Game Thread: #22/23 TENNESSEE AT NO. 13/13 KENTUCKY

Key is a freshman and is still learning will be a star and getting better. Was thrown it to this with the disappointment of KK and Mccoy. Saunders is not ready for this level of play vs the top teams.

I agree, I think the Tamari Key we see now and the Tamari Key we see in the SEC tournament are going to look very different. In a very good way. She’s getting more aggressive protecting the paint again. Kentucky had to shoot the 3 because the paint was a no go zone with her long ol arms.
 
I agree, I think the Tamari Key we see now and the Tamari Key we see in the SEC tournament are going to look very different. In a very good way. She’s getting more aggressive protecting the paint again. Kentucky had to shoot the 3 because the paint was a no go zone with her long ol arms.

Everyday she is learning and getting better each game by next year look out. she looks at film to see what she has done wrong and how to correct them and i`m pretty sure she will correct her mistakes from this game.
 
She also defended Howard ever nearly second she was on the floor
What does who you guard on D have anything to do with having 0 assists on offense! Plus we played a lot of zone on D. 12 assists against a bad Mizzou team 0 assists vs a good Ky team🤷‍♂️
 
I think you hit the nail on the head, I believe the problem is her speed. She is actually really productive in her minutes, but she is super slow. We’ve only ever seen her playing 4th quarter minutes against an exhausted and already beaten opponent. And she looked slow against them :/. I fear against tougher teams she’d barely be making it end to end.
Emily needs a good speed and agility coach, someone to teach her how to run. As long as her legs are, her stride is very short, if that makes sense
 
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Kellie and staff obviously see more than I do and know more than I do when it comes to basketball. But at least watching just about each and every game, Brown plays too many minutes and wouldnt start if I were coaching. With cutting and slashing teams Id at least attempt Key and KK and try amd make the team go inside vs a smaller UK team. Sure may not work, but a 3 2 zone with KK and Key down low with Davis Burrell and Horston up top outside guarding the top at least to me needs to be attempted even if for a brief mix up.
 
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What does who you guard on D have anything to do with having 0 assists on offense! Plus we played a lot of zone on D. 12 assists against a bad Mizzou team 0 assists vs a good Ky team🤷‍♂️

Just ask their coach,,,Go back and watch the game and keep track of who Howard guarded.
Only rarely and on switches does she guard Ren, Jordan, Rae or Jaz...instead opting for the potentially easier, less active assignment on the floor
Coach Mitchell didn't want his star to wear out playing high-intensity defense,

Although Jaz isn't our scoring star,she is our best set-up guard, right now
When you focus on defense, it almost overtakes your game

This was something I had to break Meme of,,,she was our only shut-down defender and focused on that. Once she began to understand that she could both, shutdown an opponent and contribute in other ways,,,her game opened up.

Jaz was assigned Howard every time she was on the floor. Howard ran her trough screens frenetically , this wore Jaz out ...If you can't understand how playing defense against someone who almost never stops moving does this

,,,you've never played this game
 
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Just ask their coach,,,Go back and watch the game and keep track of who Howard guarded.
Only rarely and on switches does she guard Ren, Jordan, Rae or Jaz...instead opting for the potentially easier, less active assignment on the floor
Coach Mitchell didn't want his star to wear out playing high-intensity defense,

Although Jaz isn't our scoring star,she is our best set-up guard, right now
When you focus on defense, it almost overtakes your game

This was something I had to break Meme of,,,she was our only shut-down defender and focused on that. Once she began to understand that she could both, shutdown an opponent and contribute in other ways,,,her game opened up.

Jaz was assigned Howard every time she was on the floor. Howard ran her trough screens frenetically , this wore Jaz out ...If you can't understand how playing defense against someone who almost never stops moving does this

,,,you've never played this game
You sir are an idiot and yes you have some fooled on this board you are the one who obviously has never played or coached any level more than JV MS ball or 2nd level AAU. As a starting PG of the Lady Vols it is your responsibility to get your teammates good looks and who you are guarding on the other end should have very little impact on your decision making on the offensive side of ball. Before this last post I actually was giving you credit for knowing something about the game. I was mistaken.
 
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You sir are an idiot and yes you have some fooled on this board you are the one who obviously has never played or coached any level more than JV MS ball or 2nd level AAU. As a starting PG of the Lady Vols it is your responsibility to get your teammates good looks and who you are guarding on the other end should have very little impact on your decision making on the offensive side of ball. Before this last post I actually was giving you credit for knowing something about the game. I was mistaken.

Thank you for your support
 
Jaz was assigned Howard every time she was on the floor. Howard ran her trough screens frenetically , this wore Jaz out ...If you can't understand how playing defense against someone who almost never stops moving does this

,,,you've never played this game

Exactly. I often talk about the level of strength and stamina it takes to play lock-down defense. It’s the most intense, exhausting, gut-checking basketball skill of all, and very few players possess all the qualities it takes to do it consistently — at ANY level of the sport, amateur or professional.

Lock-down defenders have to maintain a consistently active defensive stance — arms out and active, knees bent without standing flat-footed, always wound and ready to make quick movements in any direction while maintaining intense focus on the player being guarded. This type of active stance is 100% effective, but it’s so hard to do that players won’t do it.

The perfect active stance faaaar more quickly gets the heart rate up, and after just a short time the legs can start burning pretty bad. That said, it’s obvious why there are so few lock-down defenders. That ish is HARD! If anyone doubts my word, just try it — stand like this in your living room, arms moving and waving, knees deeply bent, on the toes. You WILL get tired quickly. o_O

Anyway, if Kellie could convince one of her players to have the guts to dig deep enough to push through the pain and breathlessness to do it, this team would be golden. We just need one woman who’s got enough stamina to shut down every opponents’ best scorer. Easy peazy! lol
 
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Exactly. I often talk about the level of strength and stamina it takes to play lock-down defense. It’s the most intense, exhausting, gut-checking basketball skill of all, and very few players possess all the qualities it takes to do it consistently — at ANY level of the sport, amateur or professional.

Lock-down defenders have to maintain a consistently active defensive stance — arms out and active, knees bent without standing flat-footed, always wound and ready to make quick movements in any direction while maintaining intense focus on the player being guarded. This type of active stance is 100% effective, but it’s so hard to do that players won’t do it.

The perfect active stance faaaar more quickly gets the heart rate up, and after just a short time the legs can start burning pretty bad. That said, it’s obvious why there are so few lock-down defenders. That ish is HARD! If anyone doubts my word, just try it — stand like this in your living room, arms moving and waving, knees deeply bent, on the toes. You WILL get tired quickly. o_O

Anyway, if Kellie could convince one of her players to have the guts to dig deep enough to push through the pain and breathlessness to do it, this team would be golden. We just need one woman who’s got enough stamina to shut down every opponents’ best scorer. Easy peazy! lol

I think we have four who will do this...But
But the gameplan has to :
  1. enable them to do this and instructions on (no)switching, and focus has to be certain
  2. have an alternative defensive tactic if one-on-one's are consistently being expolited e.g..(double-teaming if within the arc and extending pressure on bring-downs and especially half-court traps
 
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Coach J, that's asking a LOT to have four true defensive stoppers on one team when having even one (I'm talking TRUE defensive stopper) on a team is a gift from the basketball gods. o_O But I'll agree that it's a whole lot about game planning, too.

Also, on edit, I do have to add that our players are at a natural disadvantage for playing extreme, active-stance defense because of their height. It's much, MUCH easier for shorter players to maintain an active stance for extended periods than it is for taller players. But it's not impossible -- just much more painful.

I just tried, and failed, to find film footage of the most intense, true defensive stopper I ever saw -- the great Debbie "The Pest" Black -- but I did manage to find a video that was titled "the second coming of Debbie Black." It's a 2009 video of a player named Sandra Sinclair, and she was intense. If we had three or four of these, OMG... *sigh*.... Here's the vid:

Ready For The Game: THE SECOND COMING OF DEBBIE BLACK
 
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Emily needs a good speed and agility coach, someone to teach her how to run. As long as her legs are, her stride is very short, if that makes sense

To my eye, I see a player who has a beautifully soft touch but likely with a 90% slow-twitch muscle makeup. She may gain a tiny bit of quickness with a speed coach, but she's unlikely to ever be much quicker than she is now. That's not a positional death sentence at all -- just a reality for probably 40% of all players who play low post.

On the other hand, yes, if she works hard on her agility in the offseason, next year she could really step up and be a major contributor. One thing I love about Emily: When she has the ball under the basket she is more likely to make her shot than ANYone else on our team with the same opportunity.
 
To my eye, I see a player who has a beautifully soft touch but likely with a 90% slow-twitch muscle makeup. She may gain a tiny bit of quickness with a speed coach, but she's unlikely to ever be much quicker than she is now. That's not a positional death sentence at all -- just a reality for probably 40% of all players who play low post.

On the other hand, yes, if she works hard on her agility in the offseason, next year she could really step up and be a major contributor. One thing I love about Emily: When she has the ball under the basket she is more likely to make her shot than ANYone else on our team with the same opportunity.


I see a ton of potential for her if she learns footwork and timing,,,she already has learned to keep the ball high and that is the hardest thing to teach a big
 
To my eye, I see a player who has a beautifully soft touch but likely with a 90% slow-twitch muscle makeup. She may gain a tiny bit of quickness with a speed coach, but she's unlikely to ever be much quicker than she is now. That's not a positional death sentence at all -- just a reality for probably 40% of all players who play low post.

On the other hand, yes, if she works hard on her agility in the offseason, next year she could really step up and be a major contributor. One thing I love about Emily: When she has the ball under the basket she is more likely to make her shot than ANYone else on our team with the same opportunity.

Agree with the missed Bunnies by our team !

In the third quarter of the game we missed 7 shots from point blank ...... Rennia (2) Rae (2) Jaz (1) and Jordan (2) with two turnovers and missed Bunnies in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter! With other players getting 2-3 turnovers and Howard going off .... this is when we got beat ? JMO

POSITIVES : Three minutes into second quarter !!!! A TIME OUT called ..... changed defense and we got back into the game and ahead at halftime! And again in the third quarter after getting behind a time out and defense change .... late but we have not had adjustment in games for 5 or 6 years.

Reminder : We were not supposed to win this game ! But we could have ? 🤔
 
Agree with the missed Bunnies by our team !

In the third quarter of the game we missed 7 shots from point blank ...... Rennia (2) Rae (2) Jaz (1) and Jordan (2) with two turnovers and missed Bunnies in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter! With other players getting 2-3 turnovers and Howard going off .... this is when we got beat ? JMO

POSITIVES : Three minutes into second quarter !!!! A TIME OUT called ..... changed defense and we got back into the game and ahead at halftime! And again in the third quarter after getting behind a time out and defense change .... late but we have not had adjustment in games for 5 or 6 years.

Reminder : We were not supposed to win this game ! But we could have ? 🤔

agree about Q3,,,this is where we were starting Q3 with a 2 point lead and suffered a 11-0 run before the TO

Agree too about the Q2 timeout and its impact,,,,, but it was after we endured a 18-4 run to end Q1 and begin Q2...Yes, thank you for calling a timeout, but please call it sooner
 
agree about Q3,,,this is where we were starting Q3 with a 2 point lead and suffered a 11-0 run before the TO

Agree too about the Q2 timeout and its impact,,,,, but it was after we endured a 18-4 run to end Q1 and begin Q2...Yes, thank you for calling a timeout, but please call it sooner

Yes, but we didn’t go home with one “in the pocket” like you posted in another thread 😂😂😂!!!

Overall i am starting to trust coach Harper more and more because she has actually made in game adjustments and they seemed to work. Also it could of been a coincidence but there seemed to be more focus with the free throw shooting.

I was one of those that wanted her to fix everything what’s wrong with the team right then and there however when I look back she probably had a LOOOOONNNGGGGG laundry list of basic skill things to address along with TRYING to implement some things of her own.

I think we are moving in the right direction SLOWLY but we are moving
 
Emily needs a good speed and agility coach, someone to teach her how to run. As long as her legs are, her stride is very short, if that makes sense

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Yes, but we didn’t go home with one “in the pocket” like you posted in another thread 😂😂😂!!!

Overall i am starting to trust coach Harper more and more because she has actually made in game adjustments and they seemed to work. Also it could of been a coincidence but there seemed to be more focus with the free throw shooting.

I was one of those that wanted her to fix everything what’s wrong with the team right then and there however when I look back she probably had a LOOOOONNNGGGGG laundry list of basic skill things to address along with TRYING to implement some things of her own.

I think we are moving in the right direction SLOWLY but we are moving

Like I said before coach Jumper’s BUT informative comments......

Coach CJH made (IN) game adjustments! And they worked ! The players accepted the instructions and implemented a plan that changed the direction of the game ! ( The players listened to a coach give them guidance)! What an amazing feat that has not been seen in YEARS..... And we didn’t go home with a loss and 3 or 4 time outs not used.....

We did not win the game .... I know ! But with our young team and their limitations of immature skills/decisions, they are improving every game . This is a good thing ..... I am excited and anxious about the future of this program.
 
Coach I tried not to laugh, but this is really good. (Good one Darth)

From time to time, we have to laugh at ourselves.....If we take ourselves too seriously, forget about it.


Yeah, my fan went all out on this one
"Party on Garth"
 

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