Game Thread: #11 Lady Vols at #18 Fla St; Thurs Nov 9, 6PM

[Coach Jumper]

....Wells is a better defender than Powell,,,,

Check your glasses' prescription and then rewatch the game

 

[Coach Jumper]

We didn’t lose because we are dependent on Rickea, we loss because we didn’t close out on 3 point shooters, couldn’t stop dribble penetration and missing easy free throws. Rickea needs to be this aggressive every single game, that’s our only hope.

exactly!

 

[SGMVols]

Seems Kellie's MO for that last shot at the end of a qtr is run the clock down to 10 seconds then make a move. They had 3 attempts I believe, maybe it was 2, for the end of qtr shot and didn't make any. FL St had one and made a 3. Understand the reason is not to give the other team a chance to score, but is 10 seconds enough time to execute??? Maybe not for this team.

End of quarter possessions have been a problem her entire tenure and that cost us the game.

 

[SGMVols]

We should never, ever lose a game in which we score in the 90s. I can’t get over how bad our defense was in that game.

 

[Memvol44]

W

She didn't get hit on the head--just fouled on her hand/arm.

Whatever...

 

[Majors]

I’m disappointed in the loss but dang people, the season just started. Some of you act like the season is over. Take a deep breath or a chill pill. We will be fine. Very few teams in history win every game in a season.

Define fine? Nobody is saying this team was the next 97-98 team…to lose by one is the moral victory. To be down almost double early shows cause for concern for when we play those teams ahead of us.

 

[turbovol]

We didn’t lose because we are dependent on Rickea, we loss because we didn’t close out on 3 point shooters, couldn’t stop dribble penetration and missing easy free throws. Rickea needs to be this aggressive every single game, that’s our only hope.

Yes, we lost because our defense was not good enough. I said we cannot be too dependent on Jackson. Yes, she should be aggressive, but that doesn't mean she must take every shot when we need a basket. And she's going to get a lot of defensive attention going forward...

 

[Aladywhovolunteer]

Got til Nov.23 to get defense straightened out...Indiana 5 times better than FSU...

Dang @knoxvol52 if Indiana is going to score 460 points against us then our defense really does suck!

 

[Lucy]

Yes, we lost because our defense was not good enough. I said we cannot be too dependent on Jackson. Yes, she should be aggressive, but that doesn't mean she must take every shot when we need a basket. And she's going to get a lot of defensive attention going forward...

Our defense was good enough at times. Felt like we made a big leap even from first half to second half.

 

[Volfan2012]

Well hard to imagine it could get worse.


This is why I say this is a system issue, not a player issue. Wynn is a vet player whose main role is D and was inserted only to stop the open 3. How does this happen? Also, and Lord knows I appreciate the career game RJ had, she did the same thing on the 3 Bonner hit to tie the game at 91. How are they so out of position?

KJH said before the practice we watched it would focus on D since she was displeased with their D in the NC St scrimmage. And indeed it did, for over 2 hrs. And yet . . .

Either the scheme is off or their teaching of it is off.

Players definitely getting lost on their assignments. I would've never thought we couldn't win scoring 91 points.

 

[Volfan2012]

We didn’t lose because we are dependent on Rickea, we loss because we didn’t close out on 3 point shooters, couldn’t stop dribble penetration and missing easy free throws. Rickea needs to be this aggressive every single game, that’s our only hope.

I think we have some players that are never going to be able to stop dribble penetration. That being the case then you have to pick your poison when you face a three point shooting team. With a team like that on defense I am closing out on the threes and stopping them as much as I can cause 13 threes is 39 points and 13 twos only 26 points.

 

[mudcat1973]

I just wish Kellie could recruit anybody who can both shoot AND guard. Darby is our best shooter but is a total liability defensively. Wynn may be our best perimeter defender but she can’t throw the ball in the ocean.

Tess came in the third quarter Tennessee 54 Florida state 63 . Tess checked out Tennessee 79 to 74 . Tennessee plus 14 points in second half. Ten minutes Tess Played In the second was not the difference. Watch second half for your self's Tennessee was plus 14 points while Tess was in the game second half!.

 

[xtpsrh08123]

Lawson hasn't proved herself yet at this point.

Her teams defense is already lightyears ahead of ours. Shes proved that .

 

[xtpsrh08123]

TO lets them set defense and requires getting the ball back in. If we only had the one left and then had trouble inbounding the ball after taking the last TO the armchair QBs on here would be screaming Kellie took her last TO!

excuses are getting old . We had just previously called time out go up 3 . No excuse for that and no excuse for going zone when up 3 knowing they already have hit 10 3's on us......come on!

 

[Mr.Vol2U]

I see several of you all wrote emotional posts . That's why I waited until today to write my opinion. Whew what a tough loss but I did see some positives. We definitely have an offense, RJ looks better than last year, Spears is going to be a bright spot for us on offense (got to work on defense though), love to see the toughness out of Darby (hate the tech), and wow JP with the on the ball defense. Let's face it you all it's not like we was going to go undefeated. A lot of teams lost this week and we happen to be one of those teams. What I did like to see is that when we was down by 16 we fought back and not put our heads down. A lot of teams would have gave up and we didn't. Was I upset that we lost, well hell yeah but at the same time it's the second game of the season. I do believe we will improve. We must improve our 3 point defense and hit free throws. That's what lost us the game. Did Darby commit a untimely tech? Yes! Definitely killed momentum but at the end of the day if we stopped them from hitting 3's this game wouldn't had even been close. I do believe we will be better than next year. Let's keep believing in these ladies and giving our support. Hell we could have been Ole Miss and lost against an unranked Oklahoma at home. Remember LSU lost against Colorado just this week. I'm sure a lot of their fans don't think their doomed for the rest of the season. We got this y'all . Go Lady Vols!!

 

[knoxvol52]

Dang @knoxvol52 if Indiana is going to score 460 points against us then our defense really does suck!

Eeeh ....maybe score 275...give or take a basket...

 

[LVsinceJV]

Her teams defense is already lightyears ahead of ours. Shes proved that .

Yeah but her offense is limited, she's got the opposite problem that Kellie has, so I don't know about her as our head coach Now replace Jon with her? I'd support it!

 

[creekdipper]

Only the "stars" and NIL champs get to do in-your-face taunting without repercussions from refs.

When they do it, it becomes viral ESPN highlights and is called "moving the game forward."

C'est la vie.

 

[Volfan2012]

Her teams defense is already lightyears ahead of ours. Shes proved that .

Her defense was better against Florida State last year held them to 70 problem was her offense only scored 57. She had numerous other games where her team couldn't score enough to win. It is a double edged sword you need both and neither Duke or Tennessee has both each has one,

 

[Volfan2012]

Tess came in the third quarter Tennessee 54 Florida state 63 . Tess checked out Tennessee 79 to 74 . Tennessee plus 14 points in second half. Ten minutes Tess Played In the second was not the difference. Watch second half for your self's Tennessee was plus 14 points while Tess was in the game second half!.

I think she may have stayed in longer if she hadn't got that technical for taunting. I would have overlooked it Kellie seldom overlooks anything like that as she took her out and we didn't see her again.

 

[Volfan2012]

Idk how we get them for her, but Kaiya needs more minutes. She has potential to be the best and ONLY lock down defender on this team in my opinion.

I think she should get some of Pucketts minutes, some offense/defense action. Sarah looks way more comfortable and is a super talented offensive player. She’s still a step slow on defense and it just isn’t natural to her.

Wells is a better defender than Powell, their minutes should be more even. 28 for Powell and 17 for Wells against FSU. I’d rather see that about 22 a piece. Wells has quick hands and puts more pressure in their primary ball handler. I also think the offense looks even better when she runs it. Just has a super high bball IQ. Needs to be a little more aggressive but that will come.

Neither point guard is giving us what we need out of the position. Wells is the better passer if we had someone that would pay attention when she passes to them. She hit Jill twice in good position and she fumbled both away. I don't know what is going on with her offense court is the same size she really hasn't took any open threes as of yet this season. Powell had five turnovers, but I thought she defended better than most of the players last night. Together 4 of 11 with Powell going 2 of 7 and Wells 2 of 4 is not what we want to get out of the position this season. Probably the most costly mistakes of the game were the two missed free throws by Wells and then the two misses by Darby. Both players shoot 80 percent they need to make those free throws.

 

[creekdipper]

Disappointing loss in a very winnable game. More reminiscent of Gonzaga than OSU. Lots of little mistakes and breakdowns that add up to a loss at the buzzer.

Hopefully, the slow start was a result of being tired from the long week and travel. We basically played even or ahead for the final three quarters. Also, we appeared shell-shocked when FSU was shooting unconsciously from outside.

When we finally applied some pressure and got aggressive, we forced turnovers and misses. Still lost wide-open shooters at times. FSU was far more consistent in maintaining contact and taking away entry passes.

The positive is that we came back and played harder in the second half and positioned ourselves to win at the end. This loss stings because it wasn't to a far more-talented team, poor officiating, or anything else other than beating ourselves and getting outplayed.

Time to regroup and correct errors.

 

[Texas]

Sure my musings have been said, but too disheartened to read everything. But, hee goes:

1) Rickea. 31 and 17 wow. Defense was spectacular. If only one of the last 2 shots woulda dropped.

2) thanks a lot Tess. WTH are you getting a tech for on a fast break layup. I know it’s not the 80s anymore, but she would be spending the next practices until Monday running sprints. Not even touching a ball.

3). Time to stop playing bigs at the expense of speed. I thought a big shift occurred with Wells and Powell on the floor.

4) please RJ come to the Wings!!!

 

[creekdipper]

If Rickea had hit the shot at the end, that and her monster game would have been highlighted on Sportscenter.

 

[Lucy]

excuses are getting old . We had just previously called time out go up 3 . No excuse for that and no excuse for going zone when up 3 knowing they already have hit 10 3's on us......come on!

Not making excuses as none are needed. Just pointing out the TO logic failure for those such as yourself who want to kick and cry about coach’s decisions.
So good luck with your church league sixth graders this year! Come on!!