Penn State Game Recap

#1

clkou

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#1
That game was a mixed bag for me. I have such high hopes every year for the Lady Vols and when you're early in the season in a tight game with an unranked team at home it's hard to feel good about it. But, Penn State just wouldn't miss a LOT of tough shots. I thought the defense for the most part looked pretty tough from the eye test. But, when you've got foul happy refs who didn't seem to be consistent to both teams AND the other team just keeps hitting tough shot after tough shot, I'm not sure what else they could have done.

I thought the player substitutions were bad. Dunbar looked good early and got too few minutes. Jones looked bad and had too many minutes. I said it a lot last year and unfortunately will have to repeat myself this year but despite Jones athleticism, she is just not a top performing basketball player. She looks tentative and confused on offense. She CONSISTENTLY turns the ball over too much.

Speaking of turnovers, my gosh we are still turning the ball over too much. I just HATE that feeling that they don't value possessions. I can forgive and live with poor shooting any night but turnovers just drive me nuts and it seems to be a staple of the Lady Vols program lately.

I like that Mercedes seems to have improved her agility what looked 50% better than where it used to be. I wish her strength had improved similarly but tonight it only seemed maybe 10% to 15% better. I think she's going to have to learn to be a finesse player and that will require a lot of agility.

I like that Diamond and Tea look like they have a natural feel for the game – high basketball IQ's.

I feel like the offense continues to lack movement and pace. I know it's early and I know the defense was playing a lot of zone, but the standing around is starting to be another bad trademark.

Graves looks like she finally is becoming the player we wanted after a breakout Freshman year. Hopefully she stays consistent.

The team shot 1 for 12 or 8% from the 3 point line. Ouch. Hopefully that was just a early season anomaly.

Moving forward I hope these are the starters, but unfortunately I rarely get to see the starting line-up I like to see:

Te'a Cooper G
Diamond DeShields G
Andraya Carter G
Bashaara Graves F
Mercedes Russell C
 
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#2
#2
I agree about the refs,the NCAA is going to screw up womens Basketball with all these changes,I personally liked the way it was played a couple of years ago,before all these mystery fouls started happening

and all the turnovers is a bad sign to start the season with,I was hoping they would have came out and shown some ball control,of course it is awful early to be gripping much about it:) we will need to see some more basketball played first

Jones needs the work,she has been out for a long time and looks rusty as hell,but she will improve,with time on the court,hopefully they can manage that and be willing to replace her if it is going badly
 
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#3
#3
That game was a mixed bag for me. I have such high hopes every year for the Lady Vols and when you're early in the season in a tight game with an unranked team at home it's hard to feel good about it. But, Penn State just wouldn't miss a LOT of tough shots. I thought the defense for the most part looked pretty tough from the eye test. But, when you've got foul happy refs who didn't seem to be consistent to both teams AND the other team just keeps hitting tough shot after tough shot, I'm not sure what else they could have done.

I thought the player substitutions were bad. Dunbar looked good early and got too few minutes. Jones looked bad and had too many minutes. I said it a lot last year and unfortunately will have to repeat myself this year but despite Jones athleticism, she is just not a top performing basketball player. She looks tentative and confused on offense. She CONSISTENTLY turns the ball over too much.

Speaking of turnovers, my gosh we are still turning the ball over too much. I just HATE that feeling that they don't value possessions. I can forgive and live with poor shooting any night but turnovers just drive me nuts and it seems to be a staple of the Lady Vols program lately.

I like that Mercedes seems to have improved her agility what looked 50% better than where it used to be. I wish her strength had improved similarly but tonight it only seemed maybe 10% to 15% better. I think she's going to have to learn to be a finesse player and that will require a lot of agility.

I like that Diamond and Tea look like they have a natural feel for the game – high basketball IQ's.

I feel like the offense continues to lack movement and pace. I know it's early and I know the defense was playing a lot of zone, but the standing around is starting to be another bad trademark.

Graves looks like she finally is becoming the player we wanted after a breakout Freshman year. Hopefully she stays consistent.

The team shot 1 for 12 or 8% from the 3 point line. Ouch. Hopefully that was just a early season anomaly.

Moving forward I hope these are the starters, but unfortunately I rarely get to see the starting line-up I like to see:

Te'a Cooper G
Diamond DeShields G
Andraya Carter G
Bashaara Graves F
Mercedes Russell C

Pretty much the way it looked from my seat. I thought the refs affected the game early on. Did not seem to be consistent and loved to call touch fouls. The girls just need to learn...don't do that. Most refs love to call them and don't care if someone gets mugged in the paint. In fairness to Mercedes those girls were BIG, not just tall, and they played rough! She does need to get stronger; I'm sure they are working with her on that. Bash looked great; it worries me that she takes such a beating. Several times I could tell she was hurting. Not too happy with tonight, but they are still learning to play together. Penn State probably played their regular line up the first two games and we were playing a hodge podge line up. Bottom line is we need shooters to make baskets; that is always what seems to come up and bite us. Hopefully they will start to gel and hit, and the Syracuse game will give us a better read.

Go Lady Vols!
 
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#4
#4
The refs made some screamer bad calls. Diamond was called for a block because the refs confused the men's and women's circle in the paint. But, the bigger problem was the turn overs. Because of the early season injuries and suspensions, the team has not had a lot of time to build continuity and some players like Jones and DeShields are clearly rusty. So, the turnovers should turnover should abate as the season goes on. But Carter needs to play better and show more leadership on the court.
 
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#5
#5
Well, there was also the time they spent in Italy that should have helped chemistry and leadership emerge early.

I just listened to the game on the radio, but could hear the discombobulation.
 
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#6
#6
That game was a mixed bag for me. I have such high hopes every year for the Lady Vols and when you're early in the season in a tight game with an unranked team at home it's hard to feel good about it. But, Penn State just wouldn't miss a LOT of tough shots. I thought the defense for the most part looked pretty tough from the eye test. But, when you've got foul happy refs who didn't seem to be consistent to both teams AND the other team just keeps hitting tough shot after tough shot, I'm not sure what else they could have done.

I thought the player substitutions were bad. Dunbar looked good early and got too few minutes. Jones looked bad and had too many minutes. I said it a lot last year and unfortunately will have to repeat myself this year but despite Jones athleticism, she is just not a top performing basketball player. She looks tentative and confused on offense. She CONSISTENTLY turns the ball over too much.

Speaking of turnovers, my gosh we are still turning the ball over too much. I just HATE that feeling that they don't value possessions. I can forgive and live with poor shooting any night but turnovers just drive me nuts and it seems to be a staple of the Lady Vols program lately.

I like that Mercedes seems to have improved her agility what looked 50% better than where it used to be. I wish her strength had improved similarly but tonight it only seemed maybe 10% to 15% better. I think she's going to have to learn to be a finesse player and that will require a lot of agility.

I like that Diamond and Tea look like they have a natural feel for the game – high basketball IQ's.

I feel like the offense continues to lack movement and pace. I know it's early and I know the defense was playing a lot of zone, but the standing around is starting to be another bad trademark.

Graves looks like she finally is becoming the player we wanted after a breakout Freshman year. Hopefully she stays consistent.

The team shot 1 for 12 or 8% from the 3 point line. Ouch. Hopefully that was just a early season anomaly.

Moving forward I hope these are the starters, but unfortunately I rarely get to see the starting line-up I like to see:

Te'a Cooper G
Diamond DeShields G
Andraya Carter G
Bashaara Graves F
Mercedes Russell C

Good assessment. Some of the players Holly favors just perplexes me. Maybe Jones' defense is just so unworldly good and I just don't recognize it. Offensively she is a turnover waiting to happen. Also, Diamond, Jordon, and Jones 7-27 about I think not good. Can't have those players only making 25% of their shots.
 
#7
#7
If Holly doesn't recognize Dunbar's basketball IQ and get her more minutes then she is going to miss the boat this year with this team again. If she can't see this what else can't she see.
 
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#8
#8
That penn st team almost lost to holy cross at home (went to OT) and barely got by Fordham at home

Holly is playing a lot of different combos to get her rotation right..but there is no combination of Lady Vols that should have came that close to a loss

I think we will be fine once she gets her rotation settled though
 
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#9
#9
If Holly doesn't recognize Dunbar's basketball IQ and get her more minutes then she is going to miss the boat this year with this team again. If she can't see this what else can't she see.
I think it was a mistake not to put Dunbar on the floor as a three last night against the zone. Move the ball and get her an open look. What could it hurt? We didn't get anything out of the ones that were out there.
 
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#10
#10
The refs made some screamer bad calls. Diamond was called for a block because the refs confused the men's and women's circle in the paint. But, the bigger problem was the turn overs. Because of the early season injuries and suspensions, the team has not had a lot of time to build continuity and some players like Jones and DeShields are clearly rusty. So, the turnovers should turnover should abate as the season goes on. But Carter needs to play better and show more leadership on the court.

I thought they were the same.????
 
#11
#11
This game exposed us in two ways.

1. Zone offense needs to change. We stood way too much. Jasmine Jones can not be on the perimeter on the zone on the offensive side (I demand it). YOU DON'T BEAT A ZONE BY DRIBBLING.
Oh by the way.. Syracuse = 2-3 zone the whole game!

When PSU played us man, we looked good (for early in the season) The problem was, they didn't play us man hardly at all. I really like our offensive concept this year when we are being played man to man. Problem being, 4 around 1 motion offense won't work against a zone, and we still tried to run that. YOU CAN'T DO THAT. Take out Jones and put in Dunbar at the 3 for zone offense.

2. Player rotation/lineup
Our best line-up so far. Coop, Carter, Diamond, Graves, Russell.
You guys are forgetting, Carter LED the SEC in steals last year. That means extra possessions. Middleton needs to back up Carter (her defensive intensity looks great) Dunbar is playing better than Jones at this point, but as the season goes on, I think Jones will improve. I would of liked to see MeMe out their instead of the Jones/Reynolds look.

Glad we won, player rotation by the coaching staff was awful. Plenty of time to change it though, I'm not worried. I'll end by saying this line that really sums up the whole team and our player.
"Diamond in the rough"
 
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#12
#12
I thought they were the same.????

They were until this season. The restricted area has been extended to 4' for the men but remains at 3' for the women. Look carefully next game and you will see two lines of demarcation for this now exist. Diamond was just outside the 3' area when she got called, incorrectly, for a block.
 
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#13
#13
Should consider it a lucky win. Penn State's number one scorer, Brianna Banks, was knocked out of the game in the first few minutes. If they didn't lose there number one offensive weapon and best defender we might be complaining about a loss instead of an ugly win.
 
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#14
#14
They were until this season. The restricted area has been extended to 4' for the men but remains at 3' for the women. Look carefully next game and you will see two lines of demarcation for this now exist. Diamond was just outside the 3' area when she got called, incorrectly, for a block.

Thanks. I had missed that on the rules changes, and, when I searched online, I did not find it. I knew madtown's posts are accurate though so that's why I asked here. Quicker and more accurate:). (See, you're already an asset to the forum...kinder and gentler.)
 
#15
#15
And both their post were hampered by foul trouble. We were luck to win and it should not have been that way!! Like one of the posters said every year I get my hopes up only to see more of the same. I know it's early but your better teams should be better early.
 
#16
#16
They were until this season. The restricted area has been extended to 4' for the men but remains at 3' for the women. Look carefully next game and you will see two lines of demarcation for this now exist. Diamond was just outside the 3' area when she got called, incorrectly, for a block.
I just went back and watched the re-play and Diamonds heels were on the men's arc. She was almost clear of it so she was about a foot clear of the women's arc.
 
#17
#17
I also saw where Banks was injured. It was in the scrum in front of the basket and Cooper dove in along with several Penn State players. I think Cooper is the one that got her ankle, not on purpose of course, it was just a play. Banks got to the other end limping and on the way back up court after hat play she could barely put weight on it. The announcers said it looked like she came down funny and she did because she only jumped on one leg because she was already hurt. Hope it's just a sprain and nothing serious.
 
#18
#18
I just went back and watched the re-play and Diamonds heels were on the men's arc. She was almost clear of it so she was about a foot clear of the women's arc.

Holly was furious at that call. It looked like the other two refs tried to get him to change it. Can they change a blown call, is there replay allowed for something so egregious, or is the player/team just out of luck when the official is so inept? And that guy was INEPT! Which is being very complimentary towards him.
 
#19
#19
Don't forget the fair share of luck Penn State had by hitting very tough well contested shots some of which were just to get it off before the shot clock or quarter ended.
 
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#20
#20
I figured out why dunbar sat the last 8.5 minutes. If you watch the start of the 4th period, you'll see she was dogging it on defense. slow to react and out of position. might have to let her shoot the ball once in a damn while coach to get her energy up. :(
 
#21
#21
Thank goodness we had DD and they didn't. She might have missed some shots but her assists/passing made more than up for that.
 
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#22
#22
Frankly, I expected this team to look much better than it did last night. The 42 called fouls in 40 minutes of game time were a factor for both teams...enough to almost turn you against watching...just terrible. I was expecting better execution...blown layups at any point in the season are inexcusable. Diamond is the best I've ever seen passing the ball...but she is rusty with her shot and that will take some games to improve. Sure, Penn State hit some tough shots, almost 50 per cent in the 2nd half, but the LV defense didn't bring it's "A" game...Whited dominated in the paint...16 rebounds and 20 some points. Dunbar played only 9 minutes and could have been our answer to horrible 3 point shooting...she is over 50 per cent from outside the arc...but wore out the bench for most of the game. Turnovers are back breakers...and our backs are being broken too often!
 
#23
#23
Have we been watching the same Andraya Carter for the last two games. She can't even hit lay ups right now and hasn't been her usual self on defense. Also she's been turning the ball over a lot. From what I've seen it looks like she's just going through the motions. I wouldn't start her right now.
 
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#24
#24
Have we been watching the same Andraya Carter for the last two games. She can't even hit lay ups right now and hasn't been her usual self on defense. Also she's been turning the ball over a lot. From what I've seen it looks like she's just going through the motions. I wouldn't start her right now.

But there are some who say the best lineup includes Carter. I'm not high on Carter but she is excellent at reading the passing lanes and making a steal and she doesn't make the high number of silly turnovers others do. Otherwise, her defense is very overrated - she can't stop dribble penetration any better than any of the other LV's.

If Carter is on the floor, there has to be two other shooters on the perimeter to account for Carter's reluctance to shoot. She should never be on the court with Reynolds or Jones IMO. Thus the Carter, Deshields, Cooper combo may work better.
 
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#25
#25
Should consider it a lucky win. Penn State's number one scorer, Brianna Banks, was knocked out of the game in the first few minutes. If they didn't lose there number one offensive weapon and best defender we might be complaining about a loss instead of an ugly win.

Who is "we"....you're a boneyarder that likes to mosey over here from time to time then run back to the boneyard and talk bad about Tenn!
 
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