AP Ranking question

[Phil]

Dan's a straight shooter. (To the chagrin of some who see the world through orange-tinted glasses.)

 

[Icebear]

Dan, sees what I see and ranks them about the same.

 

[stwainfan]

I take one thing from the CN game. This years team is more athletic. Having Carter and Reynolds makes guard position more athletic and quicker. The addition of Russell is also big.

 

[Vowelguy]

The addition of Russell is also big.

Ugh, bad pun.

Who started?

 

[UConnCat]

Dan's a straight shooter. (To the chagrin of some who see the world through orange-tinted glasses.)

Yes. I was unhappy to learn that KNS articles are no longer free. His blog does not require a subscription.

I think he puts his finger on the relevant questions surrounding Tennessee which are more mental than physical. While the team is talented and athletic, getting to the FF and winning national championships require players who can make big plays/shots when it matters the most. The team's leading scorer has struggled with that role, particularly in the NCAA tournament.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Ugh, bad pun.

Who started?

Izzy, Graves, Burdick, Simmons and Massengale. But Russell played 20 minutes, as did almost everyone: LINK.

 

[stwainfan]

Izzy, Graves, Burdick, Simmons and Massengale. But Russell played 20 minutes, as did almost everyone: LINK.

Tennessee only had nine players for the game.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Tennessee only had nine players for the game.

I thought their minute distribution was excellent so my comment was not intended to be a criticism (if you took it that way). It's rare that you have 9 players where they all have between 17 and 28 minutes. Usually the deeper bench players have far fewer minutes, even in blowouts. Of course with only 9 players, there isn't really room for deep bench players. Of the 9 players available against CN, the least significant was probably Nia Moore, and she logged 17 minutes.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

I thought their minute distribution was excellent so my comment was not intended to be a criticism (if you took it that way). It's rare that you have 9 players where they all have between 17 and 28 minutes. Usually the deeper bench players have far fewer minutes, even in blowouts. Of course with only 9 players, there isn't really room for deep bench players. Of the 9 players available against CN, the least significant was probably Nia Moore, and she logged 17 minutes.

I agree with you. Holly did a great job of allocating the minutes and from what I saw, Reynolds and Russell earned starting positions. There is just so much depth and talent, even on the bench, that there really isn't much of a drop off when subs are made.

As far as the Fleser article, I agree with his assessment about the Lady Vols this season. It's still to early to tell if they have improved in certain areas from last year. The defense did look to be improved, but they still turned it over a little more than I would have liked. I guess you can attribute that to opening game jitters.

 

[Bestiarius]

Folks have you on their ignore list? Who would have thunk it (end sarcasm)

Tennessee overachieved last year and they are even better this year. The preseason polls show it, other team's coaches believe we are a lot better this year and there is just an huge buzz of excitement about the team this year that wasn't really there last year. For the CN game, I won't be looking at how many points we score as much as I look at how many points we give UP to them. I'm looking for an improvement in team defense, as this was a major weakness for Tennessee last year. If they can even show moderate improvement, then I def believe a final four spot is obtainable. Their offense will be fine, it's the defense I'm still worried about. I think Russell, Carter and Reynolds will all help make the defense much, much better. Tennessee's toughest game, in my opinion, will be the UNC game. UNC will shoot a lot of threes and with how poorly Tennessee defended the perimeter last year, I just hope we made big improvements there. With all this said, I think Tennessee has a great shot at ending the regular season undefeated. The schedule is tough, so this won't be any small feat.

I think UNC will be a top five team by the end of the year with at least one win against Duke and a win against Maryland, and maybe even Tennessee if we don't bring our A game.

Careful, a huge buzz might mean you're about to get stung.

I don't see UNC doing much this year. Their problem will be similar to Tennessee's - Defense. Granted, the exhibition games vs. poor opponents don't mean much, but in both the UNC and Tenn exhib games, defense was putrid. Allowing wide open 3s with not a defender in sight isn't going to be a winning strategy against a quality opponent. I believe it will take a couple of years for UNC to become a feared opponent if they can stay together for that long.

To me, Tennessee's main strength is Graves.

Simmons is the same as she was last year, except that she's shooting less and passing more. The problem is, she's passing when she's open for a good shot that she should take. Seems like someone told her not to shoot so much, so that's what she's doing. The issue is lack of good judgement, not talent.
Russell - Tough to tell watching her face the Lilliputans. She's smooth but doesn't look very strong. She can make unopposed layups, and that's a good thing.

Carter looks like a keeper. It's a big advantage sitting on the bench for a year. It's almost like she's a Sophomore now.

I see Izzy having a good year, better than Russell.

In summary, it will be a good year but filled with ups and downs. Perhaps some surprising losses and some good wins.

How's that for analysis after one exhibition game.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

Careful, a huge buzz might mean you're about to get stung.

I don't see UNC doing much this year. Their problem will be similar to Tennessee's - Defense. Granted, the exhibition games vs. poor opponents don't mean much, but in both the UNC and Tenn exhib games, defense was putrid. Allowing wide open 3s with not a defender in sight isn't going to be a winning strategy against a quality opponent. I believe it will take a couple of years for UNC to become a feared opponent if they can stay together for that long.

To me, Tennessee's main strength is Graves.

Simmons is the same as she was last year, except that she's shooting less and passing more. The problem is, she's passing when she's open for a good shot that she should take. Seems like someone told her not to shoot so much, so that's what she's doing. The issue is lack of good judgement, not talent.
Russell - Tough to tell watching her face the Lilliputans. She's smooth but doesn't look very strong. She can make unopposed layups, and that's a good thing.

Carter looks like a keeper. It's a big advantage sitting on the bench for a year. It's almost like she's a Sophomore now.

I see Izzy having a good year, better than Russell.

In summary, it will be a good year but filled with ups and downs. Perhaps some surprising losses and some good wins.

How's that for analysis after one exhibition game.

That's a pretty sweet analysis and you know, I agree with you for the most part.
You might be right about UNC. Their defense does seem to be their weakness, but you have to be impressed by their freshmen. I think they will give Tennessee all they can handle and more and the game being at UNC, I am just a little bit nervous about it lol..

The wide open three's were a huge problem last season for Tennessee and I hope against hope that they have that fixed. Honestly, CN did seem to be open a few times, but I don't know if that was because the refs were calling a very tight game and they backed off from getting in anymore foul trouble. I haven't decided yet if the new hand check rule will hurt or help Tennessee.

Russell needs a good year in the weight room and I think she will be fine as far as that is concerned. I'm not sure she even lifted weights in high school either..

You didn't mention Reynolds..What did you think about her play?? She impressed the heck out of me and might have even played herself into a starting role..

 

[stwainfan]

I thought their minute distribution was excellent so my comment was not intended to be a criticism (if you took it that way). It's rare that you have 9 players where they all have between 17 and 28 minutes. Usually the deeper bench players have far fewer minutes, even in blowouts. Of course with only 9 players, there isn't really room for deep bench players. Of the 9 players available against CN, the least significant was probably Nia Moore, and she logged 17 minutes.

I know and I didn't take it as criticism. I thought it everyone got some good minutes. I thought Nia looked the best I've seen her.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

I know and I didn't take it as criticism. I thought it everyone got some good minutes. I thought Nia looked the best I've seen her.

Nia looked very much improved from last season. Good for her..

 

[Bestiarius]

That's a pretty sweet analysis and you know, I agree with you for the most part.
You might be right about UNC. Their defense does seem to be their weakness, but you have to be impressed by their freshmen. I think they will give Tennessee all they can handle and more and the game being at UNC, I am just a little bit nervous about it lol..

The wide open three's were a huge problem last season for Tennessee and I hope against hope that they have that fixed. Honestly, CN did seem to be open a few times, but I don't know if that was because the refs were calling a very tight game and they backed off from getting in anymore foul trouble. I haven't decided yet if the new hand check rule will hurt or help Tennessee.

Russell needs a good year in the weight room and I think she will be fine as far as that is concerned. I'm not sure she even lifted weights in high school either..

You didn't mention Reynolds..What did you think about her play?? She impressed the heck out of me and might have even played herself into a starting role..

When I said Carter (above), I meant Reynolds. She's a smart player, good instincts and a defensive bright spot. I believe shoulder repairs are less problematic than knee issues, so she should be good to go on that aspect. Should be the starting point guard in my opinion. I'm not high on Massengale.
Don't have much of an opinion of Carter yet.

 

[stwainfan]

When I said Carter (above), I meant Reynolds. She's a smart player, good instincts and a defensive bright spot. I believe shoulder repairs are less problematic than knee issues, so she should be good to go on that aspect. Should be the starting point guard in my opinion. I'm not high on Massengale.
Don't have much of an opinion of Carter yet.

It was Carter that sat out last year. Reynolds is a freshman from Oregon.

 

[Bestiarius]

It was Carter that sat out last year. Reynolds is a freshman from Oregon.

Thanks for the clarification on the names stwainfan. Sorry for the confusion. Final clarification: It was Carter I wrote about #14. No opinion on Reynolds. I just don't remember what she did in the game (my failing, not hers).