Dribble, Dribble, No Passing To Teammates

[Pat4life]

Andraya, Jordan and Alexa all did it. Dribble to their hearts are content then chucking up a shot and missing. Wasted offense.

Holly lets them do it time after time. She is watching the game, isn't she? One would think she would pull her guards out and tell them to stop doing that. Everyone MOVE to keep the defense off balance.

Andraya and Jordan should NEVER be in the game together at ANY TIME. Bad things happen.

Unless our guard play improves, the NCAA tournament is going to be....

Good Guard play win Championships and big time games, once again our guards let us down.

Mercedes, her play was so disappointing, no toughness, I see her stand and watch more than play, than to be pushed under the basket, where are the Lady Vols with toughness?

Nice game Diamond, and Nared, everyone else wuteva?

Mi friend watching the game, said mane the Lady Vols guards can't do two things at once, they have to watch the ball to dribble, which doesn't make for good offense, signs of no confidence. Our guards are not that good.

 

[Pat4life]

The fact is that Russell is a soft, lazy, weak and lackadaisical ball player. A moron can see that, I don't know what that makes Holly because it is Holly who allows her to be that way. Coaches have the ability to bench a player, coaches have the ability to demand excellence, and coaches should have the ability to train.

When I see videos of Russell playing in high school, AAU and all star games she seems to play a lot better than what we see on the floor for the Lady Vols. That tells me that Russell is part of the problem because she is not giving the Lady Vols her best. I blame the coaching staff because they are not demanding Russell to give her best. I think that we are fooling ourselves if we believe that this coaching staff, as is, will ever be able to demand excellence and receive what they demand.

I agree, with all thee above, she did make gains this year, but lately I see her standing around more than being physical, not trying to get a rebound or defend. I see balls going over her head, she don't look comfortable playing around the basket and sometimes won't jump to contest shots. So soft, talent without heart is a waste.

She's 6'6", she should be dominant. Here's to a great offseason, cos so far this post season.... wuteva slayed??? U don't think Geno, talk his players like that, **** he was bashing Tina Charles in the media, she's soft, she lacks toughness, etc, her last two years All American. Good coach, let's you know what's wrong with your game, and they shouldn't have to sugar coat it, if you want to be the best player you can be. ijs

Remember when, we were the tougher team?

You all can keep blaming the coach, but the players have to want to too.

I back Pat and roll with Holly.

Here's to a 7 seed, an 8 hmmm can be dicey.

 

[volnationnj]

I agree, with all thee above, she did make gains this year, but lately I see her standing around more than being physical, not trying to get a rebound or defend. I see balls going over her head, she don't look comfortable playing around the basket and sometimes won't jump to contest shots. So soft, talent without heart is a waste.

She's 6'6", she should be dominant. Here's to a great offseason, cos so far this post season.... wuteva slayed??? U don't think Geno, talk his players like that, **** he was bashing Tina Charles in the media, she's soft, she lacks toughness, etc, her last two years All American. Good coach, let's you know what's wrong with your game, and they shouldn't have to sugar coat it, if you want to be the best player you can be. ijs

Remember when, we were the tougher team?

You all can keep blaming the coach, but the players have to want to too.

I back Pat and roll with Holly.

Here's to a 7 seed, an 8 hmmm can be dicey.

This " the players have to want it "
Mercedes, I'm sure, is a fine person and a good student. She's the victim of extremely high expectations (#1 ranking) and not having an "at all costs"
attitude on the court. It's just not part of her personality. She waits for the rebound to come to her rather than going after it. She has a very small rebound radius for a 6'6" player.
Unfortunately, she's not the only player on the team who is just too passive in their play. Whether these personality traits can be overcome by a coach, I'm not sure. But I am pretty sure that Holly is not the coach to do it.

 

[djtee]

Unless our guard play improves, the NCAA tournament is going to be....

Good Guard play win Championships and big time games, once again our guards let us down.

Mercedes, her play was so disappointing, no toughness, I see her stand and watch more than play, than to be pushed under the basket, where are the Lady Vols with toughness?

Nice game Diamond, and Nared, everyone else wuteva?

Mi friend watching the game, said mane the Lady Vols guards can't do two things at once, they have to watch the ball to dribble, which doesn't make for good offense, signs of no confidence. Our guards are not that good.

In the tournament i think Holly should try playing Russell and Moore at the same time. I know some say Moore is to light i agree. But with her long frame she can cause problems on the defensive end and make it much easier for Russell on the offensive end. But the only way it might work is for Holly to let Moore play.

 

[Smallvol#1]

That's not even close to being correct. I watched her quite a bit this tourney and for the most part she battled for position on the offensive end but the guards couldn't get her the ball or reacted too slow to get it to her in time. She had somebody laying on her all the time. I don't know why it was allowed to happen but she had no "freedom of movement" in the paint. While it may be true that she doesn't play up to expectations, I have seen her give effort. She does work harder on the offensive end than the defensive end or it at least appears that way. We all expected her to dominate, but it doesn't appear that will ever happen. I hope I'm wrong about that, but we will see.

Agree with this. We were there and saw her play.

We need a strength coach.

 

[LVJeff]

.In the tournament i think Holly should try playing Russell and Moore at the same time...

Ok, the following is meant as a joke (sort of).

Is everyone agreed the problems are no outside shooting coupled with too much emphasis on getting the ball inside resulting in stagnation? If so, the solution is simple: remove the inside players and worst shooters from the lineup. I know, I know, that second one means nobody plays, but somebody has to play, right?

So, here's the lineup that would absolutely, positively make a deep run in the tourney:

Center - Dunbar
Wings - DeShields, Nared
Guards - Jackson, Cooper

Play these players in a 5-out on offense letting each player drive, cut, shoot as they please and a 2-3 zone on defense with Dunbar, Nared, and DeShields on the back line.

Final four here we come.

Ok, I said it was a joke.

 

[cwbytruckers]

Ok, the following is meant as a joke (sort of).

Is everyone agreed the problems are no outside shooting coupled with too much emphasis on getting the ball inside resulting in stagnation? If so, the solution is simple: remove the inside players and worst shooters from the lineup. I know, I know, that second one means nobody plays, but somebody has to play, right?

So, here's the lineup that would absolutely, positively make a deep run in the tourney:

Center - Dunbar
Wings - DeShields, Nared
Guards - Jackson, Cooper

Play these players in a 5-out on offense letting each player drive, cut, shoot as they please and a 2-3 zone on defense with Dunbar, Nared, and DeShields on the back line.

Final four here we come.

Ok, I said it was a joke.

When we start referencing the Lady Vols in jokes. Then the program has hit bottom.

 

[LVJeff]

When we start referencing the Lady Vols in jokes. Then the program has hit bottom.

You really think the bottom has been reached? But then again, if you can't laugh... Don't take too seriously 18-22 yr old girls playing basketball.

 

[cwbytruckers]

You really think the bottom has been reached? But then again, if you can't laugh... Don't take too seriously 18-22 yr old girls playing basketball.

I don't think it could get much worse. 14 losses this year. Unthinkable. No recruits. Unthinkable. Holly returning. Unbearable.

 

[teacherdean]

That's not even close to being correct. I watched her quite a bit this tourney and for the most part she battled for position on the offensive end but the guards couldn't get her the ball or reacted too slow to get it to her in time. She had somebody laying on her all the time. I don't know why it was allowed to happen but she had no "freedom of movement" in the paint. While it may be true that she doesn't play up to expectations, I have seen her give effort. She does work harder on the offensive end than the defensive end or it at least appears that way. We all expected her to dominate, but it doesn't appear that will ever happen. I hope I'm wrong about that, but we will see.

My point of view harsh or not. Russell spends a lot of time on the floor watching the game. I guess I could be nice and say she appears to be dazed or in her own world. Any way you put it, for her size she does not play very well. She does give effort but not enough. She is none aggressive and seems to avoid contact like it is a bad disease. On offense she works hard sometimes but leaves a lot of rebounds to others while she heads down the court. On free throws she has a hard time blocking out and is constantly being beat for rebounds. She needs a lot of work to be even close to one of the good, not best, D1 post.

 

[LA Vol]

As impossible as it seems, things could get worse. We lose Bashaara and Moore, have no recruits coming in and are vulnerable to transfers. If the coaches don't figure out how to fix our obvious problems and create some offense, next year could be the battle for the bottom of the SEC and our first NCAAT miss. Other SEC teams are improving while we're deteriorating. Holly will be back, but she needs to take a hard look at her assistants and see where we can make upgrades.

 

[teacherdean]

This is unnecessarily harsh. This is someone's daughter your insulting for goodness sake. Saying she gets pushed out of the paint or can't hold onto the ball or needs to gain strength is one thing. Leave it at that.

Everyone LV player is someone's daughter as well as Coach Holly is. It maybe harsh but have you seen videos of her in high school and Russell's pre freshman play in the all star game where she was the MVP? She has not played that tough, dominate or aggressive at Tennessee. Lazy, lackadaisical or whatever, she is not what should be expected from the number one basketball player in any year. She is regressing instead of improving. Maybe it is the coaching but aggression and toughness is not something you coach, it comes from within. She is our only post for next year so she has a lot to do and learn if we are going to be solid in the post.

 

[Volfan2012]

I know high school is a lot easier but I saw film of Nared and she was scoring at will taking it to the basket. Same with Cooper she could get to the basket with ease. Neither was much of an outside shooter in high school same as now and I guess the bigger stronger players have made it quite difficult to finish driving to the basket.
They are not as effective in college as high school because for the most part were one dimensional players in high school. If they want to be effective college players they will have to improve their outside shooting and that also goes for Reynolds, Carter, and Jackson.
If they don't have the desire to work this summer then we'll see the same thing next season. Every player on the team needs to get off their phones and quit playing the video game and get in the gym and become better players this summer. A player has to want to become better no coach can force them to get better. The only thing a coach can do is get someone to replace them if they are not willing to work hard.

 

[Volfan2012]

Instead of bringing in a bunch of drill sergeants like last year Holly needs to being in a shooting expert to work with the guards because 30 percent for a season perimeter shooting is never going to get it done no matter how good your defense is.

 

[armchair]

Russell needs to get stronger and tougher--but like every player we have, she'd probably be better if the Vols had a smart and coherent offense instead of the dysfunctional mess we're long used to seeing. She's not as talented as most No. 1s--but will get better.

 

[cwbytruckers]

I know high school is a lot easier but I saw film of Nared and she was scoring at will taking it to the basket. Same with Cooper she could get to the basket with ease. Neither was much of an outside shooter in high school same as now and I guess the bigger stronger players have made it quite difficult to finish driving to the basket.
They are not as effective in college as high school because for the most part were one dimensional players in high school. If they want to be effective college players they will have to improve their outside shooting and that also goes for Reynolds, Carter, and Jackson.
If they don't have the desire to work this summer then we'll see the same thing next season. Every player on the team needs to get off their phones and quit playing the video game and get in the gym and become better players this summer. A player has to want to become better no coach can force them to get better. The only thing a coach can do is get someone to replace them if they are not willing to work hard.

Worked for Punter. Got to put in the work

 

[Pat4life]

In the tournament i think Holly should try playing Russell and Moore at the same time. I know some say Moore is to light i agree. But with her long frame she can cause problems on the defensive end and make it much easier for Russell on the offensive end. But the only way it might work is for Holly to let Moore play.

See, I like this lineup, as a change up, closing half, coming out the timeouts. I thot Moore should have had more minutes the past game. She starts then sits, what's up with that?

 

[Pat4life]

This " the players have to want it "
Mercedes, I'm sure, is a fine person and a good student. She's the victim of extremely high expectations (#1 ranking) and not having an "at all costs"
attitude on the court. It's just not part of her personality. She waits for the rebound to come to her rather than going after it. She has a very small rebound radius for a 6'6" player.
Unfortunately, she's not the only player on the team who is just too passive in their play. Whether these personality traits can be overcome by a coach, I'm not sure. But I am pretty sure that Holly is not the coach to do it.

I agree with that statement, she is not the only, and other ones are mostly from young plays 1-2 years of playing, Russell will or should be fine next year, but I would like her to take it to another level, 6'6" Slyvia Fowles height, not her girth, she should definitely be more impactful in the game on defense and the boards.

She needs to play big time in the tournament, she can't miss chippies if we want to advance, her and Booshaara, must play solid, if we to have chances to advance...

I meditating for Good Guard play. Well we shall find out if Holly is the coach, and that part I like, she has an opportunity to make things right, if she can. She earned that.