Lady vols lose, Margo goes off

[pacific 44]

Hey everybody,shhhh-Holly is the greatest coach of all time.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I stopped watching Margo about mid-season last year as she appeared to have started sipping the Kool-Aid with respect to the great team they had. Having sat through this I gotta say she is fully awake and focused now. UT playing like a bunch of chumps going through the motions. Spot on, Margo.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Margot's rant about the Tennessee loss to Alabama...



She blasted the players, not the coach. "There was nothing. Diamond Deshields was diving for a loose ball and she got hit - cracked neck - if that isn't enough motivation to at least win the game... not one person other than Shaquila Nunn comes into the game with something in their minds - to say 'we ain't losing this game'.

Jordan Reynolds - no show. You did nothing. that freshman PG (from Alabama) outplayed you. a freshman PG schooled Jordan Reynolds tonight.

there was no emotion. No fire. There was nothing. Mercedes got 5 people around her and sh e's trying to dribble the bal. WHY? Everytime she put the ball on the floor it got taken. In a game where you lose your super star, you still have no fire. That's what made me most upset."

There's a lot more. She did not blame the coach one bit. She said it was horrible. Effort - all on the players. An upper-classman laden team performed like they did. She was super upset to say the least. I love listening to her after a loss - not because I love seeing Tennessee lose (which I do), but because she keeps it really real and tells it like it is. No one can deny her passion or love for her team. I'd love to meet her and talk hoops.

Forgive my ignorance, but who's Margot?

 

[Carnac]

Margot's rant about the Tennessee loss to Alabama...



She blasted the players, not the coach. "There was nothing. Diamond Deshields was diving for a loose ball and she got hit - cracked neck - if that isn't enough motivation to at least win the game... not one person other than Shaquila Nunn comes into the game with something in their minds - to say 'we ain't losing this game'.

Jordan Reynolds - no show. You did nothing. that freshman PG (from Alabama) outplayed you. a freshman PG schooled Jordan Reynolds tonight.

there was no emotion. No fire. There was nothing. Mercedes got 5 people around her and sh e's trying to dribble the bal. WHY? Everytime she put the ball on the floor it got taken. In a game where you lose your super star, you still have no fire. That's what made me most upset."

There's a lot more. She did not blame the coach one bit. She said it was horrible. Effort - all on the players. An upper-classman laden team performed like they did. She was super upset to say the least. I love listening to her after a loss - not because I love seeing Tennessee lose (which I do), but because she keeps it really real and tells it like it is. No one can deny her passion or love for her team. I'd love to meet her and talk hoops.

Here's a thought.........................with the entire team in the film room, put this video on the big screen, and leave the room. Tell the team you'll be back in a half an hour (to give them time to talk among themselves, and reflect on it's content). It couldn't hurt.

 

[Carnac]

Forgive my ignorance, but who's Margot?

She 's a huge Tennessee Lady Volunteer fan who is very passionate about her team. She records these selfies after every game, and posts them on the Lady Volunteer fan chat-rooms & websites.
Most of the Lady Volunteer fans know her. There are some of us (like me) who enjoy listening to her. She rants and raves, but she loves her girls (like we do ours) and she wants to see them compete and play hard and win........just like we do.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Listening to Margot is always a breath of fresh air. She keeps it real, no doubt. Every true fan of every sport should show such passion and loyalty.

But I disagree with her premise. Of course it's the fault of coaching. Coaches don't teach effort or character. No, coaches recruit for these characteristics. Can your player keep their heads under pressure, will they go through a brick wall until the whistle blows, will they support their teammates no matter how well they themselves are doing in the game, will their will to win and compete push them through physical or mental difficulties etc? These are the things coaches should be pondering over well before they tender an offer. Just amassing a team full of McDonald AA's is not the way to build a championship. It is a way to build a team full of head cases.

Can you imagine Pat Summitt, Muffet, Dawn, jPM, Geno---at half time what they say to their kids for a lack luster performance after they lose ONE of their top players? If the response wasn't as expected 5 minutes into the next period--heads would be ripped off---One coach not to be named---sat his starting 5--and put the next 5 out there to show passion while playing--
EVERY thing that happens with a team is part and parcel of that which the Coach demands and builds.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I disagree with the woefully unprepared part and here's why. She pretty much runs the same "non" offense and defense that Pat ran. Holly worked for/with Pat for 27 years. She helped and watched Pat every single day. Pat was never a great offensive mastermind. She won by recruiting superior athletes, getting them to play tenacious defense, and relied on offensive rebounds, or tremendous 1 on 1 play, to score.

Towards the end of Pat's career, she was not able to recruit enough top players to compensate for her lack of offense. Other teams caught up and because of superior coaching, were able to catch and pass them. Holly is the same kind of coach. She has actually recruited better than Pat over Pat's last 5 years (Russell, Nared, Deshields, Cooper, Westbrook, Hayes, Davis). She already has 2 top 30 kids from 2018 - it remains to be seen if she can get any of the top kids in that class.

Point is, after Parker/Bjorkland/Baugh, Pat didn't recruit that well (of course it's relative - she still got some high ranked kids). But... she mostly had players like Spani, Dupree, Williams, Phillips, Harrison, Carter, Simmons, Avant, Massengale, Burdick, Jones, Graves, Moore, etc. I think Graves, Burdick and Massengale were top 5, but Ariel clearly was over rated. Not a single "top" player (Warlick landed Russell I think and now Westbrook and also convinced Diamond to come to Tenn). That's way more top talent than Pat towards the end.

The problem is something Holly got bashed for on here, but also something Geno agrees with - most kids these days don't have the passion for the game that their predecessors did. Kids don't spend hours in the gym, watching game tape, working on every weakness of their game. They don't eat, sleep, live, etc. for basketball. It's more about "what can your university do for me?". Geno is smart enough NOT to recruit those kids. But the ones like the incredible players on this year's team are becoming fewer and farther between. He often makes mistakes like with Ekmark, Edwards and Boykin - misreading desire to work hard, ability to go to school far from home, or just plain potential. But way more often he gets kids that may not be #1 (Nurse, Williams, Chong), but who work their collective asses off to be better than almost anyone thought they could be, and who subjugate their own personal accolades or awards for the betterment of the team and potential NC's. Oh, and he also gets his fair share of uber top recruits (Collier, Samuelson, Dangerfield, Walker).

I do have to agree that Holly is one of the few coaches who has done far far less with the "more" that she has, and I think she is flat out the wrong coach for the type of kids she has/recruits. She needs kids who are willing to work their asses off to play the kind of defense required in spite of no offense, but very few coaches find players like that... and I do agree her lack of coaching ability to get the most out of her kids is on very bright display. Having said that, next year she gets her PG back (Cooper). Even if DD and Russell leave early, she will have Nared, Westbrook, Hayes and Davis. If somehow she's able to convince either/or to come back, they will be a formidable team.

IMHO what she is woefully unprepared for is the shift of attitude of high school players and the ability to evolve as an offensive and defensive coach. But that's not an issue of preparedness, rather just of being a bad coach.

I don't know if I agree or disagree with ALL that you wrote--so much is contained in this posting. However, I agree Holly is/was unprepared for the HC job. She was Pat's buddy buddy--buddies that mimic are good buddies--but not necessarily good HC's.

I agree with your list, could have been longer, of those Geno probably should not have recruited. But even Geno makes mistakes--recruiting, coaching, in game---it is called being human. Holly to me is beyond recovery in her lackings.
Interesting assessment of Pat Summitt's talents--no one I have read has seen the lack of constant progression in her chosen field, as you have stated. It makes sense--whether it is true or not will take someone unlike me with the desire to delve into Pats totality.
But I am not the TN AD or a even a TN Fan, I'd like to see them greater than they are, so my assessment is just blowing wind or smoke.

 

[Longtime fan]

Margot's rant about the Tennessee loss to Alabama...



She blasted the players, not the coach. "There was nothing. Diamond Deshields was diving for a loose ball and she got hit - cracked neck - if that isn't enough motivation to at least win the game... not one person other than Shaquila Nunn comes into the game with something in their minds - to say 'we ain't losing this game'.

Jordan Reynolds - no show. You did nothing. that freshman PG (from Alabama) outplayed you. a freshman PG schooled Jordan Reynolds tonight.

there was no emotion. No fire. There was nothing. Mercedes got 5 people around her and sh e's trying to dribble the bal. WHY? Everytime she put the ball on the floor it got taken. In a game where you lose your super star, you still have no fire. That's what made me most upset."

There's a lot more. She did not blame the coach one bit. She said it was horrible. Effort - all on the players. An upper-classman laden team performed like they did. She was super upset to say the least. I love listening to her after a loss - not because I love seeing Tennessee lose (which I do), but because she keeps it really real and tells it like it is. No one can deny her passion or love for her team. I'd love to meet her and talk hoops.

Not for nothing ( as a secretary of mine used to say ), but Tennessee has commitments from 3 of the top ten HS players next year.

 

[msf22b]

Please explain :Geno and CD have been lucky to never have issues with effort .Where does lucky fit in?

Geno is having one right now with Dangerfield

 

[mntncougar]

Are we at the point where we see that the players no longer want to play for Holly?

Sounds to me like we're already there. They just realize it too late - after they're on her team.

 

[mntncougar]

Geno is having one right now with Dangerfield

I could not escape that thought when I read this thread. Because Danger is from Tennessee. A cultural issue?

 

[Woof 101]

Please explain :Geno and CD have been lucky to never have issues with effort .Where does lucky fit in?

Love this...Lucky is a term often used by lazy people to describe those more successful, this by working harder...

Love the passion she has for her team. I am of the mindset that it is on the players to bring the "fire" or "energy". They have to put forth the effort. Coach Warlick aint out there playing. This loss is on the players. They need to hold themselves accountable. Like Margot said, one of the players needs to step up and say "We are not playing up to Lady Vol standards and living up to the core values of Tennessee women's basketball".

JellyBean...this is no attack and I love your avatar but this situation is not on the players. I would be willing to bet a good number of coaches around the country would love to have the Vol lineup. This being the ones with the basketballs to administer the ole fashion drug known as pine time !
Remember when Pat would not let her players wear any Tennessee garb in practice as a disciplinary move? Coach K just pulled off the same thing with the duke men and the team has responded with a six game winning streak! Coaching gets results. Holly does not have what I will only call It.
The time Pat Summitt got furious and took over a Tennessee men's practice

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

Here's a thought.....with the entire team in the film room, put this video on the big screen, and leave the room. Tell the team you'll be back in a half an hour (to give them time to talk among themselves, and reflect on it's content). It couldn't hurt.

...likely the film room would be empty before the video is over, but the "safe space" would be jam packed.

 

[augustaTC]

I could not escape that thought when I read this thread. Because Danger is from Tennessee. A cultural issue?

More a generational/upbringing issue....certainly not a "Tennessee" issue