No longer an elite program

The last time we were in a final four, the current recruits were in elementary school. With the lack of depth in the women's game, that equals no longer being elite. No longer in the same breath as ND, let alone UConn.

Exactly what teams do you consider elite at this point? There are 351 D1 women's basketball teams in the NCAA. How would you break them down ranking as Elite, etc.? Would you say the top 5% are elite? Or, the top 3%? Or perhaps, the top 2%? Where do you draw the line? Just curious. Thanks.
 
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After watching Tea Cooper play and with Diamond coming we are definitely elite again. If Holly can't win the NC with this group then she can't win it.
 
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You know what I don't get? After Isabelle was injured, there was pretty much universal agreement that we had no shot at the Final Four, and most people thought we wouldn't even make the Elite Eight. Some predicted that we would lose in the second round. Now we lost in the Elite Eight, to a #1 seed that only lost 2 games all season, and people are complaining that we didn't make the Final Four and that the program has fallen apart. That just doesn't sound logical to me. But then again, what should I expect from most of the people on here?


And no, Dayton would not have beaten Maryland. Sorry.
 
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Oh, and if we had beaten Maryland and then gone on to get blown out by UConn, those exact same people would have been saying that it would have been better to lose to Maryland to avoid facing them.
 
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And no, Dayton would not have beaten Maryland. Sorry.

Let's see if the Maryland team that beat Tennessee plays UConn as tough as Dayton did. In fact, I doubt the winner of the other semifinal will give them as tough a challenge either....
 
Let's see if the Maryland team that beat Tennessee plays UConn as tough as Dayton did. In fact, I doubt the winner of the other semifinal will give them as tough a challenge either....

So you're saying Dayton is the second best team in the country?
 
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You know what I don't get? After Isabelle was injured, there was pretty much universal agreement that we had no shot at the Final Four, and most people thought we wouldn't even make the Elite Eight. Some predicted that we would lose in the second round. Now we lost in the Elite Eight, to a #1 seed that only lost 2 games all season, and people are complaining that we didn't make the Final Four and that the program has fallen apart. That just doesn't sound logical to me. But then again, what should I expect from most of the people on here?


And no, Dayton would not have beaten Maryland. Sorry.

Completely agree with your assessment and it doesn't really matter if Dayton could have beaten Maryland ... people just want to bash the coach & program because they could hang their hats on a Lady Vols championship in the late 80s, 90s and through the mid-2000s but now that is has been over 7 years since a final four & championship and instead of considering Coach Summit had anything to do with the 7 year drought, they choose to focus all their hate on Coach Warlick when most could not coach their way out of a paper bag.
 
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So why does everyone want Pearl back then ?

1>Because the talking heads on boards and local yocal radio shows are clueless. Pearl couldn't handle the fame.
Between new wives, new cars and new homes he lost his bearing and screwed up. And then attempted to cover it up. Hopefully he has grown up a little and will grow from his mistakes.
2>Nice guy to go drinking with! :hi:
 
I wasn't hugely impressed by Maryland. Don't think they are as good as last year's team. They are solid, to be sure, well coached--but we shut them down in the first 10 minutes of the game and could have won the game with even a halfway decent offensive performance. I think we lost it with our usual terrible shooting more than Maryland won it.
 
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I don't like Holly. With that said she did a great job with the major injuries. Quit crying and be happy

I like Holly.
She just cant recruit and coach at a level to get the Lady Vols back to where they want to be!
She is NOT going to get it done.
I can state that without NOT liking Holly.
Liking has little to do with it.
It is called reality! :hi:
 
I wasn't hugely impressed by Maryland. Don't think they are as good as last year's team. They are solid, to be sure, well coached--but we shut them down in the first 10 minutes of the game and could have won the game with even a halfway decent offensive performance. I think we lost it with our usual terrible shooting more than Maryland won it.

I don't think it was a terrible shooting performance more than they simply got tired. Cierra shot like 3 air balls and that comes from no power from your legs. She played almost the entire game and kept the Lady Vols in the game. And you have to give the Maryland defense some credit for not allowing Ariel and Draya time to get set for their shots. This team was not ready to win it all with their injuries but in the next 3 years, and hopefully beyond, they should be something special to watch
 
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I agree with you. We can't cry over the results because they are what they are. Blaming Pat for the demise is not going to make the program better. It is also up to the Athletic Department to change the direction of the program. I think that Holly put her best foot forward but to date it has not been enough to get us to the final four. We really lack that true superstar and that second or third player that can turn hot when the superstar is cold. Don't get me wrong we did great with what we have, however, we need to work on our offensive strategy if we plan to return to the elite class. We make way too many mistakes on offense no matter how many victories we have. Last night Graves was not strong enough to jump over a 200 plus post and muscle up the ball, yet time and time again we tried. I really believe that with a more sufficient offensive game plan we could be very dangerous next year. I do think Holly knows defense and I have no problem, we just need offense. With that being said we did very well with the hand we played.

Again, we need to deal with what we have now and not try to downgrade Pat. While the team seems to have declined within her last three years, she was a great coach who changed the way the women's game is viewed. If it were not for Pat,I doubt that there would be the teams we now call elite. Do not forget which team was the first elite team, the Lady Vols.

Graves is no AA and i have said that from day one, But Holly and some on this board thinks she is a go to player no way !
 

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