Kellie Harper discussion/debate thread [merged]

[BigBadVol]

We all want to see someone come in and reproduce what coach Pat did and it's not going to happen. We got to witness arguably the greatest women's basketball ball coach ever. It's a hard act to follow.

 

[MsSportsGuy]

I wouldn't go so far as to say she's 2.0 but the hire hasn't gone as well as I'm sure many expected. I too was open minded and though she should be given a chance. In 2019 Kara Lawson had shown no interest in coaching and Kim was just coming off a NC at Baylor. It appeared the school wasn't able to willing to open the wallet to get a big time name. Harper was a logical choice based on those factors.

I wouldn't say I thought Harper would get this team back to a FF in year 2 but the roster she has in place should have a better record than this, even though their losses have been to very good teams. Harper's lack of recruiting success is far more troubling to me than the W-L record, meaning something isn't working. When Warlick had problems in that area she made a staff change that resulted in a better influx of talent. Harper too made a change but so far that hasn't panned out.

At season's end there will likely be a discussion about the future of the program with she and White. I am fairly certain she will have a job next year but the pressure will be on.

 

[Volfan2012]

I wouldn't go so far as to say she's 2.0 but the hire hasn't gone as well as I'm sure many expected. I too was open minded and though she should be given a chance. In 2019 Kara Lawson had shown no interest in coaching and Kim was just coming off a NC at Baylor. It appeared the school wasn't able to willing to open the wallet to get a big time name. Harper was a logical choice based on those factors.

I wouldn't say I thought Harper would get this team back to a FF in year 2 but the roster she has in place should have a better record than this, even though their losses have been to very good teams. Harper's lack of recruiting success is far more troubling to me than the W-L record, meaning something isn't working. When Warlick had problems in that area she made a staff change that resulted in a better influx of talent. Harper too made a change but so far that hasn't panned out.

At season's end there will likely be a discussion about the future of the program with she and White. I am fairly certain she will have a job next year but the pressure will be on.

Very logical post and exactly my concerns and beliefs about what will go down in the future. The sad part is the recruiting and next year could be real ugly.

 

[VOLnMiami]

You would think Fulmer would know how to hire good coaches but alas he had no clue and stuck with VOL family over results...Oh and Beldar...Damn he sh*t the bed on that hire.

 

[Majors]

At season's end there will likely be a discussion about the future of the program with she and White. I am fairly certain she will have a job next year but the pressure will be on.

Seasons like these call for staff overhauls, to change things up in order to win....does she stay on board if changes are needed to be made? Becomes personal at this point if Danny says Jon won't be retained.

 

[VOLnMiami]

Really need to hold off on Lawson being the answer even if they have only lost three games this year. They haven't played the teams that we've played and the one they did play UConn they lost by 28 points so let's not bring another Lady Vol in so quickly. We probably need to be seeking a legitimate highly experience coach that we don't have to keep repeating this every few years like we did in football. I mean Duke is a fairly good team, but if they had played the Lady Vols schedule they would be looking at about 8 losses just like we are.

Jeff Walz is about the best We could get right now and from what I heard he wanted the job last time but was overlooked by Fulmer.....He can recruit and coach and with Lady VOLS tradition he would do well here.

 

[Volfan2012]

Jeff Walz is about the best We could get right now and from what I heard he wanted the job last time but was overlooked by Fulmer.....He can recruit and coach and with Lady VOLS tradition he would do well here.

He got no recruits this last year just like Tennessee and he has lost 8 games this year one to Middle Tennessee and he almost lost to another mid- major. I doubt were going to pay him close to the 2 million he is making there.

 

[VOLtaism]

The difference is Holly was losing with the top recruiting classes in the country. Kellie does not have the ability to recruit the top class. She may be a better coach but these games are won in the living rooms years in advance. Coaching is important, but you must have the horses to be a top 5 club.

 

[TNRazor]

I was really hoping we'd hire Wes Moore but right around that time Kellie went on her sweet 16 run with Mo. State and I knew she'd be the hire.

 

[Chippo]

Holly's resume at this point towers over Harpers. Those first five years of Holly gets overlooked with downfall of the final 3 years. I'm not a Holly fan, but people forget she had some pretty good years before the wheels fell off.

That's because she had Pats girls

 

[Volfan2012]

The difference is Holly was losing with the top recruiting classes in the country. Kellie does not have the ability to recruit the top class. She may be a better coach but these games are won in the living rooms years in advance. Coaching is important, but you must have the horses to be a top 5 club.

She is a far better coach than Holly can't get enough top players to prove it. I know this team was hyped as a super talented team, but after Horston and Jackson maybe Hollingshead to some extent that is a lie. Key was a top defensive player when she was healthy. Franklin is not the Franklin of old the ACL took a lot of her explosive play. Puckett is hot and cold and after those it is a three star or less group of players.

 

[glv98]

It's like she had no plan B in case Tamari got in foul trouble or was otherwise unavailable to play.

Which is incomprehensible since Tamari was in foul trouble constantly.

I think Jill was her plan B, but she thought she had more time for her to learn under Tamari this season.

I think you're right about that. Here comes Jill now though.

 

[BigALWiLson]

This team lacks..... watching other teams they are more athletic and way better shooters.

 

[Chippo]

Seasons like these call for staff overhauls, to change things up in order to win....does she stay on board if changes are needed to be made? Becomes personal at this point if Danny says Jon won't be retained.

If Danny says Jon goes then Kellie has a big
decision to make.

 

[Sportslady]

This was a preseason top 5 team with a healthy Tamari Key. We never got that. Fans are seeing just how important Tamari was/is to this team. Opposing coaches have been saying it for years that they had to change their game plans offensively and defensively due to Tamari. The one constant player over the last 3 years has been Tamari. She played through injuries/illness and never missed a game. She covered up a lot on defense and allowed the guards to be more aggressive defensively and take gambles. Teams are getting drives to the basket this year that they were very rarely successful on in the last 3 years. If they got past the guards, Tamari was waiting because she was excellent at help side defense. On offense, very few teams tried to play her straight up and more often than not she commanded a double team. She had also become a good passer out of the double team leading to open shots for the guard left open from the double team. With a healthy Tamari this is a top 5 team. After watching every AP ranked team multiple times this year, in my opinion they are still a top 20 team.

I agree with a lot of your assessment, however TK never seemed to stay out of foul trouble and many times played less than 50% of the game. She should have been a double double threat EVERY game and sometimes only had 3-6 rebounds and same in points. Was it a challenge of the coaching staff not being able to train well? If she goes pro (and I hope she does), I bet you see the TK we all thought we would see at TN.

 

[Majors]

That's because she had Pats girls

Who recruited Pats girls? Who coached Pats girls in the final two years as life took over? Pat had influence but was the coach in name. Easy to say Pats girls because many want to believe Pat was still in her prime before she stepped away.

 

[Majors]

If Danny says Jon goes than Kellie has a big
decision to make.

Agree... tough situation to be in.

 

[Volfan2012]

I was really hoping we'd hire Wes Moore but right around that time Kellie went on her sweet 16 run with Mo. State and I knew she'd be the hire.

I think they asked him or inquired and he said he wasn't leaving NC State.

 

[Chippo]

Who recruited Pats girls? Who coached Pats girls in the final two years as life took over? Pat had influence but was the coach in name. Easy to say Pats girls because many want to believe Pat was still in her prime before she stepped away.

I see your point. Well taken

 

[DonDiego]

Whoever is doing the scheduling needs to tone it down a bit. Yeah, we've got 8 losses, but the schedule has been brutal. There's no need to play Stanford, Uconn, and other out of conference top 20 teams to go along with SC, LSU and a pretty brutal SEC schedule in general. Kelli might be able to build something back at UT, but it may take more than 2 or 3 years.

BTW, I read the foul discrepancy last night was something like 31 to 12. I hope Kelli didn't get on camera at halftime and throw a little fit like a middle school girl.

 

[volfanstuckinga]

Last time I looked there were 361 D1 WBB teams. With her demonstrated recruiting skills, Kellie will keep us in, or near, the top 10%. With her demonstrated player development skills, Kellie will keep us comfortably withing the top10%. With her in-game rotations, we will struggle, but will make it into the top 10%.

So far, she has got us to a solid position of “also receiving votes”.

Can she do better?

Recruiting skills? SERIOUSLY????

 

[Majors]

I see your point. Well taken

Holly was a right coach to bridge to the next coach after Pat. Tough situation for anyone to be in, but she was the best choice IMO for the time.

 

[Volfan2012]

Whoever is doing the scheduling needs to tone it down a bit. Yeah, we've got 8 losses, but the schedule has been brutal. There's no need to play Stanford, Uconn, and other out of conference top 20 teams to go along with SC, LSU and a pretty brutal SEC schedule in general. Kelli might be able to build something back at UT, but it may take more than 2 or 3 years.

BTW, I read the foul discrepancy last night was something like 31 to 12. I hope Kelli didn't get on camera at halftime and throw a little fit like a middle school girl.

It might have been the way she needed to go seemed to work for Geno the other night.

 

[volfanstuckinga]

Whoever is doing the scheduling needs to tone it down a bit. Yeah, we've got 8 losses, but the schedule has been brutal. There's no need to play Stanford, Uconn, and other out of conference top 20 teams to go along with SC, LSU and a pretty brutal SEC schedule in general. Kelli might be able to build something back at UT, but it may take more than 2 or 3 years.

BTW, I read the foul discrepancy last night was something like 31 to 12. I hope Kelli didn't get on camera at halftime and throw a little fit like a middle school girl.

This is year 4....and it isn't going well at all

 

[Special Ed]

I won't hold my breath waiting for Kelly to inspire a Heupel-like change in fortunes for our Vol gals, but I'm hoping Danny White is paying close attention to the fact that this team is merely treading water and unlikely to make a splash under the current leadership anytime in the foreseeable future. I have no doubt he'll do the right thing before it's too late.