Game Thread: (11) Lady Vols 67 - (12) Indiana 79

[AntiochVol81]

JW had 1 point in 28 minutes…….

LMAO ouch

 

[Voluble2]

Franklin actually has been playing really well and maybe that's what she needs.

She knows we are in a different level when she is being elite.

TK is lost without Horston. They play the two man game well together and kind of complement each other's games.

But I agree. I was shocked when Franklin got replaced by Key at the end when we needed a high energy comeback. She had been playing very well and aggressively.

 

[teacherdean]

Time to take the locker room away

Taking the locker room away will not help the coaching malpractice that is going on. I had so much hope for KJH but she certainly does not appear to be the fixer this program needs. May we should go after the Indiana coach.

 

[pasadenavol]

Three games into the season and already negavols pulling their hair out. I will hang in there with the Lady Vols. I have seen a lot of Tennessee teams struggle, then pull it together, and play really well through the conference and into post season. Indiana out played and out coached us. They made their shots which we did not. Pat would not be pleased with the "under the net" play or "long ball" play at all.

You also saw those TN teams coached by one of the best in the business, who knew how to make adjustments, how to motivate, and how to draw up offensive and defensive schemes...

Not giving up on this team, but this staff has got to learn from their mistakes!!!

 

[Rooster1]

If what we saw tonight was our experience on display she might need to play regardless. Not sure it can be worse

Some coaches don’t trust freshman, even 5 star freshman. They play quasi fair upper classmen in the honor of experience, production be damned.

Let Puckett and Justine play more….they have upside.

 

[turbovol]

Here's the positive: We made 9 treys tonight and shot the three at 38 percent---that is good.
That is about the only demonstrably good thing we did tonight..

Ok--and we cut down on our turnovers--until, that is, the last 5/6 minutes of the game. It's a measure of our problems
that 15 turnovers is an improvement for us. Still too many. Indiana had 10. Jackson--our best player, veteran player--had 6 turnovers.
That can't happen....if you want to win.

The negative?

---We are not a good defensive team. We don't defend well enough individually or as a eam. We gave up nearly 80 points--not good. And the thing is, it's hard to see this group getting good defensively. We had a meager 4 steals. Good teams will have more steals than that. Indiana had 9.

---We were terrible in the last six minutes of the game, when we were still very much in it. Made a ton of bad decisions/plays. We throw away an inbound pass on our offensive end of the court, which was bad enough, and then we let Indiana beat us down the floor for a layup off that turnover. That play encapsulated our performance in the last 6 minutes. That's a game-losing moment--and we do things like that every game. Key is perfectly positioned in the paint, but our wing just doesn't pass her the ball and moments later we lose the ball again. An Indian player on the wing blows by one of our guards and gets fouled by Key, trying to help, but late. IU player makes both free throws. Another of our guards had issues (polite euphemism! ) down the stretch--had turnovers, missed free-throws. A veteran guard, she made 1 of 6 FTs. Veteran guards should be making 5 of 6 free throws.

Offensively, we play like we've played for most of the last 15 years. We've got a couple of good players--but our team and ball movement is often slow; we don't create the mismatches or shot openings that you'd want, and so we end up often with somebody just going solo and trying to get a shot off.

Overall, we rather look like the same team we've looked like for years---not really all that talented; not fundamental enough, not smart and poised enough.

Would Horston have made a difference? Yes, of course--maybe we win it with her scoring, but she also has the 2nd highest TO number on the team (behind only Jackson)--in two games compared to 3 games for everyone else. In a word, we're erratic--have been for a long time--and erratic teams tend not to be good teams.

 

[Amb3096]

I am not surprised. Lots of new players, a coach who does a pretty good imitation of a turnstile, and early games against legitimate top 15 teams with experienced line-ups who have played together for a long time. This is pretty much what I expected.

Indiana lost 3 starters from last year and was incorporating 3 transfers who played major minutes, including 2 starters (Scalia and Garzon) along with Parrish who scored 13 pts and played starter minutes. But they played very disciplined ball despite the roster overhaul. If Tennesse wanted to, they could have put 4 of the 5 starters from the end of last season, plus another who was a part-time starter for much of the season. Kellie's insistence on going nuclear with the lineups instead of breaking in the newcomers slowly is 100% on her, and this isn't the time to do it.

 

[orangefloyd]

I really hoped Hollie would be the answer here but I didn’t think she would be. The Fulmer curse continues.

 

[Orange Maniac]

Taking the locker room away will not help the coaching malpractice that is going on. I had so much hope for KJH but she certainly does not appear to be the fixer this program needs. May we should go after the Indiana coach.

Taking the locker room didn't work for Pat either but people still like pulling that card up.

 

[Majors]

Some coaches don’t trust freshman, even 5 star freshman. They play quasi fair upper classmen in the honor of experience, production be damned.

Let Puckett and Justine play more….they have upside.

She better get to it, play highly ranked freshman will open up opportunities for kids looking at depth charts knowing they’ll play.

 

[Amb3096]

The good news is, we will win a few games coming up and everyone will think they’ve turned the corner. Then we will hit the SEC and be reminded of tonight

The SEC is weak as hell this year. Only SC and LSU are ranked, and the rest of the league doesn't look so tough. They will get chances at Louisville/Texas in the upcoming tournament, plus games against VT, UConn and Stanford. They need to win half of those to remain in contention for a #1-2 seed in the NCAAT, assuming they don't slip up in the SEC league play.

 

[ocoandasoc]

She was on Board of Trustees and went public with diversity complaints. Probably not completely wrong on the topic, but going public with that in that manner without addressing it internally had to create some friction.

Kara was unhappy with the UT administration's lack of adverse response/opposition to TN Legislature's actions in regards to diversity and LGBTQ policies. I suspect her views on reproductive rights don't match up, either.

I know a lot of folks on this board don't think these things are an issue when recruiting coaches or players. But they are wrong IMHO.

 

[Majors]

The SEC is weak as hell this year. Only SC and LSU are ranked, and the rest of the league doesn't look so tough. They will get chances at Louisville/Texas in the upcoming tournament, plus games against VT, UConn and Stanford. They need to win half of those to remain in contention for a #1-2 seed in the NCAAT, assuming they don't slip up in the SEC league play.

Right now we are pretty weak

 

[Bighairlol]

This on paper should be one of the most talented teams of all time.

Which is bad that we are playing like this but good in the sense that we know exactly who to blame if it doesn’t improve.

Rikea Jackson. She’s poison.

 

[Amb3096]

Obviously none of us know what's going on in practice so there might be something we are seeing.. Watching 3 games my biggest question is what happened with Puckett? Last season she was developing into a good player possibly a starter. I can see why she might not start but she barely plays. It's so early this season it's not her game day play. Who knows!!

Newcomers Jackson, Franklin and Hollinshead have basically taken her minutes. She's buried with the depth chart. I'm not sure that she warrants moving ahead of any of them either. Same thing with Striplin and to a lesser extent, Wynn.

 

[Basketballjunkie76]

Kara was unhappy with the UT administration's lack of adverse response/opposition to TN Legislature's actions in regards to diversity and LGBTQ policies. I suspect her views on reproductive rights don't match up, either.

I know a lot of folks on this board don't think these things are an issue when recruiting coaches or players. But they are wrong IMHO.

However…pretty sure her stance on diversity came out AFTER Kellie was hired. So that definitely wasn’t the reason she wasn’t considered for the position.

 

[Amb3096]

You can't be serious. This team is not even close to be one of the most talented teams of all time.

I agree. There are a lot of gaps on this team. Seems like none of them have a combination of size, shooting ability and speed. Most only have one of those. So whenever they pull someone from the bench to sub in, they're giving something up. There's really no one on the bench that can sub for Powell, Horston or Jackson without a huge drop off.

 

[Amb3096]

I dont see any reason for TK to start. Maybe coming off the bench will put some fire in her game. If not stay seated.

They need to start Key and make it work. Her presence on the court impacts the other team with her defensive potential (even if she's not doing anything). At least teams will largely think twice about going inside if they know that she's hovering around.

 

[VOLPAT]

Does anybody know when Horston gets back?

 

[Bighairlol]

This on paper should be one of the most talented teams of all time.

Which is bad that we are playing like this but good in the sense that we know exactly who to blame if it doesn’t improve.

Rikea. She is poison.

 

[Amb3096]

Rikea Jackson. She’s poison.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that, but her, Horston and Powell have zero on-court chemistry. All of them want to be the one to shoot the ball/take over. At least tonight, it was just 2 of them that were guilty of ball hogging.

 

[UTLadyvolsfan]

We are not even close to "incredibly talented"--and we're not, it would appear, all that well-coached, either. We look like we've looked for years---mediocre, at best.

I was going to say the same thing. But didn't want to sound mean or nasty. I love all the kids on the team. But who coming out of HS was a top 10 recruit?

Jackson and Horston. That's it. Jas Powell was ranked 74. Tamari Key #47. Salary, Darby, Puckett, Striplin, Wynn, Miles, etc. none of them were higher than 47 coming out of HS. Key is probably the only player who is significantly better than her HS ranking. Talent-wise, we are probably one of the top 20 teams in the nation. To me that's not "incredibly talented".

People want to blame the coaching. but we basically have 2 kids who were top 10, 2 who were ranked lower and much better than their ranking (Key and Powell), and what else? With the talent level, I don't think Harper is doing badly at all...

 

[Fatoldman]

TK is lost without Horston. They play the two man game well together and kind of complement each other's games.

But I agree. I was shocked when Franklin got replaced by Key at the end when we needed a high energy comeback. She had been playing very well and aggressively.

Franklin is a shell of her former self athletically which is really adversely affecting her game especially defensively and rebounding. If 2 months from now her mobility has improved significantly then maybe her playing time will increase. For now Tamari seems to tire quickly so Franklin can spell her. I like Hollingshead better at the 4 and would lake to see her get more minutes. She seems able to play both ends of the court although now she makes a lot of mistakes.

 

[GrayWaterCanine]

However…pretty sure her stance on diversity came out AFTER Kellie was hired. So that definitely wasn’t the reason she wasn’t considered for the position.

But it likely indicates why she may not be hired next.

 

[Bighairlol]

I wouldn't go as far as saying that, but her, Horston and Powell have zero on-court chemistry. All of them want to be the one to shoot the ball/take over. At least tonight, it was just 2 of them that were guilty of ball hogging.

Ya’ll will see. I hated to see her go to Tn. We watched her tear Mississippi State apart. I was hoping she had matured and wouldn’t be the Diva she had to be at state. Bless ya’lls heart!!