Coaches mismanaged Russell

[armchair]

We got outmuscled in this game. Holly says we couldn't get it inside. Yea--good analysis! We had the biggest player on the floor--no 1 recruit in the country--and did not utilize her at all offensively. We don't pass it to her, and she doesn't shoot the ball. We did not utiltize her all year offensively--and that is on the coaches. She had one shot today, in a game in which we absolutely needed more presence in the paint. This is why our coaches are clueless. And don't tell me she's a freshman. Freshman play a lot for teams all over the country--and contribute. The Maryland point guard was a true freshman. We needed to get Russell involved in the offense from day 1 because we had only one player who could score in the paint--a talented but not very big Harrison. Did we do that? No, we didn't.

 

[Amb3096]

Russell is not very good. She has iron skillets for hand, has no back to the basket moves, and has poor footwork. In every game I've seen, she cannot score unless she is facing the basket when she catches the pass or she grabs an offensive board while facing the basket and goes straight up and puts it back. Unless she gets a perfect pass, she will fumble it. If she catches while not facing the basket, she'll bring it back down and get picked off. The guards know that she is much more difficult to pass to than JpHarrison because she has no touch and is not athletic. She is not a basketball player. Right now, she is just tall. And even with that advantage she still can't block shots with regularity. She always pulls her hand back. Lockwood will need to be freakin' Picasso to make her into a go to player, but I think he can turn her into a space eater and defensive presence.

Fellow freshman Alaina Coates is 10x the player Russell is. She is skilled, knows how to use her size and is a major offensive threat. There is no doubt that she will finish as the better player when their careers end, because she's so far ahead of her skills wise at this point in their careers. There's no guarantee that Russell as a senior will even be as good as Coates is right now.

 

[1985Vols]

Russell one of the most overrated #1 rated players ever

 

[Amb3096]

Russell one of the most overrated #1 rated players ever

Unfortunately, the recruiting services really got this one wrong. Now that the season is over, it's clear she wasn't a top 15 freshman. If she was on UNC, she would only be the fourth best freshman on that team.

However, she is 6'6, so if she can learn to take up space, rebound with authority and protect the basket, then hopefully tat will be good enough.

 

[RollerVol]

We got outmuscled in this game. Holly says we couldn't get it inside. Yea--good analysis! We had the biggest player on the floor--no 1 recruit in the country--and did not utilize her at all offensively. We don't pass it to her, and she doesn't shoot the ball. We did not utiltize her all year offensively--and that is on the coaches. She had one shot today, in a game in which we absolutely needed more presence in the paint. This is why our coaches are clueless. And don't tell me she's a freshman. Freshman play a lot for teams all over the country--and contribute. The Maryland point guard was a true freshman. We needed to get Russell involved in the offense from day 1 because we had only one player who could score in the paint--a talented but not very big Harrison. Did we do that? No, we didn't.

Whew...geez, these are not robots we're talking about here is it? She will be utilized more, there is no doubt, but, now, she's not ready. Wait for it...........wait till next year!:salute::whistling:
GO VOLS!

 

[Tenacguy50]

She's shown signs of being a good player in time. But how much time will it take?

 

[feathersax]

She was mismanaged & NOT coached up, just like the OP said. You Holly apologists can rant on, but the current Lady Vol coach is clearly over her head.

 

[VOLMEB]

Give her some time. I remember thinking how bad Izzy was when she was a Freshman. I'm certainly not the biggest fan of this coaching staff but Russell needs more time to develop.

 

[keckjm]

I don't watch much of the Lady Vols basketball, but I did get into the game today and one thing that I noticed off the bat is that the Lady Vols can't press for s@@@. They would try to trap and five seconds later Maryland would be shooting a layup. That's terrible coaching and player execution. Second, I'm not really sure how women's basketball is played on avg so I may look ignorant saying this, but the Lady Vols looked as if they don't hustle a lot of the time. Maybe it's the speed of the game I'm not use to, but the looks in their eyes looked like a team full of submissive players. Other then Simmons, all I saw today was a bunch of basketball players with piss poor fundamentals and not a lot of heart. Maybe that's just me, but I thought I'd share my thoughts since I'm truly not biased as to who coaches the Lady Vols from here on out.

 

[orangealways]

Russell is not very good. She has iron skillets for hand, has no back to the basket moves, and has poor footwork. In every game I've seen, she cannot score unless she is facing the basket when she catches the pass or she grabs an offensive board while facing the basket and goes straight up and puts it back. Unless she gets a perfect pass, she will fumble it. If she catches while not facing the basket, she'll bring it back down and get picked off. The guards know that she is much more difficult to pass to than JpHarrison because she has no touch and is not athletic. She is not a basketball player. Right now, she is just tall. And even with that advantage she still can't block shots with regularity. She always pulls her hand back. Lockwood will need to be freakin' Picasso to make her into a go to player, but I think he can turn her into a space eater and defensive presence.

Fellow freshman Alaina Coates is 10x the player Russell is. She is skilled, knows how to use her size and is a major offensive threat. There is no doubt that she will finish as the better player when their careers end, because she's so far ahead of her skills wise at this point in their careers. There's no guarantee that Russell as a senior will even be as good as Coates is right now.

No touch? not athletic? not a basketball player?? holy cow!!! I guess no one is, if the #1 recruit in the nation isn't!!! Overreact much??? I agree she should have been played and developed more this year. Why have her otherwise?

 

[Amb3096]

No touch? not athletic? not a basketball player?? holy cow!!! I guess no one is, if the #1 recruit in the nation isn't!!! Overreact much??? I agree she should have been played and developed more this year. Why have her otherwise?

Feel free to dispute my observations with your own. She really didn't show anything all season that indicated she was the prize of this class. At one point in this game, she was at the top of the key when Thomas got a defensive rebound under the Tennessee basket, and she's till managed to pass Russell and score on a layup at the other end.

They clearly got the ratings wrong. Diamond is light years ahead of her, and both Mvunga and Coates are better post players. She is not one of the Top 15 freshmen based on how they made the transition to college ball.

She's tall...that's it. Very limited skillset, which is why the level of post play plummeted when Izzy came out of the game. That's why they couldn't play her more. It would be one thing if Tennessee was winning their games against scrubs by 30, but they played down to the level of their competition except the absolute worst teams, so Izzy had to play way more minutes in those games because Russell was ineffective against just about every team they played.

I thought that she'd be starting by the end of the season with Izzy coming off the bench before the season started. I wasn't expecting a Parker, EDD or Stewart level of play, but I certainly didn't expect this. She is easily the worst #1 recruit in the history of Hoopgurlz or Scout. I really don't know what they were thinking...

 

[Volfan2012]

If a team can't get the ball inside that is on the coach. it means that they are double teaming one of the post or are sagging in the paint and your still trying to force it in there. The way you break that up is to shoot them out of it. Use the high low to get it in there. There is always a way to attack any defense Holly saying what she said really reflects on her coaching ability. You can never say can't in basketball there is a way. They were getting inside with ease how were they doing it. I don't like hearing Holly say that makes her look clueless.

 

[Volfan2012]

As far as Mercedes goes the coaches were never able to get her into an aggressive style of play. You may have seen a few minutes where she seemed more aggressive for the most part she was passive. By the end of her freshman year she should have been doing things in an aggressive style, demanding the ball, taking it up strong. It hasn't happened yet we'll see what she looks like as a sophomore.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I don't watch much of the Lady Vols basketball, but I did get into the game today and one thing that I noticed off the bat is that the Lady Vols can't press for s@@@. They would try to trap and five seconds later Maryland would be shooting a layup. That's terrible coaching and player execution. Second, I'm not really sure how women's basketball is played on avg so I may look ignorant saying this, but the Lady Vols looked as if they don't hustle a lot of the time. Maybe it's the speed of the game I'm not use to, but the looks in their eyes looked like a team full of submissive players. Other then Simmons, all I saw today was a bunch of basketball players with piss poor fundamentals and not a lot of heart. Maybe that's just me, but I thought I'd share my thoughts since I'm truly not biased as to who coaches the Lady Vols from here on out.

I agree, Simmons does have that killer instinct. She may do a lot of bad things but she gets an A for effort.

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

Russell is not very good. She has iron skillets for hand, has no back to the basket moves, and has poor footwork. In every game I've seen, she cannot score unless she is facing the basket when she catches the pass or she grabs an offensive board while facing the basket and goes straight up and puts it back. Unless she gets a perfect pass, she will fumble it. If she catches while not facing the basket, she'll bring it back down and get picked off. The guards know that she is much more difficult to pass to than JpHarrison because she has no touch and is not athletic. She is not a basketball player. Right now, she is just tall. And even with that advantage she still can't block shots with regularity. She always pulls her hand back. Lockwood will need to be freakin' Picasso to make her into a go to player, but I think he can turn her into a space eater and defensive presence.

Fellow freshman Alaina Coates is 10x the player Russell is. She is skilled, knows how to use her size and is a major offensive threat. There is no doubt that she will finish as the better player when their careers end, because she's so far ahead of her skills wise at this point in their careers. There's no guarantee that Russell as a senior will even be as good as Coates is right now.

All the things you have said I agree with except, Lockwood had all season to change these things and did not, what makes you think he can do this in the summer? I don't think this #1 player had good coaching in her first year, I also don't think the coaching staff in general has a very good concept of what this group of athletes were capable of doing. It has looked like to me, if this staff doesn't have the likes of Candice Parker players their ability to coach a player up is very limited!

 

[djtee]

Russell is not very good. She has iron skillets for hand, has no back to the basket moves, and has poor footwork. In every game I've seen, she cannot score unless she is facing the basket when she catches the pass or she grabs an offensive board while facing the basket and goes straight up and puts it back. Unless she gets a perfect pass, she will fumble it. If she catches while not facing the basket, she'll bring it back down and get picked off. The guards know that she is much more difficult to pass to than JpHarrison because she has no touch and is not athletic. She is not a basketball player. Right now, she is just tall. And even with that advantage she still can't block shots with regularity. She always pulls her hand back. Lockwood will need to be freakin' Picasso to make her into a go to player, but I think he can turn her into a space eater and defensive presence.

Fellow freshman Alaina Coates is 10x the player Russell is. She is skilled, knows how to use her size and is a major offensive threat. There is no doubt that she will finish as the better player when their careers end, because she's so far ahead of her skills wise at this point in their careers. There's no guarantee that Russell as a senior will even be as good as Coates is right now.

I will disagree and you are wrong Russell needs to be on the floor more and if you watch and listen to Debbie Antonelli she made it clear that Russell needs to play more. She was big on the defensive end yesterday blocking shots and keeping Mayland post players in check. Now if you want to talk about players not being very good you should start with Burdick who talked a lot before the game and her player dropped 33pts her . Along with Graves and Jones. I have said it from day one Graves should not be starting at the 4 she`s to short and has limit offensive skill. Brenda Frese call out Tenn as a overrated 1# seed and it looked like she was correct. The game plan was to just let Burdick shot she is overrated and that`s correct. Now to but the Blame on Russell who was not use correctly all year is flat out wrong. As for Coates She played a lot and Dawn used her correctly. What Holly needs to do is move Izzy to the 4 and Russell into the 5 spot. Also i had a chance to what a lot of tape or Jaime Nared and she is the real deal here are her season numbers 29.3 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 2.8 assists per game. Also went to a game in chicago and saw Kortney Dunbar the girl got game and can shot the lights out. They list her at 6-1 i would say 6-2 or 6-3 i could be wrong and she has long arms. Note she also has skills there is no way she should rated #79 she is much better then that.

 

[gule]

all these girls were great in hs too. don't bet the farm on Nared ,Dunbar & Middleton.

 

[Arclight]

She was mismanaged & NOT coached up, just like the OP said. You Holly apologists can rant on, but the current Lady Vol coach is clearly over her head.

Yep! Time for her to go be an assistant somewhere.

 

[djtee]

all these girls were great in hs too. don't bet the farm on Nared ,Dunbar & Middleton.

No one is betting the farm on them. Im just saying Burdick, Graves,Jones are not the answer need to fix the lineup i don`t like Graves at the 4 she miss to many layups and just throws the ball up looking for the foul.

 

[Amb3096]

I will disagree and you are wrong Russell needs to be on the floor more and if you watch and listen to Debbie Antonelli she made it clear that Russell needs to play more. She was big on the defensive end yesterday blocking shots and keeping Mayland post players in check. Now if you want to talk about players not being very good you should start with Burdick who talked a lot before the game and her player dropped 33pts her . Along with Graves and Jones. I have said it from day one Graves should not be starting at the 4 she`s to short and has limit offensive skill. Brenda Frese call out Tenn as a overrated 1# seed and it looked like she was correct. The game plan was to just let Burdick shot she is overrated and that`s correct. Now to but the Blame on Russell who was not use correctly all year is flat out wrong. As for Coates She played a lot and Dawn used her correctly. What Holly needs to do is move Izzy to the 4 and Russell into the 5 spot. Also i had a chance to what a lot of tape or Jaime Nared and she is the real deal here are her season numbers 29.3 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 2.8 assists per game. Also went to a game in chicago and saw Kortney Dunbar the girl got game and can shot the lights out. They list her at 6-1 i would say 6-2 or 6-3 i could be wrong and she has long arms. Note she also has skills there is no way she should rated #79 she is much better then that.

Just to clarify...I in no way am suggesting that Russell was responsible for the loss, and completely agree that Burdick was the chief culprit for the loss, along with Carter and Graves. Burdick gets way too many minutes per game considering how bad a player she is, and the fact that Tennessee had to rely on her so much says a lot about how much they are hurting at the wing spot. So frustrating that Tennessee was so close to landing Diamond DeShields or Kaela Davis, which would have fixed the Burdick problem immediately.

Having said that, other than some nifty blocks, Russell was mostly invisible yesterday. She only had 2 rebounds and 2 points, but that's to be expected with how she's played the last half of the season. At this point in her career, there's not much to work with. Coates got more PT because she's way better. She understands how to play. She only averaged 1 minute per game more than Russell, but scored twice as many points, 4 more rebounds per game and twice as many blocks. Russell is just not in her league yet.

At this point, Russell is certainly no Harrison, and Graves is probably still better than her at this point because she's a better rebounder and overall defender. I also agree that by next year, Russell needs to improve enough to take Graves starting spot, because Tennessee needs the size and it will free up Harrison if Russell can become a more consistent scorer.

I will reserve judgement on Nared and Dunbar until they play a few games. I got too excited about Russell, unfortunately, so I won't make that mistake next year. I hope Nared is as good as you say...or at least better than Burdick. If Burdick is playing 30+ minutes per game next year, Tennessee is toast.

 

[djtee]

Just to clarify...I in no way am suggesting that Russell was responsible for the loss, and completely agree that Burdick was the chief culprit for the loss, along with Carter and Graves. Burdick gets way too many minutes per game considering how bad a player she is, and the fact that Tennessee had to rely on her so much says a lot about how much they are hurting at the wing spot. So frustrating that Tennessee was so close to landing Diamond DeShields or Kaela Davis, which would have fixed the Burdick problem immediately.

Having said that, other than some nifty blocks, Russell was mostly invisible yesterday. She only had 2 rebounds and 2 points, but that's to be expected with how she's played the last half of the season. At this point in her career, there's not much to work with. Coates got more PT because she's way better. She understands how to play. She only averaged 1 minute per game more than Russell, but scored twice as many points, 4 more rebounds per game and twice as many blocks. Russell is just not in her league yet.

At this point, Russell is certainly no Harrison, and Graves is probably still better than her at this point because she's a better rebounder and overall defender. I also agree that by next year, Russell needs to improve enough to take Graves starting spot, because Tennessee needs the size and it will free up Harrison if Russell can become a more consistent scorer.

I will reserve judgement on Nared and Dunbar until they play a few games. I got too excited about Russell, unfortunately, so I won't make that mistake next year. I hope Nared is as good as you say...or at least better than Burdick. If Burdick is playing 30+ minutes per game next year, Tennessee is toast.

Amb3096 ! thank you thank you ! i forgot about Carter and you 100% correct about her. And she to needs to work on her Offense this summer to. I like Carter a lot and what she brings on the defense.

 

[djtee]

Just to clarify...I in no way am suggesting that Russell was responsible for the loss, and completely agree that Burdick was the chief culprit for the loss, along with Carter and Graves. SBurdick gets way too many minutes per game considering how bad a player she is, and the fact that Tennessee had to rely on her so much says a lot about how much they are hurting at the wing spot.o frustrating that Tennessee was so close to landing Diamond DeShields or Kaela Davis, which would have fixed the Burdick problem immediately.

Having said that, other than some nifty blocks, Russell was mostly invisible yesterday. She only had 2 rebounds and 2 points, but that's to be expected with how she's played the last half of the season. At this point in her career, there's not much to work with. Coates got more PT because she's way better. She understands how to play. She only averaged 1 minute per game more than Russell, but scored twice as many points, 4 more rebounds per game and twice as many blocks. Russell is just not in her league yet.

At this point, Russell is certainly no Harrison, and Graves is probably still better than her at this point because she's a better rebounder and overall defender. I also agree that by next year, Russell needs to improve enough to take Graves starting spot, because Tennessee needs the size and it will free up Harrison if Russell can become a more consistent scorer.

I will reserve judgement on Nared and Dunbar until they play a few games. I got too excited about Russell, unfortunately, so I won't make that mistake next year. I hope Nared is as good as you say...or at least better than Burdick. If Burdick is playing 30+ minutes per game next year, Tennessee is toast.

Amb3096 ! WOW the best Quote of the year Burdick gets way too many minutes per game considering how bad a player she is, and the fact that Tennessee had to rely on her so much says a lot about how much they are hurting at the wing spot.o frustrating that Tennessee was so close to landing Diamond DeShields or Kaela Davis, which would have fixed the Burdick problem immediately. Again WOW :birgits_giggle:

 

[DeerPark12]

We got outmuscled in this game. Holly says we couldn't get it inside. Yea--good analysis! We had the biggest player on the floor--no 1 recruit in the country--and did not utilize her at all offensively. We don't pass it to her, and she doesn't shoot the ball. We did not utiltize her all year offensively--and that is on the coaches. She had one shot today, in a game in which we absolutely needed more presence in the paint. This is why our coaches are clueless. And don't tell me she's a freshman. Freshman play a lot for teams all over the country--and contribute. The Maryland point guard was a true freshman. We needed to get Russell involved in the offense from day 1 because we had only one player who could score in the paint--a talented but not very big Harrison. Did we do that? No, we didn't.

Well, as I'm mentioned every single time Russell has been brought up this season, she got outmusceled in the paint because she had never had a weightlifting program until she got to UT. Never lifted. She was able to use her height against some teams, but wasn't effective against more physical players.

Giver her an offseason in the program and you'll see the true measure of her talents.

 

[DeerPark12]

Just to clarify...I in no way am suggesting that Russell was responsible for the loss, and completely agree that Burdick was the chief culprit for the loss, along with Carter and Graves. Burdick gets way too many minutes per game considering how bad a player she is, and the fact that Tennessee had to rely on her so much says a lot about how much they are hurting at the wing spot. So frustrating that Tennessee was so close to landing Diamond DeShields or Kaela Davis, which would have fixed the Burdick problem immediately.

Having said that, other than some nifty blocks, Russell was mostly invisible yesterday. She only had 2 rebounds and 2 points, but that's to be expected with how she's played the last half of the season. At this point in her career, there's not much to work with. Coates got more PT because she's way better. She understands how to play. She only averaged 1 minute per game more than Russell, but scored twice as many points, 4 more rebounds per game and twice as many blocks. Russell is just not in her league yet.

At this point, Russell is certainly no Harrison, and Graves is probably still better than her at this point because she's a better rebounder and overall defender. I also agree that by next year, Russell needs to improve enough to take Graves starting spot, because Tennessee needs the size and it will free up Harrison if Russell can become a more consistent scorer.

I will reserve judgement on Nared and Dunbar until they play a few games. I got too excited about Russell, unfortunately, so I won't make that mistake next year. I hope Nared is as good as you say...or at least better than Burdick. If Burdick is playing 30+ minutes per game next year, Tennessee is toast.

There's so much ignorance in this post, I don't even know where to start.

 

[Amb3096]

There's so much ignorance in this post, I don't even know where to start.

You're welcome to start. I've stated my observations. I'd love to hear yours.

Are you refuting that Coates has been an all around superior player to Russell while playing similar minutes, that it would be nice if Russell is good enough that she can start over Graves given Bashaara's limitations, that Graves/Carter/Burdick hurt Tennessee big time yesterday with their lack of contributions (or even attempts at contributing), that Tennessee is languishing with Burdick (with so much swag against the Alabamas of the world, but in tears when she has to go up against someone like Alyssa Thomas) playing far too many minutes than her results dictates, or that Tennessee can't count on the incoming freshmen until they show they can play at the collegiate level.

Or if you just like one line insults, that's fine with me too. Saves me the time of expecting an actual discussion.