Holly Explains It or not...

[Wbbfan1]

Interesting Conversation about Holly and the possibility of Kim Mulkey being the Head Coach of the Lady Vols.

InsiderExposure - JM @InsiderExposure

 

[Ctpaul0825]

I think Holly was very comfortable as an assistant coach and possibly a very good one. Hard to know for sure as having Pat Summitt as your Head Coach made all her assistants look good. I do feel bad for Holly as you know she bleeds Tennessee Orange and loves her school like you would love a child. She just does not have what it takes to be a head coach and the best of all worlds for her would be to be replaced with a new head coach where she could stay on as an assistant.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You've got problems when your players think they just have to show up for a guaranteed W against a team they had already lost to. I'm trying to imagine what Geno would do if one of his players said anything remotely close to that. What I'm imagining is not pretty.

It's said that the important thing in life is not the winning but the struggle. I frankly don't see the point of putting on a uniform and stepping on the court and not playing to your utmost ability. What is the point. Really baffling to me.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I feel for Holly. How do you coach someone out of this mindset?

Q. Jordan, losing to Alabama two straight times in the regular season, you would think the team would come in here really ready to play, yet you looked lethargic from the outset. How do you explain that?
JORDAN REYNOLDS: I think we were just overlooking this team. We didn't think we had to come out here and play to the best of our ability because we came off a very good win.

Q. Mercedes, can you put into words how frustrating it is for this team to beat some of the teams you beat this year, then to bow out in the first round of the tournament.
MERCEDES RUSSELL: It's obviously very frustrating because our play is so up-and-down. Sometimes we play so good, then we come back against a team like Alabama. We think it's okay to not play our best. That really hurt us at times.

ASAP Sports Transcripts - Basketball - 2017 - SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT - March 2 - Holly Warlick - Jordan Reynolds - Mercedes Russell

Nan, I think the real question is how you coach someone into this mindset. However, once player(s) are in it, spend some time playing clips of UConn players talking about how they achieve the success enjoyed here. And, when all else fails, start with the worst offender and put her on the bench. I used to work with an officer from the Royal Navy. Their (facetious) motivation tool? "Shoot one to inspire the rest."

 

[CocoHusky]

So Reynolds, when asked to explain how TN "came out and played lethargic from the beginning" says, "We were looking past them, we didn't think we had to play to the best of our abilities." Isn't that, "fire the coach right now" stuff?

No................ Please do not suggest firing Holly ever again. That woman has worked so hard. 1) #1Recruiting Class . 2) The other NCAA coach that has a win over both South Carolina & ND this year is a finalist for Coach of the year, so why are we disrespecting Holly like that? . 3) Last year Holly had regular season wins over 2 of the teams that were in the Final Four and her team made the Elite 8.

 

[oldude]

The presser was painful to watch for all the reasons outlined previously on this thread. It looked like Holly was barely holding it together. She was obviously lost in thought and completely missed Reynolds comment that they overlooked Alabama. The players wanted to be anywhere but in front of the press answering questions, and the press seemed almost apologetic when asking difficult questions of Holly and the players.

I have no way of knowing for sure what is going on in Knoxville, but I have a theory. When DD brought her posse to UNC and then left, she helped poison one of the most successful WBB programs in history. Certainly, there are other reasons for the Tar Heels downfall, but the program is now mired in mediocrity, with Hatchell limping along towards 1000 wins, playing their last game of the season yesterday while bowing out to the Cuse in the ACC tournament.

DD is obviously a talented player, but anyone who has ever been on a team knows that one selfish player can destroy team chemistry, particularly if that player is the acknowledged star of the team. TN's up and down play this season mirrors DD's play this season.

If DD has not already decided to head to the pros after this year, Holly should do everything in her power to encourage her to do so. With the #1 recruiting class coming to TN next season and maybe a few holdovers from this year's group that might just be interested in playing "TEAM" basketball, there may still be time for Holly to salvage the program at TN and not see it go the way of UNC.

I am a Husky fan that would really like to see a resurgent TN competing on a national level with UConn. It would be both exciting and very good for women's basketball.

 

[Charliebball]

And just how in hell does a program operate as a spasmodic dumpster fire, yet recruit an incoming class that is so highly ranked?

they each like that neat orange color on their uniforms?

 

[bags27]

You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard but you don't understand
Just what you will say when you get home
Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

[Shenandoah]

As much as I dislike UTenn, I find these types of interviews incredibly painful to watch.
"So, Jordan, you are coming off of a big win against a top 5 team, can you explain why your team played like crap tonight?"...

 

[BobbyJ]

If the highly ranked class has the same lack of fire in their bellies, then they will get the same results. I don't think it's a coincidence that Tennessee and UConn don't seem to get into many head-to-head recruiting battles anymore. They might both be on the early 12-15 schools considered by top players, but when the coaches and players narrow things down to their finalists, Tennessee and UConn candidate lists don't seem to overlap much. They appear to be looking for different things.

You're probably right. I think when Auriemma lets the recruits know about the standards they'll be held to is about the time they start heading for UTenn.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Its a real sad situation at Tennessee. Players thinking its okay to overlook an opponent and not give it their best. Then the coach saying we prepared as we have for all our games. Never going to contend for an SEC title or a National Championship with those attitudes.

What is really really bad is the Coaching staff, AD, Admin think it's ok to "look past" at team that beat you --and then get beaten again by that team---That is SYSTEMIC MENTALITY OF FAILURE--I can just guess what Pat is thinking now, wherever she may be, she is saying==WAKE UP YOU IDIOTS!!
This has nothing to do with Geno---it is not what Geno would do with this team---why??/ Because his teams would never ever get to this point of "taking an opponent for granted". Head would roll long before this point. If one player or 2 were causing the lethargic play---here is your shirt --what's your hurry!!

 

[BobbyJ]

This is nothing new for Tenn. It goes back to when UConn got verbals from Caroline Doty Maya Moore and EDD. It start then and Pat was coaching. The LVs have fallen hard and every season it seems to get worse. It used to be you could out talent teams the LVs have proven with all their talent they cant. IMO it has something to do with big egos with some players. The effort is not there. Team ball is not there. To much one on one and a lack and discipline to play defense. What is need is a strong disciplinarian to coach this team. It can only be the coach's way not the players way. You cant be afraid to sit stars if theyre not playing the game the way the coaches want them to play and the minute they slack off bench them. Hey you either change your players or you change your players. You can lose with your non starters just as well as you can lose with your starters.

As Rick Pitino says, "This ain't a democracy."

 

[BroadwayVa]

No...... Please do not suggest firing Holly ever again. That woman has worked so hard. 1) #1Recruiting Class . 2) The other NCAA coach that has a win over both South Carolina & ND this year is a finalist for Coach of the year, so why are we disrespecting Holly like that? . 3) Last year Holly had regular season wins over 2 of the teams that were in the Final Four and her team made the Elite 8.

I respect your intelligence and knowledge--in this case with losses of this kind and an apparent lack of expectations for the TEAm as a whole or individuals--is this a problem ? With the talent Holly has on the Tn team--I would expect to --walk into their Gym--and without coaching say --go get em and win (yea not in this life time), but you get the idea.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

If DD has not already decided to head to the pros after this year, Holly should do everything in her power to encourage her to do so. With the #1 recruiting class coming to TN next season and maybe a few holdovers from this year's group that might just be interested in playing "TEAM" basketball, there may still be time for Holly to salvage the program at TN and not see it go the way of UNC.

Amen. But I feel Holly has a captive's mentality and does not have either the willpower or acumen to do this.

 

[BroadwayVa]

As Rick Pitino says, "This ain't a democracy."

He's right--it's Democratic Republic---when you pledge allegiance to the flag and the REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS!

 

[1-of-the-6]

Somewhere much earlier in this thread it was said that, when you have a situation such as the one at Tennessee, that "You either change your players, or you change your players." I'd never heard that one before. And I think that the first part, changing attitudes, can be a daunting, or impossible, chore. This seems to be a lesson that the very best coaches, such as Geno, either knew instinctively from the beginning, or learned early on. That being that recruiting only the best talent without properly vetting the people for character will land you in serious trouble. In other words, Geno may have had something to do with making players like Kia, Gabby, Napheesa and the rest great people, but for the most part, they already were.

I coached volleyball for about fifteen years. High school level and J.O. Of all the things that surprised me, tops on the list was that I too often had to coach effort, to motivate. I had thought that the players who chose to play the sport would always give their best. I was wrong.

Geno said in a video that he, at UCONN, does not have to do this, while at many schools they do. This is a tremendous advantage, and one they gain by properly appraising the personalities and character of the girls that they recruit. They have been very, very good at this over the years. Other schools, it seems, not so much..

 

[Bigboote]

Wow. It shows incredible immaturity on the parts of the players to say something like that. Even if you're thinking "sometimes we don't give out best," you never SAY it in public. Also it shows a lack of training and horrible judgment on the part of the coaching staff. The players need to be taught how to handle those questions, and any players who don't get it should never be allowed to talk in the post-game pressers.

 

[OldAlum]

Really a head scratcher how you "overlook" a team that already beat you once!
I don't think UConn will "overlook" Tulane if they play again in this tourney! (And they didn't even lose)

 

[Wbbfan1]

Its obvious that Holly wasn't listening to her players answers as she didn't know what was said by them.

Wow. It shows incredible immaturity on the parts of the players to say something like that. Even if you're thinking "sometimes we don't give out best," you never SAY it in public. Also it shows a lack of training and horrible judgment on the part of the coaching staff. The players need to be taught how to handle those questions, and any players who don't get it should never be allowed to talk in the post-game pressers.

 

[oldude]

Really a head scratcher how you "overlook" a team that already beat you once!
I don't think UConn will "overlook" Tulane if they play again in this tourney! (And they didn't even lose)

Once the Big Dance starts the Huskies don't ignore anyone. Just ask Robert Morris & Duquesne.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Margo gets more than the UT players and coaches. She should be on the bench with the team.

 

[tomcat]

That video is just the picture of failure. TN needs to take a good luck at its WCBB leadership.

 

[j66kicker]

You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard but you don't understand
Just what you will say when you get home
Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

[j66kicker]

You think Geno will use this somewhere in his next locker room speech before the game? Warning the team to not look past their next opponent? Geno has been preaching this all season, but it bares repeating none the less. The Tennessee players admitted to allowing a cancer in their locker room that could never exist in UConn's. Hopefully they will learn from this over site, and play through it.
That admission was embarrassing for the entire program.

I think Geno will use this all week before the game if we get matched up with Tennessee in the tourney - heh heh. (If that does happen I just hope we set a tournament record for MOV - No Mercy!!!!)

 

[LO TRADER]

Most Tennessee teams were not great on the offensive end, but Pat focused on defense and rebounding, while pushing the players very hard. In a sense, they were over-achievers. Since Pat left, under-achieving has been the norm. This year's team is a highly erratic enigma.

Defense & Rebounding can carry you far in the NCAA Tourney.