ND smackdown of Tennessee, Post Mortem

[pinotbear]

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.

well, maybe not that far yet. Sympathy for the players, doing the best they can? - yes. Sympathy for PS & her family, as they deal with the cruel hand that fate has dealt them? - yes. But, sympathy for the puffed-up toad segment of the Orange faithful?

 

[terif831]

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.

+1 to all your points, except I guess what I felt for Pat wasn't really pity for her, but a deep sadness for the slow loss of her being experienced by the University, her fans, her coaches, her team, and most of all, her friends and family. It actually made me tear up when they would show her on the sidelines, so uninvolved and inanimate. It's such a cruel, cruel thing.

 

[meyers7]

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

Good point. I can still hope though.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

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.

Ariel and Simmons will have a year together to develop chemistry for next season. Harrison is good, but Graves could be better. I think this year's TN team will have more individual talent than next year's squad, but next year's team will be more cohesive and truly have the sum greater than the individual parts. They could easily be an Elite Eight team next year, with the right offense and Ariel dictating play.

 

[wallman]

I actually think this is really sad for womens basketball in general. I was disappointed in how the players responded to losing in light of everything thats going on as you would hope they would go down fighting. There seems to be lots of issues that may plague them. Simmons is a selfish player and she will be there for 3 more years, in the first half how many touches did Stricklen get? After watching Davis in Arizona I would not call her a go to player as her team was 1 of 3 that underperformed the most. I do like Graves as she is strong and a worker and was by far the best player on Tenn Flight. If they go after NC I don't see the offense improving, just ask the BRO board! Very confusing.

 

[Tonyc]

TN is in the rebuilding mode. Pat has earned the right to coach as along as she wants however TN needs to get someone to teach TN how to run and offense, and how to play defense. The blame from last nights game should be placed on the coaches. Lack of preparation. Some of the players like Baugh and Johnson played hard but in the end you could see TN was demoralized or appeared to be. One of two things will happen from here forward. TN will use this to motivate themselves to play better or they will get worse. TBA holds 25,000 fans and it the powers to be at TN dont do somthing that arena will be empty. The TN fans are not used to this and are not accepting it and they shouldnt. We at UConn would do the same thing if we were in their position. The LVs need help and getting someone who can get them back on the right track needs to happen quickly before they reach the point of no return.

 

[EricLA]

TN is in the rebuilding mode. Pat has earned the right to coach as along as she wants however TN needs to get someone to teach TN how to run and offense, and how to play defense. The blame from last nights game should be placed on the coaches. Lack of preparation. Some of the players like Baugh and Johnson played hard but in the end you could see TN was demoralized or appeared to be. One of two things will happen from here forward. TN will use this to motivate themselves to play better or they will get worse. TBA holds 25,000 fans and it the powers to be at TN dont do somthing that arena will be empty. The TN fans are not used to this and are not accepting it and they shouldnt. We at UConn would do the same thing if we were in their position. The LVs need help and getting someone who can get them back on the right track needs to happen quickly before they reach the point of no return.

Pat and Geno are legends. i don't care who you replace them with, when both are gone, i think there will suddenly be parity in WCBB.

 

[UConnChapette]

Pat and Geno are legends. i don't care who you replace them with, when both are gone, i think there will suddenly be parity in WCBB.

I have to agree. Pat and Geno are, hands down, the top coaches ever to coach women's college basketball. They both have that "je ne sais quoi" quality that makes them unique and has allowed them to experience a remarkable level of success that may never be duplicated.

Now that he has a grand child, and seeing how rapidly Pat seems to be succumbing to the cruel effects of her disease, I have to wonder if perhaps Geno might have thoughts of retiring sooner rather than later creeping in. In my heart, I believe that the day Geno decides to leave UConn will also be the day he decides to quit coaching.

I plan on enjoying every minute of the ride while Geno is at the wheel. The road may get much rougher when a new driver takes over. I will always be a UConn fan, but winning is so much more enjoyable than losing.

 

[Icebear]

We need to find a steady supply of Stefs, Geno says it would keep him coaching for 20 years.

 

[Plumber Luigi]

My take, we don't play Tennessee in the regular season any more so personally I don't care how well they are doing. I'm not going to go out of my way to watch them when they are televised nationally nor I'm going to either rejoice at their losses or worry over their victories. This is the exact same approach I take with other top 25 programs that we don't play against in the regular season (Green Bay, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Maryland, etc). If we could end up playing them in the Tournament due to seating then I'll pay attention to them but otherwise.

That all said I did stumble upon the game Monday night as I was surfing durring another show's commercial break and ND's domination really wasn't a shocker IMO. After all, they were one of the two teams that could play up to our speed.

A cursory glance at Tennessee's record shows that this year's team isn't one of their unstoppable behemoths of years past and with Pat somewhat sidelined due to her illness, she won't be able to rally them as in years past. Right now they are likely a 3 or 4 seed and there's a fair chance they won't win the regular season or the tournament in the SEC.

 

[Phil]

We need to find a steady supply of Stefs, Geno says it would keep him coaching for 20 years.

My guess is that coaching Stef is one part fun, one part hair-pulling frustration, and one part satisfaction in results. I hope two thirds is more than enough.

 

[Icebear]

My guess is that coaching Stef is one part fun, one part hair-pulling frustration, and one part satisfaction in results. I hope two thirds is more than enough.

Geno is the one who says he loves coaching Stef and it is a joy..

 

[MarieM]

Uconn plays ND on Tiffany Hayes last home game, i hope she puts up a performence gives them 30+

 

[rocky rococo]

I don't think Tennessee wins that game even with a healthy Pat. ND is just very very good this year. The way they picked apart the LV zone early in the second half was a thing of true basketball beauty. But ...

I never thought I'd ever find myself saying "I wish I could see Pat Summitt glare" and actually mean it. But I had that feeling. First of all, if she can't glare, is Pat even Pat anymore? It's a terrible thing to see Pat standing helpless on the sidelines, at best able to muster a look of concern. It's just wrong. Secondly, I don't think it turns into a 30 point blowout if the LVs have to return to that glare on the bench at every timeout.

 

[arch]

Some observations...

First, as much as i dislike Tennessee, it is incredibly hard to watch Pat on the bench. you can really tell the disease has gotten to her and it's so sad to see.

Having said that, i thoroughly enjoyed the ND smackdown, and to be honest, i didn't think ND played particularly well, at least not in the first half.

one very astute tennessee poster said "ND has an offense that works. Our problem is we do not have an offense that suites our skill set. The triangle offense only works when you have a STAR player, aka CP3 or Holdsclaw. The coaching staff needs to realize this and make changes." I believe his/her name was Catchingsfan24.

i point that out because it's something that other WCBB fans have noted for years. teams like RU and Tennessee have struggled on offense lately for several reasons. In Tennessee's case, the old adage of "recruit athletes, chuck up shots, hit the O-boards, and win by playing defense" no longer works. it was totally on display this game.

Massengale is good and is going to be VERY good but you can't expect a freshman to lead you to the promised land when the tools for the rest of the team have never been put into place. and by that, i mean teaching actual offense.

how much standing around, dribbling sideways, and doing things on offense that didn't result in moving the team towards a chance to score went on tonite? where was the passing? the motion offense? the screens? back screens? Tennessee did get 14 O-boards, but that won't win games any more. how many times did a guard dribble penetrate with no idea what she was going to do next?

i know you can't read an overly large amount of conclusions from one game, but if you look at how the team has played this year (close wins over a LSU team that got killed by a bad Arkansas team, the blowout to Stanford, loss to UVA, wins that were closer than they should have been) and you have to wonder where the improvement is.

and credit to ND as they played a solid game. but honestly i don't think they played as well as they did against UCONN. then again they didn't have to. this seems to be a tennessee team that, if not going backwards, is a shadow of its' former self...

this team has already lost more games (5) than their entire season last year. this team is filled with kids who were top 10 or 20 coming out of HS. i hate the thought of fans blaming the kids because you don't have that many HS AA's and under perform they way they are this year without looking at the coaching. i hope fans realize the coaching by committee is not working...

one final note... the amount of vitriol on their board towards the players is shocking. i get fan frustration, but i don't get the throwing the players completely under the bus...