The Kim Caldwell System

[VolRanch]

Wonder if the mediocrity would’ve remained the case if the Athletic director opened the check book for Kellie like he did for Kim?

Some of these ladies wouldn’t be a Lady Vol if the wallet wasn’t unlimited for Kim to get whoever she wanted!

The former players and staff had to rely on/beg for $ from fans via donations to the Booster’s Club, but the moment she is let go there is money to bring in players like Barker, The Twins, Big O, Prawl, and Civil just to name a few!

Who knows, so much has changed I just hope to enjoy college sports a few years from now

 

[volfan102455]

I think the women’s game is a little easier to build from high school than men’s bb and football.

Hard to imagine if the 5 that came in this year stay here and the class coming in stay(or at least most of them) the couldn’t build a powerhouse quickly

This system will not lead to a powerhouse - sorry it won't.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Yep. You are correct.

Ok there we go.

Caldwell needs to be Mulkey?

I really am just trying to figure out the actual expectations we expect from KC this early.

Only that to which blue haired Lady Vol fans are entitled: National Championships!

… or you can just peruse the thread…

 

[LadyVolsDiehard]

South Carolina was a Chevy pinto when she took over.

Tennessee wasn't in great shape but that analogy is a big stretch.

I like this analogy.

But you right, people have to understand when Dawn took over SC no one, absolutely no, was going to the games. It was ghost town. Plus there was no pressure for her to quickly fix the problem since it was woefully bad. Now whenever Dawn chooses to step away there is a standard of excellence there, a blueprint.

Tennessee has 8 national titles, multiple F4s and conference titles. The expectation was set like the "Just win baby" quote. Once Pat set it up it should have never fell to mediocrity. So no matter who has coached this team, most fans that I follow on social media expect to never go through hard times or rebuilds. And that's understandable. Plus another thing that has hindered us for well over a decade women's basketball has evolved. It's no longer the traditional 5 starting players and back to the basket bigs. Like almost every top 25 is playing on a pro level, where we have never evolved and just now starting too. But look at how many iconic players we've missed out on in this generation. Makes me wonder sometimes if Pat never went through her untimely illness how many of players we could've gotten in this.

 

[Chippo]

Didn't see today's game but CKC and her full court press continuallyand massive
Substitutions continually could be her downfall JMO.

 

[glv98]

We wanted Harper out because of mediocrity.
KC is hired. Absolutely over achieved in year 1.
Then brought in the nations number 2 class. And a top 10 class and number 5 player in the nation for 2026.

How fast do you want whatever you want to happen?

I am totally aware of how the team is playing and I personally don’t love the way the staff won’t change what they are doing when it’s clearly not working.

But I’m also willing to give it a bit of time to get some framing studs in here and see what happens.

I absolutely disagree that she absolutely overachieved in year one. And I think that urban myth has turned around to bite her.

Never mind what I want to happen or when. I don't count. Her boss, on the other hand, does and he said at her introductory press conference he expected her to compete for championships immediately. Said he promised the players this would not be even a two year project.

Kim herself express frustration a couple of times last year with the notion of building for the future. Said they were in it to win it right then so they certainly should be now. I always thought that was silly and actually unfair to Kim. But that's what they said.

What I'd like to have happen is that she takes one step further than Kellie was able to take. Kellie was getting to Sweet Sixteens but could not move further, was finishing in the top three of the SEC but could not grab off the championship,and could come close oh so achingly close but not beat top teams. Just do better than that.

 

[chuckiepoo]

untracked

On track

 

[VolRanch]

I like this analogy.

But you right, people have to understand when Dawn took over SC no one, absolutely no, was going to the games. It was ghost town. Plus there was no pressure for her to quickly fix the problem since it was woefully bad. Now whenever Dawn chooses to step away there is a standard of excellence there, a blueprint.

Tennessee has 8 national titles, multiple F4s and conference titles. The expectation was set like the "Just win baby" quote. Once Pat set it up it should have never fell to mediocrity. So no matter who has coached this team, most fans that I follow on social media expect to never go through hard times or rebuilds. And that's understandable. Plus another thing that has hindered us for well over a decade women's basketball has evolved. It's no longer the traditional 5 starting players and back to the basket bigs. Like almost every top 25 is playing on a pro level, where we have never evolved and just now starting too. But look at how many iconic players we've missed out on in this generation. Makes me wonder sometimes if Pat never went through her untimely illness how many of players we could've gotten in this.

The standard Pat Summit set here is impossible.
And I truly hope that’s not the actual expectation. Not that I wouldn’t wanna win the natty every few years but it’s just not the same game Pat was coaching

 

[Rooster1]

I absolutely disagree that she absolutely overachieved in year one. And I think that urban myth has turned around to bite her.

Never mind what I want to happen or when. I don't count. Her boss, on the other hand, does and he said at her introductory press conference he expected her to compete for championships immediately. Said he promised the players this would not be even a two year project.

Kim herself express frustration a couple of times last year with the notion of building for the future. Said they were in it to win it right then so they certainly should be now. I always thought that was silly and actually unfair to Kim. But that's what they said.

What I'd like to have happen is that she takes one step further than Kellie was able to take. Kellie was getting to Sweet Sixteens but could not move further, was finishing in the top three of the SEC but could not grab off the championship,and could come close oh so achingly close but not beat top teams. Just do better than that.

Kelly did get close at times. I was at that SEC championship tourney when SC’s Cardosa hit the long three at the buzzer in a game UT should have won. SC won it all that year. Close. And Harper never finished below 3 in the conference, but to be fair to CKC, Harper never had to deal with the addition of OK and Texas for the length of her tenure. I’m not opening up that old conversation, just noting that CKC did finish lower in the division than Harper ever had and Caldwell had $resources Harper never had. That’s just a fact. Harper failed at HS recruiting big time for an institution like UT however and that was her downfall imo.

 

[Alto1]

Didn't see today's game but CKC and her full court press continuallyand massive
Substitutions continually could be her downfall JMO.

In every sport there is no greater motivator than THE BENCH.
Mass substitutions make that motivator less effective.
When you make continuous mistakes, a player shouldn’t be allowed back in the game a few minutes later.
I wish Kim the best of luck but today was an unacceptable pathetic performance.

 

[VolRanch]

I absolutely disagree that she absolutely overachieved in year one. And I think that urban myth has turned around to bite her.

Never mind what I want to happen or when. I don't count. Her boss, on the other hand, does and he said at her introductory press conference he expected her to compete for championships immediately. Said he promised the players this would not be even a two year project.

Kim herself express frustration a couple of times last year with the notion of building for the future. Said they were in it to win it right then so they certainly should be now. I always thought that was silly and actually unfair to Kim. But that's what they said.

What I'd like to have happen is that she takes one step further than Kellie was able to take. Kellie was getting to Sweet Sixteens but could not move further, was finishing in the top three of the SEC but could not grab off the championship,and could come close oh so achingly close but not beat top teams. Just do better than that.

I don’t know man(or ma’am). Bringing in so many new players, entire new system, not ranked to start year. I definitely remember the board being excited but not expecting to come just a few points from going to the E8 against an absolutely loaded Texas team. I definitely thought last year was better than expected.

 

[spojo13]

The standard Pat Summit set here is impossible.
And I truly hope that’s not the actual expectation. Not that I wouldn’t wanna win the natty every few years but it’s just not the same game Pat was coaching

Danny expects all of our teams to compete for championships. I think the short term goal for Kim is to be better than Kellie or why did we make a change? So far she has matched what Kellie did in the tourney with a sweet sixteen. Her recruiting has been way better, though the checkbook has apparently been opened more these days. I know one of the main stats that made me ready to move on from Kellie was her record against ranked teams. It wasn’t anywhere near acceptable. At the moment, Kim’s record is 4-10 against ranked teams.

 

[VolRanch]

Danny expects all of our teams to compete for championships. I think the short term goal for Kim is to be better than Kellie or why did we make a change? So far she has matched what Kellie did in the tourney with a sweet sixteen. Her recruiting has been way better, though the checkbook has apparently been opened more these days. I know one of the main stats that made me ready to move on from Kellie was her record against ranked teams. It wasn’t anywhere near acceptable. At the moment, Kim’s record is 4-10 against ranked teams.

That’s fair. It’s been 1 season. Let’s at least see through a cycle or two lol

 

[VolRanch]

Danny expects all of our teams to compete for championships. I think the short term goal for Kim is to be better than Kellie or why did we make a change? So far she has matched what Kellie did in the tourney with a sweet sixteen. Her recruiting has been way better, though the checkbook has apparently been opened more these days. I know one of the main stats that made me ready to move on from Kellie was her record against ranked teams. It wasn’t anywhere near acceptable. At the moment, Kim’s record is 4-10 against ranked teams.

And go back and look at those losses. Most were by HIGHER ranked teams and soooooo close.

Texas by 8 and 4
LSU by 2 and 5
Oklahoma by 1


Now I know, gotta win big games, gotta finish.

But damn year 1 and already doing that.

Man last year was fun lol

 

[Bigvalley84]

You can’t give up as many layups as we do and get outrebounded and expect to beat good teams

 

[LadyVolsDiehard]

Kelly did get close at times. I was at that SEC championship tourney when SC’s Cardosa hit the long three at the buzzer in a game UT should have won. SC won it all that year. Close. And Harper never finished below 3 in the conference, but to be fair to CKC, Harper never had to deal with the addition of OK and Texas for the length of her tenure. I’m not opening up that old conversation, just noting that CKC did finish lower in the division than Harper ever had and Caldwell had $resources Harper never had. That’s just a fact. Harper failed at HS recruiting big time for an institution like UT however and that was her downfall imo.

Precisely. Harper was only able to get one decent recruiting class even then that class was not great IMO and she had to actively get players from the portal to stay afloat like Alexis Dye and Rickea Jackson for example because no one was coming to us in high school recruiting. With the history Tennessee has that should've been a slam dunk but she struggled not to mention I read many of times coaches and their assistant coaches would tell players not to go to Tennessee because Kelley's resume didn't say "winning coach". We lost generational talent and Kelley could never get herself out of it along with on average coaching.

 

[LadyVolsDiehard]

And go back and look at those losses. Most were by HIGHER ranked teams and soooooo close.

Texas by 8 and 4
LSU by 2 and 5
Oklahoma by 1


Now I know, gotta win big games, gotta finish.

But damn year 1 and already doing that.

Man last year was fun lol

It was. You can thank Spear and Spencer for a lot of games that things interesting while we won or lost, we were fun and had energy. This year's team doesn't have that at all. The fighting spirit on top of the leadership with the vets is lacking.

 

[VolRanch]

It was. You can thank Spear and Spencer for a lot of games that things interesting while we won or lost, we were fun and had energy. This year's team doesn't have that at all. The fighting spirit on top of the leadership with the vets is lacking.

Totally lacking. The wife and kids and I were looking forward to every game last year. Not as much this year. But tbh the 24 baseball into football into basketball would have any UT fan hyped haha

 

[johnnybravo]

2 take aways....

CKC gimmicky coaching strategy is awful.

I thing VolRanch just might be CKC

 

[KnoxLikeUs]

I agree, and the excuses being made for the coaching is comical at this point.
Anybody that thinks last year’s roster would be doing anything better at this stage is just talking because they support the head coach.

2 take aways....

CKC gimmicky coaching strategy is awful.

I thing VolRanch just might be CKC

 

[Rooster1]

2 take aways....

CKC gimmicky coaching strategy is awful.

I thing VolRanch just might be CKC

Whyyyyy Johnny Ringo……I‘m your huckleberry.

 

[lvocd]

You can’t give up as many layups as we do and get outrebounded and expect to beat good teams

Yep. We gave up way too many layups while missing just as many, if not more. Sadly, I've gotten used to that this year. But being outrebounded by 22? That wasn't on my Bingo card. Zee getting 12 was good, though. She had a good game. There's at least that.

 

[mudcat1973]

Wonder if the mediocrity would’ve remained the case if the Athletic director opened the check book for Kellie like he did for Kim?

Some of these ladies wouldn’t be a Lady Vol if the wallet wasn’t unlimited for Kim to get whoever she wanted!

The former players and staff had to rely on/beg for $ from fans via donations to the Booster’s Club, but the moment she is let go there is money to bring in players like Barker, The Twins, Big O, Prawl, and Civil just to name a few!

There allot people that think that way.
They had piggy bank lock harder than Boss Hog piggy bank from the Dukes of Hazzard when Kellie was here.
Then that crack the piggy bank for Kim.

 

[volnationnj]

And go back and look at those losses. Most were by HIGHER ranked teams and soooooo close.

Texas by 8 and 4
LSU by 2 and 5
Oklahoma by 1


Now I know, gotta win big games, gotta finish.

But damn year 1 and already doing that.

Man last year was fun lol

You forgot we lost 2 games to Vanderbilt (by 1 and 8) and lost to Georgia by 3.
All in her first year also.
We finished 8-8 in SEC play. No one on this forum predicted we would do.so poorly, in SEC play, before the season started.

 

[Rooster1]

I agree, and the excuses being made for the coaching is comical at this point.
Anybody that thinks last year’s roster would be doing anything better at this stage is just talking because they support the head coach.

I’m not arguing either side. But last year’s team faced a more difficult schedule at this point of the season and the only thing that has changed are the players, the coaching remains the same. Twisted logic on your part. But it is not unexpected considering the source, the same poster who just today said Stanford is a better team than Louisville. Yeah, the same Stanford team that lost to a horrid FGCU team. Watch and see which team finishes higher in the ACC. Your run of haberdashery has run its course. I just had an urge to use that word…