Diamond is Day to Day for Lady Vols

[stwainfan]

Well Diamond played

I have waited for over a year for those words. 12 points sand 7 assists today.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Well Diamond played and had 12 points against...the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears..

Is the UCA WBB team known as the "Lady Sugar Bears"????

 

[Alydar]

Well Diamond played and had 12 points against...the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears..

Is the UCA WBB team known as the "Lady Sugar Bears"????

No, just the "Sugar Bears" The men are "Bears", a gender neutral name. If they wanted to distinguish them then the men should have been changed to "The Boars" and the women to "The Sows". Bears share those gender-identifying names with pigs.

"Sugar Bears" sell cereal, don't they?

 

[stwainfan]

A after game quote by Diamond.
(On racking up seven assists)
"I wanted to send a message that I am a team player. The points will come. Yeah, I had [12 points] tonight, but they'll come. I'm not worried about that. But getting my teammates involved, it's not about me. The fact that I was able to have a Kortney Dunbar, a Mercedes Russell, a Te'a [Cooper], Andraya [Carter], Alexa [Middleton], I think that you have to utilize those assets and I'm going to do that. I'm very capable. I'm going to utilize my vision at all times."

 

[connboy77]

A after game quote by Diamond.
(On racking up seven assists)
"I wanted to send a message that I am a team player. The points will come. Yeah, I had [12 points] tonight, but they'll come. I'm not worried about that. But getting my teammates involved, it's not about me. The fact that I was able to have a Kortney Dunbar, a Mercedes Russell, a Te'a [Cooper], Andraya [Carter], Alexa [Middleton], I think that you have to utilize those assets and I'm going to do that. I'm very capable. I'm going to utilize my vision at all times."

This is good for the lady vols if true. Only time will tell.

 

[Ctpaul0825]

A after game quote by Diamond.
(On racking up seven assists)
"I wanted to send a message that I am a team player. The points will come. Yeah, I had [12 points] tonight, but they'll come. I'm not worried about that. But getting my teammates involved, it's not about me. The fact that I was able to have a Kortney Dunbar, a Mercedes Russell, a Te'a [Cooper], Andraya [Carter], Alexa [Middleton], I think that you have to utilize those assets and I'm going to do that. I'm very capable. I'm going to utilize my vision at all times."

Like I said, I really like Diamond but that quote concerns me, "I'm going to utilize my vision at all times". I hope she can utilize coaches vision and not supersede it with her own.

 

[j66kicker]

A after game quote by Diamond.
(On racking up seven assists)
"I wanted to send a message that I am a team player. The points will come. Yeah, I had [12 points] tonight, but they'll come. I'm not worried about that. But getting my teammates involved, it's not about me. The fact that I was able to have a Kortney Dunbar, a Mercedes Russell, a Te'a [Cooper], Andraya [Carter], Alexa [Middleton], I think that you have to utilize those assets and I'm going to do that. I'm very capable. I'm going to utilize my vision at all times."

Translation: "It's all about me." She used "I" or "I'm" 9 times in that short statement, plus a couple "my's" and a "me." Basically apologizing for only scoring 12 and promising it's not gonna always be like that. Do team players usually have to announce that they are team players?? Anyway, it's good to know she's very capable and is going to utilize her assets.

 

[Beemer]

I used to drill those barrels and rifle them, as well.

I learned to shoot pistol with a Ruger 45/22. I liked it so much I bought one!

 

[stwainfan]

(On Diamond DeShields' assists)
"You saw why Diamond came to Tennessee, to have the opportunity to play with a team. That is not saying anything to slam North Carolina. I just think she wanted to have the opportunity to play a solid game. She is an unbelievable passer. I will say this about Diamond DeShields. Not too many people have a feel for the game. She has an unbelievable feel for the game. She sees the floor. That is hard to teach. Players like that can see things develop two to three plays before they happen, and that is one solid thing that Diamond has. I told her before she went in, `Enjoy this. You have been out for a year and couple months. This is what you wanted. This is why you came to Tennessee. Have fun.' She has. Her attitude here has been unbelievable. We haven't had any problems whatsoever. She loves the game, and her getting back on the court was the most important thing for her."

 

[Orangutan]

(On Diamond DeShields' assists)
"You saw why Diamond came to Tennessee, to have the opportunity to play with a team. That is not saying anything to slam North Carolina. I just think she wanted to have the opportunity to play a solid game. She is an unbelievable passer. I will say this about Diamond DeShields. Not too many people have a feel for the game. She has an unbelievable feel for the game. She sees the floor. That is hard to teach. Players like that can see things develop two to three plays before they happen, and that is one solid thing that Diamond has. I told her before she went in, `Enjoy this. You have been out for a year and couple months. This is what you wanted. This is why you came to Tennessee. Have fun.' She has. Her attitude here has been unbelievable. We haven't had any problems whatsoever. She loves the game, and her getting back on the court was the most important thing for her."

Well that ought to be all the motivation Allisha Gray needs while she sits out.

 

[TitleTown]

Tennessee is a damn good team. Deshields is as gifted a scorer as there is in the game and Russell looks like a completely different player. She is moving way better than she was prior to her surgeries on her feet and now looks like a player deserving of the title of #1 rated recruit. Cooper and Dunbar are both solid players as well and will only get better with more playing time. The only question I have about Tennessee is their bench. They only played 6 players in the opener due to injury so their bench is limited.

 

[mtsuraider06]

Tennessee is a damn good team. Deshields is as gifted a scorer as there is in the game and Russell looks like a completely different player. She is moving way better than she was prior to her surgeries on her feet and now looks like a player deserving of the title of #1 rated recruit. Cooper and Dunbar are both solid players as well and will only get better with more playing time. The only question I have about Tennessee is their bench. They only played 6 players in the opener due to injury so their bench is limited.

Nia Moore, Meme Jackson, and Jasmine Jones should all be ready by Wednesday.
Jaime Nared is out for about two more weeks.
Jordan Reynolds missed a class she thought was cancelled, and the punishment for missing class is sitting out. Graves violated a team rule and didn't play. Both are playing on Wednesday.

 

[Alydar]

It's nice to see both Russell and DeShields playing again. But Tenn just played a team that like C-N has one 6'1" player and two 6' players. If the LV's didn't look dominant there would be serious reason for concern. Their next 3 games are against Penn St, Syracuse and Chattanooga, all at TBA. While not top 20 teams, at least one of them beat Tenn. I still suspect that DeShields is going to have to "take over" a lot of games this season and that can wear a player down.

Tenn won't have a real test until they finally go on the road in mid-December and then in mid-January when they go to South Bend. To me the teat of a team happens when they play a really good team on the road.

Deshields can talk all she wants about being part of a team but she has already abandoned one that was filled with her friends. And it may be a small point but I noticed that the entire LV team wears orange shoes with one exception. DeShields has shoes that are some pretty shade of violet. What's with that. She may talk convincingly about a "team" commitment but those shoes say something different, something like "look at me" Does she have a secret shoe contract? Should we be writing to the NCAA?

 

[Bestiarius]

Like I said, I really like Diamond but that quote concerns me, "I'm going to utilize my vision at all times". I hope she can utilize coaches vision and not supersede it with her own.

"I'm going to utilize my vision at all times". But enough about me. Let's talk about you - what do you think of my game?

 

[Justavisitor]

It's nice to see both Russell and DeShields playing again. But Tenn just played a team that like C-N has one 6'1" player and two 6' players. If the LV's didn't look dominant there would be serious reason for concern. Their next 3 games are against Penn St, Syracuse and Chattanooga, all at TBA. While not top 20 teams, at least one of them beat Tenn. I still suspect that DeShields is going to have to "take over" a lot of games this season and that can wear a player down.

Tenn won't have a real test until they finally go on the road in mid-December and then in mid-January when they go to South Bend. To me the teat of a team happens when they play a really good team on the road.

Deshields can talk all she wants about being part of a team but she has already abandoned one that was filled with her friends. And it may be a small point but I noticed that the entire LV team wears orange shoes with one exception. DeShields has shoes that are some pretty shade of violet. What's with that. She may talk convincingly about a "team" commitment but those shoes say something different, something like "look at me" Does she have a secret shoe contract? Should we be writing to the NCAA?

Diamond wasn't the only one wearing the blue shade gym shoe, so you would be wrong about that point. Unfortunately, you can't use that inaccurate analysis to attack her character. As for taking over a game, she will have help in that department. However, it won't be any different than the times when Stewie will need to take over. The difference in great and good is having a great player with the ability to take a game over...something TN hasn't had since 2008.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I learned to shoot pistol with a Ruger 45/22. I liked it so much I bought one!

I use mine to tell the coyotes when they get to close to the house and my dogs. It's a good shooter, so I won't accidentally hit them. The coyotes are my first line of defense against rodents.

 

[UConnCat]

Well that ought to be all the motivation Allisha Gray needs while she sits out.

Curious statement by Holly. She didn't want to slam North Carolina but she kinda did. North Carolina didn't play as a team because of the other players, not Diamond. A look at the stats shows Diamond took 220 more shots than Gray, did not lead the Tarheels in assists (3rd) but did lead the team (by a lot) in turnovers.

 

[Alydar]

Diamond wasn't the only one wearing the blue shade gym shoe, so you would be wrong about that point. Unfortunately, you can't use that inaccurate analysis to attack her character. As for taking over a game, she will have help in that department. However, it won't be any different than the times when Stewie will need to take over. The difference in great and good is having a great player with the ability to take a game over...something TN hasn't had since 2008.

I never attacked her character, I questioned her commitment to a "team" concept. I may have missed another pair of blue shoes but when I was watching there were 4 pairs of orange shoes and one blue pair. And only six players suited up.

UConn, unlike Tenn, relies on the team concept on both ends of the court while Tenn has always emphasized individual skills, especially on offense. All one needs to do is compare the two programs' assist records over the last half dozen years to confirm that. Stewart may "go off" for a few minutes in a game but it's rare to see any UConn player "take over" a game, or even need to. And when they do it's just as likely to see it come from Jefferson or Tuck (or KML last year) as it is Stewart.

As for comparing DeShields to Stewart, you are comparing a three-time FF MVP to a player who hasn't even been to a FF. Right now DeShields' stats compare favorably to Meghan Simmons' two years ago. And Simmons was a much better 3 point shooter. DeShields has the potential to be a dominating player but the key word is "potential". She showed us in her season at UNC that she likes to shoot a lot. Putting her on the level of Stewart at this point in time is highly presumptuous.