Poll: Who Wins : TN or SC - Game Thread [MERGED THREAD]

[Fairfield Fan]

Was without internet and cable last night so I missed this game. Awoke at 5:00 to see that TN won. Will watch replay later
Congrats to TN, big win, bigger than ND win because it was in conference and on the road. Jamie Nared????
I see many comments about refs taking players out of the game-never believed in that! Players take themselves out of the game by fouling.

Lots of missed lay-ups by South Carolina. Lots of fouls. Very sloppy.

 

[BostonCanuck]

I agree that in general, the BY is hard to please. Our style of basketball is hard to replicate (unfortunately). Still, I for one enjoyed this game alot. Both teams showed alot of heart and alot of talent. I have often bashed DD for wasting her talent but she played great and I can now see why she may go 1 (or 2) in the WNBA draft. I have often thought of DD in comparison to Jewel Lloyd (who is wildly inconsistent) but I think she is (at least talent wise) better. Also, MR played very well and showed alot of toughness as well as a much improved post game. TN needs to figure out how to get her the ball more.

On the SC side, I was most impressed with Wilson. She is tough on both sides of the ball. Very quick and skilled. To me, Coates is still an enigma. Very strong but often gets taken out of the game.

I hope SC comes into Storrs at their best so we can have a really good competitive game (UConn win by double digits of course )

Great insight. I enjoyed watching Jewel play for the Seattle Storm last summer, and the chemistry she had with Stewie was at times extraordinary. But she was inconsistent over the course of the season, her second in the WNBA, in a way that reminds me of Diamond (albeit without the apparent attitude and motivational issues). And I can't help but think that Jewel is not quite going to be the player Seattle needs to succeed the great Sue Bird. (Hope I'm wrong about that.) Looking back, its amazing how UConn was able to shut her down almost completely to win the 2015 national championship. Major props to MoJet on that one! I have no doubt that if the Huskies were to face a Washington or a Tennessee in this year's tournament, we'd once again succeed in making their marquee player an almost inconsequential factor in the game. Teams that are overly dependent on one superstar do not match up well against us.

 

[Bernie]

First off, How do you let a 90% free throw shooter get to line as often as she did? After Wilson went out in the third where the heck was Coates, she can't handle anybody that's physical with her. They still have the same problems they've had for the past seasons the ability to go minutes without a field goal. Too much one on one. How many assists did they have? Outside of their starters the talent on the bench drops off. They couldn't stop Tennessee in transition or off the dribble. Gray has to be more assertive, she has the skills to be the best player in the country if she wanted too.

SN: You have a players mother saying Dawn is the problem with the team and she doesn't trust her daughter to shoot the ball. Even though, said daughter had 15 shot attempts last night. Her daughter is not even the best player on the team or the second best.

 

[CocoHusky]

First off, How do you let a 90% free throw shooter get to line as often as she did? After Wilson went out in the third where the heck was Coates, she can't handle anybody that's physical with her. They still have the same problems they've had for the past seasons the ability to go minutes without a field goal. Too much one on one. How many assists did they have? Outside of their starters the talent on the bench drops off. They couldn't stop Tennessee in transition or off the dribble. Gray has to be more assertive, she has the skills to be the best player in the country if she wanted too.

SN: You have a players mother saying Dawn is the problem with the team and she doesn't trust her daughter to shoot the ball. Even though, said daughter had 15 shot attempts last night. Her daughter is not even the best player on the team or the second best.

I have my suspicions of which "mother" and I tried to give the SC fans a heads up on this based on personal experience.
If you can confirm my suspicions I'm ready to go in-Dawn is not the problem!

 

[stwainfan]

Looking back on it now. I'm glad Keala Davis didn't go to Tennessee and Diamond DeShields did.

 

[Bernie]

I have my suspicions of which "mother" and I tried to give the SC fans a heads up on this based on personal experience.
If you can confirm my suspicions I'm ready to go in-Dawn is not the problem!

Your suspicions are correct. I ran across her Twitter rant this morning.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Just finished watching the game. Wow, just wow!! Seems Tenn had an answer for the Wilson / Coates duo ... foul trouble. Seriously, SC has many opportunities stem the tide ... the final straw I think was having sitting Wilson till 7 min left and down by 6. Should have brought her back at 8min mark, and only down by 2 ...
I watched the game with an eye of "what would UConn do" and really don't think either team will match up against the huskies. SC so often got lost on defense, leading to an open look or open lane. The final DD drive that drew 4 defenders was the most egregious.
Looking forward to 2/13 and really hoping we bump into Tenn in Dance.

Yes. And not only that, Dawn sat them for most of the second quarter, when both of them had two fouls. It took Tennessee a while, but slowly and surely they were able to take the lead as a result. It's at though Dawn was content to go into the locker room down at half time. Now I know South Carolina finished the game against Mississippi State strong in the paint, but here Dawn really did leave her team with too little margin for error. This is a danger that Geno always seems mindful of and takes countermeasures to avoid.

 

[Boreifs]

Just look at the box score and see who took the shots for SC. When a team has the two reputed best Post players and the guards are taking almost four out of every five shots, something is really wrong with that team.

 

[msf22b]

I don't know anything about which mother said what
but Dawn is limited as a coach....0n the basis of watching her team.
And she doesn't learn.
She was with Geno last summer; saw how he runs O and D, how he works the players (and not for the first time)
Does anyone, see any of that in the play of SC.
Plenty of posters above noted the stagnation and absence of movement on offense
But to me the biggest issue is her lack of improvement in her approach to getting the most out of her talent.
And I fail to understand what the great difficulty is in emulating Geno's/UConn's style of play and work ethic. Dawn's observed it at close quarters.
Intellectually lazy? Just not smart?
Possible.

 

[rvwsleep]

They'll be there regardless if Tennessee is there.. most likely to unsuccessfully root against UConn.

You did say that you would take a loss to Tennessee if SCe could beat UConn next month. Well, you're half way there.

 

[bizarro aj]

For any team to have a shot at beating uconn, they better put 5 players on the floor that can score from anywhere. Their bench has to be able to score so when they sub in the scoring is still there. Just think how many 3s uconn will hit as SC plays to far off the shooters on defense.

 

[BostonCanuck]

I don't know anything about which mother said what
but Dawn is limited as a coach....0n the basis of watching her team.
And she doesn't learn.
She was with Geno last summer; saw how he runs O and D, how he works the players (and not for the first time)
Does anyone, see any of that in the play of SC.
Plenty of posters above noted the stagnation and absence of movement on offense
But to me the biggest issue is her lack of improvement in her approach to getting the most out of her talent.
And I fail to understand what the great difficulty is in emulating Geno's/UConn's style of play and work ethic. Dawn's observed it at close quarters.
Intellectually lazy? Just not smart?
Possible.

And contrast that with Jamille, who was also in Rio with Geno. Her Bearcats are kicking butt and taking names right now, vastly improved from last season.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Did you notice how Coates just moved out of the way?

I'm guessing she was in the protected area and didn't want another blocking foul, from memory...but Diamond kinda made both those ladies look stationary...

 

[easttexastrash]

They'll be there regardless if Tennessee is there.. most likely to unsuccessfully root against UConn.

Or to try to woo Mulkey in hopes of getting her in Knoxville....

 

[DefenseBB]

If anyone thought Holly Warlick was leaving
you're wrong
Wins over Stanford, Notre Dame and now South Carolina
Can we say CONTRACT EXTENSION

Considering Holly has 2 more years left on her current contract and the fact a new AD will be coming in, the Athletic Department is still in the red from past coaching contracts and lawsuits, I hope your comment was in jest as her lack of true coaching would make any UConn fan ecstatic for her to get an extension. I just don't see it happening unless she gets them to a final 4 this year and/or shows her improved coaching with next years influx of talent (the lady can recruit!).

 

[BroadwayVa]

No, no, no, not me! The ND guy asked whom he should ask forgiveness from. It's a picture of Touchdown Jesus.

After I thought about my posting---which was an attempt at humor--I realized what a failed attempt it had been and how--unless you were gracious--you could be offended. Thanks.
Having said that --prior to being a UC WBB fan--i followed ND BB Men and football --I confess--I have covered by body in charcoal--I confess!!

 

[j66kicker]

Your suspicions are correct. I ran across her Twitter rant this morning.

Could you enlighten us unknowing bystanders?

 

[BroadwayVa]

Considering Holly has 2 more years left on her current contract and the fact a new AD will be coming in, the Athletic Department is still in the red from past coaching contracts and lawsuits, I hope your comment was in jest as her lack of true coaching would make any UConn fan ecstatic for her to get an extension. I just don't see it happening unless she gets them to a final 4 this year and/or shows her improved coaching with next years influx of talent (the lady can recruit!).

I didn't see the USC game --so I'll exclude that--I cannot see how a new AD if he/she witnesses Holly's in game coaching--shall ever think of an extension!! Those kids seem to be playing as an AAU team.
Honestly--a very very good Tenn team would please me---I'm one who hangs on to the memory of the Vol/Husky games with fond memories.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Holly's game plan was sound, but she almost blew the game by going to slow down offense in last 5 minutes. Diamond made a basket with 5 minutes left and then Lady Vols didn't score a basket until 47 seconds were left when Nared made a basket after a missed shot. That was some horrible offense by the Lady Vols in crunch time. Dawn's decision to put the Lady Vols on the line with 42 seconds left and the IMO the refs bad all at the end of the game saved the Lady Vols. As the final scored indicated A'ja's technical foul was the difference in the game. Lady Vols made the 2 free throws and it sent A'ja to the bench with her 4th foul. Without the Technical, So Carolina probably wins the game.

Lady Vols also went 6 minutes in the 3rd quarter without scoring a basket and So Carolina didn't take advantage of it. They only out scored the Lady Vols by 4 points in the quarter (17-13) Also with all their offensive talent, So Carolina only scored 10 points in the 2nd quarter. How does that happen?

Why did Dawn call a timeout, her last, with 45 seconds left in the 4th quarter and down by 4? It was right after Holly called a timeout after Nared hit a shot to make it 71-67. It might have helped to have that timeout left to advance the ball after Nared made the two FT's with 5 seconds left to make it 76-74.
Even Dave and Doris were surprised that she used it then.

 

[BroadwayVa]

She was called for a foul, and used some rather colorful language in response. I really think the technical was overkill; as I said in my earlier post on the matter, I've seen others do worse and never have the T called. The announcers disagreed and said it was deserved, so what do I know?

It's called ---unsportsmanlike conduct---you don't swear at Refs and get away with it--regardless of the color of the wording.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Why did Dawn call a timeout, her last, with 45 seconds left in the 4th quarter and down by 4? It was right after Holly called a timeout after Nared hit a shot to make it 71-67. It might have helped to have that timeout left to advance the ball after Nared made the two FT's with 5 seconds left to make it 76-74.
Even Dave and Doris were surprised that she used it then.

Coaches are human--apparently her brains was concentrating on how to score three points --of the Tn players Nared I like best.

 

[CocoHusky]

I didn't see the USC game --so I'll exclude that--I cannot see how a new AD if he/she witnesses Holly's in game coaching--shall ever think of an extension!! Those kids seem to be playing as an AAU team.
Honestly--a very very good Tenn team would please me---I'm one who hangs on to the memory of the Vol/Husky games with fond memories.

At most big large state school the AD rarely actually sees the Women's basketball coach "in game". The Women's basketball team is often relegated to an Associate AD who is lower on the totem pole and is typically responsible for several other non-revenue sports. The AD at these schools usually get involved if there is a major problem and things like contract extensions for WBB coaches are routinely delegated as well. This is both good and bad, if you are a successful coach program builder like Dawn, Geno or Pat (Joe Paterno in another sport) you can really easily acquire more power than the AD and definitely more than associate AD.
I'm not saying Holly has acquired that power but TN women's basketball definitely has. A good example of that power is they were successful in keeping the name "Lady Vols"-applies to no other TN women's team. When TN switched from Adidas to Nike a few years ago TN got more out of Nike because of the Lady Vols brand.

 

[Ozimoto]

Entertaining game. Tennessee is starting to believe in themselves. When they play to their abilities they have the speed and athleticism to make teams uncomfortable, taking them out of their game. They could be dangerous in the tournament for higher seeded teams that aren't battle tested.

 

[CocoHusky]

Could you enlighten us unknowing bystanders?

I'm not in the twitter verse but Kaela Davis' mom is one of the worst, most vulgar, helicopter parents you can imagine.
I speak from personal experience at Deep South Classic in 2011 when she berated officials, other parents, other players and her daughters teammates. She is only about her Daughter, who she believes to be God's gift to basketball and her gift to the world. Since I have been posting on the BY other posters have mentioned similar behavior at a tournament in Naples, FL ??

 

[stwainfan]

On the foul at the end. It was the feet were the contact was.