WBB Since The Start Of The Season

#1
teacherdean

teacherdean

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#1
Since the start of the season I have seen Baylor, Stanford, UCONN, ND and Texas. We will have to play one of the best games the Lady Vols have played to beat Baylor, Stanford and ND. Texas is good and it will not be a cakewalk, they are quick and aggressive. The one 5' 7" guard is a beast. She scored 22 points in Texas' loss to Stanford. Stanford play their motion offense with great skill. They are not bad on defense. They beat a pretty good Texas team by 12.

Coming out of the tough schedule playing Baylor, ND, Stanford, and Texas, we will have some idea where our program really stands. We will also have some idea of what it will take to become a top five team. I have to give Holly credit, she is not shying away from the best. The Lady Vols have to have one of the toughest, if not the toughest, schedule in the nation. Adding the tough SEC to their schedule, these 9 young ladies will be more then battled tested when it comes tournament time. I believe you will not become the best unless you play the best. The Ideology of Pat lives on.
 
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#2
#2
I think our guards will be exposed when we play good opponents--and our team overall probably will be. We're just not that good at guard. We are not bad at guard, we're OK, but we have no special players at guard. Neither Reynolds nor Middleton is a good defender--Reynolds is better than Middleton, but she's not exactly a stopper. I'm also curious to see how we pass and move the ball against stronger teams....
 
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#3
#3
armchair said:
I think our guards will be exposed when we play good opponents--and our team overall probably will be. We're just not that good at guard. We are not bad at guard, we're OK, but we have no special players at guard. Neither Reynolds nor Middleton is a good defender--Reynolds is better than Middleton, but she's not exactly a stopper. I'm also curious to see how we pass and move the ball against stronger teams....
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Against very good teams speed is going to kill us along with aggressive play. I saw the Baylor-UCONN game and these two teams were very aggressive. That little guard from Tennessee, for UCONN, is the real deal. I do not think we have figured out the zone defense. I hope I am wrong, but Russell will have a difficult time with the top teams' post play. I think she has the ability to be a top post. She has dominated the post in the last two games, however, neither was anywhere close to being top programs.
 
#4
#4
yep, gonna be a rough road...if we take care of the ball better (general sloppiness/TO'S) we could surprise somebody...:):pepper:

GO LADY VOLS!
 
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#5
#5
teacherdean said:
Against very good teams speed is going to kill us along with aggressive play. I saw the Baylor-UCONN game and these two teams were very aggressive. That little guard from Tennessee, for UCONN, is the real deal. I do not think we have figured out the zone defense. I hope I am wrong, but Russell will have a difficult time with the top teams' post play. I think she has the ability to be a top post. She has dominated the post in the last two games, however, neither was anywhere close to being top programs.
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Im not looking for Penn ST to be much of a test.
Their wins so far are Bloomsberg, St Peters and Akron, the loss is Drexel.
Not too impressive to me.
 
#7
#7
Massey has the Vols projected at a strong #8 SOS for the full regular season, behind UConn, South Carolina, UCLA, Texas, Notre Dame, Washington State, and Arizona State, which also kind of points to the PAC being considered tougher this year than usual.

Eleven currently ranked teams for the Vols, and since this year's SEC doubles besides the usual Dores includes ranked Miss. St. and Florida, and that adds grits to the schedule. Seven of the games against ranked teams are at home though, so that should help a bit.

The Vols SOS in Sagarin is #151 after three games, though that of course will change soon. Going into last night's action, the team with the beast schedule was Maryland Eastern Shore, rated #1 because of only one D1 game played at Maryland. That will also soon change.
 
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#8
#8
teacherdean said:
Since the start of the season I have seen Baylor, Stanford, UCONN, ND and Texas. We will have to play one of the best games the Lady Vols have played to beat Baylor, Stanford and ND. Texas is good and it will not be a cakewalk, they are quick and aggressive. The one 5' 7" guard is a beast. She scored 22 points in Texas' loss to Stanford. Stanford play their motion offense with great skill. They are not bad on defense. They beat a pretty good Texas team by 12.

Coming out of the tough schedule playing Baylor, ND, Stanford, and Texas, we will have some idea where our program really stands. We will also have some idea of what it will take to become a top five team. I have to give Holly credit, she is not shying away from the best. The Lady Vols have to have one of the toughest, if not the toughest, schedule in the nation. Adding the tough SEC to their schedule, these 9 young ladies will be more then battled tested when it comes tournament time. I believe you will not become the best unless you play the best. The Ideology of Pat lives on.
Click to expand...
The jury is still out on Texas. They're currently 1-3 with loses to Miss St, Penn St and Stanford. They are deep at guard and surprisingly weak at post. Tech is shaping up to be our main competition in conference to this point.
 
#10
#10
teacherdean said:
Since the start of the season I have seen Baylor, Stanford, UCONN, ND and Texas. We will have to play one of the best games the Lady Vols have played to beat Baylor, Stanford and ND. Texas is good and it will not be a cakewalk, they are quick and aggressive. The one 5' 7" guard is a beast. She scored 22 points in Texas' loss to Stanford. Stanford play their motion offense with great skill. They are not bad on defense. They beat a pretty good Texas team by 12.

Coming out of the tough schedule playing Baylor, ND, Stanford, and Texas, we will have some idea where our program really stands. We will also have some idea of what it will take to become a top five team. I have to give Holly credit, she is not shying away from the best. The Lady Vols have to have one of the toughest, if not the toughest, schedule in the nation. Adding the tough SEC to their schedule, these 9 young ladies will be more then battled tested when it comes tournament time. I believe you will not become the best unless you play the best. The Ideology of Pat lives on.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping for 2 and 2 out of those games. I don't have a lot of confidence that we'll get two wins but there is a possibility that shots might fall and win two of them.
 
#12
#12
Hoya Saxa said:
Really?
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What can happen when you have the shots and can't make them and shoot 31 percent from the floor. Only get to the line for 10 free throws and only make 2 of 19 three attempts. You don't have to be a very good team to beat someone that does that plus turn it over 15 times.
 
#13
#13
armchair said:
I think our guards will be exposed when we play good opponents--and our team overall probably will be. We're just not that good at guard. We are not bad at guard, we're OK, but we have no special players at guard. Neither Reynolds nor Middleton is a good defender--Reynolds is better than Middleton, but she's not exactly a stopper. I'm also curious to see how we pass and move the ball against stronger teams....[/QUOTE

Reynolds can't shoot or defend very well
Middleton can shoot if team gets her some open looks can't guard anybody.
Dunbar can shoot if she gets the right looks can't guard anybody.
Jackson can't shoot tried to guard the Penn State player and failed but think she can become a good defender with experience.
Deshields shooting is overrated and can defend but is impatient and does to much reaching in for stupid fouls.
Nared still can't shoot anything past 10 feet and defense is awful.
Nunn completely lost her game when she came to Tennessee.
Russell a finesse center who can't score consistently against players five inches shorter. Her defense is not very good easy to drive on.
Harris seems to be another player like Moore want get minutes unless were well ahead late in the game. Next season she will be buried on the depth chart.
Click to expand...
 
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#14
#14
Volfan2012 said:
armchair said:
I think our guards will be exposed when we play good opponents--and our team overall probably will be. We're just not that good at guard. We are not bad at guard, we're OK, but we have no special players at guard. Neither Reynolds nor Middleton is a good defender--Reynolds is better than Middleton, but she's not exactly a stopper. I'm also curious to see how we pass and move the ball against stronger teams....[/QUOTE

Reynolds can't shoot or defend very well
Middleton can shoot if team gets her some open looks can't guard anybody.
Dunbar can shoot if she gets the right looks can't guard anybody.
Jackson can't shoot tried to guard the Penn State player and failed but think she can become a good defender with experience.
Deshields shooting is overrated and can defend but is impatient and does to much reaching in for stupid fouls.
Nared still can't shoot anything past 10 feet and defense is awful.
Nunn completely lost her game when she came to Tennessee.
Russell a finesse center who can't score consistently against players five inches shorter. Her defense is not very good easy to drive on.
Harris seems to be another player like Moore want get minutes unless were well ahead late in the game. Next season she will be buried on the depth chart.
Click to expand...

Wow, you really exposed the whole team. If this plays out without significant improvement, 18 wins will be a stretch.
Click to expand...
 
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#15
#15
Volfan2012 said:
I'm hoping for 2 and 2 out of those games. I don't have a lot of confidence that we'll get two wins but there is a possibility that shots might fall and win two of them.
Click to expand...

I predicted 1-3 at the start of the season, and that's when I thought they had turned a cornwr from last year. Baylor and ND are guaranteed losses. Maybe they can take advantage of Texas' post inexperience, but I suspect their guards will eat Tennessee alive. Stanford was the win I was expecting, but if they backdoor the hell out of Tennessee like they did against Texas, that will probably be a loss.

It could well be 0-4... especially if they don't fix their offensive and defensive woes exposed during thr PSU game.
 
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