stop overreacting!!!

[Amb3096]

not sure if serious. UConn would beat this team by 40+

Oh no doubt. Just lamenting what the team might be capable of under the direction of a qualified coach.

 

[papatomany]

I understand that ultimately it all falls on the coach, but it could also be that when you have to rely on someone as erratic as DeShields to rein everybody in, you will often have games like this. The great teams have somebody on the floor who can refocus the team. Our great teams always had that. Cooper could be that person and is desperately missed.

 

[Amb3096]

I understand that ultimately it all falls on the coach, but it could also be that when you have to rely on someone as erratic as DeShields to rein everybody in, you will often have games like this. The great teams have somebody on the floor who can refocus the team. Our great teams always had that. Cooper could be that person and is desperately missed.

Diamond shouldn't be needed to reign anyone in. It should be Holly on the sideline and Jordan on the court...the two weakest links on the team.

 

[Coach Jumper]

The only problem with throwing more stars at a one star coach is, you get one star results. Holly can be a good coach if she realizes she is bad and make a great effort to be better. The big problem is, how does one learn to motivate, demand effort and hold players accountable if it is not already part of their DNA?

Can a Dad, be Mom?
He can wear heels, carry a purse, take the kids to soccer practice, join PTA, but in the end, he is still Dad. He can do Mom's job, but he just isn't a Mom

Teams have to have the softhearted-coach//tough-coach setup. The nice coach doesn't always have to be nice, nor does the tough coach have to always be the tough... But they have to cover BOTH roles.

 

[Coach Jumper]

I understand that ultimately it all falls on the coach, but it could also be that when you have to rely on someone as erratic as DeShields to rein everybody in, you will often have games like this. The great teams have somebody on the floor who can refocus the team. Our great teams always had that. Cooper could be that person and is desperately missed.

Deshields is only erratic if she is allowed to be.

I believe Tisha, Delino (Michelle) would be in on my corner on this statement.

 

[MDVolFan14]

Deshields is only erratic if she is allowed to be.

I believe Tisha, Delino (Michelle) would be in on my corner on this statement.

Agreed!! She needs a strong coach like a Geno or Staley that is gonna hold her to a higher standard and accountability and not be afraid to challenge her all while coaching her. If she is turning the ball over, hold her accountable and coach her to get better at not turning it over.

I've always said that she is just as talented as Bre Stewart but Stewart has had the benefit of being "coached" by Geno who was not in awe or afraid of her talent. He's coaches all of his players hard and look at the results including 99-0 and probably 100-0 in the past 100 games after tonight.

DD, IMO, is still a little raw and you see it sometimes in her "erratic" play. She needs a coach that can help her slow the game down, see the floor better, see two steps ahead of everybody, and most importantly master the fundamentals and fundamental principles of playing solid and efficient basketball. The talent is undeniable but it has not been refined and channeled into greatness.

When your team has no identity on offense or defense and you play for a coach who appears to be afraid to challenge you, then you get what we are all seeing now. This team should be #2 in the country IMO. And they should have an identity and know exactly what they want to do and do it better than anybody else.



Geno's philosophy.....

Give each player what she needs, not what she wants.

One of his mentees, now coaching peer Sherri Coales, put it this way: “As keen as his gift is for X’s and O’s, Geno’s gift for affecting people is greater. The masses want to say he wins because he has the best players. He definitely has the best players. Geno wins because he makes the best players better versions of themselves.” Case in point: Rebecca Lobo, became the face of the sport 20 years ago. She recalled that Geno “makes you do things physically and mentally you didn’t know you were capable of.”

Empower your group to figure it out.

Trust in each team member until you are proven wrong. Geno considers himself a general who depends on his troops working well together on their own. They are on the court, not him. He trains them to think for themselves first and worry about consequences later. What this goes back to is his simple, powerful message: Each person must take what she is good at and become great at it.

No apologies for high demands.

“You guys aren’t good yet!” Geno can be heard yelling after another blowout win. They are used to practices that are harder than any games, because that’s Geno’s way of making them ready for anything. And his best players get the brunt of his tough standards, with major results. “I had to be pushed to a level that I didn’t know I could play at,” says UConn star Breanna Stewart, who some observers think may be the best to ever play this sport.

Own your mistakes.

This is important in elite sports and as a life habit. Here’s vintage Geno: “If you accept making mistakes because it’s a game… then as you go on in the rest of your life, and the stakes get higher and things get tougher, the only thing you learned is how to make mistakes and excuses.”

 

[NoBackBoard]

Depending on the rest of the regular season and the SEC tournament, the LV's could end up in a 8/9 game in the NCAA's possibly in UCONN's bracket.

Could get ugly depending on which team shows up.

Maybe a 50-point loss to UConn in the tourney is what the Admin needs to wake up and realize a major change is necessary.

 

[papatomany]

Diamond shouldn't be needed to reign anyone in. It should be Holly on the sideline and Jordan on the court...the two weakest links on the team.

Diamond is clearly the heart of the team (or lack thereof). If she plays without passion we lose. If she plays intensely we have a shot. She seems to be a head case. Even Mercedes can disappear and we still hang in, but the second you see that cloud settle onto Diamond you know we're in for a long night.

What it feels like is that she wants to be a star, but doesn't want to be a leader.

 

[Amb3096]

Diamond is clearly the heart of the team (or lack thereof). If she plays without passion we lose. If she plays intensely we have a shot. She seems to be a head case. Even Mercedes can disappear and we still hang in, but the second you see that cloud settle onto Diamond you know we're in for a long night.

What it feels like is that she wants to be a star, but doesn't want to be a leader.

The star doesn't have to be the leader. Candace wasn't the leader of her teams.

The PG needs to be one to take leadership of the team on the floor.

 

[HoopDR]

and to be the leader you have to have the respect of the rest of the team or they won't follow.

 

[aredfox28]

It's just another loss, no big deal. It's not like this team was going to win the SEC anyway. Texas A&M is a really good team... they're almost ranked! And the Lady Vols played hard, Holly has really turned around their effort since the PSU loss.

Some people just need to adjust their expectations....

Here's the thing.. this is lady vols basketball, theres a standard and expectations set.. holly isnt meeting them..

 

[T_Vol376]

The star doesn't have to be the leader. Candace wasn't the leader of her teams.

The PG needs to be one to take leadership of the team on the floor.

I was there last Thursday (Mizzou) and JR played so confidently! She was pointing and directing traffic and barking orders on the floor....she was in the PG zone. I think I saw where you noted this in the game thread, Amb - and you were absolutely right!

 

[508mikey]

Depending on the rest of the regular season and the SEC tournament, the LV's could end up in a 8/9 game in the NCAA's possibly in UCONN's bracket.

hope so

 

[Volstylexx]

The thing is that on paper, Tennessee has some good matchups they can exploit against UConn. Chong isn't that quick, so Alexa can stay with her defensively. Jordan has the size to slow down Nurse, as does Diamond with KLS. Russell should own Collier inside. Nared with her shooting range and athleticism would be a tougher defensive assignment for Williams compared to most other 4s.

Even with the personnel matchups, the fact that it's Geno vs Holly devising strategies is worth at least 15 points in UConn's favor...

I doubt Middleton could guard a turtle. She gets burned by anyone she's guarding.

 

[Amb3096]

I was there last Thursday (Mizzou) and JR played so confidently! She was pointing and directing traffic and barking orders on the floor....she was in the PG zone. I think I saw where you noted this in the game thread, Amb - and you were absolutely right!

I think I mused why she didn't play like that every game.

That's what's so frustrating about Jordan. We all know she can play better than what she delivers most nights, and as a fan, it makes you want to pull your hair out. If she played all of the games the way she played against Mizzou, then Tennessee would be a top 10 team. People talk about Diamond being inconsistent, but Jordan's leadership ranges from invisible to barking alpha dog, and there's no telling which will show up. As a senior, that should be unacceptable to her.

 

[T_Vol376]

I think I mused why she didn't play like that every game.

That's what's so frustrating about Jordan. We all know she can play better than what she delivers most nights, and as a fan, it makes you want to pull your hair out. If she played all of the games the way she played against Mizzou, then Tennessee would be a top 10 team. People talk about Diamond being inconsistent, but Jordan's leadership ranges from invisible to barking alpha dog, and there's no telling which will show up. As a senior, that should be unacceptable to her.

We know she can, that's for sure... strange.

 

[madtownvol]

Agreed!! She needs a strong coach like a Geno or Staley that is gonna hold her to a higher standard and accountability and not be afraid to challenge her all while coaching her. If she is turning the ball over, hold her accountable and coach her to get better at not turning it over.

I've always said that she is just as talented as Bre Stewart but Stewart has had the benefit of being "coached" by Geno who was not in awe or afraid of her talent. He's coaches all of his players hard and look at the results including 99-0 and probably 100-0 in the past 100 games after tonight.

DD, IMO, is still a little raw and you see it sometimes in her "erratic" play. She needs a coach that can help her slow the game down, see the floor better, see two steps ahead of everybody, and most importantly master the fundamentals and fundamental principles of playing solid and efficient basketball. The talent is undeniable but it has not been refined and channeled into greatness.

When your team has no identity on offense or defense and you play for a coach who appears to be afraid to challenge you, then you get what we are all seeing now. This team should be #2 in the country IMO. And they should have an identity and know exactly what they want to do and do it better than anybody else.



Geno's philosophy.....

Give each player what she needs, not what she wants.

One of his mentees, now coaching peer Sherri Coales, put it this way: “As keen as his gift is for X’s and O’s, Geno’s gift for affecting people is greater. The masses want to say he wins because he has the best players. He definitely has the best players. Geno wins because he makes the best players better versions of themselves.” Case in point: Rebecca Lobo, became the face of the sport 20 years ago. She recalled that Geno “makes you do things physically and mentally you didn’t know you were capable of.”

Empower your group to figure it out.

Trust in each team member until you are proven wrong. Geno considers himself a general who depends on his troops working well together on their own. They are on the court, not him. He trains them to think for themselves first and worry about consequences later. What this goes back to is his simple, powerful message: Each person must take what she is good at and become great at it.

No apologies for high demands.

“You guys aren’t good yet!” Geno can be heard yelling after another blowout win. They are used to practices that are harder than any games, because that’s Geno’s way of making them ready for anything. And his best players get the brunt of his tough standards, with major results. “I had to be pushed to a level that I didn’t know I could play at,” says UConn star Breanna Stewart, who some observers think may be the best to ever play this sport.

Own your mistakes.

This is important in elite sports and as a life habit. Here’s vintage Geno: “If you accept making mistakes because it’s a game… then as you go on in the rest of your life, and the stakes get higher and things get tougher, the only thing you learned is how to make mistakes and excuses.”

I confess that all the Geno-love on this board is getting to me. I'm twitching, convulsing, and gagging all at once.

People can have Geno-envy all they want but the fact is that he is on a island to himself. He has left every other elite coach in the dust-- Tara, Mulky, Friese, Staley, Muffet take your pick-- they are all also rans; 100 in a row; 147 wins out of 148 games; 4 (and working on 5) consecutive NCs. Pat Summitt in her glory never had that kind of separation from her peers.

If the Geno formula could be effectively replicated, I guarantee you, someone would have done so by now.

In the end, we have the coach we have. In this environment, bringing in a #1 recruiting class is an accomplishment. We will see what Holly and staff can do with these players in the coming years. But, in the foreseeable future, a final four is pretty much the upper limit for the LVs and everyone else unless Geno decides to suddenly retire.

 

[teacherdean]

I confess that all the Geno-love on this board is getting to me. I'm twitching, convulsing, and gagging all at once.

People can have Geno-envy all they want but the fact is that he is on a island to himself. He has left every other elite coach in the dust-- Tara, Mulky, Friese, Staley, Muffet take your pick-- that are all also rans; 100 in a row; 147 wins out of 148 games; 4 (and working on 5) consecutive NCs. Pat Summitt in her glory never had that kind of separation from her peers.

If the Geno formula could be effectively replicated, I guarantee you, someone would have done so by now.

In the end, we have the coach we have. In this environment, bringing in a #1 recruiting class is an accomplishment. We will see what Holly and staff can do with these players in the coming years. But, in the foreseeable future, a final four is pretty much the upper limit for the LVs and everyone else unless Geno decides to suddenly retire.

With all the talent we will have next year, we will still have some of the same problem unless we find a floor leader. I do not see Nard or Russell taking that role and, more than likely, Diamond will be a rookie in the WNBA. Cooper may be the spark and leader that rises to the top. We will still need motivation and player development from our HC. We will have final four talent that at best may only be a perennial elite 8 team.

 

[vettefool]

With all the talent we will have next year, we will still have some of the same problem unless we find a floor leader. I do not see Nard or Russell taking that role and, more than likely, Diamond will be a rookie in the WNBA. Cooper may be the spark and leader that rises to the top. We will still need motivation and player development from our HC. We will have final four talent that at best may only be a perennial elite 8 team.

I don't know if next year we see a big improvement over the last two years. I believe if you gave Holly UConn's lineup she would lose 10+ games. I guess we will see.

 

[Coach Jumper]

With all the talent we will have next year, we will still have some of the same problem unless we find a floor leader. I do not see Nard or Russell taking that role and, more than likely, Diamond will be a rookie in the WNBA. Cooper may be the spark and leader that rises to the top. We will still need motivation and player development from our HC. We will have final four talent that at best may only be a perennial elite 8 team.

Leaders are either innate or they emerge. You don't pick and choose a leader. You either acquire one or "release that ability" in someone you already have..If the person in the leader role is a follower, you get a "leader that follows." (uh-huhh),,

Coop was fun to watch at McEachern, as well as with our 13U Nationals' runner-up team with the Pistols. She is/was vocal and would would walk over (on court) and give another player "what for", if they were screwing up. Her passing is uncanny. Coop will be an excellent leader. . . She's an Alpha for sure. . . .Her development can come from any coach, but they have to be more strong-willed and dominant than she is.

I think we have another player, or two like this right now. And I am quite sure there will be more in the recruiting class.

 

[bobkitten]

I respect the opinions of so many of you on this forum, but I don't share your memories of Te'a's ability or performance. I thought she was very overrated, but charged that to her youth. Perhaps she will come back and be the player so many of you think she will be. I will have to be convinced by her play and work-ethic.

 

[Amb3096]

I respect the opinions of so many of you on this forum, but I don't share your memories of Te'a's ability or performance. I thought she was very overrated, but charged that to her youth. Perhaps she will come back and be the player so many of you think she will be. I will have to be convinced by her play and work-ethic.

She's become the Legend That Could Have Saved 2017.

I remember an average ball handler who turned the ball over repeatedly trying to dribble through a zone defense, a woefully inconsistent perimeter shooter, and a below-average defender who was often in foul trouble because she played defense with her hands instead of her feet.

Since Te'a is injured, she is being heralded as the Magical Cure that would have turned this season around...much like Jordan would have been the difference maker in the E8 blowout loss to Syracuse (a game which Te'a played and had more combined fouls/turnovers than points/assists).

 

[madtownvol]

I respect the opinions of so many of you on this forum, but I don't share your memories of Te'a's ability or performance. I thought she was very overrated, but charged that to her youth. Perhaps she will come back and be the player so many of you think she will be. I will have to be convinced by her play and work-ethic.

She was an inconsistent freshman who showed flashes of brilliance. The operating assumption is that had she not torn her ACL, she would have improved her game over the Summer and come back with more experience and confidence.

To the ensuing post, I don't think any reasonable observer is portraying her as someone who would have been the savior. Realistically, she would provide another option at PG (and a quick guard to help beat pressure and apply defensive pressure). She also showed that she could hit clutch 3-pt shots. The LVs have lost some close games and blown big leads by not being able to handle defensive pressure down the stretch. Te'a has the skill set and athletic capacities to have made a sufficiently marginal difference in those tight games.

 

[Amb3096]

She was an inconsistent freshman who showed flashes of brilliance. The operating assumption is that had she not torn her ACL, she would have improved her game over the Summer and come back with more experience and confidence.

To the ensuing post, I don't think any reasonable observer is portraying her as someone who would have been the savior. Realistically, she would provide another option at PG (and a quick guard to help beat pressure and apply defensive pressure). She also showed that she could hit clutch 3-pt shots. The LVs have lost some close downs and blown big leads by not being able to handle defensive pressure down the stretch. Te'a has the skill set and athletic capacities to have made a sufficiently marginal difference in those tight games.

Madtown, there have been no shortage of "If only we had Te'a this season...." posts since the LVs began their downward slide. Similar to the "If only Jordan/Andraya were healthy during the Syracuse game..." posts.

I agree that she would have added depth, but I don't think she would have been a guaranteed upgrade over Jordan if she was around. I rag on Jordan a lot, but the one thing she does do is protect the ball and has gotten pretty good at feeding the post. She has almost a 3:1 ATO this year. Te'a IIRC had a negative ratio, or very close to 1:1.

Given the general lack of improvement of Tennessee players from freshman to sophomore year, I'm not convinced that Te'a would have made a huge leap from where she was last year, and because of her injury, she didn't have the chance to prove otherwise.

 

[madtownvol]

Madtown, there have been no shortage of "If only we had Te'a this season...." posts since the LVs began their downward slide. Similar to the "If only Jordan/Andraya were healthy during the Syracuse game..." posts.

I agree that she would have added depth, but I don't think she would have been a guaranteed upgrade over Jordan if she was around. I rag on Jordan a lot, but the one thing she does do is protect the ball and has gotten pretty good at feeding the post. She has almost a 3:1 ATO this year. Te'a IIRC had a negative ratio, or very close to 1:1.

Given the general lack of improvement of Tennessee players from freshman to sophomore year, I'm not convinced that Te'a would have made a huge leap from where she was last year, and because of her injury, she didn't have the chance to prove otherwise.

Of course, we are both working in the realm of conjecture. Te'a had some promising performances toward the end of the season as well as some poor ones. I suspect that she, like Jordan, would have been inconsistent this season but, at least if one PG was not getting the job done, Holly would have been another viable option to turn to (rather than Alexa who is athletically over matched at PG).

Conjectures aside, Te'a ain't available so it is what it is and what it is needs to get better....