Vanderbilt

[YoDore]

I know at times I post things here that are of limited interest to most posters on this board, but I figure it does no real harm since no one is forced to read (or watch) what I post.

I think some Shea Ralph fans will find the following Monday morning podcast interview worthwhile. It's probably my favorite interview with Shea. She is at home and relaxed, talking to a couple of students who work for VandySport.com. They are, in particular the young lady, Alaina Morris, the most dedicated media members to Shea's program.

At the end, they invite her to deliver whatever message she wants to convey. The following statement, not prompted by any question, is of particular interest:

"I'm here for life. I'm excited about it. We're raising our daughter here. This is our home."

 

[BRS24]

Vanderbilt's Jordyn Cambridge lifting her team to new heights, no matter how much it hurts

Cambridge got loud ovations before, during and after her last home game as she reached 1,000 career points and became Vandy's steals leader.

theathletic.com

 

[YoDore]

The above post is a great piece from The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode about my all-time favorite player, Jordyn Cambridge. Jordyn’s physical struggles over the years are well documented, including, but not limited to, three knee surgeries and an achilles surgery.

In recent weeks, she has been wearing a brace on her left hand with two fingers taped together. Turns out she has a broken finger. Also, when she took an accidental head butt at Arkansas recently that gave her a bloody lip, it also fractured a bone in her jaw and loosened a couple of teeth. She wears a wire to hold the teeth in place and a special mouthpiece. Oh, and that right knee that is heavily braced, the one she can't completely straighten anymore and at times seems to be dragging around the floor, is giving her problems. She doesn't practice anymore.

Her dad let her know it was OK not to play this season, telling her she didn’t owe the game anything at this point. She said, “I know, but I love this team and I love Vanderbilt.”

She is understandably struggling with her shot lately, but we also saw her score nine points and contribute six rebounds, five assists and five steals to Sunday's win over Georgia.

She is also loyal to and thankful for coach Ralph. I don't think Joe Rexrode would mind me borrowing this one quote from his story.

“She’s the most positive person you’ll ever meet,” Cambridge said of Ralph. “She’s bringing this program back to what it was when I went to games as a kid. It’s going to be great. … This process isn’t for the weak, but it’s all paying off in the end. I’m glad I had the grit and resilience to see it through. I wouldn’t have wanted to become this person anywhere else.”

By the way, The Athletic is having a special where you can subscribe for $2 per month for 12 months.

 

[PhilipVU94]

Vanderbilt-Florida tomorrow in the round of 12 in Greenville.

God forbid if we should lose tomorrow, it would be the ultimate natural experiment in how serious the WBB committee is about making the NET the dominant part of a team's résumé. Of course I'm highly biased but that's the only reason I can see why we'd be on the bubble, and plenty of people believe we are on the bubble.

I get the desire to represent actual team strength in seeding. Sure, close wins or losses depend largely on luck. Even so, part of the fun of sports is quaint 20th century notions of "games" involve two teams resulting in a "win" for one team and a "loss" for the other. If NCAA selection is based overwhelmingly on a stats competition, then why have any regular season games? Just arrange some combines involving a bunch of skills competitions and scrimmages. Pick the teams with the best stats and save a lot of money.

At least they've been warning us this is the new reality.

 

[EricLA]

Well... regular season and tourney ends with a thud. Based on where they were before the loss, I'd say Vandy is NIT bound. We will see, but a really bad loss to end the season. Honestly I think Florida is better than their record, but they are barely .500 on the season, so by most metrics, a really bad loss.

 

[PhilipVU94]

I'm afraid you're right. Given the emphasis on underlying statistics and all, perhaps closing a 10 point game with a little over 3 minutes left to a 2 point loss will count for something.

I follow MBB much more closely and there, the committee has been pretty explicit about its blossoming love for Four Factors metrics (NET). I had little patience with our men's coach whining about a hot finish last year because the men's committee has been clear that no longer matters and that statistical excellence does. I infer the same is true in WBB. I hope it doesn't get to the point where W and L have no significance beyond the underlying stats.

The non-NET case against Vanderbilt hinges on lack of big wins. The other side of that is consistency or lack of bad losses. Holding record and schedule constant, you can either have more big wins or you can have consistency, not both, so we could say both committees have a taste for higher-variance résumés. This has been true for decades AFAIK. It's somewhat justifiable -- higher variance teams will create more upsets.

I don't think head to head is as meaningful as most fans tend to think. VU's h2h against the other SEC bubbles could be a major asset -- in some universe. I hope we're in that universe but won't complain if we're not.

 

[PhilipVU94]

Although it does look like Creme still has us 3rd-last in as of this morning. Seems like losses by Arizona and WSU are a big boon. Would be nice if Iowa could dispense with PSU tonight and if Green Bay could be kind enough to lose to PU-FW in the Horizon semis on Monday.

 

[victor64]

Even more disappointing was that I don't think it was the best game Shea ever coached. They looked disorganized on offense. A lot of standing around, missed layups and one on one play. They fought until the end though.

 

[YoDore]

 

[PhilipVU94]

Congrats to Jordyn.

With Vanderbilt pretty established at 3rd-last in the tournament in Charlie Creme's projections, I'm starting to feel decent.

• AFAICT Columbia is a legitimate threat to do the "bid stealing" thing on Sunday in the Ivy tournament -- gah, I still hate hearing those two words together -- and Princeton would certainly be an at-large ahead of us.
• In contrast, if Green Bay wins the Horizon tonight, Cleveland State looks unlikely to be an at-large ahead of us. (Creme projects CSU as a 13 if they win the AQ spot, so well below an 11 if they lose.)

So a Columbia win would push us to 2nd-last, certainly close enough for me to sweat it out but still likely in. Are those the only two conference tournaments remaining with possibilities of bid larceny?

BTW aside from becoming ESPN's chosen one years ago, who is Creme? I spent a few minutes trying to figure this out and just found a bunch of newspaper stories linking back to ESPN.

 

[YoDore]

 

[YoDore]

Dore dancing (turn the sound on)

 

[JellyBean]

Congrats, Coach Ralph, Vanderbilt WBB program, and @YoDore Great season and continued success.

 

[YoDore]

Coach Ralph's comments on making NCAA tourney.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy vs. Columbia will be at 8 p.m. CST Wednesday on ESPNU.

First Four Game Time Set

The No. 12-seeded Commodores will take on No. 12-seed Columbia Wednesday at 0:00 p.m. CT on ESPN

vucommodores.com

 

[TRest]

Vandy vs. Columbia will be at 8 p.m. CST Wednesday on ESPNU.

First Four Game Time Set

The No. 12-seeded Commodores will take on No. 12-seed Columbia Wednesday at 0:00 p.m. CT on ESPN

vucommodores.com

Someone on the ESPN bracket show suggested there was some type of bad blood between Columbia and Vandy, "if you know you know" which I found strange. Any idea what they were suggesting?

 

[YoDore]

Someone on the ESPN bracket show suggested there was some type of bad blood between Columbia and Vandy, "if you know you know" which I found strange. Any idea what they were suggesting?

Following her team's loss to Princeton this weekend, Columbia coach Megan Griffith was making the case for her team to still get into the NCAA tourney. Among her remarks she said the NCAA says it wants to grow the game, but they put 15-14 SEC teams in the tourney. That's what caught former Lady Vol Andrea Carter's attention and led to her remarks. In her defense, Carter seemed to just be having fun with it.

That doesn't apply directly to Vandy but it could be a considered a swipe at the SEC implying Griffith thinks her team could be displaced by a mediocre SEC team in spite of the fact that Columbia lost by 17 to a 13-18 Georgia squad.

I also think Shea Ralph took exception to Griffith's post-game remarks last season when Shea took a depleted Vandy squad to Columbia and came away with a surprising win. After the game, Ralph praised Columbia and coach Griffith. However, Griffith, not looking to excuse her team's performance, had little positive to say about Vandy, instead noting the Commodores were picked to finish last in the SEC, and her team should not lose to them.

Shea took notice. In a post-game press conference after a game a few days later, she found a way to work in a comment saying, and I paraphrase, "If you're paying attention, the last-place team in this league last year beat two Sweet 16 teams. This league is no joke."

Nothing major, really. Just the equivalent of two competitive coaches trading paint coming down the backstretch. I actually like coach Griffith. She's sassy. Coaches like she played, and so does coach Ralph. Griffith obviously doesn't care for the SEC. Many people don't, and I can see their point. But, I also like that my coach has the fire in her belly to speak up when she feels the need.

Not exactly much ado about nothing. Certainly much ado about not much.

 

[PhilipVU94]

Vandy vs. Columbia will be at 8 p.m. CST Wednesday on ESPNU.

CDT. Sorry, peeve of mine.

...Columbia coach Megan Griffith was making the case for her team to still get into the NCAA tourney. Among her remarks she said the NCAA says it wants to grow the game, but they put 15-14 SEC teams in the tourney.

Emphasis added. Coaches say stuff like that when they want to make a case for selection, although I'd be stunned if it has any positive effect on the committee. Maybe it helps recruiting down the road. And hopefully it motivates our team a bit, not that anyone should need it.

Not exactly much ado about nothing. Certainly much ado about not much.

Well summarized.

The SEC was an obvious target this year with 4 broadly-bubble teams but in the end it was an ACC team with a casus belli. If the NET has any predictive power, VU-CU should be very close. Public perception probably underrates Columbia, but anyway it's a tossup on paper.

Hoping we play better than our NET, but regardless, it's been a really key season for Shea and I hope she stays to build on this for decades to come.

 

[LesMis89]

Following her team's loss to Princeton this weekend, Columbia coach Megan Griffith was making the case for her team to still get into the NCAA tourney. Among her remarks she said the NCAA says it wants to grow the game, but they put 15-14 SEC teams in the tourney. That's what caught former Lady Vol Andrea Carter's attention and led to her remarks. In her defense, Carter seemed to just be having fun with it.

That doesn't apply directly to Vandy but it could be a considered a swipe at the SEC implying Griffith thinks her team could be displaced by a mediocre SEC team in spite of the fact that Columbia lost by 17 to a 13-18 Georgia squad.

I also think Shea Ralph took exception to Griffith's post-game remarks last season when Shea took a depleted Vandy squad to Columbia and came away with a surprising win. After the game, Ralph praised Columbia and coach Griffith. However, Griffith, not looking to excuse her team's performance, had little positive to say about Vandy, instead noting the Commodores were picked to finish last in the SEC, and her team should not lose to them.

Shea took notice. In a post-game press conference after a game a few days later, she found a way to work in a comment saying, and I paraphrase, "If you're paying attention, the last-place team in this league last year beat two Sweet 16 teams. This league is no joke."

Nothing major, really. Just the equivalent of two competitive coaches trading paint coming down the backstretch. I actually like coach Griffith. She's sassy. Coaches like she played, and so does coach Ralph. Griffith obviously doesn't care for the SEC. Many people don't, and I can see their point. But, I also like that my coach has the fire in her belly to speak up when she feels the need.

Not exactly much ado about nothing. Certainly much ado about not much.

Oh, if there's one thing your coach has it's fire in her belly.

Congratulations

 

[YoDore]

Can you tell folks are proud of this team? Nashville has always been a basketball/baseball town, and basketball has been a sad experience for too many years.

 

[PhilipVU94]

Can you tell folks are proud of this team? Nashville has always been a basketball/baseball town, and basketball has been a sad experience for too many years.

Great to see the excitement! As a casual WBB fan I'm careful about framing anything in terms of other sports, but I don't think you can avoid the context: Two failed MBB coaches never mind the eternal hopelessness of football have made all of us Vanderbilt folks really hungry for a March success story. I'm so proud of how quickly this program has gotten back on the proverbial map, even if it's the very edge of the map.

 

[FormerCTrez]

Great to see the excitement! As a casual WBB fan I'm careful about framing anything in terms of other sports, but I don't think you can avoid the context: Two failed MBB coaches never mind the eternal hopelessness of football have made all of us Vanderbilt folks really hungry for a March success story. I'm so proud of how quickly this program has gotten back on the proverbial map, even if it's the very edge of the map.

Well, well, well! What can I say? Everybody knows that the leader of this ‘Dores’ team is a UConn alumni
Both as a student, and coach, Shea Ralph learned from the best — Geno and his staff. She also spent some time as assistant coach at Pittsburgh with Agnus Berenato. Shea Ralph is determined. She is passionate about the game. She is a great leader and mentor to young people. She is also knowledgeable, and together with her husband, Tom, and the rest of her staff, Vanderbilt will soon become a team no one wants to play.
Well done Shea and the ‘Dores.

 

[YoDore]

Shea Ralph's NCAA press conference from Blacksburg.




Player interviews.

 

[TN-Gamecock]

Go Vandy!!! SEC, SEC, SEC, SEC...

 

[JellyBean]

Good luck, Vandy!! Rooting for you all!! SEC! SEC! SEC!