Louisville Crushes Tennessee | The Boneyard
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Louisville Crushes Tennessee

RockyMTblue2 said:
89-65. Yikes. I thought it was the second game. Missed it. Who can report?
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It was evenly matched during the first half and a portion of the third. A double technical between Randolph and Spearman in the third speared Louisville onto an insane run for the rest of the game. The rebound differential between these teams was crazy. For example 42-22 on the defensive glass in favour of Louisville.
 
What a satisfying smackdown. You should read the Tennessee board. Totally eating their young. Comments like "embarrassing, terrible effort, kids should go home and look in the mirror", etc. After believing their team was a legit final 4 contender (preseason I believe the Coach said "this team is build for the final 4"), I'd say they are solidly in the top 25 and that's about it.

L'ville is really good. 13 point loss to UConn, surprising 10 point loss to Kentucky, and 2 point loss to SC. I continue to be surprised that they don't get more "blue chip AA" recruits. I think Walz does more with less than any coach in WCBB.

Early Christmas present for those of us who dislike Tennessee - smackdown today of a legit top 10 team by the good guys, and an embarrassing blowout for the evil empire...
 
EricLA said:
What a satisfying smackdown. You should read the Tennessee board. Totally eating their young. Comments like "embarrassing, terrible effort, kids should go home and look in the mirror", etc. After believing their team was a legit final 4 contender (preseason I believe the Coach said "this team is build for the final 4"), I'd say they are solidly in the top 25 and that's about it.

L'ville is really good. 13 point loss to UConn, surprising 10 point loss to Kentucky, and 2 point loss to SC. I continue to be surprised that they don't get more "blue chip AA" recruits. I think Walz does more with less than any coach in WCBB.

Early Christmas present for those of us who dislike Tennessee - smackdown today of a legit top 10 team by the good guys, and an embarrassing blowout for the evil empire...
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Is Iowa a legit top 10 team ?
 
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EricLA said:
What a satisfying smackdown. You should read the Tennessee board. Totally eating their young. Comments like "embarrassing, terrible effort, kids should go home and look in the mirror", etc. After believing their team was a legit final 4 contender (preseason I believe the Coach said "this team is build for the final 4"), I'd say they are solidly in the top 25 and that's about it.

L'ville is really good. 13 point loss to UConn, surprising 10 point loss to Kentucky, and 2 point loss to SC. I continue to be surprised that they don't get more "blue chip AA" recruits. I think Walz does more with less than any coach in WCBB.

Early Christmas present for those of us who dislike Tennessee - smackdown today of a legit top 10 team by the good guys, and an embarrassing blowout for the evil empire...
Expand ...
As a UCONN fan, I can't wait to get Tennessee in Hartford on February 1. My goodness, they looked awful as a team of talented players.
 
This was a very public spanking for Tennessee. And they deserved every bit of it. The tiff between Spearman and Randolph was not just an inflection point. It was also revealing of the two teams. I have a feeling Spearman (and the rest of the team) were embarrassed by Istanbuloglu on the boards, but also Berry (of all people) practically out rebounded Tennessee by themselves. This ratcheted up their tempers until they finally flared. And just to be clear, after a slow start a few years ago, Istanbuloglu has really developed into a quality post, and especially someone who will dive for loose balls. Not many bigs will do that.
 
JellyBean said:
It was an even match at first and then Louisville fire. Tennessee will be fine over the long season. I just hope that Tennessee fans understand what they have and that it is a building process. It takes time.
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It is a process, and I suspect it will take more than one season for them to get back to a final four. Spearman Barker and Wolfenbarger probably won’t be around to see it. Maybe Cooper will still be around for it next season. The young core, Prawl Civil the Pauldos and Boyd could well see it though. If Kim keeps recruiting at this year’s level they have a shot.
 
I, too, spent time on the Tenn Board, and a fair number of fans there were taking the coach apart for what they called a one dimensional style of play. I have never seen this style played by anyone but an also ran program. 5 player platooning on a run and gun offense. They complain that the offense never gets to settle in and shooting inside and outside is very poor.
 
TN has some bad chemistry at both ends of the floor. They may want to slowly move away from the hockey line change thingy. It’s causing them as much fatigue as it is their opponents. Especially when they can’t make the changeover because of the lack of whistles. Cooper is frustrated….visibly. Chemistry seems to exist between pairs of players and not all 5 on the floor…at both ends. 12 assists.

Hard to get that going when the length of your offensive possessions is so brief. Couple that with poor shot selection and you are begging to lose. They need to find the balance between pressing and just standard transition defense…neither which netted them any advantage overall. What they gained in steals they surrendered as Louisville just picked apart their press and beat them up on the boards.

I’ll stop here.
 
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Tennessee has the better athletes with exception to a few players on Louisville's side. On paper this should have been a Tennessee win. I think this really shows the maturity of Walz's system. Coach Caldwell is so young in her career and she hasn't had her system challenged like this at lower levels. On the other hand, Coach Walz has had more press heavy teams in the past, and he still likes to, but his approach just feels more well thought out. This kind of felt like a rookie system vs. a vetted system of similar caliber.
 
EricLA said:
What a satisfying smackdown. You should read the Tennessee board. Totally eating their young. Comments like "embarrassing, terrible effort, kids should go home and look in the mirror", etc. After believing their team was a legit final 4 contender (preseason I believe the Coach said "this team is build for the final 4"), I'd say they are solidly in the top 25 and that's about it.

L'ville is really good. 13 point loss to UConn, surprising 10 point loss to Kentucky, and 2 point loss to SC. I continue to be surprised that they don't get more "blue chip AA" recruits. I think Walz does more with less than any coach in WCBB.

Early Christmas present for those of us who dislike Tennessee - smackdown today of a legit top 10 team by the good guys, and an embarrassing blowout for the evil empire...
Expand ...

They used to get them. Asia Durr comes to mind. Seemed like for several years he was signing a bunch of McDonalds All-Americans.
 
southie said:
They used to get them. Asia Durr comes to mind. Seemed like for several years he was signing a bunch of McDonalds All-Americans.
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They had a revolving door of players coming and going though. They got a head start on the current state of things, before the transfer portal. Them and Maryland.
 

nwhoopfan said:
They had a revolving door of players coming and going though. They got a head start on the current state of things, before the transfer portal. Them and Maryland.
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Walz had so many players coming in until he had to redshirt one or two of them. The redshirt players would end up transferring because they got recruited over. It went downhill for him after Hailey Van Lith transfers and didn't have an adequate replacement for her.
 
Re: AA players. We also had a bench of coaches that had been with Walz for about a decade. Slowly, all his long time assistants moved on to other opportunities. I still lament Sam Williams leaving for a head coaching gig ( she is now with Sam Purcell at State). Then Beth burns went back to the W coast ( now at USC), Sam Purcell to HC at Ms State, and finally Stephanie Norman back to her alma mater. It started with Sam W leaving.

NIL has made things worse from a T 10 athlete perspective. I don’t know what our NIL budget is, but I imagine it’s peanuts compared to most T programs. ( as an aside, Special K has announced an official visit with us in early January. Honestly, my stomach churns at the thought, as I know we will never be able to afford her, not when some schools are allegedly throwing out million dollar offers).

We had a v strong freshman class last year. The core of that class is still with us and the chemistry is top notch. ( Randolph and Hardy are just beginning to scratch the surface of their talent). He has peppered in some support via the portal. I’m hoping we can keep this class together. A big part of this win today was chemistry, playing for the team, and genuinely not caring who gets any accolades. We are the most balanced team I’ve ever seen out of a Walz coached team. Balanced and deep.
 
CardsWBBfan said:
Re: AA players. We also had a bench of coaches that had been with Walz for about a decade. Slowly, all his long time assistants moved on to other opportunities. I still lament Sam Williams leaving for a head coaching gig ( she is now with Sam Purcell at State). Then Beth burns went back to the W coast ( now at USC), Sam Purcell to HC at Ms State, and finally Stephanie Norman back to her alma mater. It started with Sam W leaving.

NIL has made things worse from a T 10 athlete perspective. I don’t know what our NIL budget is, but I imagine it’s peanuts compared to most T programs. ( as an aside, Special K has announced an official visit with us in early January. Honestly, my stomach churns at the thought, as I know we will never be able to afford her, not when some schools are allegedly throwing out million dollar offers).

We had a v strong freshman class last year. The core of that class is still with us and the chemistry is top notch. ( Randolph and Hardy are just beginning to scratch the surface of their talent). He has peppered in some support via the portal. I’m hoping we can keep this class together. A big part of this win today was chemistry, playing for the team, and genuinely not caring who gets any accolades. We are the most balanced team I’ve ever seen out of a Walz coached team. Balanced and deep.
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The one person I havent seen anyone mention is Berry. She is the real deal. Wasn’t she a top recruit? McDonald’s all American?
 
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Geew1992 said:
The one person I havent seen anyone mention is Berry. She is the real deal. Wasn’t she a top recruit? McDonald’s all American?
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Yes! Imari 2.0 is really starting to play relaxed and free. She, too, is just starting to scratch the surface. She played anxious/nervous/tight last year. She didn’t look like she was having fun at all. But this season, she’s a different person.

She seems to prefer coming off the bench and has so much confidence, that continues to rise each and every game. She’s playful and fun with her teammates on the sideline. It’s so wonderful to see her personality come out and to see that athletic, confident player.
I look forward to watching her continued upward trajectory.
 
LwrcasefaN said:
TN has some bad chemistry at both ends of the floor. They may want to slowly move away from the hockey line change thingy. It’s causing them as much fatigue as it is their opponents. Especially when they can’t make the changeover because of the lack of whistles. Cooper is frustrated….visibly. Chemistry seems to exist between pairs of players and not all 5 on the floor…at both ends. 12 assists.

Hard to get that going when the length of your offensive possessions is so brief. Couple that with poor shot selection and you are begging to lose. They need to find the balance between pressing and just standard transition defense…neither which netted them any advantage overall. What they gained in steals they surrendered as Louisville just picked apart their press and beat them up on the boards.

I’ll stop here.
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They definitely got some chemistry issues out there on the court.
 


Should have known there was a promotional angle for this. Had no clue that this was intentional and had people like Lisa Leslie involved.
 
CardsWBBfan said:
Re: AA players. We also had a bench of coaches that had been with Walz for about a decade. Slowly, all his long time assistants moved on to other opportunities. I still lament Sam Williams leaving for a head coaching gig ( she is now with Sam Purcell at State). Then Beth burns went back to the W coast ( now at USC), Sam Purcell to HC at Ms State, and finally Stephanie Norman back to her alma mater. It started with Sam W leaving.

NIL has made things worse from a T 10 athlete perspective. I don’t know what our NIL budget is, but I imagine it’s peanuts compared to most T programs. ( as an aside, Special K has announced an official visit with us in early January. Honestly, my stomach churns at the thought, as I know we will never be able to afford her, not when some schools are allegedly throwing out million dollar offers).

We had a v strong freshman class last year. The core of that class is still with us and the chemistry is top notch. ( Randolph and Hardy are just beginning to scratch the surface of their talent). He has peppered in some support via the portal. I’m hoping we can keep this class together. A big part of this win today was chemistry, playing for the team, and genuinely not caring who gets any accolades. We are the most balanced team I’ve ever seen out of a Walz coached team. Balanced and deep.
Expand ...
Stephanie Norman left! Sorry to hear. I thought she and Jeff were attached at the hip and shoulder….
 
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