Louisville Dumps Tennessee

[UcMiami]

No,she isn't.Each year our record gets worse.Ten-loss seasons will be the norm under Warlick.She is in WAY over her head and the only thing she has in her favor is the faction of the fan base that cannot accept reality.I can promise you that we'll NEVER have a Final Four team while Holly is coach.

I agree about 'over her head' - from the first year she got the job and talked about how she was just trying to follow Pats formula and do everything exactly the same, I knew that she was the classic 'useful assistant' given the reins - I am sure Pat relied on Holly for a lot of things that made her life flow smoothly - organizing schedules and posting practice times, and managing the staff, but I sincerely doubt coaching players was a big part of it - counseling them, sure, especially after one of Pat's famous disciplinary actions. I imagined Holly sitting there the first year with her notebook that recorded every practice that had been held for the past 20 years and going, OK, this is day 15 of the preseason, and on day 15 we always work on pick and roll, so we start practice with this drill, and then the next drill is ______, and then we do ______. And then going out and spending the allotted 30 minutes on each drill, and after 2 hours going back to her office and checking what the Pat's schedule called for on day 16. And then watching her coach in games it seemed like she had a stop watch and clicker to record shots by each player, and was following the same concept - we have an eight player rotation so: at the five minute mark, I substitute my bench guard into the game; when my starting forward has taken 7 shots I substitute her out; when we have scored 20 points I call a time out - because none of the moves she made seemed to have any relationship to the game flow or how any individual player was performing. Invariably one of her players would get a hot hand, and in the next minute she would be on the bench getting her prescribed two minutes of rest, or the team would finally be playing well and on a little run and she would call a time out.
And I truly cannot imagine what the coaching staff meetings are like - if any of them had an new idea on something they could try (given their long tenure, I'm not sure any of them would actually have a new idea) I can just imagine the rest of them checking notes and going 'Well Pat never did that, I don't think we should.'

Harsh - maybe. But it never has seemed that Holly actually sees what is happening on the court - I mean she sees the score and she recognizes when her team is scoring and rebounding, but she doesn't seem to recognize why they are playing well or playing poorly. If a defender is in her stance with her hands up, she is defending well, even if she is never providing help, and getting caught on every screen and cut. If a player makes a shot, it was a good shot, if she misses it was a bad one.

 

[huskeynut]

A couple of observations on my part:

1. Most who follow a legend will fail to meet the legends standard. If you look at sports' history, every sport, it holds true. Holly falls into this category.

2. A ranked recruiting class only addresses their potential. Again, sports history is littered with athletes labeled with great potential who went bust!

 

[Bestiarius]

Well fortunately for UConn. Your coach didn't have health issue. Then had to stepdown. I do not know the full extent of how that effected the team and recruits. I think that Westbrook will be a star. As far as Holly is concerned. Like Gary Blair said she's doing a great job. It's hard to replace a legend.

Eventually, every coach has to step down. Summitt, having coached 1306 games, is still way ahead of Geno who has coached only 1123. Geno still has to coach 183 more games to be even with Pat's career longevity. So, Geno still has about 5 years to go to catch up with Pat. Until then, comparison of Geno and Pat's shortened career are not valid.

Regarding Holly and Gary, I can understand Blair's desire to keep Holly around as long as possible.

 

[sarals24]

Well, you're right...it's "always something" with them. But, of the possible "culprits" you list, I can't count bad recruiting among them. They get the players, but, as you suggest, Holly fails in developing them. Yes, she's highly ineffective as an in-game coach, but the main thing I'd list is the obviously deficient quality of her pre-season and pre-game coaching. I've been rightly accused of denigrating her skills on our forum by folks who recognize the fundamental impossibility of stepping into the shoes of a legend...point taken. But as UConn fans, treated as we are to a level of preparation of players and development of strategies by the very pinnacle of coaching ability, we cannot help but watch the LV's with a certain sense of incredulity...players standing around on offense, poor spacing and poor ball movement. Geno would be on the sideline fully apoplectic! Someday, someone is going to face the daunting task of replacing Geno, maybe Shea? I dunno...but I promise we'll see a better performance than what Holly's turning in. She's just in way over her head. The one thing that continues to amaze me is that such highly talented (well, in high school, anyway) players keep showing up on her doorstep. Maybe it's an institutional thing, that the LV legacy continues to attract long after Pat's departure, hopefully something we too can someday count upon.

Meh, I still hold that their recruiting is suspect. There is a reason that UConn and Tennessee very rarely go head to head for players anymore.

 

[CocoHusky]

Meh, I still hold that their recruiting is suspect. There is a reason that UConn and Tennessee very rarely go head to head for players anymore.

I agree with you, TN seems to value talent above all else while UCONN values best fit to the UCONN system. Recently though, is UCONN really going head to head with anyone for recruits?

 

[UcMiami]

Meh, I still hold that their recruiting is suspect. There is a reason that UConn and Tennessee very rarely go head to head for players anymore.

I agree with you, TN seems to value talent above all else while UCONN values best fit to the UCONN system. Recently though, is UCONN really going head to head with anyone for recruits?

Yes to both of you - it is fairly amazing to me how many of the high profile recruits we pursue also list TN among their five or six finalists, because the coaching staffs have such different personalities and success rates.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I agree about 'over her head' - from the first year she got the job and talked about how she was just trying to follow Pats formula and do everything exactly the same, I knew that she was the classic 'useful assistant' given the reins - I am sure Pat relied on Holly for a lot of things that made her life flow smoothly - organizing schedules and posting practice times, and managing the staff, but I sincerely doubt coaching players was a big part of it - counseling them, sure, especially after one of Pat's famous disciplinary actions. I imagined Holly sitting there the first year with her notebook that recorded every practice that had been held for the past 20 years and going, OK, this is day 15 of the preseason, and on day 15 we always work on pick and roll, so we start practice with this drill, and then the next drill is ______, and then we do ______. And then going out and spending the allotted 30 minutes on each drill, and after 2 hours going back to her office and checking what the Pat's schedule called for on day 16. And then watching her coach in games it seemed like she had a stop watch and clicker to record shots by each player, and was following the same concept - we have an eight player rotation so: at the five minute mark, I substitute my bench guard into the game; when my starting forward has taken 7 shots I substitute her out; when we have scored 20 points I call a time out - because none of the moves she made seemed to have any relationship to the game flow or how any individual player was performing. Invariably one of her players would get a hot hand, and in the next minute she would be on the bench getting her prescribed two minutes of rest, or the team would finally be playing well and on a little run and she would call a time out.
And I truly cannot imagine what the coaching staff meetings are like - if any of them had an new idea on something they could try (given their long tenure, I'm not sure any of them would actually have a new idea) I can just imagine the rest of them checking notes and going 'Well Pat never did that, I don't think we should.'

Harsh - maybe. But it never has seemed that Holly actually sees what is happening on the court - I mean she sees the score and she recognizes when her team is scoring and rebounding, but she doesn't seem to recognize why they are playing well or playing poorly. If a defender is in her stance with her hands up, she is defending well, even if she is never providing help, and getting caught on every screen and cut. If a player makes a shot, it was a good shot, if she misses it was a bad one.

Well, in the case of Holly, Pat (may she RIP) was a pretty pure judge of talent. As I understand it, for their decades together Holly was a gopher and a mother hen buffer between The Tyrant and the players. Sorta a Mutt and Jeff thing. When Pat started to struggle it was another assistant who ran the huddle - DeMoss.. It may be that she was offered the job and turned it down; says she does not want a head coaching job and turned it down when nurse-maiding Tyler Summitt and he resigned in his scandal. My theory about why Holly was offered the job is not flattering to Pat, so I'm not going to throw it out there. Also not flattering to their AD, who had to know the limitations of Holly's prior role and, frankly, her essentially slow wit.

 

[Orangutan]

Recently though, is UCONN really going head to head with anyone for recruits?

Did I hallucinate the whole Megan Walker saga?

 

[oldude]

Did I hallucinate the whole Megan Walker saga?

Megan was in the bag for the Huskies all along.

 

[CocoHusky]

Did I hallucinate the whole Megan Walker saga?

No,you did not, but Megan was not a must have for UCONN because Azura Stevens was already on board.

 

[BigBird]

For what it's worth: When UT is running its "offense," count the number of bounces for whomever has the ball. The more they tend to dribble-kill the tempo, the more likely they lose. Selfish players show themselves as such, as do poor passers.

 

[BigBird]

No,you did not, but Megan was not a must have for UCONN because Azura Stevens was already on board.

Not a must-have? Tell me that four years from now.

 

[Carnac]

I've never been a Tennessee fan, although I respect what the program's history and Pat Summitt have done for women, women's sport, and women's basketball. In that regard this decline is hard to watch. A good Tennessee is good for the game since we don't have that many blue blood programs yet. I hope they can get back on the right track eventually.

Lady Vols fans might want to be careful what they wish for regarding a new coach. Who do you get as a replacement? This season Warlick didn't seem to have control of the locker room (to put it nicely), but she has had some post-season success during her years there. That's such a pressure filled job, taking over the late great Pat Summitt's chair. I'm not sure anyone was going to have success immediately upon filling her shoes -- at least not success by those immense standards. It's been a long day so someone might be able to correct me, but off the top of my head I can't think of any coaching greats who stepped down and their successor met their level of success.

While reading your post, I could not help but think of what Geno said about the "posture" and body language of the bench, and the mindset and attitude of the starters. There are a lot of differences between the two programs. None more glaring that the body language and cheer for others concept.

Selfless play, running over to help a teammate up that's on the floor, passing the ball to an open teammate who has a better shot than you, etc. Holly and Geno are worlds apart in their approach to coaching. Positive body language. Geno DEMANDS it, and deals with it harshly if he doesn't see it, Holly does not. I could go on, but I think you get my drift.

 

[svetbird]

my real question is if Tennessee will ever have the guts to fire Warlick with her ties to Pat's legacy?

 

[BigBird]

While reading your post, I could not help but think of what Geno said about the "posture" and body language of the bench, and the mindset and attitude of the starters. There are a lot of differences between the two programs. None more glaring that the body language and cheer for others concept.

Selfless play, running over to help a teammate up that's on the floor, passing the ball to an open teammate who has a better shot than you, etc. Holly and Geno are worlds apart in their approach to coaching. Positive body language. Geno DEMANDS it, and deals with it harshly if he doesn't see it, Holly does not. I could go on, but I think you get my drift.

Good one, soothsayer. Where my body language is concerned, I should be considered a stutterer.

 

[BigBird]

my real question is if Tennessee will ever have the guts to fire Warlick with her ties to Pat's legacy?

How long did it take for Indiana to fire Bob Knight? They wobbled about for most of two years. In his case though, in-game incompetence wasn't any part of the reasoning.

Holly is in a different realm. As soon as any (or perhaps many) of the larger cash donors join the whining, she will vaporize and be but a memory. It isn't about Pat, nor a memorial to her. It's wins versus coins.

 

[UcMiami]

my real question is if Tennessee will ever have the guts to fire Warlick with her ties to Pat's legacy?

I think the answer to that is coming in the 12 months, every year for I think her first four she got a contract extension and a raise. She didn't get one last year, and she hasn't this year, and the contract is down to 3 or 2 more years - a college coach playing on a one year contract is very rare because it hurts recruiting - if your college isn't committed to you, why should I make a commitment to you, is the question with no good answer on a home visit!

 

[stwainfan]

 

[DefenseBB]

Well, in the case of Holly, Pat (may she RIP) was a pretty pure judge of talent. As I understand it, for their decades together Holly was a gopher and a mother hen buffer between The Tyrant and the players. Sorta a Mutt and Jeff thing. When Pat started to struggle it was another assistant who ran the huddle - DeMoss.. It may be that she was offered the job and turned it down; says she does not want a head coaching job and turned it down when nurse-maiding Tyler Summitt and he resigned in his scandal. My theory about why Holly was offered the job is not flattering to Pat, so I'm not going to throw it out there. Also not flattering to their AD, who had to know the limitations of Holly's prior role and, frankly, her essentially slow wit.

You bring up an interesting comment on DeMoss. There is a huge subplot to why she will never take a head coaching gig again. Remember she had done very well at Kentucky before resigning rather abruptly. She has then only taken assistant jobs, back at UT, Indiana Fever, La Tech and now at LSU. I don't know "first hand facts" but do think she will never take a head coaching gig again.