DeShields Chooses Tennessee

[Volfan2012]

The roster in 2015 will present a competition for playing time on the wings and at guard. The contestants are: Jamie Nared, Alexa Middleton, Jannah Tucker, Andraya Carter, Jordan Reynolds, Kourtney Dunbar, Me Me Jackson, Diamond Deshields, Te'a Cooper, and Jasmine Jones. Ten guard and wing players I would expect that Jasmine may start working on becoming a post player.
This would be the perfect roster for Holly to press teams to the limit for forty minutes. A lot of depth we could even play four guards and press teams every possession full court make them work. This will be the deepest team Tennessee has had in years.

 

[vol72]

The roster in 2015 will present a competition for playing time on the wings and at guard. The contestants are: Jamie Nared, Alexa Middleton, Jannah Tucker, Andraya Carter, Jordan Reynolds, Kourtney Dunbar, Me Me Jackson, Diamond Deshields, Te'a Cooper, and Jasmine Jones. Ten guard and wing players I would expect that Jasmine may start working on becoming a post player.
This would be the perfect roster for Holly to press teams to the limit for forty minutes. A lot of depth we could even play four guards and press teams every possession full court make them work. This will be the deepest team Tennessee has had in years.

Jasmine Jones is neither a guard, nor a wing; she is a forward. I foresee Kourtney Dunbar also at forward.

 

[Volfan2012]

Jasmine Jones is neither a guard, nor a wing; she is a forward. I foresee Kourtney Dunbar also at forward.

Jasmine played wing forward all season long. She is definitely a wing since that is where she played. She committed 70 turnovers playing out there on the perimeter. She never played one play in the post forward position. Playing forward can also be a wing position. That is where Jasmine played when she was in the game. Kourtney want play inside either she might play the wing forward position. I am expecting that is the position that Diamond will play and will be the starter.

 

[volcrazy89]

Honestly JJ is a tweener. She isn't really a power forward and has the size of a small forward, but she is lacking in ballhandling and shooting ability.

Her best option will be to back up Graves at the PF position. She won't get minutes over Diamond or Nared.

 

[vol72]

Jasmine played wing forward all season long. She is definitely a wing since that is where she played. She committed 70 turnovers playing out there on the perimeter. She never played one play in the post forward position. Playing forward can also be a wing position. That is where Jasmine played when she was in the game. Kourtney want play inside either she might play the wing forward position. I am expecting that is the position that Diamond will play and will be the starter.

My point is Jasmine is NOT a wing, nor is she a guard; regardless where she has lined up in the past. A wing is a shooter. A wing can be a forward or a guard. I can envision scenarios where perhaps Jaime Nared, Diamond Deshields and Kourtney Dunbar are on the court at the same time. It could be each will contend for only one position, but if they possess other necessary attributes, why not play them at the same time? Why limit the playing time of great shooters? Taylor your team to showcase your playmakers, regardless if they fit into your terminology of power forward, wing forward, etc.

 

[Chris89128]

At the very least she will be a helluva practice player to prepare the others this year. Does she have 2 years of eligibility left?

3

 

[governmentmule]

Jasmine played wing forward all season long. She is definitely a wing since that is where she played. She committed 70 turnovers playing out there on the perimeter. She never played one play in the post forward position. Playing forward can also be a wing position. That is where Jasmine played when she was in the game. Kourtney want play inside either she might play the wing forward position. I am expecting that is the position that Diamond will play and will be the starter.

wasn't she a post player in high school ? I'm to lazy to look it up

 

[governmentmule]

Some of the ncaa rules are ridiculous: A player who transfers to another school has to sit out a year, yet a coach who transfers does not. If Cuonzo doesn't have to sit, then neither should Diamond.

if there wasn't some kind of rule,players would change teams in between games probably,this way they have to think before they commit and then decide to leave

 

[Volfan2012]

wasn't she a post player in high school ? I'm to lazy to look it up

She was then we turned her into a wing player when she got here. The result was 70 turnovers in minimal minutes per game. She has no clue how to play out there on offense. She is very good on defense.

 

[Volfan2012]

My point is Jasmine is NOT a wing, nor is she a guard; regardless where she has lined up in the past. A wing is a shooter. A wing can be a forward or a guard. I can envision scenarios where perhaps Jaime Nared, Diamond Deshields and Kourtney Dunbar are on the court at the same time. It could be each will contend for only one position, but if they possess other necessary attributes, why not play them at the same time? Why limit the playing time of great shooters? Taylor your team to showcase your playmakers, regardless if they fit into your terminology of power forward, wing forward, etc.

Totally agree have to wonder why Holly played her out there last season. She has no ability to play out there. The point I was trying to make regardless of Jones is that we still have a lot of perimeter players. I wouldn't want to be in charge of trying to keep them all happy especially if Durr decides to come to Tennessee as well. I see no way we can afford not to play Deshields, Cooper, and Nared and even Tucker at least 25 to 30 minutes per game. Then there is Carter who we need to play at least 20 minutes. I could see us going to a four guard type offense with only one post. Nared could probably play the four in a motion offense with only one post. She could guard a four in a match up zone defense.
With these five players we still have Me Me Jackson, Dunbar, Middleton, and Reynolds. I don't see any way some of these players do not see a lot of pine time. We can assume that we'll play four guard type players and you still have only 160 minutes to divide among nine players. If you play Diamond, Cooper, Tucker, Nared, and Carter 130 of those minutes you have 30 minutes for four players. You add Durr which I would love and it really gets complicated in 2015. I expect we will see the transfer of one or two players.

 

[Volfan2012]

Honestly JJ is a tweener. She isn't really a power forward and has the size of a small forward, but she is lacking in ballhandling and shooting ability.

Her best option will be to back up Graves at the PF position. She won't get minutes over Diamond or Nared.

She will have to be a post player I see no way she gets any minutes even as a senior if she can't adapt to playing in there.

 

[Volfan2012]

if there wasn't some kind of rule,players would change teams in between games probably,this way they have to think before they commit and then decide to leave

We just have to be patient the rule is a very good one. We would see players jumping all over the place without that rule. Diamond can work on her skills and strength get in great shape with her school work. She should be awesome as a sophomore plus it gives all the present players the time to grow and learn.

 

[BruisedOrange]

I started to post, "don't underestimate her value to the team this season as a practice player."

But given the way we utilize male practice players, let me re-pose that as a question:
How will she contribute to the team this season?

 

[Kev415]

We will be pretty stacked in the backcourt I wonder what are line ups will look like.

Super excited. Grind for 9 baby!

 

[GameTime]

It does appear that the lineups on the floor will be very fluid......I have to think a lot of full court pressure will be at least experimented with....Holly could easily rotate in fresh players and wear out the opponents....

The starting 5 will almost certainly be more fluid than usual....Rotating the starting 5 would sooth any hurt feeling with lost playing time, hopefully anyway....

It is a good problem to have with all this talent wanting on the court....In practice the girls may see their pecking order...The gems will stand out, and of course the Diamond will show them all how to shine.

 

[armchair]

Jones should be playing in Graves 4 spot: IMO that is where she can help this team the most. I would have started Jones at the 4 and put Graves on the bench. Why: Graves has NO offensive game, whereas Jones does. Her offensive game is not great, but any stretch, but she is not afraid to shoot it and I think would be good in the low post area, while Graves is not. Jones can rebound and defend as well as Graves, too. Importantly, playing inside should reduce the numbers of turnovers committed by Jones, who simply doesn't make good decisions playing on the perimeter.

I'm not sure why Warlick stuck with Graves as a starter all season when she is so obviously a liability on offense. Warlick was very slow to crack on Simmons for shooting too much and creating too little, and I thought she and the staff should have pushed Russell to try low post moves and low post shots more last year. C'est la vie with this staff.

 

[GameTime]

With the plethora of offensive talent, they will most likely experiment with Jones at the 4....It appears she has the ability to excel there.....

Graves had so much trouble making lay ups early in the season, that it must have become somewhat psychosomatic as the season wore on....She did have an injured back that had to affect her play....She needs to have some form of an outside shot (8-10 feet) if she is to ever dominate.

As to Russell's lack of playing time, perhaps her foot injury stunted her performance.

 

[volcrazy89]

Jones should be playing in Graves 4 spot: IMO that is where she can help this team the most. I would have started Jones at the 4 and put Graves on the bench. Why: Graves has NO offensive game, whereas Jones does. Her offensive game is not great, but any stretch, but she is not afraid to shoot it and I think would be good in the low post area, while Graves is not. Jones can rebound and defend as well as Graves, too. Importantly, playing inside should reduce the numbers of turnovers committed by Jones, who simply doesn't make good decisions playing on the perimeter.

I'm not sure why Warlick stuck with Graves as a starter all season when she is so obviously a liability on offense. Warlick was very slow to crack on Simmons for shooting too much and creating too little, and I thought she and the staff should have pushed Russell to try low post moves and low post shots more last year. C'est la vie with this staff.

I'm sure Jasmine Jones being a giant walking turnover had nothing to do with her not starting. :hmm: Not sure why you think JJ isn't an offensive liability if you think Graves is. Graves wasn't the one turning the ball over every other possession.

 

[W.TN.Orange Blood]

I'm sure Jasmine Jones being a giant walking turnover had nothing to do with her not starting. :hmm: Not sure why you think JJ isn't an offensive liability if you think Graves is. Graves wasn't the one turning the ball over every other possession.

Everytime I saw JJ come into the basketball game I would cringe because I knew as sure as the sun coming up the ball would be turned over to the other team real quick like or dribbled off her foot going out of bounds. I hope to god that this new season will be better for JJ in very little turnovers that does not hurt the team as much.

 

[Voluble2]

Everytime I saw JJ come into the basketball game I would cringe because I knew as sure as the sun coming up the ball would be turned over to the other team real quick like or dribbled off her foot going out of bounds. I hope to god that this new season will be better for JJ in very little turnovers that does not hurt the team as much.

She got better as the year went along but she is still a bit of a tweener. She can leap out of the gym but I don't recall her scoring much under the basket... just getting a lot of rebounds. She has a nice little floater from midrange because she can elevate over the opposition but her handle is awful. Her skill set just makes it hard to find a home for her. She was very raw out of high school and still has a ways to go.

 

[Volfan2012]

Jones had 70 turnovers and shot 35 percent from the field. Those numbers shouldn't get you a lot of minutes. I don't know how good her hands are to catch the entry pass. I'm afraid she would do a lot of traveling with the ball. I think we give her a chance and her play determines her minutes. 70 turnovers in 549 minutes is not very good play. Graves played 875 minutes and had 53 turnovers. She shot 53.5 percent from the field. I realize a lot of those points were putbacks on offensive rebounds, but last I heard they still count as two points. If you had five players playing on Graves level that is only 11.5 turnovers per forty minutes for five players.
The one thing most fans don't realize about Izzy is that she was turning the ball over 4.5 times per forty minutes played which was second to Jones who averaged 5.8 turnovers per forty minutes played. Simmons was at 3.8 per game. These three players were our turnover machines 14.1 per forty minutes played.
The much maligned Burdick averaged 2.7 turnovers per 40 minutes.
Jones and Izzy have to get their turnovers way down this season.

 

[Chris89128]

Jones had 70 turnovers and shot 35 percent from the field. Those numbers shouldn't get you a lot of minutes. I don't know how good her hands are to catch the entry pass. I'm afraid she would do a lot of traveling with the ball. I think we give her a chance and her play determines her minutes. 70 turnovers in 549 minutes is not very good play. Graves played 875 minutes and had 53 turnovers. She shot 53.5 percent from the field. I realize a lot of those points were putbacks on offensive rebounds, but last I heard they still count as two points. If you had five players playing on Graves level that is only 11.5 turnovers per forty minutes for five players.
The one thing most fans don't realize about Izzy is that she was turning the ball over 4.5 times per forty minutes played which was second to Jones who averaged 5.8 turnovers per forty minutes played. Simmons was at 3.8 per game. These three players were our turnover machines 14.1 per forty minutes played.
The much maligned Burdick averaged 2.7 turnovers per 40 minutes.
Jones and Izzy have to get their turnovers way down this season.

I, for one mentioned Izzy's turnovers all year. I guess most over looked them, because, most feel she is an awesome player

 

[Volfan2012]

I, for one mentioned Izzy's turnovers all year. I guess most over looked them, because, most feel she is an awesome player

I think you have to detract at least five points per game off her average because of the turnovers then you see her contributions weren't as high as everyone thinks. A turnover gives the other team a possession and she was giving the opponent almost five per game. She can be a great player has a lot of great post moves. She needs to get her turnovers down to make more of a contribution to the team. Contribution to team success is the key words here players that score a lot and shoot a lot are not always great team contributors. She had a great field goal percentage but almost five turnovers per game is the same as missing five shots that didn't reflect in her shooting stats.

 

[Amb3096]

I think you have to detract at least five points per game off her average because of the turnovers then you see her contributions weren't as high as everyone thinks. A turnover gives the other team a possession and she was giving the opponent almost five per game. She can be a great player has a lot of great post moves. She needs to get her turnovers down to make more of a contribution to the team. Contribution to team success is the key words here players that score a lot and shoot a lot are not always great team contributors. She had a great field goal percentage but almost five turnovers per game is the same as missing five shots that didn't reflect in her shooting stats.

Where are you getting this from? Izzy averaged about 2.7 turnovers a game.

For anyone that thinks that Izzy's contributions were "not as high as everyone thinks", I would consider what the season would have looked like if Izzy was NOT on the team. Without her, they are a middle tier SEC team.

 

[clkou]

Graves >> JJ

AINEC