Tennessee & South Carolina Thought

[Nuyoika]

It is much too early in the year to make this any kind of analysis--but random thinking I believe says USC knocks off the Vols. Baylor is a bit of unknown but loaded with talent and tall. The Vols are loaded with talent my question is this talent experienced ?? To get to the final four it is a big help to have been there before--your kids have seen the hoopla and media blitz and the awe factor is less. Who is that? UConn ND USC--MD is a way out side team . I'll make this easy to tear apart--how about Duke??? Louisville??
With rare exceptions I believe USC last year--was facing a lot of cup cakes and had superb luck at Duke--they should have lost that one.
ND Squeaked by USC in the last second--luck took ND to the Final game With USC's talent, ND should not have won--experience???

Experience certainly matters. You also need good coaching and a talented team that's jelling to win in the FF. Winning there is probably harder than getting there. Especially with the usual suspects lurking i.e UConn and ND. It's like even if you get there now you gotta deal with them. Then the fun is over.

 

[GCMyDuDe]

Lol hopefully Uconn the Gods of women's basketball make it to th FF. A different team without KML. South Carolina will make it to the FF. Crazy how fans of basketball sleeping on South Carolina.

 

[triaddukefan]

Sioux Falls? Could they come up with a more obscure location? I'd probably travel to any of the other three.

Its good to give other cities a chance to show what they can do. ...I'd bet they will have pretty good attendance.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Experience certainly matters. You also need good coaching and a talented team that's jelling to win in the FF. Winning there is probably harder than getting there. Especially with the usual suspects lurking i.e UConn and ND. It's like even if you get there now you gotta deal with them. Then the fun is over.

\

Geno has a lot of Geno-ism. He speak of getting to the final four as a lot of things, including luck. Luck of the draw. Luck in the ND win over USC, etc. But we all know that luck is most often goes to those prepared/ Geno also has often stated that the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 game (forget which he said) was the hardest to win, in that he included the final 4. I tend to quote him, maybe paraphrase him --because I have the gist of his statement in memory if not the exact words. Tough to remember 20 plus years of comments from the master. What he said during the first 5 or 6 didn't have the level of Masterism as they have in the last 20. But I'm sure you have them all in your computer somewhere.

 

[geneticrex]

Barring injury, I think UCONN, Baylor and South Carolina are practically locks for the FF. The fourth spot is up for grabs between Tenn, FSU and ND.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

IMHO the Vols go the way Diamond DeShields goes. If she decides to play nice-nice in the sandbox with her teammates, they are a Great Eight team with a chance to beat Notre Dame, Baylor, South Carolina, Texas, FSU...basically anyone else who can reach that round (they'd need a bad game from UConn to beat us). If she slides back to her old ways, TN might be out before the Sweet 16. She's much like Odyssey Sims and Angel McCoughtry, in that her mood and behavior swings will define her and her team as much as her talent will.

It will be a much bigger blow to South Carolina, as they are (currently) the established Beta dog of Women's Basketball. TN isn't in the discussion (yet).

 

[WestCoastFan]

Tenn. makes it past the Elite Eight?? That Screamin' Mimi coach of theirs would probably vapor lock if that happened. Come on...next you'll tell me there is no Santa Claus and Easter Bunny!

 

[Wbbfan1]

Diamond is the type of player that can get the Lady Vols to the F4, regardless of how her teammates are playing in a game on the offensive end. Diamond has the ability to take over a game and get you 40-50 points if its required. If I'm Holly, I get Diamond to play a team game to get more players involved, but if Diamond is having a game where everything is falling, you got to let her be selfish. If the Lady Vols and IMHO also Ohio State make it to the F4, it will because Diamond and Kelsey having a huge Elite Eight game and carry their teams to the F4. Diamond and Kelsey Mitchell have the talent to beat a team with Superior Talent.

 

[stwainfan]

I think Mercedes will have a big year.

 

[huskyd]

Baylor will beat any team not named UCONN. After watching them play last night I am convinced that by tourney time they will be the second best team in the nation. I know the opponent was weak, but that doesn't affect the quality of play that the team demonstrated, and that was without Nina Davis. Look for Davis and Jones to be one of the most dynamic duos in WCBB.

Kalani Brown and Beatrice Mompremier are the real deal. I probably shouldn't have been, but I was quite surprised by how good Brown is. Just by her size she is going to be a factor, but she is very fundamentally sound.

I believe that Kim is one of the best women's coaches, along with Geno, Muffet, and Tara. These coaches consistently produce players who operate as a team and within a concept of what they're trying to do to any given opponent. Best of all they're flexible enough to change and to adapt to the players they have. Conversely, there are many coaches who waste talent and produce dissention in the ranks. Need I mention any names? This again belies the argument that Geno gets the best players, and that's why he wins.

 

[Alydar]

Diamond is the type of player that can get the Lady Vols to the F4, regardless of how her teammates are playing in a game on the offensive end. Diamond has the ability to take over a game and get you 40-50 points if its required. .... If the Lady Vols and IMHO also Ohio State make it to the F4, it will because Diamond and Kelsey having a huge Elite Eight game and carry their teams to the F4.

I remember watching Larry Bird putting his Indiana St team on his back and carrying them to the final four. Before him I remember Pete Maravich and Bill Bradley. Three of the best shooters of all time who played prior to the college 3 point shot. In her one year of experience DeShields was a 28% 3 point shooter. And her scoring ability will never IMO be compared to Bird, Maravich or Bradley.
I've looked at how DeShields performed against teams she might face in an E8 game. Here's the list with her point total and made/attempted stats:

Tenn - 8 3-15
S Car- 17 6-13
MD - 12 3-13
Duke - 30 12-20
ND - 17 8-18
Duke - 18 7-22
MD - 22 9-20
Duke - 25 10-25
S Car- 19 8-16
Stan - 13 5-15
______________________________________________________________________________________

Mitchell did once score 39 but it was against W Vir., who went to the NIT last year. The only FF worthy team she played against was Maryland, whom she played twice, scoring 31 (11-20) & 19 (7-26).


I can't imagine either ever being able to score 40-50 in an E8 game. Besides, teams that need that sort of performance from one player simply don't advance that far.

 

[rvwsleep]

Diamond is the type of player that can get the Lady Vols to the F4, regardless of how her teammates are playing in a game on the offensive end. Diamond has the ability to take over a game and get you 40-50 points if its required. If I'm Holly, I get Diamond to play a team game to get more players involved, but if Diamond is having a game where everything is falling, you got to let her be selfish. If the Lady Vols and IMHO also Ohio State make it to the F4, it will because Diamond and Kelsey having a huge Elite Eight game and carry their teams to the F4. Diamond and Kelsey Mitchell have the talent to beat a team with Superior Talent.

Just curious. How many players, in the entire history of the women's NCAA tournament, have ever scored 40 or more points in a matchup of E8 teams ?

 

[Icebear]

Diamond is the type of player that can get the Lady Vols to the F4, regardless of how her teammates are playing in a game on the offensive end. Diamond has the ability to take over a game and get you 40-50 points if its required. If I'm Holly, I get Diamond to play a team game to get more players involved, but if Diamond is having a game where everything is falling, you got to let her be selfish. If the Lady Vols and IMHO also Ohio State make it to the F4, it will because Diamond and Kelsey having a huge Elite Eight game and carry their teams to the F4. Diamond and Kelsey Mitchell have the talent to beat a team with Superior Talent.

She is, also, the kind of player capable of blowing up the same team. Tennessee has not had a good history with those types of players and controlling or shaping them into team players. I see little reason to expect that to change now.

 

[stwainfan]

Like this photo?

 

[WestCoastFan]

Diamond is the type of player that can get the Lady Vols to the F4, regardless of how her teammates are playing in a game on the offensive end. Diamond has the ability to take over a game and get you 40-50 points if its required. If I'm Holly, I get Diamond to play a team game to get more players involved, but if Diamond is having a game where everything is falling, you got to let her be selfish. If the Lady Vols and IMHO also Ohio State make it to the F4, it will because Diamond and Kelsey having a huge Elite Eight game and carry their teams to the F4. Diamond and Kelsey Mitchell have the talent to beat a team with Superior Talent.

Probably depends on who the team is with "Superior Talent". The "Superior Teams" in March/April, who play good defense, always seem to make those scorers earn it...like going 14 for 40 from the field, while shutting down the the rest of the team. I loved watching Sims get her 20 points against UConn her senior year...6 for 25, a couple of 3's, with some FTs thrown in. Mo tortured her.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Like this photo?

2 out of 5 ain't bad. How many exhibition games is your team playing this year/ I read #4 somewhere, but that seems high.

PS. Do like Moriah standing under the FOUR IT ALL sign.

 

[stwainfan]

2 out of 5 ain't bad. How many exhibition games is your team playing this year/ I read #4 somewhere, but that seems high.

PS. Do like Moriah standing under the FOUR IT ALL sign.

Tennessee has one exhibition game on Monday.After that it's regular season.

 

[BlueDevils]

IMHO the Vols go the way Diamond DeShields goes. If she decides to play nice-nice in the sandbox with her teammates, they are a Great Eight team with a chance to beat Notre Dame, Baylor, South Carolina, Texas, FSU...basically anyone else who can reach that round (they'd need a bad game from UConn to beat us). If she slides back to her old ways, TN might be out before the Sweet 16. She's much like Odyssey Sims and Angel McCoughtry, in that her mood and behavior swings will define her and her team as much as her talent will.

It will be a much bigger blow to South Carolina, as they are (currently) the established Beta dog of Women's Basketball. TN isn't in the discussion (yet).

I'm upset you threw Sims in an angel DD category and also upset you make this type of list regarding emotions and fail to throw in DT. There's no problem with showing controlled emotion during games. When us guys do it it shows our competitiveness and drive for the game but when ladies do it we love to deem that they have some type of attitude problem. #stopthedoublestandards

 

[easttexastrash]

I think Mercedes will have a big year.

I think she has a big year every year.

 

[easttexastrash]

I'm upset you threw Sims in a angel DD category and also angry you make this type of list regarding emotions and fail to throw in DT

Sims was an incredible player for Baylor and played with great emotion. That is part of what made her so great. She was the leader on and off the court. I will admit that there were a few times that she let her emotions get the best of her but I could live with that because the effort was always there. Sims did not have a great supporting cast her senior year and was ASKED by Mulkey to shoot a lot. Sims was never like that in her first three years as she had a great cast around her and shared the ball quite well.

 

[BlueDevils]

Sims was an incredible player for Baylor and played with great emotion. That is part of what made her so great. She was the leader on and off the court. I will admit that there were a few times that she let her emotions get the best of her but I could live with that because the effort was always there. Sims did not have a great supporting cast her senior year and was ASKED by Mulkey to shoot a lot. Sims was never like that in her first three years as she had a great cast around her and shared the ball quite well.

Rarely do I agree with EVERY sentence an opposing poster writes. I couldn't agree more.

 

[Bestiarius]

Diamond is the type of player that can get the Lady Vols to the F4, regardless of how her teammates are playing in a game on the offensive end. Diamond has the ability to take over a game and get you 40-50 points if its required. If I'm Holly, I get Diamond to play a team game to get more players involved, but if Diamond is having a game where everything is falling, you got to let her be selfish. If the Lady Vols and IMHO also Ohio State make it to the F4, it will because Diamond and Kelsey having a huge Elite Eight game and carry their teams to the F4. Diamond and Kelsey Mitchell have the talent to beat a team with Superior Talent.

One of Diamond's most prodigious skills to date has yet to be mentioned, and that is- selling tickets. Tennessee's arena is pretty much sold out for Monday's exhibition game against Carson-Newman in anticipation of seeing the "good to go" Diamond in action. But, surprise, Holly has just announced she will not play. Not that this is a problem against Carson Newman (average height a bit over 5' 8"). But it makes one wonder if her injuries are more serious than indicated. TN probably will not need her until the end of November when playing Texas. What are the odds that we will not see her before then?

In listening to Diamond's interviews, I'm wondering just how much influence Holly has on her. Diamond did say Holly lets her do her own thing and judging by Meghan Simmons' play, it's something Holly will allow or is powerless to control. It should be an interesting season. Thankfully the hyperbole season is coming to an end and the actual games are about to begin.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

But, surprise, Holly has just announced she will not play.

HW's last media session:





Around the 4 minute mark. Half court drills only and it appears no scrimmaging. Frankly, she said about the same thing a month ago about what DD was doing on the sidelines to get ready. Surprise being expressed in Vol land. That is strange. That Orange Cool Aid is apparently a real soporific. I guess we will all know when we know. It sure sounds like she is not going full bore anytime soon.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I think Mercedes will have a big year.

Would almost have to be better than Audi.

 

[HuskyNan]

Lol hopefully Uconn the Gods of women's basketball make it to th FF. A different team without KML. South Carolina will make it to the FF. Crazy how fans of basketball sleeping on South Carolina.

Kaleen M-L and Kiah Stokes graduated and Geno brought in:

#1 ranked Katie Lou Samuelson, a 6-3 wing/guard
#6 Napheesa Collier, a 6-1 wing
#23 De'Janae Boykin, a 6-2 forward

and UConn also gains the services of Natalie Butler, the 6-4 former Big East Freshman of the Year. But all that is just icing on the cake that is US Olympic team member Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck, and the Canadian Olympic team's starting guard Kia Nurse.

I like UConn's chances.