I have to admit this situation is absurd to me.

[Voltopia]

I just want to point out, if I might take a moment, the relative absurdity of this situation. Tennessee is 14-4. When has anyone ever heard of a program firing a women's basketball coach mid-season for having fourteen wins and four losses? And yet here we are, mired in arguments about coaching and making changes, with that record and with a second year coach.

I know Tennessee is a premiere program and our pedigree in this field is as good as it gets, but there's something about this that, even after today's disappointing loss, makes me laugh. Not at the program's plight -- missing the Final Four for 5 years is a drought in UT's world -- but just the absurdity of the situation. Who would have thought, twenty years ago, that a women's program would have fans moaning on the internet because their team was 14-4? Who? Would anyone have seen that in 1984? I wonder.

There's a lot at stake in the landscape of women's basketball, and there's a lot we each *feel* is at stake. It's tough to separate it all, and I mean this for myself as much as anyone else. But it isn't just this team. Being 14-4 in many years wouldn't be such a big deal, but this particular year, it's a huge deal. And there's a lot of reasons why it feels that way.

The Lady Vols were once something fans could count on to play hard and win big, and every now and then they might lose *a* game- no more, not in the same sense.

Vol athletics used to be dominant at football and (later) pretty dominant at basketball - no more, not anymore, and that's worn us down a lot I think.

Pat used to the be undisputed best - no more, not now that Geno's notched equal standing in titles, and that pressure has built as he's continued on and we've had to watch Pat step away.

I feel like these pressures are something we have to keep in mind, especially during this turbulent change for a program that basically ran on Pat's will to win for three decades -- and there's no Pat Summitt out there to hire. But we want there to be, because we know *he* is going to keep on winning and we want to stay relevant. It sort of happened with Fulmer as well; a lot of us thought the program was big enough to win no matter who was leading it, and so here we are with our third football coach in five years. Pearl didn't help either, what with his winning using Buzz's castoffs in a single year. Secretly, we want all these programs to be back where they were at their best, without skipping a beat. I'm not sure if that's possible. I'm not sure if Lady Vols will put on a good show in March, or even compete in March, but there is something absurd about where the Lady Vols find themselves today. I have to laugh a little at it -- and at myself.

 

[DeerPark12]

Very well put.

 

[UTjonez]

Nicely done.

 

[TNVolunteerGrad]

Good post.

 

[governmentmule]

well said

 

[Unimane]

These are the type of posts I see when people start making accommodations for mediocrity. This is a top heavy sport with a select few strong programs. Tennessee beating schools that don't give a crap about women's basketball and then losing to the few challenging teams on the schedule is not indicative of a good, healthy program. That's especially true when the team displays all the hallmarks of a poorly coached team, i.e. disorganized, lacking confidence and heart, fading in the second half of tough games, letting mediocre teams stick around, questionable focus, puzzling decision making, etc.

People are rumbling because they see these obvious patterns. You just don't hire a career assistant, especially, especially, to the premier program in the country. The clear hint should have been, when she was hired, the justification was that she deserved a chance due to her loyalty. What?

 

[Decker Moss]

If this was any other sport I would agree with everything you said, but women's basketball is a totally different animal. UT can't afford four or five years of mediocrity, just ask Texas, USC, or , god forbid, Louisiana Tech.

People are rumbling because we should not be in this situation. We have some of the best talent in the game. This is not a rebuilding year. We have the majority of the team back and the top recruit in the nation. We were picked preseason number 3 in the nation. We were talked about as a team that could potentially compete with UConn and go to the Final Four. We will have to win every game the rest of the season to stay a Top Ten team. We were not supposed to be, nor should we be, in this situation.

A few years wandering in the desert in women's basketball and you rarely, if ever, find the promised land again.

 

[Vols4ever]

pretty soon people will be saying we made it to the tourney!!! how can we fire the coach!

 

[dgcarter43]

The mark of a great coach is winning the big games. Holly hasn't been able to do that so far. To be relevant in the national picture, you must win those "big" games against Stanford, Notre Dame, Uconn, Vandy, and those are a must if you want to be a championship team. If you consistantly recruit in the top 5 but end up ranked 10-15, something is wrong.

 

[fade route]

I don't keep up with the Lady Vols because well, its women's bball. That said, VN is lighting up with threads about the demise of the program under Holly. The situation must be pretty dire. Is attendance affected yet?

 

[governmentmule]

I don't keep up with the Lady Vols because well, its women's bball. That said, VN is lighting up with threads about the demise of the program under Holly. The situation must be pretty dire. Is attendance affected yet?

it seems like a lot of others are doing the same fade,it seems there are a bunch of posters calling for another coach to be fired and it is a Lady Vol now

i don't know about dire,ugly so far this year ? yes, i have been wondering what was going on,it seems that the UT fan base wants to fire somebody again, now it makes sense

and i don't know about the attendance record

Attendance: 13346 for the ND game

 

[feathersax]

these are the type of posts i see when people start making accommodations for mediocrity. This is a top heavy sport with a select few strong programs. Tennessee beating schools that don't give a crap about women's basketball and then losing to the few challenging teams on the schedule is not indicative of a good, healthy program. That's especially true when the team displays all the hallmarks of a poorly coached team, i.e. Disorganized, lacking confidence and heart, fading in the second half of tough games, letting mediocre teams stick around, questionable focus, puzzling decision making, etc.

People are rumbling because they see these obvious patterns. You just don't hire a career assistant, especially, especially, to the premier program in the country. The clear hint should have been, when she was hired, the justification was that she deserved a chance due to her loyalty. What?

this!

 

[VolUpInCumming]

These are the type of posts I see when people start making accommodations for mediocrity. This is a top heavy sport with a select few strong programs. Tennessee beating schools that don't give a crap about women's basketball and then losing to the few challenging teams on the schedule is not indicative of a good, healthy program. That's especially true when the team displays all the hallmarks of a poorly coached team, i.e. disorganized, lacking confidence and heart, fading in the second half of tough games, letting mediocre teams stick around, questionable focus, puzzling decision making, etc.

People are rumbling because they see these obvious patterns. You just don't hire a career assistant, especially, especially, to the premier program in the country. The clear hint should have been, when she was hired, the justification was that she deserved a chance due to her loyalty. What?

Very well put.

 

[VolUpInCumming]

If this was any other sport I would agree with everything you said, but women's basketball is a totally different animal. UT can't afford four or five years of mediocrity, just ask Texas, USC, or , god forbid, Louisiana Tech.

People are rumbling because we should not be in this situation. We have some of the best talent in the game. This is not a rebuilding year. We have majority of the team back and the top recruit in the nation. We were picked preseason number 3 in the nation. We were talked about as a team that could potentially compete with UConn and go to the Final Four. We will have to win every game the rest of the season to stay a Top Ten team. We were not supposed to be, nor should we be, in this situation.

A few years wandering in the desert in women's basketball and you rarely, if ever, find the promised land, again.

Nicely done.

 

[VolUpInCumming]

pretty soon people will be saying we made it to the tourney!!! how can we fire the coach!

Good post.

 

[VolUpInCumming]

The mark of a great coach is winning the big games. Holly hasn't been able to do that so far. To be relevant in the national picture, you must win those "big" games against Stanford, Notre Dame, Uconn, Vandy, and those are a must if you want to be a championship team. If you consistantly recruit in the top 5 but end up ranked 10-15, something is wrong.

Well said.

 

[orangeluvr]

Who's evaluating HS prospect's, it's pretty obvious they aren't very good at it. :ermm:

 

[Volfan2012]

Who's evaluating HS prospect's, it's pretty obvious they aren't very good at it. :ermm:

It has to be player development because a lot of the players not playing well were rated very high by ESPN Hoopsgurlz and every other rating service. To add we have the number 5, 8, 28, and 74 of the top 100 coming in next season to add to 1,3,5,5,27,28,42,21,39 and one three star player that very seldom plays.

This means this season we can put 4 top ten players on the court at anytime. Next season we can put five and still have one sitting one the bench.

Players that have played well this season were rated 3,21,28. Players that have played average were rated 1, 27, 42, . Players that have played well below average were rated 5,5, 39

 

[TNRitz]

Well said.

It's funny how quickly people forget that after the exit of Parker, the LVs haven't beaten any top five teams. This includes the few years of Pat's career. I get what you are trying to say, but Pat hasn't always done well against the top teams either.

 

[armchair]

Good post.

And the first way to uphold a tradition is to have great coaching. When PS built this program, you frankly didn't need to be a great coach to win--there weren't many good players and there weren't many good teams and there weren't many good coaches. Now there are lots of good players and lots of great coaches--and if your team is not getting great coaching it is falling behind. And that is what happened to UT starting about a decade ago when PS & Co. could not develop offensive efficiency to go with defense and rebounding. And this remains a problem under Warlick.

Did you hear Holly after this game? She was happy her team competed and happy they played well FOR A HALF. Are you kidding me? Can you imagine PS or Coach K at Duke or ANY coach of any great program saying that? Why has McGraw been schooling us the last few years, and Stanford, too--a team we used to beat regularly? Because our coaching is suspect--because the UT offense has been very inefficient for years, and because we for some reason can no longer stop other good teams. ND doesn't have more talent than we do--it is just a better coached team. That's the bottom line.

We played a very good first half last night--and then fell apart, as we have developed this bizarre habit of doing--when ND ratcheted up its play. We lose patience on offense, take bad shots, miss shots, then lose focus on defense, and then we're into full panic mode. We were in full panic mode in last year's NCAA elite 8 game against Louisville before the game was 8 minutes old. Warlick needs to change this mentality.

Warlick also said last night that when we lose, one big reason is too many turnovers. Wrong! UT has upwards of 20 turnovers in every game it plays! The difference is, you can get away with 20 turnovers against mediocre competition and you can't against good, well-coached teams. Warlick also wants this team to run. We're pretty good when we run--but we also get very sloppy, and it looked like Massengale got tired last night. I think Russell played a big chunk of the second half and through the 10 minute mark or longer didn't even get a shot. Our bigs scored a lot of points in the first half--and then we got ZERO from them in the second, I mean NOTHING. You keep moving the ball and moving until you get an open look--preferably inside. We panic. Warlick & staff have a lot of work to do.

 

[Fijivol72]

I just want to point out, if I might take a moment, the relative absurdity of this situation. Tennessee is 14-4. When has anyone ever heard of a program firing a women's basketball coach mid-season for having fourteen wins and four losses? And yet here we are, mired in arguments about coaching and making changes, with that record and with a second year coach.

I know Tennessee is a premiere program and our pedigree in this field is as good as it gets, but there's something about this that, even after today's disappointing loss, makes me laugh. Not at the program's plight -- missing the Final Four for 5 years is a drought in UT's world -- but just the absurdity of the situation. Who would have thought, twenty years ago, that a women's program would have fans moaning on the internet because their team was 14-4? Who? Would anyone have seen that in 1984? I wonder.

There's a lot at stake in the landscape of women's basketball, and there's a lot we each *feel* is at stake. It's tough to separate it all, and I mean this for myself as much as anyone else. But it isn't just this team. Being 14-4 in many years wouldn't be such a big deal, but this particular year, it's a huge deal. And there's a lot of reasons why it feels that way.

The Lady Vols were once something fans could count on to play hard and win big, and every now and then they might lose *a* game- no more, not in the same sense.

Vol athletics used to be dominant at football and (later) pretty dominant at basketball - no more, not anymore, and that's worn us down a lot I think.

Pat used to the be undisputed best - no more, not now that Geno's notched equal standing in titles, and that pressure has built as he's continued on and we've had to watch Pat step away.

I feel like these pressures are something we have to keep in mind, especially during this turbulent change for a program that basically ran on Pat's will to win for three decades -- and there's no Pat Summitt out there to hire. But we want there to be, because we know *he* is going to keep on winning and we want to stay relevant. It sort of happened with Fulmer as well; a lot of us thought the program was big enough to win no matter who was leading it, and so here we are with our third football coach in five years. Pearl didn't help either, what with his winning using Buzz's castoffs in a single year. Secretly, we want all these programs to be back where they were at their best, without skipping a beat. I'm not sure if that's possible. I'm not sure if Lady Vols will put on a good show in March, or even compete in March, but there is something absurd about where the Lady Vols find themselves today. I have to laugh a little at it -- and at myself.

Thanks for joining Vol Nation Holly and we have heard your side. Now here is the disgruntled side. You inherited and accepted a historic program with talent. The team could be 14-4 without a coach and you have inspired no one. In two years you have NO signature wins outside the SEC and have up to this point not progressed in the NCAA tourney more than the second round. Holly the job is too big for you and you have to move on before you destroy everything that your friend built. One last thing in your post game last night you did not take the blame and said the team gave it's all. Really??? Have we because of you resigned ourselves to your mediocre coaching?

 

[Benionsopinion]

One thing for all of us to ponder is---how do you coach for and with a coaching icon for twenty seven years and not seem to inherit at least a part of the icon's grit and determination to make a team play to the potential it shows.Could it be that,as she acknowledges,she spent more time trying to soothe player's feelings than learning from her mentor? And is that still what she is doing,rather than demanding top notch performance? Praising a team for performance in one half adds to the LVs thinking that maybe they only need to play one half per game.

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

It is not the losing that hurts as much as how we are losing. One of the first signs of being mediocre is becoming complacent. This program has never been mediocre and now I am very much in fear that some of us are becoming complacent in our acceptance of the status quo.

 

[meekfan]

Its all about expectations. We used to be program that EXPECTED to win a NC. As other posters have noted, its an easy slide down on the expectation ladder.
There was an article in a Chicago paper about (who else) UCon. Apparently their state feels the season is a failure if they don't win a NC - its all about expectations.

 

[Convoluted]

One thing for all of us to ponder is---how do you coach for and with a coaching icon for twenty seven years and not seem to inherit at least a part of the icon's grit and determination to make a team play to the potential it shows.Could it be that,as she acknowledges,she spent more time trying to soothe player's feelings than learning from her mentor? And is that still what she is doing,rather than demanding top notch performance? Praising a team for performance in one half adds to the LVs thinking that maybe they only need to play one half per game.

How did the person who selected Holly for the job not know she was unqualified after all those years? Should that person be terminated for making such a bad choice?