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

[youcancallmeAl]

As we saw after the earlier part of the season last year, things are rarely as good as they seem when they seem super good. And things are rarely as bad as they seem when things seem really bad, like they do now.

i'm going to go against the grain and say I thought I saw an improved team tonite from the past two games. They appeared more organized and purposeful in their movements, more coherent and cohesive. They were improved in the turnover department. However, they weren't improved enough, neither in those categories or others. They are far from acceptable in rebounding and defense, which have always been the hallmarks of Harper's teams. That part is puzzling and alarming, to say the least.

It should be noted that this team is not as talented or deep with quality talent as we thought it would be. There are only a few players that I would consider very talented. The rest are ordinary players. There is a glaring lack of team speed and quickness, especially in the bench players. There is a glaring lack of good shooting for almost all of the players. There's a glaring lack of good ball handling skills. These deficiencies are all the more reason to have more hands on coaching than the team is getting.

Given that we have RJ and Jordy and a couple of other talented players and some with growth potential, there is hope yet that we can put a good team on the floor. But the coaches are going to have to throw out their approach thus far and go back to basics - teach fundamentals, discipline, toughness and the basics of team play. We are going to have to cover our defensive deficiencies with team help defense, and our rebounding deficiencies with fundamentals of rebounding. It's late for all of that, but maybe there is still time to put something worthwhile together before it's too late.

 

[FrozenLVFan]

Guards are undersized and I wish we had a little more quickness. With Horston out her quickness and length is missed on defense. She also is forced to handle the ball when we are pressured. Our post and pf position is just not physical enough on offense or defense. Again Horston was getting beat to death rebounding and playing lock down under the basket. Horston can create her own shot and I think Rickea has that type of game. I guess what I am saying is Horston covers up a lot of problems when she is on the court. We are not a Final Four team.

The biggest problem with Horston is that she's a turnover machine. She had the highest number of TO's by far the first 3 years she was here, and 7 TO's in the OSU game with 2 more in 9 mins against UMass. I don't know how many times OSU benefited from that, but it wasn't insignificant because they scored 37 pts off TO's against us. Until Horston can stop turning the ball over, she's going to hurt as much as help us on the scoreboard.

Both Horston and Jackson (14 TO's in 3 games) need to clean up their mistakes and take better care of the ball.

 

[ocoandasoc]

So you have posters here who are still griping about the Lady Vols being too woke and posters (sometimes the same ones) griping that the university isn't woke enough.

That's sort of where the whole country is, isn't it? But single young women come down pretty heavily on the not woke enough side as the election results just told us.

 

[creekdipper]

That's sort of where the whole country is, isn't it? But single young women come down pretty heavily on the not woke enough side as the election results just told us.

Never have seen Mulkey or Auriemma demonstrating particular wokeness. Some might argue just the opposite.

 

[Boo]

Has anyone been making any mental comparisons in the past week as you've watched games how all the other D1 coaches who are trying to get 16 players -- 6 of whom are brand-new to their program and culture -- to play together like a well-oiled machine are faring?

This team can't play together I watch the game against Indiana Tn. one of the worst team I've seen play in a long time them ladys for Indiana know how to move set screens an shoot off them

 

[creekdipper]

What do board members think is the problem of this team?

The old-fashioned logo.

 

[volnationnj]

As we saw after the earlier part of the season last year, things are rarely as good as they seem when they seem super good. And things are rarely as bad as they seem when things seem really bad, like they do now.

i'm going to go against the grain and say I thought I saw an improved team tonite from the past two games. They appeared more organized and purposeful in their movements, more coherent and cohesive. They were improved in the turnover department. However, they weren't improved enough, neither in those categories or others. They are far from acceptable in rebounding and defense, which have always been the hallmarks of Harper's teams. That part is puzzling and alarming, to say the least.

It should be noted that this team is not as talented or deep with quality talent as we thought it would be. There are only a few players that I would consider very talented. The rest are ordinary players. There is a glaring lack of team speed and quickness, especially in the bench players. There is a glaring lack of good shooting for almost all of the players. There's a glaring lack of good ball handling skills. These deficiencies are all the more reason to have more hands on coaching than the team is getting.

Given that we have RJ and Jordy and a couple of other talented players and some with growth potential, there is hope yet that we can put a good team on the floor. But the coaches are going to have to throw out their approach thus far and go back to basics - teach fundamentals, discipline, toughness and the basics of team play. We are going to have to cover our defensive deficiencies with team help defense, and our rebounding deficiencies with fundamentals of rebounding. It's late for all of that, but maybe there is still time to put something worthwhile together before it's too late.

I agree with a lot that you posted.
While the turnovers were down from the Ohio St game, I think most of that can be attributed to the fact that Indiana dosen't play a pressing defense, like Ohio St did.
I also agree that there's not enough talent on the bench.
I'm going to catch flak for this but...
Imo, the reason CKJH brought in so many players from the portal
(4 of 5 starters tonight were from the portal) is because she thought that her 4 player freshman class of 2021 would not do well in the SEC as sophomores. That as great as they are as people, the team would not be successful if they were forced to play major minutes. Even Sara, who seemed to be effective at times last year, is relegated near the far end of the bench (5 minutes tonight). Striplin might as well be a coal miner in an Alaskan winter. She has yet to see any light.
There are lot of games left on the schedule. I can only hope that CKJH can turn this team around.
Because if she can't, and we go into the NCAA's and lose in the first or second round. We could be in REAL trouble next year.
I mean, this team has to get better, doesn't it ?

 

[knoxvol52]

It's that stupidity of 'keeping it in the family' is what got us into this mess! Have you not been paying attention?

I stated the same thing earlier have you not been paying attention

 

[Rooster1]

I agree with a lot that you posted.
While the turnovers were down from the Ohio St game, I think most of that can be attributed to the fact that Indiana dosen't play a pressing defense, like Ohio St did.
I also agree that there's not enough talent on the bench.
I'm going to catch flak for this but...
Imo, the reason CKJH brought in so many players from the portal
(4 of 5 starters tonight were from the portal) is because she thought that her 4 player freshman class of 2021 would not do well in the SEC as sophomores. That as great as they are as people, the team would not be successful if they were forced to play major minutes. Even Sara, who seemed to be effective at times last year, is relegated near the far end of the bench (5 minutes tonight). Striplin might as well be a coal miner in an Alaskan winter. She has yet to see any light.
There are lot of games left on the schedule. I can only hope that CKJH can turn this team around.
Because if she can't, and we go into the NCAA's and lose in the first or second round. We could be in REAL trouble next year.
I mean, this team has to get better, doesn't it ?

You are probably right that CKH does not think her 2021 class is ready to help the team win. I believed Puckett was ready after her freshman year, apparently her coach does not share that thought just yet. Two of the other three from that class appear to be overmatched at this level. Neither Miles or Wynn can shoot well enough. I have no idea about Striplin’s game, she never gets enough playing time to evaluate. Apparently she is deserving of the least amount of PT…..

If the 2021 class does end up being much less than everyone had hoped for, and with just one recruit from the next two classes combined, Harper will have to stay with the portal strategy for the next 2 or more seasons at the least.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Lol we suck

 

[Jeff Clark]

You are probably right that CKH does not think her 2021 class is ready to help the team win. I believed Puckett was ready after her freshman year, apparently her coach does not share that thought just yet. Two of the other three from that class appear to be overmatched at this level. Neither Miles or Wynn can shoot well enough. I have no idea about Striplin’s game, she never gets enough playing time to evaluate. Apparently she is deserving of the least amount of PT…..

If the 2021 class does end up being much less than everyone had hoped for, and with just one recruit from the next two classes combined, Harper will have to stay with the portal strategy for the next 2 or more seasons at the least.

If KJH is around after another two seasons.

 

[Rooster1]

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.

We, on the other hand, are not a legitimate top 25 team right now. We might have top ten talent, but we have a long ways to go to become even a decent team. Jordy is going to paper over a lot of this when she comes back, but remember, this is what the team really is underneath. It is good we can see it. It gives us a better chance of fixing it.

I really do think Kellie's window of success is down to this season. If we don't win anything this year it won't matter what the AD does because the writing will be on the wall. She pretty much made her own bed with her recruiting and having nothing in the pipeline. There would be no reason not to bite the bullet and make a change. And on the up side, I would be pretty excited to see who White would pick as a successor.

Much better if Kellie can turn things around though. Let's hope she does.

Indiana was breaking in three new players into their starting rotation, 2 transfers and a freshman. Try again.

 

[Majors]

That's just uncalled for..

There’s something there. The end of the game body language towards Harper was either she hates to lose or she’s not feeling the Harper/team. I hope it’s she’s passionate and hates to lose.

 

[GameTime]

Miles is too short to throw the damn ball in....She is quick enough to dart back and forth and get open to catch an inbound pass though....Why is it we see this, but our coaching staff does not?

I was very impressed with IU...Their players mostly hit the open shot and handled our team rather easily...Their coaches had a successful game plan, our coaches, not so much.

It feels like the wheels are about to fall off fairly soon...Like many of you, I'm perplexed at what has happened to this once proud basketball team...

In any event, the sun came up this morning, but it's raining like hell...Very fitting

 

[Rooster1]

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.

Almost forgot about the upcoming tournament…

 

[Raebo]

I saw a mock draft that had Jackson and Horston in the top 5. By recruiting rankings I think we are a lot better that Indiana or Ohio State but I didn’t look it up.
I think if we find the right combination and play with just a core 8 or 9 players we can easily be a top 4 SEC team. IF they do get the right combination (a couple starters should be role players, not starters IMO), and with good coaching, they should be at least an elite 8 team. I saw that bench last night and I wondered if they have to many players they are trying to coach/work with in practice, I understand having depth but can you have so much depth that it takes away from your core???

 

[Majors]

What do board members think is the problem of this team?

Coaching
Lack of coaching
No strong bench coach
Game management
Leadership
Team toughness
Lazy plays
Defined roles
Big player rotation
Lack of recruiting
Players recruited too young to remember the Tennessee brand still expected

Just a few

 

[Volfan2012]

Miles is too short to throw the damn ball in....She is quick enough to dart back and forth and get open to catch an inbound pass though....Why is it we see this, but our coaching staff does not?

I was very impressed with IU...Their players mostly hit the open shot and handled our team rather easily...Their coaches had a successful game plan, our coaches, not so much.

It feels like the wheels are about to fall off fairly soon...Like many of you, I'm perplexed at what has happened to this once proud basketball team...

In any event, the sun came up this morning, but it's raining like hell...Very fitting

What we got is a lot of confusion and the same old theory that because your a freshman or sophomore the senior has to be better. It happens in every sport all the time. Then suddenly for some reason the freshman or sophomore gets to play and the coach says wow how did I miss not playing them. I need to see more of Puckett and Pissott really soon and a lot less of Walker and even Darby. Darby is doing well offensively still can't guard so why not give Justine and Sarah that chance see if they can defend better both can shoot just as well.

 

[Amb3096]

I saw a mock draft that had Jackson and Horston in the top 5. By recruiting rankings I think we are a lot better that Indiana or Ohio State but I didn’t look it up.
I think if we find the right combination and play with just a core 8 or 9 players we can easily be a top 4 SEC team. IF they do get the right combination (a couple starters should be role players, not starters IMO), and with good coaching, they should be at least an elite 8 team. I saw that bench last night and I wondered if they have to many players they are trying to coach/work with in practice, I understand having depth but can you have so much depth that it takes away from your core???

Top 4 in the SEC isn't saying much. Beyond SC, LSU and Tennessee, none of the remaining SEC teams are that good. Elite 8 may not be such an easy goal if they can't fix their chemistry and win some of these marquis OOC games. We'll have a better sense once Horston is back, but Kellie really needs to make building team chemistry and identity her #1 priority.

 

[GameTime]

What we got is a lot of confusion and the same old theory that because your a freshman or sophomore the senior has to be better. It happens in every sport all the time. Then suddenly for some reason the freshman or sophomore gets to play and the coach says wow how did I miss not playing them. I need to see more of Puckett and Pissott really soon and a lot less of Walker and even Darby. Darby is doing well offensively still can't guard so why not give Justine and Sarah that chance see if they can defend better both can shoot just as well.

Good post friend...And so true too.
Justine could have probably shot the LVs back into the game, but Kellie says no....

 

[Majors]

Her first big mistake was letting Dean Lockwood go. Should of kept him and had her husband been a scout, behind the scenes analyst/advisor.

 

[Chippo]

Her first big mistake was letting Dean Lockwood go. Should of kept him and had her husband been a scout, behind the scenes analyst/advisor.

Never been big on husband and wife teams
Working together,, might be ok for over the
road driving but i always got the impression
from seeing it in construction work one was
keeping an eye on the other. JMHO.

 

[turbovol]

I saw the comment above stating that having Miles make an inbound pass is dumb because she is too short for the job.
I couldn't agree more--not smart at all, in fact very dumb--as it's been conventional wisdom forever that you have bigger people throw the ball
inbounds precisely because they have a better chance of seeing the floor and getting the ball past a big defender standing in front of them at the line.

Mistakes--every game, every year: too many of them.

 

[creekdipper]

Never been big on husband and wife teams
Working together,, might be ok for over the
road driving but i always got the impression
from seeing it in construction work one was
keeping an eye on the other. JMHO.

You mean that on the county road crew, the one leaning on the "Stop/Go" sign was eyeballing the one leaning on the shovel and vice versa?

 

[Majors]

Puckett is not a great 3-pt shooter...under 30% last season. So far in limited action, she hasn't presented a strong argument for why she should play more. She just looks really slow out there. Same with Suarez (who statistically is a better 3-pt shooter).

No idea why Pissott didn't get minutes. I mean, she put Wynn in the game and frankly, she can't play basketball at this level.

Puckett was recruited over for the reason you stated. We have athletic kids to push the tempo but have slow players like Key and Puckett that slow down the pace.