Comment & question about Coach Harper

[cabbie191]

I just had a chance to watch her post-UConn press conference, and I must say that I was really impressed. She is articulate and was able to discuss what she saw as the team's current problems without a hint of throwing anyone under the bus. And given that she must have been extremely disappointed, maybe even angry, how the game went, she was poised and showed great demeanor.

Here's my question and it stems from comments on other threads about the playing time or lack of playing time for some of your players, particularly freshmen on the roster. Auriemma has been very clear over the decades that for the most part, a player's game minutes are really determined by the effort shown in practice. A player might have great talent and might be more gifted than others, but if he perceives a lack of hustle in between games, she's going to ride the bench.

I'm wondering what is Coach Harper's philosophy as regards this. Thank you.

 

[taylorvol]

I just had a chance to watch her post-UConn press conference, and I must say that I was really impressed. She is articulate and was able to discuss what she saw as the team's current problems without a hint of throwing anyone under the bus. And given that she must have been extremely disappointed, maybe even angry, how the game went, she was poised and showed great demeanor.

Here's my question and it stems from comments on other threads about the playing time or lack of playing time for some of your players, particularly freshmen on the roster. Auriemma has been very clear over the decades that for the most part, a player's game minutes are really determined by the effort shown in practice. A player might have great talent and might be more gifted than others, but if he perceives a lack of hustle in between games, she's going to ride the bench.

I'm wondering what is Coach Harper's philosophy as regards this. Thank you.

Well stated. I don't know the answer but Coach Harper has impressed me immensely thus far. I think she’s the right woman for the job, and reminds me so much with both her mannerisms and demeanor of her mentor. Women’s basketball is so much more competitive now than ever, and there are numerous programs who are heavily invested in their respective programs. The days of one or two teams dominating the sport are over IMHO. I hope UT gives her the time and resources to build a consistent top-10 program for years to come.

 

[Remy]

The selection committee had us as one of four regional #1 seeds before going into our skid. That doesn't happen unless Coach Harper is doing something correctly. I believe she'll get this turned around. I'm hoping that we get Tamari back on track defensively and then move her into becoming a reliable double figure scorer as well.

 

[Majors]

Video is a few years old but holds true to what the OP was saying. Listen to the message and put aside the personal feelings towards the messenger. I said in another post this is what Tennessee is lacking on a team of good players.

 

[Spook1]

Well stated. I don't know the answer but Coach Harper has impressed me immensely thus far. I think she’s the right woman for the job, and reminds me so much with both her mannerisms and demeanor of her mentor. Women’s basketball is so much more competitive now than ever, and there are numerous programs who are heavily invested in their respective programs. The days of one or two teams dominating the sport are over IMHO. I hope UT gives her the time and resources to build a consistent top-10 program for years to come.

Coach Harper needs to address the turnovers...far too many and never seems to improve.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Coach Harper needs to address the turnovers...far too many and never seems to improve.

We had fifteen in the game against UConn. Which is almost a season low for us. UConn had 14, a diff of only one. And yet we still got blown out. Point is: it isn't only turnovers.

 

[GameTime]

I would like to see Kellie demand more out of her offense.....Set a hard screen until they call you on it.....When the defense is crashing in on Key, kick the ball out to an open shooter...We had so many opportunities to do that, but to often tried to score over 3 defensive players...

UConn runs a good offense, that is as much a reason for their long success as their highly rated players...A blind man can see that...

I'm a fan of Kellie, and although I'm a fan, there is room for coaching improvement.

 

[Volfan2012]

I would like to see Kellie demand more out of her offense.....Set a hard screen until they call you on it.....When the defense is crashing in on Key, kick the ball out to an open shooter...We had so many opportunities to do that, but to often tried to score over 3 defensive players...

UConn runs a good offense, that is as much a reason for their long success as their highly rated players...A blind man can see that...

I'm a fan of Kellie, and although I'm a fan, there is room for coaching improvement.

Certainly two solutions that could help and were definitely really bad at both.

 

[LUVMESUMVOL]

We had fifteen in the game against UConn. Which is almost a season low for us. UConn had 14, a diff of only one. And yet we still got blown out. Point is: it isn't only turnovers.

No it is not just turnovers. we haven't had the best of both worlds yet. we've had athletes without the pure skills under Holly but now we got skills without the athlectism. we need some elite recruits even if its just a couple to get the program rolling again to where we once were

 

[Majors]

We had fifteen in the game against UConn. Which is almost a season low for us. UConn had 14, a diff of only one. And yet we still got blown out. Point is: it isn't only turnovers.

ESPN breakdown had 14 missed layups. I’m sure some were contested and some were kamikaze to get a foul.

 

[djtee]

I would like to see Kellie demand more out of her offense.....Set a hard screen until they call you on it.....When the defense is crashing in on Key, kick the ball out to an open shooter...We had so many opportunities to do that, but to often tried to score over 3 defensive players...

UConn runs a good offense, that is as much a reason for their long success as their highly rated players...A blind man can see that...

I'm a fan of Kellie, and although I'm a fan, there is room for coaching improvement.

GT I agree with 100% but now some teams are declining to run the double team at Key, They are forcing her to come up with the goods on the offensive end and right now she is not ?. Also UConn has size in the post so there was no need for them to double team Key and let someone like Darby and Puckett hurt you makes no sense. We can agree to disagree good post thank you.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

ESPN breakdown had 14 missed layups. I’m sure some were contested and some were kamikaze to get a foul.

Yep, that's also a problem - missing the bunnies.

 

[Voluble2]

They were beaten before they even walked onto the court. They had zero confidence and were tight as a drum. That was all mental and emotional. You can't even begin to analyze the game because their heads were never in the right place to play.

We had more airballs in that game than the cumulative total for the entire year to that point. That had precisely zero to do with anything UConn did besides be UConn and show up.

This team was resilient all year, which was an improvement over the trademark collapse of Warlick's teams. But apparently we have reverted for some reason. Until that is corrected, there is no other move a coach can make which will fix things. Talking about lineups and schemes just misses the point right now. Tamari knows how to pass the ball out. Rae knows how to pull up and not force a drive that isn't there, they all know how to shoot well enough to at least hit the rim etc... But all of that goes out the window when you panic, or when you fear losing and do not play in the moment and concentrate on your knitting.

 

[Volfaninfl2]

Really think it’s great that we can have a UConn fan start a thread about our Coach, right after his team beat ours. He knows this will bring out comments from dissatisfied fans and others, nice timing.

As for the best practice players playing in the game, with his roster, Geno has that luxury, Kellie does not. She has talked about certain players having a really good week in practice, so she, like probably most Coaches, pays attention to that, but she does not yet have a stacked interchangeable player roster. We have players who are permanent bench players, they cannot take the place of a needed player who didn’t practice well that week.

We will get there, need some time, he has had decades to get to this point.

GO LADY VOLS!

 

[Volfaninfl2]

Another thing: Saw the above video, and when Geno said, “Great players don’t get tired,” that sounds really great, and they do play a few top teams, but this is their February schedule, no wonder they don’t get tired. Our games are not just physical, they require maximum effort from our players, game after game after game. Our players with our most recent on the road games just may have been a bit physically and emotionally tired, and that plus the loss of a player who subbed for Tamari, makes a difference in how you play, and that can effect confidence.

Uconn February schedule:

Creighton
Butler- cancelled
Tennessee
Villanova
DePaul
Marquette
Xavier
Georgetown
St. John’s
Providence

 

[djtee]

Another thing: Saw the above video, and when Geno said, “Great players don’t get tired,” that sounds really great, and they do play a few top teams, but this is their February schedule, no wonder they don’t get tired. Our games are not just physical, they require maximum effort from our players, game after game after game. Our players with our most recent on the road games just may have been a bit physically and emotionally tired, and that plus the loss of a player who subbed for Tamari, makes a difference in how you play.

Uconn February schedule:

Creighton
Butler- cancelled
Tennessee
Villanova
DePaul
Marquette
Xavier
Georgetown
St. John’s
Providence

If i come across as being mean i apologize, Other then Tennessee That schedule and the Big East Conference is a Joke.

 

[Darth_Vol]

They were beaten before they even walked onto the court. They had zero confidence and were tight as a drum. That was all mental and emotional. You can't even begin to analyze the game because their heads were never in the right place to play.

100%. Tennessee's great "mental toughness" was probably overstated to begin with as we see now I'm not sure any of the teams they've beaten are really that great. Whatever confidence they did have was completely eroded by beatdowns from Auburn and Florida. Add that to the pucker factor this program already has when it comes to UConn, and the result was completely predictable.

That had precisely zero to do with anything UConn did besides be UConn and show up.

This is exactly what I said would happen going into the game. UConn wouldn't have to play that well to win, they just need to sit back and watch Tennessee beat themselves... and the Lady Vols were all too happy to oblige...

 

[Coach Jumper]

100%. Tennessee's great "mental toughness" was probably overstated to begin with as we see now I'm not sure any of the teams they've beaten are really that great. Whatever confidence they did have was completely eroded by beatdowns from Auburn and Florida. Add that to the pucker factor this program already has when it comes to UConn, and the result was completely predictable.



This is exactly what I said would happen going into the game. UConn wouldn't have to play that well to win, they just need to sit back and watch Tennessee beat themselves... and the Lady Vols were all too happy to oblige...

so what do you say about tomorrow's game?

 

[sechamp2012]

If i come across as being mean i apologize, Other then Tennessee That schedule and the Big East Conference is a Joke.

A joke but
Villanova’s a tough out, though

 

[chuckiepoo]

A joke but
Villanova’s a tough out, though

Done. Big East “L”

 

[teacherdean]

We need to realize a few things. Coach Harper is not going to immediately turn a program around which was headed South for at least five years. She also inherited a good group of players but not a great group of players. Sadly, Burrell suffered a setback, Dye has not shown up as the player she appeared to be, and our bench is not as strong as it needs to be. She has taken a less than stellar team and made them competitive. Tennessee simply do not have the talent that the top seven teams have but yet they are hanging in there. Many posters expected Coach Harper to be the second coming of Pat Summitt, however, that is not gonna happen. Now with that said, I believe that she and her staff have the skill set to build a very good team. I still think she needs to work the portal and jr. college ranks for two to three good talent aggressive D1players. We have the number 11 player coming in with a lot of talent. We have a bright future.

 

[NoBackBoard]

Dye has not shown up as the player she appeared to be.

Maybe her back is bothering her but early on in the season she rebounded and took the ball to the basket. Lately she’s been settling for jump shots.

 

[Rickster]

Maybe her back is bothering her but early on in the season she rebounded and took the ball to the basket. Lately she’s been settling for jump shots.

I think a good part of it is opposing defenses know her game now and are scheming away her strengths somewhat. That and she has nagging issues that she has to play through that probably takes a small toll on focus. Really nice 2nd half though.

 

[cabbie191]

Another thing: Saw the above video, and when Geno said, “Great players don’t get tired,” that sounds really great, and they do play a few top teams, but this is their February schedule, no wonder they don’t get tired. Our games are not just physical, they require maximum effort from our players, game after game after game. Our players with our most recent on the road games just may have been a bit physically and emotionally tired, and that plus the loss of a player who subbed for Tamari, makes a difference in how you play, and that can effect confidence.

Uconn February schedule:

Creighton
Butler- cancelled
Tennessee
Villanova
DePaul
Marquette
Xavier
Georgetown
St. John’s
Providence

Yep - our SOS is going downhill this month for sure. I think most UConn fans, myself included, fervently wish (but without much expectation) that our football program would get back to where it was during Edsall's first stint and make us a bit more palatable if any of the major conferences expand again.

Second wish would be that history repeats itself. When it first formed in the late 70's the original Big East wasn't particularly strong but over the years both the men's and women's programs got much better, and for a while, were dominant in teams selected for the NCAA tournament and not too shabby with national titles won. But I think it will be hard for the league to grow to this level again on the women's side - the SEC & ACC have gotten so much better the past ten years and even though the talent pool for WCBB has grown, it's still fairly limited.

 

[StorrsCentral]

If i come across as being mean i apologize, Other then Tennessee That schedule and the Big East Conference is a Joke.

That message has nothing to do with who their opponents are, it has to do with their mindset going into any game, whether its Butler or SC. The point is, he expects them to play every game with emotion, energy, and respect for the other team. We lost to Georgia Tech, you lost to Auburn. Do you think your team had the right mindset going into that game, because I know the people on this Board did not. Any team can rise up and bite you in the ass if you don't treat every game like its vital that you win. Like him or not, he knows what he is talking about.