TN over ND

[easttexastrash]

The best moment tonight? Notre Dame lost a game.

The worst? Tennessee won a game.

Feast or famine.

 

[MilfordHusky]

There is truly something wrong in South Bend.

I think this is the weakest ND team since Skylar was a freshman--surprisingly.

 

[Geew1992]

I saw that, too. Looks injured.

I saw that, too. Looks injured.

Clearly said during the game "she's finally healthy". I've said a few times, not as good as they say she is

 

[easttexastrash]

I think this is the weakest ND team since Skylar was a freshman--surprisingly.

Neither of those teams worry, now. I had also been worried about Texas but not so much anymore.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

disinterested maybe?

She has always seemed somewhat apathetic or disconnected to me. Disappointing. Allen, who once was some dynamic seems flat too. Very strange for a ND team.

 

[bags27]

For me, the most telling moment was at the very end of the game, when there was a time out after Tennessee scored what turned out to be the winning bucket
1. For Tennessee, Holly had to shoo away bench players from the core huddle so that the kids actually playing could circle around her
2. For ND, Muffit signaled to a player who ran to check in after the huddle broke, but Muffit told her to sit back down

There is absolutely no way there'd be that type of confusion at UConn. Both Tenn and ND lack the ultimate team discipline.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Clearly said during the game "she's finally healthy". I've said a few times, not as good as they say she is

Right. I took that to mean her shoulder problems were behind her. She doesn't seem to run as though she were healthy.

You may be right about not being as good. She still doesn't demonstrate much of an offensive game.

 

[Orangutan]

Clearly said during the game "she's finally healthy". I've said a few times, not as good as they say she is

For whatever reason, she's not as good as she used to be. It's puzzling honestly.

 

[dtbtbtb]

Some thoughts on the game:
1. Congrats to TN. A great win for them and should get them back to the top 25.
2. Will TN use this game as a turning point of the season or return to the inconsistent team they were so far this season?
3. What happened to ND on defense (players looked constantly confused) and offense (one on one, bad decisions, bad passing, missing lay-ups)?
4. If Turner is a POY candidate than WBB got a serious problem....as a junior she doesn't have any kind of mid range, missed right under the basket...
5. ND looked as if it was a game in November and not in mid January, what were they practicing for the last few months?
6. TN has the parts to be a top 5 team with the right coaching (which they don't have)
7. The refs were one sided for TN and missed some blatant things (such as Nunn taking about 4 steps on a fast break, TN players parked in the lane with no 3 second call, touch fouls on ND and no calls on TN players holding ND players)
8. Muffet got a lot of work to do if Nd is going anywhere in the post season as they looked bad as in real bad.
9. Good for. Tn that they win on a we back Pat event.

 

[bags27]

For whatever reason, she's not as good as she used to be. It's puzzling honestly.

I am not trying to "rub this in," Orangutan. I don't think the coaching is quite as good anymore. The team lacks intensity because the coaching lacks intensity. Hope I'm wrong, because nothing floats my boat as much as a competitive ND.

 

[Orangutan]

I had said ND looked off this year, and in this game in the second half they looked more than off - they looked slow, poorly coached and unintelligent in a basketball sense. I like Allen a lot, but I am surprised that she isn't able to organize this mess better. And I am really surprised that MM hasn't been able to coach them up better. She has a relatively deep bench, maybe it is time to start sitting some players down for time-outs until they get with the program

Not that it matters, but they were much better in the 1st half. Maybe I'll just watch the 1st half again and pretend the 2nd never happened...

 

[JordyG]

The offense was fine and the passing was good in the 1st half. The question is what happened in the 2nd. The outside shot didn't fail ND. They were 5-8 from 3. If anything, they should have taken a few more. I thought there were a couple that Young should have taken but didn't.

Perhaps I should have said failed to use a weapon that has been their hallmark. I stand by everything else I said.

 

[Orangutan]

I am not trying to "rub this in," Orangutan. I don't think the coaching is quite as good anymore. The team lacks intensity because the coaching lacks intensity. Hope I'm wrong, because nothing floats my boat as much as a competitive ND.

Could be, but I don't think the coaching is so bad that it's causing Turner to actually regress.

 

[Orangutan]

Alright, good talking with y'all. Now it's time to hang out with my old friend Evan Williams.

 

[NHFan]

I thought both teams seemed to be lacking the "UConn" conditioning! OB mentioned that both teams seemed tired and both bigs seemed to be running in cement. I'm more impressed with the UConn women after these other teams.

 

[HuskyNan]

For whatever reason, she's not as good as she used to be. It's puzzling honestly.

Loss of confidence, maybe? When a highly talented player struggles, the problem is usually between the ears.

 

[alexrgct]

My favorite part of this game was Notre Dame losing.

My least favorite part was Tennessee winning.

 

[eebmg]

For whatever reason, she's not as good as she used to be. It's puzzling honestly.

I am really puzzled that they keep using the "injured" excuse all the time. She always makes 1 or 2 incredibly athletic plays on offense (alley oops) and defense (she had 5 blocks at least). Is it so hard to believe she has the yips and is simply not mentally tough. She probably feels the pressure of carrying this team as the only decent big.

 

[Rixxx]

The ND board sounded like VolNation tonight. One fan called it "the big choke".

 

[donalddoowop]

Neither of those teams worry, now. I had also been worried about Texas but not so much anymore.

If your team is Baylor, you should not be worried about ANYBODY! Especially the teams you mentioned.

 

[UcMiami]

ND does not play a to of zone defense, but with fouls mounting and TN driving past all the perimeter defenders MM went to the zone a lot - it shows that they do not play it often because it was not a good zone, consistently getting out of balance and was occasionally exposed leaving players wide open - against a better passing team it would have been exposed a lot more.
It looked sort of like a 1-2-2 but the point was consistently getting over committed to one wing often almost doubling the ball on the wing - it was a strange choice rather than a 2-3 since Russell was a major concern in the middle.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I am not trying to "rub this in," Orangutan. I don't think the coaching is quite as good anymore. The team lacks intensity because the coaching lacks intensity. Hope I'm wrong, because nothing floats my boat as much as a competitive ND.

There comes a time in the careers of most people where the passion wains; that may be occurring with Muffet.

 

[UcMiami]

There comes a time in the careers of most people where the passion wains; that may be occurring with Muffet.

I think it may just be frustration with this years team, rather than a real loss of passion - some years go that way in any walk of life when the work environment just seems to be stagnant.

 

[JordyG]

ND does not play a to of zone defense, but with fouls mounting and TN driving past all the perimeter defenders MM went to the zone a lot - it shows that they do not play it often because it was not a good zone, consistently getting out of balance and was occasionally exposed leaving players wide open - against a better passing team it would have been exposed a lot more.
It looked sort of like a 1-2-2 but the point was consistently getting over committed to one wing often almost doubling the ball on the wing - it was a strange choice rather than a 2-3 since Russell was a major concern in the middle.

ND came out in a 2/3. That's what puzzled me. It said immediately "We don't think we can match up with you athletically". Throughout the game they played variants of a 2/3, triangle/2 etc. They mixed in a littel man 2 man, but played mostly zone.

 

[Orangutan]

Ok, I lied, now I'm drinking *and* browsing the board. Don't see any video of Muffet's presser (for your schadenfreude needs), but here are the quotes.

Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 71, #6 Notre Dame 69

Muffet's opening statement:
I thought Tennessee did a great job down the stretch. When they made their run, they rebounded. They held us to one shot, and I thought that was the difference in the game. We were outrebounding them in the first half, but in the second half, we could not get a rebound, especially at the offensive end. We were disappointed in our effort defensively, and our inability to guard the ball screen really killed us down the stretch. We talked about it, but we weren't able to guard them in the ball screen. We just made a lot of mistakes. To their credit, they took advantage of all of the mistakes we made."