Transfer Portal 21-22

I agree having depth is a great thing however I do know basketball and I know you cannot keep 15 athletes happy especially when you have alot of "stars" from previous schools. How will all of the girls mesh how will the chemistry be. The new recruits didn't come in to sit the bench i can tell you that. I'm just saying who starts is irrelevant at this point but no way kellie is going to be able to play 10+ and give the players the time they expect or want and some of them will basically be none existent next season .... All I'm saying is it will be a tuff job assignment to give everyone what they want ...
No negativity just my opinion

Luckily I believe the freshmen who are becoming sophomores(including Jillian), our Freshman Justine as well as Jojo and Jessie already understand their roles and I think what everyone wants is a Natty. After we win, I don’t think there will be an issue with attrition because almost our entire starting 5(of we assume it’s only seniors) will be graduating… plenty of time to go around after next season and the season after.
 
Luckily I believe the freshmen who are becoming sophomores(including Jillian), our Freshman Justine as well as Jojo and Jessie already understand their roles and I think what everyone wants is a Natty. After we win, I don’t think there will be an issue with attrition because almost our entire starting 5(of we assume it’s only seniors) will be graduating… plenty of time to go around after next season and the season after.

The proof is already in the pudding as far as Jessie goes. She has to know that her job is to be a great teammate and to be ready when her number is called but she is not going to be a feature player.
 
Luckily I believe the freshmen who are becoming sophomores(including Jillian), our Freshman Justine as well as Jojo and Jessie already understand their roles and I think what everyone wants is a Natty. After we win, I don’t think there will be an issue with attrition because almost our entire starting 5(of we assume it’s only seniors) will be graduating… plenty of time to go around after next season and the season after.
I believe the the same way. I think having seniors leaving allows the underclassmen to get additional experience. They get to know each other better and the following equally believe the can be playing for a Natty! Having a healthy culture makes a huge difference. I believe coach Kellie and her staff has created that.
 
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I agree having depth is a great thing however I do know basketball and I know you cannot keep 15 athletes happy especially when you have alot of "stars" from previous schools. How will all of the girls mesh how will the chemistry be. The new recruits didn't come in to sit the bench i can tell you that. I'm just saying who starts is irrelevant at this point but no way kellie is going to be able to play 10+ and give the players the time they expect or want and some of them will basically be none existent next season .... All I'm saying is it will be a tuff job assignment to give everyone what they want ...
No negativity just my opinion

We actually have 14 players who will expect some significant PT. So, 200/14 = 14.3 minutes apiece. So some will get 20/25 and some will get 5/10. We know Horston, Jackson, and Key are going to get 25 minutes each, at least. Powell will get 20, at least. That's 95 minutes, leaving 105 for the remaining 10 players, or 10.5 minutes/player. So, who on the squad is going to be in a snit if they get 10 minutes? Franklin is taking a step up in class and coming in with recovery from serious injury, as is Marta. Hollingshead transfers in knowing she will be behind Key. Doubt either one of them are going to be snitty about getting only 10 minutes. None of the others, except possibly Puckett? Walker? So, for the most part, I disagree with your analysis of trouble brewing because of PT. Also, winning is very attractive and helps soothe any feelings of being overlooked or not appreciated. Besides, Kellie may plan an up-tempo pace which will by necessity use a lot of players and keep everyone healthy.
 
Nice analysis, but one dimensional. Playing time for each of these players in each game will be fluid depending on the quality of the opponent, the opponent's type of players, injuries and the demands of the schedule, which is exactly what Kellie did last year with fewer players.

Everyone, with the exception of Jessie, got a significant amount of playing time during the season, but the individual game PT varied according to the factors I mentioned above- feel free to add any factor that I missed.

I think everyone was satisfied with their roles, which was demonstrated by the only transfer being Emily, who I think was led to move to another team where her mobility wouldn't be an issue.

Can't wait until November. I just booked my tickets to the Bahamas!
 
We actually have 14 players who will expect some significant PT. So, 200/14 = 14.3 minutes apiece. So some will get 20/25 and some will get 5/10. We know Horston, Jackson, and Key are going to get 25 minutes each, at least. Powell will get 20, at least. That's 95 minutes, leaving 105 for the remaining 10 players, or 10.5 minutes/player. So, who on the squad is going to be in a snit if they get 10 minutes? Franklin is taking a step up in class and coming in with recovery from serious injury, as is Marta. Hollingshead transfers in knowing she will be behind Key. Doubt either one of them are going to be snitty about getting only 10 minutes. None of the others, except possibly Puckett? Walker? So, for the most part, I disagree with your analysis of trouble brewing because of PT. Also, winning is very attractive and helps soothe any feelings of being overlooked or not appreciated. Besides, Kellie may plan an up-tempo pace which will by necessity use a lot of players and keep everyone healthy.

Al baby, to be an effective uptempo team you have to have interchangeable parts....Coach Kellie has built a team to be exactly that...Rotate in and press like hell, then rotate out....Next up, do the same.

The players will seek their own level, as to who plays best with whom...There are so many different player possibilities, it's mind boggling...
807726-Ralph-Marston-Quote-Imagine-the-possibilities.jpg
 
Mulkey adds another transfer



LSU got Kateri Poole from the portal, a transfer from Ohio State. She was a 5 star high school recruit, but underperformed in her Sophomore year with the Buckeyes. An interesting sidenote is that LSU is welcoming 7 new players and if they return all of their undergraduates and Morris as planned, that would put them at 15. However, one of their Junior players started as a preferred walk-on as a Freshman and I am not sure if she ever got the scholarship. If she is on scholarship, then it may be possible that the rumors if Reese or Rivers going there are not true. If they do get either of them as well, then they have quite the class coming in though they still can't match the LVs.
 
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Nice analysis, but one dimensional. Playing time for each of these players in each game will be fluid depending on the quality of the opponent, the opponent's type of players, injuries and the demands of the schedule, which is exactly what Kellie did last year with fewer players...

I think PT is going to be highly dependent on what KJH sees in practice.
 
We actually have 14 players who will expect some significant PT. So, 200/14 = 14.3 minutes apiece. So some will get 20/25 and some will get 5/10. We know Horston, Jackson, and Key are going to get 25 minutes each, at least. Powell will get 20, at least. That's 95 minutes, leaving 105 for the remaining 10 players, or 10.5 minutes/player. So, who on the squad is going to be in a snit if they get 10 minutes? Franklin is taking a step up in class and coming in with recovery from serious injury, as is Marta. Hollingshead transfers in knowing she will be behind Key. Doubt either one of them are going to be snitty about getting only 10 minutes. None of the others, except possibly Puckett? Walker? So, for the most part, I disagree with your analysis of trouble brewing because of PT. Also, winning is very attractive and helps soothe any feelings of being overlooked or not appreciated. Besides, Kellie may plan an up-tempo pace which will by necessity use a lot of players and keep everyone healthy.
I hope your right ✅
 
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The proof is already in the pudding as far as Jessie goes. She has to know that her job is to be a great teammate and to be ready when her number is called but she is not going to be a feature player.
I don't think Jessie is exactly the player we're worried about not accepting her role. One thing all Vol Nation can agree on, her role is known and accepted by all.
We actually have 14 players who will expect some significant PT. So, 200/14 = 14.3 minutes apiece. So some will get 20/25 and some will get 5/10. We know Horston, Jackson, and Key are going to get 25 minutes each, at least. Powell will get 20, at least. That's 95 minutes, leaving 105 for the remaining 10 players, or 10.5 minutes/player. So, who on the squad is going to be in a snit if they get 10 minutes? Franklin is taking a step up in class and coming in with recovery from serious injury, as is Marta. Hollingshead transfers in knowing she will be behind Key. Doubt either one of them are going to be snitty about getting only 10 minutes. None of the others, except possibly Puckett? Walker? So, for the most part, I disagree with your analysis of trouble brewing because of PT. Also, winning is very attractive and helps soothe any feelings of being overlooked or not appreciated. Besides, Kellie may plan an up-tempo pace which will by necessity use a lot of players and keep everyone healthy.
I don't think it has to be "snitty" at all. And probably won't be, like Emily's departure wasn't. But I'd be very surprised if at least a couple of players don't decide they'd prefer more minutes elsewhere. It's the eternal dilemma - play less on a really good team or more on a not as good one. Some will have to make that decision., and that's what the portal is for. Doesn't have to be a chemistry disruption. As far as holding on thru a Sr laden class, the same thing can and probably will happen again next year with the portal, better players will come in.

You have to feel for last year's freshman. The whole landscape has shifted since they signed two yrs ago, both in bball in general and for the LV program in particular. It's shifted in a great way for the program but not necessarily for their chances of big minutes The level of competition for mins has taken a giant leap forward just since the end of last season. Not really that they've been recruited over, bc what was Harper going to do, not take elite players she needed? And of course those rising Soph players can win minutes with improvement in their games. And yeah a faster pace, a pressing D, injury insurance, etc, are great things. And for sure everyone will play as much as KJH can get them in early on and in blowouts..

However, in Feb. in brutal SEC games, there will most likely be an 8 or 9 player rotation, 10 max. IMO, 2 or 3 of T Darby, Wynn, Miles, Marta, and Striplin will have a hard time getting quality minutes. I see Horston, Jackson, Key, Hollingshead, Powell, Walker, Franklin if healthy, Puckett and Pissiot getting regular rotation. Walker's mins could give way to Wynn or Miles at some point. If Pissot is not quite as advertised, I can see her mins going to whoever is best between Darby and Marta and if Franklin is not recovered, I see Striplin picking up some playing time. Puckett may disappoint me but I don't think so and I think she really blossoms next season surrounded by such great players.

If Harper puts all this together with zero attrition, I nominate her for the Noble Prize in Chemistry. But it doesn't have to be acrimonious. Just the new reality.
 
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I don't think Jessie is exactly the player we're worried about not accepting her role. One thing all Vol Nation can agree on, her role is known and accepted by all.

I don't think it has to be "snitty" at all. And probably won't be, like Emily's departure wasn't. But I'd be very surprised if at least a couple of players don't decide they'd prefer more minutes elsewhere. It's the eternal dilemma - play less on a really good team or more on a not as good one. Some will have to make that decision., and that's what the portal is for. Doesn't have to be a chemistry disruption. As far as holding on thru a Sr laden class, the same thing can and probably will happen again next year with the portal, better players will come in.

You have to feel for last year's freshman. The whole landscape has shifted since they signed two yrs ago, both in bball in general and for the LV program in particular. It's shifted in a great way for the program but not necessarily for their chances of big minutes The level of competition for mins has taken a giant leap forward just since the end of last season. Not really that they've been recruited over, bc what was Harper going to do, not take elite players she needed? And of course those rising Soph players can win minutes with improvement in their games. And yeah a faster pace, a pressing D, injury insurance, etc, are great things. And for sure everyone will play as much as KJH can get them in early on and in blowouts..

However, in Feb. in brutal SEC games, there will most likely be an 8 or 9 player rotation, 10 max. IMO, 2 or 3 of T Darby, Wynn, Miles, Marta, and Striplin will have a hard time getting quality minutes. I see Horston, Jackson, Key, Hollingshead, Powell, Walker, Franklin if healthy, Puckett and Pissiot getting regular rotation. Walker's mins could give way to Wynn or Miles at some point. If Pissot is not quite as advertised, I can see her mins going to whoever is best between Darby and Marta and if Franklin is not recovered, I see Striplin picking up some playing time. Puckett may disappoint me but I don't think so and I think she really blossoms next season surrounded by such great players.

If Harper puts all this together with zero attrition, I nominate her for the Noble Prize in Chemistry. But it doesn't have to be acrimonious. Just the new reality.

Sigh. One the one hand, it is reasonable to advise caution on those who are anticipating a much improved team because we have not seen the results on the flood. So, wouldn't the reverse of that caution also apply to concerns about players being unhappy with their roles and allotted minutes. Maybe Kellie has found players who have really bought into the team/family idea; maybe Kellie can pull off the Holy grail or an A and B rotation that swap in wholesale and make life hell for the opponent during each of their rotating 10 minute segments.

Of problems to have, if I were a coach, I would have the "oh no, we have too many good players" dilemma than the "oh no, we don't have enough good players" conundrum.
 
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Sigh. One the one hand, it is reasonable to advise caution on those who are anticipating a much improved team because we have not seen the results on the flood. So, wouldn't the reverse of that caution also apply to concerns about players being unhappy with their roles and allotted minutes. Maybe Kellie has found players who have really bought into the team/family idea; maybe Kellie pull off the Holy grail or an A and B rotation that swap in wholesale and make life hell for the opponent for each of their rotating 10 minute segments.

Of problems to have, if I were a coach, I would have the "oh no, we have too many good players" dilemma than the "oh no, we don't have enough good players" conundrum.
Of course. No one in their right mind would argue that.

Again, if Kellie does pull off that Holy Grail of keeping everyone sunshine and rainbows she'll deserve the Noble Prize in Chemistry. But she doesn't need to defy human nature, that's my point. It's fairly inevitable that a couple are going to see the writing on the future wall and want to go elsewhere. That's not a failing on anyone's part and doesn't have to be dramatic, just the opportunity for adjustment the portal provides.

Specifically to the A and B rotation, I'm sure we'll see that in early non conference games. However, in the past when she's done that in real games, it's proven more disruptive than productive and we've all complained about it. Of course she's never had this many good players either. But this program struggles so mightily with offensive flow that you hate to see mass subs anytime a bit of flow is found. Playing in shifts may be good for fresh legs on defense, but not for comfort on offense.

As I said before, almost all teams distill down to an 8 or 9 player main rotation when the rubber meets the road. I think that will be the case with this team.
 
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I don't think it has to be "snitty" at all. And probably won't be, like Emily's departure wasn't. But I'd be very surprised if at least a couple of players don't decide they'd prefer more minutes elsewhere. It's the eternal dilemma - play less on a really good team or more on a not as good one. Some will have to make that decision., and that's what the portal is for. Doesn't have to be a chemistry disruption. As far as holding on thru a Sr laden class, the same thing can and probably will happen again next year with the portal, better players will come in.

You have to feel for last year's freshman. The whole landscape has shifted since they signed two yrs ago, both in bball in general and for the LV program in particular. It's shifted in a great way for the program but not necessarily for their chances of big minutes The level of competition for mins has taken a giant leap forward just since the end of last season. Not really that they've been recruited over, bc what was Harper going to do, not take elite players she needed? And of course those rising Soph players can win minutes with improvement in their games. And yeah a faster pace, a pressing D, injury insurance, etc, are great things. And for sure everyone will play as much as KJH can get them in early on and in blowouts..

However, in Feb. in brutal SEC games, there will most likely be an 8 or 9 player rotation, 10 max. IMO, 2 or 3 of T Darby, Wynn, Miles, Marta, and Striplin will have a hard time getting quality minutes. I see Horston, Jackson, Key, Hollingshead, Powell, Walker, Franklin if healthy, Puckett and Pissiot getting regular rotation. Walker's mins could give way to Wynn or Miles at some point. If Pissot is not quite as advertised, I can see her mins going to whoever is best between Darby and Marta and if Franklin is not recovered, I see Striplin picking up some playing time. Puckett may disappoint me but I don't think so and I think she really blossoms next season surrounded by such great players.

If Harper puts all this together with zero attrition, I nominate her for the Noble Prize in Chemistry. But it doesn't have to be acrimonious. Just the new reality.

We've talked a lot on this board about coaches who recruit over players on their roster, but I've never seen that as a bad thing. If the coach was happy with who they had, there would be no need to recruit potentially better players...either from successive classes or the portal. Duke it out in practice, and may the cream rise to the top. Yes, there will be players who feel like they're better off at another program if they can't win the minutes, but that's the reality. All the teams with loaded rosters deal with this, and now that Tennessee has filled their roster with some pretty impressive talent, the same will happen to them. But at the end of the day, Kellie will play her best players...as she should...and I for one am thrilled that for the first time, she has that option to put five players on the floor that can go toe to toe with the likes of a stacked SC or UConn team.
 
Of course. No one in their right mind would argue that.

Again, if Kellie does pull off that Holy Grail of keeping everyone sunshine and rainbows she'll deserve the Noble Prize in Chemistry. But she doesn't need to defy human nature, that's my point. It's fairly inevitable that a couple are going to see the writing on the future wall and want to go elsewhere. That's not a failing on anyone's part and doesn't have to be dramatic, just the opportunity for adjustment the portal provides.

Specifically to the A and B rotation, I'm sure we'll see that in early non conference games. However, in the past when she's done that in real games, it's proven more disruptive than productive and we've all complained about it. Of course she's never had this many good players either. But this program struggles so mightily with offensive flow that you hate to see mass subs anytime a bit of flow is found. Playing in shifts may be good for fresh legs on defense, but not for comfort on offense.

As I said before, almost all teams distill down to an 8 or 9 player main rotation when the rubber meets the road. I think that will be the case with this team.


For the record, the holy grail (I admit is a rarity when it works) but you see some NBA teams that have a second unit who come and play the back half of a quarter, It is not variable mix and match substitution but essentially having an a cohesive A team and a cohesive B team. Foul problems , injuries, illness can easily disrupt this organization but, on paper, the LVs have the players to something like this off.

I think the team Kellie wants to have is something closer where minutes are mainly split among 10-12 players, rather than the super tight rotation she got forced into. That vision of "we want to you to give quality minutes" and (most) everyone contributes could be compelling, particularly if the LVs play really up tempo.

And lets break it down. Franklin is fresh off an ACL. Walker is a covid sixth year clearly playing for the love of the game but working through her own history of knee problems. Both might be content with the understanding, that they are likely to be 15-20 minutes players (though I expect Franklin will see more and more time as the season goes on.
 
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For the record, the holy grail (I admit is a rarity when it works) but you see some NBA teams that have a second unit who come and play the back half of a quarter, It is not variable mix and match substitution but essentially having an a cohesive A team and a cohesive B team. Foul problems , injuries, illness can easily disrupt this organization but, on paper, the LVs have the players to something like this off.

I think the team Kellie wants to have is something closer where minutes are mainly split among 10-12 players, rather than the super tight rotation she got forced into. That vision of "we want to you to give quality minutes" and (most) everyone contributes could be compelling, particularly if the LVs play really up tempo.

And lets break it down. Franklin is fresh off an ACL. Walker is a covid sixth year clearly playing for the love of the game but working through her own history of knee problems. Both might be content with the understanding, that they are likely to be 15-20 minutes players (though I expect Franklin will see more and more time as the season goes on.

Right on. We don't really know much about Marta's health status, either, or what her prognosis is for the upcoming season. It may be she should only play 10 minutes max on that foot. Who knows? And, as someone above noted, there will be injuries this coming year and so the minutes will work themselves out as they go.
 
Either way, it is not a problem. If someone is not getting floor time then it is because they were outplayed. This process of internal culling will be going on everywhere now with all successful programs. Great players will want to play with great players, and it will be based on actual production at the college level and not as much on high school rankings and potential.

The portal will help the rich get richer. We have to be on the right side of that equation, and it sure looks like we are right now.
 

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