Game Thread: #11 Lady Vols at #15 Kentucky. Thursday, Feb. 27, 7pm ET, SECN.

[Orange.]

Brooks proved in this game he is the SEC Coach of the Year but they will probably give it to Vic.

Nah. Brooks lost to UNC by 19 and to Texas at home by 18. Your point is that you can’t loss even 1 game by those kind of lopsided margins and deserve COY. He did it twice.

 

[KnoxLikeUs]

I get your point. It’s my opinion based on the principles of being a fullcourt press team and running an uptempo offense. I’m not seeing the logic behind the decision to frequently sub 10 players close to equal minutes if multiple players aren’t impacting the game defensively or making wide open shots.
Beyond the system and all the useless comparisons between last year’s team and CKC first season at Tennessee, when the games matter it’s going to come down to making adjustments and play who helps you win that game. Forget the system. Forget mass substitutions. Forget analytics. Just play and coach, rinse and repeat.
The 8th loss won’t show anything different than the first 7 unless there’s an adjustment made. That could mean going from 10 players to 6/7 or going with a different 10 but for some time now there’s been signs that both Latham and Ayodele bring what’s missing in terms of defense, rebounding, and energy to the court.

I am on Team Latham, for sure. And earlier in the season I was excited about the super tough Ayodele. But for whatever reasons (I would love to know them) Kim has chosen not to give Favor more than a minute or two, if any at all, for most of the season. She only got 4 tonight in a clear blowout that was an obvious opportunity for the staff to give extended 4th-quarter minutes to those who don't get any in the tight matchups. Yet, she only got four.

The point is, I'm thinking if Kim hasn't played her up to now, unfortunately I don't see her getting more minutes as things get even tougher and more urgent. I hate it 'cause she looked like she could have been a Keyen Green-type player.

 

[KnoxLikeUs]

We as fans have been asking for this but why doesn’t then coach see it. She rather play ppl who don’t want to play defense or rebound. Latham never takes a play off.

Yes we’ve mentioned it. Yet you have some that act as if it’s no way to correct this flaw. You have to play the players that show they take pride in defense. Boyd, Latham, Cooper, and Ayodele take pride in defense. That’s your foundation to improving the defensive deficiencies right now. We don’t need high school recruits right now. Or the transfer portal. Just some adjustments to play players that will give 100% effort on defense every possession. Kentucky is not even a dominant team. They are slightly above average in many key areas and to score 58 points against that group is a sign of deficits in preparation before and during the game.

 

[SheShoots]

Don’t understand why people are confused by the slow starts. Who do you think has the advantage when the other team plays their starting 5 for the first 6-8 minutes and Tenn has players 6-10 in the game a minute in? I can’t think of any situation in basketball history where matching you bench against their starters has been a winning strategy. Maybe to send a message in a particular game, but not as a team philosophy.

It’s common sense. Name any top 10 team at any level that pulls their top 3-5 players out a minute in and puts their end of bench players in vs the other teams starters. You spend half the first quarter at a significant talent disadvantage. Can this work against a lesser team that might wear down over 40 minutes? Sure. But KY will win by 10+ points 9 out of 10 times if Amoore, Strack and Key play 34 minutes and 10-15 of those minutes are against Tenn’s 6-10 bench players. Kim will be ok if she isn’t too stubborn to tweak her style. I don’t care what class is coming in, a good or great team will always have the advantage if their stars are playing 8-12 more minutes than Tenn starters. Just tweak it where the top 2-3 play 32-34 minutes and hockey sub players 4-8.

People bring up 40 minutes of hell. But check and see how many players Nolan used in a big time matchup. Maybe 7. Eight at the most. Again, this can work, but not if stubbornness or pride gets in the way.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Don’t understand why people are confused by the slow starts. Who do you think has the advantage when the other team plays their starting 5 for the first 6-8 minutes and Tenn has players 6-10 in the game a minute in? I can’t think of any situation in basketball history where matching you bench against their starters has been a winning strategy. Maybe to send a message in a particular game, but not as a team philosophy.

It’s common sense. Name any top 10 team at any level that pulls their top 3-5 players out a minute in and puts their end of bench players in vs the other teams starters. You spend half the first quarter at a significant talent disadvantage. Can this work against a lesser team that might wear down over 40 minutes? Sure. But KY will win by 10+ points 9 out of 10 times if Amoore, Strack and Key play 34 minutes and 10-15 of those minutes are against Tenn’s 6-10 bench players. Kim will be ok if she isn’t too stubborn to tweak her style. I don’t care what class is coming in, a good or great team will always have the advantage if their stars are playing 8-12 more minutes than Tenn starters. Just tweak it where the top 2-3 play 32-34 minutes and hockey sub players 4-8.

People bring up 40 minutes of hell. But check and see how many players Nolan used in a big time matchup. Maybe 7. Eight at the most. Again, this can work, but not if stubbornness or pride gets in the way.

Good post.

I agree that it needs tweaking and you do a good job of pointing out the reasons why.

This is Kim's 1st season, not just at Tennessee, but as a coach in major college basketball. Therefore, I'm trying to think of this as a fluid work in progress. Appropriate adjustments will be made, especially as we bring in more elite talent.

Go Lady Vols!!!!

 

[feathersax]

for the first time this season,,,I agree,,not bc of the zebras today

Watched the game with wife as long as I could stand it, but end of the 3rd quarter was enough for me. LV team just didn't seem to do anything right last night. Ewwwww.

 

[MAD]

Don’t understand why people are confused by the slow starts. Who do you think has the advantage when the other team plays their starting 5 for the first 6-8 minutes and Tenn has players 6-10 in the game a minute in? I can’t think of any situation in basketball history where matching you bench against their starters has been a winning strategy. Maybe to send a message in a particular game, but not as a team philosophy.

It’s common sense. Name any top 10 team at any level that pulls their top 3-5 players out a minute in and puts their end of bench players in vs the other teams starters. You spend half the first quarter at a significant talent disadvantage. Can this work against a lesser team that might wear down over 40 minutes? Sure. But KY will win by 10+ points 9 out of 10 times if Amoore, Strack and Key play 34 minutes and 10-15 of those minutes are against Tenn’s 6-10 bench players. Kim will be ok if she isn’t too stubborn to tweak her style. I don’t care what class is coming in, a good or great team will always have the advantage if their stars are playing 8-12 more minutes than Tenn starters. Just tweak it where the top 2-3 play 32-34 minutes and hockey sub players 4-8.

People bring up 40 minutes of hell. But check and see how many players Nolan used in a big time matchup. Maybe 7. Eight at the most. Again, this can work, but not if stubbornness or pride gets in the way.

This makes a lot sense, excellent explanation.