Vols game...

#26
#26
Coach Jumper said:
KK brought the ball down to her waist on a rebound-putback as well. smallvol and I both noticed that. . . She is just so strong that she was able to bring it back.

NO, I don't think Russell played her best against CN either...But you got to consider, the Fab-4 have to adjust to a collegiate environment and the veteran players have to adjust to their new recruit's style of play as well.

It will be a work in progress for a few games.
Deal with it NoBackBone
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Lol, you deal with it Joke Jumper. It’s going to cost the team when it matters and she hasn’t improved in that area. As a fan, it’s concerning.
 
#27
#27
NoBackBoard said:
Lol, you deal with it Joke Jumper. It’s going to cost the team when it matters and she hasn’t improved in that area. As a fan, it’s concerning.
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121 points, NoBackBeard...Maybe Russell is smart enough to let the game come to her, instead of forcing it and upsetting what was on of our best offensive outputs under the CHW era.
 
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#28
#28
Coach Jumper said:
KK brought the ball down to her waist on a rebound-putback as well. smallvol and I both noticed that. . . She is just so strong that she was able to bring it back.

NO, I don't think Russell played her best against CN either...But you got to consider, the Fab-4 have to adjust to a collegiate environment and the veteran players have to adjust to their new recruit's style of play as well.

It will be a work in progress for a few games.
Deal with it NoBackBone
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I think MR is trying to look to put the ball on the floor to take her defender or take a dribble and hit a cutter (per the pass to Davis). On what the poster said KK wasn’t perfect but she kept the ball higher on put backs where as MR looked to put the ball on the floor and get to either the rim or to the middle of the floor. Both of your points were valid.
 
#29
#29
USC’s Coates was great at keeping the ball high. She didn’t bring it down or over-dribble. This really needs to be corrected!


Coates and Russell don't appear to have the same type of musculature. Coates is a much stronger woman.
 
#30
#30
lvocd said:
USC’s Coates was great at keeping the ball high. She didn’t bring it down or over-dribble. This really needs to be corrected!


Coates and Russell don't appear to have the same type of musculature. Coates is a much stronger woman.
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MR outscored her ppg average... and their rebounding numbers were similar. Coates got a lot of her points off of putbacks especially before the Gray/Davis days.
 
#31
#31
lvocd said:
USC’s Coates was great at keeping the ball high. She didn’t bring it down or over-dribble. This really needs to be corrected!


Coates and Russell don't appear to have the same type of musculature. Coates is a much stronger woman.
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Does it take more muscle to simply put the ball back up instead of bring it down to the waist and struggle against small guards trying to rip it from your hands?
 
#32
#32
Part of the problem, from my perspective, was that Russell allowed herself to be pushed away from the basket, by significantly smaller defenders, too much. This put her out of position and required her to take a dribble to get in position rather than simply taking a turn step and putting the ball up. KK, on the other hand, was more often in the correct post position upon receiving the ball to simply turn and put the ball up. Unfortunately, this has been a continuing problem with Russell throughout her career at Tennessee. With any luck, she will be willing to observe and learn from a freshman!

Unfortunately, in my opinion, I saw repeat occurrences of Russell, in particular, and the other posts starting the offense on the perimeter rather than being under the basket where they need to be. I can only assume that this is something that the staff has implemented as part of the offense since it occurs with such regularity, although I simply don't see the reason for employing such a tactic, particularly when you have the decided height advantage like the Lady Vols had against Carson-Newman. It is possible, however, that since this was an exhibition, that Holly and the staff were using it to work on aspects of the offense for future purposes. It seemed to me, though, that Holly was taking this game seriously, given how "intense" she was in her bench discussion with the starters immediately prior to the start of the second half!

Like Holly stated in the post-game interview, this game gave them some good tape to assist in teaching points going forward. Let's hope the team and the staff take full advantage of those teaching moments! I, personally, think the future looks brighter than it has in a while.

Jim
 
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#33
#33
VA_VOLFAN said:
Playing mostly freshman in there first game for most of those TWO quarters. TN opened up the second half (3rd quarter) on an 8-0 run and that quarter is when they blew the game open. UK had the 40 min of hell they called it and lead the NCAA with their guards who were freshman and sophomores which generated a lot of their points. However, in the second half there was plenty of ball movement while also having good post entries. Both KK and Davis were receiving good entry passes which allowed them to score in the post. Now if they clean up their free throw shooting they will be in business. Holly played to this team’s strengths and the team made good adjustments in the second half.
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Actually, the term 40 minutes of hell comes from the Nolan Richardson Arkansas teams. Kentucky never came close to accomplishing the real 40 Minutes Of Hell
https://www.swishappeal.com/2011/3/11/2044606/nolan-richardson-40-minutes-of-hell-arkansas-razorbacks
 
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#34
#34
Graves had a prolonged problem with grabbing rebound and then bringing the ball down to her waist, and then bending over and wanting to go back up. That is poor fundamentals, as others have noted, as you are simply wasting precious time in the paint and giving defenders the chance to knock the ball out of your hands or tie you up. And yea, I think Russell does this--though maybe not as often as Graves.

The one thing I'd like to see from Russell this year is for her to stay the heck in the paint on defense! Russell should be a force defensively--but she never has been. Why? Partly because her ball awareness is not great when she is in the paint area. She will be looking to one side of the court and an opposing guard will score a layup coming from the other side. But her big issue is that she wants to follow her mark (opposing center) out to the perimeter--thereby taking herself out of rebounding and shot-blocking position. She does this constantly--and of course opponents want to lure her out of the paint as it frees up space for their players to drive to the basket. Opposing centers are not going to score from the perimter. All they will do is set screens. Therefore, Russell should only move out far enough to call out screens to our guards/wings--keeping herself closer to the basket, where she can help defensively. This is one, fundamental problem with our man defense that the coaches--surprise--have not corrected in three years. Stay close to the basket.
 
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#35
#35
lvocd said:
USC’s Coates was great at keeping the ball high. She didn’t bring it down or over-dribble. This really needs to be corrected!


Coates and Russell don't appear to have the same type of musculature. Coates is a much stronger woman.
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Holding the ball high is not a byproduct of strength..... this is a fundamental coaching issue which should have been corrected long before Mercedes is a senior
 
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#36
#36
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