Game Thread : Lady Vols 80 v Miss State 69 - 6:30pm SECN+

[VolBall09]

Awesome duo performance from Jackson and Horston! Walker finally got a 3! And what about Tess Darby these last few games?! She’s needed for her outside shooting! Hopefully Puckett can blatant clicking again, she’s been off the last few games.

Tess made a big jump from the OOC to the SEC last season. She has done the same so far this season. She’s turning into a really, really nice player. If she keeps it up she could be in contention for some ALL-SEC honors of some type HM or 2nd team probably, but something not a single person would have predicted when she was signed.

Lots of folks were trashing Kellie when signed Tess and all we heard was how much better a couple other Tennessee players were. Can’t even remember their names now…..

 

[turbovol]

We have to start getting the ball into the post when our 5 has established good low-post position. Multiple times in the second half,
Hollingshead, Striplin and Franklin had great low-post position, and our wing with the ball would look at the 5, and not pass her the ball.
We have a bad habit of not getting the ball into the low post when good inside position has been established. When we did it, a couple of times
in the 4th quarter, good things happened.

 

[turbovol]

Offensively, our supporting cast is most effective, and this is true of all supporting casts, when we are moving the ball crisply,
getting the ball into the post and kicking it out, setting picks, and creating open shots. We are not a great ball-movement team--haven't been
for ages. We make a few passes and then often depend on our best players--Horston and Jackson--to make a move and make a basket.
When we are slow moving the ball, it is hard for players like Puckett and Darby to find open shots. A lot of times, in the fourth, we stand around too
much and we end up with one of our guards taking a three--which is almost never good---or somebody taking a very contested shot.

 

[Volfan2012]

Never seems like Powell is playing very well then you look at the box score and she has 6 rebounds 4 assists in 14 minutes of play and the team is plus ten in points when she is in there. Really goes unnoticed what she does in a game. She did take a couple bad shots but almost every player did that last night.

 

[Coach Jumper]

We have to start getting the ball into the post when our 5 has established good low-post position. Multiple times in the second half,
Hollingshead, Striplin and Franklin had great low-post position, and our wing with the ball would look at the 5, and not pass her the ball.
We have a bad habit of not getting the ball into the low post when good inside position has been established. When we did it, a couple of times
in the 4th quarter, good things happened.

we went into one-on-one play instead of sharing the ball in Q4 and yes, when in that mentality the girls force the post to time-out before the 3-second call is made, thereby opening the door for one-on-ones...this is often when stagnation happens for this team

Tess made a big jump from the OOC to the SEC last season. She has done the same so far this season. She’s turning into a really, really nice player. If she keeps it up she could be in contention for some ALL-SEC honors of some type HM or 2nd team probably, but something not a single person would have predicted when she was signed.

Lots of folks were trashing Kellie when signed Tess and all we heard was how much better a couple other Tennessee players were. Can’t even remember their names now…..

I never trash talked Tess, but I definitely was one the "bench her" bandwagon early in her college career....Truly this girl has shown heart and growth on both offense and defense,, and I gladly eat crow now.

 

[VolBall09]

Never seems like Powell is playing very well then you look at the box score and she has 6 rebounds 4 assists in 14 minutes of play and the team is plus ten in points when she is in there. Really goes unnoticed what she does in a game. She did take a couple bad shots but almost every player did that last night.

I still maintain her +/- has to do a lot with how she guards screens on defense. Seems crazy, but hear me out.

She does a fantastic job guarding the ball screens to initiate our opponents offense. Ends up in more TOs for them and fewer scores. She changes the pace of the game for us because she’s able to lead the break with both Horston and Jackson in transition along with Darby on the wing. So many options.

Walker brings grit, board play and a slightly better scoring punch but she tends to be the recipient in transition rather than the passer.

 

[Coach Jumper]

 

[glv98]

About the double technical. Blond ponytail ref was just horrible, one of those nightmare refs who craved TV face time. Must think she looks good in headphones.

If she had to call a tech, it should have been on #11 who started the whole thing at 22:25 on the replay. Of course they were trying to get RJ riled up. After a play, 11 hard shoulder bumps RJ as she walks by. RJ, who had never even looked at 11, pays her zero attention and keeps walking. Then in a move that would make my children proud, 11 makes a totally offended face and sort of jerks/swings her arm at RJ and barks what appears to be the B word at her as if the whole thing was RJ's fault! Blond Ponytail steps in and talks to 11, and ONLY 11 as RJ is not involved. At all. For a trigger happy tech givin ref, that should have been the moment as it was clearly unprovoked and unresponded to.

At 27:08, RJ rebounds a miss and her putback is cleanly blocked by Carter. RJ responds with that "OK that happened and I didn't love it but oh well" ironic smile. Before the smile is complete, punk #2, who was not involved in the play at all, steps right into RJ's face and chest and starts yakking. Again, RJ snark smiles, but says nothing, at least that the camera caught. To their great credit, RJ's teammates immediately step in, surround her, and start calming down/protecting her. Walker, the toughest hombre in town, literally puts her body btw her mates and MS players and keeps a sharp eye on them. Meanwhile, the announcers discuss that #2 probably just earned herself a T. But in the ultimate split the baby move, blond ponytail calls a T on both!

Here's what I also didn't like, nor did a very vocal fan or 3 behind me: KJH took RJ out, as if she did something wrong. I get she probably just didn't want anything else to happen, but #2 went nowhere and it looked kinda bad.

KJH got back in my good books by taking RJ out right at the end of the game to give her a curtain call. And she got a pretty good one, the notoriously sleepy LV crowd gave her a nice cheer which RJ seemed genuinely pleased with.

That whole crazy thing with Jordy and Wild Annie at the end was just embarrasing icing on blond ponytail's inept cake. I loved that the last thing Jordy said in the presser was she was glad her team won with CLASS.

 

[VolBall09]

I still maintain her +/- has to do a lot with how she guards screens on defense. Seems crazy, but hear me out.

She does a fantastic job guarding the ball screens to initiate our opponents offense. Ends up in more TOs for them and fewer scores. She changes the pace of the game for us because she’s able to lead the break with both Horston and Jackson in transition along with Darby on the wing. So many options.

Walker brings grit, board play and a slightly better scoring punch but she tends to be the recipient in transition rather than the passer.

Edit:

Also, often she comes in at the same time as Rickea….lol

 

[VolBall09]

About the double technical. Blond ponytail ref was just horrible, one of those nightmare refs who craved TV face time. Must think she looks good in headphones.

If she had to call a tech, it should have been on #11 who started the whole thing at 22:25 on the replay. Of course they were trying to get RJ riled up. After a play, 11 hard shoulder bumps RJ as she walks by. RJ, who had never even looked at 11, pays her zero attention and keeps walking. Then in a move that would make my children proud, 11 makes a totally offended face and sort of jerks/swings her arm at RJ and barks what appears to be the B word at her as if the whole thing was RJ's fault! Blond Ponytail steps in and talks to 11, and ONLY 11 as RJ is not involved. At all. For a trigger happy tech givin ref, that should have been the moment as it was clearly unprovoked and unresponded to.

At 27:08, RJ rebounds a miss and her putback is cleanly blocked by Carter. RJ responds with that "OK that happened and I didn't love it but oh well" ironic smile. Before the smile is complete, punk #4, who was not involved in the play at all, steps right into RJ's face and chest and starts yakking. Again, RJ snark smiles, but says nothing, at least that the camera caught. To their great credit, RJ's teammates immediately step in, surround her, and start calming down/protecting her. Walker, the toughest hombre in town, literally puts her body btw her mates and MS players and keeps a sharp eye on them. Meanwhile, the announcers discuss that 4 probably just earned herself a T. But in the ultimate split the baby move, blond ponytail calls a T on both!

Here's what I also didn't like, nor did a very vocal fan or 3 behind me: KJH took RJ out, as if she did something wrong. I get she probably just didn't want anything else to happen, but 4 went nowhere and it looked kinda bad.

KJH got back in my good books by taking RJ out right at the end of the game to give her a curtain call. And she got a pretty good one, the notoriously sleepy LV crowd gave her a nice cheer which RJ seemed genuinely pleased with.

That whole crazy thing with Jordy and Wild Annie at the end was just embarrasing for blond ponytail and totally ridiculous. I loved that the last thing Jordy said in the presser was she was glad her team won with CLASS.

THANK YOU

I have watched the game 3 times and still could not understand wtf happened. I thought on both occasions the MSST player was given a tech but then no FTs were shot.

Total BS. I have not see her in the SEC much before. Used to see her in the PAC-12 a lot I believe, if it’s the same woman. She was awful there as well.

 

[glv98]

We are not a great ball-movement team--haven't been
for ages. We make a few passes and then often depend on our best players--Horston and Jackson--to make a move and make a basket.

I think we're getting alot better at ball movement though. Assists are way up. It's hard to find a balance when you have two superstar one on one players. If Jordy's shots don't fall in the 4th (which honestly they sometimes don't) then we're complaining about hero ball. But they did and we're celebrating one of the great "put the team on my back" LV performances ever. And who doesn't love seeing RJ go spinning and twirling one on one?

Of course the answer is find a sweet combination. Good movement and spacing makes the one on one alot easier, as does finding an open 3 pt shooter who can drain.

I still maintain her +/- has to do a lot with how she guards screens on defense. Seems crazy, but hear me out.

She (Powell) does a fantastic job guarding the ball screens to initiate our opponents offense. Ends up in more TOs for them and fewer scores. She changes the pace of the game for us because she’s able to lead the break with both Horston and Jackson in transition along with Darby on the wing. So many options.

Walker brings grit, board play and a slightly better scoring punch but she tends to be the recipient in transition rather than the passer.

Maybe this turns out to be like the post situation - whoever is having the better night or matches up best. Walker is another player us internet coaches keep trying to bench, but lately she's played much, much better. Though I still don't want to see her taking many 3s lol.

THANK YOU

I have watched the game 3 times and still could not understand wtf happened. I thought on both occasions the MSST player was given a tech but then no FTs were shot.

Total BS. I have not see her in the SEC much before. Used to see her in the PAC-12 a lot I believe, if it’s the same woman. She was awful there as well.

In my original post, quoted here, I mistakenly said the culprit was #4. It was really #2, (for whom it seems personal as per some Twitter stuff) who barged in and caused the drama. Carter #4, who actually blocked the shot, was not involved. I've changed that in the original.

I am not looking forward to the LVs trip to Starkville. Although RJ said in the presser that the heightened level of competition was fun for her.

 

[Orange Maniac]

About the double technical. Blond ponytail ref was just horrible, one of those nightmare refs who craved TV face time. Must think she looks good in headphones.

If she had to call a tech, it should have been on #11 who started the whole thing at 22:25 on the replay. Of course they were trying to get RJ riled up. After a play, 11 hard shoulder bumps RJ as she walks by. RJ, who had never even looked at 11, pays her zero attention and keeps walking. Then in a move that would make my children proud, 11 makes a totally offended face and sort of jerks/swings her arm at RJ and barks what appears to be the B word at her as if the whole thing was RJ's fault! Blond Ponytail steps in and talks to 11, and ONLY 11 as RJ is not involved. At all. For a trigger happy tech givin ref, that should have been the moment as it was clearly unprovoked and unresponded to.

At 27:08, RJ rebounds a miss and her putback is cleanly blocked by Carter. RJ responds with that "OK that happened and I didn't love it but oh well" ironic smile. Before the smile is complete, punk #2, who was not involved in the play at all, steps right into RJ's face and chest and starts yakking. Again, RJ snark smiles, but says nothing, at least that the camera caught. To their great credit, RJ's teammates immediately step in, surround her, and start calming down/protecting her. Walker, the toughest hombre in town, literally puts her body btw her mates and MS players and keeps a sharp eye on them. Meanwhile, the announcers discuss that #2 probably just earned herself a T. But in the ultimate split the baby move, blond ponytail calls a T on both!

Here's what I also didn't like, nor did a very vocal fan or 3 behind me: KJH took RJ out, as if she did something wrong. I get she probably just didn't want anything else to happen, but #2 went nowhere and it looked kinda bad.

KJH got back in my good books by taking RJ out right at the end of the game to give her a curtain call. And she got a pretty good one, the notoriously sleepy LV crowd gave her a nice cheer which RJ seemed genuinely pleased with.

That whole crazy thing with Jordy and Wild Annie at the end was just embarrasing icing on blond ponytail's inept cake. I loved that the last thing Jordy said in the presser was she was glad her team won with CLASS.

While you didn't like Kellie taking Jackson out, I thought it was a wise move. It wasn't long to the end of the quarter and Kellie wanted to make sure the matter didn't escalate. She gave everyone time to calm down and re-focus. It wasn't punishment, it was insurance.

 

[37620VOL]

Here's what I also didn't like, nor did a very vocal fan or 3 behind me: KJH took RJ out, as if she did something wrong. I get she probably just didn't want anything else to happen, but #2 went nowhere and it looked kinda bad.

KJH got back in my good books by taking RJ out right at the end of the game to give her a curtain call. And she got a pretty good one, the notoriously sleepy LV crowd gave her a nice cheer which RJ seemed genuinely pleased with.

#2 got subbed out too. Both RJ and #2 went out at 5:16 2Q.

I'm cool with taking RJ out for a minute after that. You have to assess where her head is at and make sure she knows that MSU is going to be going at her the rest of the game to try to get that second T. If the body language is good, you put her back in.

I'm a huge RJ fan but she's not completely innocent. From the time she first came in she was needling MSU players. Brush by bumping them in dead balls. Lining up for a FT she whipped her $700 hair in one of their faces. I love it, that edge. The refs couldn't T her up for those things because they *could be* accidental, but the confrontation with #2, even though it was entirely #2's fault, gave them an excuse.

 

[glv98]

While you didn't like Kellie taking Jackson out, I thought it was a wise move. It wasn't long to the end of the quarter and Kellie wanted to make sure the matter didn't escalate. She gave everyone time to calm down and re-focus. It wasn't punishment, it was insurance.

I know. Totally makes sense. I just didn't like the look, especially since RJ basically did nothing in these incidents. Didn't seem to bother RJ any and that's what counts. I confess to being oversensitive about RJ's treatment LOL, I want her happy for the next few months!

 

[glv98]

I'm a huge RJ fan but she's not completely innocent. From the time she first came in she was needling MSU players. Brush by bumping them in dead balls. Lining up for a FT she whipped her $700 hair in one of their faces. I love it, that edge. The refs couldn't T her up for those things because they *could be* accidental, but the confrontation with #2, even though it was entirely #2's fault, gave them an ex

Hmm, I was there and have rewatched a couple of times and didn't see this. Probably my bias but I saw her mostly ignore them. I'm sure she got in her verbal shots.

I believe the 700$ hair is about to become the new TK's eyelashes lol.

 

[LUVMESUMVOL]

I say trust the process.

I will if it works against the better teams not these last two mediocre teams

 

[37620VOL]

I believe the 700$ hair is about to become the new TK's eyelashes lol.

Better not

 

[Volfan2012]

Two Miss St seniors were the players acting ugly. Carter and Weber. Annie was mainly crying about being fouled everytime she put up one of her ugly shots. It will be a tough game for Rickea down there both fans and players.

 

[glv98]

Annie was mainly crying about being fouled everytime she put up one of her ugly shots.

Same as it ever was.

 

[Jax_Vol]

We have to start getting the ball into the post when our 5 has established good low-post position. Multiple times in the second half,
Hollingshead, Striplin and Franklin had great low-post position, and our wing with the ball would look at the 5, and not pass her the ball.
We have a bad habit of not getting the ball into the low post when good inside position has been established. When we did it, a couple of times
in the 4th quarter, good things happened.

Yes, I saw once when Karo was well posted and the wing had the open pass and didn't take it.

Then, I noticed # 4 was the one Karo had posted up. Therefore, I don't think anything good would have happened if they had bounce passed it inside. If Karo had attempted a shot, it would probably been blocked.

Someone same issue with Franklin.

We need to run our offense. But, when we meet these teams with 6'5" shot blocker in middle.. Don't think we want to pound it inside. That is where we miss a healthy Key.

Jill might be a different story.

Franklin and Karo both do amazing work without the ball. They rebound, set the picks, do a lot of the dirty work there in the middle.

 

[37620VOL]

People dogging Powell a lot on here. I just rewatched the game. Yes, she should have gotten a shot off at halftime. I also think she blew an opportunity for a 2 for 1 at the end of 1Q. However, she played a marvelous game overall. She does a ton of things that don't show up in the stat sheet. She makes a lot of passes that lead to points that do not get credited as assists. She used her body to save JH a TO and prevent an MSU layup; went into the stands for a loose ball. She has wonderful court vision and is creative but safe with her passes.

If she can get her shot back, she IS the elite PG we've been waiting on.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

I commented earlier in this thread during the game about watching the shoulder bumping - commenting between RJ and MSU players. RJ was giving it back to them but she was very sly about it when lining up for free throws etc when it was not so noticeable to the refs. I was intrigued by it all and starting looking for it. RJ did a great job keeping her cool while not letting MSU players bully her around.

 

[mudcat1973]

Tess made a big jump from the OOC to the SEC last season. She has done the same so far this season. She’s turning into a really, really nice player. If she keeps it up she could be in contention for some ALL-SEC honors of some type HM or 2nd team probably, but something not a single person would have predicted when she was signed.

Lots of folks were trashing Kellie when signed Tess and all we heard was how much better a couple other Tennessee players were. Can’t even remember their names now…..

not so fast Tess Darby played long game and won govols247 tess prospectnations 4 star was rated top 70 by college scotts before injury made miss summerball she had offers coming in when tenn offer. mudcat was on tess bandwagon if you watch youtube of greenfeild you saw what got her on scott lists.

 

[Jax_Vol]

People dogging Powell a lot on here. I just rewatched the game. Yes, she should have gotten a shot off at halftime. I also think she blew an opportunity for a 2 for 1 at the end of 1Q. However, she played a marvelous game overall. She does a ton of things that don't show up in the stat sheet. She makes a lot of passes that lead to points that do not get credited as assists. She used her body to save JH a TO and prevent an MSU layup; went into the stands for a loose ball. She has wonderful court vision and is creative but safe with her passes.

If she can get her shot back, she IS the elite PG we've been waiting on.

Yes. If Powell can regain her shot from outside, she definitely has a huge upside.

 

[xtpsrh08123]

Massey is insane sometimes too lol im going LV 83-69.

WELL massey im coming for you job clearly LOL btw someone really needs to get with Puckett on her defense. We need her shooting on offense but her defense really hurt us last night. That was my biggest takeaway . Overall great win ladies .