Lady Vols vs Winthrop Gamethread: Sunday 12/14, 2:00 EST, SECN+

[lvocd]

Anyone know how i can purchase courtside tickets?

Try calling the ticket office. I imagine they always have some in reserve, and if they don't can probably advise you where you might find some. Have you tried StubHub?

Me? I sat courtside one time and found I didn't care for the experience. Sure, the aspect of being that close to the action is neat, but I realized quickly that I was missing some things because sometimes the officials blocked my view, and then it's just generally more difficult to see all of the players at once when you're too close. I like to be a few rows up so I can see all the action without any obstruction.

You certainly HEAR more from courtside. 🫨

 

[LV renaissance]

Try calling the ticket office. I imagine they always have some in reserve, and if they don't can probably advise you where you might find some. Have you tried StubHub?

Me? I sat courtside one time and found I didn't care for the experience. Sure, the aspect of being that close to the action is neat, but I realized quickly that I was missing some things because sometimes the officials blocked my view, and then it's just generally more difficult to see all of the players at once when you're too close. I like to be a few rows up so I can see all the action without any obstruction.

You certainly HEAR more from courtside. 🫨

You can go to UTsports.net., hit the link for tickets of the game you want to go to, and then it will show you the map of tickets that have never been bought and tickets that are for resale. Almost all the tickets for courtside have already been bought, but unless it is for a huge game, resale for those tickets are typically reasonable for LV games. I tried to resale my tickets for the big game against FSU last year (I couldn't be there) but couldn't fetch $10 for them.

 

[Lucy]

So happy to see Hurst and Wolfie get some minutes! More please!

 

[Col_Cathcart]

So happy to see Hurst and Wolfie get some minutes! More please!

Hurst played pretty well when she got in towards the end (couple 3s and a nice steal). Jersey is just so much taller than anyone on that team that it’s hard to take much away from it.

 

[Golfteacher]

Honestly, there is not that much diagnostic info you can draw from an astronomical mismatch like this but it was clear in this game that Jersey Wolfenbarger is a 5'1l guard trapped in a 6'5 body. She looks very comfortable running out wide on the wing (and she is a very fluid runner) and handling the ball.

But, put her in the post against other big bodies and she is the proverbial fish out of water. Not sure exactly what you do with a player like her since the team needs someone to back-up Zee but there should be ways to utilize JW's mobility and skill set to create some mismatches.

Put her in a position to be successful. If she is a 6’5” guard, then quit playing her out of position. Put her in the best position to be successful.

 

[BruisedOrange]

I hope Jersey and Zee were inspired by Okpara's defensive effort against Louisville's guards tonight.

 

[lvocd]

I hope Jersey and Zee were inspired by Okpara's defensive effort against Louisville's guards tonight.

I'd recently finally gotten so turned off by the whole too-physical, human-pinball, smash-mouth, chaotic style that the men's game has become that I'd pretty much stopped watching any men's games at all.

But because they were playing Louisville tonight and the women are playing the Ville next, I decided to watch it. And boy was I glad I did. That last quarter was total domination, and Okpara was definitely inspiring to ME! He was phenomenal, and I was glad I got to see it.

 

[RespectAPA]

Put her in a position to be successful. If she is a 6’5” guard, then quit playing her out of position. Put her in the best position to be successful.

Yep, and that's pretty important imo. We're a team that's really close to being a really good basketball team -- we've got some girls on this roster that we all know are legit ballers. Coop, Barker, Pauldo, Civil.

But we're a team of 10. The difference between this team accomplishing a F4 is going to be getting the potential out of the girls that just haven't played very well yet. Jersey, Deniya, Kaniya, elevating Nya as a serious perimeter threat, and getting Zee out of her funk. [or at least, not having her lead the team in minutes with one of the worst offensiv ratings thus far this season] I think that'll be the make-or-break between whether we're able to keep up with and defeat USCe, UConn, LSU, our tourney games, etc. Losing Whitehorn killed the wiggle-room we woud've had otherwise with that crucial extra baller -- if we don't become a truly complete 10 at some point, this will be a season looked back on for the few upsets we do manage to pull off, [hopefully one in Storrs!] but I doubt we'll be in Phoenix in April, nor conference champions in March. [and we never really were a complete 10 last year, either — we were about 8 deep, I'd say, and 7 deep for the stretch of games where Ruby was really struggling really bad (which included the UK and UGA losses)]

But, at the very least, the way we're playing now we're looking significantly less vulnerable to a R1 upset loss compared to a month ago how we played vs UTM/Belmont.

How we play against Louisville will show us a bit more how vulnerable we might be to a R2 upset loss, tho. Hopefully we take care of business.

 

[LadyVolsDiehard]

So happy to see Hurst and Wolfie get some minutes! More please!

Jersey getting minutes isn't the problem but her problem is consistently and staying out of foul trouble soon as she gets on the floor. Hurst, though, getting minutes was good because she needs time to adjust to Kim's system. My concern is Mya Pauldo. Is she hurt or something? Why is she getting less minutes than Wynn even?

 

[vols90]

Jersey getting minutes isn't the problem but her problem is consistently and staying out of foul trouble soon as she gets on the floor. Hurst, though, getting minutes was good because she needs time to adjust to Kim's system. My concern is Mya Pauldo. Is she hurt or something? Why is she getting less minutes than Wynn even?

I think Mya was sick against Winthrop. Flu like symptoms.

 

[Majac]

Is anyone else disappointed with our pre-conference home schedule? Glad we are winning but blowouts aren't real interesting to watch. Also, too many days between games. Also noted we have gone from 17 home games to 14 with no price decrease. All good non-conference games are away or neutral site. Maybe it will reverse next year. GLV

 

[LadyVolsDiehard]

Honestly, there is not that much diagnostic info you can draw from an astronomical mismatch like this but it was clear in this game that Jersey Wolfenbarger is a 5'1l guard trapped in a 6'5 body. She looks very comfortable running out wide on the wing (and she is a very fluid runner) and handling the ball.

But, put her in the post against other big bodies and she is the proverbial fish out of water. Not sure exactly what you do with a player like her since the team needs someone to back-up Zee but there should be ways to utilize JW's mobility and skill set to create some mismatches.

I've read this over on Twitter and my thing is Jersey has been to 3 schools in 4 years. She made the choice 3x to stay in the SEC (Arkansas, LSU and now Tennessee) and the skillset she had in high school hasn't and probably won't translate. Kim Mulkey tried to make her into a dominant big but she didn't play her size. Same thing is happening at Tennessee but worse if you're looking at her stat line thusfar this season. If Jersey wanted to play like a Candace Parker archetypical big then she probably made the wrong choice playing in the SEC from the start. Candace was the blueprint for what we see with bigs in today's game and was a 6-4 that played multiple positions but she's a dime a dozen. However Candace she use to be a back to the basket and have a face up sometimes - Everything was more complete with Candace as we all saw. Nevertheless, if you're 6'3-6'6, the gold standard in the SEC women's hoops is being a traditional on most of these teams still in 2025. Look at SC, Texas, Ole Miss, Kentucky, LSU, OU women's teams but having a mobility, versatility and high basketball IQ to play 3-5 positions. It's what Kim Caldwell has to understand as well as our coach. Kim wants to have a team full of guards but in the SEC you have to have athletic bigs to compete or be ready for 8-8 season in conference. Size is important in this conference. I'm sorry Jersey didn't become a break out star but she needs to adjust and suck it up or give up those minutes.

Sorry for my rant and don't think I'm attacking you.

 

[VolBall09]

Is anyone else disappointed with our pre-conference home schedule? Glad we are winning but blowouts aren't real interesting to watch. Also, too many days between games. Also noted we have gone from 17 home games to 14 with no price decrease. All good non-conference games are away or neutral site. Maybe it will reverse next year. GLV

I posted in the other thread but I hated out pre-conference schedule this season.

No good games at home and wya to spread out.

Especially with so many freshmen, it would have been nice to have some competitive games at home.

Guess we will be road tested for SEC play of nothing else.

 

[RetroVol]

Kim wants to have a team full of guards

Her recruiting does not seem to align with this statement.

 

[BruisedOrange]

I posted in the other thread but I hated out pre-conference schedule this season.

No good games at home and wya to spread out.

Especially with so many freshmen, it would have been nice to have some competitive games at home.

Guess we will be road tested for SEC play of nothing else.

I think you nailed the reasoning behind it right there.

From January on, we'll face almost all of our toughest opponents on the road. With so many freshman we're depending on, it makes the most sense to immerse them in the road experience as part of their learning curve.

More importantly, next season, after a year of maturing and seasoning, these freshmen should be carrying legitimate expectations for a national championship run. And for that run in '26-'27, we'll have the advantage of facing our most important, most challenging games on our home court. My guess is that's the plan Kim and Danny wanted. Or maybe it just worked out that way. But it seems more favorable than the opposite would be.

 

[BruisedOrange]

[...] Kim wants to have a team full of guards but in the SEC you have to have athletic bigs to compete or be ready for 8-8 season in conference. Size is important in this conference. I'm sorry Jersey didn't become a break out star but she needs to adjust and suck it up or give up those minutes.

Sorry for my rant and don't think I'm attacking you.

A nice, controlled, respectful rant! Congratulations, and thank you! Please keep raising the forum standard.

I would offer a slight amendment to one statement. I think Kim wants a team full of point guard capabilities ...in various sizes. To restate it in the negative, she would have no use for a big who couldn't run the court, couldn't dribble effectively when needed, or was never a threat to score from the perimeter or make the right pass.

Does that sound right?

 

[brittannica]

Is anyone else disappointed with our pre-conference home schedule? Glad we are winning but blowouts aren't real interesting to watch. Also, too many days between games. Also noted we have gone from 17 home games to 14 with no price decrease. All good non-conference games are away or neutral site. Maybe it will reverse next year. GLV

Yeah, it has been really hard to be motivated to go to the games when it is a blowout tbh. Also just feels like a lower ROI this year, but hopefully i will feel differently once conference play starts. I do fully support the break over finals/graduation.

 

[LadyVolsDiehard]

Her recruiting does not seem to align with this statement.

Well I remember last season in one of her many of interviews she said she'd love a team of point guards. Whether she was joking or not, I mean we're in year 2 seeing the post doesn't get much attention as the guards do.

 

[LadyVolsDiehard]

A nice, controlled, respectful rant! Congratulations, and thank you! Please keep raising the forum standard.

I would offer a slight amendment to one statement. I think Kim wants a team full of point guard capabilities ...in various sizes. To restate it in the negative, she would have no use for a big who couldn't run the court, couldn't dribble effectively when needed, or was never a threat to score from the perimeter or make the right pass.

Does that sound right?

I'm hoping that's the case.

We do have to keep in mind her tallest player before coming to UT was 6'1. She managed to win a D2 national championship and go to final four but she's still a relatively new coach when trying to coach the players size and depth. Pat had to go through this as she too but if she wanted win as a coach she had to win with a fine balance of post players and guards. Same can be said with Kim M and later Dawn when they became coaches. Kim will get there but sometimes I feel she wants to win in ways that worked in D2.

 

[RetroVol]

I'm hoping that's the case.

We do have to keep in mind her tallest player before coming to UT was 6'1. She managed to win a D2 national championship and go to final four but she's still a relatively new coach when trying to coach the players size and depth. Pat had to go through this as she too but if she wanted win as a coach she had to win with a fine balance of post players and guards. Same can be said with Kim M and later Dawn when they became coaches. Kim will get there but sometimes I feel she wants to win in ways that worked in D2.

I don't think any of us need to rely on feelings to understand the Coach Caldwell absolutely believes she can win at Tennessee with the system she had to adapt to as a college player, then has an coached for over a decade with absolutely remarkable success. She said so in her first press conference and has never backed off. And, certainly, the results she got out of last year's team give little to no reason for her to back off that position. They had an almost inexplicable slump in the middle of the SEC gauntlet, but she has said she thinks she understands why that happened, has a plan, and is addressing it. But that plan doesn't involve abandoning her system. I take her at her word: she plans to win with that system, and she's extremely competitive, so "win" means national championship. "Settling" just doesn't seem to be in her vocabulary.

As for athletes, yes, the D1 players she is facing are bigger, faster, more athletic, and maybe more skilled than those in D2. So are the ones on the Lady Vols. But she didn't win all those championships because she had better athletes. She won because her system produced more points than her opponents on an extremely consistent basis. Putting up more points than her opponents still seems to be her goal. She didn't come out of last year talking about better defense or tweaking her system (more than she already does -- she's clearly indicated she modifies aspects when she feels it necessary). She came out of last year "laser-focused" on finding 10 more points a game. As a former college coach once told me, "We never lost a game where we scored more points than the other team."

Is Kim right? Will her system work at this level? I don't know, which is the point of the thread linked above. But, I sure hope so. It's fun to watch. Plus I love innovative thinkers and interesting approaches. But I'd sure be disappointed, and think less of CKC as a coach, if she were giving up on her system already. Can't see any reason to do that at this point. Make it work. Go Lady Vols!

 

[th2421]

Well I remember last season in one of her many of interviews she said she'd love a team of point guards. Whether she was joking or not, I mean we're in year 2 seeing the post doesn't get much attention as the guards do.

What do you mean by attention? Barker is 1st on the team in scoring, Zee is 4th. Barker/Zee are 2nd and 3rd on the team in field goal attempts and usage rate, behind only Cooper. They are 1st/2nd in free throw attempts.

 

[glv98]

Is Kim right? Will her system work at this level? I don't know, which is the point of the thread linked above. But, I sure hope so. It's fun to watch. Plus I love innovative thinkers and interesting approaches. But I'd sure be disappointed, and think less of CKC as a coach, if she were giving up on her system already. Can't see any reason to do that at this point. Make it work. Go Lady Vols!

I've never thought this system would work at this level. I find it excruciating to watch due to a lack of flow, the nonsensical three chunking and all the stoppages of play. I don't think it's innovative at all. It's been tried and abandoned numerous times.

However, I agree that she has to play this out. It's what she was hired to do, it's her whole brand, it's what she and her boss expressed complete confidence in. Fullout system should answer the question this season, or next at the latest. Let's see if better athletes and experience will bring the results we're hoping for, which should be at least top four in the SEC and advance to EE.

If those wonderful results do happen then lock the system in and those of us who questioned can eat our crow. If not, we've given it the full chance and hopefully gotten it out of our system, literally and physically. Given the circumstances and promises of her hiring I can't see Kim backing off without the full go at it.

That said, it is certainly no fun to me to watch a coach get their brains beat out with easy buckets and make zero in game adjustments Except to say the player should do what they're already doing only harder. If this doesn't work I think things are going to get pretty ugly before they're settled.

It's quite a gamble, quite an experiment we're watching play out and I do give Kim and Danny credit for at least doing something big when the program clearly needed a directional change. I just don't happen to think this was a successful direction. We'll see!

 

[RetroVol]

I've never thought this system would work at this level. I find it excruciating to watch due to a lack of flow, the nonsensical three chunking and all the stoppages of play. I don't think it's innovative at all. It's been tried and abandoned numerous times.

However, I agree that she has to play this out. It's what she was hired to do, it's her whole brand, it's what she and her boss expressed complete confidence in. Fullout system should answer the question this season, or next at the latest. Let's see if better athletes and experience will bring the results we're hoping for, which should be at least top four in the SEC and advance to EE.

If those wonderful results do happen then lock the system in and those of us who questioned can eat our crow. If not, we've given it the full chance and hopefully gotten it out of our system, literally and physically. Given the circumstances and promises of her hiring I can't see Kim backing off without the full go at it.

That said, it is certainly no fun to me to watch a coach get their brains beat out with easy buckets and make zero in game adjustments Except to say the player should do what they're already doing only harder. If this doesn't work I think things are going to get pretty ugly before they're settled.

It's quite a gamble, quite an experiment we're watching play out and I do give Kim and Danny credit for at least doing something big when the program clearly needed a directional change. I just don't happen to think this was a successful direction. We'll see!

Fair enough! One of the great thing about sports: in the end, a coach has to produce results.

 

[Rooster1]

Someone said above this system has been tried and abandoned many times before. Someone help me out here and remind me where and when. It seems pretty unique in total to me but my memory isn’t great.

 

[glv98]

Someone said above this system has been tried and abandoned many times before. Someone help me out here and remind me where and when. It seems pretty unique in total to me but my memory isn’t great.

Most famously by Nolan Richardson at Arkansas in the 80s or 90s. May have won a natty with it Im not sure. But it didn’t last.

Next iteration I remember was a run on the West Coast maybe again 90s or early 2000s. Coach Paul Westhead at Loyola Merimount tried and a few others.

Louisville men run something close now but don’t do the line subbing nor as much trapping. But they def press and chunk, always emphasizing the shot attempt advantage.

Arkansas women under Neighbors ran the offensive part of this system for yrs. Never hooked up to the D tho and I agree you have to do all this or none.

Why do you think a savvy coach like Dawn with her unlimited stable of premier athletes has never tried it?