I am hopeful I'm not jinxing us by noting this, but Texas and Oklahoma looked downright plodding last night for two top ten teams.
nevermind im not going to go there.I think the difference in Tennessee finishing in the Top 3 is Coach Caldwell settling the starting lineup. The only reason I don’t say Top 2 is there’s always a chance that you can lose a game or two on the road.
At this point, each player has had an opportunity to separate themselves and some have.
I don’t think the different starting lineup approach every game will work against South Carolina and only South Carolina.
It’s time to build that chemistry with the starting 5 and set the tone.
I don’t think practice alone unless there’s players simply not putting out or showing up which is a completely different thing should carry that much weight when clearly seeing the distinction in game performances between certain players in the 10-player rotation.
A established starting lineup at tip-off including the combination of either 5 in Spear, Spencer, Whitehorn, Latham, Cooper, Hollingshead, or Boyd is the call that needs to be made and set for the remainder of the season.
At full strength this gives the LVs a shot at winning the SEC championship this season. Tess Darby is coming along as a strong rotation player. She deserves a lot of credit. Here’s the one thing I want to see and I’ll take the rest, no more airball threes in SEC play. If she does that, then she’s a legit SEC player in 2024-2025.
GBO!
I agree mostly. I think UT and Texas are close 2-3’sFollowing the replay of the LV game and watching South Carolina, LSU, Texas, and Oklahoma the top 10 in the SEC currently stands as:
1. South Carolina
2. Tennessee
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. LSU
6. Ole Miss
7. Alabama
8. Kentucky
9. Vanderbilt
tie Texas A&M
Tennessee and South Carolina are starting to look like the two most balanced and deepest teams in the SEC.
The SEC is a guard driven conference. As teams continue to play, you’ll see the teams with the best guards separate themselves. Tennessee has four guards Spencer, Whitehorn, Cooper, and Spear that are high caliber SEC players and a freshman Kaniya Boyd that is arguably the 5th best defensive combo guard in the conference behind Raven Johnson, Flau’jae Johnson, Talaysia Cooper, and Bree Hall.
In addition, Ruby Whitehorn has never played on a team this good. She will make a name for herself this season her numbers across the board are better while playing about 5-6 minutes less per game.
Tennessee is deep.
Lauren Betts is the best true Center I’ve seen in an along time, she can do it all. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up with college basketballs most prestigious award who’s is Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and etch her name on a trophy that all the greats have won.