...and the difference players make

[BruisedOrange]

Lots of ingredients in a championship stew. This from an article on Notre Dame vs Connecticut points out why it takes more than talent, more than coaching:

...the Irish had lost 12 in a row to UConn. What changed?

"I think the culture. This culture started with Skylar [Diggins]," [ND Coach Muffet] McGraw said. "When she came in, she brought a new dimension in terms of the work ethic at practice. We've always had good work ethic, but she took it to the highest level possible. And her competitiveness just was contagious.

"We happened to have great people around her, too. It's so much more than talent; it's all about chemistry and the competitive spirit. People who are accountable. We got it all together, and from there it just continued to grow because Skylar made it happen. And when she graduated, Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa continued that."
Top-ranked Connecticut Huskies host No. 3 Notre Dame as rivalry resumes

The coach-bashing around here has narrowed into over-simplified tunnel vision. There are multiple contributing factors to this Lady Vols team's less than impressive play. That's the nature of basketball, and why so many people get paid 6-figure salaries to coach and still never win it all.

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

You can have all the ingredients in the world to make a perfect "Apple Pie"...however if you don't have the skills to put these ingredients into a mixture you need to succeed, your "Apple Pie" might turn into a terrible mistake.

 

[BruisedOrange]

Fire in the oven... "Rise to the Top" avatar...
are you a baker, PineyBluff?

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

I am not afraid of the kitchen...however, I just don't like this coaching staff.

 

[JamesKerwin]

Holly had 30 years or so of coaching "experience" with Pat.
Assistant coaches don't always turn into great coaches--every Batman need a Robin and Holly is a great Robin.

Time to go out side of Vol Nation to bring in as high a level in Coaching talent as Tenn has in Players who can play.

It seems Holly is locked into 1980/90 style of playing the game. Todays game is closer to Rebound, outlet pass, run run run--get to the basket before the defense sets up--
The Lady Vols seems to alway getting to the basket too late with too little. And every one knows the talent level on the Vols equals or exceeds any team in the USA.

Offer Holly retirement. She is a wonderful lady, has served Tenn well--but not lately..http://www.volnation.com/forum/images/smilies/default/lolabove.gif

 

[governmentmule]

horse crap,i have faith in the coaching staff and the players

 

[Trixietrouble]

horse crap,i have faith in the coaching staff and the players

I think the ND game will tell a lot with regard to the program's current standing.

The South Carolina game will us know the standing within the SEC.

 

[governmentmule]

there is a lot of basketball yet to be played,I do think that CHW will pull the team together

 

[meekfan]

I think the ND game will tell a lot with regard to the program's current standing.

The South Carolina game will us know the standing within the SEC.

I just watched the Notre Dame game tonight. They almost found the way to beat UCon, same as DePaul. Their 3 pt shooting almost won them the game. Unlike DePaul they didn't run out of gas in the 2nd half but they just couldn't overcome the mountain. They started missing some 3's & by the time they got back on track UCon had too big a lead to overcome in the time remaining. Too bad.

 

[boxerpupsrcool]

I think the ND game will tell a lot with regard to the program's current standing.

The South Carolina game will us know the standing within the SEC.

I hope we can get a win against South Carolina this year, because next year they will be unreal with the additions of Gray and Davis..

 

[boxerpupsrcool]

Holly had 30 years or so of coaching "experience" with Pat.
Assistant coaches don't always turn into great coaches--every Batman need a Robin and Holly is a great Robin.

Time to go out side of Vol Nation to bring in as high a level in Coaching talent as Tenn has in Players who can play.

It seems Holly is locked into 1980/90 style of playing the game. Todays game is closer to Rebound, outlet pass, run run run--get to the basket before the defense sets up--
The Lady Vols seems to alway getting to the basket too late with too little. And every one knows the talent level on the Vols equals or exceeds any team in the USA.

Offer Holly retirement. She is a wonderful lady, has served Tenn well--but not lately..http://www.volnation.com/forum/images/smilies/default/lolabove.gif

I still support Holly as head coach, but I can see why others want a change. I offer up the example of what happened to the football program when we let Phillip Fulmer go to soon. It put it in a tail spin for almost a decade and now it's just starting to recover. I have been disappointed in some of Holly's coaching, but it is what it is. Maybe something will click with these ladies and the wins will come a bit easier and so will the shooting. I'm more worried about recruiting than anything, because if we don't at least get the talent, then it's not going to matter anyway.

 

[boxerpupsrcool]

You can have all the ingredients in the world to make a perfect "Apple Pie"...however if you don't have the skills to put these ingredients into a mixture you need to succeed, your "Apple Pie" might turn into a terrible mistake.

Fire in the hole!! lol

 

[Darth_Vol]

In other words, Muffet brought in players with that mindset.

Tell me, what coach brought in our players?

 

[BruisedOrange]

In other words, Muffet brought in players with that mindset.

[responding more to that idea than to you personally, Darth_Vol]
If it was that simple, if "mindset" was that predictable, was McGraw just stupid to not recruit a Diggins 6 years earlier? Coaches only know what they hope they've recruited.

Going away to college is (other than becoming a parent) probably the biggest RESET button individuals experience. Coaches can only recruit based on past performance. Sure, some predictors are more likely than others to hold true, but NO ONE EVER KNOWS! They only know their recruit is going to experience some changes--hopefully to become even better--but who knows? It's messy, 'cause there's people involved!

Sometimes a 5-star goes away to college and... begins to doubt she's as good as she thought, faces unexpected academic demands, feels so comfortable she begins to settle, gets distracted by her new independence, discovers boys (or girls), doesn't like some of her teammates, falls in love with someone at another college, decides to distance herself from who she was growing up... all the potential changes any other college student faces. IF THEIR PARENTS CAN'T PREDICT THESE CHANGES why should anyone expect coaches will?

If you play pick-up ball where there are new people playing from one week to the next, you've experienced that "instant chemistry" with someone else's game. Yet sometimes the next week that "chemistry" is gone. WHY? Who knows? Putting together a successful team is not a recipe. It's not fantasy league.

Yeah, occasionally the stars will allign and you'll have an Auriemma, a Saban, a Pat Summitt in her day, whose personal demands as a coach, their philosophy, the status of the competition, all come together so that the right people almost self-recruit into that dynastic mixture. Does anyone think they can predict which college assistant, which high school coach today will become the next Auriemma? About the only thing you could say with certainty is, they won't be just like Geno.

I don't criticize people who see the world in black & white, or who judge everything by results or the bottom line. Society needs people like that. Wish we had more people like that in charge of national security!

But how does someone with that mindset really enjoy sports? The joy of watching sports is its inherent unpredictability! Every contest, every season is a movie without a script, acted out in real time. I do not understand why so many posters insist on writing the script (good or bad) before every season, before every game? Do ythey enjoy being frustrated?
Place demands only on the things you control, and send your other demands in letters to the people who do have some control.

 

[VolUpInCumming]

If the "powers that be" would make a coaching change now, it would say to the players, the future players, the fans and the rest of the country that Tennessee is serious about women's basketball again!

 

[armchair]

I still support Holly as head coach, but I can see why others want a change. I offer up the example of what happened to the football program when we let Phillip Fulmer go to soon. It put it in a tail spin for almost a decade and now it's just starting to recover. I have been disappointed in some of Holly's coaching, but it is what it is. Maybe something will click with these ladies and the wins will come a bit easier and so will the shooting. I'm more worried about recruiting than anything, because if we don't at least get the talent, then it's not going to matter anyway.

with Fulmer. That's why he was let go in the first place. And just like this basketball team, our offense under Fulmer was crap. He was also burnt out. You can't not make a change because you don't know how successful the next coach will be be.