Shenise Johnson is 5'11". That's a pretty big guard and Riquna Williams is 5'8". Who's bigger? Those 2 guards are both being sought after by the WNBA as top guards in the upcoming draft and one of them was mentioned pre-game as a contender for the Wade trophy. Ariel had 9 assists against one of the best guard combos in the college game.
I thought her 9 assists had more to do with Spani's shooting than anything great by Massengale. Throw the ball to an open Spani, get an assist. Easy. It wasn't like Massengale was constantly penetrating and dishing. And it seemed like every time Miami pressured her with a double team, they got a turnover. TN's future opponents will notice that and set their defenses accordingly.
I said nothing about how many threes she had. Do you disagree that she was shooting very well and that Massengale's assist total benefitted from that?
It doesn't surprise me that y'all found something to critique, but Massengale? Really? She was fantastic in this game. She has absolute control over this offense. Yes Massengale got assists from people shooting well, but that's the point of an assist. She got the ball to Spani or Strick or Glory in a position to score, they scored, and she got a tally in the box score. That's how it's always been, but this is the first time I've seen someone try to belittle the assister.
I watched most of the game and it looked to me like Ariel brought a lot more cohesiveness to the LVs than they had in the few times I watched them the last 2 yrs. Simmons looked much more comfortable off the ball (not surprising). Ariel is going to be a huge boost
Thanks Choc. With Cait and Avant's injuries, we haven't had a true point guard in so long...it's definitely a nice change of pace! She's exactly what we needed this year.
http://www.youtube.com/user/utsportstv?feature=mhee#p/c/13/cwFTSSjyhas there is a hand in her face in all of these shots. two or three were off the dribble, and these highlights don't even show her layup where she took her defender all the way to the bucket, banked the shot and went to the line. if she can continue to develop that part of her game, watch out. this is the first off-season she's been healthy. solid defense and passing to boot.
TN returns everyone and added Ariel. They SHOULD be good, finally. It shouldn't take 3 yrs for their level of talent to gel. Interested to see what happens vs. BU and Stanford.
They HAVE been good. This team came together after their freshmen year and put back 2 seasons with a 66-6 record. Britney Griner sent us packing in the Sweet 16 2 years ago. Notre Dame took us and UConn out last year with superior guard play. We just happened to be a round earlier. With that said, this senior class has way underachieved in March and that will always be the ultimate measuring stick, but to say they haven't been good the past two seasons is nonsense.
I didn't say that, unless your measuring stick of "good", is falling short of F4 and NC. My pt was THIS Sr. laden TN team 'should' be good given all the talent.
Simmons played 36 minutes. I wonder what the record is for minutes by a non-starter (excluding injury and discipline situations)? It can't be much more.
As long as Spani shoots like she did last night and when she's not Simmons is, Tenn is a threat to get to the Final Four and win it all. This years Tenn team will be different then most, they'll rely on their shooting more then rebounding and put backs. This is probably the weakest rebounding team Tenn will have in a long time. They also appear to have more weapons and Ariel will be a more then adequate point guard to lead the team.
I saw the 1st half last night, Tenn was clicking on all cylinders... against a quality opponent. the fullcourt press was solid against Miami and they arent going to play against teams like the 'canes. should be a interesting season.
