Game Thread: (4/5) Lady Vols 61 - Auburn 71

[creekdipper]

With Key to make up for our poor defense. This team is average at best. Green provided that depth. I’m uncertain they have a player who can step up

With your grand total of four posts, it's easy to see why you would doubt your own expertise.

But, hey, thanks for the levity!

 

[creekdipper]

Arkansas (our next opponent) just dismantled LSU 90-76

Quick! Let's hire Kim Mulkey!

Or maybe LSU should fire Mulkey. Or maybe SCAR should've fired Staley after their loss to Missouri, who just lost to Miss State.

The only reasonable solution is to fire every coach and dismantle the entire sport. Because, after all, we "fans" are embarrassed. And we can't have that.

It's all so distressing...so...unsettling. We'll all be better off giving up watching sports and going back to chucking dirt clods at fence posts.

 

[VolBalls33]

No one is saying fire Kellie, Kim, or Dawn.

 

[creekdipper]

If that was a bump, what is it called when we run into Boston in Columbia?

An opportunity.

 

[Voluble2]

When you are favored by 18.5 and lose by 10 that's just inexcusable. Sure it's basketball and bad games happen, especially on the road. But not a winless Auburn team who had what 23 straight SEC losses.
And again why not call a timeout or 2 when the other team is making such a big run? That's just not good coaching.

The reason she doesn't call timeouts is that she doesn't know what to tell them to do to fix what is happening.

Obviously if she did, she would pull them over and instruct them. At least that is what it looks like when you leave your team out there to drown without throwing them a lifeline.

Again, a good AD would sit her down and have a long discussion about platoon substitutions and how timeouts cannot be saved from game to game.

 

[creekdipper]

No one is saying fire Kellie, Kim, or Dawn.

No, they're just quitting on the players and the coaches despite the team being 18-2 and still tied for 1st SEC. And crying like little babies because they're so "embarrassed" despite the fact that most have never shown themselves around here before now. Yeah, they're really invested in the team.

They're either trolls from other teams, trolls who don't care for wbb but just want to stir pots, or fair-weather "fans" who love to jump on the bandwagon as long as the ride is smooth. People saying we won't make the tournament now are just a waste of space...most likely, alternate accounts of some of our familiar clowns whose only purpose is to try to rile people up. Probably people who were too lazy and spoiled to play sports themselves and just Mumsy and Pater buy some fake trophies to display.

They are good for some laughs, though, so they do serve some good (albeit unintended).

 

[Twinsbornoncampus]

The reason she doesn't call timeouts is that she doesn't know what to tell them to do to fix what is happening.

Obviously if she did, she would pull them over and instruct them. At least that is what it looks like when you leave your team out there to drown without throwing them a lifeline.

Again, a good AD would sit her down and have a long discussion about platoon substitutions and how timeouts cannot be saved from game to game.

The TOs finally got us 11 turnovers in the 4th 22 for the game and overconfidence got us beat. I just hope the team learns from it.

 

[TN_gal]

No doubt that losing Keyen shook the team’s confidence. It’s been an emotional week for them and that look its toll. Keyen was a calming presence on the floor and also provided a tough, physical presence as TK’s backup at center. Challenging to adjust on short notice - both mentally and physically. I forgot which Jordan said in postgame but one of them said that they played frustrated during the game. Previously, they were able to work through frustration. Not last night. Jordan Horston also admitted they were complacent. Well, they learned complacency will get them beat. The turnovers and mental mistakes plaguing them all season finally caught up with them. Wynn not being available due to a bad ankle hurt their depth. Perhaps one reason Tess didn’t start was because she is still recovering from COVID. She’s missed a game and practice, and it may be difficult to get back into rhythm (similar to what John Fulkerson is going through on the men’s team). Prior to the game, Kellie was undecided between Rae and Tess in the starting lineup.

I hope they learn from this loss and use it as an opportunity to get better and refocus. Fortunately, they have a few days to practice, learn, and get use to new adjustments. Everyone will have to step up, not just Jordan Horston. Arkansas will be coming to TBA with confidence after soundly beating LSU and looking for revenge. Take one game at a time. Can’t look ahead or overlook anyone.

 

[creekdipper]

Can you think of 2-3 worse ones ?

Yep...without even doing research...and without even having to dig into Holly's years.

Under Pat, there was Ball State 1st round, there was the championship beatdown against CONN, there was a game in which we blew a 21-pt lead (to LSU?) and lost by 14 or more, etc. This team has overachieved; I remember games we list when we had been #1 all season. Jolly's last game that prevented the opportunity for a 4th straight was devastating. This game looks bad due to the rankings, but it's just a regular season game, and the real fans who have watched this team are well aware of their limitations. It's not a shock to some of us despite being really disappointing.

Although I trird not to look ahead, I knew Arkansas and Florida were coming up before CONN. I anticipated one or both of those games being a struggle but not Auburn. I hoped we'd be 21-1 when we went to CONN, but this should present the team with urgency to improve their well-known weaknesses.

 

[Dak1219]

Does anyone have the plus-minus on this game? It's not available like usual?

 

[Volfaninfl2]

Hi Creekdipper, you’re up early/late, on defense I see. I’m not really embarrassed, I’m more disappointed/disgusted/trying to become more reasonable. Maybe because of overconfidence, or the loss of “Momma” Keyen on the court, our team just did not get ‘up’ for this game. If it was because of the loss of Keyen, then they need to Grow Up, and get over that, fast. Whatever the reason, if you do not get ‘up’ for any game, you will most likely not win it. Unfortunately, this is a totally human thing to do, it’s very hard to get ‘up’ for every single game, and it happens all the time in sports.

As for our stats, we were better than Auburn in field goal percentage, 3 point percentage, (although they made 7 and we made 3), free throw percentage, and total rebounds, (both teams had 11 offensive rebounds), but we had 22 turnovers. Someone said 11 happened in the fourth quarter. Kellie talked tonight about over dribbling and a fourth quarter collapse.

Tamari made 2 of 4 field goals, can’t she shoot more? Emily played 8 minutes and had no points or rebounds, obviously not much of a factor in this loss, but can not Karoline get rebounds? No chance for a redshirt year, maybe Kellie is just protecting her from criticism, I don’t know. Could more minutes by Sara have helped?

We got the lead in the fourth quarter, but no matter how many points a player scores in a game, if the misses come at the end of the fourth quarter, you lose. That’s what happened, we made 3 of 11 shots in the fourth quarter. We could have won, but we missed shots and
turned the ball over in the last half of the fourth quarter.

So, has this whole season been a mirage, like some have said? Are the ones who kept saying we’re gonna lose, we’re gonna lose, finally right? NO. You do not beat UCF, USF, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Texas, and all those wins were just a fluke. This was a lousy loss, with lack of focus and determination, don’t have another one.

Lady Vols, put this game way behind you, and pull together, and give your Best effort in all your future games, and you’ll never regret it. You have thousands cheering you on.

GO LADY VOLS!!!

 

[BruisedOrange]

By the way. Why and where are you bruised?

Above the navel?

No, the name is an old John Prine song, but it seemed personally appropriate after Hurricane Katrina > starting over in Tennessee > then Fulmer's decline > Kiffin's departure > Dooley's demise > Pearl's deception > our last bastion of pride and integrity Pat's dementia >>>

It was a challenging decade, with sadder personal challenges ahead (buttressed by God's commensurate grace). But by 2013 when I joined VolNation... LOL, it felt like a choice between "BruisedOrange" and "OrangePiñata!"

So I figured to be optimistic, since bruises do heal.

And maybe that will reconnect this response to last night's defeat.

 

[LurkerExposed]

If anyone was to be fair, they would say this loss to Auburn was a bit just. They came into the game after all, on a 23-game regular season SEC losing streak. They hadn't won a SEC game in-season since they beat Missouri 95-82 February 27, 2020 in Columbia, MO. That was their next-to-last game of the 2019-20 regular season for them. Their last game that season was a 56-55 loss to Tennessee at home.....

So the Lady Vols started them on their dubious journey of ruination. It's only decent that they should be the ones to bring it to an end.....





right??

 

[VolBall09]

Slept on it, still the worst loss I’ve watched in a long time. Haven’t felt like this since we lost to Vandy at home.

Have to hope we use this as motivation and allow it to improve us. For the first time in almost two years I didn’t enjoy watching last night at all. Not one minute of the game. We did not play team basketball and that was obvious on both ends of the floor.

We gave up layups all night long to players who had no business scoring against our defense. Offensively our spacing was terrible and nobody was moving.

Walker played her heart out and I thought she had one of her better games in recent weeks. Horston tried to will us to a win on her own but that also caused her turnover problems. Auburn loves for the game to be chaos and we played right into that.

The road doesn’t get easier so it has to be chin up and get better. If we allow this to compound we will have a hard time with Arkansas. They are playing much better and have their offense going now.

 

[stlvolsfan]

We were our hustled, didn’t take care of the ball and played horribly in the post. Tamari has to stay out of foul trouble, Snoop has to show up every game, and idk why KJH chose Emily over Karo but they have to figure that situation out because it’s clear Emily, at least against teams like this, is not the answer. Put Tess back in the starting lineup and bring Rae off the bench.

 

[Volfan2012]

You could really see this coming based on the last couple of games on the road. I really didn't think we would play bad enough to lose at Auburn but we've been on a downward trend and it got a lot worse last night. The two key possession indicators last night saw us lose 33 to 20 and as a result they get 13 more shots up than we did. We actually shot the ball better was even at the free throw line, but giving up 13 more shoot attempts usually gets you beat unless you shoot an enormous percentage. We had also done this in the Vandy game lucky for us they couldn't shoot a lick and we won it on shooting percentages alone. Georgia the indicators were about even and we shot the ball better on equal shot attempts and won a close victory. 22 turnovers to 9 by them was bad enough, but allowing them to get 11 offensive rebounds the same amount we got was totally atrocious. I've seen a little to much low energy on the road and some players becoming way to individual trying to do to much. I hope we can get back on course next Monday.

 

[Poultrygeist]

A famous coach once said, "it's easier to win a national championship than win the SEC".

 

[Memvol44]

Hi Creekdipper, you’re up early/late, on defense I see. I’m not really embarrassed, I’m more disappointed/disgusted/trying to become more reasonable. Maybe because of overconfidence, or the loss of “Momma” Keyen on the court, our team just did not get ‘up’ for this game. If it was because of the loss of Keyen, then they need to Grow Up, and get over that, fast. Whatever the reason, if you do not get ‘up’ for any game, you will most likely not win it. Unfortunately, this is a totally human thing to do, it’s very hard to get ‘up’ for every single game, and it happens all the time in sports.

As for our stats, we were better than Auburn in field goal percentage, 3 point percentage, (although they made 7 and we made 3), free throw percentage, and total rebounds, (both teams had 11 offensive rebounds), but we had 22 turnovers. Someone said 11 happened in the fourth quarter. Kellie talked tonight about over dribbling and a fourth quarter collapse.

Tamari made 2 of 4 field goals, can’t she shoot more? Emily played 8 minutes and had no points or rebounds, obviously not much of a factor in this loss, but can not Karoline get rebounds? No chance for a redshirt year, maybe Kellie is just protecting her from criticism, I don’t know. Could more minutes by Sara have helped?

We got the lead in the fourth quarter, but no matter how many points a player scores in a game, if the misses come at the end of the fourth quarter, you lose. That’s what happened, we made 3 of 11 shots in the fourth quarter. We could have won, but we missed shots and
turned the ball over in the last half of the fourth quarter.

So, has this whole season been a mirage, like some have said? Are the ones who kept saying we’re gonna lose, we’re gonna lose, finally right? NO. You do not beat UCF, USF, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Texas, and all those wins were just a fluke. This was a lousy loss, with lack of focus and determination, don’t have another one.

Lady Vols, put this game way behind you, and pull together, and give your Best effort in all your future games, and you’ll never regret it. You have thousands cheering you on.

GO LADY VOLS!!!

Wish Kellie was a bit more angry,instead of so apologetic!!!!! She needs to get on their ass like Pat would!!

 

[VolBall09]

Wish Kellie was a bit more angry,instead of so apologetic!!!!! She needs to get on their ass like Pat would!!

I tend to agree. Seemed to me she was feeling sorry for them. I know it’s been an emotional week, but they can’t dwell on it and tender emotions can’t be an excuse for losing.

 

[Memvol44]

We were our hustled, didn’t take care of the ball and played horribly in the post. Tamari has to stay out of foul trouble, Snoop has to show up every game, and idk why KJH chose Emily over Karo but they have to figure that situation out because it’s clear Emily, at least against teams like this, is not the answer. Put Tess back in the starting lineup and bring Rae off the bench.

Don't know where Rae's head was last night. It wasn't in Alabama...

 

[VolBalls33]

No, they're just quitting on the players and the coaches despite the team being 18-2 and still tied for 1st SEC. And crying like little babies because they're so "embarrassed" despite the fact that most have never shown themselves around here before now. Yeah, they're really invested in the team.

They're either trolls from other teams, trolls who don't care for wbb but just want to stir pots, or fair-weather "fans" who love to jump on the bandwagon as long as the ride is smooth. People saying we won't make the tournament now are just a waste of space...most likely, alternate accounts of some of our familiar clowns whose only purpose is to try to rile people up. Probably people who were too lazy and spoiled to play sports themselves and just Mumsy and Pater buy some fake trophies to display.

They are good for some laughs, though, so they do serve some good (albeit unintended).

I tend to agree with you just about every thing you post. And for sure everything you just said!!! I bleed orange and just can't believe we lost this particular game. Having said that just this one game doesn't defy the season as a whole. Marta is out, Green is out now and Rae was early. Ranting now but the gist is Kellie has done a great job thus far. And the trolls come out every single loss, just as death and taxes. This season in women's basketball has had more parity than any other season in recent memory, so just maybe that's why we all as women's basketball fans get so upset losing to teams we as fan think we shouldn't. Doesn't mean UT should lose to Auburn, but there are 25 other examples of teams that shouldn't lose to certain teams. This season is just different.

 

[creekdipper]

For the first time in almost two years I didn’t enjoy watching last night at all. Not one minute of the game.

I agree with the rest of your post, but didn't you at least enjoy it when we were up 17-7 in the first quarter?

 

[VolBall09]

I agree with the rest of your post, but didn't you at least enjoy it when we were up 17-7 in the first quarter?

Honestly, I rarely enjoy the first quarter of any game. I’m too anxious waiting to see how the rest of the game is going to shape up lol

I did think we looked great for about 6 minutes and said so. Spoke too soon for sure. I think the team did the same thing. Jumped on them and then completely quit playing as a team. Thought Auburn would just roll over and give it to us. Something they’re literally NEVER going to do.

I’m fully aware I’m probably the craziest poster on here. Vacillating between sheer elation and total despair. I’m emotionally invested in every minute of every season for the Lady Vols. I’ll never understand why I’ve always been so drawn to them, but I am. I spend the entire season watching not just our games but 5-6 major conference games daily so I know where we fit in the big picture.

Right now I truly believe this is a top 10 team. That loss last night hurt a ton though. In the court of public opinion this is officially the beginning of the end of our season. The Lady Vols really have something to prove now. The last decade when we were punched like this we didn’t punch back after. That’s my biggest fear at the moment.

 

[Rickster]

Well, finally got over the loss enough to visit the site. No surprise that people we have not seen much of all year show up after the loss to act out or to start a thread on the things we didn't do well. Everyone loses a game every now and again but the real test will be how the team handles the loss. Do get get back up fighting or do they have a pity party? I'm guessing they get back up and work harder to get better.

 

[NeedOrange]

You could also look at it as if we didn't lose the possession to a turnover we wouldn't need the offensive rebound to make up for it. Let's not have to compensate. But we have been doing exactly that all season, trying to outscore and out rebound our t.o.s. It was bound to catch up with us. The two Jordans and Rae just have to cut down turnovers. Period.

Cut down your TO's and keep your ORB's and no one but SCAR can play with you.