ND smackdown of Tennessee, Post Mortem

[meyers7]

Heck of a game at South Bend tonight. TN was determined not to lose by 30 and they achieved their goal with margin to spare.

Love it.

 

[dtbtbtb]

I was happy to see ND destroy TN in this game and actually if they would have played the first half as they did in the second they would have won by 50 or so against this cupcake team
That said, it was really sad to see Pat on the bench...If this game didn't convince the AD of TN that she needs to retire and it's time to find the next coach (If I'm TN, I offer a boat load of money to Jeff W. to the KY coach or to the LSU coach) than nothing will...this kind of games just hurt Pat's legacy that she has earned with all of her achievements.

 

[meyers7]

I, for one, hope Tennessee can turn it around. WCBB is a lot more intriguing and interesting when TN is a player for the national title.

I hope they become Old Dominion or La Tech.

 

[DaddyChoc]

nice to see no complaints about the refs, flopping or throwing their bodies into defenders... did Diggins get a "reach around" steal?

 

[EricLA]

nice to see no complaints about the refs, flopping or throwing their bodies into defenders... did Diggins get a "reach around" steal?

you missed all those comments in their "game thread". but the rout was so severe, it became impossible to blame the loss on the refs.

 

[SWHuskyFan]

This game made me sick...

It gave me a severe case of schadenfreude!
Oh, the pain of such horribly derived pleasure.

Your Ol' Pal BooHoohahaha

I'm finding it harder to hate UT. More and more, I just feel pity. I feel bad for Pat, really bad. I think maybe she figured she'd fight the good fight and continue her life. This disease is just too strong, it's not a fair fight. I really think ESPN was borderline cruel by focusing on her so much.

I also feel terrible for the players. This is not what they came to UT to do. Who knows how different their first few years have been from what prior classes of players have experienced. This year has been a circus. They seem to not have any answers.

Last year I would of hoped they lost every game and in humiliating painful ways. This year, I just can't get to that feeling of hate. I hope Pat's able to get to the next phase of her life as smoothly as possible.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm traveling and forgot the game was tonight.

Wow! I expected about 90-75. The lowest scoring output in Tennessee history? Ouch!

Two things are obvious:

1. ND is a load, against even UConn or Baylor.

2. Can people stop the silly talk about Tennessee being a 2 seed?

 

[DaddyChoc]

you missed all those comments in their "game thread". but the rout was so severe, it became impossible to blame the loss on the refs.

oh... I didnt read the "game thread", toooooo long. Normally a "the refs sucks" thread stands on its own

 

[msf22b]

Where was Novosel tonight, she was pretty invisible. Can you imagine what the score had been if she had her customary game?

 

[alexrgct]

I'm traveling and forgot the game was tonight.

Wow! I expected about 90-75. The lowest scoring output in Tennessee history? Ouch!

Two things are obvious:

1. ND is a load, against even UConn or Baylor.

2. Can people stop the silly talk about Tennessee being a 2 seed?

They may not deserve it, but I'd be surprised if they weren't...unless this loss causes them to go into tailspin.

 

[cohenzone]

MIlford Husky said:I'm traveling and forgot the game was tonight.

Wow! I expected about 90-75. The lowest scoring output in Tennessee history? Ouch!

Two things are obvious:

1. ND is a load, against even UConn or Baylor.

2. Can people stop the silly talk about Tennessee being a 2 seed?[/quote]

I still wouldn't throw away the idea of UT as a #2 if for no other reason than there still might not be 8 other teams better than them on a consistent basis. Probably UConn, Baylor, ND, Stanford, Duke, Ohio State and then throw a bunch of teams into a hat with UT. Most of the teams in that UT group would probably be pounded by UConn, Baylor and ND. Rutgers doesn't show me the talent (forgive me karma gods). Purdue, meh. I haven't seen most of the others in the top 16. Kentucky maybe, but my test is how different are those teams relative to the top than UT on a regular basis. At any rate, they are unlikely to be lower than a 3 unless a few other teams in their league show that they can handle them. They probably won't lose many more, if any, before the NCAAs.

 

[CompSci87]

Dave O' Brien went into a monologue about how Tennessee will play anybody anywhere. Doris Burke is from South Bend. Notre Dame is from South Bend. Skylar Diggins is from South Bend. Doris was so busy carrying on about Skyler's 150,000+ fans on tweeter that she didn't correct him.

I think O'Brien was joking based on some kind of travel problems that caused Doris to be stuck in South Bend for a few days. He was saying that she'd been there so long that she knows the place inside out now, locals are asking her for directions, etc. Not very funny, but not said in error either.

 

[msf22b]

As good as ND looked in the second half, the box score is fascinatng. Nothing from the bench except for Achonwa, zilch!
With Novosel invisible as stated earlier, it would appear that there are approaches to attacking this team. Tonight it was the starting 4 plus Achowna

 

[speedoo]

I hope they become Old Dominion or La Tech.

Could happen, but there is a big difference between the SEC and whatever conferences those two former contenders were in.

 

[speedoo]

I'm finding it harder to hate UT. More and more, I just feel pity. I feel bad for Pat, really bad. I think maybe she figured she'd fight the good fight and continue her life. This disease is just too strong, it's not a fair fight. I really think ESPN was borderline cruel by focusing on her so much.

I also feel terrible for the players. This is not what they came to UT to do. Who knows how different their first few years have been from what prior classes of players have experienced. This year has been a circus. They seem to not have any answers.

Last year I would of hoped they lost every game and in humiliating painful ways. This year, I just can't get to that feeling of hate. I hope Pat's able to get to the next phase of her life as smoothly as possible.

Yeah, I'm starting to feel the same way. I even pity their hateful miserable fans for being so delusional about everything to do with their team.

 

[speedoo]

I'm traveling and forgot the game was tonight.

Wow! I expected about 90-75. The lowest scoring output in Tennessee history? Ouch!

Two things are obvious:

1. ND is a load, against even UConn or Baylor.

2. Can people stop the silly talk about Tennessee being a 2 seed?

If this game tonight was representative of their overall season, yeah the talk would be silly. But they are capable of running the table from here and if they do that, as SEC champs, they will have strong #2 seed credentials.

The interesting question I have is, will they be sent to Kingston in order to get the matchup with UConn "one last time"? After the debacle tonight, including all the camera shots of Summitt looking completely uninvolved, I think the selection committee may not think that is such a great idea anymore.

 

[schmendrick]

I actually wanted them both to lose. Muffett is okay, but I just don't like the arrogance of ND sports in general. I also thought it odd that McGraw kept her entire starting team in until 1 minute was left. I guess she really did want to smack Tenn.

Agreed. I missed the game but I've noticed Notre Dame running up the score to cruel and unusual margins. Is this a function of their rank superiority, Muffett keeping her starters on the floor in a rout far longer than Geno would, or something else?

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Tennessee has talent, athleticism, and skilled players. But they are a group of individual players, not a cohesive team/unit. This year's seniors came in as the top-rated class, but have not made a Final Four, much less been a national title contender. I am curious to see how Tennessee does when they graduate, as there will still be plenty of talent left.

 

[speedoo]

Tennessee has talent, athleticism, and skilled players. But they are a group of individual players, not a cohesive team/unit. This year's seniors came in as the top-rated class, but have not made a Final Four, much less been a national title contender. I am curious to see how Tennessee does when they graduate, as there will still be plenty of talent left.

I don't know what you mean by plenty of talent, but they won't have any experienced posts next year other than Harrison. If I were voting in a pre season poll, they would definitely not be in my top ten.

This senior class has been hampered from the beginning because they never had a competent true point guard. That's the fault of the coaches, not the players.

 

[easttexastrash]

There is no clear leader anymore, in my opinion. And I think that they players are as scattered as the direction from the coaching staff.

 

[Kibitzer]

While reading dozens of posts, both here and there, I am reminded of the old axiom that dictates that, if you work really, really hard, you just might succed in distilling a teentsy bit of perfume from a huge mound of horse manure.

 

[rington]

As much as I hate Tennessee, I too found it sad to see Pat sitting there expressionless with her eyes glazed over. I thought it was almost invasive for the camera to focus on her so much. A friend of mine has early stage Alzheimer's, and he gets confused easily and is sometimes overwhelmed. It's a terrible disease.

I agree. Her friends should encourage her to step down.

 

[Rob Signor]

Hard to put a finger on what is going on with this Tenn team. After the Baylor game they had me convinced they were for real. The also looked good a couple other times I have seen them. They are hard to gauge. I do think their point guard Massengale is a good player but may have been overhyped just a bit. They have no go to player at all. KML. Bria and Tiffany are all better all around players than anyone on the Tenn Roster. And when Massengale comes out of the game they have no one to run the point. Williams is good but is coming off a knee injury. I think she is better than massengale when healthy. I will stop now I am getting off track

 

[EricLA]

Tennessee has talent, athleticism, and skilled players. But they are a group of individual players, not a cohesive team/unit. This year's seniors came in as the top-rated class, but have not made a Final Four, much less been a national title contender. I am curious to see how Tennessee does when they graduate, as there will still be plenty of talent left.

but nowhere near the talent they will need to really contend for a NC, despite the wishes/hopes of their fans. i'd go so far as to say not only has UCONN recruited substantially better than Tenn going back to our effective class of 2009 thru 2012, but from 2010-2012, Duke and A&M have also outrecruited Tennessee.

and given how poorly some of the players have underperformed and developed over their 4 years, i'd not be surprised to see other programs with "lesser" recruits also pass Tennessee going forward.

now Tenn has a big headstart with Davis from 2013, but they are desperate for a big class, numbers-wise and quality-wise. given the issues with Pat, i think it will be very difficult for them to land the plethora of top 10 talent needed to contend for NC's... IMHO next year they don't start the season in the top 5. maybe 7 or 8...

 

[Icebear]

nice to see no complaints about the refs, flopping or throwing their bodies into defenders... did Diggins get a "reach around" steal?

Yes and was called for the foul and was, also, called for lowering her shoulder and driving into the defender, too.