Baylor pitching a shutout

[JS]

LVs with one assist from the starters as a group. One.

Seven by the team on the night, against 13 TOs.

Plus bad shooting from here, there and everywhere --29.3%, 21.75%, 50.0%.

Overall, giving Baylor full credit for what they did, pretty lousy ball by TN.

 

[tennparker3]

As a Tennessee fan I will defend them and say they have a lot of bright spots for their future rather than just Basharra. I know it's a Huskies board but JJ, Moore (who did a decent job on Griner the last half of the 1st half), and the rest of the team (all 8 of them) showed fight till the end and I had to add my two cents on that because I believe in them wholeheartedly. The 17-0 start included some wide open shots missed by the Lady Vols and no, I am not making excuses but pointing out that they showed the ability to get some good looks against a stingy defense. I have to find positives as a Lady Vol fan. I think the short bench definitely caught up to them tonight as having Harrison would have helped them be more aggressive with Baylor and having Carter spell Simmons during her out of control runs. Carter would've helped immensely on the perimeter but everybody has injuries so I'll stop talking about what ifs. Graves and Burdick in foul trouble did not help with the lack of agressiveness either and that is what this team needs in order to compete with the best of the best. Sadly Taber may never be 100% her entire career at Tennessee and her 1-12 performance is evidence that her back (which required constant attention on the sidelines) is not allowing her to do what she does best, shoot the three. I'll take a 23 point loss at Baylor at this point in the season as long as this teams continues to improve and show fight.

With all that babbling I will say I envy the fans of the top three as I have had many seasons to root for a dominant team and know how it feels. It was a bit sad that while sitting and watching the game I found myself getting super excited that they kept it at the 25 point mark from the 10 minute mark in the first half. IT NEVER GOT OVER 30!!!!

 

[Tonyc]

For me it was a very enjoyable game to watch because it showed me that not alot has changed at Tenn. Simmons has alot of talent and no game sense. I would not play her until she played within a team concept. She shoots too much and most of the time is not ready. She makes alot of mistakes like driving into the lane with no place to go, wild passes, rushing the ball up the court and not building and chemistry at all in fact imo she screws up the team chemistry.

Tenn has some talent. Graves has some talent as does Jones. Russell next season is not going to turn Tenn around. There is alot of work to be done for Tenn to become and play like a team. Team defense espeically on the perimiter. Leaving Baylor open for shots is not a good thing againest a good team. Not boxing out underneather is a basic fundemental and getting to the baseline and stopping drives. It just isnt there. Hey Tenn has a pretty soft schedule. Stanford and Baylor and maybe Kentucky.

Tonite they looked scared, intimidated and uncoachable. That is the guards fault. Again Simmons jacking up shots from all over the place, trying to be a one man show killed Tenn to start the game. Tenn needed to slow things down and run some plays. This run and gun style play and forceing shots hoping to get fouled is not basketball. Its street ball.

 

[Bestiarius]

Tony, let's give credit where credit is due. TN did a great job turning in their lineup card on time tonight.

 

[Husky68]

Tenn scored 4 more points than Rice did against Baylor. Seems like Tenn could play better, but so could Baylor who seemed ok with just matching Tenn in the second half. Simmons can not be that unaware of how to play BB yet she keeps playing like this, got to wonder what the coaches say to her vs. what she actually hears them saying. She's kind of like Allen Iverson without the ability to shoot or finish.

 

[connboy77]

You just knew when Simmons was going to shoot. There were times when she could have passed to an open teammate instead of throwing up an off balanced shot that had no chance of going in. I did like Graves and believe she is going to be an outstanding player. Williams also had a very good game.

 

[Phil]

The 17-0 start included some wide open shots missed by the Lady Vols and no, I am not making excuses but pointing out that they showed the ability to get some good looks against a stingy defense.

I agree, I was thinking along similar lines myself.

 

[UcMiami]

The rebounding problem that resulted in 14 rebounds tonight?

Griner's function is to protect the paint, which means that she picks up the player driving to the basket. The guards are taught to force their players into the lane where BG is waiting. I've long said that this has affected BG's rebounding. It's hard to do both.

Hey - I was responding to the choochoo post saying 'Griner isn't a very good rebounder' and pointing out one reason that she doesn't get as many rebounds as some people expect her to. Hard to challenge shots and have good rebounding position on the same play.

 

[UcMiami]

Just want to say that TN is doing better this year than a lot of people thought they would - especially after their dreadful opening game. This is a team in a coaching transition, and from the little I have seen of their games, it looks like they are playing better than last year as a team.
I do think Simmons is probably 'uncoachable' at this point. She has done her own thing for too many years, and has had enough success with it, that I doubt anything short of riding the pine would change her. And I am not sure the current TN team has the horses to succeed without her.

 

[Enigma64]

LV are a good team not a elite team, they will have issue with any team that have a good defensive scheme. Baylor took the gas off the defensive pedal against TN in the second half, the score could of been worst and Williams was the bright spot for the LV.

 

[easttexastrash]

Hey - I was responding to the choochoo post saying 'Griner isn't a very good rebounder' and pointing out one reason that she doesn't get as many rebounds as some people expect her to. Hard to challenge shots and have good rebounding position on the same play.

Gotcha. I've been saying the same thing for the past few years. Her rebounding numbers would be much higher if she were not challenging all players coming into the lane. She looks out of rebounding position because she is. If she were guarding only her player like most centers do she could just block out her player and grab the rebound. You can't simply look at stats to judge her effectiveness.

And whose offensive rebounding numbers are going to be good when there are 2 or 3 players surrounding you on every play.

 

[EricLA]

Baylor lost focus and looked bored in the 2nd half at times. Tenn fans will point to "winning the 2nd half which bodes well for them." But that really doesn't mean much. Tenn was up 20 on Texas in the first half, and then won the 2nd half by 1 point giving up 48 points to the Longhorns. Tennessee lost the 2nd half to Miami by 13 points. Bottom line is Tennessee was blown out by a team they hoped to have a better game against and it shows the cavernous gap between the top teams and Tennessee.

This isn't to say they don't have bright spots. Yay for Kamiko Williams, but she's a senior. Yay for Simmons scoring 16 while jacking up 18 shots. but she's a junior. Burdick and Massengale as sophomores? Compare them to where KML is for UCONN. Even Banks is head and shoulders ahead of those 2 (I admit she's been the biggest surprise for me this year).

Graves had a tough game, but so did Stewart against Penn State. I think Graves will be a star for them. But in spite of all the hoopla over the talented youth on the team, the upperclassmen scored about 65% of the total points, had 86% of the assists, and 43% of the rebounds. However the juniors/seniors make up 37% of the team that played(3 out of 8). Not a real lot to hang your hat on...

They have a chance to redeem themselves against Stanford, but I foresee another 20 point loss. Stanford beat Baylor who was without Simms. I think Baylor is better than Stanford, but I think Stanford will give a better effort for the full 40 minutes.

BTW for all the hoopla surrounding Prince and Johnson coming out of HS, neither is averaging over 5 PPG and I doubt Baylor cracks the top 20 next year. Of their top 6 scorers, 5 are seniors. We will see tho.

 

[choochoo]

Baylor didn"t play very well in this game and it seems to me that without Griner (next season) they'll have a problem to be a top 10 team. I have to say that TN offence looks much better than in previous years with a lot of movement. Graves got a very bright future and Williams was great in this game. IMO TN is a legit top 10 team this season.

I am inclined to agree on your top ten ranking. After seeing some of the ranked top 10 teams currently in the AP and coaches polls. Tenn could very well make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. We will know a lot more by the end of January. The Stanford game will show if they are indeed improved or if Baylor just didn't perform well in this contest.

 

[grizz36]

For me it was a very enjoyable game to watch because it showed me that not alot has changed at Tenn. Simmons has alot of talent and no game sense. I would not play her until she played within a team concept. She shoots too much and most of the time is not ready. She makes alot of mistakes like driving into the lane with no place to go, wild passes, rushing the ball up the court and not building and chemistry at all in fact imo she screws up the team chemistry.

Tenn has some talent. Graves has some talent as does Jones. Russell next season is not going to turn Tenn around. There is alot of work to be done for Tenn to become and play like a team. Team defense espeically on the perimiter. Leaving Baylor open for shots is not a good thing againest a good team. Not boxing out underneather is a basic fundemental and getting to the baseline and stopping drives. It just isnt there. Hey Tenn has a pretty soft schedule. Stanford and Baylor and maybe Kentucky.

Tonite they looked scared, intimidated and uncoachable. That is the guards fault. Again Simmons jacking up shots from all over the place, trying to be a one man show killed Tenn to start the game. Tenn needed to slow things down and run some plays. This run and gun style play and forceing shots hoping to get fouled is not basketball. Its street ball.

Any foul against Simmons with the ball in her hands is a foul in the act of shooting. Just automatically give her the two at the line.

 

[Bestiarius]

Some random musings about the game:
First, there is a noticeable absence of Tennessee fans here at the Boneyard since late last night. Could there be internet problems in the Knoxville area?

Politically correct announcer commentary stressing Mulkey's outfit being animal "prints" was interesting. Wouldn't want to offend the anti-fur/basketball fan activists with visions of Kim out in the barn with her skinning knife.

To the game. It was essentially over after 6 minutes of the first half with the score 17-0. Mulkey compassionately inserted subs into the lineup including her daughter, who I thought did quite well.

There has been talk about Tenn doing well but just missing open looks. Yes, they were missing shots and some were open, but it appeared to me they were just plain out classed by Baylor. If we want to talk about missing open and bunny shots, it was Baylor that was committing that offense. Baylor did not shoot particularly well. FG 43% 3pt 36% FT 56%. Guess it was just an off night for Baylor. Imagine what it would have been like if Baylor was "on" and Griner wasn't injured.

Kim was really hyped up last night. When Simmons committed the double dribble, Kim enthusiastically pantomimed the "traveling" hand signal until she spotted the official giving the correct signal, whereupon she switched signals.

Sims is really entertaining to watch. That steal and basket at the expense of Massengale was vintage Sims. Then there's the play where Sims was tightly covered by Kamiko Williams while driving to the basket on a fast break. We'll have to take this on a step by step basis - Being a person who shares, after her second step she said to Kamiko, why don't you take the ball for awhile, third step, OK, that's long enough, forth step, I'll take it back now, fifth step - score!

I thought Graves did well, trying to body up Griner when she shot. It was a futile attempt and only resulted in fouls. Perhaps it was me, but at one point, reading her lips, I though she said, "I shoulda gone to Uconn". Anyone else catch this?

It is unfortunate that Harrison was injured and could not play. Perhaps it was for the best. I'm thinking all that would have happened is Griner would have taken 10 more foul shots.

Although the week isn't over yet, it appears that Tennessee's stay in the top 10 will be short lived. In fact, there could be a drastic drop in position since of the 15 teams below them in the ranking, only Texas and Louisville have lost. Could it be that they will drop to #20 or worse next week?

 

[stwainfan]

I'll make some comments on the game. Baylor is a real good team. Tennessee is a young team. Only Spani. Williams and Simmons had play at Baylor before. Having Harrison out didn't help. However I would rather sit her this game and get her back for the rest of the season. It's December a lot can be taken and learned from and improve on. There still some real good basketball left with this team this year. I thought going into the season if anyone would beat Tennessee (yes I did think Baylor would) they better do it now. Once this team gains a little more experience they are going to be real good. Next year Baylor loses Griner and Tennessee gains Russell.

 

[doggydaddy]

Next year Baylor loses Griner and Tennessee gains Russell.

Baylor loses a lot more than Baylor. Madden, Hayden, Pope, Williams and of course Griner.

If they play each other next year, Tennessee would win by 20.

 

[easttexastrash]

Baylor will be a very guard oriented team next year. Landing Ieshia Small has to be high on Kim's wish list. Baylor will be very young and will hover around 10-15, IMO. But the next season with Turner on the floor could be a different story.

 

[UcMiami]

Some random musings about the game:

Although the week isn't over yet, it appears that Tennessee's stay in the top 10 will be short lived. In fact, there could be a drastic drop in position since of the 15 teams below them in the ranking, only Texas and Louisville have lost. Could it be that they will drop to #20 or worse next week?

Don't see TN dropping very far if at all. Losses to Baylor, Stanford, or Uconn are expected for all other teams and really close losses can actual be a positive. This wasn't close, but it was an expected loss. I don't see many teams getting statement wins at this time of year and TN has played a stronger schedule than most of the teams below them.

 

[easttexastrash]

Don't see TN dropping very far if at all. Losses to Baylor, Stanford, or Uconn are expected for all other teams and really close losses can actual be a positive. This wasn't close, but it was an expected loss. I don't see many teams getting statement wins at this time of year and TN has played a stronger schedule than most of the teams below them.

South Carolina should get some love in the next polls. They must be pretty good to hang so close to the number 1 team in the nation.

 

[easttexastrash]

BTW for all the hoopla surrounding Prince and Johnson coming out of HS, neither is averaging over 5 PPG and I doubt Baylor cracks the top 20 next year. Of their top 6 scorers, 5 are seniors. We will see tho.

Eric, I assume that you are aware that Prince has been severely limited in minutes due to injury and is slowly working her way into the rotation. She wasn't even allowed to practice until the season had already started. She is only averaging 12.3 minutes per game and is averaging 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds a game. Tuck is averaging 16.4 minutes a game and 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds a game.

Johnson is averaging 18.7 minutes a game (2.4 points and 3.2 assists) compared to Jefferson's 17.2 minutes (4.1 points and 2.1 assists). They are both responsible for about the same amount of offense. They're both responsible for about the same number of steals and TOs a game, with Johnson having the advantage in each category by the slightest of margins.

Overall all, Prince and Tuck, and Johnson and Jeffereson, are not playing on very different levels. All four are going to offer up much more in their sophomore years, much like Banks is doing this year.

Stewart is a different story...there IS no comparison to her. She is in a class of her own.

 

[Husky68]

I'll make some comments on the game. Baylor is a real good team. Tennessee is a young team. Only Spani. Williams and Simmons had play at Baylor before. Having Harrison out didn't help. However I would rather sit her this game and get her back for the rest of the season. It's December a lot can be taken and learned from and improve on. There still some real good basketball left with this team this year. I thought going into the season if anyone would beat Tennessee (yes I did think Baylor would) they better do it now. Once this team gains a little more experience they are going to be real good. Next year Baylor loses Griner and Tennessee gains Russell.

Isn't that what you said about the team the last 4 years. Does real good mean at least a FF, if so, when.

 

[easttexastrash]

Kamiko Williams has always impressed me. I love her game and I would like to see her as a bigger part of UT's offense. She doesn't take many bad shots and plays good defense.

 

[EricLA]

Baylor will be a very guard oriented team next year. Landing Ieshia Small has to be high on Kim's wish list. Baylor will be very young and will hover around 10-15, IMO. But the next season with Turner on the floor could be a different story.

Turner committed to Baylor? Congrats. Baylor in the top 10-15? Doubtful. Maybe the following year with Turner and whoever else they land for 2014. They lose 4 starters, and Pope/Williams - whichever one isn't starting. I imagine Baylor will hover in the 20-25 range, sometimes falling out of the top 25 if the have a particularly bad loss.

 

[easttexastrash]

Turner committed to Baylor? Congrats. Baylor in the top 10-15? Doubtful. Maybe the following year with Turner and whoever else they land for 2014. They lose 4 starters, and Pope/Williams - whichever one isn't starting. I imagine Baylor will hover in the 20-25 range, sometimes falling out of the top 25 if the have a particularly bad loss.

Wishful thinking at Christmas. I guess everyone deserves to wish for what they want.