Game Thread: Iowa v Lady Vols, Sat Dec 7th ; Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic; 7PM; FOX network TV; WIN 78-68

[lvocd]

Common theme so far for all opposing coaches post game is to have this smug look and say “well we will see how their system works against better competition.” Funny thing to say after you just lost to that system. Mostly they don’t think we’re going to be able to sub like we do.

Previous coaches said we wouldn’t be able to do it when we hit teams like FSU and Iowa…we just did. And we did it sticking to our game plan for the most part. Turned both teams over way more than their average, got way more looks at the basket and beat them on the offensive glass. Eventually wore them down and their mental and physical fatigue led to bad decisions and easy buckets for us.

Jan had kind of a sneery look and said “well we will see how they do with it in the SEC.”

They’re all underestimating how confident Kim is and how well she transfers that confidence on to her team. That’s what the best coaches are truly able to do. They have a vision, they have the confidence and they can make everyone around them believe in that vision and feed off their confidence.

You think Kim Mulkey isn’t confident? Geno? Dawn? Pat? That’s the common thread for all greats and Kim has that.

It may simply be that Jen and Rick Insell, who both poo-poohed Kim's system, are genuinely convinced it's not going to work in the long run because of their own vast coaching experience. They may also be put off by the new kid's sheer audacity. That seems like at least a part of it: the smirks and sneers scream "Yeah, okay kid. You think you invented coaching? You didn't."

Obviously there aren't going to be a lot of coaches outside of Knoxville who want to see her succeed. They want her to pay her dues first, and her getting the job in the first place probably irritated a lot of coaches.

Whatever. I'm glad Caldwell is confident and appears to have the respect and belief of her players. She is already wildly successful here and that's probably gonna make some folks jealous. Kim is unbothered. Love her!

 

[glv98]

I don’t really think it matters how many times you see it. The system is so different it’s hard to play against. Time will tell, certainly. But the decision fatigue our opponents face isn’t going to change just because it’s the second time we play.

It's a good question. I don't think it's so much that it's different, they all know what's coming. I think it's that it comes out of the gate so fast and furious and produces early game discombobulation before the opponent knows what hit them. Takes them awhile to settle in. Don't think you can prepare for that intensity, along with the absolute klepto-hands. Total credit to the coaching staff so far for having them ready to set the D tone early.

For sure the LVs will get better at what they do, but better coaches and players are coming down the pike at us as well. They'll watch film, they'll see tendencies to exploit. LVs just have to stay nimble for several modes of play, pulling any out of the quiver as needed. They've done a great job of that late in recent games.

 

[VolBall09]

It may simply be that Jen and Rick Insell, who both poo-poohed Kim's system, are genuinely convinced it's not going to work in the long run because of their own vast coaching experience. They may also be put off by the new kid's sheer audacity. That seems like at least a part of it: the smirks and sneers scream "Yeah, okay kid. You think you invented coaching? You didn't."

Obviously there aren't going to be a lot of coaches outside of Knoxville who want to see her succeed. They want her to pay her dues first, and her getting the job in the first place probably irritated a lot of coaches.

Whatever. I'm glad Caldwell is confident and appears to have the respect and belief of her players. She is already wildly successful here and that's probably gonna make some folks jealous. Kim is unbothered. Love her!

Definitely part of it. Detected a little…jealously? From ole Ricky

 

[lvocd]

It's a good question. I don't think it's so much that it's different, they all know what's coming. I think it's that it comes out of the gate so fast and furious and produces early game discombobulation before the opponent knows what hit them. Takes them awhile to settle in. Don't think you can prepare for that intensity, along with the absolute klepto-hands. Total credit to the coaching staff so far for having them ready to set the D tone early.

For sure the LVs will get better at what they do, but better coaches and players are coming down the pike at us as well. They'll watch film, they'll see tendencies to exploit. LVs just have to stay nimble for several modes of play, pulling any out of the quiver as needed. They've done a great job of that late in recent games.

Our quick hands are everything. I don't recall seeing any Lady Vol team, even the championship winning teams, with as many players as capable of being disruptive with their hands and feet.

The way Iowa abused us with the back- door cuts and interior passing and drawing our defenders off the shooters was exactly what the staff needed to see. The players are going to learn a LOT from Iowa. A whole lot.

Kim should send Jen a nice bouquet of flowers for helping her out with those tough lessons while STILL getting the win. Ha!

 

[VolBall09]

Our quick hands are everything. I don't recall seeing any Lady Vol team, even the championship winning teams, with as many players as capable of being disruptive with their hands and feet.

The way Iowa abused us with the back- door cuts and interior passing and drawing our defenders off the shooters was exactly what the staff needed to see. The players are going to learn a LOT from Iowa. A whole lot.

Kim should send Jen a nice bouquet of flowers for helping her out with those tough lessons while STILL getting the win. Ha!

We did pick off about 7 lobs in that game. Our backside defense is coming along. They kept trying to make that pass over the top to O’Grady and we were on it all night.

They mostly got her off penetration and the bounce pass after the help came.

 

[1morevol]

I’m so glad we got her now because there’s about four SEC schools that might be going through a coaching search next spring.

Arkansas, Texas A&M, Mizzou and Georgia come to mind.

I t

I wasn’t even criticizing her in the post I was just observing that she seems to have a better feel for the three ball in the corners, even going back last year the same was true. Maybe you misunderstood the post I was saying we should have her running the baseline to set her up for more

Improved 3 pt shooting in the second half (by the hair of our chiney chin chin) was huge of course. But also keeping our own t.o.s down was key. Their 30 t.o.s wouldn't have been near as effective if we had matched it w 20 of our own. Our passing is much crisper this year.

I've been pleasantly surprised how few turnovers the LVs have had, considering
how fast they play.

 

[lvocd]

We did pick off about 7 lobs in that game. Our backside defense is coming along. They kept trying to make that pass over the top to O’Grady and we were on it all night.

They mostly got her off penetration and the bounce pass after the help came.

Great points. Yep, we're coming along. Almost unbelievably, we are STILL only 7 games in.

 

[RebKell]

Upon further review, the challenge has been overthrown. Next NC Central. Oh yeah KnoxVol52 you owe me ✔

Can I throw out a challenge
I think KnoxVol52 won the Coach Jumper challenge.
Purplehaze26 2nd place
Orange Maniac 3rd

Why not? Don’t have a lot of trolls to smack around… other than @Vunhopper .

That's a go ahead and throw it?

It’s already out there… .
Coach will check it, y’all will argue, and we’ll all kick back and watch…

Missed that totally
thanks for keeping watch,,,correction made

Game Thread Prediction Winners
winner	wins	Game:
chuckiepoo	2	WCU, MTSU
lvocd	1	FSU
Volfan1000	1	UT Martin
Orange Maniac	1	Samford
Knoxvol52	1	Iowa
VolBalls33	1	Samford
Volfan2012	1	Carson/Newman

 

[HerdLVol]

I do think Jenna Burdette is next in line. She’s the one who knows the system and expectations best outside of Kim.

I agree. At Marshall Jenna handled the rotations and did the primary coaching during timeouts. She knows what Kim wants.

 

[GameTime]

We came...We saw...We kicked your ass!

 

[chuckiepoo]

She has no time for all that foolishness.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

The best post game comment KC made was “I know we can play a lot better. We’re closer to our floor than our ceiling.” She seems to have an inner confidence that will eventually permeate the entire team.

 

[GameTime]

Don't be fooled by her pretty face.....She's here to take their hearts and hand it to them.

 

[butchna]

Huh? We lose this game in the prime Summitt years. That is quite some revisionist history.

Guess we disagree…been known to happen. But thanks for complimenting my version of “history” with a big falooting word.

 

[madtownvol]

Right now, my favorite thing about CKC is that she grabbed the "magic time out theory", tied it up, placed it in cement boots and threw it in the Tennessee River, then set the river on fire, recovered its charred, drowned carcass, and placed it in a trash compactor, then took the crushed remains, and placed those in a CERN machine where she obliterated it into subatomic particles and then she fed those to her cat.

 

[madtownvol]

Guess we disagree…been known to happen. But thanks for complimenting my version of “history” with a big falooting word.

Apologies for using the English language. So, which of "these games" did Summitt lose in her 39-0 season which I believe qualifies as "prime Summitt."

 

[butchna]

Right now, my favorite thing about CKC is that she grabbed the "magic time out theory", tied it up, placed it in cement boots and threw it in the Tennessee River, then set the river on fire, recovered its charred, drowned carcass, and placed it in a trash compactor, then took the crushed remains, and placed those in a CERN machine where she obliterated it into subatomic particles and then she fed those to her cat.

Coaches like her, Vitello and Heupel don’t wait to win and use what they have yesterday. Common denominator of a DW hire (I know Tony wasn’t his but still stands).

 

[butchna]

Apologies for using the English language. So, which of "these games" did Summitt lose in her 39-0 season which I believe qualifies as "prime Summitt."

I’ll refrain from using Swahili to ask WHERE in my post did I say that about “Prime Summitt”? “Dating back to” mean sumthin different for you?

 

[madtownvol]

I’ll refrain from using Swahili to ask WHERE in my post did I say that about “Prime Summitt”? “Dating back to” mean sumthin different for you?

Gotcha, we do have a miscommunication issue. To your question, "We lose this kind of game dating back to the prime Summitt years" implies that the Lady Vols had always lost these kind of games going all the way back to the prime Summit years. Which of course would be factually wrong.

I think you meant, "we have not won this kind of game since the prime Summitt years."

Sorry for the misinterpreting your intent.

 

[chuckiepoo]

(Re: Sara)

She DID step up last night and start guarding Stuelke like she should in the second half. She was really physical with her and shut her down.

 

[sechamp2012]

We would be unreal if we could shoot.

My opinion this faster pace has some players hurry their shot or their legs are a little tired from the extra conditioning. When you don’t have your legs it hurts your shooting especially on 3s. A lot of these players like Sara & Jewel are used to passing the ball around running the clock before shooting. I hope & think after a while the pace will be 2nd nature. Seems like the holdovers minus Tess are needing more time to adjust to pace in regard to shooting 3s.

 

[madtownvol]

Like someone else alluded to, we may or may not be seeing Kim's normal sideline behavior yet. For the sake of the baby, pregnant women typically try to remain as calm and stress-free as they possibly can.

So who knows? Once the babe is breathing on his own, we may see Caldwell breathing fire at officials! I doubt we will, but just sayin' we may or may not really see Kim until we're only seeing Kim and not Kim coaching for two.

You may be right. Perhaps those who tracked CKC in her earlier coaching gigs could chime in.

Having said that, I suspect that CKC is not a firebreather on the sidelines. She seems to be "the stay calm and carry' on type. I know some people believe that Bobby Knight histrionics are essential to good coaching but I think a coach who stays calm under pressure can translate that quality to her team.

If we don't want players whining about the officiating, then the coach not doing that also has some merit, I am sure she lets the refs know about blatant missed calls but I bet the message is delivered with sugar rather than vinegar.

Life lessons from the Clint Eastwood;'s Unforgiven. Sheriff "Little Bill"/Gene Hackman is explaining to a journalist about what makes a great gun fighter. It is not who is the fastest but who can keep calm and aim steady when the shooting starts.

 

[Coach Jumper]

Coaches can get their point made by calmly talking to officials instead of going into a tirade or screaming at them.

Tell that to Pat, Kim, Geno, Tara,,,they all wore out a bad ref job,,,nuff said

I don't think it works to be a screamer don't see any proof that Refs call game any different.
I've seen her in Refs ear and in the players ear. I've seen her question their calls sometimes with a serious face and other times with a smile.

A whisper can sometime be more effective than a shout,,,but sometimes a stout is needed

Cooper was given two very questionable calls and the the calls started mounting their way...You can't let a ref have that much power

The referee should be there to protect the game, not to be a part of it.

 

[knoxvol52]

Tell that to Pat, Kim, Geno, Tara,,,they all wore out a bad ref job,,,nuff said

A whisper can sometime be more effective than a shout,,,but sometimes a stout is needed

Cooper was given two very questionable calls and the the calls started mounting their way...You can't let a ref have that much power

The referee should be there to protect the game, not to be a part of it.

 

[madtownvol]

Tell that to Pat, Kim, Geno, Tara,,,they all wore out a bad ref job,,,nuff said

A whisper can sometime be more effective than a shout,,,but sometimes a stout is needed

Cooper was given two very questionable calls and the the calls started mounting their way...You can't let a ref have that much power

The referee should be there to protect the game, not to be a part of it.

Legends have degrees of freedom that a first year coach (at this level) does not. Different strokes for different situations.