TN over ND | Page 9 | The Boneyard

TN over ND

What is the usual analysis?
  • Team chemistry
  • Poor coaching
  • There's a diva/trouble maker on the team
  • They are not giving 100% effort all the time
  • They don't play good defense
  • They don't play good offense

Let the witch hunt commence!

I am not sure that I would describe Diamond's effort today as anything but impacting and positive. She REALLY wanted this game and it showed all game long.

20 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 3 blk, just 1 TO. Annoyingly, "good Diamond" showed up today. Still can't shoot from range (1-5 from 3) but otherwise she was great.
 
Only saw the game intermittently, but I spent time watching Turner and I was struck at how poorly she runs the floor. Injured or disinterested maybe?
I saw that, too. Looks injured.
 
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Wow - missed the first half but got most of the second... not pretty basketball and those have to be two of the lowest energy (was going to say lazy) post players ever. Russell played with energy for maybe 4 minutes in each quarter and I am not sure Turner even matched that.
Classic bonehead (or 'I'll be the hero') play - Allen steals the ball with 1:52 to play passes ahead to Arike who races down one on three and jacks an eighteen footer with 1:46 on the clock - none of her teammates across half court so no chance of a rebound. This while clinging to a 1 point lead.

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.

TN should be ranked about #20 though they will probably go on the road and lose to Auburn next time out, and ND should be out of the top 10. (Our SOS just took a hit!)
 
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wtf happened in those last 11 seconds? Was UT deliberately fouling anyone who touched the ball or what? (I could not see the game down here.)

Absolutely the case, and maybe Holly's best coaching decision in years. There have been losses in the past two years where she could have used this strategy but didn't and gave the opponents time to set up winning shots.

Before this sequence, I felt the refs started calling the game too close, to Tennessee's advantage.
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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...
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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.
 
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.
 
The ND board sounded like VolNation tonight. One fan called it "the big choke".
 
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