Next yr starting 5

[37620VOL]

@Volfaninfl2 I hear you and she looks great based on stats. I just haven't laid eyes on her, plus how does she come back from injury? I could definitely see the potential for her to move ahead of Suarez/Striplin, especially given Suarez's own injury history.

Maybe we won't have to stress as much this year if Key gets in foul trouble?

 

[GameTime]

From what I saw of Wynn, it is hard to believe she went through 4 years of high school basketball, or more, and has such a less than preferred jump shot...Even her free throws were an adventure.

The girl can penetrate to the basket, this is very good, but until she can keep the defense honest with an outside game, she has her limitations.

 

[Darth_Vol]

From what I saw of Wynn, it is hard to believe she went through 4 years of high school basketball, or more, and has such a less than preferred jump shot...Even her free throws were an adventure.

It's unfortunate she had to move from Ensworth -- one of the top programs in the country -- to a district in Texas that gave her no competition. Sure she was able to put up video game numbers beating teams by 80-100 points, but it clearly did nothing to help her development...

 

[Fatoldman]

@Volfaninfl2 I hear you and she looks great based on stats. I just haven't laid eyes on her, plus how does she come back from injury? I could definitely see the potential for her to move ahead of Suarez/Striplin, especially given Suarez's own injury history.nsi e pye

Maybe we won't have to stress as much this year if Key gets in foul trouble?

Creme had Franklin as 8th best transfer who had signed but mentioned she would have ranked higher if not for injury. I stand by my opinion that she is better than Key having seen both in person.. Think others will agree with me next season once games happen. Franklin better offensively, better rebounder, and just as good defensively. Not as many blocks but more steals and alters shots as well. But Key and her complement each other. Lots of players will get 15 to 30 minutes with Jackson getting 30+.

 

[Orange007]

Wynn will be one of the first off of the bench. Kellie values defense and Wynn is also a great slasher with the ball when needed. We will be pressing hard core next year. Wynn will be a big part of the "wear them down defense."

 

[LVsinceJV]

Who are our rising juniors for next year? What I really want is that spreadsheet that shows the roster for next four seasons and which class each player will be, no idea where to find that though. Edit: Found it on Raoul's site. Tennessee Women's Basketball Recruiting - WBB Blog

 

[37620VOL]

Creme had Franklin as 8th best transfer who had signed but mentioned she would have ranked higher if not for injury. I stand by my opinion that she is better than Key having seen both in person.. Think others will agree with me next season once games happen. Franklin better offensively, better rebounder, and just as good defensively. Not as many blocks but more steals and alters shots as well. But Key and her complement each other. Lots of players will get 15 to 30 minutes with Jackson getting 30+.

Thanks, that's an exciting first person account.

 

[dapeak]

Who are our rising juniors for next year? What I really want is that spreadsheet that shows the roster for next four seasons and which class each player will be, no idea where to find that though.

Only Tess is a rising Junior everyone else will be a sophomore or senior(in some way) and then Justine(Freshie) that’s why I keep reiterating playing time shouldn’t be a big problem if it doesn’t “happen” for players next season because the season after literally spots 1-8 are up for grabs by the players who will then be juniors(5) and Tess/Justine/Powell and then any incoming freshmen/transfer(s) Kellie and Co. did a THING with how they’ve assembled this roster and it will be evident for years to come that last season was the turning point for this program.

 

[therickbol]

Wynn will be one of the first off of the bench. Kellie values defense and Wynn is also a great slasher with the ball when needed. We will be pressing hard core next year. Wynn will be a big part of the "wear them down defense."

The positive way to view that is she is one of the first players off the bench because she made HUGE strides offensively. I really hope that is the case. But we have lots of talent in front of her that are much more well-rounded players than her right now. Played in middle Tennessee at Ensworth so I am rooting for her.

 

[glv98]

Oh to be a fly on the wall in preseason practice when all this plays out! Glad we have a real reporter covering the LVs now, maybe she can give us tidbits. There's gonna be a helluva fight, loving and constructive of course, over the last available regular mins. Some will surprise us, like Wynn comes back a sharpshooter or something (Iknow, I know). Others might disappoint us. Whoever wants those mins btw Wynn, Miles, Tess, Marta, and Striplin can get a head start by going hard in the strength and conditioning room now. Do an Allyah Boston body transform, peak game fitness.

Meanwhile, the elite transfers who are sure to play will be working on blending in with the returning core. Question: what does Rickea consider her natural position? 3? Where is she likely to play in the WNBA?

Hopefully there will be some open practices. For the first time in like 20 yrs, I'd go.

 

[LV renaissance]

Oh to be a fly on the wall in preseason practice when all this plays out! Glad we have a real reporter covering the LVs now, maybe she can give us tidbits. There's gonna be a helluva fight, loving and constructive of course, over the last available regular mins. Some will surprise us, like Wynn comes back a sharpshooter or something (Iknow, I know). Others might disappoint us. Whoever wants those mins btw Wynn, Miles, Tess, Marta, and Striplin can get a head start by going hard in the strength and conditioning room now. Do an Allyah Boston body transform, peak game fitness.

Meanwhile, the elite transfers who are sure to play will be working on blending in with the returning core. Question: what does Rickea consider her natural position? 3? Where is she likely to play in the WNBA?

Hopefully there will be some open practices. For the first time in like 20 yrs, I'd go.

yes to open practices. Does Kellie ever have them? Also, I will be fascinated by even the pre-SEC games that are cupcakes and even the exhibition game to see how these players meld together, how the injured players are recovering mentally and physically, the substitution patterns, and to make a long story short their whole journey!!

 

[SGMVols]

The key to this team having a shot at the Final Four is Powell being good enough to displace Walker as the starting point. If that doesn’t happen, I think Sweet 16 is the ceiling again.

 

[Vols2015]

Here’s my starting 5.

Guard: Powell - or Walker
Guard/Wing: Horston
Wing: Suarez - or Puckett/Darby
Forward: Jackson
Center: Key

 

[TheMississippiVol]

The team made it to the Sweet 16 last season w/o their top scorer and rebounder. I can’t see how their ceiling would be based on the performance of a 2 year starter being replaced by another 2 year starter… and outweigh the gains of bringing back their top scorer, adding the SEC leading scorer, a promising young post w/SEC experience, an McDonalds All-American, and the nations 2nd leading rebounder prior to an injury.
Just say you wanted to find something to complain about.

 

[SGMVols]

Here’s my starting 5.

Guard: Powell - or Walker
Guard/Wing: Horston
Wing: Suarez - or Puckett/Darby
Forward: Jackson
Center: Key

We recruited over Suarez with Puckett, imo

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

We recruited over Suarez with Puckett, imo

Not sure about that. I don't think we saw enough of Suarez play to determine how good she is or can be. She has some limitations, speed and maybe D, they don't play D in Europe, but IMO she is more athletic than Puckett and can shoot the 3 as well as Puckett. If she is 100% healthy will be interesting to see how she fits in next season. I think both get plenty of minuets.

 

[And1]

Not sure about that. I don't think we saw enough of Suarez play to determine how good she is or can be. She has some limitations, speed and maybe D, they don't play D in Europe, but IMO she is more athletic than Puckett and can shoot the 3 as well as Puckett. If she is 100% healthy will be interesting to see how she fits in next season. I think both get plenty of minuets.

Even with the limited time we have seen Suárez, I would actually give her the edge on Puckett for her general court awareness and leadership. Even as a freshman she seemed more confident and aware of the entire game. Other aspects seem pretty similar.

 

[VolBall09]

We recruited over Suarez with Puckett, imo

For me it’s hard to tell on that one. I actually think Marta has a pretty good handle and may be even more versatile than Puckett.

We have never seen Marta fully healthy at this point so it’s tough to gauge her. She played really well for the short time she was mostly healthy, but she wasn’t in the best shape because she couldn’t do a lot of conditioning with her foot. She looks much more fit in recent photos so I’m exited to see how she can contribute.

If her outside shot has improved I actually think she may be more of a backup for Horston than a 4 player like Puckett.

Sarah to me is a pretty definite stretch 4. She can play the 3 and the 5 but it’s out of position there a bit. She doesn’t have much for handles, but also doesn’t try to do too much which I love.

Marta did have a tendency to over dribble at times like Burrell.

 

[Volfan2012]

For me it’s hard to tell on that one. I actually think Marta has a pretty good handle and may be even more versatile than Puckett.

We have never seen Marta fully healthy at this point so it’s tough to gauge her. She played really well for the short time she was mostly healthy, but she wasn’t in the best shape because she couldn’t do a lot of conditioning with her foot. She looks much more fit in recent photos so I’m exited to see how she can contribute.

If her outside shot has improved I actually think she may be more of a backup for Horston than a 4 player like Puckett.

Sarah to me is a pretty definite stretch 4. She can play the 3 and the 5 but it’s out of position there a bit. She doesn’t have much for handles, but also doesn’t try to do too much which I love.

Marta did have a tendency to over dribble at times like Burrell.

Be interesting to see who wins some of these battles and gets the playing time. JMO I don't think Suarez or any other person that plays the four can keep Franklin from playing the most minutes and being the top option at the four position. I think Puckett and Suarez are really good players who are going to need to get a lot better than they ever were thus far to beat Franklin out of playing time. Franklin is a much better player than Dye and I don't know what Kellie's plan is for her, but I don't see her falling further in the rotation than sixth man next season. Someone is going to be totally disappointed with their playing time next season. Right now I think Puckett has the edge over Suarez for the rotation. The last time I saw Marta play was last summer before the season and she didn't have a very good tourney. It could've been the foot problem, but she was not even starting for the Spain team at that time.
You wonder how Karoline Striplin is going to be happy if she is the odd player out in the post positions next year. Kaiya Wynn needs to really improve her offense to be a factor of any reasonable amount of minutes. I think the only player that knows her role right now is Jessie Rennie and she knows she will be well down the bench. How much will Darby improve her game as Justine is just as good or better three point shooter that can do a lot off things Tess couldn't do last year. So many questions will be fun getting the answers. Right now seems almost a given that Horston, Jackson, Key, and Powell will be starting. Who will join them? Then who will be your five or six off the bench? Haven't been in this position of talent and depth of talent in years two or three very good players get very little playing time next season.

 

[VolBall09]

Be interesting to see who wins some of these battles and gets the playing time. JMO I don't think Suarez or any other person that plays the four can keep Franklin from playing the most minutes and being the top option at the four position. I think Puckett and Suarez are really good players who are going to need to get a lot better than they ever were thus far to beat Franklin out of playing time. Franklin is a much better player than Dye and I don't know what Kellie's plan is for her, but I don't see her falling further in the rotation than sixth man next season. Someone is going to be totally disappointed with their playing time next season. Right now I think Puckett has the edge over Suarez for the rotation. The last time I saw Marta play was last summer before the season and she didn't have a very good tourney. It could've been the foot problem, but she was not even starting for the Spain team at that time.
You wonder how Karoline Striplin is going to be happy if she is the odd player out in the post positions next year. Kaiya Wynn needs to really improve her offense to be a factor of any reasonable amount of minutes. I think the only player that knows her role right now is Jessie Rennie and she knows she will be well down the bench. How much will Darby improve her game as Justine is just as good or better three point shooter that can do a lot off things Tess couldn't do last year. So many questions will be fun getting the answers. Right now seems almost a given that Horston, Jackson, Key, and Powell will be starting. Who will join them? Then who will be your five or six off the bench? Haven't been in this position of talent and depth of talent in years two or three very good players get very little playing time next season.

I tend to agree that Franklin is likely going to get a lot of minutes at the 4.

Jackson is a 4 player primarily though and I still think she’ll get the bulk of the minutes there. She’ll probably play a lot at the 3 with Puckett or Franklin as well.

As I mentioned in another post, I actually think Suarez may end up play more of a 2/3 for us when she is in the game. Somewhat like Burrell as a “big guard” type player. She had a nice handle and if it’s improved she should be up to that. Would improve our rebounding from that position as well. Neither Darby nor Burrell were great rebounders last season.

I mentioned in another post that Striplin is most likely to get buried in the depth chart next season. She’ll have lots of opportunity as a Junior/Senior but unless she develops a really consistent 3 point shot I don’t see her getting a lot of big time minutes.

Franklin may need to work in as the season goes. Everyone recovers at a different rate from an ACL so she may not be ready for big minutes to start the season. I’m betting she’s good for 15-20 during non-con play, but could win a starting role and more minutes by the SEC depending on how she is feeling/playing.

 

[37620VOL]

Not sure about that. I don't think we saw enough of Suarez play to determine how good she is or can be. She has some limitations, speed and maybe D, they don't play D in Europe, but IMO she is more athletic than Puckett and can shoot the 3 as well as Puckett. If she is 100% healthy will be interesting to see how she fits in next season. I think both get plenty of minuets.

You admit she's slower, so how is she now athletic than Puckett. IMO Puckett it classes her in every aspect except maybe passing.

 

[GameTime]

We board members are having a good time figuring out who will play where, and for how many minutes they will play there...

Coach Kellie probably has a plan in place, and she and her staff are examining, in great detail, the different combinations of players that will maximize the greatest potential for success for this season to come.

In the earlier games a lot of players will see game time...Coach will be seeing who does what well, and who does what things not so well.

It seems extremely logical that ball security has got to be a major point of emphases...With so many capable players of making the outside shot, or driving to the goal, the ball should not be lost on so many squandered passes to T Key.

Each lost possession is at minimum 2 points lost...That could have been an extra 24 points left on the floor for the 12 turnovers a game we averaged this last season.

It's only around 4/5 months until practice starts...

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

You admit she's slower, so how is she now athletic than Puckett. IMO Puckett it classes her in every aspect except maybe passing.

No I didn't admit she was slower than Puckett, I don't know that, do you? Said she has limitations and speed is one of them. Puckett is not fast either. Its your opinion Puckett outclasses her in every aspect. I don't agree. I think Suarez can drive the paint better than Puckett. Puckett doesn't dribble drive at all. But thanks for your opinion MS Puckett.

 

[37620VOL]

No I didn't admit she was slower than Puckett. Said she has limitations and speed is one of them. Puckett is not fast either. Its your opinion Puckett outclasses her in every aspect. I don't agree. I think Suarez can drive the paint better than Puckett. Puckett doesn't dribble drive at all. But thanks for your opinion MS Puckett.

Come on now, Puckett is quite fast for her size. She was almost always the first post down the court in transition. I don't think she has much bounce but she absolutely can run.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Come on now, Puckett is quite fast for her size. She was almost always the first post down the court in transition. I don't think she has much bounce but she absolutely can run.

Not sure why this is so important to you. It really doesn't matter to me who is faster, etc. I hope both players make a lot contributions toward wins, but I am entitled to my opinion and so are you. But the only opinion that really matters is Kelly's so its not worth debating this on here.