A four minute, 14-0 run

[alexrgct]

Here is how Tennessee went from down 16 with a snowball's chance in hell yet to down 30.

7:03- Massengale hits a pull-up three for the LVS- 56-40

6:22- Achonwa beats Baugh for an offensive rebound of a Novosel three. Putback good. 58-40

6:07- ND forces a steal. Skylar beats everyone down the floor after receiving an outlet pass. Layup. 60-40 I think this is the exact point the LVs completely give up.

5:38- After Spani travels, Novosel gives it up to Achonwa in the lane, who scores an easy bucket from three feet. 62-40

5:13- Another steal by Notre Dame, McBride blows by Burdick, the only LV who bothered to hustle back on defense. Another layup. 64-40, timeout LVs.

4:39- Novosel is fouled on a quasi-fast break triggered by Glory having her shot blocked. She misses the front end of a one and one, but the ball goes out of bounds to ND. McBride passes to Achonwa, who misses an eight-footer. ND gets an offensive board...

4:14- ...and the LVs lose Diggins, who cuts to basket and makes a wide-open layup after receiving a pretty entry pass from Peters from behind the three-point line. Further proof, however, that the LVs aren't trying anymore. 66-40

3:52- after Simmons misses a wild three-pointer, ND wins the scrum for the loose ball. Diggins drives down court and passes to Peters, who is cutting from the baseline with no LV within three feet of her. 68-40 after the layup.

Interlude:
Glory Johnson forced into a held ball (possession arrow ND), ND finally comes up empty on an offensive possession (offensive foul on Novosel). Burdick is stripped.
/interlude

3:01- after the strip, Novosel drives down the court on the break and passes to McBride, who cuts to the basket for another layup. 70-40

There you have it. Seven field goals, none further than five feet from the basket. No free throws necessary. No hard fouls. Six turnovers for Tennessee, and one wild shot that might as well have been a turnover.

That's how you fall behind by 30 with a team full of high school All-Americans.

 

[EricLA]

it really didn't turn into a complete blowout till about 7 minutes left. ND certainly out played them for the entire game but it seemed Tenn was shell shocked and had no idea how to stop the bleeding. rough loss for them for a lot of reasons. and not a lot of time to "fix" things...

 

[speedoo]

Future coaches wanting to show the importance of valuing the ball (no turnovers) and transition defense (eg hustling back) could do a lot worse than simply showing a tape of this.

 

[speedoo]

I thought the stage for this run was set when TN stupidly went to a zone and ND simply picked it apart to grow the lead to 20 or so. TN finally called a TO which was followed by a brief TN run before ND went on that run to put the game away.

 

[dtbtbtb]

The thing that was fascinating for me in this game was that on defense, ND will switch whenever there was a pick (just like UConn does) and TN basically never did which created a lot of layups for ND and for some reason the coaching staff of TN didn't adjust.....

 

[speedoo]

The thing that was fascinating for me in this game was that on defense, ND will switch whenever there was a pick (just like UConn does) and TN basically never did which created a lot of layups for ND and for some reason the coaching staff of TN didn't adjust.....

What I saw was that TN would try to set a screen, but they would frequently not set it up or execute it right, which would allow the ND defenders to simply follow their player through the screen without having to either fight around or under the screen. On the few occasions that TN set a screen properly, ND would just switch. It would be interesting to review the tape and see whether TN ever actually scored as a result of a good screen.

 

[pap49cba]

Perhaps I was half-asleep but I did not notice Massengale do much of anything.

 

[UConnCat]

Perhaps I was half-asleep but I did not notice Massengale do much of anything.

She didn't. Massengale didn't play terribly, i.e., she didn't make a lot of mistakes (3 pts, 4 assists, 2 tos), but she also didn't try to make much happen. She played passively which was probably a reflection of the size of the stage and her youth.

 

[pap49cba]

She didn't. Massengale didn't play terribly, i.e., she didn't make a lot of mistakes (3 pts, 4 assists, 2 tos), but she also didn't try to make much happen. She played passively which was probably a reflection of the size of the stage and her youth.

But I thought she held the keys to the kingdom....

 

[Dawson]

Oh my, a game that was as awful as this one was, does not require as much looking into as you have. I hate Tennessee fan as much as the next boneyarder, but let's not rub salt in the wounds.

 

[alexrgct]

Oh my, a game that was as awful as this one was, does not require as much looking into as you have. I hate Tennessee fan as much as the next boneyarder, but let's not rub salt in the wounds.

Um...this is a Connecticut board. It's not like I posted this on The Summitt. If an LV fan doesn't want to read discussion of their loss by fans of a rival team, it's probably not wise to visit such a site after your team loses.

More importantly, this is about the potentially precipitous decline of an absolute goliath of a program. It's historically relevant to look at the symptoms. It's also important to note
in terms of evaluating how impressive a win that was for ND...a team we may be playing three more times this season.

 

[Dawson]

Um...this is a Connecticut board. It's not like I posted this on The Summitt. If an LV fan doesn't want to read discussion of their loss by fans of a rival team, it's probably not wise to visit such a site after your team loses.

More importantly, this is about the potentially precipitous decline of an absolute goliath of a program. It's historically relevant to look at the symptoms. It's also important to note
in terms of evaluating how impressive a win that was for ND...a team we may be playing three more times this season.

I think you said all that need to be said in your opening sentence. This is a Connecticut board, not a Tennessee one. Having threads like this only adds to the idea that we are a crazy fanbase that has nothing better to do with our lives that scrutinize an awful game that most turned off after a few minutes into the second half. It's one game against a very good team. This is the same program that lost ten games in a season and won a national championship. And btw this has nothing to do with ND so please don't even start. This has to do with the fact that you dislike Tennessee. Tennessee has nothing to do with UCONN anymore. We don't play them, therefore you can get nothing out of a game they play, other than sick satisfaction from watching them crumble.

 

[Scotter]

She didn't. Massengale didn't play terribly, i.e., she didn't make a lot of mistakes (3 pts, 4 assists, 2 tos), but she also didn't try to make much happen. She played passively which was probably a reflection of the size of the stage and her youth.

But I think it was also a reflection of who Massengale is as a player though. Or at least my impression going all the way back to the HS video I watched when she was still a UConn recruiting target. She's a supporting player, rather than a make things happen kind of a point guard. She will handle the ball and get the team into its offense without many mistakes, and once the team is in the offense she can space the floor with her shooting. That type of point guard has a lot of value, especially to programs like UConn and Tennessee which should have scoring and play makers at other positions. But Tennessee's problems have been verified as bigger than what a mistake free point guard can solve. This isn't a team that just needs Kellie Jolly to return from injury. Massengale has the talent to player better and improve, but to some degree she's going to fundamentally remain the player she is.

 

[Wonkster]

I think you said all that need to be said in your opening sentence. This is a Connecticut board, not a Tennessee one. Having threads like this only adds to the idea that we are a crazy fanbase that has nothing better to do with our lives that scrutinize an awful game that most turned off after a few minutes into the second half. It's one game against a very good team. This is the same program that lost ten games in a season and won a national championship. And btw this has nothing to do with ND so please don't even start. This has to do with the fact that you dislike Tennessee. Tennessee has nothing to do with UCONN anymore. We don't play them, therefore you can get nothing out of a game they play, other than sick satisfaction from watching them crumble.

Dawson, try not deciding what other posters' motivations are. I make that suggestion only because I don't think you're very good at it.

 

[UConnCat]

But I think it was also a reflection of who Massengale is as a player though. Or at least my impression going all the way back to the HS video I watched when she was still a UConn recruiting target. She's a supporting player, rather than a make things happen kind of a point guard. She will handle the ball and get the team into its offense without many mistakes, and once the team is in the offense she can space the floor with her shooting. That type of point guard has a lot of value, especially to programs like UConn and Tennessee which should have scoring and play makers at other positions. But Tennessee's problems have been verified as bigger than what a mistake free point guard can solve. This isn't a team that just needs Kellie Jolly to return from injury. Massengale has the talent to player better and improve, but to some degree she's going to fundamentally remain the player she is.

I have no basis to disagree with what you've said. I read where the Tenn coaches were urging Massengale to be more aggressive, including looking more for her shot. In one of the LV games I watched recently -- against Georgia -- I thought Massengale played very aggressively and very well, scoring 19 points and handing out 9 assists. But, to your point, the Georgia game has been the exception rather than the rule; moreover, she seems to play less aggressively and effectively on the road.

 

[alexrgct]

I thought Massengale was very much in that supporing player role against Kentucky, too. She seemed to do a pretty good job of navigating Kentucky's press, especially for a young player, but she didn't do a ton once they got into their halfcourt offense. 6-4-5 isn't a terrible stat line, but it's also not a ton of production for 36 minutes, especially in a tight game. That's where you could really use a "make things happen" PG.

 

[Dawson]

Dawson, try not deciding what other posters' motivations are. I make that suggestion only because I don't think you're very good at it.

If they or you want to refute it, you have every right to hit the reply button. You just best be coming with something worth me replying to, which I highly doubt will happen.