that's
a long long trip for them. But I think we'll
(19:55):
see Grace Printer perhaps get some extended minutes tonight. I
think we'll see several of the younger players, and then
there's always the fan favorites like Sarah Graves who's been
around for a few years in a former walk on.
So I think that it could be interesting, even if
the game turns out to be lopsided, which I think
(20:16):
it probably will, but I think it could be really
interesting to see and for folks who were tuned into
the game listening to look at it hear about some
different combinations and and see what these young players can do.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Hey, how about what you saw from Bria Cunningham on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Vix had his eye on her. He tried to recruit
her when she originally signed with Arizona. And the funny
thing is, I think he got this close to getting
her because when her name entered the portal, he called,
and he called the house and her mom, Bray's mom
(20:55):
answered the phone and said, coach Shaefer, she kept his number.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
That's out close it was.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Brad told me before the season started she missed that
double double by by one rebound, and I asked her
about that. She said, it always seems to be the way. Well,
it wasn't the way the other night. She got that
double double relatively early, so she had to adjust to
Vick's up tempo in more defensive intensive type and style
(21:23):
of play. You know, Kyla Oldacre has done that. But
they complimented one another great and then, like I said,
when they're on the floor together, it's really unique to watch.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And the Longhorns best defensive rebounding lineup this year has
included Cunningham on the floor, so that's a player to
watch for as the game progresses, So, Craig, we appreciate
you stopping by, have a great call tonight, and well
you'll be in and out of town tomorrow, but we'll
hold the.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Four down for you right here on AM thirteen hundred zone.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
It's back late tonight and then back out tomorrow with
the man up to Hartford. The game is Friday night
and so we'll see how it all goes.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
It'll be a busy time and a busy weekend.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Well, thanks for making some time for us, Craig.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Thanks, Jake, appreciate you stepping in.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
And when we come back.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Our show continues with more from Longhorn's men's basketball head
coach Sean Miller right here on sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred Zone and on the iHeartRadio app
You can do that.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yes, them with almost four hours away to my car,
it is still a yacht rock Wednesday here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred zone, and we've got America bumping
us back with you can do Magic, Craig. It's been
a magical start to the season for Texas women's basketball.
How's it been spending the last couple of days with
(00:30):
them as they get ready for UTRGV.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, they're always an interesting group to hang out with, Jake,
And it's one of the blessings that I have of
broadcasting both the men's and women's games is it's not
that there's a great deal of contrast. Because basketball teams
have the routines when they travel and they gather at
a certain point and then they get all the charter flight.
(00:55):
If they're flying somewhere, they fly to the place, they
go to the hotel. They usually have a team dinnery
either at the hotel or at a restaurant. There might
be a night before practice, in fact there usually is,
and then they'll be you know, a team breakfast the
next morning, and then they'll go to the arena for
shoot around and go back. They'll have some film study,
(01:16):
they'll have a pregame meal and then you know, they'll
get all packed up, check out the hotel, go.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
To the arena, play the game, and then go to
the airport and fly home.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And that pretty much holds true for both the men's
and women's basketball teams. There are some new minces. Vick
Schaeffer as a firm believer in ice cream, and so
on the night before a game, what he does with
(01:45):
the team is they'll land as they did yesterday afternoon,
come over to the hotel, check in, then went to
team dinner at a local restaurant, then went to the
arena just to get some shots up at the Ogden
Arena was it wasn't anything real heavy detailed, but just
getting some shots up, getting used to the building a
(02:06):
little bit, uh, and then back to the hotel and
they had ice cream brought in for him. So that's
that's kind of the uh uh. That's kind of the
tradition that you might say. But I will say this too, Jake.
One thing that I appreciate about Vick Schaeffer, and that
a lot of people do, in addition to him being
a really good coach, is he has a great appreciation
(02:30):
and affection for the game and the history of college basketball,
both men's and women's basketball. And he spent some time
after the team finished shooting last night in the burd
Ogden Arena talking to them, not about strategic points and
wanting them to play harder or this or that or
things like that. He was talking to him about what
(02:53):
it should mean to them to come down here to
the Rio Grand Valley, because it's almost unheard of that
a team that is ranked as highly as Texas is
would make a road trip down to the valley to
play UTRGV. But he has a great appreciation for the
program and respect for Lane Lord, their head coach, and
(03:15):
he also knows and this is the deal that they
work out when they come down. They don't normally play
in UTRGVS on campus arena the Fieldhouse. They did play
there four years ago. They played a game there four
years ago. But when they came here two years ago
(03:36):
and when the men were here three years ago, the
games were played in this arena called the bert Ogden Arena.
It is for anybody that's been to say the ATV
Center and Cedar Park, it's a lot like that. It's
a modern like eight thousand Seed Arena and it's the
home of the Rio Grand Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets
(03:56):
G League team, and it's a nice buildings. It's a
relatively new building. It's not that old.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
And it's seven years old.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, yeah, it's and it's it's a nice building. And
when they came here two years ago and drew the
largest crowd ever to see a women's basketball game down
here in the Valley, and that record may be met
or exceeded tonight. It may be in the seventy eight
hundred and eight thousand seat range. Because they're first of all,
(04:25):
as we know, with Texas having a large alumni fan base,
there are a lot of ut alums down here in
the valley, and then there's some other people as well,
and then there's people that want to come to see
the number two team in the country. So all of
those things play into it. And what Vick was doing
was trying to get the players to understand they're coming
down to see you guys play. How many of of
them will obviously be rooting for UTRGV, but they're coming
(04:49):
to see you play, and you owe it to them
to play the way that you know you can play.
And so he was appealing to them from that perspective, saying,
let's put on a good show, let's play well, because
that's what's expected of us.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And it's what the expectations come with good reason. I mean,
what this team is doing right now without Aleah Crump,
without Breonna Preston, and without Ashton Judd is start nine
to zero, beat South Carolina and UCLA back to back days.
I mean, can you put into context just how special
of us start this has been?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Well, certainly what happened in Las Vegas got everybody's attention,
and you know, and to be North Carolina ranked twelfth
in the country to do that, I think all of
that played into it.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
I think, you know, they started off preseason.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Number four and they were holding their own, but then
when they went to Las Vegas and beat the number
three team UCLA and then the number two teams South Carolina,
then it caught everybody's attention and people can see the budding.
I don't know if rivalry is the right word, but
maybe there is because of the competitive nature of those
(06:02):
two teams, Texas and South Carolina. They're going to meet
again next month in Colombia. It'll be their only meeting
in the regular season, but there's a decent chance they
meet in the SEC tournament, maybe in the finals like
last year, and who knows, maybe they meet in the
NCAA Tournament like they did last year in the final four.
So yeah, it's even the possible that they could wind
up playing four times again this year. But the mere
(06:24):
fact that they got those wins and that their best
players are playing really well right now. Rory Harmon is
playing some outstanding basketball. Madison Booker and Jordan Lee has
given them that third weapon and until they get Breonna
Preston back, and they hope that that is in the
next two to three weeks, maybe right around the time
(06:46):
conference play starts. For Leah Crumpet, maybe a while longer,
they're just kind of monitoring her situation. They're also hoping
to get Ashton Judd back right around the start of
conference play. And when they get them back, I think
folks feel that they can be a real threat on
the national stage.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You mentioned Jordan Lee, and maybe it's because of the
injuries to players like crump and like Preston who can
really shoot it from the outside. But outside of Jordan Lee,
who's had her nights where she's found the three point range.
Texas hasn't even shot it that well from three. They
haven't needed to yet to this point in the season,
which is pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And they didn't shoot the three well at all last
year and went to the Final Four, and they didn't
shoot the three that well a year before and they
were in the Elite eight. Historically, VIC hasn't had teams
that were great three point shooting teams. I will tell
you this, Jake, they're shooting the ball better right now
beyond the aren't thing they have in any of the
(07:43):
prior seasons that He's kind of chuckled about all of
that because he gets asked about it a lot. But
when you have players who can drive and slash and
dish and create, and when you got two big post
players inside and Brida Cunningham and Kyla Oldacre, and he
played a boat together in some sequences the other night
(08:03):
in their game or last Sunday in their game. So
he's done that. He's done that a little bit, and
I think he plans maybe to do that a little
bit more to see how those players work together. And
then we'll see what happens when the guards come back.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Well and Craig, you spend a lot of time with
this team, like we alluded to, when you're just hanging
around them, right, do you notice anything that's different from
last year? I know it's a question that Vick Schaeffer
kind of shook off in his media availability the other day,
But does anything feel or look different to you than
last year at this point?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I think it did at the start when a Leah
Crump was playing, because here was a McDonald's All American
that came in and she was lighting it up.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
The formula with.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Her out has been largely Madison Booker and Rory Harmon
with a healthy dose of Jordan Lee in there. And
Lee has stepped up. I mean she averaged last year
I think something like six points per game and she's
sort of like right around fifteen a game right now,
and she has emerged as the best three point shooter
on this team. A lot of the other things remain
(09:11):
the same, And I thought about this when I was
at breakfast with him this morning. They have thirteen players
with them that travel down here for this game.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
The way the setup works when you're on the road
with the team, and they have like a film room
that they could look at and it's you know, it's
kind of like meeting room, banquet rooms whatever. There are
usually five or six round tables that hold comfortably maybe
seven or eight people. And there's five or six of
(09:46):
those tables, and at one table, the coaching staff sits
together pretty much and they're mapping out some strategy. And
then there'll be another table where operations Pete Well the
manager and grand assistants and people like that set. Then
there's another table where like the operations tory Takeolo Handles,
(10:08):
the director of operations, and Kathy Harston and I usually
sit at that table with her and a couple others,
and so it leaves two full tables for the team.
But the team doesn't do that. All thirteen players pull
up chairs and they all sit at the same table.
That's the closest team is they all sit together. I mean,
(10:29):
it's pretty time watching them, you know, like you know,
cut a chicken breast and a pregame meal, e Thei're
keeping their elbows in, you know, but.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
It's nothing like a battle, nothing like a.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Battle for the rebound when they're all crashed in there.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
That's exactly right. That that's how close this team is.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
They all like to sit together and they talk about things,
you know, not even just the things they do in
film study, but just when they're when they're all just
having a meal.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
They all like sitting together. This team likes each other.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
A lot, and that's easy to tell when you watch
them play. To the Texas men's side. Now, where Sean
Miller talked this morning about some of the defensive points,
he continues to harp on with this group, kind of
hinting that the effort on that side of the floor
still needs to be a lot better.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Going into Friday's game against Yukon.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
What did you notice as a difference between maybe that
first half of the Southern game and the second half,
Because Sean Miller talked about the big contrast, he loved
the first half defensive effort, but he thought the second
half was was way too porous.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, and we've had quite a bit of time to
talk about this, including yesterday when we recorded Longhorn Weekly,
which airs tonight, I mean tomorrow night, excuse me, at
seven o'clock.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
So, and folks are going, by the way, folks are
gonna be in.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
For a treat on that show. To morning, Bill Raftery
is on with us us.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Well, I asked him for the origin of that. I
asked him for the origin of onions.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Oh, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh yeah, and and and he explains it. And I
asked him about getting your puppies aligned. But you know,
the funny thing about Raff is probably other than maybe onions,
his most famous line is send it in Jerome when
Jerome Lane shatters the backboard.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
It's send it in Jerome.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
That one when he's working on ESPN. Well, we all
remember seeing Jerome Lane get that lib pass and slam
it in. You know who threw the lib pass to him?
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Who is that?
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Sean Miller?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Oh, Seawan was an outstanding point guard on that pit
team that Jeromeline said, So we get both of their
perspectives on the send It in Jerome play and how
they're picking up glass and he said, in those days,
he raft said, we didn't have a studio. So they're
killing time on the air. They're just killing time. They
(12:53):
get Don Nelson was there scouting the game and they
had him on, and they're just having to fill this
long gap like a rain delay or something.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
People are picking up glass meet. Sean said he still.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Last a couple of pieces of the broken backboard, the glasses.
It took an hour to replace the shattered backboard and
get another one and get it and get it erected
in here. So we had we had great conversations about
that stuff. But to your point, the biggest thing that
bothered Sean the other night in the game against Southern
(13:22):
was the fouling, especially in the second half. And after
the game, we visit with an assistant coach because coach
Miller has to go to the press conference. But as
he came out, he walked over to me and Eddie
Orne and just kind of like did this and was
like the fouling, the fouling is just's just got to stop,
and the unnecessary fouling. And he gets into greater detail
(13:45):
about that tomorrow night. As to you know, the fouling
that takes place, some of it's necessary, you gotta do it,
and things like that, especially if it's to keep a
guy from having an easy layup or something like that.
But even a guy like mibus Fo Titus, who had
a career game the other night and just just played
tremendously well, had he said he could have been out
(14:07):
there a lot more. But there were just a couple of,
you know, from behind chippy fowls that did not need
to happen. So there's an education process that's still going
on with this team, and it's going to continue.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
For a while.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
As I've said this already several times and I'll say
it again and I'll continue to say it, I have
been really impressed with Coach Miller and his staff and
how they teach the game. And there's a lot of
teaching that has to go with a very young basketball team.
So it's just to sit in and practice and watch
them teaching this game from what they're expecting is pretty
(14:42):
impressive stuff. So yeah, they've got it. They've got their
hands full of Tomorrow Night. I mean, Alex Caravan, solo ball,
all the wrest of those guys for you kind of tremendous.
And Dan Hurley is one of the most intense driven
coaches you'll ever come across. I even asked Seawan on
Long Worn Weekly about Dan Hurley and what he's like
(15:04):
as head coach. So there's there's some good stuff on
the show about it tomorrow night. But to your point, yeah,
this is going to be a huge test. And they
played Ucon in the last three years. They just had
that much success against some They played him in Madison
Square Garden, they played him last year in Austin, and
of course now they're playing them at what is now
called I've just finally found this out today.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
People's Bank Arena.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Forever it was the Hertford Civic Center, the mall because
they're trying to buy the mall. Then it was the
Excel Center for a long time. Now it's called People's
Bank Arena, and that's where they'll be doing that on
Friday night.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
And you'll hear Sean Miller's thoughts on playing in that arena.
I think he did call it Excel Arena now the
outdated name as well as facing all.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
The Harvard I call it the Hertford Civic Center. Yeah,
we were, we were recording the program because that's what
its original name was.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
That's when the Hertford Whalers were playing there at the NHL.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So yeah, I called it the Hartford Civic Center, but
it's People's Bank Arenas the name of the building.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Was it the Whalers that became your Carolina Hurricanes.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
It was, And it brought.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
About a lot of grumbling up in the New England
area because they had met a stated goal that they
had to get I think to like ten thousand season
tickets or something like that. They met the goal, but
the owners had already decided they were moving the team
to North Carolina, and that still left a lot of
people very, very unhappy.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And it left a lot of fans with those Whaler
uniforms unhappy. I know you got to get yeah, I
know you got to catch catch a ride over to
the arena soon, but I wanted to get your reaction
first to the Dodgers big bullpen signing Edwin Diaz. It's
going to be wearing Dodger blue for the next three years,
and a lot of folks around the league have really
praised this signing because, like you discussed with me all
(16:57):
postseason long, the bullpen was the underbelly of the Dodger
dynasty and now Diaz shores it up back there.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Remember when we had Gene watch it on Monday from
Orlando and I I had not heard. Of course, he's
an insight, That's why he's our MLB insider.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
His ears to the ground, he's hearing what's going on.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And I asked him, are the Dodgers really going to
do much of anything, because you know, they didn't really
do anything in the trade deadline during the season because
they were waiting on guys to get healthy.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, they're still waiting on some guys to get healthy.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Evan Phillips had been a pretty effective closer before he
had to undergo Tommy John surgery, and the same thing
with Michael Kopek, and then River Ryan had been an
outstanding young starting pitcher had to undergo t J. Sir,
they're still waiting for Tony Gonsolin to get back again.
So there's all of those things. M and she and
just came off of that, and we saw that he
was pretty effective in the postseason. So that's why I
(17:52):
put the question of Gene. I said, are they and
he goes, oh, no, they're going to be active. And
at first you mentioned, you know, Kyle Tucker, and then
there's a cop other guys that they might take a
look at. But he said, now they're going to be active.
And when the plane touched down here in the valley,
that's when I saw that the Dodgers at signed Diaz.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I was like wow.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
So I texted Gene and I said, you were right
about this. And he sent me a three word response
or four word response. They're not done yet, so you
know they We'll see what else happens with that. I'm
curious to see how the Rangers and the Astros also
attack these winter meetings and what can they do to
(18:34):
help out their ball clubs a little bit. As well
as the big name thing, seeing Kyle Swarber, Schwarber re
signed with the Phillies, Pete Alonzo's names out there right now,
there's all these other big names. I'm certainly curious to
see where these guys wind up, as well as for
the team I followed.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, Pete Alonso landed in Baltimore with the Orioles. We're
going to get Cameron Parker's reaction to a lot of
the latest MLB hot stove news coming up in the
four o'clock But Craig any last keys and you know,
reasons fans should be excited to tune in tonight six
fifteen for our coverage of UT women's basketball on AM
thirteen hundred The Zone Ray.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Harmon is one assist away from eight hundred they've got.
I think also tonight we're going to see some of
those younger players that Vic has both sophomores and freshmen.
I think we'll see Justice Carlton get a lot of
minutes tonight, and we may see Grace Printer, the young
lady from Ireland, the freshman who had a career high
(19:32):
seven points the other day.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Her parents were in from Ireland.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Is really cool, by the way, Jake to see Grace
Printer's parents from Dublin, Ireland into watch or play the
other day, and then two nights ago to see Monuspokatitus
parents in from Lithuania. They had to leave today to
go back to Europe, but it's always good because that's
a long long trip for them. But I think we'll
(19:55):
see Grace Printer perhaps get some extended minutes tonight. I
think we'll see several of the younger players, and then
there's always the fan favorites like Sarah Graves who's been
around for a few years in a former walk on.
So I think that it could be interesting, even if
the game turns out to be lopsided, which I think
(20:16):
it probably will, but I think it could be really
interesting to see and for folks who were tuned into
the game listening to look at it hear about some
different combinations and and see what these young players can do.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Hey, how about what you saw from Bria Cunningham on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Vix had his eye on her. He tried to recruit
her when she originally signed with Arizona. And the funny
thing is, I think he got this close to getting
her because when her name entered the portal, he called,
and he called the house and her mom, Bray's mom
(20:55):
answered the phone and said, coach Shaefer, she kept his number.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
That's out close it was.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Brad told me before the season started she missed that
double double by by one rebound, and I asked her
about that. She said, it always seems to be the way. Well,
it wasn't the way the other night. She got that
double double relatively early, so she had to adjust to
Vick's up tempo in more defensive intensive type and style
(21:23):
of play. You know, Kyla Oldacre has done that. But
they complimented one another great and then, like I said,
when they're on the floor together, it's really unique to watch.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And the Longhorns best defensive rebounding lineup this year has
included Cunningham on the floor, so that's a player to
watch for as the game progresses, So, Craig, we appreciate
you stopping by, have a great call tonight, and well
you'll be in and out of town tomorrow, but we'll
hold the.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Four down for you right here on AM thirteen hundred zone.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
It's back late tonight and then back out tomorrow with
the man up to Hartford. The game is Friday night
and so we'll see how it all goes.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
It'll be a busy time and a busy weekend.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Well, thanks for making some time for us, Craig.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Thanks, Jake, appreciate you stepping in.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
And when we come back.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Our show continues with more from Longhorn's men's basketball head
coach Sean Miller right here on sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred Zone and on the iHeartRadio app
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