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

[lvocd]

I still think a factor of this is that our players are not in the game long enough at the beginning to get in the flow of it. In all sports and exercise, there is a warmup period where your body and mind are getting used to it. It typically takes time to get into the flow. Think if every time you started an exercise that the moment you just are getting into the flow you had to stop it. This is even harder in basketball because there are so many skills that are a part of being in the flow. So, with those early platoon changes, which in many games this year are the quickest of the entire game (well under 2 minutes), our team stay stuck in the warmup phase as a new group is put in and they too are trying to get into the flow. Meanwhile, the other team can get the beyond the rusty warmup period and get into the flow. The results support this.
I actually totally like the platoon system and am a big supporter of CKC. I do think they need to come with some type of adjustment towards the beginning of the game, such as longer intervals at first or keeping a few players in who are starting to look like they are getting the flow and sub some others out that aren't. I trust she will find some solution, as the current approach is not optimal.

You and I think exactly alike on this. I've said before that even four minutes for each group on their first tour would probably do wonders.

 

[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.

You sound like a coach and really understand the game.

 

[creekdipper]

Well, most will agree that Thursday night's game was "40 minutes of Hell."

 

[Volfan2012]

According the the Creme Bracketology were number 15 right now dropping from 12 because of the loss to Kentucky. So we need SC to stomp them while we stomp Georgia and that should make it a battle to be fought in the SEC Tourney for who will be where. I am quite certain if we win Sunday and the first game in the NCAA we will be in the top 16. If we win against whomever we play next we could definitely move up to three. Winning Sunday and game one we play next week are vitally important to keep that four seed.

No more road games home and neutral so hopfully were ready to play.

 

[Volfan2012]

Well, most will agree that Thursday night's game was "40 minutes of Hell."

Yes them shooting 56 percent while we shoot 31 is going to be hell for the team shooting 31 percent.

 

[knoxvol52]

According the the Creme Bracketology were number 15 right now dropping from 12 because of the loss to Kentucky. So we need SC to stomp them while we stomp Georgia and that should make it a battle to be fought in the SEC Tourney for who will be where. I am quite certain if we win Sunday and the first game in the NCAA we will be in the top 16. If we win against whomever we play next we could definitely move up to three. Winning Sunday and game one we play next week are vitally important to keep that four seed.

No more road games home and neutral so hopfully were ready to play.

I agree win vs Georgia and one win In SEC tournament gets the Lady Vols a 4 seed and getting to SEC semifinals or finals gets us a high 3 seed..

 

[KTrain]

So far road games have been hard on this team. We player Florida on the road Sunday then went north to play UK on Thursday. It's been a long year, and this team just struggles more on away games, especially back-to-back. The last back-to-back road games vs Vanderbilt & Texas were Away game 2 losses. Those are the only SEC road games back-to-back and we went 1 and 3 and if UF wasn't a bit inept we would have gone 0 and 4. The rest after Sundays Home game, will be neutral and Greenville SC should be more welcoming fan friendly to UT than any other team sans South Carolina because of the proximity. So, there's that.

 

[Volfan2012]

So far road games have been hard on this team. We player Florida on the road Sunday then went north to play UK on Thursday. It's been a long year, and this team just struggles more on away games, especially back-to-back. The last back-to-back road games vs Vanderbilt & Texas were Away game 2 losses. Those are the only SEC road games back-to-back and we went 1 and 3 and if UF wasn't a bit inept we would have gone 0 and 4. The rest after Sundays Home game, will be neutral and Greenville SC should be more welcoming fan friendly to UT than any other team sans South Carolina because of the proximity. So, there's that.

Didn't play well at Florida they just were not good enough to prevent losing anyway. Kentucky we were not ready to play they were going for a double bye and fourth place and we never came close to matching their energy. Hoping to miss SC since they have so many fans will be like a home game for them, Texas would be better if we make that second game I think they don't shoot the three well we just have to match them on the boards.

 

[KTrain]

Didn't play well at Florida they just were not good enough to prevent losing anyway. Kentucky we were not ready to play they were going for a double bye and fourth place and we never came close to matching their energy. Hoping to miss SC since they have so many fans will be like a home game for them, Texas would be better if we make that second game I think they don't shoot the three well we just have to match them on the boards.

Texas has big's but they don't run the court as well as UKs big's although they are no slouches but neither dribble drives like Key did vs us and full court a couple of times.
I've watched UK play about 4 times this year and Key played almost like another player vs us than I'd seen in the few games I witnessed. Also without watching all their games I would say this was their most complete if they were asked. They were having fun by the 2nd half instead of seeing that frustrated look that teams start getting in the 3rd & 4th vs the LVs and I saw on Amoore's face vs LSU 2nd half. This game, Amoore was smiling the whole 2nd half even when she made an overthrow turnover, she just laughed. They fed off their good fortune you get in a Basketball zone like this as a team very few times in a year as most of us that played the game know. When it happens its almost like an out of body experience.

 

[glv98]

I agree win vs Georgia and one win In SEC tournament gets the Lady Vols a 4 seed and getting to SEC semifinals or finals gets us a high 3 seed..

IMO a 4 seed may still depend on how competitive we are in the second game. Another noncompetitive loss puts us on the cusp of hosting or not and will depend on what other teams trying to get those last 4 seeds do in their tournaments.

Hoping to miss SC since they have so many fans will be like a home game for them, Texas would be better if we make that second game I think they don't shoot the three well we just have to match them on the boards.

It's really pick your poison. I can tell you fm last yr the So Car hoard does make a big difference . But Texas' bigs, Oldacre and Jones are playing really well and Jones absolutely cooked us inside when we played before.

 

[Volfan2012]

IMO a 4 seed may still depend on how competitive we are in the second game. Another noncompetitive loss puts us on the cusp of hosting or not and will depend on what other teams trying to get those last 4 seeds do in their tournaments.

It's really pick your poison. I can tell you fm last yr the So Car hoard does make a big difference . But Texas' bigs, Oldacre and Jones are playing really well and Jones absolutely cooked us inside when we played before.

Yes I think I'd rather go with the least likely that won't have near the crowd support. Texas is also somewhat prone to having a bad shooting game keeping their bigs off the boards is the big thing with them.

 

[glv98]

Yes I think I'd rather go with the least likely that won't have near the crowd support. Texas is also somewhat prone to having a bad shooting game keeping their bigs off the boards is the big thing with them.

Also the SEC tourney is a whole new experience for the Texas players.

 

[LV renaissance]

I would prefer Texas. There is something about being the #1 team in the country when you are not used to it that makes it hard for a team to keep as mentally focused and hungry. You often see those types of teams both in men's and women's hoops lose fairly quickly after that. This is different than the teams like South Carolina and Connecticut that have teams who have been more used to being at the top. I also think Texas was our best road performance. We did better against them in Austin than any team including South Carolina and LSU. I also think that there were times during the year that South Carolina just killed rated teams in a way that Texas did not, so I think their potential is higher than Texas when they are at their very best.