Lady Vols Turnaround

#1

volbound1700

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#1
We should be proud of this team for the turnaround after the dreadful start. 8-0 in SEC play is great.

I do want to propose this question... are we a lot better or is the SEC just not that good? Seems like they couldn't win out of conference but now that they are in league play, they are unstoppable so far (granted they haven't played South Carolina yet).

They have UConn upcoming this Thursday and I think it will be a tall order to win that game. I would love to see them win it but it is UConn, they are great every year. They also haven't played LSU and South Carolina yet so more to come with that.
 
#2
#2
We should be proud of this team for the turnaround after the dreadful start. 8-0 in SEC play is great.

I do want to propose this question... are we a lot better or is the SEC just not that good? Seems like they couldn't win out of conference but now that they are in league play, they are unstoppable so far (granted they haven't played South Carolina yet).

They have UConn upcoming this Thursday and I think it will be a tall order to win that game. I would love to see them win it but it is UConn, they are great every year. They also haven't played LSU and South Carolina yet so more to come with that.
We got a rough second half with road games at LSU, MIss St, Arkansas, and Kentucky. I would love to win three of those games. Home Mississippi, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and SC. Love to win all our which would mean SEC regular season Championship.
 
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#3
#3
We got a rough second half with road games at LSU, MIss St, Arkansas, and Kentucky. I would love to win three of those games. Home Mississippi, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and SC. Love to win all our which would mean SEC regular season Championship.

True. In the end, no one remembers what you do in November or even February, they remember March. If Lady Vols enter tournament at a low seed but make a run, that will erase everything.

Our Men have that problem and they are already scaring me again this year. They look dominant most the season but every once in a while have clunker games (Colorado and Kentucky this year already). They tend to have clunker games in the 2nd or 3rd game of March Madness were they put up only 40 or 50 points and lose.
 
#4
#4
We should be proud of this team for the turnaround after the dreadful start. 8-0 in SEC play is great.

I do want to propose this question... are we a lot better or is the SEC just not that good? Seems like they couldn't win out of conference but now that they are in league play, they are unstoppable so far (granted they haven't played South Carolina yet).

They have UConn upcoming this Thursday and I think it will be a tall order to win that game. I would love to see them win it but it is UConn, they are great every year. They also haven't played LSU and South Carolina yet so more to come with that.

The answer is - some of both.

Has Tennessee gotten better? To a degree. Players are more comfortable than they were at the start of the year, which makes sense in the context of how many transfers came in and how wildly different the roster is. That's the gamble of this year's team; can you bring in four transfers, mesh them with the existing players, and win in March? Not now. March. That's always been the gamble.

But also, the SEC is filled with pastry puff records this year. Quite a few of these 12-16 win-ish teams in the SEC have atrocious SOS rankings, out of the top 100 in many cases. They've played almost no one special. Missouri, for example, was 14-5 but they did that beating teams like St. Louis, Omaha, Jackson State, Arizona State, and then got some wins in their early SEC slate, but again, nothing big of note.

Which, hey, they almost snagged Tennessee, so whistling past a graveyard there, but a lot of these SEC teams have untested records. At least Tennessee has drawn its losses against a top 3 schedule. Let's hope it pays off. We're going to learn a lot from the LSU, UConn, and South Carolina games.
 
#5
#5
We are playing better now than we were in the first several games. We were trying different lineup and since league games started we seem to have settled on a rotation. I also think that the SEC overall Is down This year. I think currently their are only 2 teams in the top 20. If it wasn’t for South Carolina, the league would be looking like the 4th or 5th best league. I supposed I’ll get flamed for saying that.
I think the ACC, Big Ten, and PAC Ten and SEC are pretty even this year When you look at the top 4 or so teams in each conference.
 
#6
#6
By its own standards, the SEC is down. But there is a lot of evenness across the landscape of WB right now.

Although we have improved in some areas, our defensive breakdowns and lack of intensity suggest that insufficient attention has been given there to assure deep postseason success. Our personnel is worthy of high expectations.

RJ and the team showed some real assertive purpose and punch on that game-winning play yesterday, however.
 
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#7
#7
There's no denying that Tennessee is playing better now than earlier in the year. They are protecting the ball better and players seem to understand their roles. The SEC is definitely weaker this year. Outside of SC, LSU, Tennessee, and Arkansas...nothing to write home about (although MSST or Ole Miss could play a spoiler role). The UConn game will be a good test: elite interior players and outside sharpshooting. If they win that game, it will be a huge statement win that makes the early losses irrelevant when asking "How good is Tennessee right now?"
 
#8
#8
There's no denying that Tennessee is playing better now than earlier in the year. They are protecting the ball better and players seem to understand their roles. The SEC is definitely weaker this year. Outside of SC, LSU, Tennessee, and Arkansas...nothing to write home about (although MSST or Ole Miss could play a spoiler role). The UConn game will be a good test: elite interior players and outside sharpshooting. If they win that game, it will be a huge statement win that makes the early losses irrelevant when asking "How good is Tennessee right now?"
Wow you really think so Amb? It’ll be a good win but statement win with how crippled they are with injuries?
 
#9
#9
Wow you really think so Amb? It’ll be a good win but statement win with how crippled they are with injuries?
It's not like they don't have anyone left. Their five starters are all excellent players who are playing top-level basketball. We just won't speak of the fact that their bench only has a cheerleader and a player slightly better than a walk-on...
 
#10
#10
Some of this stuff you can’t make up.. even from the bandwagon fans. Since Day 1 what TN dealt with to the start the year seems to benefit every team they faced even one they beat in Colorado that has since been ranked despite having a similar record as TN.
But as soon as TN re-enters the spotlight and has ranked opponents on the upcoming schedule the excuses are being set in place for one of them just in case the LVs win. No Key and Marta. Multiple players missing games while trying to build chemistry.
Yet, the criteria changes when it could possibly favor TN.
 
#12
#12
Some of this stuff you can’t make up.. even from the bandwagon fans. Since Day 1 what TN dealt with to the start the year seems to benefit every team they faced even one they beat in Colorado that has since been ranked despite having a similar record as TN.
But as soon as TN re-enters the spotlight and has ranked opponents on the upcoming schedule the excuses are being set in place for one of them just in case the LVs win. No Key and Marta. Multiple players missing games while trying to build chemistry.
Yet, the criteria changes when it could possibly favor TN.

The word similar is an interesting word. It of course means resembling without being identical. The Buffs are 15-4, which is "similar" to UT's 16-6 record. Now, Colorado lost to #23 UT earlier in the season. They also have a loss to #4 Stanford and #13 Utah as well as an upset loss to Texas Tech. But they have two wins over ranked opponents, beating #8 Utah and #14 Arizona.

UT sits at 16-6 and has not beaten a team that was ranked at the time of the match. Colorado is ranked #25 in the AP poll this week but was unranked early in the season. UT has played the tougher schedule no doubt and that comes into play when ranking teams. I personally would rank UT over the Buffs, especially since the HTH result was a convincing UT win. LV's just need a scalp or two from ranked team(s).
 
#13
#13
The word similar is an interesting word. It of course means resembling without being identical. The Buffs are 15-4, which is "similar" to UT's 16-6 record. Now, Colorado lost to #23 UT earlier in the season. They also have a loss to #4 Stanford and #13 Utah as well as an upset loss to Texas Tech. But they have two wins over ranked opponents, beating #8 Utah and #14 Arizona.

UT sits at 16-6 and has not beaten a team that was ranked at the time of the match. Colorado is ranked #25 in the AP poll this week but was unranked early in the season. UT has played the tougher schedule no doubt and that comes into play when ranking teams. I personally would rank UT over the Buffs, especially since the HTH result was a convincing UT win. LV's just need a scalp or two from ranked team(s).

Point taken. I get that SC Birdie.
Now I want you to keep this same energy later in the season!
Stand on business!
 
#14
#14
We are certainly better. How much better we'll find out when we play UConn and South Carolina and a couple of the tougher SEC road games.
We need a couple of big wins for confidence and to improve our NCAA seeding. It's hard to go far in the Big Dance if you're a low seed because
you'll be facing good teams from the start---and a very good team in the 2nd/3rd round.
 
#15
#15
If we win against UConn, it will be a fine victory....If we lose the UConn faithful will let you know how bad a loss it was...

They've got injuries, we've got injuries, deal with it....No quarter given, or asked for....
joaquin-phoenix-gladiator.gif
 
#16
#16
If we win against UConn, it will be a fine victory....If we lose the UConn faithful will let you know how bad a loss it was...

They've got injuries, we've got injuries, deal with it....No quarter given, or asked for....

Right, if your team has a shortage of players perhaps that was a failure of the coach to plan or recruit effectively.
You can only play 5 at a time and they've had an entire week of rest. If we win this I don't want to hear any "qualifications".

I would go at them from the tip with RJ, she's really good at drawing fouls. And if you are trying not to foul, she will eat you alive.
Start RJ!
 
#17
#17
We should be proud of this team for the turnaround after the dreadful start. 8-0 in SEC play is great.

I do want to propose this question... are we a lot better or is the SEC just not that good? Seems like they couldn't win out of conference but now that they are in league play, they are unstoppable so far (granted they haven't played South Carolina yet).

Not only is the SEC not good, but the first half of Tennessee's conference schedule happened to be frontloaded with the bottom half of the league this season. Of their 8 SEC games, only two teams -- Alabama and MSU -- have winning conference records (both are still unranked). Fans are frustrated the Lady Vols still aren't ranked despite an undefeated conference record, but this is why. They've beaten nobody.

The last half of the conference schedule includes South Carolina, LSU, Ole Miss, trips to Arkansas and MSU -- it's about to get real...
 
#18
#18
I think they have improved quite a bit. I'm also curious to see if it's enough to hang with the elite like UConn, lsu, and South Carolina. I see above slot of talk of SC in the conference not much mention of undefeated LSU who has really become elite under kim mulkey. They may give SC a run for their money as well.
 
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#19
#19
This team is much better than the beginning. Team is much more connected and despite our injuries our depth is playing major role. If we played Lsu Schedule we would be sitting were they are not saying they are not good but they had time to work out their chemistry because of Schedule. We will see were we stand soon. Just thank as a team we still have not played up to our skill level with all players contributing not just 2 . Go Lady Vols. In CHRIST Alone
 
#21
#21
Some of the LV's early season trouble resulted from counting on Tamari to play up to expectations. When she was on the court, 20% of the team was (unknown to anyone) physically unable to execute well. That created major weaknesses in both offense and defense.
 
#24
#24
We should be proud of this team for the turnaround after the dreadful start. 8-0 in SEC play is great.

I do want to propose this question... are we a lot better or is the SEC just not that good? Seems like they couldn't win out of conference but now that they are in league play, they are unstoppable so far (granted they haven't played South Carolina yet).

They have UConn upcoming this Thursday and I think it will be a tall order to win that game. I would love to see them win it but it is UConn, they are great every year. They also haven't played LSU and South Carolina yet so more to come with that.
They beat Uconn, that’s a turnaround. Yes 8-0, but they haven’t played the toughest teams in the conference. In fact, it’s a pretty weak list.
 
#25
#25
Some of the LV's early season trouble resulted from counting on Tamari to play up to expectations. When she was on the court, 20% of the team was (unknown to anyone) physically unable to execute well. That created major weaknesses in both offense and defense.
The issue is we aren’t athletic enough outside or Rickea and Jordan, very slow at most positions and undersized at the Pg position.
 

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