I watched the full game between Tennessee and UCLA. It was my first time seeing Tennessee. Friends on this board know I've disliked Tennessee for years, but I will set aside my dislike for them as a program and make my comments as objective as possible.
Tennessee is long and athletic. They wreak havoc on the defensive end. They play smothering defense, the full court press is elite, and they crash the boards like few teams I've seen. Kudos to UCLA for getting as may points as they did and in breaking the full court press. Having said that...
Tennessee is one of the most overly physical teams I've seen in a long time. I get intense defense, but off the ball, they foul not only on every play, but by almost every player. Some of the intensity is borderline dirty. I've not seen Barker in any other games, but she's the worst of the bunch. One play she hip-checked a player pretending she was trying to set a screen but just didn't get there in time (I think it was Janiah). There was just no reason for it other than a dirty play. The slap, grab, and hold was on full display. I was shocked the refs didn't foul out about 4 players in the first half alone. No idea how they can let that kind of play go on without calling it out.
Again, Kudos to UCLA for playing thru it. I did see several shots of Close working the officials, but somehow they seemed to have blinders on. As a UConn fan, we used to hate playing Central Florida cuz coach Abe's tactic was, knowing they were up against superior talent, to foul on every play as the officials couldn't call every foul they saw. We fans held our breath when we played them fingers crossed for no injuries. We can't use the word to describe their play, but it starts with "t" and rhymes with hug. Caldwell seems to be creating that kind of atmosphere at Tennessee.
Honestly, LSU and SC especially won't put up with that and I can't wait to see the fireworks when those teams meet. When UConn faces them, I'm legit concerned for injuries to our players.
Setting that aside, I think Tennessee has a lot of athleticism, speed, and some legit ball handlers. They are tenacious rebounders and while there were glimpses of offense, a lot of it was the old "jack up a shot and crash the boards". They have the athletes to do that.
Regarding the hockey line substitutions, the ONLY benefit I see to that is if you play the same 5 players together all the time, you may get better chemistry. The thing i don't get is the "whoever plays the best last game gets to start next game". Good grief. With that strategy, you are totally missing out on the potential chemistry of keeping a core group of players together to really hone their togetherness on the floor.
@TheFarmFan and
@GoChips20 nailed it with their comments. Why on earth you think you need to "motivate" elite athletes that way is mystifying.
Caldwell apparently doubled down on that when asked about it at the presser. Her answer was something like "That's how we play. Period". No room for change, no room for coaching growth, just the way it is. We will see how that works out in the long run with recruiting and player retention.
I don't know where the team is headed this season, but coach C is delusional thinking they are a final 4 team. I think UCLA is the least strong (not by much) of the top 4 teams and they handled Tennessee fairly easily. Any team with talent who can keep their composure can expose their weaknesses.
They lose a lot after this season. They have the #2 recruit coming next season and I'm sure will dip into the portal, but if what I saw is indicative of the Tennessee program as a whole, and direction Caldwell is taking them, I'm not sure the success fans crave is achievable.
