NCAA Tournament Game Thread: (3) Lady Vols vs. (14) Middle Tennessee

[Coach Jumper]

Breath of fresh air to not have SEC officials as well.

A to the men

 

[mudcat1973]

Really happy for KK finishing her career on such a strong note. Wish we had gotten her to this point a couple of years ago.
Tess showed me a lot today. Emily.....everyone and their brothers were trying to get her the ball to score and I don’t think she got a handle on any of them. She will get the hang of it but she’s got to remember Burrell and Horston aren’t kidding around. They are high velocity passers. You have to be ready. My prediction Emily takes a big step forward over the summer!

 

[mudcat1973]

Really happy for KK finishing her career on such a strong note. Wish we had gotten her to this point a couple of years ago.
Tess showed me a lot today. Emily.....everyone and their brothers were trying to get her the ball to score and I don’t think she got a handle on any of them. She will get the hang of it but she’s got to remember Burrell and Horston aren’t kidding around. They are high velocity passers. You have to be ready. My prediction Emily takes a big step forward over the summer!

you need to watch tess on youtube greenfield vs tca 3 years ago. tess was a guard she played swarming defence shoot and pass good too. you can see a top 60 player before she miss softmore sumerball. its well worth a watch. i watch it twice.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Really happy for KK finishing her career on such a strong note. Wish we had gotten her to this point a couple of years ago.
Tess showed me a lot today. Emily.....everyone and their brothers were trying to get her the ball to score and I don’t think she got a handle on any of them. She will get the hang of it but she’s got to remember Burrell and Horston aren’t kidding around. They are high velocity passers. You have to be ready. My prediction Emily takes a big step forward over the summer!

She needs to hit the Juggs(TM) Machine

 

[glv98]

Whatever happens from here, this season has actually been fun. Full of ups and downs but it really feels like a positive direction.

How many coaches have gone back to back S16 with different teams? I guess it would still count as back to back since last year didn't happen. That would be a quality accomplishment for KJH. She's had a good year.

Because she's becoming the Dolly Parton of this team, doing everything awesomely, Rennia did KJH a real service by telling her she wanted her to be more personal and less bizlike or whatever that was. That seems to have been beneficial; the kids seem to trust KJH and her system. And everyone is having fun again, at least most of the time.

Such an interesting move playing Darby so much. I live in the constant hope that one of these hot shot high school 3 pt specialists will actually pan out so I was good with it and she's at least not bad.

Hayes ain't changed ya'll, just cloned herself so Hayes, Inc. can get up all the shots. She's a little better at netting some of the wild flings, probably bc she's thrown up thousands by now. I was very disappointed we didn't defend her better in the first half. We didn't know what she'd do? KJH said they didn't change the plan in the second half, just started following the plan finally. Whatever, once again KJH flipped a switch again at halftime.

I watched Michigan today and they're beatable, but we will have to play a really complete game without breakdowns.

 

[Coach Jumper]

 

[Nute Gunray]

Great win for the Lady Vols. However, I really wish they could cut down on turnovers without affecting the rest of their game. I believe strongly their won-loss record would be 21-3 instead of 17-7. This record would have earned them a 2 seed in the tournament. Also, I wish someone could teach Horston that she is not auditioning for the Harlem Globetrotters and make fundamental sound passes instead of a hotdog pass.

 

[GameTime]

Great win for the Lady Vols. However, I really wish they could cut down on turnovers without affecting the rest of their game. I believe strongly their won-loss record would be 21-3 instead of 17-7. This record would have earned them a 2 seed in the tournament. Also, I wish someone could teach Horston that she is not auditioning for the Harlem Globetrotters and make fundamental sound passes instead of a hotdog pass.

So true....Horston is often open for the shot, and then she will make some kind of bizarre pass that often turns into a turnover.....Perhaps she is not confident in her shot, but if she was going to pass, just make a standard pass...

 

[LadyVols_WBK]

Kiley just follows whatever big brother does

 

[Coach Jumper]

Great win for the Lady Vols. However, I really wish they could cut down on turnovers without affecting the rest of their game. I believe strongly their won-loss record would be 21-3 instead of 17-7. This record would have earned them a 2 seed in the tournament. Also, I wish someone could teach Horston that she is not auditioning for the Harlem Globetrotters and make fundamental sound passes instead of a hotdog pass.

It's Jordan's game to make showtime passes, this hasn't changed. Even when her turnovers are down she makes those passes, if she plays her way, we win,,,but yes, all of them need to be more aware of the turnovers..Including and especially her,,,this has to be pushed by Coach K,,,she has to use her position as coach to make them understand, they will be addressed for mindless turnovers and unforced turnovers

 

[Rickster]

Really encouraged with the defensive adjustments at the half and the offense pretty much throughout. Could this be a team starting to peak?

It seems to me that the biggest difference between the team that started the season and the one that started the tournament is todays team has learned to play through contact. They still over-rush bunnies and miss some but overall, this team handles the physical game much better.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Really encouraged with the defensive adjustments at the half and the offense pretty much throughout. Could this be a team starting to peak?

It seems to me that the biggest difference between the team that started the season and the one that started the tournament is todays team has learned to play through contact. They still over-rush bunnies and miss some but overall, this team handles the physical game much better.

I noticed that down the stretch. They really took the game to the rim.

 

[Lucy]

I was?

Good news, Kellie is undefeated in the second round. 1-0 all time baby!

So just to add context to DVs earlier
chatter about Coach Harper’s first round record of 1-4.
2 losses at Western Carolina they were a 16 seed and a 13 seed.
Loss at NC State as a 9 seed
Loss at Missouri State as a 13 seed
Win at Missouri State as an 11 seed (went on to make sweet sixteeen)
Not too worried about that record given the seedlings.
Of course she is now 1-0 with a seeding better than 8.

 

[RAVOL]

It's Jordan's game to make showtime passes, this hasn't changed. Even when her turnovers are down she makes those passes, if she plays her way, we win,,,but yes, all of them need to be more aware of the turnovers..Including and especially her,,,this has to be pushed by Coach K,,,she has to use her position as coach to make them understand, they will be addressed for mindless turnovers and unforced turnovers

Today it was Burrell time to throw a few what was that pass. . I like us alot in Michigan game because they do not have the athletic guards that cause havoc so they play Tn type of game so favor to Tn. More Athletic Long bodies then Michigan. In CHRIST Alone

 

[glv98]

The video goodness just keeps coming. Precious. The little boy looks just like her!

Great win for the Lady Vols. However, I really wish they could cut down on turnovers without affecting the rest of their game. I believe strongly their won-loss record would be 21-3 instead of 17-7. This record would have earned them a 2 seed in the tournament. Also, I wish someone could teach Horston that she is not auditioning for the Harlem Globetrotters and make fundamental sound passes instead of a hotdog pass.

Doesn't take a genius to predict turnovers will be the eventual downfall of this team, hopefully just not in the next game.

Imagine if our point guards put up the numbers they put up across the stat sheet today and DIDN'T have 8 turnovers! Just a respectable 3 or 4 between them. To be fair, Rae is also an extremely high t.o. player, had 5 today. With lesser teams, and if the cougher uppers do enough good to offset them, we can get by. With the better teams we're about to play, no way no how. We be headed home.

Horston is an interesting case in turnoveritis. She has the dueling problems that her decision making remains subpar and she is the master of what my h.s. coach called the "50 percenter". Half the time its a drop the dime assist, the other half its a giveaway. She does have great court vision, and sometimes it is actually that the receiver isn't ready for the ball. Either way, her assists come at a cost. My hope for her next year is that decision making improves enough to learn when a simple pass will do. Also that she find her 3 pt shot.

Similarly for Rae, I hope she learns to regulate her gears. Sometimes she struggles not to play too fast. Also that she stays on her feet more.

I realized that in order to get to 20 wins, LVs would have to get to the Final Four, by way of beating Baylor then UConn. That would be a pretty nice season, right?

 

[Coach Jumper]

Really encouraged with the defensive adjustments at the half and the offense pretty much throughout. Could this be a team starting to peak?

It seems to me that the biggest difference between the team that started the season and the one that started the tournament is todays team has learned to play through contact. They still over-rush bunnies and miss some but overall, this team handles the physical game much better.

agree on the bunnies...way to many missed 3ft-in bunnies,,,way too many

 

[Darth_Vol]

Whatever happens from here, this season has actually been fun. Full of ups and downs but it really feels like a positive direction.

How many coaches have gone back to back S16 with different teams?

You seem to be getting ahead of yourself here, she needs to win this next game first. The season is defined by March, and it would be hard to deem this season a success with a second round loss IMO...

 

[Lucy]

You seem to be getting ahead of yourself here, she needs to win this next game first. The season is defined by March, and it would be hard to deem this season a success with a second round loss IMO...

DV living in hope for a Lady Vol loss.

 

[madtownvol]

So true....Horston is often open for the shot, and then she will make some kind of bizarre pass that often turns into a turnover.....Perhaps she is not confident in her shot, but if she was going to pass, just make a standard pass...

In fairness, she made some great passes today. Her orientation seems to be pass first, shoot second on most plays (except when has decided to take the shot, like at the end of quarter scenario). A couple of her bad passes were cases where she would have been better off going to the rim but she caugth a teammater out of the corner of her eye, and then it was like a "pass it" instinct took over. With a little more experience, she will learn to call her own number when that is the best option. But, her improvement over the course of the season has been noteworthy. The team is going to need more point production from JH at some point during this tournament.

 

[bobkitten]

Next game particulars?

 

[Vols2015]

Extended highlights of the game have been posted on YouTube. Watch them at the link below.

Tennessee Lady Vols vs MTSU

 

[Prophet1]

It was great seeing Hayes again. Didn't leave
us on her own desire and was responsible for bringing Rennia here. If only......

 

[Raebo]

When would we face UConn?
You know that has got to be the game the country wants and the networks are clamoring for.

I don't know if it is the game everyone wants. I have a feeling most people want to see Kim vs Geno and Baylor vs UConn. It would really put us back on the map if we could upset both (and a couple more teams at the finals). I think Baylor is better than UConn.
One thing to note from yesterday, no upsets.
As long as we don't play careless, we should beat Michigan

 

[fastvol7]

Very proud of our Lady Vols and Coach K!

 

[NeedOrange]

Idk what KJH said at halftime but this is the Lv team I expected to see this 3rd QTR .

KJH deserves some love for the change she made at half time. She pushed the zone out and stopped all the free looks from 3 also stopped the weak side from sliding in to the post which meant the ball reversal stopped working.. MTSU was too slow afoot to run any back cuts while the Lady Vols height meant there was no need to pack in to cover all the defensive rebounds. Great job by Kellie.