What We Learned from Bay-Tenn

[Husky68]

Ride the hot hand - SS in 1st half. KML could get 40 if Uconn moves the ball well.
Take it back out - get offensive rebounds and not in great position bring it back out and run offense.
Run'em - Sims needs to be in game and have ball, make her guard through lot of picks, press full court; Griner doesn't play hard most of the time, make her work.
Substitute-best 5 need to be as fresh as possible, need play 9 with Dolson and other big sometimes, solid sub minutes several points in 1st half and definitely at 15 to 11 minute mark in 2nd half and then lot of rotations. Vs. Tenn Griner 40 minutes, Madden 38 and Sims 36. Tenn got tired last 7 minutes and Griner height more of a factor late.
Make the plays that are there - don't fling up offensive rebound shots, don't make low % passes to post, take mid range shots, don't go out of way to try and draw fouls on Griner, Tiff don't try and win game yourself by making plays that are not there (let the offense work).
Make foul shots.
Make 3's at a lot closer to 40% than 20%.
If starts usual team, weather low Uconn scoring 1st 5 minutes of game and second half - make Baylor work really hard; get KML in before Baylor 2nd wind.

 

[UConnCat]

The officiating was in no way to Tennessee's benefit yesterday. A few of Griner's blocks were far from clean. She goes over the back. Glory's foul on Sims' breakaway?

I'm not blaming the refs for the loss at all. If we had hit our open shots, we would have won. But the amount of contact they got away with definitely impacted the game. I don't like when they call everything. Post play should be physical, but it wasn't consistently called on both sides.

I watched the game and replayed some plays and I didn't see an advantage for either side. The call on Johnson was ridiculous and a clear case of the official anticipating contact when there was none. Tenn got a break when the officials reversed an out-of-bounds call when the ball clearly went off a Tenn player. Other than those 2 calls, I didn't think the refs did a bad job. Both teams played physically in the paint and the refs let them play without an advantage that I could see and I had no dog in this fight.

 

[Icebear]

I watched the game and replayed some plays and I didn't see an advantage for either side. The call on Johnson was ridiculous and a clear case of the official anticipating contact when there was none. Tenn got a break when the officials reversed an out-of-bounds call when the ball clearly went off a Tenn player. Other than those 2 calls, I didn't think the refs did a bad job. Both teams played physically in the paint and the refs let them play without an advantage that I could see and I had no dog in this fight.

Yeah, but clearly you had a Cat in the fight.

 

[VAUConnFan]

This was a very good game to watch. I think Geo could get more hustle from BG. She kind of just lopes up and down the court.
Good to see all the fan support for Coach Summit. And wasn't Coach Mulkey's blue vinyl (?) jacket interesting. (or maybe it was leather)

What are you talking about?

 

[Replicant]

TN exposed a few Baylor weaknesses. I was surprised how effectively they boxed BG off the boards. She had a total of 6 boards and only 2 were offensive. At 6'-8" and with 3' long arms she's gonna get her shots off and points no matter what. But she's still so thin, that TN players were effective in driving her lower torso out of the paint.

BG and Sims took 57% of Baylor's shots and were responsible for 65% of their point production. BG is gonna get her points (26), so the key is to stop Sims. Easier said than done, but she's really the key to stopping entry passes, penetrations and 1/3rd of their point production. Only effective defense to stopping BG's points is to get her on the bench in foul trouble.

 

[Phil]

Baylor:

• Can not play its best and still get a huge road win.
• Can take a hit -- down 8 in the 2nd half -- and overcome a rowdy crowd.
• Other players are not afraid to take shots.

Tenn:

• Can hang with the #1 team in the country. This team is definitely a contender.
• Stricklen showed that she is All-American potential.
• Stuck with Baylor until the end despite 2-22 shooting from its guards. While they won't go far if that performance continues, if they improve even a little, Vols become all the tougher.
• Coaches showed some rare discipline in not throwing every available player on the floor, but just going with the effective ones. They may be finally learning.

I agree, nice analysis.

 

[doggydaddy]

Baylor:

• Can not play its best and still get a huge road win.
• Can take a hit -- down 8 in the 2nd half -- and overcome a rowdy crowd.
• Other players are not afraid to take shots.

Tenn:

• Can hang with the #1 team in the country. This team is definitely a contender.
• Stricklen showed that she is All-American potential.
• Stuck with Baylor until the end despite 2-22 shooting from its guards. While they won't go far if that performance continues, if they improve even a little, Vols become all the tougher.
• Coaches showed some rare discipline in not throwing every available player on the floor, but just going with the effective ones. They may be finally learning.

Nice analysis, but there were some negatives that you skipped over.

Baylor:

• Only 2 players really scored for them, although a couple of the others did hit a few clutch shots as you mentioned. They will need to spread the scoring around more.
• Their secondary scorer (Sims) was 4-15 and 1-6 on 3's. not good and that will hurt them as it did last year.
• They were KILLED on the boards and were fortunate that Tennessee shot so poorly (although Baylor's defense had a lot to do with that.
• Griner played 40 minutes, Hayden 38 and Sims 36. Against a pressing and running team, they could loose steam in the 2nd half.
• Pope and Williams were supposed to be great and I didn't see it at all.

Tennessee:

• Their bench scored 2 points and was 1-19. Awful. And the 4th ranked recruit saw 4 minutes.
• The SEC FOY was just awful, and while showing the discipline to keep her on the bench, the other players looked a little gassed to me. They could have used a rest.
• That same SEC FOY was put in to pressure and then foul once Tennessee was behind late. She had no clue and didn't do what she was supposed to do.
• While their savior at point had 4 assists and 1 TO, she struggled from the field again and has a long way to go. And if she keeps playing 30+ minutes like this game, she will be exhausted by the time the tourney rolls around
• Pat looked to be totally disengaged with the team except for a few situations.
  

 

[UConnCat]

Tennessee:

• Their bench scored 2 points and was 1-19. Awful. And the 4th ranked recruit saw 4 minutes.
• The SEC FOY was just awful, and while showing the discipline to keep her on the bench, the other players looked a little gassed to me. They could have used a rest.
• That same SEC FOY was put in to pressure and then foul once Tennessee was behind late. She had no clue and didn't do what she was supposed to do.
• While their savior at point had 4 assists and 1 TO, she struggled from the field again and has a long way to go. And if she keeps playing 30+ minutes like this game, she will be exhausted by the time the tourney rolls around
• Pat looked to be totally disengaged with the team except for a few situations.

Simmons shot 1-12 in the first half but I thought only one of her shot attempts was less than a quality shot. In the past she's taken some ill-advised shots but I didn't think that was the case yesterday. In fact, she passed up an open shot to get the ball to Stricklen who was obviously hot. Simmons was just missing her shots. Massengale, on the other hand, did take some questionable shots. There were a few that were contested and taken too early in the possession.

Massengale was on the bench for 2-3 minutes in the 2nd half and Stricklen took over the point guard responsibilities rather than putting Simmons in the game.

 

[Vowelguy]

Simmons shot 1-12 in the first half but I thought only one of her shot attempts was less than a quality shot. In the past she's taken some ill-advised shots but I didn't think that was the case yesterday. In fact, she passed up an open shot to get the ball to Stricklen who was obviously hot. Simmons was just missing her shots.

I didn't watch the game as closely as you, but I disagree. Once on a 2-on-1 break, she clearly should've passed, but took it herself and missed badly. On several other occasions, her shots seemed rushed or forced.

Here'd be an interesting stat: Simmons' shot-to-pass ratio. It might be >1.

 

[UConnCat]

I didn't watch the game as closely as you, but I disagree. Once on a 2-on-1 break, she clearly should've passed, but took it herself and missed badly. On several other occasions, her shots seemed rushed or forced.

Here'd be an interesting stat: Simmons' shot-to-pass ratio. It might be >1.

I think I know the play you're talking about and my initial reaction was that she should've passed the ball, but after watching it again I think her decision to go aggressively to the basket was okay. I've been critical of Simmons' shot selection in the past but I didn't think it was a problem yesterday. Like I said, I actually questioned more of Massengale's shots than Simmons'.

 

[wire chief]

This was a very good game to watch. I think Geo could get more hustle from BG. She kind of just lopes up and down the court.
Good to see all the fan support for Coach Summit. And wasn't Coach Mulkey's blue vinyl (?) jacket interesting. (or maybe it was leather)

She can certainly afford leather.

 

[tnvolfan65]

I used the "complementary player" term and didn't get it from Hoopgurlz. It was said to me by someone who had watched her play several times. The point was simply that a #3 ranking should be for special, impact players and this person didn't put her in that category. She looks to be very skilled and will no doubt have a lot of success at Tenn.

She will be a special impact player for us. Just probably not this year. But she is playin behind 3 top 10 recruits in their own right who have 3-4 years experience over her. There's not a single player ranked after her that plays her position that would be playing more minutes for us.

If KML had come to Tenn, she wouldn't be getting as many minutes as she is at Uconn. I'm not going to say she would have the same amount of minutes as Burdick does, but who are you going to sit? Spani or Stricklen? Not with how they've been playing...

 

[Icebear]

Spani. KML is better as a shooter and defensively.

 

[doggydaddy]

She will be a special impact player for us. Just probably not this year. But she is playin behind 3 top 10 recruits in their own right who have 3-4 years experience over her. There's not a single player ranked after her that plays her position that would be playing more minutes for us.

If KML had come to Tenn, she wouldn't be getting as many minutes as she is at Uconn. I'm not going to say she would have the same amount of minutes as Burdick does, but who are you going to sit? Spani or Stricklen? Not with how they've been playing...

It's really 2-3 years more experience.

Spani played 31 minutes and Stricklen played 39. The number 3 recruit from last year can't get minutes from the #13 from 2009 and #8 from 2008? Clearly Baylor put the clamps on Stricklen. Maybe a few more minutes to get some rest might have helped? And from my perspective, Spani was having trouble getting her shot off at times. Maybe the larger Burdick could have helped? I always thought that Burdick was a 3/4 so why not a few minutes from Johnson, who played 28 minutes.

Burdick played 3 minutes. Even 2-3 from each player would get her to 10 minutes or so. It's clear that Pat thinks she is not ready. You are trying to portray Burdick's lack of minutes as only because Tennessee's roster is so good. I disagree.

 

[speedoo]

If KML had come to Tenn, she wouldn't be getting as many minutes as she is at Uconn. ..

That is an interesting statement. How much have you seen KML play? How many UConn games this year?

 

[EricLA]

Spani. KML is better as a shooter and defensively.

agreed. perhaps based on need, she's playing more minutes than she would be at tennessee, but she's already better than simmons, spani, manning, burdick, and it's too soon to tell if she's better than stricklen. KML isn't a starter at UCONN either but she gets the minutes because she's that good. can't keep her off the court.

you know (not talking to ice here), if wishes were pennies i'd be rich. my point is i read from a lot of tennessee fans how the refs called the game too tight (never mind all the tennessee fouls on the O-boards in the first half that weren't called), or that they didn't shoot well, or whatever. if the refs hadn't called the game so tight. if our kids made their FT's or shots they normally make. blah blah.

well if UCONN scored more, they'd have beaten ND in the final 4 last year. bottom line is that tenn. had a 38-31 lead partly because Baylor was playing like crap. but tennessee was also forcing them to play like crap. they were jacking up 3's and Griner was not touching the ball. they finally made a concerted effort to get the ball to her and tennessee could not stop her.

i was impressed with some of what i saw from tennessee, but bottom line they lost. they were beaten. they did not lose because of the refs, or bad shooting, or whatever. the lost because baylor outplayed them and outscored them by about 16 points over the final 16 minutes.

if they played 10 times, perhaps tennessee would win 3 or maybe 4 of the games, but it's easy to say "if we did X,Y and Z, then we would have won". well yeah. every team that loses a relatively close game could say that.

 

[UConnCat]

It's really 2-3 years more experience.

Spani played 31 minutes and Stricklen played 39. The number 3 recruit from last year can't get minutes from the #13 from 2009 and #8 from 2008? Clearly Baylor put the clamps on Stricklen. Maybe a few more minutes to get some rest might have helped? And from my perspective, Spani was having trouble getting her shot off at times. Maybe the larger Burdick could have helped? I always thought that Burdick was a 3/4 so why not a few minutes from Johnson, who played 28 minutes.

Burdick played 3 minutes. Even 2-3 from each player would get her to 10 minutes or so. It's clear that Pat thinks she is not ready. You are trying to portray Burdick's lack of minutes as only because Tennessee's roster is so good. I disagree.

I think this is the point. If a highly ranked player is truly an impact player, a coach is going to find a way to get her minutes.

 

[DaddyChoc]

every board has those that complain about the refs... folks here are still talking about the fathom fouls against ND in the tourney

 

[doggydaddy]

every board has those that complain about the refs... folks here are still talking about the fathom fouls against ND in the tourney

I think specific calls are fair game to complain about. That breakaway where Johnson was called for a foul was terrible. But when the complaints are more general, then it's just sour grapes on any board.

 

[Icebear]

every board has those that complain about the refs... folks here are still talking about the fathom fouls against ND in the tourney

There is, also, a difference between talking about the impact of bad calls and saying it cost you the game. As Geno has said before you must be prepared to overcome every obstacle so that in the end nothing stands in your way or denies you your goal.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I think specific calls are fair game to complain about. That breakaway where Johnson was called for a foul was terrible. But when the complaints are more general, then it's just sour grapes on any board.

I agree DD

 

[tnvolfan65]

Spani is shooting better than KML from the floor and from 3. Not sure how you can say she's a better shooter. And yes, her and Strick were ranked lower in their respective classes, but Strick is a top 3 player in her class's and Spani is playing great now that she is finally healthy. She's also our best shooter, and we need her scoring.

I've just seen the Uconn-Stanford game speedoo. I was impressed with her shooting. All your guards on going to get shots within yalls offense. If she can continue to hit them, she'll put up big numbers.

And we played Izzy for Johnson because she's bigger than Burdick and can play in the paint. She posts up ad attacks the glass. I haven't seen Burdick do that yet.

KML is a perfect fit for UConn this year. She can't stay on the bench because, at least against Stanford, the offense was irratic and stagnant without her. She's probably the best player on yalls team, coming off the bench has nothing to do with that.

Of course there is going to be talk like that after a loss, but the talk on here even before the game was Tenn will only win if the refs call it their way. To see that mentioned as part of the reason we were even in the game was way off based. In general though, our fan reaction has been positive and encouraging because we played with energy and effort. I'll never be satisfied with moral victories but after the UVA loss, it was good to see.

 

[HuskyNan]

Spani is shooting better than KML from the floor and from 3. Not sure how you can say she's a better shooter.

Kaleena
FG % - 45.9% (34-74)
3 pt shots - 40.0% (16-40)
Rebounds - 6.7 rpg
Assists - 2.0 apg
TOs - 4 in 6 games
Assist/TO ratio - 3.0 to 1 (12 assists, 4 TOs)
Steals - 1.7 spg

Taber
FG % - 42.5% (23-54)
3 pt shots - 46.4% (13-28)
Rebounds -3.5 rpg
Assists -2.0 apg
TOs -8 in 4 games
Assist/TO ratio -1.0 to 1 (8 assists, 8 TOs)
Steals - .75 spg

Taber is a wonderful shooter and has a warrior's attitude but, speaking as a UConn fan, I prefer Kaleena's more well-rounded game. And the kid is a freshman!

 

[meyers7]

I agree DD

I'm recording this.

 

[tnvolfan65]

Kaleena
FG % - 45.9% (34-74)
3 pt shots - 40.0% (16-40)
Rebounds - 6.7 rpg
Assists - 2.0 apg
TOs - 4 in 6 games
Assist/TO ratio - 3.0 to 1 (12 assists, 4 TOs)
Steals - 1.7 spg

Taber
FG % - 42.5% (23-54)
3 pt shots - 46.4% (13-28)
Rebounds -3.5 rpg
Assists -2.0 apg
TOs -8 in 4 games
Assist/TO ratio -1.0 to 1 (8 assists, 8 TOs)
Steals - .75 spg

Taber is a wonderful shooter and has a warrior's attitude but, speaking as a UConn fan, I prefer Kaleena's more well-rounded game. And the kid is a freshman!

I stand corrected about the fg%. However I'll take the rest of those stats with a grain of salt. Holy Cross, Pacific, FDU and Buffalo are some good stat stuffing teams.