Alexus Dye out of Troy commits

[Darth_Vol]

Dye scored zero points against Duke in her junior season. She may not score 20 + points against P5 competition every game but she isn't going to go scoreless either.

That's my point. She will contribute, but fans expecting her to consistently play like the All-World player she looked like against A&M are going to be disappointed...

 

[teacherdean]

Welcome to UT, Alexus.

Gonna have to watch the highlights of that Troy-A&M to see her live in action.

The lady can ball. She out played all of A&M's best and came within four points of the biggest upset in this year's NCAA tournament. She just does not back down. She will rebound her butt off and can put up points. She is a baller. Good pick up!!!

 

[Darth_Vol]

but she's definitely got skills and the team will be much better with her on the team than without.

I don't disagree with your assessment of her game, and she will definitely help fill the rebounding void Davis leaves behind. But what was the biggest team weakness that we constantly complained about this season? I would say turnovers and three point shooting were by far 1a and 1b.

I present to you the player who has hit 0 three pointers the last two seasons, and averaged nearly 3 turnovers a game...

 

[volfan__18]

I don't disagree with your assessment of her game, and she will definitely help fill the rebounding void Davis leaves behind. But what was the biggest team weakness that we constantly complained about this season? I would say turnovers and three point shooting were by far 1a and 1b.

I present to you the player who has hit 0 three pointers the last two seasons, and averaged nearly 3 turnovers a game...

Darth, i’m curious. Do you ever get tired of being you? cause i know i would.

 

[VolBall09]

One positive is Dye and Horston both will not be required to handle the ball as much next season. I foresee Walker handling the PG duties more as that is who Kellie seemed to be going with more to end the season. Her brace will hopefully be off and she’ll be much more mobile and in her second year of running the system.

Miles is quick enough that she will hopefully be able to give serviceable backup at the PG spot. If she will commit herself to being a defensive stopper off the bench she may get more time than we realize.

Should cut down on our turnovers having a more consistent PG and not playing the role by committee. Really see Horston playing a lot at the 2/3. Dye as well, she can play the 4 but in the SEC I won’t be surprised to see her at the 3 more with Key and Green (weird that their names together like that sound like Keyen’s full name in my accent lol).

Jordan H has got to want it. With her physicality she can dominate people. Has to decide instead of running the offense, screw that, BE the offense! Go get those buckets then start dropping dimes on people when they try to double you. Will take a lot of ball handling pressure off of her. She seems dead set on being a point guard but I hope she gives a little. At the next level, maybe. At this level she needs to be a scorer and a rebounder if she wants to get to the next level. Praying for her to improve and develop as a person and a player this summer. You can do it Jordan!!!

 

[larjoranj]

Anybody see her play more than the tournament game? How does she get her points? She took the most shots on her team by a huge margin yet she was only 6th on her team in free throw attempts. Is she a mid range jump shooter?

 

[Amb3096]

I don't disagree with your assessment of her game, and she will definitely help fill the rebounding void Davis leaves behind. But what was the biggest team weakness that we constantly complained about this season? I would say turnovers and three point shooting were by far 1a and 1b.

I present to you the player who has hit 0 three pointers the last two seasons, and averaged nearly 3 turnovers a game...

She played the 3/4 spot, so the three wasn't necessary. She still has range and was comfortable taking (and making) 15-18 footers with regularity.

If Rennia was on the team, I'd agree with you that the priority was an elite ball handler and perimeter threat. But with her gone, an additional need opens up that's probably even bigger since Rennia was the go-to player and leading rebounder on the team. They were gonna be hurting without another scoring threat. IF Kellie can get a solid PG who can shoot the 3 (someone like Myah Taylor from MSST), then that combination would likely make Tennessee a top 3 SEC team. Dye will keep them in the top half, which I'm not convinced was a sure thing before she committed.

 

[Amb3096]

Anybody see her play more than the tournament game? How does she get her points? She took the most shots on her team by a huge margin yet she was only 6th on her team in free throw attempts. Is she a mid range jump shooter?

Only other game I saw her play was against MSST (back when they were still playing well), and she had 20 pts 11 rebounds and shot 9-16 against a team that started 6'4 and 6'5 in the post. Didn't see any post ups or 3's; she mainly scored off the bounce on a combination of mid-range jumpers and drives, some putbacks, and catch-and-shoots.

 

[glv98]

I want to know how any player, especially a 6'0" one, avoids shooting a single 3 in a whole season. No last second heaves? It just seems weird.

Dye shot 49% from the field for the season ya'll. Some of our players couldn't do that in the gym alone. Averaged 27 pts!

Amb3096's avid support for Dye is really encouraging, I usually trust him. On the other hand, the three t.o. per game average terrifies me. We need another one of those? As I said on another thread, I bet we break 30 t.o.s at some point next year. It's a good point that Dye should not be ball handling quite as much, nor should JH and that should help. We just need them mostly to score, score, score. And who knows, maybe Dye's been hiding a great 3 point shot, saving it up for the Lady Vols.

Reality is she'll probably fall somewhere between Amb's dream and Darth's mid-major consolation prize. I just hope she can score consistently in the SEC.

 

[volnationnj]

I want to know how any player, especially a 6'0" one, avoids shooting a single 3 in a whole season. No last second heaves? It just seems weird.

Dye shot 49% from the field for the season ya'll. Some of our players couldn't do that in the gym alone. Averaged 27 pts!

Amb3096's avid support for Dye is really encouraging, I usually trust him. On the other hand, the three t.o. per game average terrifies me. We need another one of those? As I said on another thread, I bet we break 30 t.o.s at some point next year. It's a good point that Dye should not be ball handling quite as much, nor should JH and that should help. We just need them mostly to score, score, score. And who knows, maybe Dye's been hiding a great 3 point shot, saving it up for the Lady Vols.

Reality is she'll probably fall somewhere between Amb's dream and Darth's mid-major consolation prize. I just hope she can score consistently in the SEC.

Dye averaged 16.6 points per game this past season.

 

[glv98]

Dye averaged 16.6 points per game this past season.

Oh sorry, my bad, got carried away. Looked at her mins per game, not points. Knew it was too good to be true. Still shot 49%. Must have a killer mid range game which is most welcome.

 

[creekdipper]

The fact that she has only taken one three-pointer shows that she can definitely follow a game plan.

 

[Amb3096]

I want to know how any player, especially a 6'0" one, avoids shooting a single 3 in a whole season. No last second heaves? It just seems weird.

Dye shot 49% from the field for the season ya'll. Some of our players couldn't do that in the gym alone. Averaged 27 pts!

Amb3096's avid support for Dye is really encouraging, I usually trust him. On the other hand, the three t.o. per game average terrifies me. We need another one of those? As I said on another thread, I bet we break 30 t.o.s at some point next year. It's a good point that Dye should not be ball handling quite as much, nor should JH and that should help. We just need them mostly to score, score, score. And who knows, maybe Dye's been hiding a great 3 point shot, saving it up for the Lady Vols.

Reality is she'll probably fall somewhere between Amb's dream and Darth's mid-major consolation prize. I just hope she can score consistently in the SEC.

I'm not worried about the turnovers. Most of that was due to the way that Troy plays. They play at a breakneck pace and really push the ball, so the turnovers kinda were expected with their style. Put her in a more methodical setup, and that removes her from situations where she would be more likely to turn the ball over. One thing I hope Kellie doesn't do is slow her down too much. Troy's offense was built around taking the first open shot they got, and because of that, Dye would shoot without hesitation...not like some of the Tennessee teams in the past where you had players who looked like they were afraid to shoot and would overthink if they should shoot and let defenses recover. If Kellie can balance that, I think Alexus would flourish on offense.

If there is a concern, it is on the defensive end. Troy barely played defense at all, which is why their opponents (individually and collectively) were prone to having career nights in scoring against them. I hope she has it in her to commit to defense, because if she doesn't, it may not matter what she brings to the table on offense.

 

[mlindsay]

I'm not worried about the turnovers. Most of that was due to the way that Troy plays. They play at a breakneck pace and really push the ball, so the turnovers kinda were expected with their style. Put her in a more methodical setup, and that removes her from situations where she would be more likely to turn the ball over. One thing I hope Kellie doesn't do is slow her down too much. Troy's offense was built around taking the first open shot they got, and because of that, Dye would shoot without hesitation...not like some of the Tennessee teams in the past where you had players who looked like they were afraid to shoot and would overthink if they should shoot and let defenses recover. If Kellie can balance that, I think Alexus would flourish on offense.

If there is a concern, it is on the defensive end. Troy barely played defense at all, which is why their opponents (individually and collectively) were prone to having career nights in scoring against them. I hope she has it in her to commit to defense, because if she doesn't, it may not matter what she brings to the table on offense.

I agree with you, if you go back to the A&M game (can't find the Miss St game) she played Cierra Johnson very well defensively (and stretches where she had the guard N'Dia Jones). It is probably a tad bit easier for her at her size to defend them because they were likely to stay into the paint instead of someone like Rickea Jackson, Rhyne Howard or the likes of who spend some time at or around the perimeter and as likely to take someone off the dribble.

The good this is she has a player in Rae who she could go up against in practice (and Horston if she looks to play more Wing) that can help her get better guarding the wing/dribble penetration if that isn't her strong suit. But again I agree with you that we have to see how well she does defensively, another good thing for her that she has here, that she didn't have at Troy as a "Fly Swatter"/Mrs. Clean who could help fix whatever problems she had guarding her defender.

 

[Amb3096]

I agree with you, if you go back to the A&M game (can't find the Miss St game) she played Cierra Johnson very well defensively (and stretches where she had the guard N'Dia Jones). It is probably a tad bit easier for her at her size to defend them because they were likely to stay into the paint instead of someone like Rickea Jackson, Rhyne Howard or the likes of who spend some time at or around the perimeter and as likely to take someone off the dribble.

The good this is she has a player in Rae who she could go up against in practice (and Horston if she looks to play more Wing) that can help her get better guarding the wing/dribble penetration if that isn't her strong suit. But again I agree with you that we have to see how well she does defensively, another good thing for her that she has here, that she didn't have at Troy as a "Fly Swatter"/Mrs. Clean who could help fix whatever problems she had guarding her defender.

In the MSST game, Troy completely shut down Jessika Carter...mainly by preventing her from getting the ball and triple teaming her whenever she was posting up. The result was that Rickea and Sidney completely went off on them. I think both of them had at least 6 triples and over 25 points each.

 

[mlindsay]

In the MSST game, Troy completely shut down Jessika Carter...mainly by preventing her from getting the ball and triple teaming her whenever she was posting up. The result was that Rickea and Sidney completely went off on them. I think both of them had at least 6 triples and over 25 points each.

Looking back on it, they probably tripled the wrong person. Carter should at times last year that she preferred playing as a stretch 5 rather than a Low Post 5, I often scratched my head at how often she was away from the block.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Early in the season Kellie plays everyone as many minutes as she can. It helps when you dominate your OOC schedule but Kellie also knows players need minutes and some of those need to be impact minutes. I love watching them early in the season as the reserves get game experience. Everyone gets chances to show what they can do. What I see Alexus doing is hitting that jump shot at the key and being a threat there that draws the defense outside freeing up Key or a wide open wing for a 3. Thats my hope anyway.

Yes, I don't think it's important what the pecking order is until the start of conference play. Watching the players get sorted out will be interesting.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

I don't disagree with your assessment of her game, and she will definitely help fill the rebounding void Davis leaves behind. But what was the biggest team weakness that we constantly complained about this season? I would say turnovers and three point shooting were by far 1a and 1b.

I present to you the player who has hit 0 three pointers the last two seasons, and averaged nearly 3 turnovers a game...

Is that TO figure based on 40 minutes or just on GS? For reference, KK had 2.6 TO/40 min last season, Suarez had 4.4. Green was 1.5, but a small sample size. But our really high TO rates were largely committed by Horston and Burrell and Walker and Salary, who were not playing at the four. They obviously need to improve in that area.

If your point is that Dye will be worse in TO's at the 4, then I disagree. She'll be about our average. But if your point is that we need less TO's out of everyone, I can't disagree.

 

[37620VOL]

Is that TO figure based on 40 minutes or just on GS? For reference, KK had 2.6 TO/40 min last season, Suarez had 4.4. Green was 1.5, but a small sample size. But our really high TO rates were largely committed by Horston and Burrell, who were not playing at the four. They obviously need to improve in that area.

If your point is that Dye will be worse in TO's at the 4, then I disagree. She'll be about our average. But if your point is that we need less TO's out of everyone, I can't disagree.

Salary 29%, Suarez 29%, and Walker 27% were our worst offenders based on the percentage of plays where a to was committed.

Horston was league average. 21%
Burrell had a low to rate. 15%

For comparison, Dye was also 15% which is a statistically low to rate.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Salary 29%, Suarez 29%, and Walker 27% were our worst offenders based on the percentage of plays where a to was committed.

Horston was league average. 21%
Burrell had a low to rate. 15%

For comparison, Dye was also 15% which is a statistically low to rate.

Please note I edited my original post to include Salary and Walker. Point is, the only UT 4 player with a higher TO rate/40 min than Dye is Suazrez, who played limited minutes last year due to injury, so Dye isn't likely to kill us with turn overs, and you've emphasized that again with your number.

I'm not familiar with your stat of % of plays where a TO was committed. I'll look it up. Is it a better metric in your opinion?

 

[37620VOL]

Please note I edited my original post to include Salary and Walker. Point is, the only UT 4 player with a higher TO rate/40 min than Dye is Suazrez, who played limited minutes last year due to injury, so Dye isn't likely to kill us with turn overs, and you've emphasized that again with your number.

I'm not familiar with your stat of % of plays where a TO was committed. I'll look it up. Is it a better metric in your opinion?

I agree with you on Dye not being a to machine. "% of plays" is better than "per game or per minute" because Troy plays very fast. Rough numbers here but if Troy plays fast and has 80 possessions in a forty minutes game then a player averaging 4 tos per game might only average 3 tos per game on a team with a slower pace and fewer possessions.

The LVs also play fast place. Our overall tos per possession is not bad but not great either. It's certainly not or biggest issue which is shooting percentage... 2s, 3s, and fts... It's all bad, and the 3 percentage is just depressing and kills the rest of our offense.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

I agree with you on Dye not being a to machine. "% of plays" is better than "per game or per minute" because Troy plays very fast. Rough numbers here but if Troy plays fast and has 80 possessions in a forty minutes game then a player averaging 4 tos per game might only average 3 tos per game on a team with a slower pace and fewer possessions.

The LVs also play fast place. Our overall tos per possession is not bad but not great either. It's certainly not or biggest issue which is shooting percentage... 2s, 3s, and fts... It's all bad, and the 3 percentage is just depressing and kills the rest of our offense.

Thanks for the education. I appreciate the information, it's good to know, and it makes sense. The way Michigan defeated us - by focusing their D on Rae and Davis and packing in our inside game and forcing our PG and other wing to shoot from the outside supports what you are saying with the poor shooting %.

 

[Voltopia]

People who are down about a transfer coming in averaging enough double doubles to lead Division I in that stat fascinate me.

 

[mlindsay]

People who are down about a transfer coming in averaging enough double doubles to lead Division I in that stat fascinate me.

Exactly!

 

[37620VOL]

@youcancallmeAl
I found the "pace" stats. Troy averaged 83 possessions which was the most in the NCAA. LVs averaged 72 per game about the upper 70th percentile.

The LVs shoot about 14 threes/game and made about 30%. In contrast, UCONN and Arizona shoot 18-20 threes and make 34-36% of them. We are giving up 7+ points per game right there.
The LVs TO rate is 19% (ranked161 in NCAA). In contrast, UCONN is 17% (63rd) and Arizona 15% (26th). We're only giving up around 4 points per game to them on TOs.