IMHO, the TN pundits haven't taken Hollly's training wheels off yet. I saw probably 8 or 9 LV games last year, and it looked like the Keystone Cops. No chemistry, no knowledge of what the battle plan was at any time..... except for that one good home game vs. Kentucky, when they looked great. No settling on starting lineup, until late in season, when (would love to know who decided this one) it was deemed that the 5 seniors were the best bet for starters.
You can not use the injury excuse for Louisville and fail to recognize the injury situation at TN. Line ups were a revolving door mainly because of injuries. Had Kelley Cain remained injury free, she would have been the starting center and that would not have changed. Had Vicki Baugh not been injured, she would not have been subject to being in and out of the line ups, while playing sometimes and not playing at all on other occassions. She was day to day for her entire senior year and not even that available the prior year. Had TN not had the injury with Brewer, Glory, a power forward and not remotely a center, would not have played one minute at the center spot, but she spent most of her time at that position due to injuries. She would have played the 4 exclusively. Had Cait and Avant not gone through injuries so severe that they had to totally abandon the sport they love, Shekinna doesn't spend one minute at the point guard spot and neither does Meighan. These aren't excuses. These are facts and to ignore that these things changed the dynamics of TN is just plain ludicrous. So yes, the line ups changed, but had all of those talented players remained healthy, then other talented players would not have been playing out of position and been shuffled through the line ups as often as they were.
Pat stayed out of the game situations......... I guess what I expected from HW was more authority, a lot more order, and for her to stand on the courage of her convictions. If I was Simmons, I would transfer out. First I am starting then I am not, I get into a game for a couple of minutes, then I am out.
Pat absolutely did not stay out of the games. She was coaching on the bench, including providing input to Holly and the staff. Pat was still the head coach and Holly made it no secret that TN was still Pat's team. She stated on several occassions that Pat was her boss and it was still Pat's team. Holly no longer has to coach in that manner. Not only that, Dean and Mickie did not report to Holly and if you don't think this makes a difference, then you're kidding yourself. Now, the assistants are there because they were chosen by Holly and they report to Holly. She's the boss. As for Simmons, she knew exactly why she wasn't playing. Coaching doesn't just happen during game and Pat has always stated that playing time is earned in practice. There's plenty of dialogue between coach and players outside of just the games and Simmons knew exactly what the situation was. However, by seasons end, Simmons was extremely happy with Holly and her playing time. Watch the post game interview from the Kansas game and it's quite obvious. Sometimes players need tough love. Great coaches recognize when players have something else deep within them that can make them much better players and great coaches will do everything they can to get it out of them. It's called developing player and UConn fans know all about this. Perhaps if Shoni got some tough love, she'd stop jacking up shots, run the offense, and utilize her teammates.
Iwould prefer not to hear that upon being given the keys to the kindom, that she said " Oh but I feel uncomfortable because this whole situation is up in the air" It wasn't The only unknown was when Pat would step down officially.
So maybe she will show differently this year. But come on, she has 30 yrs of coaching experience. As of this point, I wold rather have Mulkey, McCallie, Walz, or Mitchell to name a few.
Mulkey has earned her stripes, but what exactly have the others accomplished? Louisville had 4 good years, but what Louisville calls a good year, TN considers a failure. That alone should define the difference in the programs.
