Tennessee, no great shakes against James Madisoin

[msf22b]

Up by 6 with 2 minutes to go, 74-68
Will most likely prevail but
probably way over-rated.

 

[EricLA]

I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!

Seriously, JMU is a solid mid major BUT, after last season, they lost 5 seniors including the #1,2,3 and 7th ranked scorers. I would say JMU is not predicted to be that good this year...

 

[stwainfan]

Tennessee wins the story of the game was fouls and 3's.
Nared played great early before foul trouble.

 

[reno tony]

JMU couldn't hit a foul shot or an 8-10 footer. If they could, TENN loses that game. It was a very ugly game.

 

[tennparker3]

Guards didn't box out all game. JMU is pick to win their conference I believe and Precious Hall is preseason POY. She had 39 on 15-35 shooting including a half court shot and about 5 or 6 prayers at the shot clock buzzer. They have a freshman guard get 12 rebounds... again guards not boxing out.

Diamond was off on her shot and got into early foul trouble but was solid all around. Mercedes had her way inside and got to the free throw line all night. Much improved moves to the basket. Meme and Alexa both had great games and it was needed.

JMU is good and has decent talent in their front court. Solid opponent to start the season. Their rival Drexel beat Penn State 83-60 earlier in the day.

 

[Bayareahusky]

I saw this game..... TN still from the looks of it needs an offensive acheme..... I can see the season.... peeps will say they would do much better if DD and Mercedes were not nursing injuries still... and ends in sweet 16 or elite 8 if lucky that is my prediction..... i guess as long as holly is bringing them to the final 16 Tenn admin will be happy....

 

[stwainfan]

Missouri is losing to Abilene Christian after 3 quarters.

 

[Bayareahusky]

TP3 I love your confidence.... maybe you will do well this season.... I hope you do.... would be good to have TN back

 

[VFLfan]

I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!

Seriously, JMU is a solid mid major BUT, after last season, they lost 5 seniors including the #1,2,3 and 7th ranked scorers. I would say JMU is not predicted to be that good this year...

Actually, they are favored to win their conference again and have the Preseason Conference Player of the Year back from injury this year. She was out all last year. She dropped 39 on us tonight, including one from beyond the half court line and plenty of step back threes with a hand in her face. Despite that, we struggled at times...turned the ball over way too much and fouled too much. Positives to take from the game include scoring 81 pts after averaging around 60 last year, shooting better from the 3 (around 40% for the game...hit 10 total), excellent offensive play from Nared, Middleton and Russell, and a spark off the bench from Jackson who hit a few timely shots. Gotta man up on the D and rebounding tho and keep working on the offensive rhythm. It's a win on the road against a decent mid-major in their first game...I'll take it.

 

[triaddukefan]

Actually, they are favored to win their conference again and have the Preseason Conference Player of the Year back from injury this year. She was out all last year. She dropped 39 on us tonight, including one from beyond the half court line and plenty of step back threes with a hand in her face. .

Yeah... Precious Hall is quite a player. Saw her play a few times (on TV) two years ago......... imagine how good JMU would have been last year with her playing.

 

[TitleTown]

Guards didn't box out all game. JMU is pick to win their conference I believe and Precious Hall is preseason POY. She had 39 on 15-35 shooting including a half court shot and about 5 or 6 prayers at the shot clock buzzer. They have a freshman guard get 12 rebounds... again guards not boxing out.

Diamond was off on her shot and got into early foul trouble but was solid all around. Mercedes had her way inside and got to the free throw line all night. Much improved moves to the basket. Meme and Alexa both had great games and it was needed.

JMU is good and has decent talent in their front court. Solid opponent to start the season. Their rival Drexel beat Penn State 83-60 earlier in the day.

Are you really trying to justify almost getting beat by JMU?

 

[msf22b]

Isn't this James Madison team one that lost their coach in the off-season?

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Isn't this James Madison team one that lost their coach in the off-season?

Yes, to Virginia Tech---another Tennessee opponent this season.

 

[JordyG]

I saw this game..... TN still from the looks of it needs an offensive acheme..... I can see the season.... peeps will say they would do much better if DD and Mercedes were not nursing injuries still... and ends in sweet 16 or elite 8 if lucky that is my prediction..... i guess as long as holly is bringing them to the final 16 Tenn admin will be happy....

They have an offensive scheme. Lob it into one of the two posts or create. Some LV fans like to say "Let 'em do their own thing". I've said this before and I'll repeat myself. In Pat's day the double post worked wonders, especially when your team would get the biggest and baddest. Today players are bigger with long arms and the 2/3's they all play inhibits this kind of brute force ball. It's antiquated. I noticed they were still susceptible a few times to the back door play against JM, a weakness which Geno exposed years ago. This is a talented team being held back by poor coaching decisions.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Up by 6 with 2 minutes to go, 74-68
Will most likely prevail but
probably way over-rated.

Just think what the score would have been had Kenny Brooks stayed as the JMU coach--Regan, the new coach, was an assistant--Congrats to the JMU Dukes---

 

[Bayareahusky]

They have an offensive scheme. Lob it into one of the two posts or create. Some LV fans like to say "Let 'em do their own thing". I've said this before and I'll repeat myself. In Pat's day the double post worked wonders, especially when your team would get the biggest and baddest. Today players are bigger with long arms and the 2/3's they all play inhibits this kind of brute force ball. It's antiquated. I noticed they were still susceptible a few times to the back door play against JM, a weakness which Geno exposed years ago. This is a talented team being held back by poor coaching decisions.

Jordy - Amen! Your last line says everything.... I think Holly is truly clueless, but have no enmity toward her.... It looks like Tenn will stay with her forever..... Also, as a subset of Holly's offensive plan, such as it is.... what about Craig? He is supposed to be worth his salt on coaching the bigs and he has the nation's former #1 recruit, now 100% healthy for the last year. Last night the "feeding the post" and create a shot plan worked because opponent was JMU but that will not fly with tougher opponents....

I am already wondering how the coaches are going to employ Westbrook next year, particularly in the offensive end.

 

[stwainfan]

Middleton had a extra bone removed from her foot. Looks as if it has helped her.

 

[VFLfan]

They have an offensive scheme. Lob it into one of the two posts or create. Some LV fans like to say "Let 'em do their own thing". I've said this before and I'll repeat myself. In Pat's day the double post worked wonders, especially when your team would get the biggest and baddest. Today players are bigger with long arms and the 2/3's they all play inhibits this kind of brute force ball. It's antiquated. I noticed they were still susceptible a few times to the back door play against JM, a weakness which Geno exposed years ago. This is a talented team being held back by poor coaching decisions.

Apparently you didn't watch this game. They played a lot of 4 out, 1 in this go round. Besides Russell, we really don't have another proven post/forward. Nunn sat a lot, especially in the second half and Harris didn't play at all. Seems we're trying some new stuff this year besides the double post.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Actually, they are favored to win their conference again and have the Preseason Conference Player of the Year back from injury this year. She was out all last year. She dropped 39 on us tonight, including one from beyond the half court line and plenty of step back threes with a hand in her face. Despite that, we struggled at times...turned the ball over way too much and fouled too much. Positives to take from the game include scoring 81 pts after averaging around 60 last year, shooting better from the 3 (around 40% for the game...hit 10 total), excellent offensive play from Nared, Middleton and Russell, and a spark off the bench from Jackson who hit a few timely shots. Gotta man up on the D and rebounding tho and keep working on the offensive rhythm. It's a win on the road against a decent mid-major in their first game...I'll take it.

Local Headlines----JMU COMES UP SHORT--Tenn pulls away Late.
A play on words--in the article they say Tenn SIZE made the difference--Surprise, Surprise, Surprise????

I'm not a Tenn Vol hater--I'm a JMU fan and a Uconn WBB fan. The CAA conference top to bottom isn't the ACC, Big East, AAC --in years past Dominion competed well--JMU on those years it made the NCAA--barely made it and were in and out quickly. So How in the world can you feel good about this team playing close for over 3 quarters.
You speak precious dumping 39 on you--where was your defense--
I watched part of your last exhibition game--If that team was anywhere near Russell's height you'd have lost it--they couldn't rebound or stop layup--but they played you very close.
81 point 15 of it made in the final minutes of the 4th quarter--JMU ran out of gas.
A win is a win--but this is not one to gloat about.

 

[VFLfan]

I'm not a Tenn Vol hater--I'm a JMU fan and a Uconn WBB fan. The CAA conference top to bottom isn't the ACC, Big East, AAC --in years past Dominion competed well--JMU on those years it made the NCAA--barely made it and were in and out quickly. So How in the world can you feel good about this team playing close for over 3 quarters.
You speak of Gwatney dumping 39 on you--where was your defense--in the NCAA last April Gwatney had JMU help but never came close to 39 points.
I watched part of your last exhibition game--If that team was anywhere near Russell's height you'd have lost it--they couldn't rebound or stop layup--but they played you very close.
81 point 15 of it made in the final minutes of the 4th quarter--JMU ran out of gas.
A win is a win--but this is not one to gloat about.

Gwatney did not play in this game...if you read I said Hall. She was out all last year after being named Preseason Conf POY. She was named the same this year. I'm not dumb...I know their conference isn't the best. But they were/are a respectable team. And never have I said my team is the best, gloated or should be viewed in the same realm of UCONN, Baylor, TX, etc this year. All I said was our defense was bad and needed to improve and highlighted some of the improvements over last years 14 loss team. That's it.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Gwatney did not play in this game...if you read I said Hall. She was out all last year after being named Preseason Conf POY. She was named the same this year. I'm not dumb...I know their conference isn't the best. But they were/are a respectable team. And never have I said my team is the best, gloated or should be viewed in the same realm of UCONN, Baylor, TX, etc this year. All I said was our defense was bad and needed to improve and highlighted some of the improvements over last years 14 loss team. That's it.

If you read the correct version---I realized my precious / gwatney error. and corrected. (Gwatney here in JMU land is top dog (the Dukes mascot is a dog) JMU is always respectable--but as a Quality Div 1 team they are not--Kenny made them the team to beat this year--but now they have Regan--not of Kennys ability. JMU does well in the very small CAA pond--and I'm happy with that.
I won't argue with you---I am not a Vol hater --I do think the Vols Admin is nutz and nostalgic holding on to Holly--with the talent she has had since Pat moved away--a better coach would have been at least in the final 4 the last 6 or more years.
I try never to call names, --you never read DUMB in my posting. Have a very nice Orange day.

 

[reno tony]

Guards didn't box out all game. JMU is pick to win their conference I believe and Precious Hall is preseason POY. She had 39 on 15-35 shooting including a half court shot and about 5 or 6 prayers at the shot clock buzzer. They have a freshman guard get 12 rebounds... again guards not boxing out.

Diamond was off on her shot and got into early foul trouble but was solid all around. Mercedes had her way inside and got to the free throw line all night. Much improved moves to the basket. Meme and Alexa both had great games and it was needed.

JMU is good and has decent talent in their front court. Solid opponent to start the season. Their rival Drexel beat Penn State 83-60 earlier in the day.

It is interesting to meet a TENN fan that doesn't believe DD will be NPOY and the #1 pick in the draft. I read toooooo much VolNation. I expected a lot from TENN last night but they were slow and defensively inept. I don't pick up on teams running plays that well, but they looked like they were just some players in a pick-up game at the Y and not an organized team with plays. Hall played well and it will be interesting to see how she does against other competition. POY might be a stretch but stranger things have happened. I thought Nared had a nice game as well. But it was a road win and TENN is 1-0.

 

[JordyG]

Jordy - Amen! Your last line says everything.... I think Holly is truly clueless, but have no enmity toward her.... It looks like Tenn will stay with her forever..... Also, as a subset of Holly's offensive plan, such as it is.... what about Craig? He is supposed to be worth his salt on coaching the bigs and he has the nation's former #1 recruit, now 100% healthy for the last year. Last night the "feeding the post" and create a shot plan worked because opponent was JMU but that will not fly with tougher opponents....

I am already wondering how the coaches are going to employ Westbrook next year, particularly in the offensive end.

Holly's coaching H.S., College, and post grad education was in the double post. Anything else now would be a sea change. Does she have the foresight to hire a Melanie Balcomb? That would be tantamount to admitting her short comings and failure as a coach. Even moving to a high/low scheme , which I see Baylor using when Cox comes in, is too far out of her bailiwick.

By the way, if I said Baylor look slow, slow, slow and out of shape in their exhibition game, they certainly looked far better yesterday. Mulkey smartly plays to her teams strengths having Mompremier come in with Jones to play up tempo, Prince and Brown to play inside/out, Cox to play some high/low. They defend poorly off the dribble, they're slow to defend the arc, and can be made predictable on offensive. I still say Cox already looks like their best player. To me however they are also still the #2 team in the country after ND, the 2nd best coached team in the country.

 

[ocoandasoc]

Missouri is losing to Abilene Christian after 3 quarters.

Mizzou has lost two of it's top six players for the season due to injury. A tough break after a breakout season last year and the first pre-season ranking in decades. Mizzou had some depth and put some teams away in the fourth quarter last year. Not sure they'll be able to do that this season.

 

[JordyG]

Apparently you didn't watch this game. They played a lot of 4 out, 1 in this go round. Besides Russell, we really don't have another proven post/forward. Nunn sat a lot, especially in the second half and Harris didn't play at all. Seems we're trying some new stuff this year besides the double post.

You're right, I saw Carson-Newman where they played a lot of double post, dunk and deke. I'll take your word for it that in a tough game against JMU they tried something else. When it comes time for league play however, people tend to resort to what they know best.