Mississippi St (8) @ Tennessee (23) - 2/06/20 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Mississippi St (8) @ Tennessee (23) - 2/06/20

Who will win this game?

  • Total voters
    43
  • Poll closed .
Never mind. Game is now played the Vic Schaefer way. We got them where we wanted. Burrell has cooled down severely.
 
6 Lady Vol turnovers in the 3rd Period off of 5 Bulldog steals. Also Miss St. is dominating in bench points. Its just too big a mountain to climb....
 
I just flipped over for a couple minutes and wow.

But why is Bibby on the bench?
 
I just started watching in the third quarter. Sounded like UT started strong but with their illness and injuries, State’s depth has started wearing them down.

This team (Coach Schaefer noted) is still a work in progress. Still a high ceiling for this team though.
 
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Burrell may be the best player Tennessee has. She's the kind of player every coach wants.
 
Y Morris is playing big minutes tonight. It’s nice to have her come in and add.
 
Morris was great for MSU actually so that should be encouraging.

Burrell played very well today as well
 
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Coach Schaefer has gone with more of methodical pace as the year progresses by playing defense and slowing the ball on offense. M Taylor isn’t an offensive threat at all but she has done a better job the last few games keeping the discipline on offense. I thought J Danberry might be the point guard when she got her extra year of eligibility. However her decision making and ability to pace the game like Coach Schaefer wants just isn’t there.
 
Minus all points scored on turnovers in the game, the score would be 52-52, and we'd be in overtime right now....

Congrats Miss State....
 
garddog said:
Burrell may be the best player Tennessee has. She's the kind of player every coach wants.
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She looked good, however, did you notice how often she carries the ball? Some of it is very obvious, at least to me. She kept them in the game in the first half.
 
ConwayGamec said:
Minus all points scored on turnovers in the game, the score would be 52-52, and we'd be in overtime right now....

Congrats Miss State....
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Statements like this always crack me up.

Minus my arms and legs I would be a quadriplegic.
 
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SECbbfan24 said:
Well its part of the game unfortunately ;)
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I know, just wanted to put the turnovers into emphasis. Tenn. would be in a lot of these games if they could just find a way to reduce them. They can't help themselves.....
 
TN need better coaching. Too much talent and bad coaching. I am happy we have our Dawny.
 
SECbbfan24 said:
Morris was great for MSU actually so that should be encouraging.

Burrell played very well today as well
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T McCowan was pretty bad her first year playing and not much better at the start of her second year. In fairness Y Morris has come a long way in her short time at MSU. Her perimeter defense, especially tonight, is pretty good already. However what I was most pleased about tonight was her getting offensive rebounds, going up strong, and making free throws.
 
shiverz45 said:
The race for the 3 and 4 seed should be a battle.
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Tennessee and Arkansas needs to seize those #3 and #4 spots, but it's a tight race for #3 between 5 teams. Those 2 are the 2 without a major injury. Rennia Davis won't be out long.
 
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I sound like a broken record with these posts but.....I will take this one and move on. We didn't look that great but did what we had to do to get the win. Despite the diminished UT program Knoxville is still a tough place to get a win and for the only program to never defeat the LVs until a few years ago it does feel good.

MSU is probably about what I expected for this season. We aren't a FF threat by any stretch but given the youth, inexperience and the first year post Vivians and McCowan it could be worse. Taylor doesn't wow me like I expected but I've seen her have some okay games. Danberry can raise my blood pressure with some of her actions but then she makes a crucial basket or stop when we need one. Jackson is maturing nicely and the freshmen guards off the bench have come up big a few times and looked lost at others. The inside game is what has really disappointed me as Carter has done about all she can but has little support outside of there and I'm not sure that changes next season, even with Sidney Cooks unless we land another grad transfer if a spot opens up (I have a feeling one of the young guards will transfer given how crowded the bench is).

Some on Volnation were having a Holly like meltdown earlier. I was originally worried about this game but when I heard Davis was out I figured we should win. I posted last year that the only players on that roster who would have received real playing time during the glory years were Westbrook, Davis and Z Greene. Only one of those players has suited up this year and she's had a fine season. Horston and Key aren't bad for freshmen but are still very much learning.

I have posted before and believe that UT is better than the last few seasons and that I think Harper was a good hire. Their roster just doesn't have the talent it once held and honestly some of them probably will never develop to be anything more than role players for a D1 program that wants desperately to be a top 5 to 10 team again. Harper's first recruiting cycle didn't go very well compared to expectations so it may be another wait and see year. If UT can win out and grab a game or two in the SEC tournament they of course are in the NCAA. With injuries to Mitchell and Carter the next couple look far less daunting.
 
GameReadyGC said:
TN need better coaching. Too much talent and bad coaching. I am happy we have our Dawny.
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Holly collected Mickey D All-Americans without any thought to chemistry and while is does have some talent, Tennessee is a very young team. Davis is the veteran as a Junior, then next 4 in minutes and points are Horston-Fr, Massengale-So, Key-Fr, Burrell-So. They also lost last year's point guard, Westbrook due to a transfer. Kelly actually has put some soul into the program and while the results look virtually identical, the atmosphere seems significantly different. The team also lost it's second best player to injury-Zaay Green for the year. There are definite chemistry issues still but at least Kelly acknowledges them, something Holly "I just don't know" Warlick could never do. Now, next year, if this is still a problem, then yes, concerns need to be raised.
 
Kellie did get trounced by all 4 top 10 teams she's played. Maybe UConn doesn't count as a trouncing (I'm saying maybe), but the other 3 she was fairly dealt.

But unlike Warlick, Kellie hasn't lost to Vanderbilt, so..... I'd say that's an improvement (don't wanna jinx her as I said that!)

@MSSportsGuy - We don't have a true center, but with the showing Yemiyah Morris had today - I think if she continues to play like that, we can have at least a decent Center that can have (strong rebounding, bat loose balls, threaten the defense with post-up looks) that we can feel good enough about - then that gives us another base runner.
 
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Plebe said:
Mississippi State played maybe their C game and it was still enough for a 17 point win. Tennessee just isn't very good.
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Tennessee is what they are, so to speak. I don't see a huge improvement over teams of the past. They occasionally run some offense, but can't keep it consistent for more than a short period of time.

They end up staying in games due to heroic or herculean efforts by individual players - someone hits a crazy 3 from 2 feet beyond the arc, or 1 on 1, Davis, or Burrell, or Massengill do something awesome. I would also say Key is pretty darn good. She's much better than Kushkituah.

They also have lots of athleticism and size/length. They play a lot more zone than I ever remember. But in this game, State got to the FT area too easily for wide open mid range jumpers.
 
MSSportsGuy said:
I sound like a broken record with these posts but.....I will take this one and move on. We didn't look that great but did what we had to do to get the win. Despite the diminished UT program Knoxville is still a tough place to get a win and for the only program to never defeat the LVs until a few years ago it does feel good.

MSU is probably about what I expected for this season. We aren't a FF threat by any stretch but given the youth, inexperience and the first year post Vivians and McCowan it could be worse. Taylor doesn't wow me like I expected but I've seen her have some okay games. Danberry can raise my blood pressure with some of her actions but then she makes a crucial basket or stop when we need one. Jackson is maturing nicely and the freshmen guards off the bench have come up big a few times and looked lost at others. The inside game is what has really disappointed me as Carter has done about all she can but has little support outside of there and I'm not sure that changes next season, even with Sidney Cooks unless we land another grad transfer if a spot opens up (I have a feeling one of the young guards will transfer given how crowded the bench is).

Some on Volnation were having a Holly like meltdown earlier. I was originally worried about this game but when I heard Davis was out I figured we should win. I posted last year that the only players on that roster who would have received real playing time during the glory years were Westbrook, Davis and Z Greene. Only one of those players has suited up this year and she's had a fine season. Horston and Key aren't bad for freshmen but are still very much learning.

I have posted before and believe that UT is better than the last few seasons and that I think Harper was a good hire. Their roster just doesn't have the talent it once held and honestly some of them probably will never develop to be anything more than role players for a D1 program that wants desperately to be a top 5 to 10 team again. Harper's first recruiting cycle didn't go very well compared to expectations so it may be another wait and see year. If UT can win out and grab a game or two in the SEC tournament they of course are in the NCAA. With injuries to Mitchell and Carter the next couple look far less daunting.
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You are a hard guy to please. I believe this team is coming together. They will be a tough out in the Big Dance. They have exceeded my expectations for this season already. My concern is the post play, I thought Promise Taylor would be the starting center and I expected post to be our strongest position. Promise just does not appear to be over her injury. Not sure her perfornance will ever approach her freshman days. I am very pleased with our team and believe we will be a factor in both the SEC and NCAA tournaments.
 
EricLA said:
Tennessee is what they are, so to speak. I don't see a huge improvement over teams of the past. They occasionally run some offense, but can't keep it consistent for more than a short period of time.
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Only/main difference under Harper than Holly is Tennessee just seems much more sound defensively and they know their roles on that end. On offense, its more of the same from the past. Team cannot take care of the ball to save their life, don't run a lot of set plays. Its a bunch of one on one shooting and hoping the big girls will rebound to put the ball back in. Sometimes they will run some set plays but not often. I am just amazed by how players at this level continue to make such poor decisions with the basketball.

That said, Tennessee has been depleted with some major losses from last year. They lost Jackson and Green to graduation. They lost Westbrook and Collins to transfer (major losses). Then their 2nd best player Zaay Green goes down with a season ending injury. I do not think some of the supporting cast to Rennia Davis is good enough. Burrell is a nice little player, if she can be more consistent that will be good for them. Horston is talented but she is a turnover machine and is out of control too much. All the poor decision making really negates her talent capabilities. Key is a freshmen who is a pretty good shot blocker but has a long way to go on everything else. Tennessee has some rebuilding to do from the ground up, especially from a philosophical level. Harpers first recruiting class wasn't great so this upcoming year is pretty critical for her.
 
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