Throwing down the gauntlet

[Kibitzer]

It's a bit unusual to use the term "hands down" before the season has even begun.

This term originated in horse racing, making reference to the jockey of the leading horse with an unassailable lead, thus putting his "hands down" on the reins. Once Tennessee is running away from the field, Holly and her players may consider dusting off the "hands down" term.

I am not holding my breath.

Neither is Holly.

 

[Phil]

I don't have a problem with Burdick thinking that; she should as a competitive athlete. We can haggle over how Tuck matches up with whoever becomes their first post off the bench, and it could be that the junior or senior Russell will be better than the senior Dolson. But right now we have the best center in wcbb and the best player slotted at the 4. If we extend out to small forward we only become more formidable to the competition with KML. To use Burdick's phrase, in the absence of injuries we are "hands down" the best frontcourt in wcbb, not just overall, but each at their respective position. I'm going to sound like TonyC now, but in the absence of injuries I suspect we set a new record for margin of victory this year, all in double digits.

I'm a believer in goals, and stretch goals, and thinking positively. Had she said "I'm excited about our backcourt strength, I think we'll be able to play with anyone in the country" I'd pull a Missouri and say "Show me" but I wouldn't fault her for the enthusiasm, but "hands down"? I wouldn't even say that about the backcourt of the team that won the last two NCs

 

[Phil]

It's a bit unusual to use the term "hands down" before the season has even begun.

This term originated in horse racing, making reference to the jockey of the leading horse with an unassailable lead, thus putting his "hands down" on the reins. Once Tennessee is running away from the field, Holly and her players may consider dusting off the "hands down" term.

I did not know the origin; thanks, that's interesting.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Cierra Burdick (U. Tenn.): ''I think hands down we have the best frontcourt in the country." As an elite athlete, you have gotta have confidence, but still ....

http://msn.foxsports.com/wcbk/story/Lady-Vols-ready-to-compete-for-championships-again-56362038

Maybe the hands down reflects the thought of their frontcourt kneeling on the sidelines in the last few minutes of a game with "their hands down", tapping the court, hoping for that miracle that will never come as their tournament hopes fade away. That's something that I doubt our Husky frontcourt will be experiencing this year as they cruise to their 9th national title. Was Tennessee unconscious last year, not seeing the Huskies take it all, even though Dolson wasn't even close to 100%???? Sheer nonsense, though I do concede that kids want to be optimistic and also support their teammates.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Over the last decade Rutgers and Tennessee have been sorta neck and neck for the title of Least Developed HS Talent. That may be changing for Tennessee. They have a lot to prove and talk is cheap.

On the thoroughbred hands dropping thing: the actual mechanism of that move has to do with thoroughbreds being trained to "run into the bit" so loosening the reins will cause most thoroughbreds to ease off too. When thoroughbreds are rescued off the track they have to be reprogrammed in the bit/rein department. I've had two; both became superb pleasure riding mounts.

 

[diggerfoot]

I'm a believer in goals, and stretch goals, and thinking positively. Had she said "I'm excited about our backcourt strength, I think we'll be able to play with anyone in the country" I'd pull a Missouri and say "Show me" but I wouldn't fault her for the enthusiasm, but "hands down"? I wouldn't even say that about the backcourt of the team that won the last two NCs

Well, yeah, even as I wrote my initial post I could think of some qualifiers. For example, how do we consider Ogwumike? If we consider Ogwumike being a 5 I can see calling her a better player than Dolson, but not a better center. Conversely, we might consider Ogwumike a better 4 than Stewart, but not a better player. Hey! Once I start channeling TonyC I can't hold back!

 

[VAMike23]

Maybe I think she is excited about what she has seen so far. Now when the games start we will see how good.

Exactly. Playing with Russell for the first time, she's excited - obviously things are looking brighter for them with big talented players in the paint (Russell/Graves especially). She's getting interviewed at practice and showing some swag. A little over the top? Maybe, but this isn't classic 'bulletin board material' in my estimation.

 

[Alydar]

Well at least the UConn front court has a benchmark target. They've had nothing but elusive "perfection" for a goal lately. Now there is a flesh and blood better front court. If I was Geno I'd put up a photo of the "hands down best frontcourt in wcbb" on the door to the locker room as motivation.

 

[stwainfan]

Well, Nia Moore is a back of the bench front line player. She will see minutes in only blowout, which will be many.

I watched Russell on video last night. She is a very good player. But she is slow up and down the court and gets pushed around in the paint. We will have to see how she adapts to the college game.

Harrison has to show she can stay healthy. She definitely has some skills, especially on the defensive side.

I bolded what you said and something I agree with. But Burdicks statement was way over the top.

I will wait to comment on Moore. Harrison did improve a lot from first to second year. Just wanting to see how much Moore has improved.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Personally, I like the "we are the underdog but will scrap to the end" type of talk better. If you say you're by far the best with absolutely no evidence for your blather, it can only be more psychologically devastating when you find out that you're not that good. And likewise, for all the underdog mentality types, when they get that extra motivation to push the arrogant clay giants off the court, they feel a whole lot better about themselves.

In cross country we have a saying, "Shut up and run," and young basketball players should always be reminded that they will be admired more for what they actually do rather than for what they say.

 

[Bestiarius]

Yes, I think Burdick is a bit through the lens of rose colored glasses.... but I do admire her bravado..... and in fact have no issue with it...... Good for her.....

Now, the bite I would put on it is that she didn't show up for many games last year at the level which is needed to win the whole enchilada..... let's see how she and the LVs ramp it up this year.

I do find it interesting that Mercedes is put in superstar category before she plays a single minute..... I was on west coast last year, and saw 3 or 4 of her games..... I thought she was good not great....again, we will see

I wonder what would have happened if Jeff Walz started proclaiming to be a better team than Baylor last year, or being the best team in all of WBB. Could have given Baylor a bit more motivation.

An TN has had only 1 or two practices so far this year and already bench players and rookies are deemed to have shown tremendous improvement, as though opposing players have been doing nothing but couch potatoing with bags of Cheetos the entire summer. This stuff belongs on the Summitt where it will be fully embraced and even further embellished.

 

[UConnCat]

Holly was more measured in her remarks as you would expect. She said Tenn's frontcout has the potential to be one of the best in the country which is certainly accurate. Burdick got way out over her skis but we can chalk that up to youthful exuberance. Interestingly Holly said that Tenn's biggest weakness has been at the point guard position. She was clearly disappointed with Massengale last year (as she should have been) so it'll be interesting to see if Carter overtakes her as starter.

 

[Icebear]

Holly was more measured in her remarks as you would expect. She said Tenn's frontcout has the potential to be one of the best in the country which is certainly accurate.

Exactly.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think that Tenn does have a good frontcourt, maybe one of the best, but that statement is inaccurate.

Confidence is good. Delusion, not so much.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Last I knew, basketball is played on the court. Personally, I would not like to challenge Stewart, Lewis, and Dolson on the hardwood.

 

[LadyVols9]

i didn't realize KML was front court. also thought BS was more of a wing player. i thought UCONN was working with a deficient for true post players. shows what i know. ha.

 

[UConnCat]

i didn't realize KML was front court. also thought BS was more of a wing player. i thought UCONN was working with a deficient for true post players. shows what i know. ha.

Frontcourt players have been traditionally consisted of the small forward, power forward and center positions. The backcourt consists of the point guard and shooting guard. Use of these terms/designations are less common these days.

KML plays the wing/small forward. Stewart plays the stretch 4 (power forward) who showed she can score inside and from the perimeter and is by far best at that position in WCBB. In fact, I can't think of another stretch 4 in WCBB.

With Dolson, Stewart, Tuck and Stokes all capable of playing in the post I'm not sure where the deficiency lies.

 

[LadyVols9]

Frontcourt players have been traditionally consisted of the small forward, power forward and center positions. The backcourt consists of the point guard and shooting guard. Use of these terms/designations are less common these days.

KML plays the wing/small forward. Stewart plays the stretch 4 (power forward) who showed she can score inside and from the perimeter and is by far best at that position in WCBB.

With Dolson, Stewart, Tuck and Stokes all capable of playing in the post I'm not sure where the deficiency lies.

thanks. i was just under the impression from watching games that both KML and stewie were more perimeter players, especially KML.

 

[Icebear]

i didn't realize KML was front court. also thought BS was more of a wing player. i thought UCONN was working with a deficient for true post players. shows what i know. ha.

Starting line up is likely Moriah Jefferson, Bria Hartley, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Breanna Stewart, Stef Dolson. Plus front court bench Morgan Tuck and, also, KIAH Stokes who would already start for many good teams. So at the moment we have 4 players who are likely to have All American status during their careers in the front court.

 

[Icebear]

thanks. i was just under the impression from watching games that both KML and stewie were more perimeter players, especially KML.

That's because UCONN players are in constant rotation and moving to different floor positions while setting screens for each other, making back cuts and popping out to take various shots.

 

[LadyVols9]

That's because UCONN players are in constant rotation and moving to different floor positions while setting screens for each other and popping out to take various shots.

but how tall is KML? i see tuck as a post player but KML seems kinda short to be pounding against true post players.

 

[Icebear]

but how tall is KML? i see tuck as a post player but KML seems kinda short to be pounding against true post players.

6' which is not unusual from a player at the 3 in the front court at UCONN. She was #2 on the team in rebounds. She posts up well, also, because of her strength.

 

[LadyVols9]

yea she is super strong

 

[UConnCat]

but how tall is KML? i see tuck as a post player but KML seems kinda short to be pounding against true post players.

No one said KML is a post player. She's a small forward/wing which, using traditional basketball parlance, makes her part of the frontcourt. She can score inside and outside, but most of her shots are from the perimeter. Post players typically include centers and power forwards. Sometimes power forwards play inside and can stretch the defense by also shooting 3s (hence the term stretch 4). Stewart is a stretch 4.

This discussion began because Burdick used the term frontcourt. Goodness.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

That's because UCONN players are in constant rotation and moving to different floor positions while setting screens for each other and popping out to take various shots.

Foreign concept in Rocky Top. Harry Paretta tried to teach some of it to Pat for the price of a tie, but it never stuck.