Lady Vols earn No. 1 seed

#28
#28
gule said:
I hope they feed Russell red meat and mean pills 5 meals a day till game time. We need a monster in the paint to beat the likes of ND, UL & those dog*****es up north.
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Russell is the key if they want to beat UConn. If she can hold her own against Dolson and let Stewart deal with Harrison, then I think that Tennessee stands a better chance then having Graves up against those two. UConn is a horrible matchup for Graves; she doesn't have the size or hops to even get them to notice her. Russell can be the difference maker.
 
#30
#30
Amb3096 said:
West Virginia is the weakest #2
Louisville is the second weakest #3
Maryland is probably tied with UNC as the best #4
LSU is a tough #7 who matches up well with Tennessee, but they're not surviving their region.

I'd say Tennessee has one of the easier regions. UConn has the easiest, but there isn't really any team out there not named Notre Dame that can touch them. If Tennessee doesn't make the Final Four, they will have blown a great opportunity...
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when nearly all the experts had them as a two seed? There are at least four or five good teams in the bracket, compared to Connecticut's bracket, which has maybe one--a duke team with injuries.
 
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#31
#31
Dave1967 said:
That was in 2007,wasn't it?
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The last time, I think so. I think this is the year when Tennessee won at the buzzer in the FF.

SEC has had top seeds a bunch of times, I recall...especially when Georgia and Vanderbilt were powerhouse teams.
 
#33
#33
Teams are not going to give Harrison a lot of room in the paint. (Connecticut would smother her). That means, as someone said above, UT will have to shoot well from the outside--which could be a problem given Simmons' shooting woes lately. And Massengale is probably not playing. This is a potential problem. Burdick HAS to play and shoot well, and so does Carter--and it would help if Simmons could relax and play like a senior vet.
 
#34
#34
Very proud of the Lady Vols. Way to earn that #1 seed. They are the class of the SEC....and it finally seems like we are getting back on track to soon be the class of the nation again. Go get em ladies! Go Vols!
 
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#35
#35
Amb3096 said:
The last time, I think so. I think this is the year when Tennessee won at the buzzer in the FF.

SEC has had top seeds a bunch of times, I recall...especially when Georgia and Vanderbilt were powerhouse teams.
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That was a strange season. Tennessee played one of the most ragged games that I've ever listened to in a loss in the SEC Semis to Vandy and wound up winning the NCAA Championship over North Carolina.
 
#36
#36
armchair said:
when nearly all the experts had them as a two seed? There are at least four or five good teams in the bracket, compared to Connecticut's bracket, which has maybe one--a duke team with injuries.
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Louisville hasn't played anyone all year, and they got whipped by UConn three times. Kentucky and TAMU have both had better wins, and I would pick either head to head vs. Louisville.

UConn's draw has #2 Duke (better than WV...even with the injuries), #3 TAMU (IMO, better than Louisville), and B10 tourney winner #4 Nebraska. I'd say that Maryland is tougher than Nebraska, and LSU can be dangerous...but the reality is that UConn's draw is a cakewalk because they are that much better than 62 of the remaining 63 teams in the draw.

If Tennessee had UConn's draw, it would be an equally tough draw for them to get out of.
 
#37
#37
Win or go home is the only mantra. Anyone projecting ahead hasn't followed the game very long. Southern California will be as difficult as any 2nd round game that any seeded team has.

and glad to have Amp3096 bring us his/her March expertise
 
#39
#39
Amb3096 said:
Russell is the key if they want to beat UConn. If she can hold her own against Dolson and let Stewart deal with Harrison, then I think that Tennessee stands a better chance then having Graves up against those two. UConn is a horrible matchup for Graves; she doesn't have the size or hops to even get them to notice her. Russell can be the difference maker.
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Someone is going to have to deal with Stokes. On defense, Stokes is too strong and quick for Russell. She may be uconn's best defensive big. She was one of the few who was able to handle Griner.

I doubt if Russell can handle Dolson because Dolson is too good an outside shooter. So Russell will probably be on Stokes who isn't much of an outside threat. Russell's biggest drawback is lack of strength and she's slow to get down the court.

I would put Graves on....it's a problem.
 
#40
#40
Convoluted said:
Someone is going to have to deal with Stokes. On defense, Stokes is too strong and quick for Russell. She may be uconn's best defensive big. She was one of the few who was able to handle Griner.

I doubt if Russell can handle Dolson because Dolson is too good an outside shooter. So Russell will probably be on Stokes who isn't much of an outside threat. Russell's biggest drawback is lack of strength and she's slow to get down the court.

I would put Graves on....it's a problem.
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Stokes isn't a scoring threat, though. On offense, if Russell plays her size, she should be able to shoot over Stokes.

Dolson is the problem. She's too big for Harrison to defend, and too good defensively for Harrison to consistently score on. They need size, and only Russell has it. She was ranked #1 for a reason, and it would be nice to see why this season...
 
#41
#41
Amb3096 said:
Louisville hasn't played anyone all year, and they got whipped by UConn three times. Kentucky and TAMU have both had better wins, and I would pick either head to head vs. Louisville.

UConn's draw has #2 Duke (better than WV...even with the injuries), #3 TAMU (IMO, better than Louisville), and B10 tourney winner #4 Nebraska. I'd say that Maryland is tougher than Nebraska, and LSU can be dangerous...but the reality is that UConn's draw is a cakewalk because they are that much better than 62 of the remaining 63 teams in the draw.

If Tennessee had UConn's draw, it would be an equally tough draw for them to get out of.
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May want to watch your Lady Vols in the E8 last year vs. Louisville. There is a reason we are a bad match-up for you guys. We bring back the exact same team with Gibbs and Taylor 100% healthy and playing great basketball.

If both are fortunate to ge that far, I just don't see us losing on our home floor with a FF on the line. Walz will make it a coaches game
 
#42
#42
Cards502 said:
May want to watch your Lady Vols in the E8 last year vs. Louisville. There is a reason we are a bad match-up for you guys. We bring back the exact same team with Gibbs and Taylor 100% healthy and playing great basketball.

If both are fortunate to ge that far, I just don't see us losing on our home floor with a FF on the line. Walz will make it a coaches game
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Could be time for some revenge this time.
 
#44
#44
Cards502 said:
May want to watch your Lady Vols in the E8 last year vs. Louisville. There is a reason we are a bad match-up for you guys. We bring back the exact same team with Gibbs and Taylor 100% healthy and playing great basketball.

If both are fortunate to ge that far, I just don't see us losing on our home floor with a FF on the line. Walz will make it a coaches game
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You guys will be a tough out especially playing on your home floor. We will have to play the same kind of game we played against UK to beat you. WVU isn't going to be a cake walk either.
 
#45
#45
Cards502 said:
I'll wait until I see how well Simmons shoots in the S16. She lit the place up 4 years ago.
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If Simmons is lighting it up we will lose. We have to be balanced to win. Much better for us if Harrison/Graves/Burdick/Reynolds/Carter are having good balanced games and Simmons has low turn overs and less than 12-15 shot attempts.
 
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#46
#46
If the tn team that played the 1st half vs ND shows up, I'd say bring on errbody else! Tn would win. Just stop the game at halftime!!!!!!!!
 
#47
#47
Amb3096 said:
Stokes isn't a scoring threat, though. On offense, if Russell plays her size, she should be able to shoot over Stokes.

Dolson is the problem. She's too big for Harrison to defend, and too good defensively for Harrison to consistently score on. They need size, and only Russell has it. She was ranked #1 for a reason, and it would be nice to see why this season...
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That's a big if. I believe Stokes plays bigger than Russell right now. Just look at the stats. Both players have equal average minutes per game:
Russell Blocks 36, rebounds 158.
Stokes Blocks 81, rebounds 237

Stokes is very strong, has long arms, and good hops. Russell will need time in the weight room to compete.

The other factor is that it will be difficult for TN to get the ball into the bigs. Jefferson is just as fast or faster than speedy and much better on defense.
Jefferson 59 turnovers, 170 assists, 88 steals.
Simmons 75 turnovers 87 assists, 38 steals.

The discrepancy is just too big to expect a favorable outcome if it gets that far.
 
#49
#49
gule said:
If the tn team that played the 1st half vs ND shows up, I'd say bring on errbody else! Tn would win. Just stop the game at halftime!!!!!!!!
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If we just play 75% that well AND we play man to man NOT a zone AND Notre Dame doesn't make every three point shot they throw up, I think we can win. Notre Dame is literally, at this writing the 2nd best 3 point field goal shooting team in the country and we played them in a zone?!? Wtf?! You NEVER play a team that excels in three point shooting in a zone. And, it wasn't even their stars that beat us: Loyd only had 11 points. It was players off the bench getting wide open looks like Cable and Mabrey combining for 6 three pointers.

I've defended the coaching staff more than most, but NOT playing zone man against that type of team seems like something out of coaching 101.
 
#50
#50
Cards502 said:
May want to watch your Lady Vols in the E8 last year vs. Louisville. There is a reason we are a bad match-up for you guys. We bring back the exact same team with Gibbs and Taylor 100% healthy and playing great basketball.

If both are fortunate to ge that far, I just don't see us losing on our home floor with a FF on the line. Walz will make it a coaches game
Click to expand...

Izzy wasn't 100% when she played last year and Carter didn't even play as she was hurt...UT is a much much better team this year than last year
 
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