Head Coach Holly Warlick talks to the media on Nov. 29, 2016

[governmentmule]

she actually does a better job on interviews when she is standing on a court



University of Tennessee Official Athletic Site - Video

 

[BigOrangeD]

She needs to resign.

 

[VolUpInCumming]

Holly talks like a commentator talking about the Lady Vols, instead of talking like a coach and how she is going to fix things.

 

[TennFan]

If the Lady Vols don't make Sweet 16 or elite 8, she needs to be replaced! Look for an ex-UT player if possible coaching somewhere else.

 

[teacherdean]

Holly talks like a commentator talking about the Lady Vols, instead of talking like a coach and how she is going to fix things.

Holly seems to know what the issues are, however, she does not have a clue how to correct them.

 

[Voltopia]

she actually does a better job on interviews when she is standing on a court

University of Tennessee Official Athletic Site - Video

Three things I think.

(1) I think Holly Warlick knows plenty enough about basketball. I don't think I've ever doubted that part.

(2) I wonder if Holly can figure out how to motivate this team to compete at the level they should be capable of competing at. I know she knows what's wrong. But can she get them to do the things being talked about? That's the 64,000 dollar question. I dearly want her to answer it. I hope her roster will gel.

(3) This is the sort of video that makes me wish people would try a bit more to be objective without taking unnecessary shots at the people who probably care most about this program -- I don't just mean the wins and losses, I mean the department and the institution. Favor and success, outside of a select few people in this game, are fleeting things. Programs get a flash, a moment in the sun, and then fade back to the curve. The fan support is a large part of why the Lady Vols haven't ever faded way. Not yet anyway. But if they stop supporting it, it will fade. It will fade. And getting nasty about things just hastens that, to me. The losses don't help. I get it. So. I hope she figures those girls out.

 

[Ladyvol777]

Three things I think.

(1) I think Holly Warlick knows plenty enough about basketball. I don't think I've ever doubted that part.

(2) I wonder if Holly can figure out how to motivate this team to compete at the level they should be capable of competing at. I know she knows what's wrong. But can she get them to do the things being talked about? That's the 64,000 dollar question. I dearly want her to answer it. I hope her roster will gel.

(3) This is the sort of video that makes me wish people would try a bit more to be objective without taking unnecessary shots at the people who probably care most about this program -- I don't just mean the wins and losses, I mean the department and the institution. Favor and success, outside of a select few people in this game, are fleeting things. Programs get a flash, a moment in the sun, and then fade back to the curve. The fan support is a large part of why the Lady Vols haven't ever faded way. Not yet anyway. But if they stop supporting it, it will fade. It will fade. And getting nasty about things just hastens that, to me. The losses don't help. I get it. So. I hope she figures those girls out.

(2) Holly dose not know how to motivate the players, she is to nice, they know she will not get mad at them.
(3) we will see if the fans come to the game soon this year, hope we have 10,000 or more a game, should have over 15,000 on big game, the fans have been droping ever year since Holly took over.

 

[Voltopia]

(2) Holly dose not know how to motivate the players, she is to nice, they know she will not get mad at them.
(3) we will see if the fans come to the game soon this year, hope we have 10,000 or more a game, should have over 15,000 on big game, the fans have been droping ever year since Holly took over.

(2) We say this all the time - does anyone know it for a fact that Holly doesn't get mad at them? Do we know that she doesn't get in their faces? I always see people saying that but I wonder how many of us are actually inside TBA during practices to know. It was my good fortune to have a few friends who'd drop in quite a bit to see them work (and also to learn from them, to be sure), and I'd go with them whenever I happened to be in the area.

(3) Attendance has been dropping some but that was to be expected after Pat passed. She commanded attention, and had earned it, over the years. That's no dig on Holly, either, there's very few coaches in any sport who have earned that sort of draw. But there's still attitude and all that. I'm not trying to handwave the problems, the problems are evident. I just watch this and think that sometimes feel like a lot of people post on here without actually having firsthand knowledge of what's going on inside the program. Fans do that, we all do. But. We'll see how it goes.

 

[stubbs9]

Diamond stated a few games back that Holly got mad at them and said some words to them at halftime. I never see Muffet get in her girls face or appear mad.

 

[Ladyvol777]

Diamond stated a few games back that Holly got mad at them and said some words to them at halftime. I never see Muffet get in her girls face or appear mad.

I've watch almost all games and go to a few each year and I've never saw Holly get in any girl face, I'm sure she gets on them hard at half as a team. Ever once in a wile they have what she says on tv at half time and I never seen her get made in them. Sometimes they ask the girls what she said at halftime. I have no inside info but can still see a lot.

 

[sisaq]

I've watch almost all games and go to a few each year and I've never saw Holly get in any girl face, I'm sure she gets on them hard at half as a team. Ever once in a wile they have what she says on tv at half time and I never seen her get made in them. Sometimes they ask the girls what she said at halftime. I have no inside info but can still see a lot.

I knew that when pat career came to an end nobody will ever challenge Geno ever. He might win 20 championship be4 he retire.. the way he develop players so fast. Holly on the other hand, her players keep decreasing instead of improving.. This yr, I don't think lady vols will win any rank team.. Wats shocking me is how Kentucky a team that lost almost 8 players still playing great and winning rank teams tells me that Holly can not coach.

 

[madtownvol]

I've watch almost all games and go to a few each year and I've never saw Holly get in any girl face, I'm sure she gets on them hard at half as a team. Ever once in a wile they have what she says on tv at half time and I never seen her get made in them. Sometimes they ask the girls what she said at halftime. I have no inside info but can still see a lot.

Well, in CPS last few season's going back to the "baby vol" season, she was in their faces a lot and definitely getting mad at the players and that did not generate final 4 results.

The problem CPS had (with the caveat that we now know at some point her illness was diminishing her capacities) is that she was not able to develop a cohesive, offensive scheme. Defense and rebounding wins championships when you have superior talent (Hence the LV championship drought ended when CP3 and a absolutely stellar supporting cast were on the team). When you have talent that is at par or even below some of main competitors, then you need more than just defense and rebounding and effort.

The reality is that, despite the high school AA credentials, we have a team of good players with one who can on a given night be brilliant (but is not a consistent game changer). As every other poster has noted, we are running a 1990 offense scheme with poor execution. Getting mad at players does not help much when they are stuck in an unproductive, uncreative system.

 

[Orange_Mamba]

In an interview last she said she didn't know how to get through to the players. She said she'd tried yelling and talking nothing seemed to work. It was about the time the team started dropping games and everybody attributed to chemistry issues.

 

[Nute Gunray]

Well, in CPS last few season's going back to the "baby vol" season, she was in their faces a lot and definitely getting mad at the players and that did not generate final 4 results.

The problem CPS had (with the caveat that we now know at some point her illness was diminishing her capacities) is that she was not able to develop a cohesive, offensive scheme. Defense and rebounding wins championships when you have superior talent (Hence the LV championship drought ended when CP3 and a absolutely stellar supporting cast were on the team). When you have talent that is at par or even below some of main competitors, then you need more than just defense and rebounding and effort.

The reality is that, despite the high school AA credentials, we have a team of good players with one who can on a given night be brilliant (but is not a consistent game changer). As every other poster has noted, we are running a 1990 offense scheme with poor execution. Getting mad at players does not help much when they are stuck in an unproductive, uncreative system.

I agree with this post. CPS and Geno have 18 NCs and counting because both were and are fierce motivators. Geno's edge on CPS is his ability to develop and execute good offensive and defensive schemes. Unfortunately, CHW is nowhere near to the level of CPS and Geno. I see a sad end to a great women's basketball program, regardless of the #1 recruiting class due next year.

 

[volmania8]

I agree with this post. CPS and Geno have 18 NCs and counting because both were and are fierce motivators. Geno's edge on CPS is his ability to develop and execute good offensive and defensive schemes. Unfortunately, CHW is nowhere near to the level of CPS and Geno. I see a sad end to a great women's basketball program, regardless of the #1 recruiting class due next year.

This is what Holly just can't see. If you are not a good offensive minded coach, you have to surround yourself with assistants who are. That is what makes Dawn Staley such a good coach. She is a great defensive minded coach and a great motivator. However, her teams did not run a good half court offense. So, What does she do? She hires one of the best offensive minds in the women's game in Melanie Balcomb. Holly seems to be too stubborn to admit anything is wrong and needing corrected.

 

[sisaq]

This is what Holly just can't see. If you are not a good offensive minded coach, you have to surround yourself with assistants who are. That is what makes Dawn Staley such a good coach. She is a great defensive minded coach and a great motivator. However, her teams did not run a good half court offense. So, What does she do? She hires one of the best offensive minds in the women's game in Melanie Balcomb. Holly seems to be too stubborn to admit anything is wrong and needing corrected.

I use to see freshman players having a big impact when Pat was pat, even other schools but Holly seem not be able to develop them. Give Geno this same lady vols team and watch him easily get to final 4.

 

[Coach Jumper]

This is what Holly just can't see. If you are not a good offensive minded coach, you have to surround yourself with assistants who are. That is what makes Dawn Staley such a good coach. She is a great defensive minded coach and a great motivator. However, her teams did not run a good half court offense. So, What does she do? She hires one of the best offensive minds in the women's game in Melanie Balcomb. Holly seems to be too stubborn to admit anything is wrong and needing corrected.

You nailed it

 

[brassie]

Three things I think.

(1) I think Holly Warlick knows plenty enough about basketball. I don't think I've ever doubted that part.

(2) I wonder if Holly can figure out how to motivate this team to compete at the level they should be capable of competing at. I know she knows what's wrong. But can she get them to do the things being talked about? That's the 64,000 dollar question. I dearly want her to answer it. I hope her roster will gel.

(3) This is the sort of video that makes me wish people would try a bit more to be objective without taking unnecessary shots at the people who probably care most about this program -- I don't just mean the wins and losses, I mean the department and the institution. Favor and success, outside of a select few people in this game, are fleeting things. Programs get a flash, a moment in the sun, and then fade back to the curve. The fan support is a large part of why the Lady Vols haven't ever faded way. Not yet anyway. But if they stop supporting it, it will fade. It will fade. And getting nasty about things just hastens that, to me. The losses don't help. I get it. So. I hope she figures those girls out.

I think fan support started fading when CPS retired. Attendance has decreased almost 30% in the years since, from 14,000+ in 2012 to 10,000+ last year.

 

[Coach Jumper]

I think fan support started fading when CPS retired. Attendance has decreased almost 30% in the years since, from 14,000+ in 2012 to 10,000+ last year.

retirement did all of this, huh?
Last year's debacle and the years prior had nothing to do with the attendance decline, right?

If you take an UPWARDS coach and put them with an AAU team, the team follows the coaching, not the opposite.

I know this for a fact!

 

[utkCREW]

the general sense from holly's comments, imo, are that this team needs INTENSIVE psychology sessions. The team doubts themselves and each other. Their tentative...

this team needs to play on instinct and talent...maybe the coaching as ingrained in them a sense of untrustfulness amongst each other. If you dont do your job as a coach then a team isnt prepared, but if you try TOO hard to overcorrect a team, they play tenative and dont trust themselves to play 'their game'.

 

[travis929]

This is what Holly just can't see. If you are not a good offensive minded coach, you have to surround yourself with assistants who are. That is what makes Dawn Staley such a good coach. She is a great defensive minded coach and a great motivator. However, her teams did not run a good half court offense. So, What does she do? She hires one of the best offensive minds in the women's game in Melanie Balcomb. Holly seems to be too stubborn to admit anything is wrong and needing corrected.

I don't at all understand the perception around here that Holly is too stubborn. Recruiting wasn't working, and she made the difficult decision to have a former player and close friend to leave the program, and it's clearly paid dividends. There was an effort to address the offensive challenges from last year over the summer and in the first few weeks of practice (which required a different approach than she had ever used in the past, taking away the traditional heavier focus on defense in pre-season), which most people here acknowledged seemed to have paid off in the first few games, until the last two losses. It's true that something still isn't working, but it's ridiculous to claim that it's because Holly is just too stubborn.

 

[madtownvol]

I don't at all understand the perception around here that Holly is too stubborn. Recruiting wasn't working, and she made the difficult decision to have a former player and close friend to leave the program, and it's clearly paid dividends. There was an effort to address the offensive challenges from last year over the summer and in the first few weeks of practice (which required a different approach than she had ever used in the past, taking away the traditional heavier focus on defense in pre-season), which most people here acknowledged seemed to have paid off in the first few games, until the last two losses. It's true that something still isn't working, but it's ridiculous to claim that it's because Holly is just too stubborn.

Your point is spot on. I think there is a tendency for folks to want a simple solution to a complex problem; why have the LVs not gelled as a team and/or had their players live up to their HS reputations. It is because holly does not yell enough, she is stubborn, she stutters at press conferences and so on.

The most obvious difference between the opening season wins (and the muted sense of optimism on this board) and the board melting losses is that the LVs were hitting outside shots in the wins. Holly's entire offensive scheme depends on teams packing the paint and then the LVs making them pay from outside (and when teams adjust let Russell and Diamond take the ball inside). When the LVs are clanking it from outside, then their only plan B is to start forcing the ball into the paint, despite facing a sagging defense.

 

[mike099]

This is what Holly just can't see. If you are not a good offensive minded coach, you have to surround yourself with assistants who are. That is what makes Dawn Staley such a good coach. She is a great defensive minded coach and a great motivator. However, her teams did not run a good half court offense. So, What does she do? She hires one of the best offensive minds in the women's game in Melanie Balcomb. Holly seems to be too stubborn to admit anything is wrong and needing corrected.

Do you think it may be possible for the administration to put some pressure on her to hire an offensive and/or defensive specialist. Of course that would mean getting rid of one or more of the current coaches.

 

[Amb3096]

Your point is spot on. I think there is a tendency for folks to want a simple solution to a complex problem; why have the LVs not gelled as a team and/or had their players live up to their HS reputations. It is because holly does not yell enough, she is stubborn, she stutters at press conferences and so on.

The most obvious difference between the opening season wins (and the muted sense of optimism on this board) and the board melting losses is that the LVs were hitting outside shots in the wins. Holly's entire offensive scheme depends on teams packing the paint and then the LVs making them pay from outside (and when teams adjust let Russell and Diamond take the ball inside). When the LVs are clanking it from outside, then their only plan B is to start forcing the ball into the paint, despite facing a sagging defense.

The bigger difference was the poor quality opponents in the 3 wins to date. They were not only bad teams, but from weak conferences as well. It's not hard to look good against teams that lack height, atleticism and speed...but the warning signs were there given the lack of guard defense. I originally thought Baylor would be the game that showed whether or not they turned the corner, but it ended being a mediocre PSU team.

I'm sure the threes will rain against Tennessee State, but the truth is probably that they will play well against really bad teams and struggle against average to good teams.

I don't know if it's because Holly doesn't yell enough or what, but it's clear that she can't get a collection of highly talented players to play up to their potential.

 

[LVJeff]

(2) Holly dose not know how to motivate the players, she is to nice, they know she will not get mad at them...

This canard has been around for several years and it's not true. I've personally witnessed Holly rip the team during a timeout. This belief as nearly as I can guess stems from Holly's role as liaison between the players and Pat when Summitt was coaching.

Criticism of Holly is one thing, but the criticism at least needs to be factual.

A better observation might be to ask if Holly knows when to get mad, does she know how to correct whatever behavior made her mad in the first place, does she know how to communicate with the players to get them to understand why she is mad.

Those are better questions to ask as opposed to the same old tired and untrue "Holly doesn't get mad she wants to be their friend".