Maria Cornelius' summary of the ND game

#1

Amb3096

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
11,476
Likes
22,726
#1
Lady Vols fall to No. 1 Notre Dame

This is so bad that it's cringeworthy. I don't know if Maria is flat out delusional, or she knows that the program is at rock bottom but trying to pump sunshine and rainbows into her outlook nonetheless. Either way, it's pathetic journalism. It was such a flowery write up that you would think that they won the game. No criticism of the coaching and no commentary on the overall state of the program.

Some of the "lowlights" of her "report":

The Lady Vols may have fallen to No. 1 Notre Dame, but the team showed it can play together – and find its voice – in the 77-62 loss Thursday - This was shaping up to be a 20+ point loss until Tennessee made a few cheap buckets and ND slowed down the tempo to run out clock. Tennessee shot 36% and let ND score at will for 3 quarters. How is this showing they can play together exactly?

Despite Monday’s bitter loss to Arkansas, 9,154 fans made it to Thompson-Boling Arena on yet another bitter cold night and made their voices heard, too. - The #1 team was in town and they only drew 9,100 fans? Does the "bitter cold" disappear when the men play so that they can play before bigger crowds?

The Lady Vols could have folded after Monday’s loss. Players barely out of high school and sophomores expected to lead like seniors comprise seven of Tennessee’s 10 players. - Ahhh, here we go. Her second reference to age. Because it's not like Tennessee is an elite program with a rich history in WCBB. No, this is a rag tag team of children going up against the mighty ND. You would expect this kind of tone for an up-and-coming program, not a powerhouse like Tennessee.

Bonus Quote from Holly:

On Zaay Green's play and how encouraging it is moving forward:
"Zaay did exactly what we expect her to do. She penetrated and is one of our best players that can penetrate the gap and take good shots. I thought she took good shots. She did not take the floater. She stopped and jump shot. Her defense I thought was solid. We need her to do that all the time. I expect her to do that, and it has always been expected. Now she showed she can continue to do that." - Her defense was so solid that she held Arike to 28 points on 52% shooting and Jackie Young to a triple double.
 
Last edited:
#2
#2
Lady Vols fall to No. 1 Notre Dame

This is so bad that it's cringeworthy. I don't know if Maria is flat out delusional, or she knows that the program is at rock bottom but trying to pump sunshine and rainbows into her outlook nonetheless. Either way, it's pathetic journalism. It was such a flowery write up that you would think that they won the game. No criticism of the coaching and no commentary on the overall state of the program.

Some of the "lowlights" of her "report":

The Lady Vols may have fallen to No. 1 Notre Dame, but the team showed it can play together – and find its voice – in the 77-62 loss Thursday - This was shaping up to be a 20+ point loss until Tennessee made a few cheap buckets and ND slowed down the tempo to run out clock. Tennessee shot 36% and let ND score at will for 3 quarters. How is this showing they can play together exactly?

Despite Monday’s bitter loss to Arkansas, 9,154 fans made it to Thompson-Boling Arena on yet another bitter cold night and made their voices heard, too. - The #1 team was in town and they only drew 9,100 fans? Does the "bitter cold" disappear when the men play so that they can play before bigger crowds?

The Lady Vols could have folded after Monday’s loss. Players barely out of high school and sophomores expected to lead like seniors comprise seven of Tennessee’s 10 players. - Ahhh, here we go. Her second reference to age. Because it's not like Tennessee is an elite program with a rich history in WCBB. No, this is a rag tag team of children going up against the mighty ND. You would expect this kind of tone for an up-and-coming program, not a powerhouse like Tennessee.


If this was the first in the last seven years that the Lady Vols have gone South, I would agree with Maria’s assessment, however, the program is on a downward spiral. This trend cannot be corrected with excuses and delusional outlooks. This program is leaking and needs an infusion of reality and good coaching.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7Iron and olddog
#4
#4
If this was the first in the last seven years that the Lady Vols have gone South, I would agree with Maria’s assessment, however, the program is on a downward spiral. This trend cannot be corrected with excuses and delusional outlooks. This program is leaking and needs an infusion of reality and good coaching.

Not just that, but there are 6 AAs on this team, and 2 of them were starters last season who have logged major minutes since coming to the program. Zaay Green has also played a ton of minutes this season. Cheridene has in her 3rd year with the program. They have enough experience on the team that this shouldn't be happening. Remember UConn 2 years ago when Katie Lou and Napheesa were sophomores? That was a very young team, Gabby Williams and Saniya Chong did not have big role the previous years, but yet they went undefeated to the Final Four before losing.

Next year, both MSST and SC will rely heavily on their freshmen, but I'm confident they will not be struggling to put away the likes of Arkansas and Alabama like Tennessee is. MSST will have 5 brand new starters, and I think they will still finish in the top 2 in the SEC (along with SC).
 
#5
#5
Lady Vols fall to No. 1 Notre Dame

This is so bad that it's cringeworthy. I don't know if Maria is flat out delusional, or she knows that the program is at rock bottom but trying to pump sunshine and rainbows into her outlook nonetheless. Either way, it's pathetic journalism. It was such a flowery write up that you would think that they won the game. No criticism of the coaching and no commentary on the overall state of the program.

Some of the "lowlights" of her "report":

The Lady Vols may have fallen to No. 1 Notre Dame, but the team showed it can play together – and find its voice – in the 77-62 loss Thursday - This was shaping up to be a 20+ point loss until Tennessee made a few cheap buckets and ND slowed down the tempo to run out clock. Tennessee shot 36% and let ND score at will for 3 quarters. How is this showing they can play together exactly?

Despite Monday’s bitter loss to Arkansas, 9,154 fans made it to Thompson-Boling Arena on yet another bitter cold night and made their voices heard, too. - The #1 team was in town and they only drew 9,100 fans? Does the "bitter cold" disappear when the men play so that they can play before bigger crowds?

The Lady Vols could have folded after Monday’s loss. Players barely out of high school and sophomores expected to lead like seniors comprise seven of Tennessee’s 10 players. - Ahhh, here we go. Her second reference to age. Because it's not like Tennessee is an elite program with a rich history in WCBB. No, this is a rag tag team of children going up against the mighty ND. You would expect this kind of tone for an up-and-coming program, not a powerhouse like Tennessee.

Bonus Quote from Holly:

On Zaay Green's play and how encouraging it is moving forward:
"Zaay did exactly what we expect her to do. She penetrated and is one of our best players that can penetrate the gap and take good shots. I thought she took good shots. She did not take the floater. She stopped and jump shot. Her defense I thought was solid. We need her to do that all the time. I expect her to do that, and it has always been expected. Now she showed she can continue to do that." - Her defense was so solid that she held Arike to 28 points on 52% shooting and Jackie Young to a triple double.

"and find it's voice"
But it was just a whisper.......
 
#8
#8
Her defense was so solid that she held Arike to 28 points on 52% shooting and Jackie Young to a triple double.[/QUOTE]

I agree with most of your points but if Green was supposed to guard 2 people at the same time, then I would expect them to have stats like that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mlindsay
#9
#9
All valid points. She sounds like Holly's personal PR with that piece. They will attempt to keep this situation as positive as they can, and likely have talking points each time Holly answers questions to spin this in a positive light. The only reason 9000+ showed up was b/c they were playing the #1 team. There were people openly giving away their tickets to this game. Next game that number will likely drop.
 
  • Like
Reactions: T.J.
#10
#10
Were horrible offensively and defensively that is why we've lost six in a row five to teams that should've been easy wins.
 
  • Like
Reactions: T.J.
#11
#11
Were horrible offensively and defensively that is why we've lost six in a row five to teams that should've been easy wins.

When you are horrible offensively and defensively you make changes. brenda frese did it and vivian springer i wonder how it`s working out for them ? pretty damn good.
 
#14
#14
I agree with most of your points but if Green was supposed to guard 2 people at the same time, then I would expect them to have stats like that.
They switched on defense a lot, and these were the two players that she had a hand in guarding. I don't think anyone on Tennessee's team did a good job defending ND at all. The best person defense on ND was by Marina Mabrey on herself, because she was cold and was just missing a lot of open shots she normally makes.
 
Last edited:
#15
#15
Maria is a very good lady/person, and her deep love of the Lady Vols may cloud her judgement just a bit....She is a Lady Vols optimist, which is not a bad thing.

If the game last night were a horse race, it could be said the LV's ran a good race early from the gate, but the trainer of the horse had not prepared the jockey properly how to bring their mount in for the win down the stretch.....

If it had been a football game, it could be written the winning team had a superior playbook, coaches, and players....

If it had been a baseball game, it could be written the other team had more pop in their bats than the LV's, and made less fielding errors...

If it had been a game of tit tat toe, it could be written the other team controlled center square too often....

Since it was a basketball game, the team with the better coaching, ND, made the necessary adjustments for victory, while our coach, Holly, had no idea how to stop the flow of points being scored against her team, or how to increase our own output of necessary points for a win.....
 
#16
#16
I think someone on the ND board mentioned that ND kept TN in the game early. ND was something like 1-10 early in the game. Shepard bricked at least 4 layups early and I don't think KK was hanging on her. The game could have been worse score wise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cutiepie5
#17
#17
Maria is a very good lady/person, and her deep love of the Lady Vols may cloud her judgement just a bit....She is a Lady Vols optimist, which is not a bad thing.

If the game last night were a horse race, it could be said the LV's ran a good race early from the gate, but the trainer of the horse had not prepared the jockey properly how to bring their mount in for the win down the stretch.....

If it had been a football game, it could be written the winning team had a superior playbook, coaches, and players....

If it had been a baseball game, it could be written the other team had more pop in their bats than the LV's, and made less fielding errors...

If it had been a game of tit tat toe, it could be written the other team controlled center square too often....

Since it was a basketball game, the team with the better coaching, ND, made the necessary adjustments for victory, while our coach, Holly, had no idea how to stop the flow of points being scored against her team, or how to increase our own output of necessary points for a win.....


I second everything you say. I will add that Maria is in the position similar to any reporters whose job is dependent access to people in certain institutions. Such reporters have to a walk a fine line between reporting and not losing access. Reporters in such positions are always a bit compromised.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10cpride
#18
#18
I second everything you say. I will add that Maria is in the position similar to any reporters whose job is dependent access to people in certain institutions. Such reporters have to a walk a fine line between reporting and not losing access. Reporters in such positions are always a bit compromised.

Speaking of reporters, I read Phil Kaplan's article on the game last night.
He wasn't "milquetoast" with what he wrote.
He was direct
 
#20
#20
The most obvious problems with the Tennessee team is player development has to hit a completely different level. Player IQ has to hit a totally different level. Until both these happens we could lose to anyone or on a lucky day win against a top team.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10cpride
#21
#21
I've been wanting to hear from the other side, those who believe Holly should remain as coach. But then they speak up and its Maria's gobbledy gook pablum.

I wish I could ask an honest Holly backer if they think there actually is a problem with the direction of the program, or if the unprecedented string of losses is just attributable to the current team's youth, etc. Do they honestly see a change in direction from the last 4 seasons happening any time soon?

Or, as I suspect, do they fully grasp the tumble of the LV program from prominence but are ok with it as long as the coach is Holly or someone else approved by the self-appointed guardians of the PS legacy. Is it selfish and over-entitled of us to want to return to contention for championships?

Seems ironic to me that those who zealously want to carry on the PS legacy are so easily removed from her high expectations and standards.
 
#22
#22
Maria is the very definition of the word "homer". Looks like another moral victory to me.
 
#25
#25
I would suspect her hands are tied in the matter. As I recall, she writes for the folks who subscribe / pay for the coverage -- at least, that was the deal back when they took the old SUmmitT board private. I imagine she believes she must cater to that particular audience. Combine that with her need to have continued access to the program in order to write her stories, something which would be in jeopardy if she began challenging the program, and once can easily see how she could be trapped in a post where "putting a smile on it" is her only option.
 

VN Store



Back
Top