Understatement of the Year, by Karen Aston

[skilz]

Yup. January 18th. South Bend. Very much looking forward to that game, as are the Irish, who are still ticked about their late-game collapse in Knoxville last winter.
BTW, Evina Westbrook looked good yesterday for the Vols....

Switching my attention to UT, the other team in orange. I think a lot of it's early-season rankings came from the way they ended up playing last year. What's changed is a (the?) key component of that team -- Joyner Holmes -- is still on suspension. Joyner certainly could'be been used in the paint yesterday. Texas simply didn't have enough horses to keep up there.

Texas had other horses on the bench. I'm not sure why they were not used. I'm curious to see if Joyner will return in top shape.

 

[oldude]

2. I wonder how much yesterday can be attributed to Texas's fairly pedestrian schedule before yesterday's game. Coming into today, they had only payed two teams inside the RPI top 100, and no one ranked higher than 48. Even when you win, playing better teams reveals your weaknesses much more clearly than playing teams far inferior to you does.

Good point. I had wondered about TX cupcake schedule. On the other hand, TN feasted on their own big plate of cupcakes this season, so neither team had really been tested prior to yesterday’s game.

In the end, playing at home TN played harder and made fewer mistakes than TX. Don’t know if either one of these teams is ready for prime time right now.

 

[eebmg]

Hays writeup of game at ESPNw

Fearless freshmen help Tennessee topple No. 2 Texas

The quote I found most interesting is

"I've taken a different approach to our turnovers," Warlick said. "As long as we're trying to make a play -- if the ball gets stuck in our hands or it goes off our foot dribbling, then I'm going to be upset about that. But a lot of our turnovers are attacking, trying to get the open player the ball. We're trying to get it inside and those type of things. We'll go back and watch it. ... Do we have to get better with our turnovers? Absolutely. I haven't seen the tape, but I think the majority of them were trying to get us better looks. And I'll take that. I'll take that right now."

Very strange sounding to BY ears but this is the reality of just about every other team in wcbb.

 

[Zorro]

What was really surprising to me is that Texas not only did not run offense, they seemed to have no concept of running offense. No drive and dish, no screens, no nothing except bring the ball down and jack up a shot! You expect that from Tennessee (who actually did do a little passing, especially in the fourth quarter) because that is the way Tennessee has always played. But Aston has the reputation of being a coach. One has to wonder.

 

[eebmg]

What was really surprising to me is that Texas not only did not run offense, they seemed to have no concept of running offense. No drive and dish, no screens, no nothing except bring the ball down and jack up a shot! You expect that from Tennessee (who actually did do a little passing, especially in the fourth quarter) because that is the way Tennessee has always played. But Alston has the reputation of being a coach. One has to wonder.

Maybe too much time on the recruiting trail. I do think TX will get better and a slap in the face is always a good wake up call. McCarty is alot better than she showed.

 

[Dillon77]

Texas had other horses on the bench. I'm not sure why they were not used. I'm curious to see if Joyner will return in top shape.

Fair enough, but none of those averaged 12.+ ppg and led the team in rebounding with 8+ per game. My point is that without Holmes or Lang (who graduated), this is not the team from the end of last year. Like you, I'll be very interested to see how Holmes returns to the lineup.

 

[skilz]

What was really surprising to me is that Texas not only did not run offense, they seemed to have no concept of running offense. No drive and dish, no screens, no nothing except bring the ball down and jack up a shot! You expect that from Tennessee (who actually did do a little passing, especially in the fourth quarter) because that is the way Tennessee has always played. But Aston has the reputation of being a coach. One has to wonder.

Aston's "reputation" is strictly from a recruiting stand point and not proven.

 

[Centerstream]

In addition to Holmes, TX misses graduated seniors Kelsey Lang, a solid post player, and Brianna Taylor, the Big 12 DPOY last season.

And UConn still misses graduated seniors from 2016, Stewie, Mo and Morgan. What has that got to do with the current team??? I am just confused by the last sentence as it relates to this game.

 

[Bgillon]

I tried watching the TX/Tenn. game 3 different times yesterday and had to turn it off each time. The contrast to UCONN's game Friday night was unbelievable. Friday night was like watching a ballet, terrific execution by well groomed women . But the contrast goes further. Every UCONN player looked put together, uniform and hair, etc. Yesterday's game looked like a street fight. I found it hard to judge talent because it was chippy, mostly one on one play, and drive into people to get a foul called.

 

[oldude]

And UConn still misses graduated seniors from 2016, Stewie, Mo and Morgan. What has that got to do with the current team??? I am just confused by the last sentence as it relates to this game.

I probably should have explained my point better. TX was rated 2nd in the country, but only has 2 starters from last year’s team presently available. Their front court is average right now and they are overrated. A lot of people questioned why they played so badly vs TN. To me, it’s pretty simple. The Longhorns are not a top 10 team, maybe not even top 20.

When UConn graduated the Big 3, they were ranked in the top 5 the following season. You could probably argue that the Huskies were overrated, except for the fact that they played wonderfully and replaced the 3 graduated AA’s with 3 new AA’s.

 

[oldude]

Texas = Overrated

 

[Centerstream]

I probably should have explained my point better. TX was rated 2nd in the country, but only has 2 starters from last year’s team presently available. Their front court is average right now and they are overrated. A lot of people questioned why they played so badly vs TN. To me, it’s pretty simple. The Longhorns are not a top 10 team, maybe not even top 20.

When UConn graduated the Big 3, they were ranked in the top 5 the following season. You could probably argue that the Huskies were overrated, except for the fact that they played wonderfully and replaced the 3 graduated AA’s with 3 new AA’s.

I agree with the ranking statement as of now. In another thread I posted that neither team should be ranked in the top 15, based upon the performance. TN fans are going to say that they deserve it because they beat the number 2 team but in reality, the Longhorns are not and should not be considered a top 15 or, like you said, even a top 20 team.

 

[Shades]

Not everyone in the AP media panel is going to examine things as closely as we do. Not everyone is going to realize that Texas is short Joyner Holmes until conference play.

In the same vein, not everyone is going to realize that Baylor was short their second best player and coach for the one game they lost at UCLA. That loss isn't really indicative of how good of a team they are.... so I would say the AP are under rating them. But it's hard to say for sure until they play somebody else that's good.

 

[Plebe]

What was really surprising to me is that Texas not only did not run offense, they seemed to have no concept of running offense. No drive and dish, no screens, no nothing except bring the ball down and jack up a shot! You expect that from Tennessee (who actually did do a little passing, especially in the fourth quarter) because that is the way Tennessee has always played. But Aston has the reputation of being a coach. One has to wonder.

It occurred to me this morning that this game might have set the record for lowest number of passes.

 

[huskeynut]

Hays writeup of game at ESPNw

Fearless freshmen help Tennessee topple No. 2 Texas

The quote I found most interesting is

"I've taken a different approach to our turnovers," Warlick said. "As long as we're trying to make a play -- if the ball gets stuck in our hands or it goes off our foot dribbling, then I'm going to be upset about that. But a lot of our turnovers are attacking, trying to get the open player the ball. We're trying to get it inside and those type of things. We'll go back and watch it. ... Do we have to get better with our turnovers? Absolutely. I haven't seen the tape, but I think the majority of them were trying to get us better looks. And I'll take that. I'll take that right now."

Very strange sounding to BY ears but this is the reality of just about every other team in wcbb.

Holly won a big game. So she's doing a little "bragging" about her team.

In reality, I don't think Holly values every possession/ play. I was struck by her comments during one of the timeouts. Her advice was rebound and play defense. Sound familiar? If she will take a lot of turnovers for now, no way do they get better. She has already accepted it.

 

[skilz]

1 UConn
2 ND
3 Louisville
4 SC
5 Miss State
6 Baylor
7 Tenn
8 Texas
9 Oregon
10 West Virginia

 

[Rocket009]

Holly won a big game. So she's doing a little "bragging" about her team.

In reality, I don't think Holly values every possession/ play. I was struck by her comments during one of the timeouts. Her advice was rebound and play defense. Sound familiar? If she will take a lot of turnovers for now, no way do they get better. She has already accepted it.

The announcers spotted it pretty early - every time Texas reversed the ball, they found big gaps in TN's zone defense. The problem was that they hardly ever passed it enough to get to reverse the ball. Too many quick shots (mostly contested) and too many mistakes at both ends. What is remarkable is that as poorly as they played, they were still in the game until the final minute.

If a disciplined offense took on TN, they would pick them apart.

TN's offense looks pretty much the same as last year. Lots of 1-on-1, dribble drive, get fouled, poor shot selection, big bodies going for rebounds...

Their attitude looks much better though - of course they haven't lost yet.

 

[billnaples]

She's probably thinking that next year Texas plays Tenn in Austin and I'll be there to help Texas win that game not sitting on the end of the bench with a coach that tells me Freshmen aren't doing enough in practice to play in games and it's a lot closer to home than Storrs, CT.....

I ind that observation almost...nah take that back....really laughable. With enough time and inclination we could go back over the 33 year career of the Coach and see how the minutes of his freshman progressed over the remainder of year 1 and the next three. Then take a look at how many made significant gains in their playing ability, and further went on to pro careers, here or abroad. And not insignificant 11 national titles in the last 22 years and 18 Final Fours in the last 27 years. Oh yeah, go back and look at the success level of all of the players who left UConn and that mean SOB of a coach for greener pastures. While some, maybe more then half, realized more playing time, if that's the criteria for "success" then maybe they reached it. I can tell you that other then Della Donne who was a non playing transfer of extraordinary talent I don't think there was even an honorable mention in All America lists for any of them. Yet some underclass members of the roster that stuck in for the full experience at UConn, think not even Maya Moore was a starter when her freshman season began.

 

[iamcbs]

I ind that observation almost...nah take that back....really laughable. With enough time and inclination we could go back over the 33 year career of the Coach and see how the minutes of his freshman progressed over the remainder of year 1 and the next three. Then take a look at how many made significant gains in their playing ability, and further went on to pro careers, here or abroad. And not insignificant 11 national titles in the last 22 years and 18 Final Fours in the last 27 years. Oh yeah, go back and look at the success level of all of the players who left UConn and that mean SOB of a coach for greener pastures. While some, maybe more then half, realized more playing time, if that's the criteria for "success" then maybe they reached it. I can tell you that other then Della Donne who was a non playing transfer of extraordinary talent I don't think there was even an honorable mention in All America lists for any of them. Yet some underclass members of the roster that stuck in for the full experience at UConn, think not even Maya Moore was a starter when her freshman season began.

There have been a plethora of Freshman that haven't attended Connecticut and have gone to schools that don't have 11 Nattys and whose coaches aren't in the HOF that have gone on to have very successful BB careers and some have even become HOF players themselves without the tutelage of Geno Auriemma or having matriculated at Connecticut. It isn't a necessity to go Connecticut to be a great player and every player, by Coach Auriemma's own admission, isn't the type of player he wants to coach. Every player that attends Connecticut isn't a great player, AA, or HOFer and that's fine. Some players don't want to play for name on the front of the jersey they want to play for the name on the back. I'm not making a judgement, I'm just being realistic.....

 

[RockyMTblue2]

There have been a plethora of Freshman that haven't attended Connecticut and have gone to schools that don't have 11 Nattys and whose coaches aren't in the HOF that have gone on to have very successful BB careers and some have even become HOF players themselves without the tutelage of Geno Auriemma or having matriculated at Connecticut. It isn't a necessity to go Connecticut to be a great player and every player, by Coach Auriemma's own admission, isn't the type of player he wants to coach. Every player that attends Connecticut isn't a great player, AA, or HOFer and that's fine. Some players don't want to play for name on the front of the jersey they want to play for the name on the back. I'm not making a judgement, I'm just being realistic.....

This was a fun little skit to run into. After Kelsey "back of the jersey" Mitchell leaves will McGuff look for another or settle down to do some really serious program development?

 

[Dillon77]

The announcers spotted it pretty early - every time Texas reversed the ball, they found big gaps in TN's zone defense. The problem was that they hardly ever passed it enough to get to reverse the ball. Too many quick shots (mostly contested) and too many mistakes at both ends. What is remarkable is that as poorly as they played, they were still in the game until the final minute.

If a disciplined offense took on TN, they would pick them apart.

TN's offense looks pretty much the same as last year. Lots of 1-on-1, dribble drive, get fouled, poor shot selection, big bodies going for rebounds...

Their attitude looks much better though - of course they haven't lost yet.

Regarding your point in green, I think I know just such a team and Tennessee will be traveling north to South Bend on January 18th to play the Irish.

Agree with you that with some quick ball reversal and/or passes into the elbow/top of the key, there could be some massive "field of opportunities," so to speak. Luckily, the high post in ND's motion offense is set right there and Kat Westbeld and-- increasingly -- Jessica Shepard hang out there to then look down low, shoot it or continue the passing to the next open slot.

 

[huskyd]

I posted this elsewhere, but I think it works better here:

Announcers at the Tenn/Texas game yesterday kept talking about “the Holly Warlick Error.” Clearly, after watching this study in futility, the “error” was with the coaches. (Especially the error of assuming that sitting next to Pat Summitt alone conveys useful knowledge by osmosis.)

We were told there were 15 high school AA's on the two teams. Certainly there were an abundance of high school players. Making the point, if need be, that it doesn't matter how many “stars” you have on a team but on how that team is assembled and coached. These two squads are utterly clueless. The object seemed to be to run down the court and shoot whether the players had a good shot or not. Offense was a No Passing Zone. There were no discernible “plays” as such, Whatever you do, do not pass the ball to anyone.

The sorry Vols won because the ball seemed to always wind up in their hands (bad refs, lucky bounces). Texas, in gray unis even uglier than ours, were equally as lost. Number 2 team in the country? What country?

The Holly Warlick “error” or “era”; select (a).

 

[Zorro]

Suppose, and Heaven forfend, that all but two (any two) of UConn's top seven players were felled by flu and unable to play, and that those two starters were playing with, say, any three of our bench players, against, again say, Notre Dame. They would undoiubtedly lose, but they would be doing their damndest best to run the offense that Geno and the staff had taught them and if any of them came down the court and jacked up a stupid shot, the way both teams did yesterday, Geno would pull her and put in Water Girl!!

 

[Kaizen]

Mercedes Russell is incredibly slow, and Z could run her to death. Also, Mercedes got away with one yesterday. She knew exactly where she was and that there was a player behind her, so she just stopped. Ariel Atkins being out after that shot affected Texas. She was the only consistent scorer.

I still don't understand why Atkins has that suicide attack on Russell. Was it just an accident or Atkins was really mad about TN or herself?

 

[oldude]

I still don't understand why Atkins has that suicide attack on Russell. Was it just an accident or Atkins was really mad about TN or herself?

I had the same reaction. Didn't she see Russell with her peripheral vision? Atkins is a heck of a player, but I'm a little worried about her. She basically concussed herself last year vs UConn and last night vs TN. The way she plays, maybe she should wear a helmut