Bench DeShields until she can learn to be a team player.

[Linda Lee]

Let us all remember that our players are young ladies between the ages of 18 and 21. They are college students and they happen to have good basketball skills. No student should ever be held more accountable then the COACH!

Holly is not head coach material. She has talent but she cannot harness their strengths and skills. Our girls will never listen to her because she does not know what she is doing! Would any of you listen to a bobble head? If you listen to her press conferences you would know she is clueless.

It is the job of our coaching staff to come up with a clear and workable game plan. Our young players need guidance and need to be coached up to the next level. No student athlete should ever have to carry a team because the coaches do not know what they are doing.

P.S. We have SEVEN McDonalds all-Americans. Where are they?

 

[Smallvol#1]

Seriously? Somebody liked this post????

Tells you a lot about who's posting in this forum:blink::no:

Edit:
THANKS, MADTOWN!

 

[Ladyvolfan4ever]

i think we would have a worse record without diamond. She made some huge baskets out of the locker room versus missouri when our lead was only seven. She will get her game going and she will get smarter. She was out of basketball for over a year and she has taken some bad shots but with several people on the team worse than she is someone has to take a shot sometime.

100%

 

[Hoya Saxa]

But by all means, let us all "hope" that our most talented player transfers and heck she can take that no good Cooper with her!, Yeah then we will really show em! :no:

When I read posters talk about MeMe, I'm never sure if they are referring to Ms. Jackson or if it's a new nickname for the duo of Diamond and Cooper.

 

[Kaida71]

Wow you guys are picking on a player that really only has one year of college playing experience under her belt, who is battling injures to boot!! Why don't you post about healthy upperclassmen that still are playing like freshmen. Jordan Reynolds horrible .. is she really D1 material??? Graves is a SENIOR and SHE needs to be the leader....4 years later and she still fades in the background.. If Diamond was not here who would give them offense??? Not Mercedes because her hands are so soft you blow on them and the ball is coming out.. Lay off ...

 

[Pat4life]

when i read posters talk about meme, i'm never sure if they are referring to ms. Jackson or if it's a new nickname for the duo of diamond and cooper.

rofl

 

[Spacejam]

If you're going to call out Diamond then you might as well call out everyone else on this team and if anybody should be benched it should be Jordan Reynolds.

 

[Rickster]

Do we really have to make Diamond the scapegoat, with all these negative inferences based on no factual information?

Diamond needs to start shooting a better % and a lot of problems go away. It is really that simple. She has shown flashes of brilliance, now its time for consistency. And she has no hesitancy to pass the ball to teammates, even when that may not be the best option.

Different players have different demeanors. Reading a lot of intent into facial expressions etc can be misleading when a player is just calm on the court. Not every player wears his/her heart on the sleeve (see Tim Duncan or Chamique Holdsclaw). Calling Diamond all kinds of names because of her facial expressions, even when she gives other signs of being very supportive of and liked by her teammates, is entering into trolling territory. If you want to complain that she did not shoot well enough or hustle enough on defense during the Florida game, fair enough. Personal attacks not so much.

But by all means, let us all "hope" that our most talented player transfers and heck she can take that no good Cooper with her!, Yeah then we will really show em! :no:

Can't agree more!

 

[Rickster]

Tells you a lot about who's posting in this forum:blink::no:

Edit:
THANKS, MADTOWN!

Yes it does.

 

[Pat4life]

Yes, there must be punishment for not following her Coach commands. Holly needs to send a message, that this is my team. She might has to spite her face, if players are going to play when they want to, a lost can happen any game, she might as well play those who want to play but maybe not be as skilled. I'd rather coach a team of players who want to play, than talented players who don't want to play. I would kill em, I've been there its the most frustrating part of coaching, a talented team of lazy players.

I remember an instance, I had a player, I develop into three point specialist. We were down by one, I was without my star player, he had a final. A team we beat by 30 points the first game, was leading most of the game but we clawed back down by 1 with 11 seconds left on the clock. My 3 point specialist got us back in the game, shooting lights out.

I drew up a play, we've run many times in practice but not in a game, we run the play but the point guard instead of kicking the ball out to our wide open three point shooter who had hit four in the half, but no he wanted to be the hero and shot the ball, he chose to be selfish, put himself before the team. We lost.

The whole team, knew that play was for our 3 specialist. I couldn't say anything cos I would have prolly choked em, so I left team, I had to walk away. I couldn't address it cos I couldn't find the right words, I dismissed the team cos we had first round of playoffs the next day.

The next game was the first round of the playoffs, my starting point guard didn't play, the opposing team pressed us the whole game, he sat the whole game. My team was begging for me to put him in, the fans were begging for me to put him in. I knew I was going to receive a call from his father. We lost by 40 points. And I made a decision then, not to wait, cos it affected my team play the next day, they needed me to chastise him, cos that's our standard by not doing nothing, I allowed our standard to be adjusted.

Its life lesson we are teaching these kids, maybe in their job or profession in the future, their supervisor may ask them to do something and they do it wrong, the company looses money, they might get fired.

Deshields needs to be on the bench. Holly needs to send a message. This is my team! If that means five guards starting so be it, go out and have fun coaching em, helping those who want to play, and follow instructions get better and get a win!

Holly biggest problem, I see she rewards bad behavior, laziness, and those maybe the eyes of the assistant coaches, she has to set a standard of my way or the highway, that might mean losing players so be it, (we losing games now we talented players so what's the difference), but they got to listen and play hard. The bench is a good motivator or teacher, Holly don't be afraid to use it.

 

[Voldon18]

Nice thoughts, Pat4Life, but Holly doesn't have it in her to be a disciplinarian. For decades she was the go-between for the players when Coach Summitt was stern, which we all know was often. This team will make a turnaround only if a couple of players take control, and I personally wish it would be Bash and Carter. DD is a brilliant athlete but grew up getting everything she ever wanted and has been catered to since the first day her athletic brilliance surfaced. Diamond is the type of entitled athlete of which most others are jealous. She has ample attributes, and I for one am thrilled she wanted to be a Lady Vol, but leadership will be a tough nut for her to crack, IMHO.

Holly needs to take it easy on the substitutions (her frustration, cluelessness and desperation showing), settle on her best eight and leave the non-producers on the bench.

 

[Pat4life]

Nice thoughts, Pat4Life, but Holly doesn't have it in her to be a disciplinarian. For decades she was the go-between for the players when Coach Summitt was stern, which we all know was often. This team will make a turnaround only if a couple of players take control, and I personally wish it would be Bash and Carter. DD is a brilliant athlete but grew up getting everything she ever wanted and has been catered to since the first day her athletic brilliance surfaced. Diamond is the type of entitled athlete of which most others are jealous. She has ample attributes, and I for one am thrilled she wanted to be a Lady Vol, but leadership will be a tough nut for her to crack, IMHO.

Holly needs to take it easy on the substitutions (her frustration, cluelessness and desperation showing), settle on her best eight and leave the non-producers on the bench.

Me too, that's why I'm so pissed off with Bash and Carter, cos they are seniors. So, they know what it takes. They've been through it. Reynolds is a Junior, yea very disappointed in all three actually.

Yeah, but that's where she has to get to if she wants to be playing for Final 4, she has to figure out a way to get them to play hard for her, all the time. And that will be part of her growth as a coach.

I agree with the subs, it was looking good for a minute, but we were pressing, when our guards don't be in attack it ****s up everything for us.

You can tell for her its almost night and day, from the team she she's at practice and the one's she see's at games.

You are frustrated, they won't listen, and they are not playing hard, no matter who you go to, nothing...ack.nothing...no energy..but she gotta get tougher on them, if she wants her players to be tougher.

Nice post Voldon!

 

[Amb3096]

Yes, there must be punishment for not following her Coach commands. Holly needs to send a message, that this is my team.

Deshields needs to be on the bench. Holly needs to send a message. This is my team! If that means five guards starting so be it, go out and have fun coaching em, helping those who want to play, and follow instructions get better and get a win!

Holly biggest problem, I see she rewards bad behavior, laziness, and those maybe the eyes of the assistant coaches, she has to set a standard of my way or the highway, that might mean losing players so be it, (we losing games now we talented players so what's the difference), but they got to listen and play hard. The bench is a good motivator or teacher, Holly don't be afraid to use it.

It's not really that simple, though. A three point shot is a critical part of the game. You need to hit them to keep defenses honest. She can preach "drive drive drive!" all day, and she'll get Te'a going into a swarm of bodies and getting stuffed. She can preach "inside inside inside" all day and watch Bashaara get stuffed trying to shoot with 3 pairs of arms straight up surrounding her.

The three was open; driving the lane or getting the ball inside was not. The three will always be open until they start making them. She can bench Diamond, she can bench Te'a, then they go to ND or SC and Holly screams "inside inside inside!" and "drive drive drive!" and they commit a slew of turnovers en route to a 30 point loss. But she showed Diamond and Te'a! In the end, what good would she have accomplished?

She needs to fix her offense and get the players in the gym practicing their outside shot. South Caroline, who has a far superior post game than Tennessee, is not shy about shooting the three if teams try to smother the posts. UConn would not have the # of NCs that they do if not for their reliance on integrating the 3 with a strong post game. It's not 1960. If a coach is blind to this and keeps insisting on one way that is not working, that is a recipe for players to transfer.

 

[teacherdean]

I dunno. I thought the team played pretty well when she was on the floor. However, I think Mercedes is a completely ineffective player. She has no fight in her and gets pushed around too easily. Someone that tall should be a force inside and she has nothing. Put her butt on the bench until she plays with some aggression!

I don't know what this team is doing at practice but there are some key fundamental things this team needs to work on. Layups - a peewee level shot that should be much more consistent than it is. We can't hit a basic freaking layup when we are wide open. Passing - Part of passing is communication. This team is not communicating well on the floor. Not looking for the ball either. The ball got thrown away too many times last night because no one was watching. "Keep your eye on the ball" is a fundamental that is in every sport. And this team MUST figure out how to penetrate a zone defense better. Spending 25 seconds of the shot clock passing it around the key is ridiculous. Someone needs to go inside and start blocking out (Mercedes!!) and get aggressive for the ball. Instead, they are mainly standing around hoping for a lane to open. Every opponent who does good scouting knows we can't beat zone defense. Finally, they have to quit leaving shooters open on the wing. This team has been burned badly by not staying with their coverage and leaving a shooter open. Not just this game, but multiple games. This is regardless of whether Diamond is on the floor or not. Fundamentals are tearing this team up. Fundamental failures point to a consistent theme - coaching.

Preach on and tell it like you see it. You hit the nail on the head. :bash:

 

[teacherdean]

We cannot continue to blame the inept playing on the players, after all who is in command here Holly or the players? If a player is selfish, the coach has the power to correct such behavior, b benching their ass. I feel that Diamond does too much because she feels that she needs to carry this team on her shoulders. It was obvious that she was clearly the leader of N.C.'s great freshman class. She is trying to show the same leadership with the LV's but it simply not working.

It is simply sad to see the possibility of the Lady Vol brand fading in the sunset. This program still has enough of a brand to turn it around. However, recruiting and coaching must improve. Corrections, no matter who is to blame, needs to be corrected now. Right now this is a bad and inconsistent program. We cannot separate the head coach, and their staff, from the failure or success of a program.

 

[madtownvol]

It's not really that simple, though. A three point shot is a critical part of the game. You need to hit them to keep defenses honest. She can preach "drive drive drive!" all day, and she'll get Te'a going into a swarm of bodies and getting stuffed. She can preach "inside inside inside" all day and watch Bashaara get stuffed trying to shoot with 3 pairs of arms straight up surrounding her.

The three was open; driving the lane or getting the ball inside was not. The three will always be open until they start making them. She can bench Diamond, she can bench Te'a, then they go to ND or SC and Holly screams "inside inside inside!" and "drive drive drive!" and they commit a slew of turnovers en route to a 30 point loss. But she showed Diamond and Te'a! In the end, what good would she have accomplished?

She needs to fix her offense and get the players in the gym practicing their outside shot. South Caroline, who has a far superior post game than Tennessee, is not shy about shooting the three if teams try to smother the posts. UConn would not have the # of NCs that they do if not for their reliance on integrating the 3 with a strong post game. It's not 1960. If a coach is blind to this and keeps insisting on one way that is not working, that is a recipe for players to transfer.

That is the the thing. The LVs shot 4-22 from outside (18%) and not that much better from inside (29%). If they shot 40% from outside that would have been 12 more points and quite likely a W. Then all this concern about benching DeShields and the lack of leadership would have gone away. Heck, critics of Holly would likely be posting that was a "good performance." But the LVs could not hit squat and the wheels came off.

It is very hard to win consistently against credible teams without outside shooting. Otherwise, teams can pack the paint and at the SEC level and national ranked, most are going to have decent size and athleticism.

 

[reno tony]

Haven't heard her name mentioned but Anne Donovan might be available. WNBA top players don't make much over 100,000 a year so coaches probably aren't paid much more. TENN could use a good assistant coach that could put on a pair of shorts and teach these post players what to do with all that height and talent. Just a suggestion for conversation.

 

[Amb3096]

Haven't heard her name mentioned but Anne Donovan might be available. WNBA top players don't make much over 100,000 a year so coaches probably aren't paid much more. TENN could use a good assistant coach that could put on a pair of shorts and teach these post players what to do with all that height and talent. Just a suggestion for conversation.

Post play is less of an issue than guard play. The guards are what makes Tennessee easy to defend, not the posts.

Cooper, DeShields, Middleton, Carter, Nared and Reynolds have to be able to hit open threes, period. If they can't do that, it doesn't really matter what they do with their posts. Even Griner needed Odyssey Simms. Tennessee doesn't have a guard close to that level.

Holly needs to be realize that this is a glaring deficiency, and is solved by getting players in the gym working on their outside shooting, not b!tching and moaning about, "I want them to driiiiiiiiiive....I want them to go insiiiiiiiiiide!" It's like a broken record with her.

 

[volnationnj]

Post play is less of an issue than guard play. The guards are what makes Tennessee easy to defend, not the posts.

Cooper, DeShields, Middleton, Carter, Nared and Reynolds have to be able to hit open threes, period. If they can't do that, it doesn't really matter what they do with their posts. Even Griner needed Odyssey Simms. Tennessee doesn't have a guard close to that level.
is to
Holly needs to be realize that this is a glaring deficiency, and is solved by getting players in the gym working on their outside shooting, not b!tching and moaning about, "I want them to driiiiiiiiiive....I want them to go insiiiiiiiiiide!" It's like a broken record with her.

Agree with most of your post. The only alternative I can see if they're not hitting from 3 (and they haven't yet this year) is to trap all over the court. This is an athletic team, they should be taking advantage of it. Have the defense produce some easy points by pressing. If they're forced into playing a half court offense, we have seen the results and they aren't very good.

 

[madtownvol]

Haven't heard her name mentioned but Anne Donovan might be available. WNBA top players don't make much over 100,000 a year so coaches probably aren't paid much more. TENN could use a good assistant coach that could put on a pair of shorts and teach these post players what to do with all that height and talent. Just a suggestion for conversation.

There are some limitations that are hard to overcome. Bash is not that tall as post players go and her vertical is not very good. She has had trouble matching up against bigger posts her entire career. She is good if she can get them off the dribble but as a conventional back to the basket post player, it is tough for her to beat higher level post players.

Mercedes was way more of a project player than suggested by her #1 high school ranking. Along with the feet problems that had to be surgically corrected, she needs more strength and conditioning work. She has weak hands. That may sound like a trivial thing but she is constantly having potential rebounds and passes slapped out of her hands. In a crowded paint area, that happens a lot. In contrast, when Graves gets her hands on the ball, no one displaces it from that vice grip. Overal, Mercedes needs to get stronger. She will never be a banger but she can match up better. Unfortunately, you can't much progress on the strength and conditioning front mid-season.

In sum, we have good not great post players. The Lvs could do just fine with Bash and Mercedes if the guard play was better (particularly shooting).

 

[VOL720]

It's not really that simple, though. A three point shot is a critical part of the game. You need to hit them to keep defenses honest. She can preach "drive drive drive!" all day, and she'll get Te'a going into a swarm of bodies and getting stuffed. She can preach "inside inside inside" all day and watch Bashaara get stuffed trying to shoot with 3 pairs of arms straight up surrounding her.

The three was open; driving the lane or getting the ball inside was not. The three will always be open until they start making them. She can bench Diamond, she can bench Te'a, then they go to ND or SC and Holly screams "inside inside inside!" and "drive drive drive!" and they commit a slew of turnovers en route to a 30 point loss. But she showed Diamond and Te'a! In the end, what good would she have accomplished?

She needs to fix her offense and get the players in the gym practicing their outside shot. South Caroline, who has a far superior post game than Tennessee, is not shy about shooting the three if teams try to smother the posts. UConn would not have the # of NCs that they do if not for their reliance on integrating the 3 with a strong post game. It's not 1960. If a coach is blind to this and keeps insisting on one way that is not working, that is a recipe for players to transfer.

I totally agree with your post. Another concern is future recruiting. If you were a recruit, especially a guard, would you want to play in this outdated system? The offensive issues should of been addressed in the off season immediately after that embarrassing lost to Maryland in the Elite 8. Tennessee will not defeat any top teams playing this way. The offense is terrible and has been for years, but now the Lady Vols are really getting exposed. Auburn brings full-court pressure the entire game and falls back into a 1-2-2 zone. Another loss will not be shocking tomorrow.

 

[T.J.]

Good coaching is making heady decisions. If any player that includes your best player makes multiple mistakes take that player out and instruct while on the bench.

Time after time I've seen Jordan Reynolds specifically making consecutive mistakes. A bad shot then a turnover or not staying in front of her player on defense.

She continue to stays in to make another mistake. Take her out the game.

Same goes for all Lady Vols that includes Diamond. Take them out and coach them.

Its not going to happen because CHW is not a very good coach. She's in over her head.

 

[Pat4life]

It's not really that simple, though. A three point shot is a critical part of the game. You need to hit them to keep defenses honest. She can preach "drive drive drive!" all day, and she'll get Te'a going into a swarm of bodies and getting stuffed. She can preach "inside inside inside" all day and watch Bashaara get stuffed trying to shoot with 3 pairs of arms straight up surrounding her.

The three was open; driving the lane or getting the ball inside was not. The three will always be open until they start making them. She can bench Diamond, she can bench Te'a, then they go to ND or SC and Holly screams "inside inside inside!" and "drive drive drive!" and they commit a slew of turnovers en route to a 30 point loss. But she showed Diamond and Te'a! In the end, what good would she have accomplished?

She needs to fix her offense and get the players in the gym practicing their outside shot. South Caroline, who has a far superior post game than Tennessee, is not shy about shooting the three if teams try to smother the posts. UConn would not have the # of NCs that they do if not for their reliance on integrating the 3 with a strong post game. It's not 1960. If a coach is blind to this and keeps insisting on one way that is not working, that is a recipe for players to transfer.

You don't get it. Defense and offense yea yea. Its is all mental for our ladies, we are mental midgets. They know what they have to do, they know how to do it but they are mental midgets.

And every one of Uconn starting five or key players are mentally and physically tough!

You can draw up the best play, call the greatest defense, but if the players dont' have no desire to do it, it won't work.

A three point shot by our players is being lazy, especially the way we are shooting three, we are a attacking team, that helps our offense get into rhythm. Our team strength is pace, tempo, pressure, anytime you see our ladies not pressuring the ball, it will be a long game, cos we will never get into rhythm offensive and defensively, and usually when we don't see them pressing, they have decided they are going to play their way.

Do you understand rhythm? Holly is trying to get them to play like they in practice, our team take too many plays off, now this team is taking complete games off.

Oh well, our offense sucks, our defense sucks, when in actually our team mentally and physically toughness sucks

Cooper keep attacking the rim, they'll start to fall. Deshileds on the bench, start Middleton!

 

[Amb3096]

You don't get it. Defense and offense yea yea. Its is all mental for our ladies, we are mental midgets. They know what they have to do, they know how to do it but they are mental midgets.

And every one of Uconn starting five or key players are mentally and physically tough!

You can draw up the best play, call the greatest defense, but if the players dont' have no desire to do it, it won't work.

A three point shot by our players is being lazy, especially the way we are shooting three, we are a attacking team, that helps our offense get into rhythm. Our team strength is pace, tempo, pressure, anytime you see our ladies not pressuring the ball, it will be a long game, cos we will never get into rhythm offensive and defensively, and usually when we don't see them pressing, they have decided they are going to play their way.

Do you understand rhythm? Holly is trying to get them to play like they in practice, our team take too many plays off, now this team is taking complete games off.

Oh well, our offense sucks, our defense sucks, when in actually our team mentally and physically toughness sucks

Cooper keep attacking the rim, they'll start to fall. Deshileds on the bench, start Middleton!

You're right. It's all very simple. Forget about developing an outside game. To win, all they need to do is not let the other team score at all and get every single rebound. Who knew it was so easy?

Who cares that UConn's won the last 3 NCs with strong outside shooting. They're just lazy. Geno should be fired and replaced with a coach that can force them to drive the lane and go inside.

 

[Pat4life]

How many times have you visible seen a team or player take a play or possession or game off in the last 20 years for Uconn?

Our ladies don't play hard, they don't go hard all the time, to get tougher mentally and physically, you have to condition the mind and body to be able to do the things you need it to do.

Uconn won the last three Championship cos they have the best coach in the game and they have players that play hard on both sides of the ball for 40 minutes. Geno don't even have to call a play, they all just go play basketball cos he's know he's gonna get the effort. He coaches technique, not plays, he has the players.

wuteva