Tennessee is quite real

[connboy77]

I'm too lazy to look at the box scores, but, I bet that Uconn would have lost many games this year if their opponent had shot 69%, including 50% of their threes (7 of 14.)

Despite all their individual talent and height, Tenn. will never get to a final four unless they are taught how to play as a team. Pat's assistants are the de facto head coaches, and it is business as usual.

Just think what a good coach (fill in the blank with any former Uconn player now coaching) could do with the talent on that team.

UCONN has the best defense in the country, no team is going to shoot 69% against them.

 

[blkkirk]

In my mind a very different team than last year. Simmons has been harnessed and Strictland has been the go to player. Huge difference. Same players but more mature and improved under pressure. Spani has been very good from what I have seen. Baugh is making a difference and gaining confidence.

I predict that they will beat Stanford(I hope not). Then I am curious to see how they do against Kentucky. Very curious how Kentucky does today against ND. Some of us will be eating crow. Just a matter of time to see who.

I also don't think that Rutgers is that bad of a team. I am excited to see how we do against them.

 

[alexrgct]

Massengale is solid at distributing the ball, but she also takes terrible shots. It's like she thinks she's going to fall into the Grand Canyon if she crosses the three-point arc with the intention of shooting.

It's also ill-advised to rely on a freshman PG to take you the promised land, regardless of how heralded such a player was coming out of high school. Freshmen are inconsistent. It's kind of their calling card. And when you play four games against decent teams (starting in the S16 round, in other words), consistency is critical. I think Massengale will be a great player, but I don't think she is a great player at this point.

Tennessee has a lot of thoroughbreds, and when they outclass their opposition athletically, they look really good. When they go against teams who can match up, which aren't a ton, they've looked vulnerable.

UCLA has nary a good win to their credit this season, and losses to two unranked teams. I can't use this game is a barometer for Tennessee's postseason chances.

 

[HuskyNan]

UCLA's D is very suspect

About ten years ago, Geno said of the Pac-10, "First team to 100 wins".

 

[msf22b]

In the interest of factual accuracy I would like to point out that the UCLA announcer repeatedly said that the 70% field-goal shooting was not the result of a layup drill but of legitimate, reasonably guarded shots...My impression as well.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I'm too lazy to look at the box scores, but, I bet that Uconn would have lost many games this year if their opponent had shot 69%, including 50% of their threes (7 of 14.)

Despite all their individual talent and height, Tenn. will never get to a final four unless they are taught how to play as a team. Pat's assistants are the de facto head coaches, and it is business as usual.

Just think what a good coach (fill in the blank with any former Uconn player now coaching) could do with the talent on that team.

Tennessee has won 8 national championships and has been to 18 Final Fours. It is hard to imagine another coach doing much better. What makes you believe that a UConn alum can do better. of the UConn alums coaching, what has any one of them accomplished, to date, that would compel you to believe that they are capable to taking this year's Tennessee team to a Final Four?

 

[alexrgct]

In my mind a very different team than last year. Simmons has been harnessed and Strictland has been the go to player. Huge difference. Same players but more mature and improved under pressure. Spani has been very good from what I have seen. Baugh is making a difference and gaining confidence.

I predict that they will beat Stanford(I hope not). Then I am curious to see how they do against Kentucky. Very curious how Kentucky does today against ND. Some of us will be eating crow. Just a matter of time to see who.

I also don't think that Rutgers is that bad of a team. I am excited to see how we do against them.

Did you watch the Tenn-Rutgers game? They are not very good at this juncture. They have no offensive flow, they can't attack a zone defense to save their lives, they have no post presence, they run hot and cold shooting, and they tire easily. They tried to milk a three point lead with a ton of time left in the game like they were up 15 with three minutes to go. Basically, watching Tenn-Rutgers was like watching mirror images, except Tennessee had a bit more experience and athleticism.

I'm also curious as to how this team differes dramatically from last year's. How has Simmons been harnessed? She runs hot and cold, and when she's cold, she's really cold. Tennessee's backcourt remains a liability. They still don't have a great option behind Simmons or Massengale. Stricklen was a go-to player last year too; she was the SEC POY. Spani was an excellent sharpshooter last season. they have Baugh, but she also runs hot and cold. She was great against Texas, for instance, but a complete non-factor against Rutgers. It's not like Cain was chopped liver in the post last year either. Glory Johnson is pretty much the same player she was last year. In other words, looks a lot like the same team to me.

 

[msf22b]

Alex makes very good points and not so different from mine (see initial post) but all I can say is that yesterday, the same strengths and weaknesses added up to a much more dangerous looking team

Fortunately, instead of speculating you will all have the opportunity to watch a re-play of the game in discussion, courtesy of UCLA's efficient media dept. Enjoy, at your leisure.

http://www.uclabruins.com/allaccess/?media=273778 (not up yet)

 

[UConnCat]

I actually did watch yesterday's game against UCLA. It was a very strange game. It was not overly physical (9 fouls on each team for the entire game!), lacked intensity, and the shots for both teams weren't really contested. The difference was that Tenn made a lot more of its shots than UCLA did. But making a lot of shots -- and Tenn shot the ball exceptionally well -- can often hide flaws. Tenn gave up 64 points to a UCLA team that doesn't have a lot of offensive skill. (LSU held UCLA to 41 points last week.) Tenn also gave up 19 offensive rebounds to a team that isn't very big or athletic. Tenn also struggled at times handling and passing the ball against a team that doesn't really bring a lot of pressure.

Tenn has a lot of players who can get open shots and, as it showed yesterday, make them. Although she didn't play yesterday, Massengale makes this team much better offensively. But it's also a team that is going to give up a lot of good shots, too. This year's Tenn team (like last year's) has difficulty guarding other teams. The coaches have figured out that its best defense is a zone. It can be an effective zone, particularly when it puts some size up top, but it has a lot of holes too.

BTW, I do think this year's team has more fight in it than last year's team.

 

[schmendrick]

I'm too lazy to look at the box scores, but, I bet that Uconn would have lost many games this year if their opponent had shot 69%, including 50% of their threes (7 of 14.)

Despite all their individual talent and height, Tenn. will never get to a final four unless they are taught how to play as a team. Pat's assistants are the de facto head coaches, and it is business as usual.

Just think what a good coach (fill in the blank with any former Uconn player now coaching) could do with the talent on that team.

Agreed. Just don't see how they coalesce as a team with so many de facto head coaches, no matter if those coaches purport to speak as one voice and no matter the urgency to win for Pat.

 

[Husky68]

Villanova in the 1985 championship game agaisnt Georgetown shot 79% and only won by 2.

UCLA is no Georgetown!

 

[Icebear]

I think they look better, but I'd eschew "substantially".

I think that is fair, Phil.

 

[Icebear]

Ice, as always, I find myself basically in agreement with you but...if they win big time in Stanford, come Tuesday, then all bets are off.

I agree that does then make a difference. Last year I thought they were the last team into the E8, this year I for the moment think they are the first team out of the F4.

 

[connboy77]

I agree that does then make a difference. Last year I thought they were the last team into the E8, this year I for the moment think they are the first team out of the F4.

I don't think they will make it that far this year. Tennessee will be upset in either the sweet 16 or elite 8!

 

[cardfan]

Ice, as always, I find myself basically in agreement with you but...if they win big time in Stanford, come Tuesday, then all bets are off.

I'm not so sure about using the Stanford game as a measuring stick for TN. We have 3 pluses; the game is at Maples (67 home game winning streak), and the O sisters. However, TN is stronger in the backcourt, plays better D than what I've seen us play so far, and they are shooting better at the 3. It's a guards game, so a few more pluses for TN.

 

[magical2]

In a warm-up for the upcoming Stanford game the lady Vols (as watched from a free stream from UCLA) had their hottest shooting game of the year (just under 70%) to defeat a scrappy UCLA team by 21.

I was most impressed with Vicki Baugh, finally full recovered from injury who plays with the
aggressiveness of a NBA power forward; a pleasure to watch.

Meighan Simmons had one of her better games; in control, much of the time, some of her crazy shots went in..The Bruins finally pressed her in the last few minutes and she gave up the ball a few times
Shekinna Stricklen and Glory Johnson also had strong games, only once in awhile looking like no one ever taught them the subtleties of the game.

This Tennessee bunch is not a strong defensive rebounding team and the smaller Bruins crashed the boards with alacrity if not much positive result.

Bottom line: they could give Stanford big trouble, or...they could fold.

I liked the close-up view that the UCLA folks provided, a nice change-up.

I have been impressed with Vicki's coming back from her ACLS decimating her college career. If she had not been able to physically get to this point,from last season the TN Team would be in bigger trouble than they are. I also love Strickland,Johnson,Spani and the future of Ariel and Burdick. Having said that,they played a team that went from a team that would have been at least a top 10 or better team to one decimated by injury and Caldwell deserting this team!!!! I say that because not only did she leave for LSU,but got to take one of her signed top 20 signed recruits with her,lose a top 10 elite AA signed recruit, destroy the moral of this team! The injuries for the season were 2 HS AAs who were 2 of the 3 best players on the team. So go from a top team in the country with the #2/#3 recruiting class coming in to what remained.
Let us see what happens against Stanford Hey maybe they win,but my money is on ST.

 

[blkkirk]

Quote from alex
Did you watch the Tenn-Rutgers game? They are not very good at this juncture. They have no offensive flow, they can't attack a zone defense to save their lives, they have no post presence, they run hot and cold shooting, and they tire easily. They tried to milk a three point lead with a ton of time left in the game like they were up 15 with three minutes to go. Basically, watching Tenn-Rutgers was like watching mirror images, except Tennessee had a bit more experience and athleticism.

I'm also curious as to how this team differes dramatically from last year's. How has Simmons been harnessed? She runs hot and cold, and when she's cold, she's really cold. Tennessee's backcourt remains a liability. They still don't have a great option behind Simmons or Massengale. Stricklen was a go-to player last year too; she was the SEC POY. Spani was an excellent sharpshooter last season. they have Baugh, but she also runs hot and cold. She was great against Texas, for instance, but a complete non-factor against Rutgers. It's not like Cain was chopped liver in the post last year either. Glory Johnson is pretty much the same player she was last year. In other words, looks a lot like the same team to me."

Yes, I watched the Rutgers game. I saw a lot of what you saw however I see the same things with almost every team. I think the majority of the better teams this year, including us, are very much still putting things together. One difference from last year is Tenn would have lost the away game to Rutgers. I see a higher overall confidence level and willingness to play together this year. When I say harness Simmons I basically meant they have kept her on the bench or yanked her quickly when she goes crazy jacking up shots. This changed since the injury to the point guard. I think this sent a big message to Stricklen, Johnson and Spani. Basically pointing out that they are the nucleus of the team. Last year the team went as Simmons went. I dont see that this year. Credit to the coaching.

I agree about Cain. I didn't like her attitude but I thought she was good. A difference with baugh is they become more athletic both on offense and defense.

Rutgers can be very disruptive and given Tenn was without there point guard and on the road an understandable outcome. Note that Strictland ran the point quite a bit.

I agree that having a freshman point guard doesn't bode well for any team wanting a championship. I think there defense is more cohesive and disruptive. I think there press is the best I have seen this year. I think that they will do like we have done with young guards and share the responsibility probably with Stricklen.

Stricklen may have won the sec poy last year but she didn't seem to be the go to player from my perspective. Simmons took the majority of the shots and the majority of the big shots from my vantage point. Don't see this the same this year.

Curious to see how this all plays out. The game against Stanford will give us a little bit better feel for where they are at. My guess is that there press and trapping defense will cause havoc. Has any other team led Baylor at the half? Not a Tenn lover just think they deserve some respect this year.

It is easy to pick any team apart, us included, after watching any game in particular.

 

[Zorro]

I'm too lazy to look at the box scores, but, I bet that Uconn would have lost many games this year if their opponent had shot 69%, including 50% of their threes (7 of 14.)

If an opponent ever shoots 69% against the Huskies, Geno will shoot himself!