Are the Lady Vols an Elite Eight Team?

#1

Golfteacher

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#1
The Lady Vols last two victories proved at least two things, they can beat teams they are suppose to beat and they have the ability to score from anywhere on the offensive part of the floor. However, their current history shows that when they face ranked teams they get out coached and out played. However, I see two things, they have guards who can shoot and the total commitment to getting the ball inside stifles their ability to utilize all of their offensive capabilities. The Lady Vols need a more wide open offense which will open up the paint. I really liked KJH’s offense in the Arkansas game, especially in the first half. Arkansas was committed to stopping Tennessee’s paint points by sagging two and three people in the paint, so Tennessee blitzed them with the outside shot. They looked awesome and it put teams on notice that we have the ability to score from the inside, mid range and outside. KJH needs to keep this offensive plan, that way a one dimensional offense becomes multi dimensional. Add this to their defense and I believe that the Lady Vols have a chance at becoming at least an elite eight team.
 
#3
#3
With decent seeding S16 should be the basement.

Draw any of these teams currently ranked #7-15 (or Utah who is overrated) in the S16 or E8 and those are 50/50 games. So unless you get a bad seeding and play one of the top 5 elite teams before the E8, then I'd say 50% chance of making the E8 and 25% chance of making the F4.

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#7
#7
With decent seeding S16 should be the basement.

Draw any of these teams currently ranked #7-15 (or Utah who is overrated) in the S16 or E8 and those are 50/50 games. So unless you get a bad seeding and play one of the top 5 elite teams before the E8, then I'd say 50% chance of making the E8 and 25% chance of making the F4.

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Definitely comes down to seeing! As long as we don’t have to see Stanford and South Carolina in the EE, I think we’ll have a good chance. I somehow hope we end up in Indiana’s bracket.
 
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#8
#8
I see two things, they have guards who can shoot
No, actually we don't. We have one who can shoot 3s, Tess. What you saw the last two games is far from typical. Walker has shot a bit better from deep lately and Powell hit a couple last night but if you look at season stats, not having guards who can shoot is one of the biggest reasons we'll have trouble making it to a regional, much less survive one. We have two other guards on the bench who stay there exactly bc they can't shoot. Heck, even our stars are poor outside shooters.

The other big reason is the crazy overschedule which will have us facing elite teams early due to a lackluster record.

Of course an EE could happen and I'd be delighted but it would be a real uphill climb.
 
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#11
#11
No, actually we don't. We have one who can shoot 3s, Tess. What you saw the last two games is far from typical. Walker has shot a bit better from deep lately and Powell hit a couple last night but if you look at season stats, not having guards who can shoot is one of the biggest reasons we'll have trouble making it to a regional, much less survive one. We have two other guards on the bench who stay there exactly bc they can't shoot. Heck, even our stars are poor outside shooters.

The other big reason is the crazy overschedule which will have us facing elite teams early due to a lackluster record.

Of course an EE could happen and I'd be delighted but it would be a real uphill climb.
I am not saying you are wrong but we place so more emphasis on paint points that we pass up mid range and long range shots. Yes, Tess is the only one of the guards who shoot the 3’s at a good clip, but our guards seldom shoot the mid range shot. We need at least a mid range game and we need more offense than Jackson and Horston if we plan on doing anything significant in the NCAA tournament. I still believe we have the ability to be a good shooting team other than in the paint. If we can’t, than we are not going a very long way in the NCAA tournament.
 
#12
#12
I thought we did a pretty good job in midrange last night bc they were clogging the paint so much. But of course that was RJ and JH. You're right, our guards either miss 3s or try to force to the rim and get stuffed. I think Tess has tried a little midrange lately and that's a good development. Both Strip and Jill can shoot well from mid also.
 
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#13
#13
Unless we somehow beat SC we probably have a hard ceiling of a 7 seed. That’s not even getting you a sweet 16 in all likelihood, much less an E8
 
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#15
#15
No, actually we don't. We have one who can shoot 3s, Tess. What you saw the last two games is far from typical. Walker has shot a bit better from deep lately and Powell hit a couple last night but if you look at season stats, not having guards who can shoot is one of the biggest reasons we'll have trouble making it to a regional, much less survive one. We have two other guards on the bench who stay there exactly bc they can't shoot. Heck, even our stars are poor outside shooters.

The other big reason is the crazy overschedule which will have us facing elite teams early due to a lackluster record.

Of course an EE could happen and I'd be delighted but it would be a real uphill climb.

That is what maddening, The LVs are pretty good team when they make shots. It creates a whole positive cycle of letting them get their defense set and so on.

But, we have a lot of nights that are just the opposite....
 
#17
#17
That is what maddening, The LVs are pretty good team when they make shots. It creates a whole positive cycle of letting them get their defense set and so on.

But, we have a lot of nights that are just the opposite....
Mike Neighbors said his plan was to force us into shooting 3s, and then dang if we didn't hit em. And they didn't. Usually that script would be flipped.

IMO its the only way we have a chance against SC, and the Arky D isn't exactly Beal and Cooke.
 
#21
#21
The Lady Vols last two victories proved at least two things, they can beat teams they are suppose to beat and they have the ability to score from anywhere on the offensive part of the floor. However, their current history shows that when they face ranked teams they get out coached and out played. However, I see two things, they have guards who can shoot and the total commitment to getting the ball inside stifles their ability to utilize all of their offensive capabilities. The Lady Vols need a more wide open offense which will open up the paint. I really liked KJH’s offense in the Arkansas game, especially in the first half. Arkansas was committed to stopping Tennessee’s paint points by sagging two and three people in the paint, so Tennessee blitzed them with the outside shot. They looked awesome and it put teams on notice that we have the ability to score from the inside, mid range and outside. KJH needs to keep this offensive plan, that way a one dimensional offense becomes multi dimensional. Add this to their defense and I believe that the Lady Vols have a chance at becoming at least an elite eight team.
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The game of BB has changed for both the men and women. Now, it is a 3-point game. The LV has no real 3-point threat (other than Tess). Without a boatload of 3-point shooters, I don't see them going to the S16. If you play the paint, you had better have really good free throw shooters.
 
#22
#22
The Lady Vols last two victories proved at least two things, they can beat teams they are suppose to beat and they have the ability to score from anywhere on the offensive part of the floor. However, their current history shows that when they face ranked teams they get out coached and out played. However, I see two things, they have guards who can shoot and the total commitment to getting the ball inside stifles their ability to utilize all of their offensive capabilities. The Lady Vols need a more wide open offense which will open up the paint. I really liked KJH’s offense in the Arkansas game, especially in the first half. Arkansas was committed to stopping Tennessee’s paint points by sagging two and three people in the paint, so Tennessee blitzed them with the outside shot. They looked awesome and it put teams on notice that we have the ability to score from the inside, mid range and outside. KJH needs to keep this offensive plan, that way a one dimensional offense becomes multi dimensional. Add this to their defense and I believe that the Lady Vols have a chance at becoming at least an elite eight team.
We’re mid major
 
#24
#24
______________
The game of BB has changed for both the men and women. Now, it is a 3-point game. The LV has no real 3-point threat (other than Tess). Without a boatload of 3-point shooters, I don't see them going to the S16. If you play the paint, you had better have really good free throw shooters.
We need young shooters out of the portal just doubtful there will be many good college freshman/3-4 year eligibility girls in the portal
Oh and a young good post.
 
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#25
#25
Well, if I didn't believe the Lady Vols are better than their record indicates, I would have stopped watching after the Stanford loss. Yes, I am aware of the old cliche, "You are what your records says you are."

I think our early struggles hurt our confidence. Failure to clearly define roles by the coaching staff exacerbated confidence issues. Dressing room coaches, suspensions and substitution patterns caused the team to spiral downward. I honestly believe all of that is behind us.

RJ gave great insight during the ESPN interview after the Arkansas win. Basically, we are not as good as we thought we were. Unfortunately, it almost took the entire season too realize and address the issues. We now understand we need to dominate opponents early and not let them hang around...hence the 25 point performance in the first quarter. Now the issue is was RJ blowing smoke that she knew fans wanted to hear or do we have a new mentality. I guess time will tell.

If the team truely likes the smell of what RJ is cooking we may be in business. Other wise it's just a poorly prepared meal, that will leave a bad taste in all our mouths, if we don't make it out of the first weekend.

If we don't make it out of the first weekend, I'm afraid that negative energy will determine our portal prowess and that will not end well.
 

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