Game Thread Lady Vols vs Kentucky

#301
#301
Chris89128 said:
Truly don't understand the Holly hate. Does she need to get more angry, yes, but all the people that are mentioned should have been hired by TN, if available, are having average seasons at best. Other than UConn which I hate btw there is no complete team this season. Look at the top 25 many teams with 6 or 7 seven losses.
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I like Holly. I just don't think she's a great coach
 
#302
#302
No one on this team exudes any confidence what so ever. Not the players. Not the coaches.

We play nervous and tentatively and we are coached nervous and tentatively. I am not laying 100% of the blame at Holly's feet, but a team's attitude is most often a reflection of the attitude of the coaching staff. Maybe our players are not the top prospects that we thought they were, either.

Someone on this team, and I mean coaches too, needs to step up and be a leader. The girls don't need friends, I'm sure they have many. They need some great teachers who will help mold them and make them the best basketball players they can be.

Lady Vol Nation deserves it, and soon, before the fan base starts to lose their confidence too. Which reading this blog seems to have already started.

If nothing changes, Sweet Sixteen, and out. Guess I'm not exuding much confidence either. :no:
 
#303
#303
Holly is a good coach. She reminds me of those 'good' coaches whose teams were routinely eaten by Pat's teams like so many canapés. She is a good coach. Unfortunately, she's following one of the all time great coaches.
 
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#305
#305
Back from Lone Survivor. Great movie by the way. Finished watching the recording. Looks like lots of missed free throws and turnovers cost us the game in the second half. Also, it seems to me Holly gets out coached when the talent is even at the end of games. She might learn how to coach those last 5-10 minutes of big games but right now I'd giver her a C-. Also, they got away from what they were doing right the last few games but Mitchell was coaching them to do that. He was trying to force Meghan to run the offense and he knows it disrupts the offensive rhythm.
 
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#306
#306
Hopefully she's learning from all this mistakes as a second year coach and work harder to become a better coach in her third year. players need to be held accountable for their mistakes by getting called out on them instead of sugarcoating it because if you don't continue getting at them for that then they'll never change. Holly is a nice person which explains her always saying nice things about them and not wanting to throw anyone under the bus but i'm gonna need her to stop that. they need some tough love don't even allow them to think for one second that it's okay to slack off and take their foot of the pedal in any game no matter who the opponent is.
 
#307
#307
Once again to many turnovers. Many a direct result of poor ballhandleing. When the pressure was on they reverted to their comfort zone and that is dribble and shoot. No patience. No passing and cutting and working for a good shot. A distinct height advantage why not go inside out set some screens and get players underneath open? Tenn needs a good point guard. They have too much potential and too much talent to be losing to teams with lesser talent. Players need to know when to shoot the ball and when to pass the ball and neither should happen as a result of pressure defense.

All this learning from their mistakes is over. Its to late in the season. If they haven't learned by now it may be to late. Stop the excuses and work on results.
 
#309
#309
WVU05UT09 said:
I think the issue is that people have formed expectations based on the recruiting rankings of our players coming in. Tennessee has had several top 5 classes the last few years without top 5 results.

Is it possible these players were over rated? Sure. Is it likely that many of them were over rated--not likely.

Thats the rub--a lot of people are irked by the fact we are getting beat by teams with inferior talent.
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Very well said. We have at least four top five rated players coming out of high school. And most of our team are Mcdonald's All Americans. Would be curious to see what Kentucky's players were rated coming out of high school
 
#310
#310
tonyc said:
Once again to many turnovers. Many a direct result of poor ballhandleing. When the pressure was on they reverted to their comfort zone and that is dribble and shoot. No patience. No passing and cutting and working for a good shot. A distinct height advantage why not go inside out set some screens and get players underneath open? Tenn needs a good point guard. They have too much potential and too much talent to be losing to teams with lesser talent. Players need to know when to shoot the ball and when to pass the ball and neither should happen as a result of pressure defense.

All this learning from their mistakes is over. Its to late in the season. If they haven't learned by now it may be to late. Stop the excuses and work on results.
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Yes, Tony..way to many turnovers, but this is the same old song and dance with this team. I don't think it gets better either. We are quite lucky to have the first two games of the NCAA tourny at home. I wouldn't like our chances to well at a neutral site..
 
#311
#311
The problem with this team is they don't hate losing enough. Pat liked to win but she absolutely despised losing. Her will being forced on a team and her refusal to lose led to many wins. We don't have that mentality now. I had a feeling this game would be this way. This team plays a good game and then they act like we are the baddest thing out there and end up barely winning or losing the next game. It's really hard to understand. How is it so hard to get up and play with everything you have when you only play 30 something games in a year.
 
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#312
#312
As disappointed as I am with the outcome of this game today and the way the LVs played, I'm hopeful that they can play better. They have shown us that they can play a good game...both offensively and defensively. They have shown us they can have only 10-12 TO's a game by valuing every possession. They have shown us they can stop penetration and guard the 3 pt line. They have shown us they can shoot lights out and pound the ball inside and kick back out for the open 3 when needed. Meghan has shown us that she can play within the offense and let the offense come to her instead of forcing things like she did (again) today. Holly has shown us she can coach a good game. We just can't keep needing to learn the same lessons over and over and finally show some consistency. We have all the pieces of the puzzle to field a top notch team. They just need to quit making excuses for coming out with no desire, no passion and just like Orange Maniac stated, REFUSE to LOSE! I believe they can do it. Hopefully they start proving me right at some point. Go LVs!
 
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#313
#313
Holly, leaves both Simmons and Carter on the bench for 7 mins is crazy. Simmons at the end of game only had 3 fouls on her but look at all the play time she missed. Carter did foul out but at the end of game when she was forced to foul. So we sacrifice 14 minutes of play just to hold them for later in the game. Several Kentucky players had 4 fouls. You would have to be retarded to pull players that long. Holly does not have the feel of knowing how to win
 
#314
#314
arkyvol said:
Holly is a good coach. She reminds me of those 'good' coaches whose teams were routinely eaten by Pat's teams like so many canapés. She is a good coach. Unfortunately, she's following one of the all time great coaches.
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tough players. We were always mentally tough. We have completely lost that quality. We are mentally soft. I too like Warlick--she is very likable--she's just not a great head coach. I don't think she has the personality for it. You can't just become a great leader--that is very much an innate quality.
 
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#315
#315
armchair said:
tough players. We were always mentally tough. We have completely lost that quality. We are mentally soft. I too like Warlick--she is very likable--she's just not a great head coach. I don't think she has the personality for it. You can't just become a great leader--that is very much an innate quality.
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Holly was almost in tears in her post game presser. Pat would have been mad. Holly looks down and is uncertain in those interviews. Pat looked people in the eye and dealt with adversity head on. Pat always left you feeling she had the answer. Holly seems adrift.

Holly has to take ownership and lead. She has to instill confidence rather than doubt with her demeanor. The players need to fear her as much as they love her. Because respect is equal parts fear and love. People need each of those to be their best.

And for God's sake cut down on the damned turnovers and teach your bigs to shoot a damned free throw. Those two things alone would have won all of our close games and they are simple things to do. Russell is shooting under 50% from the line which is unheard of at this level. I have followed the sport for decades and never even heard of a player shooting that poorly from the line.

Make her shoot 250 for each one she misses and she will get better in no time. It is just repetition and there is no excuse for not putting in the work. She should be in the gym everyday putting up thousands of shots out of sheer embarrassment.

Passing fundamentals are something we apparently never work on either.

But our main problem is not giving a flip on defense. Our stats are bad across the board on that side of the ball. There are no bright spots in any of our defensive team statistics. We just suck, and it is all due to lack of effort... which is just another way of saying the player's don't care.
 
#316
#316
Coaches had a good play called at the end if Izzy doesn't catch the ball & then bring it down allowing Ky to easily knock it loose. BASIC Basketball from 1st grade level, KEEP THE BALL UP! NIA would have scored on that play! :)

IZZY needs to learn more than one offensive move.....
 
#317
#317
gule said:
Coaches had a good play called at the end if Izzy doesn't catch the ball & then bring it down allowing Ky to easily knock it loose. BASIC Basketball from 1st grade level, KEEP THE BALL UP! NIA would have scored on that play! :)

IZZY needs to learn more than one offensive move.....
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i agree 100%
 
#318
#318
armchair said:
tough players. We were always mentally tough. We have completely lost that quality. We are mentally soft. I too like Warlick--she is very likable--she's just not a great head coach. I don't think she has the personality for it. You can't just become a great leader--that is very much an innate quality.
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Agreed,Armchair.As you have stated in other posts,this is part of a trend that started some years ago under Pat Summitt.The last mentally tough players we had were Parker,Anosike,and Hornbuckle.Since they graduated,the LV's have gone lower in toughness and basketball IQ.Thus the putrid efforts on defense and ever increasing turnovers on offense while attempting the "show time" type passes and poor ball handling that this team exhibits.Over these several years of trending downward,there are only two common denominators,and those are Holly Warlick and Dean Lockwood.And I would attribute more of this attitude to Lockwood due to Holly being here for twenty plus years before.Coaches must instill a winning attitude in their team and that is not happening with this staff.
 
#319
#319
Benionsopinion said:
Agreed,Armchair.As you have stated in other posts,this is part of a trend that started some years ago under Pat Summitt.The last mentally tough players we had were Parker,Anosike,and Hornbuckle.Since they graduated,the LV's have gone lower in toughness and basketball IQ.Thus the putrid efforts on defense and ever increasing turnovers on offense while attempting the "show time" type passes and poor ball handling that this team exhibits.Over these several years of trending downward,there are only two common denominators,and those are Holly Warlick and Dean Lockwood.And I would attribute more of this attitude to Lockwood due to Holly being here for twenty plus years before.Coaches must instill a winning attitude in their team and that is not happening with this staff.
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I didn't want to go there on targeting assistant coaches but since you opened the door I am walking through. Is he responsible for the development of Mercedes Russell? Maybe she is not as talented a player as Stewart at UConn but the difference in their development as #1 ranked high school players to college couldn't be more glaring.
 
#320
#320
WVU05UT09 said:
I didn't want to go there on targeting assistant coaches but since you opened the door I am walking through. Is he responsible for the development of Mercedes Russell? Maybe she is not as talented a player as Stewart at UConn but the difference in their development as #1 ranked high school players to college couldn't be more glaring.
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You bring up a good point also i think Russell needs to play more to. Note Graves has no faceup or mid range game so that`s hurt this team to. Teams have been doubling Izzy and Russell.
 
#321
#321
WVU05UT09 said:
I didn't want to go there on targeting assistant coaches but since you opened the door I am walking through. Is he responsible for the development of Mercedes Russell? Maybe she is not as talented a player as Stewart at UConn but the difference in their development as #1 ranked high school players to college couldn't be more glaring.
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As I understand it,he works with post players.This year we have Bashaara Graves below last year's production.Harrison has improved from her freshman year,but still plays with that "deer in the headlights"" look at times when she should be dominant.Mercedes is slow,her footwork is not good,and she reaches down to try to block shots rather than use her height to alter shots and her hand strength is lacking at this point.Not withstanding the team's other problems,stronger post play would help.
 
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#322
#322
Graves DOES absolutely need a face-up game--and the coaches need to make her develop one. Make her face up and make moves, take shots, in practice--and then keep pushing her. That's the only way to get a player to overcome weakness--get them out of their comfort zones. I was DUMBFOUNDED at how long it took Lockwood and the other coaches to develop an offensive game for N. Anosike, who was a defensive terror but had not game with the ball. It took her nearly her entire UT career to develop the confidence to take an 8-foot jump shot--which she started doing in the NCAA tournament her SENIOR year. I remember it well. The only way to get someone to overcome the fear of doing something is to insist that they do it. Once they start doing it, they will gradually get better--and that is the point. We've got two potentially good assets in Graves and Jones who are not helping much because their offensive games are so, so limited.
 
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