Tennessee at Notre Dame Thur
- Thread starter Alydar
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About Notre Dame:
If they win it will be with there offense. Tenn hasn't faced a team all year that one could say has a great offense and none close to the Irish. As bad as they played at Louisville that game is to me an aberration. Tenn likes to pack the paint and dare teams to hit 3's and Notre Dame should thrive against that. The key is being at home. N Dame has had some 4th period meltdowns but not at home. For all the talk about their decimated roster their starting team is intact. Shepard has to keep Russell occupied. If Russell leaves her to stop a drive the Irish need to dish off to Shepard and she needs to score. On defense Shepard has to use her bulk to keep Russell from getting that low block position from where she is so effective. And if Russell puts the ball on the ground as she tends to do, someone has to drop down and steal it. Finally, UConn just beat a Texas team on the road using 6 players. I expect a top effort from the Irish and a comfortable win. McGraw is a genius at teaching her players how to get to the foul line. I expect the Irish to spend a lot of time at the line and I expect the Vol fans to be whining about the officiating.
Tenn
The Vols have performed much like I expected so far. I thought their superior talent and athleticism would carry them undefeated through a mostly weak schedule early. I thought they might lose to either Stanford and Texas so they exceeded my expectations there. Maples was over half empty for the Stanford game as it was during a break and it was McPhee's first game back. Stanford isn't Stanford this year. I expected them to beat TAMU but lose to S Car (I didn't expect an injury) N dame & Miss St. I still expect Tenn to falter in the post-season due to the overplay and inexperience of the freshmen.
Russell has been outstanding at both ends. She is very physical but she scores with regularity and so easily that I wonder why she isn't getting 20 shots a game. The one thing that troubles me is her stamina. In the second halves of games she struggles getting down the floor. Either she is out of shape (which I doubt) or she is still dealing with bad feet. I know the Vols are saying her feet are 100% but the Vols rarely admit to injuries unless a player is sitting. Russell had gotten several easy baskets when the Vols got a turnover when she hadn't even gotten over the halfcourt line. I watch her running up and down the court in second halves and her stride looks labored. I'd send in Nelson for a couple of minutes at a time to put a body on Mercedes and not worry about fouling (if you get my meaning). Russell doesn't foul much but one thing I have noticed is that Russell defends drives very well from inside the protective arc and I can't understand why more drivers try to avoid her instead of just driving into her as she slides over. The foul will always be on her.
Nared is having an AA year. She will get her points and her boards and will lead the team. N Dame needs to make her work hard for everything. As far as the vaunted freshmen, they are talented but it's the time of the year for fatigue to set in for freshmen. Tenn's have played a lot of minutes. Tired players make mistakes and tired freshmen make a lot of mistakes The Irish need to pull a UConn and win the last 2 minutes of every period.
I expect both teams to play themselves into exhaustion tonight but the Irish fans will carry their team to victory. I hope it goes into triple OT.
My emotions will make me root for N Dame. But as a practical matter either of these teams could end up one seeds and I'd rather see Tenn in UConn's region as a 2 than the Irish.
If they win it will be with there offense. Tenn hasn't faced a team all year that one could say has a great offense and none close to the Irish. As bad as they played at Louisville that game is to me an aberration. Tenn likes to pack the paint and dare teams to hit 3's and Notre Dame should thrive against that. The key is being at home. N Dame has had some 4th period meltdowns but not at home. For all the talk about their decimated roster their starting team is intact. Shepard has to keep Russell occupied. If Russell leaves her to stop a drive the Irish need to dish off to Shepard and she needs to score. On defense Shepard has to use her bulk to keep Russell from getting that low block position from where she is so effective. And if Russell puts the ball on the ground as she tends to do, someone has to drop down and steal it. Finally, UConn just beat a Texas team on the road using 6 players. I expect a top effort from the Irish and a comfortable win. McGraw is a genius at teaching her players how to get to the foul line. I expect the Irish to spend a lot of time at the line and I expect the Vol fans to be whining about the officiating.
Tenn
The Vols have performed much like I expected so far. I thought their superior talent and athleticism would carry them undefeated through a mostly weak schedule early. I thought they might lose to either Stanford and Texas so they exceeded my expectations there. Maples was over half empty for the Stanford game as it was during a break and it was McPhee's first game back. Stanford isn't Stanford this year. I expected them to beat TAMU but lose to S Car (I didn't expect an injury) N dame & Miss St. I still expect Tenn to falter in the post-season due to the overplay and inexperience of the freshmen.
Russell has been outstanding at both ends. She is very physical but she scores with regularity and so easily that I wonder why she isn't getting 20 shots a game. The one thing that troubles me is her stamina. In the second halves of games she struggles getting down the floor. Either she is out of shape (which I doubt) or she is still dealing with bad feet. I know the Vols are saying her feet are 100% but the Vols rarely admit to injuries unless a player is sitting. Russell had gotten several easy baskets when the Vols got a turnover when she hadn't even gotten over the halfcourt line. I watch her running up and down the court in second halves and her stride looks labored. I'd send in Nelson for a couple of minutes at a time to put a body on Mercedes and not worry about fouling (if you get my meaning). Russell doesn't foul much but one thing I have noticed is that Russell defends drives very well from inside the protective arc and I can't understand why more drivers try to avoid her instead of just driving into her as she slides over. The foul will always be on her.
Nared is having an AA year. She will get her points and her boards and will lead the team. N Dame needs to make her work hard for everything. As far as the vaunted freshmen, they are talented but it's the time of the year for fatigue to set in for freshmen. Tenn's have played a lot of minutes. Tired players make mistakes and tired freshmen make a lot of mistakes The Irish need to pull a UConn and win the last 2 minutes of every period.
I expect both teams to play themselves into exhaustion tonight but the Irish fans will carry their team to victory. I hope it goes into triple OT.
My emotions will make me root for N Dame. But as a practical matter either of these teams could end up one seeds and I'd rather see Tenn in UConn's region as a 2 than the Irish.
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Well this is less than an exciting start.... Good thing I have good beer! 
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I'll have an extra beer for you! Cheers!
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if you put the scotch in a cup of tea with lemon, it's suddenly medicinal!
Wbbfan1
And That’s The Way It Is
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I wasn't going to be surprised if the Lady Vols beat Notre Dame tonight due to ND's depleted roster and how well the Lady Vols have played this season. I didn't think the Lady Vols would be able to build a 15 point lead in the 1st quarter.
Hopefully for the NCAA they don't have Notre Dame as one of the #1 seeds. Definitely don't deserve it after the Louisville loss and how they are playing so far tonight.
Hopefully for the NCAA they don't have Notre Dame as one of the #1 seeds. Definitely don't deserve it after the Louisville loss and how they are playing so far tonight.
nwhoopfan
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This looks a bit like the Louisville-Notre Dame game. Irish getting run off the court again. Can't deal w/ Russell's size (other than elbowing her in the nose and having her sit on the bench for about 5 minutes) and can't deal w/ Tennessee's overall athleticism/speed. Could be a LONG night. Ogunbowale has been dreadful so far and Young has been nearly invisible.
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Might be another long night for nd, down 27-10 end of first quarter.
easttexastrash
Stay Classy!
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Can we all admit that ND is not a very good team right now.
easttexastrash
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UT is a very good team. I’m really enjoying watching this team.
Hayes has some bad timing on some of her passes. She passes too hard from too close.
nwhoopfan
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13 TO's and counting. I don't think they've even attempted a shot in the last 3 or 4 possessions. Notre Dame w/ some TO's of their own. Sloppy down the stretch. 39-27 at halftime. Nice rally by ND. They never really fought back against Louisville. Good to see they still have a pulse.
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What on earth is happening here? How did ND play us so well when they've looked so ..... I don't even know what the last 2 games.....?
easttexastrash
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UT has absolutely stunk it up in the last few minutes. Their passing is atrocious. Baylor may not have a schedule that gets them a top seeding but I feel certain that we would spank either of these teams.