One thing I noticed

#1

bobkitten

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#1
In another game (FSU vs Texas?) was EVERYBODY on the team getting down the court at pretty much the same time (fast) and EVERYBODY going up for the rebound each time! Offense or defense!

Heck, half the time at least, we have the ball being shot (and goal missed) when 1-2 members of the team are barely across the half court! And when the ball IS shot, we have far too many of the 5 on court just w a t c h i n g it go and start to come down before any movement on their part.

I was really struck by that other team having every player going for, and seemingly convinced they would have, every rebound. Almost like it was required that they go, like there was a bounty on the rebound or something!

Anyone else want to share an observation?
 
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#4
#4
In another game (FSU vs Texas?) was EVERYBODY on the team getting down the court at pretty much the same time (fast) and EVERYBODY going up for the rebound each time! Offense or defense!

Heck, half the time at least, we have the ball being shot (and goal missed) when 1-2 members of the team are barely across the half court! And when the ball IS shot, we have far too many of the 5 on court just w a t c h i n g it go and start to come down before any movement on their part.

I was really struck by that other team having every player going for, and seemingly convinced they would have, every rebound. Almost like it was required that they go, like there was a bounty on the rebound or something!

Anyone else want to share an observation?

You are correct! As I watched the game the other night, I thought about the 2 pillars that Pat built this program on....defense and rebounding! On a couple of occasions I was looking at the tv screen and a shot was made with NO LV jerseys inside the paint...inexcusable...and Pat would turn over in her grave if she could witness the lack of priority on solid defense and rebounding. When I checked a week or so ago, Tennessee had given up the 3rd most points of any SEC school (matador defense), and the 2 teams more generous than the LV'S had sub 500 records...but Holly says, they play hard and practice hard...and her assertion that "we're a great team" doesn't pass the "eye" test...
 
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#5
#5
I think a lot of that matador defense is the players not trying to get in foul trouble seeing that we have a short bench with very little help.
 
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#6
#6
My high school coach always preached "Sprint on defense Run on offense".

At the time we made fun of it because it was dumb, but it made sense. Defense in basketball is where the game is won and lost for most teams.
 
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#7
#7
I think a lot of that matador defense is the players not trying to get in foul trouble seeing that we have a short bench with very little help.

I had a thought about the short bench. Most of the teams we play have starters recruited at or below our 4 bench players. I say play them all. Who knows maybe Nunn, Harris and Dunbar may get in the flow if given a chance of more than a few minutes here and there.
 
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#10
#10
After watching most of the USCe-UConn game, those teams played with purpose, strategy & hustle...ALL of which are painfully absent with the Lady Vols. :whistling:
 
#11
#11
Sad to see what's happened to the Lady Vols

I will not make another trip to TBA until there is a new coach. Was at the TAMU game. What I witnessed was pathetic.

There are couple of exceptions, but these players act like the entitled to be there, expect things to go their way, put out little effort at the hustle part of the game. The offense is atrocious at best. The rebounding is nonexistent.

These players and coaches don't overcome adversity, cave and don't fight back.

Even the crowd and environment in the arena has changed. Less of the pep band but plenty of piped in music. Yuk! The best part of that game was the frisbee dogs at halftime. Meanwhile the fans are too busy chowing down on popcorn and nachos. Better wake up folks, the game has passed the coach by and she's too stubborn or dumb to notice.
 
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#12
#12
Sad to see what's happened to the Lady Vols

I will not make another trip to TBA until there is a new coach. Was at the TAMU game. What I witnessed was pathetic.

There are couple of exceptions, but these players act like the entitled to be there, expect things to go their way, put out little effort at the hustle part of the game. The offense is atrocious at best. The rebounding is nonexistent.

These players and coaches don't overcome adversity, cave and don't fight back.

Even the crowd and environment in the arena has changed. Less of the pep band but plenty of piped in music. Yuk! The best part of that game was the frisbee dogs at halftime. Meanwhile the fans are too busy chowing down on popcorn and nachos. Better wake up folks, the game has passed the coach by and she's too stubborn or dumb to notice.
I have tickets to Greenville for the SEC tourney in a couple of weeks. Only time I will see the LVOLS live this year. Wondering if there will be many orange shirts in the crowd? It's an 8 hour drive for me. Knoxville to Greenville is half (?) that. Sad to see the program decline. LVFL.....
 
#13
#13
Nunn had 15pt 15 RBs but I didn't see her much in the 4th. Was she in foul trouble? Did I miss something?
 
#15
#15
Well she should have played unless it was a conditioning issue or foul trouble but she stays in if I'm the coach. She was the only player other that Mercedes willing to play hard.
 
#16
#16
In another game (FSU vs Texas?) was EVERYBODY on the team getting down the court at pretty much the same time (fast) and EVERYBODY going up for the rebound each time! Offense or defense!

Heck, half the time at least, we have the ball being shot (and goal missed) when 1-2 members of the team are barely across the half court! And when the ball IS shot, we have far too many of the 5 on court just w a t c h i n g it go and start to come down before any movement on their part.

I was really struck by that other team having every player going for, and seemingly convinced they would have, every rebound. Almost like it was required that they go, like there was a bounty on the rebound or something!

Anyone else want to share an observation?

We seldom gang rebound. I hate to bring up UCONN, however, they gang rebound, though most times, this year, they have played well and even out rebound taller teams. We are too busy running towards the obsite end insteading of blocking out and cleaning the glass. We lack the aggression that other teams have, case and point, the last two games. TA&M and Alabama were crashing the boards and either we only had one person going for the rebound against two or more players or we were running to the obsite end. If you go back and look at those games you will see players, including Russell, standing around while one Lady Vol was trying to fend off several opponent players. I watched Nunn fighting for rebounds while other Lady Vols stood around and watched. This team rarely plays with a sense of urgency. These are coaching issues. My biggest fear is next year we will have better players but not the motivation to consistently achieve at a high level, or the level of our players' talents.
 
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#18
#18
I think a lot of that matador defense is the players not trying to get in foul trouble seeing that we have a short bench with very little help.

There are a lot of teams that have short benches but they are aggressive, Texas A&M, UCONN last year and only play consistently 8 players this year, Missouri, etc. I think the lack of a consistent good attitude, effort and motivation is the issue more than a short bench.
 
#20
#20
I would rather have my players foul out or in foul trouble for actually playing... Most of the time they look like they might as well be in the stands with popcorn. With a short bench you have to have a next man up mentality. If someone gets in foul trouble then the next person down the line needs to step up and think of it as an opportunity to earn more playing time. I mean isn't that what you spend all that time in practice for? People need to stop pretending that the issues this team is going through have never been seen in basketball before. They aren't the first team ever to deal with a short bench or foul trouble. Are they even aggressive enough on D to have dealt with foul trouble a lot up until this point? Show me a game where they lot solely on foul trouble. They got problems way beyond that... fixable ones. Work on what you can control, that is what practice is for. You cannot control what the ref is going to call.
 
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#21
#21
I would rather have my players foul out or in foul trouble for actually playing... Most of the time they look like they might as well be in the stands with popcorn. With a short bench you have to have a next man up mentality. If someone gets in foul trouble then the next person down the line needs to step up and think of it as an opportunity to earn more playing time. I mean isn't that what you spend all that time in practice for? People need to stop pretending that the issues this team is going through have never been seen in basketball before. They aren't the first team ever to deal with a short bench or foul trouble. Are they even aggressive enough on D to have dealt with foul trouble a lot up until this point? Show me a game where they lot solely on foul trouble. They got problems way beyond that... fixable ones. Work on what you can control, that is what practice is for. You cannot control what the ref is going to call.

I think they've had their fair share of games where they showed they can play effective defense without fouling. The SC and ND immediately come to mind. With MR, I get that she's too important to risk foul trouble, but sometimes I just want her to send someone to the deck to make them think twice about coming into her space...foul or no foul. She lacks that nastiness that is needed, even in games where she's not in foul trouble in the 2nd half.

Diamond is the only one who seems to get the idea of playing aggressive defense and not being afraid to pick up fouls. Same with MeMe, but she's not a very effective defensive player.
 
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