Tennessee Coach Holly Warlick Says Players Have Lost Passion for the Game

[Huskie78]

"Matter of fact, there's a pretty good chance if you come to Connecticut you'll never lead the country in anything... except wins." - Geno A.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Given that HW's team just lost its 9th, and after leading by seven going into the fourth quarter, I suppose they just proved her right.

 

[meyers7]

The assertion was that no other team in the country had 3 players averaging more than 15 points per game. If the actual statistics belie this assertion, I don't see how that makes it a "good stat."

Whether the statement was true or not doesn't have anything to do with whether the stat is good or not.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

It's not a complete sweep. Tennessee does lead UCONN in turnovers.

Matter of fact Tenn absolutely dominant in that category!

 

[BigBird]

LV's lose at home again, this time because of a second chance rebound and score given up to TAM. Holly may be on to something. Rebounding is about "want to," and maybe her players just don't want to.

Such a shame. No, really, I am not being facetious. Not even a little bit.

Or maybe not.

 

[toadfoot]

The Tennessee trio of Russell, Nared, and DeShields. Are the only trio in the country. That are all averaging 15 points or more.

What of it? The only stats that matter... UConn 24-0, UT 16-9.

 

[Zorro]

Five points in the fourth quarter! How does a bunch of HSAAs manage to score only five points in a quarter?












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[Waquoit]

I hope Holly is at UT for many years to come.

 

[Geno-ista]

Holly Warlick is absolutely correct about the players in Knoxville, TN.

Bamboo lover??? Does this include fly rods?

 

[oldude]

Bamboo lover??? Does this include fly rods?

Sadly, I've only been fly fishing a couple times years ago, and it was great.

 

[warbler1055]

TN lost by 1 basket. There were plenty of blames to go around!!! HW was not the only reason TN lost.

 

[Geno-ista]

Sadly, I've only been fly fishing a couple times years ago, and it was great.

Just curious- ironically, I just confirmed with Hoagy Carmichael, the son of the legend, that he will be coming to our Atlantic Salmon Fishing Camp in Sept. Hoagy is the best bamboo fly rod maker in the world- fly fishing is my 2nd religion-

 

[cabbie191]

LV's lose at home again, this time because of a second chance rebound and score given up to TAM. Holly may be on to something. Rebounding is about "want to," and maybe her players just don't want to.

Such a shame. No, really, I am not being facetious. Not even a little bit.

Or maybe not.

Had court side seats, courtesy of friends, for today's Michigan vs Wisconsin game. Badgers, who haven't won a conference game this year, kept it relatively close but whenever they got within a basket, managed to find a way to turn the ball over.

With the exception of only a few plays, players on both squads exhibited what I thought was pretty low energy on defensive help in the paint and going after rebounds. Kind of speaks to the point made about rebounding being an act of passion.

Side note - remember Michala Johnson who transferred to Wisconsin from UConn/ Her younger sister Maayna plays forward and center for the Badgers. She was the first off the bench. 6'4" according to the program guide. She could have used a UConn summer camp session on ball handling. So too could have most of her teammates.

 

[msf22b]

Swain:

The three team member you cited took about 900 shots (not exact, calculated and rounded out in my head).

The rest of the team took a grand total of about 250 shots.
The three shot under 50% as a group, Mercedes is the only one above 50...only one other player shot above 50% and she's not playing.

The 50 points a game you generally get from the three above is just not quite enough when the rest of the team supplies just 25 on average.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Just curious- ironically, I just confirmed with Hoagy Carmichael, the son of the legend, that he will be coming to our Atlantic Salmon Fishing Camp in Sept. Hoagy is the best bamboo fly rod maker in the world- fly fishing is my 2nd religion-

Sadly a stroke 4 years ago took me out of fly fishing with any skill, but I can still fling a mean Panther Martin on 6 lb test. We have a few reasonably good rivers here in western Montana.

 

[oldude]

Sadly a stroke 4 years ago took me out of fly fishing with any skill, but I can still fling a mean Panther Martin on 6 lb test. We have a few reasonably good rivers here in western Montana.

Montana? I understand a river runs through it.

 

[Geno-ista]

Sadly a stroke 4 years ago took me out of fly fishing with any skill, but I can still fling a mean Panther Martin on 6 lb test. We have a few reasonably good rivers here in western Montana.

Being on a great river with trout or Atlantic salmon just does it for guys like us. I haven't been out to fish the great rivers out west like the Missouri, etc... I will soon I believe! Keep flinging those Panther Martins as long as you can! Tight lines!

 

[Hope]

Five points in the fourth quarter! How does a bunch of HSAAs manage to score only five points in a quarter?












a

I would call it a conspiracy.

 

[msf22b]

LV's lose at home again, this time because of a second chance rebound and score given up to TAM. Holly may be on to something. Rebounding is about "want to," and maybe her players just don't want to.

Such a shame. No, really, I am not being facetious. Not even a little bit.

Or maybe not.

But of course we know at UConn that it is more than just desire; sure...desire helps.
But folks like Kiah, Pheesa and Gabby have a real nose for the ball, plus desire.
And Lou...as big as any of the others...has a real aversion to it...Just ask Geno.

 

[cabbie191]

We know that in any group of people, there is a continuum for all dimensions of behavior and emotion. To the topic at hand - passion and ardor for the game of basketball - this is also true. Some players (fans, coaches) will have more passion then others.

It is entirely possible that over time, there can be a general trend line where the "average" player coming into the college ranks has less passion for the game then her counterparts a generation ago. Our daily lives are constantly changing, particularly for young people where forms of communications are constantly in flux, there are more options when young for exploring talents, etc.

It is also likely true that an elite program like UConn's will be somewhat immune from experiencing this trend line. Here's why I believe this to be true.

Let's say arbitrarily that in 2000, 75% percent of players tested for their passion of basketball scored high on the metric, and when the same test was given in 2015, the percent of players scoring high on the same metric dropped to 25%.

The chances are good that Connecticut will continue to attract the players in the upper 25% tier. That is the reward for all the sweat and toil Geno and CD and the rest of crew have put into the program during the first 20 years of their tenure here. They will attract the kids with great desire. I think this will tend to be true for a few other schools as well: Baylor, Stanford, ND, MD come to mind.

So it is entirely possible that while we don't see much drop-off but a program that has entered an era of uncertainty like Tennessee is more vulnerable to experience the passion shift.

But last, keep in mind that every few years Geno acknowledges that the students coming into our program, though still great players and great people, come in with different expectations than prior classes.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Does Holly own a television? Did she watch last night's game?

I'm reminded of the Will Rogers quote: "I never met a man I didn't like." The joke becomes that Will never met _____. Fill in the blank with whatever name suits your joke. But I'm thinking that Holly never met or watched Gabby play. As Geno said, if you never watched Gabby play, you have NO IDEA what you are missing.

 

[Geew1992]

Definitely recruiting the wrong kids!!