Game thread: #11 Lady Vols host Georgia. Sunday, March 2, Noon ET, SECN

[creekdipper]

SHe didgeridoo the job done on or off the court move on or move out.

The French horn would be more apt.

 

[BruisedOrange]

Bad loss yes.... disappointing to lose senior day to a doormat

Overall a good first year for kim i have confidence in her she has a system a vision she will be successful here

I have confidence that we'll see defensive improvement next season, in both halfcourt and press.

Part of that will be due to increased and more consistent quickness over the entire roster, and partly due to less practice time & effort needed to un-learn old habits.

 

[KrazyVolFan]

The French horn would be more apt.

Didn't get the job done

 

[Majors]

Kellie beat SC once which is just as good as beating UConn. It didn’t save her. You can’t live off one regular season win forever no matter how momentous it was.

that UGA team makes MTSU look like SC.

That was year 2 for Harper. Beating UConn in year one as your biggest rival carries more equity. Tennessee isn’t supposed to lose to in-state discretional school, especially in year 5.

 

[creekdipper]

Didn't get the job done

Kazoonheit!

 

[RAVOL]

I do notice one thing from Kim's Team as regular season ended. Kim expects and demands alot from her team intensity and focus every minute no excuse to not give your all. And what I'm seeing from a few they don't have the mental toughness to meet what coach wants even from players who are not as athletic for this system like Puckett who has gone missing in action. Other teams have freshman running circles around her and a few others. Kim is not telling them she expects them to make every shot but to not hang your head miss assignments but stay focused in the moment. I have watched many coaches over the years and the really good ones have this mentality and it takes time to find a whole team that has the mental toughness to play at high level. Case in point not just to call out Puckett Ruby is exactly the same. Hanging her head and playing really bad and can't take tough coaching and learning. Now let's see how this team plays in 2nd season meaning tournament. Hope Cooper will be fine because she would be huge loss. Great things coming in future hang in Lady Vols Fans. In CHRIST Alone

 

[BruisedOrange]

It will .... but for some reason she seems to have lost this team. I still believe in Kim and I think the positives still out-weigh the negatives so far .... but this is discouraging. Today's game was totally unacceptable.

Tennessee basketball fans have gone from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows this weekend. Not sure what kind of mood to be in right now.

I'll be dosing my pain with highlights from the Tennessee BaseVols game today, then diving into a challenging non-fiction book, out on the porch in the sunlight.

As Tess said in her postgame radio interview, "God is good." I need that reminder too often, it seems.

 

[mudcat1973]

I think losing to a horrible team at home can also tell you something about her coaching. Don’t get me wrong, there have been bright moments(UConn obviously) but today’s loss combined with Florida and Kentucky tells you just as much as the wins. People saying we don’t have the talent yet but again we beat UConn. She has to learn to make adjustments to her system, and I’m hopeful she can, but today is as bad a look as UConn was good.

Tennessee 1 SEC post tournament game important.
Because Tennessee NCAA tournament games will be on the road.
Need a win to vultures away from Tennessee recruiting class come in or away from the returning players

 

[SGMVols]

Worst losses in LV history

1) 6 win Vandy at home in 2019
2) Ball State in first round of 2009 NCAAT
3) This loss

 

[spojo13]

Tennessee 1 SEC post tournament game important.
Because Tennessee NCAA tournament games will be on the road.
Need a win to vultures away from Tennessee recruiting class come in or away from the returning players

Some truth there. Kim and team can say look we beat UConn, but other recruiters can point to us finishing .with a 500 record and 9th in the SEC. Need to go finish on a hopeful note in the tourneys to gain momentum back to our program.

 

[mudcat1973]

So, who on this roster would CKC recruit if she could start from scratch? I just feel like these girls don't fit what CKC is wanting to do, they're not bad players, just not good in this system in my opinion.

Freshman point guard and Cooper maybe.
She also gives Spear senior lots of minutes.
You ask

 

[And1]

We will not be hosting obviously.

 

[chuckiepoo]

We will not be hosting obviously.

Not a done deal, according to Charlie Crème. Standby. May be able to back in. Should know by this time next week.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Worst losses in LV history

1) 6 win Vandy at home in 2019
2) Ball State in first round of 2009 NCAAT
3) This loss

I think this Georgia team is the worst opponent to ever beat the Lady Vols in Thompson-Boling (as my own personal protest I will never refer to our arena by it's corporate name).

However, the worst loss in Lady Vols history is still giving away that Final Four game to Michigan State in 2005 (although, they were a good team). Still, we just choked and gave it to them.

Xavier in the 2001 Sweet 16 would be my 2nd worst loss .... with Virginia in the 1990 Elite 8 #3. It kept us from hosting the Final Four in TBA. Duke in 1999 would be #4.

 

[BruisedOrange]

I do notice one thing from Kim's Team as regular season ended. Kim expects and demands alot from her team intensity and focus every minute no excuse to not give your all. And what I'm seeing from a few they don't have the mental toughness to meet what coach wants even from players who are not as athletic for this system like Puckett who has gone missing in action. Other teams have freshman running circles around her and a few others. Kim is not telling them she expects them to make every shot but to not hang your head miss assignments but stay focused in the moment. I have watched many coaches over the years and the really good ones have this mentality and it takes time to find a whole team that has the mental toughness to play at high level. Case in point not just to call out Puckett Ruby is exactly the same. Hanging her head and playing really bad and can't take tough coaching and learning. Now let's see how this team plays in 2nd season meaning tournament. Hope Cooper will be fine because she would be huge loss. Great things coming in future hang in Lady Vols Fans. In CHRIST Alone

One of the saner post-mortems on today's game.
--------------
Possibly related: Educators have recognized in all age groups of students who went through the lockdowns a variety of ways that they differ from the norms (none of them described as "stronger" or "better"). I've been wondering if or how those differences might show up in athletics.

I don't have a hypothesis here, I'm just wondering if coaches might be encountering some anomalies with their current rosters. If anyone has read anything on this topic, please share.

 

[th2421]

One of the saner post-mortems on today's game.
--------------
Possibly related: Educators have recognized in all age groups of students who went through the lockdowns a variety of ways that they differ from the norms (none of them described as "stronger" or "better"). I've been wondering if or how those differences might show up in athletics.

I don't have a hypothesis here, I'm just wondering if coaches might be encountering some anomalies with their current rosters. If anyone has read anything on this topic, please share.

Maybe not really related, but perhaps, I thought it was interesting in today's post-game, Kim said that every single player was locked in and focused on the game plan against UConn, whereas towards the end of the season there might be some players "focused on the wrong things" - I don't really know what that means (could mean looking ahead to the NCAAs, hopefully doesn't mean thinking about/planning on transferring), but I know loss of focus (and brain fog) is a common thing that's come up in relation to lockdowns/COVID infections.

 

[alexvol]

Something is direly wrong and I do not know what it is but many on the team appear to have packed their bags for season's end to go home to get some of Mama's home cooking.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I do notice one thing from Kim's Team as regular season ended. Kim expects and demands alot from her team intensity and focus every minute no excuse to not give your all. And what I'm seeing from a few they don't have the mental toughness to meet what coach wants even from players who are not as athletic for this system like Puckett who has gone missing in action. Other teams have freshman running circles around her and a few others. Kim is not telling them she expects them to make every shot but to not hang your head miss assignments but stay focused in the moment. I have watched many coaches over the years and the really good ones have this mentality and it takes time to find a whole team that has the mental toughness to play at high level. Case in point not just to call out Puckett Ruby is exactly the same. Hanging her head and playing really bad and can't take tough coaching and learning. Now let's see how this team plays in 2nd season meaning tournament. Hope Cooper will be fine because she would be huge loss. Great things coming in future hang in Lady Vols Fans. In CHRIST Alone

Very good post.

 

[mudcat1973]

Some truth there. Kim and team can say look we beat UConn, but other recruiters can point to us finishing .with a 500 record and 9th in the SEC. Need to go finish on a hopeful note in the tourneys to gain momentum back to our program.

All Tennessee needs is a Three game losing streak to end the season.
How strong of commitment do high school players have to the university they sign with.
How late can recruit which teams
The transfer portal not open yet
Could a high school student which teams after signing and play next year?
All players not just Tennessee players?

 

[teeball]

Not so sure that this style won't work with women. When she gets subs that are just as good as starters this can and will work I believe. Give it time! these last two games were just huge bumps in the road. Need a little more post power and better trapping ability and next year could be lots of fun. Still potential to overachieve this postseason. Go Vols!!

That's the question alright ... will this style work? My guess is no. Early in the season when teams are not as well conditioned as they are in mid and post season this style of wearing teams down does seem to work but once the competition ramps up and the competition is better conditioned it's effectiveness wanes. However, the next couple of years will tell the tale as CKC gets "her" recruits in house. This year she was handicapped by having to use many returning players who aren't athletic enough for this style of play. I thought and posted early this year when so many were ecstatic with our undeafeated 14-0 start of the season that I believed a .500 SEC record and making the NCAAT should be considered a successful season and CKC has accomplished that ... so well done Lady Vols! That said, I do hope that CKC is successful here for many years but she may have to tweak her current style of play by incorporating some more traditional style of play at times in order to contend at the top level of the SEC and nation.

 

[ttharp]

Is there still a chance for us to get an 8 seed if Vandy loses?

 

[mudcat1973]

Not a done deal, according to Charlie Crème. Standby. May be able to back in. Should know by this time next week.

Ten point win in the SEC tournament 1st round would help

 

[Orange.]

Cora updated on Cooper. I think this is the new part.

“Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell did not have an update on Cooper's status after the game.

"’ I don't know anything more than you know,’ Caldwell said. ‘I know she rolled her ankle and I haven't seen her since.’”

 

[Lucy]

I feel like the team just seems drained. Intellectually, emotionally and physically running on empty.
IMO there has not been a team in the SEC who has had to absorb bigger upheavals than the LVs this year.
I hope when we see CKCs after game presser she does not repeat the “who wanted it more” etc. speech. To me, everyone including the staff, needs to touch some grass, take a quick mental vacation and prepare for the “new”season. Further hammering the team at this point would be counterproductive.

 

[GameTime]

Is it over...