Same old, same old in 2015-2016 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Same old, same old in 2015-2016

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chrissaran said:
Does anyone see Meighan Simmons in Diamond DeShields? A talented player who never seemed to make her team that much better. Also, she was a player who liked to shoot a lot. Diamond is much more talented, that I know. Their games seem similar, as mentioned above.
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People have seen Diamond play ONE (freshman season at that) season , and are already comparing her to Simmons....that's odd to me.
 
chrissaran said:
Does anyone see Meighan Simmons in Diamond DeShields? A talented player who never seemed to make her team that much better. Also, she was a player who liked to shoot a lot. Diamond is much more talented, that I know. Their games seem similar, as mentioned above.
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To me this is an urban legend. DD led her team (of mostly freshmen, minus a coach battling leukemia) to the Elite Eight and if I remember correctly lost a close game to Stanford on their home floor. Then transferred. So when exactly did she NOT make her team better? How she does and fits in at TN remains to be seen. (Note, I hope it is a complete disaster full of infighting and a ton of missed shots, followed by despair and the implosion of the Summitt.)

Meghan Simmons is not even in the conversation with DD, though I think poor coaching had MUCH to do with her misadventures.
 
Diamond also played with injuries at UNC. So being on Wooden list of top 15 players was how good she is. I wonder how good she will be fully healthy. That's a scary thought.
 
I can't seem to compare the two just so soon. One thing certain is that Simmons fully embodied what it meant to be a Lady Vol (IMO) and really tried to be the face of that program in her junior and senior seasons. I can still also remember thinking "oh wow, this Simmons looks like a national freshman of the year" (same freshman year as Hartley I believe) and pushes for a Tennessee team that really needed a productive player. I guess what I'm saying is I just don't see Diamond as a Lady Vol (just yet) and I'm still unclear what her ultimate intentions are for transferring there. It's still all a bit odd and I'm excited for a great season to start up where all our questions will be answered as the wonderment unravels.
 
Nuyoika said:
I think that depends on the coaching really. I would wager that Muffet has much more experience with a loss and transition like that than Warlick would have. She did it when Skylar left. She has actually coached polarizing players before, has Holly?
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I agree that coaching will be a key component in the progress of both teams as the year unfolds.
 
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CBear01 said:
I can't seem to compare the two just so soon. One thing certain is that Simmons fully embodied what it meant to be a Lady Vol (IMO) and really tried to be the face of that program in her junior and senior seasons. I can still also remember thinking "oh wow, this Simmons looks like a national freshman of the year" (same freshman year as Hartley I believe) and pushes for a Tennessee team that really needed a productive player. I guess what I'm saying is I just don't see Diamond as a Lady Vol (just yet) and I'm still unclear what her ultimate intentions are for transferring there. It's still all a bit odd and I'm excited for a great season to start up where all our questions will be answered as the wonderment unravels.
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who won it that year?
 
chrissaran said:
Does anyone see Meighan Simmons in Diamond DeShields? A talented player who never seemed to make her team that much better. Also, she was a player who liked to shoot a lot. Diamond is much more talented, that I know. Their games seem similar, as mentioned above.
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No....DeShields is light years better and I think will make a huge impact at Tennessee. Simmons showed potential as a freshman but was never able to be a team player. Even if DeShields takes a lot of shots, she'll make more than Simmons did and is a much tougher match up. She also has more patience on the court and is a level headed player. I see more of a player like Bianca Cuevas in Simmons, in that she's very streaky, can be emotional and has questionable decision making but can also be a huge spark plug on any given night.
 
bballnut90 said:
No....DeShields is light years better and I think will make a huge impact at Tennessee. Simmons showed potential as a freshman but was never able to be a team player. Even if DeShields takes a lot of shots, she'll make more than Simmons did and is a much tougher match up. She also has more patience on the court and is a level headed player. I see more of a player like Bianca Cuevas in Simmons, in that she's very streaky, can be emotional and has questionable decision making but can also be a huge spark plug on any given night.
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I think there is no doubt there will be an impact, whether good or bad we shall see.
 
bballnut90 said:
I see more of a player like Bianca Cuevas in Simmons, in that she's very streaky, can be emotional and has questionable decision making but can also be a huge spark plug on any given night.
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Cuevas is A LOT of things on the court. Too many things at times. Emotional is not one of them. She shows zero emotion when she plays. She's very level headed on the court, which you have to be when you're the smallest player on the floor. She's constantly bumped and tossed and doesn't even break a sweat... Her court composure is actually one of the things I love about Cuevas, especially with her being a point guard. She is NOTHING like Simmons in that regard.

You're right about everything else though.
 
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RPM101370 said:
To me this is an urban legend. DD led her team (of mostly freshmen, minus a coach battling leukemia) to the Elite Eight and if I remember correctly lost a close game to Stanford on their home floor. Then transferred. So when exactly did she NOT make her team better? How she does and fits in at TN remains to be seen. (Note, I hope it is a complete disaster full of infighting and a ton of missed shots, followed by despair and the implosion of the Summitt.)
Meghan Simmons is not even in the conversation with DD, though I think poor coaching had MUCH to do with her misadventures.
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DD is a great talent but at her best she a volume shooter. She did not make her team better because she hoisted 250 more shots that the next closest teammate. Her shooting percentage compared to her teamates did not justify her taking that many more shots. She could have made her team better by simply taking fewer shots.
 
stwainfan said:
Diamond also played with injuries at UNC. So being on Wooden list of top 15 players was how good she is. I wonder how good she will be fully healthy. That's a scary thought.
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Didn't Diamond miss playing this summer due to injury? That would imply she is not fully recovered, yet.
 
Aluminny69 said:
Didn't Diamond miss playing this summer due to injury? That would imply she is not fully recovered, yet.
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Diamond is recuperating well from her surgery last year, but was held out for almost all of the PanAm play as a precaution after she tweaked her leg injury in the practices leading up to the games. The coaches tried to put her in for one of the early games, but she had some discomfort so they pulled her. She probably won't play on the LV trip to Italy later this month either for the same reason. She is expected to be completely healed and "full go" by the start of this coming season.
 
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Volup1 said:
Diamond is recuperating well from her surgery last year, but was held out for almost all of the PanAm play as a precaution after she tweaked her leg injury in the practices leading up to the games. The coaches tried to put her in for one of the early games, but she had some discomfort so they pulled her. She probably won't play on the LV trip to Italy later this month either for the same reason. She is expected to be completely healed and "full go" by the start of this coming season.
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Pan-Am or World Games?
 
chrissaran said:
Does anyone see Meighan Simmons in Diamond DeShields? A talented player who never seemed to make her team that much better. Also, she was a player who liked to shoot a lot. Diamond is much more talented, that I know. Their games seem similar, as mentioned above.
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Much, much more talented
Bigger, stronger, potentially more disciplined, do not underestimate.
 
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SCGamecock said:
Cuevas is A LOT of things on the court. Too many things at times. Emotional is not one of them. She shows zero emotion when she plays. She's very level headed on the court, which you have to be when you're the smallest player on the floor. She's constantly bumped and tossed and doesn't even break a sweat... Her court composure is actually one of the things I love about Cuevas, especially with her being a point guard. She is NOTHING like Simmons in that regard.

You're right about everything else though.
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Valid point--I was trying to emphasize the streakiness factor which is more common in emotional players, but you're right that she is always steady. Swanier might be a better comparison, as Swanier was pretty similar to Cuevas as a freshman but not as strong of a scorer as Bianca. Swanier did make huge improvements in her consistency and decision making over the course of her career, she was a very good point guard by her senior year. I'm interested to see how Cuevas develops under Staley.
 
AnotherVolFan said:
People have seen Diamond play ONE (freshman season at that) season , and are already comparing her to Simmons....that's odd to me.
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There's some basis for a comparison. Here's their offensive stats for the 2013/14 season:

Simmons - 28 min/gm
42% 2pt% 203-488
36% 3pt% 72-200


DeShields - 28 min/gm
43% 2pt% 248-582
28% 3pt% 48-172

For all the optimistic expectations some LV fans have had going into next season, I find it odd because of all the negativity those same fans dumped on Simmons. She was labelled a "gunner" who thought more about her own shot than in leading the team. Well, DeShields shot more than Simmons.

Now I think DD's size will make her a much better driver than Simmons and DeShields will be a bigger defender on the perimeter, but on the other hand Simmons never took a second off in a game while I saw DD lose her focus at UNC, to the point where she forgot about the game to whine to both officials and her bench while the other 9 players were at the other end of the court.


Diamond also played with injuries at UNC. So being on Wooden list of top 15 players was how good she is. I wonder how good she will be fully healthy. That's a scary thought.
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Well, it's nearly a year and a half later and she is still "recovering" from an injury. All last season, posts were made by LV fans about how she was "healthy again" and how she was practicing so well. I never remember reading anywhere that she had had surgery. Whether or not she will be "fully healthy" this season is very much still up in the air. Right now her ankle is in a boot and there is no assurance that she will be 100% by November.

Last year UConn had two players coming back from injuries, Tuck and Williams. Both ended up being huge contributors but I don't think anyone would have been surprised if either or both had not been 100%. Tenn is counting on both Russell & DeShields to be the leaders this coming season. While I hope they both have great seasons, I also think some LV fans are whistling past the graveyard with the way they are taking it for granted.
 
chrissaran said:
Does anyone see Meighan Simmons in Diamond DeShields? A talented player who never seemed to make her team that much better. Also, she was a player who liked to shoot a lot. Diamond is much more talented, that I know. Their games seem similar, as mentioned above.
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No. I think DD is miles better. And I thought DD did make her team better. You can make your team better even if you shoot a lot. LeBron for example made "his team better" even though he took a ton of shots. I think DD is a sensational player if/when she becomes healthy.
 
Alydar said:
There's some basis for a comparison. Here's their offensive stats for the 2013/14 season:

Simmons - 28 min/gm
42% 2pt% 203-488
36% 3pt% 72-200


DeShields - 28 min/gm
43% 2pt% 248-582
28% 3pt% 48-172

For all the optimistic expectations some LV fans have had going into next season, I find it odd because of all the negativity those same fans dumped on Simmons. She was labelled a "gunner" who thought more about her own shot than in leading the team. Well, DeShields shot more than Simmons.

Now I think DD's size will make her a much better driver than Simmons and DeShields will be a bigger defender on the perimeter, but on the other hand Simmons never took a second off in a game while I saw DD lose her focus at UNC, to the point where she forgot about the game to whine to both officials and her bench while the other 9 players were at the other end of the court.




Well, it's nearly a year and a half later and she is still "recovering" from an injury. All last season, posts were made by LV fans about how she was "healthy again" and how she was practicing so well. I never remember reading anywhere that she had had surgery. Whether or not she will be "fully healthy" this season is very much still up in the air. Right now her ankle is in a boot and there is no assurance that she will be 100% by November.

Last year UConn had two players coming back from injuries, Tuck and Williams. Both ended up being huge contributors but I don't think anyone would have been surprised if either or both had not been 100%. Tenn is counting on both Russell & DeShields to be the leaders this coming season. While I hope they both have great seasons, I also think some LV fans are whistling past the graveyard with the way they are taking it for granted.
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BLAH.....Diamond is miles ahead of Simmons and anyone with basketball eyes can see that! You're comparing Simmon's senior season to Diamond's freshman season....give me a break!
 
AnotherVolFan said:
BLAH.....Diamond is miles ahead of Simmons and anyone with basketball eyes can see that! You're comparing Simmon's senior season to Diamond's freshman season....give me a break!
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well said

I would like to see the FT's, steals, rebounds etc.... just to get the whole picture.
 
DaddyChoc said:
well said

I would like to see the FT's, steals, rebounds etc.... just to get the whole picture.
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assists to's a/to steals ft's
DeShields assists - 92 TO's - 122 as/to - .75 st - 61 ft's - 104-134 83%
Simmons assists - 80 TO's - 93 as/to - .86 st - 42 ft's - 99-119 78%

http://www.wbbstate.com/

My point was not to say the 2 were equal but to show that while Simmons was generally disparaged by LV fans during her last 2 years, DeShields is being viewed as a savior after putting up surprisingly similar numbers. Some LV fans excuse her rather mediocre shooting at UNC by pointing out that she played injured. But now we find out that she is still injured. Now I am certain that the reports out of Knoxville will be that DD is 100% ready to go come November. But how many times have we heard that about LV players only to learn after the season that it wasn't true?
 
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Alydar said:
assists to's a/to steals ft's
DeShields assists - 92 TO's - 122 as/to - .75 st - 61 ft's - 104-134 83%
Simmons assists - 80 TO's - 93 as/to - .86 st - 42 ft's - 99-119 78%

http://www.wbbstate.com/

My point was not to say the 2 were equal but to show that while Simmons was generally disparaged by LV fans during her last 2 years, DeShields is being viewed as a savior after putting up surprisingly similar numbers. Some LV fans excuse her rather mediocre shooting at UNC by pointing out that she played injured. But now we find out that she is still injured. Now I am certain that the reports out of Knoxville will be that DD is 100% ready to go come November. But how many times have we heard that about LV players only to learn after the season that it wasn't true?
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oh I have no clue about what they're saying in Knoxville... I was just interested in all the other stuff that goes along with being out on the court.

rebounds? FTM-FTA

I wonder if we all can conclude that Diamond isn't a slouch... played one season, sat out last season, everyone wanted her coming out of HS etc. I understand the UConn/Tenn stuff posters love to go back and forth with. My opinion is we have no idea whats going to happen with DD this upcoming season, I hope she's great and take the LV's to the Title game against UConn
 
AnotherVolFan said:
BLAH.....Diamond is miles ahead of Simmons and anyone with basketball eyes can see that! You're comparing Simmon's senior season to Diamond's freshman season....give me a break!
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You may not like facing the fact that DeShields is a lot like Simmons but the stats don't lie. And Simmons freshman stats were a lot like her senior stats. Look them up if you want. The biggest difference between the 2 is that DD is 6" taller. Simmons was listed at 5'9" but was closer to 5'7" or even less. DeShields is all of 6'1" and able to play inside. But as far as how hard they played Simmons played 110% at all times while the freshman DeShields lost her focus on several occasions. Yapping at refs or her own bench while the other 9 players were down the other end said a lot about her maturity.

But I'll admit she has a lot of talent. And the potential to be great. But as of yet she's just like, say, Kelsey Mitchell, a volume shooter. And teams built around volume shooters don't win NC's.
 
AnotherVolFan said:
BLAH.....Diamond is miles ahead of Simmons and anyone with basketball eyes can see that! You're comparing Simmon's senior season to Diamond's freshman season....give me a break!
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Good Luck this season... I hope Diamond does well
 
Alydar said:
You may not like facing the fact that DeShields is a lot like Simmons but the stats don't lie. And Simmons freshman stats were a lot like her senior stats. Look them up if you want. The biggest difference between the 2 is that DD is 6" taller. Simmons was listed at 5'9" but was closer to 5'7" or even less. DeShields is all of 6'1" and able to play inside. But as far as how hard they played Simmons played 110% at all times while the freshman DeShields lost her focus on several occasions. Yapping at refs or her own bench while the other 9 players were down the other end said a lot about her maturity.

But I'll admit she has a lot of talent. And the potential to be great. But as of yet she's just like, say, Kelsey Mitchell, a volume shooter. And teams built around volume shooters don't win NC's.
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Stats may not lie, but they certainly can mislead. There is no way that Simmons drew the same defensive attention that DD did. Simmons would shoot a second after she got the ball; DD would shoot with defenders draped on her.

Elite players like DD can make it easier for their team to move and score simply by drawing defenders away from teammates. Maria Conlon was a great shooter for UConn but she got many of her shots off because there were two or three defenders on Diana. And Tennessee has more and betters options. Yes, Diamond will have a huge impact fot the LVs.
 
bballnut90 said:
Valid point--I was trying to emphasize the streakiness factor which is more common in emotional players, but you're right that she is always steady. Swanier might be a better comparison, as Swanier was pretty similar to Cuevas as a freshman but not as strong of a scorer as Bianca. Swanier did make huge improvements in her consistency and decision making over the course of her career, she was a very good point guard by her senior year. I'm interested to see how Cuevas develops under Staley.
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Same here. Cuevas STRUGGLES in the half court game. I'm pleased to hear that she took advantage of Staley's small groups skills camps this summer.
 
jdubct said:
I like your pre-season top 10. By the end of the season, I expect Notre Dame to move up at least two spots.
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Notre Dame will move up two spots, right behind Baylor, which will be at #2. Baylor will have a tremendous PG in Johnson, top off-guards in Alexis Jones and Kristy Wallace, AA performer Nina Davis at the 3/4, along with Alexis Prince, and an incredibly deep post presence with Brown, Mompremier, Cave, Cohen and Higgins. IMO, this is the be accumulation of talent that Mulkey has ever had to work with. And the following season may be even stronger, especially if we land Cox.
 
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