Lady Vols vs Texas

[Zorro]

Disregard reference to Walz.Let me rephrase the question. Would ANY prospective new HC agree to conditions like these?

1. Your assistants are already all in place. We know they are good because they all worked for Pat for many years.
2. Pat will remain to help you recruit, run practices, and deal with alumni and media. Should any assistants leave, look to her to find a replacement (maybe even young Tyler). You are fortunate to have her at all games and in team meetings.
3. You are lucky -- the AD won't bother you much -- his focus is on football.​

Got the idea?

AND, by all accounts, Hart is not about to turn loose of the kind of money that it would take to make it worthwhile for a hot-shot coach to come into that situation. As long as the LV are getting the kind of non-support and non-interest that they seem to be getting (according to the VolNation posters, at least) there is just no way anything is going to change for the better. What the fans in general want does not signify; it is what the AD and the alumni with the big bucks want that does, and it does not seem that there is any effective movement to restore the LV to their wonted glory. A truly sad situation.

 

[easttexastrash]

Margo is spot on. Could not have said it better. I do not understand why Mercedes Russell wants to stay out past the 3 point line and pass the ball.

Does she want to or is she told to? Most post players are not going to float around the three point line unless the coach instructs them to clear out the lane.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Actually, up to the early 2000s Pat's teams played very good team ball once those days were gone the rest of it was nowhere near as successful.

Great point. Certainly through the Kara Lawson years the UTenn teams were pretty impressive in at least working as a team on offense, even if it was often a "chuck it inside and go for the rebound" approach, they still seemed to be glued together in a system that usually got them at least to the FF and often the NC game. Sure, UConn undressed them in the 2000 and 2002 Tourney games, but that happened to a bunch of teams. Then came the Candace era where you had a supremely gifted player who in two seasons from 2006-2008 had enough of a supporting cast working behind her to seize the opportunity to capture NCs. The question is, is that now the model that UTenn has been focused on since CP's departure?

Maya Moore was supposed to be the next Vol superstar to continue the winning tradition, but that possibility disappeared when she disappeared in the north wilds of UConn. There have been various players touted as the next Vol superstar or savior with #1 or #2 recruiting ratings and lineups that would give them the "best front court in the nation." Nothing has really worked out, though injuries are always pointed to as a major culprit.

So now DD has been heralded as the player who will lead UTenn back to the Promised Land due to her magical talents. She's certainly a gamer and fun to watch, but the shooting stats from her time with a sometimes explosive but inconsistent UNC in 2013-14 seem a bit similar to the stats for a more veteran UTenn squad.

DD at UNC: 42.6% on FGs, 27.9% on 3-pt FGs, took 24.5% of team's shots
DD at UTn: 34.6% oN FGs, 30.8% on 3-pt FGs, taking 20.9% of team's shots, but 31.9% of the Vols' shots in the season's first "big" game against Texas.

At least her TOs per game are down from 3.4 topg for UNC to 2.2 for UTenn, but other Vol players have picked up the "'slack," and amazingly UTenn is more turnover prone this year than that wild inexperienced UNC team.

I would be a bit worried about the early action if I was a Vol fan, but the important point to remember is that Holly needs at least five more years to get things straightened out and we should all be very supportive of her during these trying years.

 

[BRS24]

This thread has been enlightening and amusing, and it got me thinking about rankings (individuals & team), coaching, and a few other things. These might be more rhetorical questions than anything else.

1 - When is the #4 & #8 team not really that? Similar to college FB and BB, are WBB teams ranked based on perception and history? I'll bet that Dayton and others considered mid-majors (I hate that they rank them separate), are probably better than some of the "named" programs in the top 25 right now.

2 - How hard is it to be a WCBB coach and sustain excellence YOY? It's known that Geno (and DT, and others) have a supreme fear of failure, and work hard every year to be the best. He and the assts instill a base of team, system, responsibility, and it doesn't change much each year. He may change the offense based on his personnel, but isn't that what a coach is supposed to do? Ran the triangle for a while, then moved on. Tara also moved on from the triangle last year based on her team makeup. I'm betting that installing an offensive system is hard, and even harder to stay with it, in bad times.

3 - When is the $1, #4, #25 HS player not that at all? Is it just as important for a player to be in an environment that suits her skills, or should a highly ranked player be able to transfer that skill, no matter where she plays?

 

[Beemer]

The players seem to have plenty of problems, too. But that is a coaching problem, too, as the talent as recruited does not seem to be capable or desirous of playing as a unit. Geno and CD put as much emphasis on fit and personality as flat out athleticism.

I think this has been an issue at Tennessee for quite some time now. IMO when Pat Summitt was coaching the sheer force of her personality was often enough to compel her players to work as a unit, you know, "let's show her we can meet her expectations". It didn't always work, she had teams that just couldn't/wouldn't work together (Kara Lawson's teams for example) but it worked often enough. JMO.

 

[watanabe]

I have the feeling Chong can replace Moiah next year. Hope I am right.

maybe play her position.............

 

[msf22b]

Andrea Carter made this point in the presser that I must have missed.

After noting that in the previous games, UTenn should have won by much greater margins,she said:

"We came up against a team that was equally as talented as us, and they played together and they beat us."

If she truly believes that, then the Lady Vols are top 10-15 at best.
Assuming they start to perform.

 

[Zorro]

maybe play her position...

I think we get your point; Saniya is not and will not be as good a point guard as is Moriah. Agreed. But neither is or was anyone else, past or present. OK?

 

[CocoHusky]

I think we get your point; Saniya is not and will not be as good a point guard as is Moriah. Agreed. But neither is or was anyone else, past or present. OK?

Glad you left out Future, as that leaves the possibility that Dangerfield will be the real Deal and MoJeff "like"

 

[Bigpetunia]

Someone requested my girl...so here she is...
MARGOOOOO....!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/K_JJ8cWKVsE

I am forever indebted to you! As many posters have long noted, I am woefully ignorant on a wide variety of subjects. As an example, reading this thread, I had no clue to whom people were referring when they kept invoking the name of someone named Margo. Thanks to you, I now not only know, but have invested the most entertaining 15 minutes in recent memory. Priceless! Tenn should put her on their bench for the specific purpose of, in her words, "gettin' in the referee's ear!" Does UConn have its own answer to Margo? Great stuff...thanks!

 

[Bayareahusky]

I am forever indebted to you! As many posters have long noted, I am woefully ignorant on a wide variety of subjects. As an example, reading this thread, I had no clue to whom people were referring when they kept invoking the name of someone named Margo. Thanks to you, I now not only know, but have invested the most entertaining 15 minutes in recent memory. Priceless! Tenn should put her on their bench for the specific purpose of, in her words, "gettin' in the referee's ear!" Does UConn have its own answer to Margo? Great stuff...thanks!

Yeah I love Margo.... She has such passion, and always has had that..... In this review, she is questioning Mercedes' positioning at top of key, and recommending that the players drive to the basket, particularly the guards

 

[easttexastrash]

I think we get your point; Saniya is not and will not be as good a point guard as is Moriah. Agreed. But neither is or was anyone else, past or present. OK?

Chong = Sue Bird?

 

[Nuyoika]

Chong = Sue Bird?

Oh boy... you had to do it didn't you? Always stirring the pot lol

 

[Nuyoika]

Diamond is an extremely confident player. Which you have to be to play at a high level and honestly I wouldn't put too much stock in a post game presser by her or any other TN player at this time. Until they can put together something watchable from a basketball standpoint words mean nothing. Does anyone know if those are required? The post games by players? If I were a coach I'm not sure I'd want a team that just played that poorly even speaking about the sport.

 

[DobbsRover2]

As to picking on poor DD, let the stats and team play speak for itself. The BY isn't the site that's in meltdown mode about Holly and Co. We all heard that DD was supposed to be well integrated into the Vol offense this year and Holly could get her working smoothly with the other players. So far it kind of looks like 2013-14 UNC deja vu all over again, only clunkier and worse.

 

[easttexastrash]

Baylor fans may be dumb and dumber, but we know not to predict that anyone will ever be as good as Griner or Sims...at least not anyone that is currently on the team.

 

[meyers7]

The last 4 recruiting classes, with UConn's highest rated recruits in each. Tenn is doing OK.

2012
1. Breanna Stewart
2. Moriah Jefferson
3. Alexis Jones - Duke
4. Jewel Loyd - ND
5. Bashaara Graves - Tenn

2013
1. Mercedes Russell - Tenn
2. Kaela Davis - GA Tech
3. Diamond DeSheilds - Tenn
4. Taya Reimer - ND
5. Linnae Harper - KY
75. Saniya Chong

2014
1. A'Ja Wilson - So. Carolina
2. Brianna Turner - ND
3. Ariel Atkins - Texas
4. Jordin Canada - UCLA
5. Kelsey Mitchell - Ohio State
14. Gabby Williams

2015
1. Katie Lou Samuelson
2. Asia Durr - Louisville
3. Jessica Shepard - Nebraska
4. Cecilia Zandalasini - no college, playing in Europe
5. Angela Salvadores - Duke

Hoopgurlz Recruiting Rankings

2012 - UCONN #1, TN #5
2013 - TN #3, UCONN >#20
2014 - UCONN #4, TN #6
2015 - UCONN #2, TN #12

Add in 2016 - UCONN #14, TN > #20

So the separation is gonna get bigger the next couple of years (except for the Xfers).

 

[DobbsRover2]

Baylor fans may be dumb and dumber, but we know not to predict that anyone will ever be as good as Griner or Sims...at least not anyone that is currently on the team.

Um deliberately misreading the term "replace" as "be equal to" is something I would predict for a Baylor fan, though to be fair, there are always BYers who fall into the same habits. And I am seconding your prediction that no one will ever be as good as Griner or Sims for the Bears, but I'm hoping you can make the expiration date on that prediction to be some time late in the current century, maybe around 2099 or so.

 

[Icebear]

Who's hating? Except maybe Bears fans who make snarky remarks about Husky players who may need to step into the same position as departed superstars.

Baylor fans are giving the Boneyard bears a bad name.

 

[Zorro]

Chong = Sue Bird?

That is one helluva stretch of my words, and has a leaven of malice. All I have said of Saniya is that she will be MUCH more than adequate.

 

[watanabe]

I think we get your point; Saniya is not and will not be as good a point guard as is Moriah. Agreed. But neither is or was anyone else, past or present. OK?

Thanks for saying I made a point! Was just saying how I feel
I think sometimes a Husky player or coach, reaches a certain pinnacle that makes any criticism of them a touchy subject. IMO MoJet has made it there.
I certainly respect your opinion tho. No offense was intended.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Thanks for saying I made a point! Was just saying how I feel
I think sometimes a Husky player or coach, reaches a certain pinnacle that makes any criticism of them a touchy subject. IMO MoJet has made it there.
I certainly respect your opinion tho. No offense was intended.

An interesting view, but certainly not a usual one for anyone who has come into contact with Geno. The higher up that "certain pinnacle" a player goes, the more is expected from them and the more critical he gets if they are not performing at the 100% level, a la the benching of Stewie and Tuck in the Memphis game before USCar last year. I think what he and a lot of fans get more ticked off about is cheap shots, like saying in Nov. 2011 "That freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis or junior Kelly Faris can never replace Maya Moore." Well no, of course not, and no one would be enough of an idiot to think that they could. But you can still be a good ball player, fill a position, and have a nice Husky career, and hopefully you won't get too much bile hurled at you while doing so, though that probably is asking way too much.

 

[j66kicker]

As to picking on poor DD, let the stats and team play speak for itself. The BY isn't the site that's in meltdown mode about Holly and Co. We all heard that DD was supposed to be well integrated into the Vol offense this year and Holly could get her working smoothly with the other players. So far it kind of looks like 2013-14 UNC deja vu all over again, only clunkier and worse.

Haha - that's why this is an 8-page/232-post (and counting) thread on the BY about a non-UCONN game played just yesterday afternoon, where we are busting all over their players, coaches, athletic director, administration, fans and admission standards

 

[DobbsRover2]

Haha - that's why this is an 8-page/232-post (and counting) thread on the BY about a non-UCONN game played just yesterday afternoon, where we are busting all over their players, coaches, athletic director, administration, fans and admission standards

That's certainly not a meltdown, though. For a good many Husky fans it's more like some schadenfreude joy bubbling up as certain comments and actions of the yesteryear are remembered. Down south it is a frackin' cataclysmic meltdown. In any case, sure we can keep it going for 10/300.

 

[j66kicker]

That's certainly not a meltdown, though. For a good many Husky fans it's more like some schadenfreude joy bubbling up as certain comments and actions of the yesteryear are remembered. Down south it is a frackin' cataclysmic meltdown. In any case, sure we can keep it going for 10/300.

I'm sure we can, especially now that we just laid a MOV of 48 on a team who lost to TN by 2

 

[UcMiami]

This thread has been enlightening and amusing, and it got me thinking about rankings (individuals & team), coaching, and a few other things. These might be more rhetorical questions than anything else.

1 - When is the #4 & #8 team not really that? Similar to college FB and BB, are WBB teams ranked based on perception and history? I'll bet that Dayton and others considered mid-majors (I hate that they rank them separate), are probably better than some of the "named" programs in the top 25 right now.

2 - How hard is it to be a WCBB coach and sustain excellence YOY? It's known that Geno (and DT, and others) have a supreme fear of failure, and work hard every year to be the best. He and the assts instill a base of team, system, responsibility, and it doesn't change much each year. He may change the offense based on his personnel, but isn't that what a coach is supposed to do? Ran the triangle for a while, then moved on. Tara also moved on from the triangle last year based on her team makeup. I'm betting that installing an offensive system is hard, and even harder to stay with it, in bad times.

3 - When is the $1, #4, #25 HS player not that at all? Is it just as important for a player to be in an environment that suits her skills, or should a highly ranked player be able to transfer that skill, no matter where she plays?

Nice post, and even if it is rhetorical in nature, I will answer with a few points

1. Yes, especially early in a new season, rankings are more based on previous performance than current performance - UNC got ranked to start this year even though they were decimated by transfers for example. And teams that are not showing well and are losing games but who were expected to be very good on paper fall much more slowly in rankings than surprisingly good teams rise. Happens across sports, especially at the college level where you have 100s of D1 teams that seldom play each other or even common opponents (especially in BB where league play starts 2 months into the season.

2. Women's coaches have a much easier time than men's coaches as they generally can depend on their athletes to remain at school and on the team for the full four years - that lends a continuity to their teams that top men's coaches can only dream about.

3. Rankings are always a crap shoot - there are a few players each decade that are obvious superstars (e.g. Maya, Parker, Griner) but the rest is eye-of-the-beholder stuff. A number 5 ranked player is likely to be clearly better than a #25 player at the same position but distinctions between the #5 and #10 player are likely fairly nebulous. Add in that we are talking about progressions between 18 and 22 years of age when both men and women are still maturing physically and mentally and the results coming out of college compared to those entering college can be wildly different even for players in 'ideal' situations. And yes, coaching and teammates (chemistry) play a huge part in what happens during those 4 years, just as they do for general student populations, work environments, and any human development situation - it is more public and more intense on a basketball team, but it is the same process. Put someone in an environment with good mentors and supportive companions and they will generally thrive vs a person in the opposite environment. Some special people can rise above whatever environment they are in, most cannot.