#3 Baylor Tops #10 Lady Vols, 76-53

[Slydell]

Originally Posted by armchair

Without Izzy we had no chance. Still, I can't understand why Tennessee puts on its "choke" shoes every time they play Baylor. 17-0 down to start the game? That's absurd. In our last four games against baylor, we have not once shot 30 percent, I don't think. Incredible. Five walk-ons could do better.

I find it unreal, too. Up against Baylor and making shots just goes out the window. I think the first half shooting percentage was around 17%.

[tim]

The bs touch fouls against Bashara set us back early and allowed Griner a free pass in the paint. Its expected though. I think she got called for one foul all night and if someone bodies her up its an instant whistle. Am I making this up or are you guys seeing it also?

[Voluble2]

Originally Posted by tim

The bs touch fouls against Bashara set us back early and allowed Griner a free pass in the paint. Its expected though. I think she got called for one foul all night and if someone bodies her up its an instant whistle. Am I making this up or are you guys seeing it also?

Yep, she gets a lot of calls to go her way. And other than being really tall she doesn't have a huge amount of skill. The women just can't elevate to shoot over her like the men can when they are up against a big center.

The first game against a ranked opponent this year we lost. But the girls saw how you have to play to reach that level and they came out and upped their game.

Now they have seen what it is like to play an elite team. We will see if they can up their game again against Stanford. It is a learning process for this group right now.

They don't have the talent to coast to any wins but they seem to play more as a team than some groups we have had in the past. They will be up and down some as they gain experience.

[Convoluted]

Originally Posted by tim

The bs touch fouls against Bashara set us back early and allowed Griner a free pass in the paint. Its expected though. I think she got called for one foul all night and if someone bodies her up its an instant whistle. Am I making this up or are you guys seeing it also?

Sorry, can't agree. Bashara was doing all she could to defend against Griner. There is no doubt that Graves was fouling with the body. She was keeping her hands straight up, a good idea given she wouldn't be able to reach the ball anyway, but she was definitely banging with the body.

My guess is Harrison was happy to be on the bench in this game. I can't see her giving Griner much trouble and she would probably have gone to the foul line for many additional foul shots.

Thankfully, Baylor wasn't hitting their shots either, so we did better than we played.

I think we have to be realistic about this year. I have to accept that we're just not that good. We're nowhere near the level of the top 4 teams. I'm just hoping that we stay in the top 25 next week.

Also, calling Griner a man smacks of being a sore loser. Not very admirable and tears down the Lady Vol image. I'm surprised the Moderators don't smack down that type of talk. Allowing it lessens the quality of this site.

[Escape Goat]

Pathetic display IMO.

[Volfan2012]

Happily this is the last time we will see Griner. If they come to Knoxville next season no Griner and we'll have Russell hopefully we can finally get a win against them.

[Volnut]

I heard just a bit of Basilio going off on Griner this morning and the thing that stood out is that Griner supposedly turned down the chance to play for the Olympic team this past Summer because she wanted to spend more time with family. What is telling about that is that if she were to have tried out for the Olympic team, she may have had to prove she was a woman and the NCAA apparently does not require that. Personally I've seen too many pictures of her Adam's Apple to believe that she is a woman.

[Convoluted]

Originally Posted by Volnut

I heard just a bit of Basilio going off on Griner this morning and the thing that stood out is that Griner supposedly turned down the chance to play for the Olympic team this past Summer because she wanted to spend more time with family. What is telling about that is that if she were to have tried out for the Olympic team, she may have had to prove she was a woman and the NCAA apparently does not require that. Personally I've seen too many pictures of her Adam's Apple to believe that she is a woman.

And if Griner was a Lady Vol, would you still have the same opinion? If you did some research, you'd find that many women have large adams apples. I don't notice you questioning Graves' gender because of her manly shoulders.
Basilio is hardly a model of intelligent opinion. In fact he's just the opposite. He'd love for Tennessee to lower the academic standards to widen the recruiting pool to get players that can't get into any other school.

[Voluble2]

Originally Posted by Convoluted

He'd love for Tennessee to lower the academic standards to widen the recruiting pool to get players that can't get into any other school.

I think we would all love that. There is no downside to giving someone a chance to play pro-ball and unfortunately the only way to go pro in football or women's basketball is to go through college.

Making athletes pass college courses in order to pursue their profession makes no more sense than making someone bench press 300lbs or run a 5 minute mile if they want to be a lawyer or engineer. One has nothing to do with the other and they should not be linked.

While we have this completely nonsensical system in place it only makes sense to offer some special dispensation to people who don't have a college level intellect. Otherwise people will just cheat even more because they know the system as it currently exists is completely immoral and deserves to be gamed at every possible opportunity.

So yeah, Tony is a moron but he is right about this. And in Tennessee's case athletes can't even get in here that could get into Vanderbilt. Tell me that isn't all kinds of screwed up!

[Slydell]

Originally Posted by Volnut

I heard just a bit of Basilio going off on Griner this morning and the thing that stood out is that Griner supposedly turned down the chance to play for the Olympic team this past Summer because she wanted to spend more time with family. What is telling about that is that if she were to have tried out for the Olympic team, she may have had to prove she was a woman and the NCAA apparently does not require that. Personally I've seen too many pictures of her Adam's Apple to believe that she is a woman.

What is telling about that is that Basillio needs to check his facts or present the whole story. Sounds like the typical on air hack trying to stir things up to get more listeners. The other thing that is telling is that I would think an intelligent person would seek out the facts rather than have something spoon fed via the air waves. I'm not sure if the word "supposedly" is yours or Ms. Basillio's.

[Escape Goat]

Originally Posted by Slydell

What is telling about that is that Basillio needs to check his facts or present the whole story. Sounds like the typical on air hack trying to stir things up to get more listeners. The other thing that is telling is that I would think an intelligent person would seek out the facts rather than have something spoon fed via the air waves. I'm not sure if the word "supposedly" is yours or Ms. Basillio's.

You get on to people that call Griner a man, but you call Tony Basilio Ms. Basilio?

[Slydell]

Originally Posted by Escape Goat

You get on to people that call Griner a man, but you call Tony Basilio Ms. Basilio?

I think it's fair. Does he have an adam's apple? I haven't seen it.

[emkyle]

Can we not all agree that there Is a very good chance that Griner is transgender? There are other transgenders that are infiltrating woman's college bb this season at a lower level. Does this not present a very unfair advantage? I realize that Griner Is not to be blamed for how she was created but there must be some line drawn at the ncaa level. What if a talented male athlete had a complete sex change operation and legally assumed a woman's identity? Should that individual be eligible as well? In today's twisted society, these examples are real possibilities.

[Convoluted]

Originally Posted by Voluble2

I think we would all love that. There is no downside to giving someone a chance to play pro-ball and unfortunately the only way to go pro in football or women's basketball is to go through college.

Making athletes pass college courses in order to pursue their profession makes no more sense than making someone bench press 300lbs or run a 5 minute mile if they want to be a lawyer or engineer. One has nothing to do with the other and they should not be linked.

While we have this completely nonsensical system in place it only makes sense to offer some special dispensation to people who don't have a college level intellect. Otherwise people will just cheat even more because they know the system as it currently exists is completely immoral and deserves to be gamed at every possible opportunity.

So yeah, Tony is a moron but he is right about this. And in Tennessee's case athletes can't even get in here that could get into Vanderbilt. Tell me that isn't all kinds of screwed up!

I agree with you regarding athletes and academics. But the rules should be changed for all schools. I wouldn't want to see Tennessee dumb down the standards to attract the stars with no interest or ability for academics while other schools maintain the higher standards. It makes the school look bad. Athletes should be able to major in "Professional Athletics" a major that doesn't have strict admission standards. They would have subjects like dealing with agents, finances, psychology of sports, etc. Things that would benefit them if they did become a pro.

[Convoluted]

Originally Posted by emkyle

Can we not all agree that there Is a very good chance that Griner is transgender? There are other transgenders that are infiltrating woman's college bb this season at a lower level. Does this not present a very unfair advantage? I realize that Griner Is not to be blamed for how she was created but there must be some line drawn at the ncaa level. What if a talented male athlete had a complete sex change operation and legally assumed a woman's identity? Should that individual be eligible as well? In today's twisted society, these examples are real possibilities.

I don't see how we can agree. Her voice is deep. What other characteristics point to transgender? She doesn't have male muscle mass, she doesn't have the protruding brow bone that males have.

Regarding unfair advantage, it isn't relevant. Candace Parker's height and talent was an unfair advantage. Should she have been banned? Just be thankful that Griner will graduate. No need to dehumanize her by the unsubstantiated insults.