#2 South Carolina @ #21 Tennessee - 2/18/21

[bballnut90]

Wow great finish by Tennessee! Harper is doing an outstanding job this season. Davis was a no show in the first half but just dominated in the 2nd. 24 points in a half against a team as good as SC is unreal, it has been an interesting year for her but she seems to be finding her groove. This team feels more like old school Tennessee in their grit, effort and determination. Third quarter they really started playing aggressively and played much smarter.

As far as SC....I still am unsure why Dawn isn't using Boston more. I watched the Michigan/Indiana game earlier, and literally 20 times they cleared out the lane for an entry feed for Hillmon to go one on one against her defender. I saw that happen once tonight for Boston. I didn't tally every shot, but at least 4 of Boston's 12 shots were face up jumpers from 15 feet or deeper, and three were off offensive rebounds, meaning she only had at most 5 shots taken within the flow of the offense, and that even that number seems high. Why are they not going to her more? Whenever they iso her on the block and she's one on one, she usually scores or at worst takes a very high percentage shot. By comparison, Zia Cooke took 22 shots today and hit just 6 of them. I do not understand why the offense doesn't run more sets for her when she's by far the most efficient option. I will say Tennessee's bigs did an outstanding job playing physically, but the offensive sets appear to be primarily designed for Cooke to run off screens and take low percentage floaters in the lane.

SC is still likely a safe #2 seed but their NCAA success hinges on taking better shots and making better decisions. Their guards have looked shaky as of late. Henderson can't have 6 TOs (she had 8 vs UCONN) and Cooke should not be taking 20+ shots while shooting such a low clip-- 6/18 inside the arc, 0-4 from 3.

Tennessee is going to be one of the more dangerous 3 or 4 seeds in the tournament. They're big, athletic and gritty. Their posts aren't very polished offensively but play in your face defense and crash the glass. They also have really potent playmakers in Davis/Horston/Burrell. They'll make mistakes and take some bad shots, but they play unselfishIy and can step up and make plays like we saw tonight. I don't expect Tennessee to get blown out by anyone come tournament time due to their sheer physicality. All of their 5 losses have been extremely competitive (even the Kentucky game was a 2 point margin with 5 minutes left). Great win for the program.

 

[bballnut90]

love dawn and our players but dawn has never recruited a true player outside of the post players.....we need an all around guard. She has recruited athletes at guard in hopes they develop a shot, imho rivers and Raven are a change there...it's obvious Boston needs help down low saxton is awesome and would be a beast as a sixth woman..We lack at leadership and henny being the only Sr and not a team captain says it all and it shows....henny has huge shoes to fill from ty but she plays too wreckless at times same with Zia...Zia has to learn to be a pg cause the guards coming in can legit shoot and dish

Henderson can shoot well and she's only a junior. Dawn also coached Davis/Gray who were good shooters. I haven't seen a lot of Johnson, but Rivers is a fantastic athlete that lacks a consistent jump shot. Amihere has great potential with her length and athleticism but has a long way to go as a player. Needs to improve her touch around the basket, but she has the tools to be a very good player inside with Boston. Feagin also comes in next year who is a very highly regarded forward and should play well alongside Boston.

 

[bballnut90]

BS call in a tight game like this

Man, had that call on Key led to an SC comeback I would've been heated. Absolutely terrible call combined with a blatant travel by Cooke shortly after (sliding with the ball) that didn't get called. Both squads definitely got a couple calls earlier in the game but those were 2 big ones late that could've really hurt Tennessee. Fortunately it didn't matter.

 

[Blueballer]

 

[Big Shoulders]

Nice Game Thread UConn fans......A lot of nice posters.
Good luck rest of the way.

 

[YSRFrisbee]

When TN beats SC/ND...or vice versa ?

 

[Gurleyman]

Did Burrell cover Cooke most of the game? She’s going to develop quite a defensive reputation with Paige’s 3-14, Howard’s 7-27 (or whatever it was) combined and Cooke’s 6-22.

I know Paige missed a couple shots she normally makes, but Burrell made her uncomfortable enough and didn’t give her easy rhythm shots, so she deserves a lot of the credit - and the 3 shots Paige did make were a well-contested pull up, a put back on a fast break and the last 3 against a 2-3 zone.

 

[bballnut90]

Did Burrell cover Cooke most of the game? She’s going to develop quite a defensive reputation with Paige’s 3-14, Howard’s 7-27 (or whatever it was) combined and Cooke’s 6-22.

I know Paige missed a couple shots she normally makes, but Burrell made her uncomfortable enough and didn’t give her easy rhythm shots, so she deserves a lot of the credit - and the 3 shots Paige did make were a well-contested pull up, a put back on a fast break and the last 3 against a 2-3 zone.

She's making herself into a strong WNBA prospect IMO. Great size for a guard/wing, much improved as a shooter and can score off the dribble. High energy, hard working and appears to be an excellent teammate. She has improved by leaps and bounds each offseason.

 

[MooreMayaNY]

Was it the basketball? lmfao

 

[mhshuskies]

Which ball did they use?

 

[jonson]

Henderson can shoot well and she's only a junior. Dawn also coached Davis/Gray who were good shooters. I haven't seen a lot of Johnson, but Rivers is a fantastic athlete that lacks a consistent jump shot. Amihere has great potential with her length and athleticism but has a long way to go as a player. Needs to improve her touch around the basket, but she has the tools to be a very good player inside with Boston. Feagin also comes in next year who is a very highly regarded forward and should play well alongside Boston.

But weren't Davis and Gray transfers? I think the comments above mostly had to do with Dawn's recruiting at the guard position.

 

[DefenseBB]

Which ball did they use?

Nike...

 

[bballnut90]

But weren't Davis and Gray transfers? I think the comments above mostly had to do with Dawn's recruiting at the guard position.

Yes, but I'd still consider those to be recruits even if they were transfers since Dawn recruited them.

Other standouts include Tiffany Mitchell who shot 40% from 3, although to be fair she wasn't a super prolific 3pt shooter (averaged shooting just 3 per game), Bianca Jackson who shot 39% as a freshman but eventually transferred, and Tina Roy who was a 3pt specialist.

Upon looking at stats though, I think @mikeboss550 was accurate in that Dawn usually recruits athletic guards in hopes of them developing a jumpshot rather than guards who already shoot well.

 

[LETTERL]

I wonder how Mulkey will feel if SC doesn’t drop much in the polls. ?

I think Kim took a swipe at NC State without coming right out and saying so. Bring on the Bears!

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Had a very strange experience watching this game. I watch a lot of games on DVR because of bath time and my DVR is doing strange things.

So I watched the first half and the recording crashed. So I went from a comfortable lead at halftime to four minutes left in the 4th with Tennessee leading by 1. And saw nothing but bad stuff from there.

Nothing ever good happens when I don't watch, ah well.

The seniors last year wouldn't let long periods of selfishness pass. It happened here and there, but the ball mostly kept moving and there were relatively few instances of someone deciding it was their turn to shoot everyone else be damned.

I missed a lot of bad, but Cooke took 22 shots? shaking my head at that one.

Congrats to Tennessee. I kind of had this as one that might be a problem and now it is certain that Texas A&M will have a shot at the SEC title. Probably outright.

this team could also lose to Kentucky in the rematch and should be vulnerable from the Sweet 16 on.

Dawn has been tinkering trying to coax some depth out of the team. i noticed Eniya Russell played a lot while I watched (including some crunch time), which makes sense but odd to bring that out for the first time in Knoxville.

Team turns the ball over too much though 13 isn't so bad for them.

 

[Sched234]

With all respect to Tennessee, a quality team through and through, this was probably SC’s first “bad” loss of the year. I can accept falling to NC State early on and to UConn on the road.

What surprises me most is the blown 16-point lead. When SC does lose games, it’s usually a grinder of sorts. I didn’t expect to see this team collapse and surrender a lead of that magnitude.

It’s going to be difficult for SC to hang onto a 1-seed with three losses. They’d have to win out, and that’s going to involve two more tough SEC games and the gauntlet that is the conference tourney.

I’m disappointed, but I don’t believe in making excuses when you just flat-out get beat. And to be honest, this year feels so odd anyways that I’m more easily recognizing there’s more to the times than basketball.

 

[DeeHusky]

Dawn has NEVER really had offense in my opinion. That’s her problem. They hired Melanie Balcomb at one point for offensive expertise but that didn’t work. To me, they just try to play old school basketball and run everything through the post and out athlete everyone. They have always struggled with offense in the half-court. Last year was the one year where I felt like they ran some offense. Or maybe Ty Harris just made it look good.

 

[donalddoowop]

With all respect to Tennessee, a quality team through and through, this was probably SC’s first “bad” loss of the year. I can accept falling to NC State early on and to UConn on the road.

What surprises me most is the blown 16-point lead. When SC does lose games, it’s usually a grinder of sorts. I didn’t expect to see this team collapse and surrender a lead of that magnitude.

It’s going to be difficult for SC to hang onto a 1-seed with three losses. They’d have to win out, and that’s going to involve two more tough SEC games and the gauntlet that is the conference tourney.

I’m disappointed, but I don’t believe in making excuses when you just flat-out get beat. And to be honest, this year feels so odd anyways that I’m more easily recognizing there’s more to the times than basketball.

According to Charlie Creme, it will be hard for SC to lose a number one seed because of the teams they have played. I think that is not fair to other teams.

 

[Nash83]

Dawn has NEVER really had offense in my opinion. That’s her problem. They hired Melanie Balcomb at one point for offensive expertise but that didn’t work. To me, they just try to play old school basketball and run everything through the post and out athlete everyone. They have always struggled with offense in the half-court. Last year was the one year where I felt like they ran some offense. Or maybe Ty Harris just made it look good.

From the lack of offense strategy and having super athletic players, SC reminds me of an old school Tenn team but Pat had her teams more disciplined at executing her game plan that relied on defensive and rebounding first then feed the posts on offensive next.

 

[bballnut90]

According to Charlie Creme, it will be hard for SC to lose a number one seed because of the teams they have played. I think that is not fair to other teams.

If they lose to A&M or Kentucky, I think they're off the 1 line. A&M I'd keep on the 1 line for now ahead of both SC and Louisville who hasn't beat any quality teams this season.

 

[HuskyMJ]

Why was Russell playing so much compared to Beal? In other games Russell barely plays but last night when Rennia Davis was scoring a lot in the 2nd half, Beal was on the bench and Russell was guarding Rennia.

 

[Shades]

 

[FanFromMaine]

Why was Russell playing so much compared to Beal? In other games Russell barely plays but last night when Rennia Davis was scoring a lot in the 2nd half, Beal was on the bench and Russell was guarding Rennia.

Very good question... Injury?

 

[FanFromMaine]

The insertion of Walker into the UT lineup certainly paid dividends this game. She allowed Horston to be a slasher from the wing.

 

[stwainfan]

I think Green will be back next year for Tennessee. Tennessee should have a full roster next year.