Is Mercedes Russell Overated?

[malevocalist#]

I'm not looking to create a large buzz but just a few answers & opinions because i know i can't be the only one who sees this or believe this way. I mean to be honest, I always thought Diamond was the true #1 player of that recruiting class especially as the season unfolded in their first year of college.

Taking into account her injury i understand (to an extent) patients is a virtue. But also in actuality this is her 3rd year in college (Absent Last Year Sit Out). And i can't help from noticing that prior to her injury she did not perform up to par as a #1 player giving the abundance of games played that freshmen year. She was also outperformed by DD and a few others in many areas.

If I'm wrong so be it. However, it's not looking that way at all.

 

[Kmoney]

She looked outstanding during the summer when she was playing for USA. She was very close to being dominant. I thought her along with Stewie, MJ, Napheesa, and Aja Wilson were the most impressive Americans I saw all summer. She did not like
the same player today.

It makes no sense to have a 6-6" player in the post and never give them the ball. They are just clogging the lane. It allowed Texas to always have a defender at the rim.

I don't watch Tennessee a lot. If I had to guess I would say that maybe she suffers the physicality of the college game.

 

[iamcbs]

In a word, Yes!!

 

[Kaizen]

Even you are the #1 in your HS class, you still need a good coach to teach you playing the college games.

 

[TARZAN22]

I don't think Tennessee, is developing their player's well.

 

[malevocalist#]

Good points. I had to take it upon myself to watch a reply of the game. And i notice something during the game that one of the announcers corroborated as the game came to a close. She stated, "at times when Russell was under the basket or in the post, seldomly did she demand the ball from her teamates."

 

[WestCoastFan]

Even you are the #1 in your HS class, you still need a good coach to teach you playing the college games.

Makes you really question the idiots who rate players out of high school. Who are these experts and what do they know about basketball? This girl might be a really nice young lady...but she's timid and soft on the court. Absolutely the wrong place to go if you want to develop talent.
BTW...anyone see the quick segment on that coach talking to the team. Half of them were looking at the ground, maybe updating their Facebook pages...the rest had eyes that were glazed over.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Makes you really question the idiots who rate players out of high school. Who are these experts and what do they know about basketball? This girl might be a really nice young lady...but she's timid and soft on the court. Absolutely the wrong place to go if you want to develop talent.
BTW...anyone see the quick segment on that coach talking to the team. Half of them were looking at the ground, maybe updating their Facebook pages...the rest had eyes that were glazed over.

Wait, the players are on their phones during the game? Even if at half time, that to me seems pretty nuts and is something that is really looked down upon even at the professional level in sports.

 

[WestCoastFan]

Wait, the players are on their phones during the game? Even if at half time, that to me seems pretty nuts and is something that is really looked down upon even at the professional level in sports.

Wonder how Geno would respond to someone on their phone???

 

[dtbtbtb]

The 2013 class was a strange one with all the transfers, etc. Is she over rated? I think she is not utilized well at TN to reach her potential. She is highly skilled with real good basketball iq and runs the floor real well but for the hard running she does, how manny times is she rewarded with actually getting the ball in a scoring position? The offense of the LV is basically to use a screen in order to either go to the basket or to pull up for a jump shot, which is done by the guards and forwards and as a result she does not get the ball and left to try and rebound the misses (which as the LV shoot very low percentage leaves a lot of opportunities to rebound).

 

[VFLfan]

No one was on their phone. Carter was bent over tying her shoe while Holly was giving her pre-game pep talk.

 

[bballnut90]

The 2013 class was a strange one with all the transfers, etc. Is she over rated? I think she is not utilized well at TN to reach her potential. She is highly skilled with real good basketball iq and runs the floor real well but for the hard running she does, how manny times is she rewarded with actually getting the ball in a scoring position? The offense of the LV is basically to use a screen in order to either go to the basket or to pull up for a jump shot, which is done by the guards and forwards and as a result she does not get the ball and left to try and rebound the misses (which as the LV shoot very low percentage leaves a lot of opportunities to rebound).

She had a lot of hoopla surrounding her when she came to UT and performed well in the AA games, for whatever that's worth. Mercedes has the skills and frame to be a great center. She just needs to get the ball more and demand the ball more. A lot of it comes down to spacing, ball movement, and guards looking to the post for offensive production. Tennessee's offense is so disoriented that unless their offense drastically changes where she posts hard every play and the guards look for her, the only way she gets touches/looks will be from offensive rebounds.

 

[donalddoowop]

Makes you really question the idiots who rate players out of high school. Who are these experts and what do they know about basketball? This girl might be a really nice young lady...but she's timid and soft on the court. Absolutely the wrong place to go if you want to develop talent.
BTW...anyone see the quick segment on that coach talking to the team. Half of them were looking at the ground, maybe updating their Facebook pages...the rest had eyes that were glazed over.

Just like some outstanding college players don't make good WNBA players, some outstanding high school players don't make good college players. They may have been the best HIGH SCHOOL players in the country but not have what it takes to excel in college. It happens often in boy's high school basketball.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Makes you really question the idiots who rate players out of high school. Who are these experts and what do they know about basketball? This girl might be a really nice young lady...but she's timid and soft on the court. Absolutely the wrong place to go if you want to develop talent.
BTW...anyone see the quick segment on that coach talking to the team. Half of them were looking at the ground, maybe updating their Facebook pages...the rest had eyes that were glazed over.

In fact I did. Same impression. I posted this just 10 minutes ago on the UT-UT thread.

Reading you guys today piqued my interest and I watched a little of this game, ten minutes I wish I had back. The most interesting thing was Holly's pre-game pep talk. The body language of the players seemed less than ideal. DD sat with her head down, rubbing her head as though with a bad headache. Most interesting was Holly's voice, her inflection. It sounded almost pleading, as in "Come on, guys, go out and play hard. We need you." I'm sure she's frustrated.

 

[HuskyNan]

It is unwise to pass judgement on a player after one game; it takes several viewings of a player in different circumstances to draw any kind of conclusion.

I am asking people to avoid trashing Mercedes. Comments on her play are fine, but please reread your post from an objective point of view before hitting the Post button. Imagine an LV fan commenting on a particularly bad game by a UConn player. I understand the feelings of UConn fans after the Tenn loss but, please, let's keep it classy.

 

[SCGamecock]

I just think Warlick hasn't figured out how to use her yet. Russell has plenty of potential.

On another note, was I hearing things or did Carolyn Peck say that Mercedes Russell "doesn't like to post up"? It did seem like Russell was going out of her way to avoid the paint..

She took a few midrange jumpers during the game. Seems like she wants to be used as a forward.

 

[LadyVols9]

she is a very good player. i don't think she's had enough of a college career to says she is overrated or meeting expectations. the real problem is TN does not have a big beefy center to knock people out of the lane. mercedes is honestly more a finesse 4 player than a true center.

 

[WestCoastFan]

Just like some outstanding college players don't make good WNBA players, some outstanding high school players don't make good college players. They may have been the best HIGH SCHOOL players in the country but not have what it takes to excel in college. It happens often in boy's high school basketball.

Absolutely true. Many folks think that high school success translates to college stardom. Many folks around here seem to almost panic when UConn doesn't get the highest ranked players. Means absolutely nothing. Coaching, coaching, coaching.

 

[Kaizen]

Look to me the LV players need to do better work in respecting old people.

 

[stwainfan]

MRussel has the ability to make EVERYONE better. If she rim runs hard n trans. REALLY sets screens and rolls hard... https://post original url/Ld3tVs1Jwm
Candace Parker tweeted

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Had she gone to UCONN I am sure Geno would have made sure she was not overrated but became the best player she could become as long as she bought into the program.

 

[JoePgh]

In fact, UConn was interested enough in Ms. Russell for CD to pay a visit to her in Oregon, but she was apparently never very interested in UConn. One can speculate that she may have felt that Tennessee needed her more, so she would play more there.

If she had come to UConn, I think she would have had a saga similar to that of Kiah Stokes. There would have been nagging and more nagging for her to play more aggressively to realize all the potential that Candace Parker's tweet accurately identifies. Would she have had a career similar to Kiah's? Or would she have decided that it wasn't really worth it to her to work that hard?

 

[Icebear]

Wonder how Geno would respond to someone on their phone???

Don't worry about Geno, it is CD you would need to fear.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I saw Russell when she was a sophomore in HS and was playing with her club team in a So Cal Tournament. By the way, Mo Jefferson was also in that tournament. I was impressed with Russell in that tournament as she was playing with more experienced players. and older players too. I thought there was a lot of upside for her game. I didnt see much difference in the following summers AAU tournament. With her injuries I havent seen what I expected too see. She probably could be much better. Whether she gets there, time will tell.
To use another example, I got to see a lot of Imani Stafford, now Imani Boyette(Texas), in HS/AAU. I wasnt impressed with her game, and she played with some good players too. However, she has developed into a much better player than I thought.

 

[msf22b]

In today's game her hands are bit suspect