Week 14 - Feb 2 to 8

[Vowelguy]

Can't wait to listen to Caldwell's post game press conference.

She identifies the problem but seems unwillingly to do anything about it (eg bench players)

 

[JeannoCT]

She identifies the problem but seems unwillingly to do anything about it (eg bench players)

View attachment 116902

I’ll have to go find it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hmm...is Caldwell sounding a bit like a former Duke coach w/ the middle initial P. who used to throw her team under the bus any chance she got? Truly effective leadership, right?

 

[JeannoCT]

Oh my God. What a disgrace she is. Her snotty attitude and throwing the players under the bus should not be tolerated. SHE is the problem.
Then she just walks out on the press.

 

[Stagnant]

I still think Kim Caldwell has what it takes, but she’s going to have to change her system. If it doesn’t work with Cooper, Barker, Spearman, and a top recruiting class, it’s not going to work any other year.

Her substitution pattern doesn’t work. You just can’t expect your best players to be okay with being substituted two minutes into a quarter.

 

[WBBZen]

It’ll be really interesting to see what happens with the Lady Vols. Either Kim is gone or a bunch of players hit the portal imo. Could even be both

 

[Iluvacc2]

Interesting take, don’t most teams play on Sunday?

 

[Vowelguy]

You just can’t expect your best players to be okay with being substituted two minutes into a quarter.

They knew what they were getting into. It's not like this is a new system.

 

[LETTERL]

In an under-the-radar game...

NC State went to Blacksburg and emerged with an 82-62 win over Virginia Tech. NC State now 17-7, 10-3 ACC. VT falls to 18-7, 8-5 ACC.

Solid win on the road for NC State.

 

[Vowelguy]

Hmm...is Caldwell sounding a bit like a former Duke coach w/ the middle initial P. who used to throw her team under the bus any chance she got? Truly effective leadership, right?

I think it's fair to call out lack of effort. But again you gotta start benching players over it

 

[Geew1992]

It’ll be really interesting to see what happens with the Lady Vols. Either Kim is gone or a bunch of players hit the portal imo. Could even be both

She’s not leaving but players will. I’ve asked this many times… why does any player want to go there?? Yes… every player gets playing time. But…. As a player, your can’t get comfortable. As soon as you get on going, you’re pulled.

 

[Geew1992]

I think it's fair to call out lack of effort. But again you gotta start benching players over it

She didn’t bench anyone for showing up late to warmups. So benching for lack of effort is never happening. She’s too worried about being their friend instead of their coach

 

[Iluvacc2]

I think it's fair to call out lack of effort. But again you gotta start benching players over it

But with her “platoon system” said bench players will still play no? 🤪

 

[Vowelguy]

But with her “platoon system” said bench players will still play no? 🤪

Not if it were me. I would treat them as if they were injured.

 

[Vowelguy]

She didn’t bench anyone for showing up late to warmups. So benching for lack of effort is never happening. She’s too worried about being their friend instead of their coach

Pat is rolling over in her grave.

 

[Geew1992]

Pat is rolling over in her grave.

Over and over

 

[LETTERL]

Texas A&M ends a 10-game losing streak against ranked opponents, topping #21 Alabama, 72-69. 17 offensive rebounds. Aggies just acted like they wanted it more.

 

[Vowelguy]

Ohhhhhhhh.... this is bad from KC

 

[Nicvan07]

Ohhhhhhhh.... this is bad from KC

View attachment 116906

I guess Kellie Harper wasn’t so bad after all.

 

[GamecockFam]

Oh my God. What a disgrace she is. Her snotty attitude and throwing the players under the bus should not be tolerated. SHE is the problem.
Then she just walks out on the press.

Ohhhhhhhh.... this is bad from KC

View attachment 116906

In the portal era, I don't see her keeping players for long with this type of "coaching". It'll be interesting to see if she can keep her roster together this off-season.

 

[Bone Dog]

I feel for players like Barker. This is her 3rd school and she has found little satisfaction at any of them. Her college career is like a cautionary tale. She showed glimmers of great talent coning out of high school, and has not been able to build something great out of it. I imagine she'll find a place in the W. Maybe she'll fit in better there.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think it's fair to call out lack of effort. But again you gotta start benching players over it

Tear into them in the lockerroom, or in practice the next day. But keep it behind closed doors. In a presser, the coach should take some of the blame, if nothing else the old standby "I didn't have my team prepared to play."

 

[bballnut90]

I feel for players like Barker. This is her 3rd school and she has found little satisfaction at any of them. Her college career is like a cautionary tale. She showed glimmers of great talent coning out of high school, and has not been able to build something great out of it. I imagine she'll find a place in the W. Maybe she'll fit in better there.

Barker is a good example of needing to find a team with a good fit for her and she just hasn't done that:

-originally committed to Georgia, an average SEC program that is very defensive focused. Never seemed like a good fit.

-Decommitted and followed Taylor to A&M where Joni had to build from nothing. First year was rough, 2nd year went better but A&M didn't look like a team poised to become a Sweet 16 caliber school in the next few years. Barker enters the portal for the first time.

-Janiah transferred after 2 years to UCLA rumored to be due to a relationship. UCLA was one of the only schools in the country that had zero use for her services with Dugalic and Gardiner already on the roster. Cori Close warned her that it might not be a good fit since UCLA had players in front of her and is a much more structured system, but Barker insisted she wanted to come anyway. She stayed 1 year, it wasn't a good fit, then she entered the portal.

-Barker joined Tennessee which looked like a decent fit on paper except they already had Zee Spearman on the roster who is incredibly similar to Barker. Tennessee also has a brand new team with only 2 of their 7 top scorers back and a roster fully of highly touted freshmen playing in an unorthodox platoon style system that has high highs and low lows. It worked pretty well a year ago, and it hasn't worked well this season.

I will say, I do think her draft stock is up from where it was the last couple of years but her collegiate career has been a disappointment relative to expectations coming in. She was the #3 recruit in a solid class and a major standout at the McDonald's All American game. In hindsight a lot of players from the 2022 class were improperly ranked but the general consensus is that Barker should've become a much better player than she has.