Lady Vol Practice Begins today.

[VA_VOLFAN]

But she was still part of the team. It's not like she just showed up the following year out of the blue and ruined a fine, well tuned machine.

The scapegoating of Diamond reminds of what it's like when someone quits their job, and is immediately blamed for everything that goes wrong at their old company because it's convenient.

I’m not blaming her but she wasn’t really able to disrupt the dynamics of that was the case... she was limited to certain things along with the fact Massengale, Izzy, and Burdick where there to keep them inline. I seriously doubt a fight would of happened between TC and Jaime or at least they would of kept it old school had those three been there OR if someone had the leadership skills like those three. That much I really believe... there was no leadership to reign things in when they were getting out of hand and the coaches can’t always be around to stop things from happening. That’s where the leadership of players have to step up and unfortunately didn’t. Athletes know a lot more than coaches before things happen! I know that myself first hand coaching high school athletes! Everything falls back on the coach and a coach has to be in tune with their athletes but let’s not Ben mistakes athletes know things 9/10 before the coach does when it comes to misconduct!

 

[gule]

Proof reading is a virtue.

 

[Volfan2012]

DD is a super talented basketball player yet she is as inconsistent a player as you will ever see. She may get thirty and 10 rebounds or commit 10 turnovers and score 1 for 10 from the field. If she ever gets to the point where she can bring her A game every night she will be top ten player in the WNBA.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

Proof reading is a virtue.

So is not being a douche but it seems like we could both use some work !

 

[Amb3096]

Also, TC was not yet in the picture. The crazy had not yet reached its apex.

I was the biggest DD fan when she was
at TN. I believed in her talent and her desire to be a LV. But you really think coaching explains beating 4 top 10 teams then losing 3 times to Alabama? You don't think that's chemistry? You don't think that's a prima donna that didn't want to listen to coaches, follow a game plan, or play hard except when it was convenient for her? She even convinced others to join her and turned the team against itself.


I'm not scapegoating her. The truth is the truth.

Considering that 1 of the losses to Alabama was with Te'a on the bench and Diamond off to the hospital on a stretcher after less than five minutes, then I'd find it hard to blame that loss on her not wanting to listen to the coaches, follow a game plan or play hard. We've all watched the games. We've watched players standing around or being careless with the ball. That's as much on the other players and coaches as it is on Diamond.

Tennessee was lucky that they previously had players like Izzy or late career Cierra who were strong leaders, and it seems like Diamond is being criticized for not being a strong leader when all fingers should be pointed at the coach. Even if Diamond and Te'a were as bad as you claim, Holly was clearly ineffective in managing the personalities on the team.

 

[Amb3096]

I’m not blaming her but she wasn’t really able to disrupt the dynamics of that was the case... she was limited to certain things along with the fact Massengale, Izzy, and Burdick where there to keep them inline. I seriously doubt a fight would of happened between TC and Jaime or at least they would of kept it old school had those three been there OR if someone had the leadership skills like those three. That much I really believe... there was no leadership to reign things in when they were getting out of hand and the coaches can’t always be around to stop things from happening. That’s where the leadership of players have to step up and unfortunately didn’t. Athletes know a lot more than coaches before things happen! I know that myself first hand coaching high school athletes! Everything falls back on the coach and a coach has to be in tune with their athletes but let’s not Ben mistakes athletes know things 9/10 before the coach does when it comes to misconduct!

If everything you say about Diamond/Te'a is true, do you think that Geno, Muffett, Kim, etc... would have been in the dark about what was happening on their team? I don't believe that for a second.

Even if they were that bad, Holly did a poor job in getting things under order. If I understand correctly, it wasn't even her choice to kick Te'a off the team.

Holly's name should be coming up on the Blame Chart way before Diamond or Te'a's.

 

[gule]

So is not being a douche but it seems like we could both use some work !

Not me, bro. I'm top shelf. lol

 

[1CHATTVOL]

Considering that 1 of the losses to Alabama was with Te'a on the bench and Diamond off to the hospital on a stretcher after less than five minutes, then I'd find it hard to blame that loss on her not wanting to listen to the coaches, follow a game plan or play hard. We've all watched the games. We've watched players standing around or being careless with the ball. That's as much on the other players and coaches as it is on Diamond.

Tennessee was lucky that they previously had players like Izzy or late career Cierra who were strong leaders, and it seems like Diamond is being criticized for not being a strong leader when all fingers should be pointed at the coach. Even if Diamond and Te'a were as bad as you claim, Holly was clearly ineffective in managing the personalities on the team.

That ineffective managing is on HW. And she knew it would be boom or bust when she accepted the transfer. It was bust.

Blaming HW and only HW fits your agenda, I guess. Everyone I've spoken to from inside & outside say the same thing. If nothing else, you see the blatant facts: TC being kicked out of school, and DD posting a lengthy public proclamation of making a winning legacy and leading the freshmen then bolting. Those 2 are not blameless.

I think you'll find the 2017 team even with its freshmen will be a more pleasant ride. But either way, the truth was still the truth.

 

[Amb3096]

That ineffective managing is on HW. And she knew it would be boom or bust when she accepted the transfer. It was bust.

Blaming HW and only HW fits your agenda, I guess. Everyone I've spoken to from inside & outside say the same thing. If nothing else, you see the blatant facts: TC being kicked out of school, and DD posting a lengthy public proclamation of making a winning legacy and leading the freshmen then bolting. Those 2 are not blameless.

I think you'll find the 2017 team even with its freshmen will be a more pleasant ride. But either way, the truth was still the truth.

Which agenda would that be? Oh yeah, the one that says that the buck stops with the coach, and that at the end of the day, Holly was the one responsible for managing the team. Which she did not do. And while Te'a/DD probably weren't the easiest players to coach, that's what she's paid to do...and a more capable coach wouldn't have let it get to where it was. Holly was a complete bystander. Even after Te'a went boxing on a teammate, she still was open to letting her stay on the team. Such great leadership.

I know your agenda is deflect all blame from Holly (and let's be honest...you sound like Hillary Clinton with your blame-gaming), but at the end of the day it was her job to keep players in line, and she was about as successful at that as an ostrich.

I have no expectations for the 2017 team. I'll see how they do in the games, and form my opinion from that. I suspect that they'll do better given their mostly cupcake OOC schedule, but I take nothing for granted.

 

[stllvf]

If I were giving Netflix stars for this thread I would classify it to be slow, very predictable with no new twists; most of the comments are reruns. Even the comments by the tired comedian, who proofreads is not sufficient to give it more than two stars.

I wrote the above because I frequently read pompous critiques on Netflix from individuals who write a critique of the actors, the camera angles, the background music as an expert after watching only 30 minutes.

Enjoy the show by a cast of young women who are working with dedication. The past can not be changed, nor can any of our comments put single point on the scoreboad (note scoreboard is incorrectly spelled). Go LVs.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

not me, bro. I'm top shelf. Lol

🤔.... Nahhh

 

[1CHATTVOL]

Ugh.

 

[vol-un-tear]

DD is a super talented basketball player yet she is as inconsistent a player as you will ever see. She may get thirty and 10 rebounds or commit 10 turnovers and score 1 for 10 from the field. If she ever gets to the point where she can bring her A game every night she will be top ten player in the WNBA.

Not a chance

 

[Volfan2012]

Not a chance

Probably true but I want to give her the benefit of the doubt all players can get better both physically and mentally plus develop their skills. She has the athleticism to be as good as she decides to be.

 

[vol-un-tear]

Probably true but I want to give her the benefit of the doubt all players can get better both physically and mentally plus develop their skills. She has the athleticism to be as good as she decides to be.

That's fair. She has shown no evidence she can lead so she has a tall hill to climb.

 

[Peas29]

Will surprise me if bad since before DD arrived we had 30 wins that season. And nearly that many the 2 years before that.

Sure, HW is responsible for the overall result. She is the coach. But just like with injuries, some things are difficult to control.

The beating of 3 of the final four teams compared to the losing 3 times to Alabama is about chemistry not coaching.

No one is more sad than me that DD wouldn't stay and change her attitude and leave a winning legacy. But as before, she talked a big game and wasn't willing to do what it took to see it through.

Here's to a new season!

I am still trying to see what others see when it comes to the negative remarks of DD. She played hard and without her imagine how many games we would have won. Not too many that's for sure. The problem was the team wasn't as talented around her as people seem to think. A lot of her turnovers were due to lack of good hands of those who she passed it to. UT offense wasn't designed for her to flourish like she could have. No 1 on that team wanted to win more than her. And for people that probably never played sports to bash a player efforts that wasnt on that court with them is ridiculous. Tennessee fans will turn on their players as quick as any fanbase I am familiar with. Not all but quite a few. They way some of these posters talk about previous players are clueless and love hearing themselves.

 

[lvfan35yr]

I am still trying to see what others see when it comes to the negative remarks of DD. She played hard and without her imagine how many games we would have won. Not too many that's for sure. The problem was the team wasn't as talented around her as people seem to think. A lot of her turnovers were due to lack of good hands of those who she passed it to. UT offense wasn't designed for her to flourish like she could have. No 1 on that team wanted to win more than her. And for people that probably never played sports to bash a player efforts that wasnt on that court with them is ridiculous. Tennessee fans will turn on their players as quick as any fanbase I am familiar with. Not all but quite a few. They way some of these posters talk about previous players are clueless and love hearing themselves.

she gone move on on n great players make others round her better which she didn't lots of times.you talk bout her passes on not catchable then why throw them if she knew they couldn't be caught.she was obviously the best player on the team n i liked her n still do but she was no gordon,holdsclaw,catch,parker.charles.they made their teammates better n won!!!

 

[lvfan35yr]

she gone move on on n great players make others round her better which she didn't lots of times.you talk bout her passes on not catchable then why throw them if she knew they couldn't be caught.she was obviously the best player on the team n i liked her n still do but she was no gordon,holdsclaw,catch,parker.charles.they made their teammates better n won!!!

my aunt played for coach pat in 74-76 when she was the toughest n i have played sports since i was 3 n she played hard but face it we didn't win anything when she played.no sec championships n course no final 4's.we had best chance against syracuse but she n whole team choked thats just fact.she went away in lousville game last yr but it didn't all fall on her i know cause team wasn't just that competetive last yr but this teams seams be so dd gone n we will live wthout her.

 

[Nuyoika]

What improvements are you referencing?

The three things that I noticed were:

1. They did shoot the ball a little bit better. Only 5 games where they didn't get to 60 points as opposed to the previous year where it was literally 15 games... now some of those games they won and some they lost but that is way too many games to not reach 60 points with the offense weapons they had.

2. I actually saw them set a screen other than a pick n roll which I had not seen the previous season.

3. At times they showed the appropriate spacing and movements to begin a motion offense. Very similar to how UConn starts almost every non-transition offensive set. It always broke down pretty quickly so it was clearly new to them but it shows that they must have been trying to learn it in practice.

 

[gule]

yuck yuck yuck, so funny!

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

If everything you say about Diamond/Te'a is true, do you think that Geno, Muffett, Kim, etc... would have been in the dark about what was happening on their team? I don't believe that for a second.

Even if they were that bad, Holly did a poor job in getting things under order. If I understand correctly, it wasn't even her choice to kick Te'a off the team.

Holly's name should be coming up on the Blame Chart way before Diamond or Te'a's.

I just saw this ... im not saying they were “that bad” what I am saying is that the coaches aren’t with the team 24/7... so if a fight happened in the dorm/apartments what does the head coach have to do with that? Especially if it was a heated exchange all of a sudden. I’ve seen situations things go from 1 to 100 in the blink of an eye without any preceding issues all because tempers flare. PLUS if you go back and read what I said I clearly stated the buck begins and stops with the coach. I didn’t through DD or Tea’s name around like that. I was addressing a comment made about her being a disruption and the comment of why was it all of a sudden. I said 1. there were stronger leaders to get things under control 2. Maybe it was the fact she didn’t travel with the team since it has been said she was around all the time and that simply wasn’t the case. I’m not saying she did or did not contribute to the dismay or the lack of chemistry. I was just addressing what was previously posted.

But to answer your questions about other coaches I dont think their players run back and tell them everything... nope! However when you bring up Kim Mulkey to me YOU NEED to seperate her winning from her being able to control anything because she was the one that said those disrespectful things about the rape victim(s) in Waco! So who the freak knows what she would be in the dark about or not address just to win? Again I’m not placing blame on ANYone just replying to post. Sorry for the late response but I didn’t want this to go unaddressed. Hopefully we will have a great season ahead and everyone will be happy both in the court, off the court, and with the team chemistry. I looked at the player interviews and they seem to really like each other which is a good thing for when things are going good or when they get tough! Thanks for the reply though, always enjoy discussing b-ball in a respectful manner!

 

[FrozenLVFan]

I just saw this ... im not saying they were “that bad” what I am saying is that the coaches aren’t with the team 24/7... so if a fight happened in the dorm/apartments what does the head coach have to do with that? Especially if it was a heated exchange all of a sudden. I’ve seen situations things go from 1 to 100 in the blink of an eye without any preceding issues all because tempers flare. PLUS if you go back and read what I said I clearly stated the buck begins and stops with the coach.

I don't want to get into more speculation about specific players, but I have to disagree with the bolded part. Guys get into abrupt fights and just as quickly fist bump and get over them. Girls let things simmer along, resent each other, pick at each other, rearrange their BFF's, then maybe have a fight, which doesn't clear the air at all or makes things worse. I'd wager this whole sorry episode was just one more thing in the personality/chemistry issues that had plagued this team for several years. And I think that lack of player leadership was as much or more to blame than coaching supervision.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

I don't want to get into more speculation about specific players, but I have to disagree with the bolded part. Guys get into abrupt fights and just as quickly fist bump and get over them. Girls let things simmer along, resent each other, pick at each other, rearrange their BFF's, then maybe have a fight, which doesn't clear the air at all or makes things worse. I'd wager this whole sorry episode was just one more thing in the personality/chemistry issues that had plagued this team for several years. And I think that lack of player leadership was as much or more to blame than coaching supervision.

Guys also let things simmer and boil over while some girls also hug it out and let stuff go! It is about the person not the gender... and AGAIN my post wasn’t to point fingers but it is in response to others who have posted!

 

[gule]

I've raised 3 daughters and I never saw any of them "let stuff go". They hold grudges to the death amongst themselves and their friends and classmates.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

I've raised 3 daughters and I never saw any of them "let stuff go". They hold grudges to the death amongst themselves and their friends and classmates.

Ha well I have three sisters and I have seen them going from being mad at each other to turning on me... lol so yea they can let stuff go.