S. Carolina - Tennessee

[triaddukefan]

Glad to see Little Carolina pull off the victory.......

 

[Wbbfan1]

Have to think if this game was a home game for the Lady Vols, they win it. It will be interesting to see what happens during the SEC tournament. If the Lady Vols beat South Carolina they may just hold on to their #1 Seed.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I don't disagree with Dawn. The UCONN game was a great barometer to see how far behind UCONN they are. But UCONN is not in their league, Tennessee is something like 50-3 vs. SC, and SC hasn't won the SEC in I don't know how many years (have they ever won it - season AND SEC championship?).

Tennessee hanging on by the skin of their teeth. To their credit their jump shots have been falling, but they are getting creamed in the post.

The SEC considers their regular season champion to be the league champion.

 

[Alydar]

Have to think if this game was a home game for the Lady Vols, they win it. It will be interesting to see what happens during the SEC tournament. If the Lady Vols beat South Carolina they may just hold on to their #1 Seed.

If Tenn faces SC in the tournament it will likely be in the final which will have been Tenn's third game in 3 days. I don't think their short lineup will stand up for that many minutes back to back to back

 

[VFLfan]

Wow...y'all are a tough crowd. I think tonight was a really well-played bball game by both teams. Both teams shot above 40% for the game and there were only 11 COMBINED TOs (6 by the LVs, 5 for USC) for the game. Granted, neither of the teams are on UCONNs level but c'mon...it wasn't a horrid game!

 

[EricLA]

I will admit (as I throw up in my mouth a little bit) that Tennessee acquitted themselves better than I'd anticipated. I really thought it would be a 10-15 point SC win. However I'd be curious to see how the game would have played out if not for the absolutely dreadful calls by the refs in the 1st half that were momentum killers for SC. It seemed a couple times those awful calls stemmed a run by SC and they got distracted and "let" Tennessee back into the game. Still, a high energy game that was competitive and Tenn did a nice job handling SC's superior size. I did notice that Tenn basically only played 6 players. Only Nared (16 minutes) got any time off the bench.

I also want to add that I don't think Tennessee fans realize just how much they will miss seniors Massengale, Harrison and Burdick next year. Oh sure they say "we get Russell, Deshields, and Cooper". Um... ok. A really good individual player, an often injured post player, and a freshman PG. But we can debate that all day long because it's ALL speculation now. But my point is that Massengale, Burdick (and Harrison) are/were really good on this Tennessee team. Tennessee will struggle more next year than fans want to think.

I am curious what Tennessee fans think of their freshman class. We got to read all summer how "Nared is really a top 5 kid in her class", "Middleton outplayed ALL the other guards ranked ahead of her this summer", and "Dunbar is possibly the best shooter in the class".

I know UCONN fans are guilty of it too - we want all our recruits coming in to have the potential to be AA's, but the truth is it's highly unlikely. Are the freshmen as good as expected (honestly)? Given the preseason expectations I think decidedly not, but I'd like to hear from Tennessee fans.

 

[triaddukefan]

The SEC considers their regular season champion to be the league champion.

The ACC is just the opposite..... Are you headed to North Little Rock ?

 

[Sonny44]

Both shot better than 40% for the first half.

This probably equates to 25 - 30% against our defense.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Unless there's been a change, the SEC Tournament Champion is the Automatic Qualifier.

Last year South Carolina won the Regular Season Championship and Lady Vols won the SEC Tournament. The Lady Vols were the Automatic Qualifier.

 

[Blakeon18]

The NCAA mandates that if you decide to have a conference tourney, that winner is the auto qualifier....not the regular season winner.
I think the Ivy League is the only conference that doesn't have a conference tourney.

 

[CTyankee]

I love this teams resolve without their best player. They're giving SC a run for their money. Its a very good game honestly.

Anyone wonder what the game and score would have been if Harrison had been able to play? Could she have been the game changer?

 

[stwainfan]

I think Harrison could have made a difference. Still overall a good effort.
Eric you are right about Harrison, Burdick, and Massengale. They are going too be missed. All three have helped this team. I do think next year Russell will be a defensive stopper. Kind of like Griner was at Baylor. With her size and ability too make a difference.

 

[mr006]

The NCAA mandates that if you decide to have a conference tourney, that winner is the auto qualifier....not the regular season winner. I think the Ivy League is the only conference that doesn't have a conference tourney.

But, as we found out, the NCAA puts more stock in the regular season championship when seeding... or, at least they did in 2001, IIRC

 

[UcMiami]

Overall TN comes out of this game better than SC. SC should have been able to blow TN away with Harrison out - instead they scratched out a win. Impressive performance by TN, not so much by SC.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Kind of conservative looking game stats for both teams. Not a huge amount of assists, but also not that many turnovers. Shooting was ehh, but okay except of course from the arc.

Two big stats are the -13 rebounding margin for UTenn and 1-8 three-pt shooting for the Game-c-o-c-ks. To be that far down on the boards even against a big team like USCar indicates possibly big issues ahead for UTenn against better teams. And again, a big team like USCar could be vulnerable to a team down the road that plays solid enough defense and can bomb from the outside consistently, unlike the C-o-c-ks.

 

[CocoHusky]

The SEC considers their regular season champion to be the league champion.

So the regular season SEC champion gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament?

 

[UcMiami]

If you look at the play by play, SC appeared to be padding their O-Board numbers - especially Welch who could not seem to make a lay-up but kept rebounding her own misses until the law of averages took over and the ball found the net. She had about 6 rebounds of her own misses.

 

[VFLfan]

You will never hear this LV fan say those things, Eric. We will miss our 3 seniors tremendously next year, especially their leadership. I don't like to talk bad about specific players on any team, really, but at least 2 of the 3 have been wildly inconsistent throughout their years here at UT, so if DD, Russell and Cooper can at least correct that then I think we will be an improved team. I think people have been way to critical of Russell and think next year she will hopefully prove all the naysayers wrong. Yes, she has been out of playing the game for a whole year but she is finally healthy and she's been practicing with the team since at least January so she should be in good shape come next year. Diamond is competive and will be Diamond and from everything I've seen and heard about Cooper, she looks like she has the potential to be an upgrade from Massengale. As for the freshman, I still see the potential for Nared to be tremendous for this team. She is playing better and better every game. May not show up in the stats each game but her confidence is improving. Middleton has some catching up to do and I think she is trying to do too much while she is in the game instead of just letting the game come to her. Her confidence is low right now and she's hit a wall...we'll see if she can break through it. As for Dunbar, quite frankly, I don't know...she hasn't played enough for me to have an opinion on her at this point. She has a pretty shot but from what I hear needs improvement on the defensive side of the ball so that's why she doesn't get many minutes. IMO, I think all the freshman are pretty much about where I thought they'd be...no superstars but important role players that every team needs. We still need work overall if we ever hope to catch up to you guys...we'll see if we're any closer next year.

 

[Vowelguy]

So the regular season SEC champion gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament?

No.

 

[Bill In Georgia]

TN should of won, if coach studied the plan GA used ... The Key ...never let SC get in the "set" comfort zone ... slow then down on the inbounds, slow them down at half court, make them rush to get into their set...If this is done they will slip out of sync and rush their shot...
Next time use the clock against them ... TN by at least 10 points in their SEC Tourney!!.....

 

[DobbsRover2]

Just about all conferences have a regular season and tournament champion, and generally the importance of either them is largely in relation to if your team won but not the other. For most conferences outside of the top 10, it is the tournament champion who means more. Probably in 2013 the Vol fans thought their regular season SEC crown meant more than Texas A&M's SECT crown, especially since they got the higher seed.

The real importance of either championship is how much the selection committee weighs either one, though overall record is a big factor and the importance of either championship for the committee seems to vary year-by-year and connference-by-conference.

And B-in-G, great idea, the question though is whether UTenn has the quality of defenders to carry it out. Executing GA's strategies without GA's players is never easy.

 

[CocoHusky]

If you look at the play by play, SC appeared to be padding their O-Board numbers - especially Welch who could not seem to make a lay-up but kept rebounding her own misses until the law of averages took over and the ball found the net. She had about 6 rebounds of her own misses.

UcMiami,
You analysis is spot on. Welch pulled down 9 offensive rebounds within 3 feet of the rim. Coates and Ibiam made a living at the basket.

Volnation,
It is quite alarming that after getting beasted by Coates, Ibiam & Welch someone would watch that game and talk about Russell's "guard" skills. You better get that girl in the weight room, feed her as much as she can eat and hope for the best. I realize Welch and Ibiam graduate but Coates, Wilson and White will all be a year older. Graves was doing the best she could but she needs some major help in the form of height and bulk. UT has no post players committed for next year.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

The NCAA mandates that if you decide to have a conference tourney, that winner is the auto qualifier....not the regular season winner.
I think the Ivy League is the only conference that doesn't have a conference tourney.

Auto qualifier, but not the league champion. To the other poster, no, I'm going to the NCAAT instead of the SECT this year. Little Rock is probably 750+ miles.

 

[triaddukefan]

Auto qualifier, but not the league champion. To the other poster, no, I'm going to the NCAAT instead of the SECT this year. Little Rock is probably 750+ miles.

Ok, I was gonna say if you wanted to see the best WCBB conference tourney in person, then Greensboro is only a three hour drive for you

 

[MilfordHusky]

I saw parts of the game as I was watching the UConn game. It looked interesting, competitive, and fairly well played. Welch appeared to be the difference. I thought that SC nearly gave the game away, as their execution under pressure was less than stellar.

The result was about as I expected. I'm not quite sure where Baylor truly ranks, but I think they are in a group with ND and SC. Who is the best of that group? I'm sure we all have opinions, but I'm uncertain. SC is either the #2, #3, or #4 team. I think Tenn is in the next group with Maryland and maybe some others.