Game Thread Lady Vols vs Navy

#101
#101
I see Middleton breaking the 3 point record this season for Tennessee. Crazy thing she's always been a great 3 point shooter even in high school. I think this year she has a great year!!!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#108
#108
Second half was a lot better. Still to many really dumb turnovers. We don't have the quickness we had last year. I think we'll see Middleton play 30 a game. Holly may keep starting Nunn but I expect 10 to 15 minutes will be her max.
 
#110
#110
The thing we have this year that we didn't have last year is better shooting every one was making the three today. Our three point shooting in the first two games is somewhere around 50 percent.
 
#111
#111
Horrible 1st quarter. After that the D stepped up. Our spacing on offense is so much better. DD played her butt off as did Middleton. I love Reynolds composure today. Russell is so much more aggressive. Dunbar will have a lot of open shots this year. Jackson is still to shot happy and rushes. She gets beat a lot too on D. Our dribble penetration and transition D must get better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 people
#113
#113
LVJeff said:
This is the Middleton we've seen brief flashes of for two seasons. She has great court vision, hustles all over the court, isn't afraid to take chances, and now she has a great looking shot. If she can clean up her TO's, tighten up her defense, and play this way against better competition, she will help her team immensely.
Click to expand...

She can.
And will!
 
#114
#114
Chris89128 said:
Horrible 1st quarter. After that the D stepped up. Our spacing on offense is so much better. DD played her butt off as did Middleton. I love Reynolds composure today. Russell is so much more aggressive. Dunbar will have a lot of open shots this year. Jackson is still to shot happy and rushes. She gets beat a lot too on D. Our dribble penetration and transition D must get better.
Click to expand...

I agree with all of that Jackson does move fast but more experience will help but I like her aggressive attitude and the fact she will shoot ..offense looks good ..but need to sure up defense but they held them to 20 pts in second half much better
 
#115
#115
Good start for the Lady Vols. We have more answers on offense this year, especially if Alexa continues to burn it up. You can tell she's spending more time in the gym working on her shooting.

Loved the dribble drive bucket by Kortney, and she actually had a couple of impressive defensive moments, including a block.

Back-to-back double-double efforts by Mercedes is encouraging. She's physically stronger and has improved her free-throw percentage. Nice.

Nun will improve as the rust dissolves. She takes up a lot of space in the paint and should be a nice addition this year. Nared needs to stop dribbling so much and calm down. When she's deliberate and steady, she's deadly.

Still too many turnovers but more accurate shooting will help offset this weakness. Holly must rest this team more this season, and she has said she will. Let them practice shooting (including free throws) rep after rep after rep. Less running in practice ... save those legs.

Nice start to the season. We're 2-0 without Diamond dominating. Who said she can't be a team player? And she can play D.

Go Lady Vols!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#117
#117
Great game, but we still haven't seen anything close to what this team is capable of. It's like they have better focus and effort against better competition. Excluding last year. I expect even better play against Penn State and Baylor. I think they'll be more focus because they have a lot to prove. Great job ladies.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#118
#118
Why are Holly's teams always so out of balance? I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but the defense today was pretty poor, in spite of a better defensive effort in the second half. Defense against dribble-drive penetration was non-existent today. I am curious what Holly's routine is in preseason and in practice. Her team's are out of balance because the past couple of seasons they've been decent on defense and horrible on offense. This season is just the opposite the offense looks pretty good but the defense is going to get gashed when they play better competition if they don't shore it up.

What does Holly do in practice? Does anyone know?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#120
#120
LVJeff said:
Why are Holly's teams always so out of balance? I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but the defense today was pretty poor, in spite of a better defensive effort in the second half. Defense against dribble-drive penetration was non-existent today. I am curious what Holly's routine is in preseason and in practice. Her team's are out of balance because the past couple of seasons they've been decent on defense and horrible on offense. This season is just the opposite the offense looks pretty good but the defense is going to get gashed when they play better competition if they don't shore it up.

What does Holly do in practice? Does anyone know?
Click to expand...

Holly stated in an interview that preseason was about offense... motion offense and getting up shots and emphasis on confidence. She noted the big improvements needed from last year. She said defense will take time. Keep in mind that she preserved this team's health by going hard for 2 hour practices instead of 2 a days or 3-4 hour practices. This entire team gets in the gym on their own as well. She has stated defense will take time to get up to speed.

The good news is this team plays hard the whole game, despite lapses on defenses. They are a more cohesive team in many ways and more confident in their offense. Diamond said Kortney is still working her way back into the flow of things... she has been out off and on to help her foot heal. I find a lot more about this team to be confident about versus last year after the second game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 people
#121
#121
tennparker3 said:
Holly stated in an interview that preseason was about offense... motion offense and getting up shots and emphasis on confidence. She noted the big improvements needed from last year. She said defense will take time. Keep in mind that she preserved this team's health by going hard for 2 hour practices instead of 2 a days or 3-4 hour practices. This entire team gets in the gym on their own as well. She has stated defense will take time to get up to speed.

The good news is this team plays hard the whole game, despite lapses on defenses. They are a more cohesive team in many ways and more confident in their offense. Diamond said Kortney is still working her way back into the flow of things... she has been out off and on to help her foot heal. I find a lot more about this team to be confident about versus last year after the second game.
Click to expand...

Having multiple options that can score from outside helps. 12-14 is unreal. I don't care if it's Navy. This kind of balance scoring will only make Russell that much more effective, especially once she gets better at waiting for the double team and kicking it out to a shooter. It also takes pressure off Kortney as the designated outside shooter, and they can afford to bring her in slowly if they continue to have outside scoring without her in the lineup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#122
#122
For people concerned about the drive bys... This Navy team gave Wake Forest a ton of trouble in the same way and Wake Forest has quick guards who can play with incredible ball pressure on defense.

I think as conditioning improve and defense is given more time in practice we will see big improvements. We have quick and athletic perimeter defenders... They'll come around. Two good wins and lots of samples on tape for the ladies to see the issues they need to address.

East Tennessee State on the road next... ETSU plays hard, has good athletes and speed... they will give us fits but Tennessee SHOULD win easily.
 
#123
#123
tennparker3 said:
...I find a lot more about this team to be confident about versus last year after the second game.
Click to expand...

No doubt. I knew last season almost immediately there were systemic problems. This season things have improved.

But the team is still out of balance. The offense is way ahead of the defense.

The not-so-funny thing is, this team could be a lot better than last season's team yet have about the same record.
 
#125
#125
good win, good adjustments, for those who have written redundantly on the need to "get three point shooters" they were on this game. Many missed three footers against a smaller team, and a 40 point margin.

go lady vols
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top