Game Thread: #22/23 TENNESSEE AT NO. 13/13 KENTUCKY

#251
#251
I think this team just needs to get a signature win over a ranked opponent (ND doesn’t count). The hustle is there but the basketball IQ isn’t always there.

Rennia has to get a little more mean. Howard was flexing (and she should have been) and getting hyped.

Maybe I’m overly optimistic but I see improvements in this team in some areas compared with “all the talent”we had last year. It looks like we play harder for longer spurts instead of the 2-3 min spurts last year. I also feel like Kellie gets this teams attention better than Holly did.

We will need to win the games we are supposed to win and steal a game from MSU, SC, A&M, or Ark.

I don’t care if we are ranked right now I just want us to get better. I still have a feeling come SEC Tourney time we will be a better team.

Horston still has to many turnovers but I saw twice WHERE SHE ACTUALLY PULLED THE BALL BACK OUT 😂 I was like ok we have seen some SMALL steps towards maturity.
Sometimes I wish she wouldn’t overpass and shoot the midrange jumper when she shakes the defender but often times she tries to get it to a teammate.

Sorry that was a lot... the loss sucks... but I still feel optimistic this team will shock one of the teams predicted to finish ahead of them.
 
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#252
#252
20 plus turnovers just gave us far less offensive possession and to many possessions to defend. We keep losing the turnover battle by such a large margin then you end up playing to much defense and not enough offense. I think this team will be a work in progress most of this season maybe until it ends our best players other than Davis are all freshmen and sophomores and the sophomore didn't learn much last season as freshmen.
 
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#253
#253
The Texas game was a far worse loss than this one. That is the one we let go at home and no reason we shouldn't win it. That was 60 points against a defense that was no better than what Kentucky has.
 
#254
#254
Texas said:
Hmmmm, giving away a gajillion 3 pointers, career night against them, 200 turnovers, coming out of halftime completely flat. Seems like an ongoing Holly ball saga. Wish that my team had the fight In them to win.

Does Tennessee specifically look for recruits that cannot shoot? Why does every team in Division I have multiple players that are good 3 point shooters whilst Tennessee has zero. It’s like watching the Chicago Bears and their perpetual lack of a quarterback. 100 years of football, not one good quarterback.
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I think the will to win is something that is going to have to be instilled and it won’t be a quick thing when you have had players that have been exposed to the opposite of for years. I see a little more hustle in TN this year just gotta get better at the BB IQ level. Ugh it’s annoying and I agree we need someone to help open up the middle. I think Rennia and Horston can be those knock down three point shooters.

I have to remind myself that probably the best defensive perimeter player is out with an ACL tear😩 She also was a slasher the other team had to scout for...
 
#255
#255
KellywillwinNC said:
howard with a career night my goodness..team ya had one job and that was not let howard go off like she did..turnovers didnt help either
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Yes we don't have a lockdown defender but she made some plays when she was well guarded. I watched her play against Louisville and she was no where this good missed a lot of wide open shots and they lost by one.
 
#257
#257
VA_VOLFAN said:
I think this team just needs to get a signature win over a ranked opponent (ND doesn’t count). The hustle is there but the basketball IQ isn’t always there.

Rennia has to get a little more mean. Howard was flexing (and she should have been) and getting hyped.

Maybe I’m overly optimistic but I see improvements in this team in some areas compared with “all the talent”we had last year. It looks like we play harder for longer spurts instead of the 2-3 min spurts last year. I also feel like Kellie gets this teams attention better than Holly did.

We will need to win the games we are supposed to win and steal a game from MSU, SC, A&M, or Ark.

I don’t care if we are ranked right now I just want us to get better. I still have a feeling come SEC Tourney time we will be a better team.

Horston still has to many turnovers but I saw twice WHERE SHE ACTUALLY PULLED THE BALL BACK OUT 😂 I was like ok we have seen some SMALL steps towards maturity.
Sometimes I wish she wouldn’t overpass and shoot the midrange jumper when she shakes the defender but often times she tries to get it to a teammate.

Sorry that was a lot... the loss sucks... but I still feel optimistic this team will shock one of the teams predicted to finish ahead of them.
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If we ever get Horston and Burrell totally in synch and decide to play defense for a full game we'll be in business. I don't know if it will happen this year or not. I think we'll be far better than we are right now by Tourney time just on the experience of playing and practicing alone. The next few games should be wins we'll see how it goes we have to win against Ole Miss even if it is a road game. That would be a very bad loss.
 
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#258
#258
Just read that our game against Missouri, (who just beat LSU), was the first SEC game for 3 of our starters, Jordan, Tamari, and Lou, which would make the Kentucky game their first ever away SEC game. Before we criticize what each player did, let’s remember how early in the SEC season it is, and how little experience many on our team have. Give them time, I know they’re going to make us all proud. GO LADY VOLS!
 
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#262
#262
Volfan2012 said:
Can't be considered a bad loss since they were favored to win by 9 and it was about how it went. They were ranked higher than we are. I don't like any loss but losing to a higher ranked team is never considered a bad loss.
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I consider this a bad lost because we have the better team as for as skill and ability go. However it is as I been saying if we don’t value each possession we will have too many turnovers. .43 x 11 turnovers equals about 6 to 8 points and we lost by 4. Turnovers, 21 took us out of our offense and caused a let down on defensive efforts coach only needs to read the box scores of her predecessor we cannot win with twenty turnovers against good teams.
 
#263
#263
Volfan2012 said:
If we ever get Horston and Burrell totally in synch and decide to play defense for a full game we'll be in business. I don't know if it will happen this year or not. I think we'll be far better than we are right now by Tourney time just on the experience of playing and practicing alone. The next few games should be wins we'll see how it goes we have to win against Ole Miss even if it is a road game. That would be a very bad loss.
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Another poster said this was a really bad loss and I thought to myself No a really bad loss would be to Ole Miss on the road👀...

It does feel like this team will be better come tourney time right?
 
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#264
#264
If we had Zay we win this game and would have won Texas. We probably would only have the loss to Stanford. We have a long way to go, but there have been improvements during the season. Maybe not as much as we hoped, but remember the last three years under Holly the team actually got worse as the season went on.
 
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#265
#265
Volfan2012 said:
The Texas game was a far worse loss than this one. That is the one we let go at home and no reason we shouldn't win it. That was 60 points against a defense that was no better than what Kentucky has.
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I don't know. I think Texas has more weapons than Kentucky, but UK has the best overall player. Texas can also negate Tennessee's size. Not to mention that Texas also beat Stanford. They IMO have a much higher ceiling than UK.
 
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#266
#266
Decker Moss said:
If we had Zay we win this game and would have won Texas. We probably would only have the loss to Stanford. We have a long way to go, but there have been improvements during the season. Maybe not as much as we hoped, but remember the last three years under Holly the team actually got worse as the season went on.
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My favorite development of this season is how quickly Zaay has become the female Michael Jordan since her injury...
 
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#267
#267
Twinsbornoncampus said:
I consider this a bad lost because we have the better team as for as skill and ability go. However it is as I been saying if we don’t value each possession we will have too many turnovers. .43 x 11 turnovers equals about 6 to 8 points and we lost by 4. Turnovers, 21 took us out of our offense and caused a let down on defensive efforts coach only needs to read the box scores of her predecessor we cannot win with twenty turnovers against good teams.
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Well every person can consider it whatever they want to because it is a loss and will always be a loss. It was a terrible performance defensively and very poor performance taking care of the ball. If we had done either we would've beat the 13th ranked team.
 
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#268
#268
Amb3096 said:
The same is true for Tennessee. They have no consistent scoring outside of Davis.
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No, but they have more potential options offensively than Kentucky has, namely Horston, Key, and Burrell to supplement Davis’s scoring. Davis should be the most dreaded matchup for opponents in WCB right now, but she seems to be content to get her average and blend.
 
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#270
#270
Undercovervol said:
I see improvements but am not confident KH can really get us to an elite level. We’ve yet to win a game as an underdog. There’s obviously still a lot of games though.
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How long are you going to give KJH to show she can get us to an elite level? I would like to see this year’s recruiting cycle with her having more time to talk to recruits.

What would be a good start to get us to an elite level? Getting passed the first round? Sweet 16? I always wonder what would be the tell tale sign that we are on an upswing?

This is not a negative post in response to yours but I find myself wondering how will I know or what do others think is the turning point. I don’t know what it will look like but I agree coming back and completing a win would show heart and improvement. Compared to last year though when it was a 14 point lead it snowballed this team fought back but still lost smh...

I also think this team still gets rattled to easily on the road so I am interesting to see who Kellie gets on the line and schedules next year and maybe even the year after that when more of the home and homes are up....
 
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#271
#271
It's fine to analyze defense, TO's, and other stuff we need to work on, but IMHO, what we really need is some toughness. We haven't had any since, IDK, Burdick and Harrison? The only person out there who consistently plays like she isn't afraid of contact is Brown, and she's in a knee brace post-surgery, for Pete's sake.
 
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#272
#272
Amb3096 said:
I don't know. I think Texas has more weapons than Kentucky, but UK has the best overall player. Texas can also negate Tennessee's size. Not to mention that Texas also beat Stanford. They IMO have a much higher ceiling than UK.
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The main reason was that it was a home game and I think at home we would beat Kentucky quite handily. I guess we probably certainly lose at Texas at their place but I always expect more energy at home and certainly more than 60 points on the board.
 
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#273
#273
Decker Moss said:
That may be an exaggerated belief on my part, but to think she wouldn’t have any effect is one also IMHO. Plus I never said she was a superstar but she would probably more effective then say Lou.
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I agree and I didn't mean that as a shot to you, I just see a lot of fans overstating her injury as a crutch for what (IMO) is a poorly coached team....
 
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#274
#274
VA_VOLFAN said:
How long are you going to give KJH to show she can get us to an elite level? I would like to see this year’s recruiting cycle with her having more time to talk to recruits.

What would be a good start to get us to an elite level? Getting past the first round? Sweet 16? I always wonder what would be the tell tale sign that we are on an upswing?

I don’t know what it will look like but I agree coming back and completing a win would show heart and improvement. Compared to last year though when it was a 14 point lead it snowballed this team fought back but still lost smh...
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I think getting to 20 plus wins in the regular season will be a good total for this team. I think eventually Horston must start looking like a consistent player and a few others that we are playing want be playing if they can't at least make a contribution to winning the game. She certainly gets time to recruit some of her own players and time to develop the players sophomores and freshmen that are the best players on this team other than Davis. She certainly can't go 19 and 13 like last season but something like 25 and 9 would be a good season considering the roster youth and inexperience.
 
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