Game Thread Lady Vols vs Syracuse

#351
#351
madtownvol said:
All you wrote is accurate but right now DeShields is just not playing well. Shooting is off, and she is turning the ball over too much trying to make the highlight reel pass. Unless her leg injuries are more severe than thought, she will find her groove. If she hit a few shots at key points, the LVs have a comfortable margin. Similarly, Russell needs to play a little stronger but I think her errors-- putting the ball down low, not getting two hands on rebounds--can also be resolved with more playing time.

The defensive tenacity in the clutch is a positive to build on.

The need to get a lot better but I actually feel much better about this team than last year's squad at this same point in the season.
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I think, except maybe the defense of the three ball, Holly has the defense in a good place, but she has to come up with an inside/outside game or teams will double down on Russell and take their chances on our outside game. We need to somehow recruit or find a player that has to be double downed from long range. Part of the problem is we are still playing get the ball inside offense, most of the time.if we can't get the ball in side we are shooting in desperation, which affects your accuracy. We are too predictable on offense. We may not like Genno or the other top five coaches, but if you play them inside they bomb you from the outside. If you decide to play them outside they destroy you from the inside. We have not had that type of consistent offence in a long, long time. To have an inside/outside game you have to practice and it appears that we do not spend a lot of time practicing that type of offense.

I don't know if I would ever let Moore on the floor unless it was trash time. She looked weak and totally out of place.
 
#352
#352
madtownvol said:
All you wrote is accurate but right now DeShields is just not playing well. Shooting is off, and she is turning the ball over too much trying to make the highlight reel pass. Unless her leg injuries are more severe than thought, she will find her groove. If she hit a few shots at key points, the LVs have a comfortable margin. Similarly, Russell needs to play a little stronger but I think her errors-- putting the ball down low, not getting two hands on rebounds--can also be resolved with more playing time.

The defensive tenacity in the clutch is a positive to build on.

The need to get a lot better but I actually feel much better about this team than last year's squad at this same point in the season.
Click to expand...

Solid post.
 
#353
#353
volnationnj said:
I would be willing to mortgage the house that Penn State doesn't make the NCAA tournament this year. You do realize that they won all of 6 games last year. They would have to win at least 20 this year to advance to the NCAA's out of the Big Ten. Maryland, Iowa, Ohio St, Northwestern,
Rutgers, Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan all won 20 or more games last year. The BigTen got 7 bids last year. Which 2 teams is Penn State beating out ?
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Rutgers, for one.
 
#354
#354
Eric Viesturs said:
Rutgers, for one.
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Possibly, but they would still have to beat out at least one more of the teams on that list. Not to mention any of the other big ten teams that finished ahead of Penn State last year. Do you think Penn State will make it to the NCAA's this season ?
 
#355
#355
No matter if we think Holly can coach or is clueless this program must:

1. Develop an outside zone beating shooting game
2. Develop a go to five starters
3. Hope that the rust disappears off DD
4. Produce an outside game to protect the inside game
5. Keep the defense at its best (which we tend to do)
6. Reduce the turnovers
7. Develope an offense which is not predictable
8. Be agressive
9. Beat the teams they are suppose to beat and leave no doubt
10. Play like a number 4/5 ranked team

Right now the Lady Vols, for some reason, need to improve their play especially on offense. We can question and argue who is at fault, but we need to improve because the next four games may say volumes about our program. Hopefully it says that we are worthy of our lofty rankings.
 
#356
#356
teacherdean said:
No matter if we think Holly can coach or is clueless this program must:

1. Develop an outside zone beating shooting game
2. Develop a go to five starters
3. Hope that the rust disappears off DD
4. Produce an outside game to protect the inside game
5. Keep the defense at its best (which we tend to do)
6. Reduce the turnovers
7. Develope an offense which is not predictable
8. Be agressive
9. Beat the teams they are suppose to beat and leave no doubt
10. Play like a number 4/5 ranked team
.
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1 and 7 go together. Being less predictable means having more options on offense. And right now, teams are collapsing and daring the LVs to beat them from outside. Per your earlier post, it is all about being about to score from outside when teams pack the paint and then taking it to them in the inside when they come out to guard the perimeters.

But (with the caveat that we only have two games) the LVs insider scoring is improved from last year. A lot of that has to do with Graves shooting an unreal % but her shot and overall ability to finish around the rim is much, much improved. Mercedes has a nice little baby hood that could become a weapon. After PSU, I wondered if Jasmine Jones would be a consistent scoring contributor, but Syracuse suggest she just might.

I am not sure that a go-to five starters really is a must. The core is going to be Copper, Russell, Graves, and DeShields if she gets healthy (so that is 80% pretty much set) but Carter, Jones, Middleton, Nared (when she gets back) and maybe Jackson will all need to make contributions. I envision those 8 will be the core rotation. KD may find some minutes. She looks improved from last year but she may still be a year of development away from really being to match-up against stronger comp. The reality is that when Nared gets back, she just a better player and all round athlete than KD (at this point at least) Nia is a senior and she is what she is. There is no reason to expect that she is going to suddenly transform her game--play stronger, make better decisions on the court etc.

If Mercedes needs a rest or gets into foul trouble, I would just as soon see the LVs play small ball with Graves in the post.
 
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#358
#358
volnationnj said:
Possibly, but they would still have to beat out at least one more of the teams on that list. Not to mention any of the other big ten teams that finished ahead of Penn State last year. Do you think Penn State will make it to the NCAA's this season ?
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At the moment, I'd say it appears unlikely. The B1G has a number of quality teams so even if Penn State wins a few games early, they're going to find it tough sledding in the conference tournament. Season ending injuries to Sierra Moore and Amari Carter won't help.
 
#360
#360
Franklin Pierce said:
Cooper also had 5 turnovers.
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With 4 assists. Not too far off from 3 assists and 2 TO for Carter and about identical to 1 assist and 2 TO for Reynolds.

Like I said previously ... it's not hard to not turn the ball over when you aren't aggressive and the defense isn't guarding you.
 
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