Tennessee at Notre Dame Thur

[meyers7]

See, now that's the difference between a 159 count poster and a 16K poster. D*mn I gotta learn better.

Well I got 5 years on ya...soo...you'll learn grasshopper.

 

[Striper69]

Define "on a roll". They lost just a week ago.

Only loss all year. I'd say they're still on a roll as far as the season goes. They looked good Sunday.

I doubt if ND will be as hot as Louisville was.

 

[Orangutan]

Only loss all year. I'd say they're still on a roll as far as the season goes. They looked good Sunday.

I doubt if ND will be as hot as Louisville was.

They looked good Sunday against a South Carolina team suddenly playing without Aja Wilson. Had Wilson not got injured, they could easily be on a two-game slide right now.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. It's just interesting how perception works.

 

[Goodgood]

LV's by 10. Notre Dame will run out of gas in the 4th quarter with no bench.

 

[Rocket009]

LV's by 10. Notre Dame will run out of gas in the 4th quarter with no bench.

Unfortunately I have to agree. TN will run as hard as they can to try and wear them down. Only possibility is if ND plays tough defense which I don't think TN has seen that much of yet this year, doesn't foul and controls the game pace. If they do that, they will win.

 

[Justavisitor]

I hope the Irish decimate them. I don’t think they will, but I want them to beat up on TN like we beat up on them.

Other than that, I don’t have any feelings about this game.

Not happening, JennyOm but a girl can dream. Now, after this post, I'm going to have to rethink who I root for when Louisville and UConn meet up.

 

[dogged1]

Unfortunately I have to agree. TN will run as hard as they can to try and wear them down. Only possibility is if ND plays tough defense which I don't think TN has seen that much of yet this year, doesn't foul and controls the game pace. If they do that, they will win.

I like the second sentence much better than the first.

 

[Phil]

Define "on a roll". They lost just a week ago.

OK, not a BIG roll.

 

[dogged1]

Not happening, JennyOm but a girl can dream. Now, after this post, I'm going to have to rethink who I root for when Louisville and UConn meet up.

Do you remember what Ed Asner said to Mary Tyler Moore: "You got spunk! (Grin fades to scowl) I hate spunk."

 

[Go/huskies]

Since Westbrook is my favorite player in the game, I'm going with Tenn, the team is better and looks like a final four team to me, but only time will tell.

 

[hussybulldog]

ND is the underdog here. But i will bet they will fight hard and pull out a close win 78:76

 

[Justavisitor]

For the Irish, I think the key is how they play Mercedes Russell and Jamie Nared.

Both play more than 30 minutes per game and are the top two shot-takers on the team (Nared has taken 241 attempts...nearly 50 more than Russell, who is second on the team).
And both average more than 8 rebounds per game.

Russell, at 6'6", is getting most of those shots very close to the hoop, so the Irish have to find ways of keeping her a bit more away from the hoop or making her path there that much more difficult. Maybe that 2-3 zone is a bit more like a 2-1-2 with the middle paying attention to Ms. Russell. Besides Sheppard, I would also expect to see Koko Nelson to try some body-to-body pressure. Offensively, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Irish go at Russell in the forms of drives to try to get her in foul trouble. Plus, some quick hitting passes. For all of Mabrey's dribbling challenges, she is at her best in half-court sets and delivers some excellent entry passes to Sheppard.

Nared is the leader of the team and while she's scoring 17.6 points per game, she's not shooting particularly well...39% overall and 28% from three. My gut would be -- first and foremost -- limit open looks as much as possible so she does not get her confidence going. And, along those lines, hand-in-face, hip-to-hip while she's cutting through the lane. Throw off the shooting concentration. Keep track of her in the zone and -- if the Irish go man -- get Jackie Young on her most of the time. Maybe Dani Patterson can spell her.

Yes, I've read about the Tennessee frosh are playing well for the Vols. But the Irish should concentrate on their leaders first and then see if the frosh can overcome playing on an away court in a very pressurized atmosphere. The game is near a sellout and will be loud. This is the only home game in which the Irish are playing a ranked team (all the rest were on away or neutral courts), so the home crowd will be into it.

As for the Irish, they've got to balance that fine line between playing some degree of defense without getting into foul trouble. And, as MM pointed out repeatedly this week, play hard. Win those 50-50s!

The other element is if UT follows Louisville's lead and puts pressure on the Irish bringing the ball up court. If so, I'd expect to see Shep and/or Kat Westbeld come to half court to help out by taking passes and/or setting screens...I don't believe Russell will not follow up court.

Interesting development for the Irish...the boys practice team returned to campus this week to mimic the other team and basically push the Irish. Besides giving the Irish enough people to practice against, the boys are good players -- they won the Bookstore Basketball Tournament last year, which has nearly 40% of all ND's undergrads participate. Could help sharpen the Irish.

BTW, this should be an interesting game for Danielle Patterson. Remember she was a huge Candace Parker fan growing up and the Vols were finalists for her services, along with the Irish. Will be interesting to see how she reacts going against the Irish.

Good insight.

On Jaime Nared, her numbers are skewed a bit, as she's had a leg injury that she played through that really impacted her shooting percentages. I think she's better now. Also, I'm not sure Jackie Young can contain Jaime, because she's giving up a couple of inches and Nared, at 6'2", is playing the 4 position. Rennia Davis plays on the wing.

Mercedes has a very nice midrange stroke and both defensively and offensively, she's very mobile, now that her feet are fixed and she's 100% cured from those ailments. Defensively, expect her to do more than stay under the basket.

The match up that I think you will exploit will be against who ever is defending Arike. So far, I have yet to see the freshmen guards do a great job against the dribble drive, but I have seen improvement from game to game, now that they are into the speed of the SEC play. Still, Arike scares me. Also scary is if Mabrey gets hot and her shot is going, along with dribble penetration by Jackie.

The biggest key for our freshmen is ball protection. Some of the turnovers have been of the bone headed play variety, but most of the turnovers have been from miscues where their teammates weren't expecting or ready for the ball. If this has been cleaned up, which comes from better chemistry together, I feel good about the younger players.

Another fear is the ND home court atmosphere, but the South Carolina and Stanford games should have prepared them for what a rowdy crowd sounds like.

Also, don't forget about Greene off the bench. I am hoping we go big with she and Mercedes together. Green and Hayes are both big producers off the bench.

Looking forward to the match up, as we are still learning about our Lady Vols. Nice to have these games in January, while there is still plenty of time for improvements.

 

[Replicant]

I'll take The Irish... the lesser of 2 evils

There was a time when I could have easily agreed with you on this point, but my loathing of ND has risen to a Vol-like level!

 

[Replicant]

a clear case of better coaching against better talent.....it will be interesting to see which one wins out..

Nature vs. Nurture...Nature generally wins more often than not! ND was exposed so badly by L'Ville, especially the lack of a true point guard that I give the nod to TN.

 

[jaundicedeye]

Unfortunately I have to agree. TN will run as hard as they can to try and wear them down. Only possibility is if ND plays tough defense which I don't think TN has seen that much of yet this year, doesn't foul and controls the game pace. If they do that, they will win.

Home court advantage for ND. Agree that if they can control the pace and get comfortable their offensive movement and good shooting will get them the win.

 

[Nuyoika]

If Notre Dame plays good defense they win. If they don't they lose.

 

[Nuyoika]

They looked good Sunday against a South Carolina team suddenly playing without Aja Wilson. Had Wilson not got injured, they could easily be on a two-game slide right now.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. It's just interesting how perception works.

Agreed. Even without Wilson South Carolina got it to within 4 with less than 5 mins to go in the game then ran out of gas.

 

[Dillon77]

Good insight.

On Jaime Nared, her numbers are skewed a bit, as she's had a leg injury that she played through that really impacted her shooting percentages. I think she's better now. Also, I'm not sure Jackie Young can contain Jaime, because she's giving up a couple of inches and Nared, at 6'2", is playing the 4 position. Rennia Davis plays on the wing.

Mercedes has a very nice midrange stroke and both defensively and offensively, she's very mobile, now that her feet are fixed and she's 100% cured from those ailments. Defensively, expect her to do more than stay under the basket.

The match up that I think you will exploit will be against who ever is defending Arike. So far, I have yet to see the freshmen guards do a great job against the dribble drive, but I have seen improvement from game to game, now that they are into the speed of the SEC play. Still, Arike scares me. Also scary is if Mabrey gets hot and her shot is going, along with dribble penetration by Jackie.

The biggest key for our freshmen is ball protection. Some of the turnovers have been of the bone headed play variety, but most of the turnovers have been from miscues where their teammates weren't expecting or ready for the ball. If this has been cleaned up, which comes from better chemistry together, I feel good about the younger players.

Another fear is the ND home court atmosphere, but the South Carolina and Stanford games should have prepared them for what a rowdy crowd sounds like.

Also, don't forget about Greene off the bench. I am hoping we go big with she and Mercedes together. Green and Hayes are both big producers off the bench.

Looking forward to the match up, as we are still learning about our Lady Vols. Nice to have these games in January, while there is still plenty of time for improvements.

Thanks for your insights on the Vol side...always appreciate having context for what I'm watching. A few reactions:
- Agree with you regarding Arike Ogunbowale. I'd just written a post on McGraw's Bench hoping that she can get started early and often. If Arike can penetrate, that could give Mabrey some open looks, which would help her confidence.

- Young is an interesting player. While she is "just" 6'0" tall, she also jumps center for us and plays much bigger than most guards, particularly in her ability to get up fast ("good hops"). I think ND will be in some sort of zone most of the time anyways, but MM has put Jackie on a variety of players when they go man to man. Stay tuned on that.

- Besides dribble penetration, the other element you might want to pay attention to is ND's ability to pass quickly around the elbow/chin. Mabrey delivers some excellent bounce passes and Shep, Westbeld and back-up center Koko Nelson all will look for one another.

Look forward to the game.

 

[easttexastrash]

I predict a big UT win and a more appropriate fall in the polls for ND.

 

[dogged1]

I predict a big UT win and a more appropriate fall in the polls for ND.

OK, but why?

 

[Justavisitor]

Thanks for your insights on the Vol side...always appreciate having context for what I'm watching. A few reactions:
- Agree with you regarding Arike Ogunbowale. I'd just written a post on McGraw's Bench hoping that she can get started early and often. If Arike can penetrate, that could give Mabrey some open looks, which would help her confidence.

- Young is an interesting player. While she is "just" 6'0" tall, she also jumps center for us and plays much bigger than most guards, particularly in her ability to get up fast ("good hops"). I think ND will be in some sort of zone most of the time anyways, but MM has put Jackie on a variety of players when they go man to man. Stay tuned on that.

- Besides dribble penetration, the other element you might want to pay attention to is ND's ability to pass quickly around the elbow/chin. Mabrey delivers some excellent bounce passes and Shep, Westbeld and back-up center Koko Nelson all will look for one another.

Look forward to the game.

Thanks. As you said, it will give me something to watch for. ND teams have always been good passing teams in recent history, so that will not surprise me. By the way, Westbrook reminds me of Diggins and I was a big fan of her game. Ut Oh! That won't go over well here.

 

[mbr33ct]

I don't see ND losing this game. If the LadyVols win, I'll change my avatar again.

 

[dogged1]

I don't see ND losing this game. If the LadyVols win, I'll change my avatar again.

Don't do that, it's a really nice avatar.

 

[mbr33ct]

Don't do that, it's a really nice avatar.

You talked me out of it.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I think this will be a good one. ND is definitely better than the Louisville score would indicate. The LVs have played well in spurts and the potential is there for a strong postseason run. I am predicting a close win by the Irish.