Are the LV’s a top 10 team today?

[glv98]

You noticed that.
I am a coach watcher and when I saw her go from baseline to end of coach's box, drilling that zebra...I was smiling

I usually don't agree that Coach Performative Art makes a difference, but I did think that was a very effective ref chewing. Partly bc it was righteous indignation on her part, that guy knew she was right. Also bc she kinda skated right up to the T line, I even commented, oh she's about to take a T!, then she reigned it in just in time. Well done, part of a very good coaching night for her.

 

[VOLPAT]

You can't beat being undefeated after 8 games. We haven't beaten an elite team yet, but we have beaten some ranked and tough teams. We've won in a tournament setting on back to back days, we've won on the road in a couple of tough places to play, and we've done this without our best scorer. I would say we could justify a ranking of 8th or so.

Composure and come from behind mentality are huge building blocks. CKH is NOT going to let her team be exposed to referee abuse without a fight.

 

[Rickster]

Lady Vols Rise To No. 9 In AP Poll - University of Tennessee Athletics

 

[MAD]

Is the SEC as a whole up or down from previous years?

 

[Rickster]

Probably too early to know for sure. Several teams have a shot IMO.

 

[mudcat1973]

i have to say im glad im not the coach because i would not be a very good evaluator of the talent. Darby and Walker have really showed me they are getting better and really have a part to play in the way this season goes. I just wish the turnovers would get down to under 15 a game and the unforced turnovers to under 5 a game. Then this team when and if Rae comes back could be really good and final four potential is there.

read tess played the long game and go vols 24 7 . it tells how darby waited after her jurior year high school and summer aau ball power five offers started coming in west virginia,texas tect,georgia tect,llnois. it also tells tess darby was rated top 70 her sofhmore year on recuiting lists before missing summerball with a bone briuse leg. it tells of tess and her parents crying when she got her dream offer. tess make not be and all american but she belongs at power five schools. tess darby play the long game and won is still on internet even darth might tear up reading it.

 

[Volfan2012]

read tess played the long game and go vols 24 7 . it tells how darby waited after her jurior year high school and summer aau ball power five offers started coming in west virginia,texas tect,georgia tect,llnois. it also tells tess darby was rated top 70 her sofhmore year on recuiting lists before missing summerball with a bone briuse leg. it tells of tess and her parents crying when she got her dream offer. tess make not be and all american but she belongs at power five schools. tess darby play the long game and won is still on internet even darth might tear up reading it.

I really thought she would go to UT Martin was surprised when Tennessee came into the picture. She also started getting offers from several other D1 schools. but it was always going to be Tennessee when the offer came.

 

[zaqhhh]

By results: Yes
Eye Test: No

I still think we turnover the ball way too much and look very beatable if we face a hot shooting team or a team that can match up with us on rebounding.

That said, we are clearly impressive on the boards and defensively.

And if Burrell comes back, I'd say we are a legit Elite 8 contender.

 

[mudcat1973]

I really thought she would go to UT Martin was surprised when Tennessee came into the picture. She also started getting offers from several other D1 schools. but it was always going to be Tennessee when the offer came.

her dad thought it was alabama they lost out on madison hayes to mississippi state when aau coach call and said have a big power 5 offer coming in when it was tennessee.

 

[therealitytheory]

There is a grit in this team that should endear them to even the most jaded LV fans. Case in point: Key. Dogged by issues of passivity in the past, she goes hard at it all the time this season, and especially at crunch time. Maybe better conditioning is a factor as well, but in any case her improvement is central to the success of this team. And except for some strange minutes Sunday, Horston has performed like an All-American.
Dye has been a nice addition, Puckett is blooming before our eyes, and Walker shows flashes between TOs.

One can only imagine the even bigger strides this team would've made if Rae hadn't gone down with her allegedly season-ending injury. Or the injury that allegedly keeps her out until Stanford. Or maybe she practiced full speed today....

 

[VolBall09]

Is the SEC as a whole up or down from previous years?

Hard to tell. Everyone thought it was going to be a “down” year but so far lots of SEC teams are playing well. A couple haven’t played anyone, like Missouri.

So far on the season it looks like the SEC and the ACC are the best conferences. Prior to the season everyone expected the Big 10 and the PAC 12 to lead the way but that hasn’t happened.

PAC-12 in particular has underperformed so far.

 

[lvocd]

Here's the thing that makes me happiest, youcancallmeAl: We are now able to legitimately consider it a possibility that Tennessee could develop into a Final Four quality team if the development continues at this same pace and we get Rae back. I think it's a longshot and that we still have lots of work to do to get to the level that a whole lot of luck wouldn't have to be involved to get there this year. BUT IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE!!!! For several years it felt impossible, and noone had Tennessee in those conversations about legitimate chances to win some big games. Now they do.

 

[creekdipper]

Hard to tell. Everyone thought it was going to be a “down” year but so far lots of SEC teams are playing well. A couple haven’t played anyone, like Missouri.

Are you sure you mean Missouri? Sure, a lot of people think Baylor is overrated at #5, but they're still pretty good competition that Mizzou came within a hair of beating.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Here's the thing that makes me happiest, youcancallmeAl: We are now able to legitimately consider it a possibility that Tennessee could develop into a Final Four quality team if the development continues at this same pace and we get Rae back. I think it's a longshot and that we still have lots of work to do to get to the level that a whole lot of luck wouldn't have to be involved to get there this year. BUT IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE!!!! For several years it felt impossible, and noone had Tennessee in those conversations about legitimate chances to win some big games. Now they do.

Agreed. And it makes me happy to think about it, too. The key is Key. A dominant post player like that is what the aircraft carrier is to the rest of the fleet. Right now Key's ppg is same as last year's overall average, and her rebounds are 4 more per game ( 1 offensive and 3 defensive). That number is a big deal. And we've seen her be much more aggressive offensively than last year. If she continues to make the strides we've seen of her so far, and the depth keeps developing around her, and Rae comes back safe and sound, then we will be in the FF conversation sooner or later.

 

[Darth_Vol]

By results: Yes
Eye Test: No

I still think we turnover the ball way too much and look very beatable if we face a hot shooting team or a team that can match up with us on rebounding.

That said, we are clearly impressive on the boards and defensively.

And if Burrell comes back, I'd say we are a legit Elite 8 contender.

That's pretty much my assessment as well. Credit them for beating the teams on their schedule so far. Defense and rebounding have been excellent, but the offense is sooo wretched and they are so damn careless with the ball.

They remind me of one of C. Vivian Stringer's better Rutgers teams. They will grind out some wins this season, they can play with most any team on a given day, but they are so bad offensively it's hard to see them as a serious contender...

 

[NoBackBoard]

One can only imagine the even bigger strides this team would've made if Rae hadn't gone down with her allegedly season-ending injury. Or the injury that allegedly keeps her out until Stanford. Or maybe she practiced full speed today....

The team is better now due to the injury imo. We’ll never know but I think it forced players to step up and be confident. I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason and it feels like a team now, and not a group of players looking to their savior.

 

[glv98]

LOL I'm the one don't know/don't care vote. I truly cannot muster much emotional energy over where we are ranked right now. So many other things I'm happy about.

They remind me of one of C. Vivian Stringer's better Rutgers teams. They will grind out some wins this season, they can play with most any team on a given day, but they are so bad offensively it's hard to see them as a serious contender...

I've said all along the turnovers, poor ft shooting, and wretched overall 3 pt shooting as they currently exist would catch up with us against top teams. I'm way less pessimistic that these can get improved upon though. Structurally, I don't think the offense is all that bad. Execution has to get better, and it can and should especially when we get Rae back. For the first time in a very long time, almost everyone is getting better!

 

[chuckiepoo]

Agreed. And it makes me happy to think about it, too. The key is Key. A dominant post player like that is what the aircraft carrier is to the rest of the fleet. Right now Key's ppg is same as last year's overall average, and her rebounds are 4 more per game ( 1 offensive and 3 defensive). That number is a big deal. And we've seen her be much more aggressive offensively than last year. If she continues to make the strides we've seen of her so far, and the depth keeps developing around her, and Rae comes back safe and sound, then we will be in the FF conversation sooner or later.

 

[Coach Jumper]

The team is better now due to the injury imo. We’ll never know but I think it forced players to step up and be confident. I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason and it feels like a team now, and not a group of players looking to their savior.

Exactly!

 

[Darth_Vol]

I'm way less pessimistic that these can get improved upon though. Structurally, I don't think the offense is all that bad. Execution has to get better, and it can and should especially when we get Rae back. For the first time in a very long time, almost everyone is getting better!

I agree to some degree, but the personnel is what it is. Who on the roster is a consistently strong shooter outside of Burrell? Maybe Puckett? Darby is invisible against good teams. Yes I know Walker just hit four 3's in a game, but her career has proven that to be an aberration. She's also currently shooting 33% from the field, and 52% from the line. Horston is a poor perimeter shooter and a walking turnover. There is only so much you can do with a roster full of so many limited offensive players...

 

[glv98]

I agree to some degree, but the personnel is what it is. Who on the roster is a consistently strong shooter outside of Burrell? Maybe Puckett? Darby is invisible against good teams. Yes I know Walker just hit four 3's in a game, but her career has proven that to be an aberration. She's also currently shooting 33% from the field, and 52% from the line. Horston is a poor perimeter shooter and a walking turnover. There is only so much you can do with a roster full of so many limited offensive players...

Outside of the admittedly awful outside shooting, I don't think they're all that offensively limited. Maybe I'm over optimistic, but I still think the perimeter shooting can get better mostly bc of Puckett and Burrell combined w the occasional hot game fm Horston, Walker, and in the right circumstances Darby.

 

[Coach Jumper]

I agree to some degree, but the personnel is what it is. Who on the roster is a consistently strong shooter outside of Burrell? Maybe Puckett? Darby is invisible against good teams. Yes I know Walker just hit four 3's in a game, but her career has proven that to be an aberration. She's also currently shooting 33% from the field, and 52% from the line. Horston is a poor perimeter shooter and a walking turnover. There is only so much you can do with a roster full of so many limited offensive players...

DUH,,,I guess that's why Coach K had the foresight to go out and secure the one of the top long range gunners in the country in Justine Pissott.

She knows what she has and doesn't have...you can't pick a lime out of a basket of apples.

You can teach the mechanics of shooting and you can teach the mentality of a shooter,,but you can't duplicate the psyche of a player who has categorically made it their "game" and takes that shot as their contribution to the game.

Give her time, Garth