While we are not at the top of the food chain when it comes to NIL, people have got to stop acting like that is the ONLY reason we have not been successful as of late.
The way people are constantly whining about NIL on this board, you would think we are Houston and UCF bad, talent-wise, and that is 100% not the case.
Sure, we aren't UCONN or South Carolina (most schools aren't), but we've had the talent to consistently make the Sweet 16 and even an Elite 8 or 2 these last few years.
The problem is we aren't figuring out ways to utilize that talent properly. And that goes back to having a poor coaching philosophy at times.
That, WAY MORE than NIL, is why we've drastically underperformed.
Last year, Vonleh was a Top 3 Center in the Big XII, and arguably a Top 10-15 Post Player in the country.
With our guard combo, along with Bella and Buggs - we pretty much should have taken home either the regular season or tournament title. Should have easily made it out of the Waco sub-regional and into the Sweet 16. Failed on all fronts.
Fast forward to this year.
Scott is possibly the best shooting guard in the conference. And you could actually make a case for Top 5 in the country (definitely Top 10).
Buggs and Bella, when on, can be as dangerous of a duo as there is in the Big XII.
But we've got situations playing out where CNC can't even figure out that Nelms is her best post player. When you struggle with putting your best player combinations on the floor at the right time, things are bound to go sideways.
I'm not even sure that CNC would have played Deng for extended minutes in the Tech game, if Deng hadn't have absolutely been on fire from behind the arc.
It should be obvious to most everyone on here that Deng and Nelms should both be starting and playing way more minutes than they have been. Because together, they can spread the floor well, which makes life easier for Bella, Buggs, and even JVG.
Yet, here we are in dogfights with teams we haven't lost to in nearly 15 years (the last time Tech had gotten the best of us was that infamous game in Lubbock after the Griner/Barncastle melee).
In no way can anyone who attended last Sunday's game come away from that contest thinking that Tech had superior athletes and was more talented 'overall.'
The game shouldn't have been close, even with Scott sidelined.
Yet, as the final buzzer sounded, we were left to watch another Texas team celebrating and whooping it up on our home floor.
That wasn't a talent-deficiency - that was a 'we got out-coached again' deficiency.
So let's stop with the narrative that we aren't talented, and that CNC would easily be on Geno's, Dawn's, or Kim's level if she just had $50 million in NIL sitting around.
From what we've seen these last 4 years, we could have $100 million, and I'd still have trouble believing she'd get us to the Final 4.
So constantly throwing the NIL excuse out there is a disservice to many of these ladies, who if placed in the proper situation, are talented enough to flourish, get us a trophy or two, and help us advance to 'at least' the second weekend in March.
But until CNC figures out how to use her personnel properly, we'll likely continue to just be out there flapping.
The way people are constantly whining about NIL on this board, you would think we are Houston and UCF bad, talent-wise, and that is 100% not the case.
Sure, we aren't UCONN or South Carolina (most schools aren't), but we've had the talent to consistently make the Sweet 16 and even an Elite 8 or 2 these last few years.
The problem is we aren't figuring out ways to utilize that talent properly. And that goes back to having a poor coaching philosophy at times.
That, WAY MORE than NIL, is why we've drastically underperformed.
Last year, Vonleh was a Top 3 Center in the Big XII, and arguably a Top 10-15 Post Player in the country.
With our guard combo, along with Bella and Buggs - we pretty much should have taken home either the regular season or tournament title. Should have easily made it out of the Waco sub-regional and into the Sweet 16. Failed on all fronts.
Fast forward to this year.
Scott is possibly the best shooting guard in the conference. And you could actually make a case for Top 5 in the country (definitely Top 10).
Buggs and Bella, when on, can be as dangerous of a duo as there is in the Big XII.
But we've got situations playing out where CNC can't even figure out that Nelms is her best post player. When you struggle with putting your best player combinations on the floor at the right time, things are bound to go sideways.
I'm not even sure that CNC would have played Deng for extended minutes in the Tech game, if Deng hadn't have absolutely been on fire from behind the arc.
It should be obvious to most everyone on here that Deng and Nelms should both be starting and playing way more minutes than they have been. Because together, they can spread the floor well, which makes life easier for Bella, Buggs, and even JVG.
Yet, here we are in dogfights with teams we haven't lost to in nearly 15 years (the last time Tech had gotten the best of us was that infamous game in Lubbock after the Griner/Barncastle melee).
In no way can anyone who attended last Sunday's game come away from that contest thinking that Tech had superior athletes and was more talented 'overall.'
The game shouldn't have been close, even with Scott sidelined.
Yet, as the final buzzer sounded, we were left to watch another Texas team celebrating and whooping it up on our home floor.
That wasn't a talent-deficiency - that was a 'we got out-coached again' deficiency.
So let's stop with the narrative that we aren't talented, and that CNC would easily be on Geno's, Dawn's, or Kim's level if she just had $50 million in NIL sitting around.
From what we've seen these last 4 years, we could have $100 million, and I'd still have trouble believing she'd get us to the Final 4.
So constantly throwing the NIL excuse out there is a disservice to many of these ladies, who if placed in the proper situation, are talented enough to flourish, get us a trophy or two, and help us advance to 'at least' the second weekend in March.
But until CNC figures out how to use her personnel properly, we'll likely continue to just be out there flapping.
