Game Thread: Lady Vols at Liberty: Sunday Dec 31; 2PM; ESPN+ {WIN 90-55}

[Dak1219]

Believe many have stated Tess thrives in games like this. The issue is when Tess only makes 7 to 0 pts, in the games that matter.

Yet she finished 5th in 3 point shots last year in the SEC. Do those games matter?

 

[Dak1219]

We’re not even back on the bubble yet. ESPN bracketology not only has us out of the tournament, but not even among the first 8 teams out. It’s a little premature to talk about a national title lol. Let’s make sure we actually make the tournament first.

Have you ever known Charlie Creme to be right about any bracketoloy? In my experience, he gets it wrong year over year and then is totally confused why the committee did what they did. That is not unusual.

 

[Lucy]

oh yes cause u can predict the future and know if she is gonna have another good game. can u tell me if im gonna win the lottery sometime soon also?

The negas are left picking at scraps tonight.

 

[Dak1219]

She is only catch and shoot basketeer .If she is left wide open all night she can get on a streak but if she is run off 3 point line she has no alternative shot ....not athletic enough to create her own shot against SEC competition.She is a liability on defense . Glad she had a good game today because there are not many of those in her future.

They fact that we have Rickea back in the 4 spot and Tamari playing a bit more leaves the wings open. Every team doubles down. That is what makes Tess effective. On defense, she is slow on one-on-one, but she does well when playing more of a team defense. She is in the right place when she is supposed to be and tends to come up with a lot more steals than a slow, flat-footed defender who can't guard. Her stats don't lie.

 

[Dak1219]

The negas are left picking at scraps tonight.

They hate the fact that this team can beat many team by 30-40 points when they are fully intact and not suffering from major injuries to high contributers..

 

[Majors]

Yet she finished 5th in 3 point shots last year in the SEC. Do those games matter?

Sure it does, just as scoring 2,5,10 and 0 the last four games. As I said, games that matter.

 

[Dak1219]

Folks get out of your feelings. I said Jewel Spear aka Fear da Spear is elite. Has no business being used as a spot up shooter. I posted three videos showing Jewel dominating the ACC since her freshman year with the ball in her hands creating, facilitating, and shooting the rock.

There’s not a single guard in the SEC that can match Jewel ability as a scorer and ball handler. Not 1. Tennessee still doesn’t know how to use Jewel.
This is why she’s a two time team USA selection!

However, she was the only player on that team that could score. If you only have one true scoring threat on your team, you let them do what they do and live or die by that. Tennessee has a lot more options than wake forest has ever had. When Jewel played USA basketball this summer, surrounded by other very capable scoring options, she just didn't score like the Jewel Spear of Wake Forest. She is a smart player, but not a dominate player on this Lady Vol Team. Rickea Jackson is the go to and Jewel might be a little in her head within this offense of when and when not to shoot.

 

[madtownvol]

The thing I will say about Tess. Is she has a lightning quick release, even if u close out quick she can still get the shot off. Now we just need to hope she hits them in the big games, I’ve never had an issue with her, she has her limitations but we need her to hit those shots.

That is the big thing. I only saw the highlight but on several of Tess's threes, it was not so much that she was wide open. Rather, the team moved the ball quickly to her on the perimeter and she had that 1/2 second to get her shot off. Someone used the term "catch and shoot" as some kind of derogatory description of Tess's game but that is when she is dangerous - "catch and shoot" but not catch, pause, think, decide, set and shoot.

One of her 3's was from Caitlin Clark range to boot. Now, in bigger games, Tess still gets her shots but she has tended to not shoot well. Why? I think when the pressure is on, she does not let the ball fly freely. Hopefully, she can play freer in the upcoming conference games.

It is also worth noting that Tess gets good marks from Kellie on her defense. And that is not crazy. She comes up with a lot of steals and deflections and does well guarding in the low block. She does get beat laterally on occasion but with Key getting back into the flow, we have a rim protector to erase those liabilities.

 

[cwbytruckers]

They hate the fact that this team can beat many team by 30-40 points when they are fully intact and not suffering from major injuries to high contributers..

The problem with the teams they beat by 30. South Carolina beats them by 60.

 

[Dak1219]

The problem with the teams they beat by 30. South Carolina beats them by 60.

All about Matchups. Tamari is looking better. Hopefully we have a 6-7 stopper come february. The rest of the team is coming around.

 

[WinnerCircle]

They hate the fact that this team can beat many team by 30-40 points when they are fully intact and not suffering from major injuries to high contributers..

And if Rickea, Jewel, and Powell played atleast half of the 4th qtr in these 30-40 point wins, it would be by more like those teams that play their starters for 3 1/2 full quarters and the people on here glorify them for winning by 50-60 points.

I mean, TN could switch schedules with their favorite SEC teams with/or without Rickea for those 8 games and we’ll be having a completely different conversation.

 

[turbovol]

The negas are left picking at scraps tonight.

Beating Liberty means nothing--why delude yourself.

But having Jackson back and healthy is significant, and of course make the Vols a lot better and gives us a chance
of winning games that do matter.

 

[Dak1219]

That is the big thing. I only saw the highlight but on several of Tess's threes, it was not so much that she was wide open. Rather, the team moved the ball quickly to her on the perimeter and she had that 1/2 second to get her shot off. Someone used the term "catch and shoot" as some kind of derogatory description of Tess's game but that is when she is dangerous - "catch and shoot" but not catch, pause, think, decide, set and shoot.

One of her 3's was from Caitlin Clark range to boot. Now, in bigger games, Tess still gets her shots but she has tended to not shoot well. Why? I think when the pressure is on, she does not let the ball fly freely. Hopefully, she can play freer in the upcoming conference games.

It is also worth noting that Tess gets good marks from Kellie on her defense. And that is not crazy. She comes up with a lot of steals and deflections and does well guarding in the low block. She does get beat laterally on occasion but with Key getting back into the flow, we have a rim protector to erase those liabilities.

Tess leads the team in Steals at the moment, tied with Powel I think. Also, I think another reason Tess has that extra time to get her shot off is because of the attention Rickea draws. I hear people clucking the loss of 1 player shouldn't make a difference blah blah blah. I mean, let's see how Texas does after the loss of Harmon and Notre Dame is still working its way through playing without Miles hence the loss to Syracuse yesterday.. Could you imagine USC without Juju or Standford without Brink? It makes a huge difference in how our opponents play defense, not worrying about dropping down low or taking two steps in to double on Rickea if needed and it gives our shooters that extra time to get off shots cleanly. Did anyone notice how great the spacing was on the offensive end last night? Enter Rickea Jackson and extended minutes for Tamari Key. It is night and day with Rickea back on the floor and Tamari playing more minutes. I think Tess, just like last year when the SEC started had her warmup game last night and will continue to move up the list of best 3-point shooters in Tennessee history. She moved into 7th last night surpassing Tabir Spani and Shannon Bobbitt. We held Liberty to 31% shooting tonight, right about the shooting percentage we were holding opponents two years ago when we were ranked #3 in the country. If this team can get back to that defensive efficiency of two years ago, this team will be very hard to beat moving forward

 

[Volfan2012]

Kaiya Wynn best game as a Lady Vol 25 minutes and 0 turnovers. She had 7 assists. If the point guards can give us this kind of scoring and court play were heading in the right direction to win a lot of SEC games. Glad to see Tess finally find her shot hopefully she can do it consistently the rest of the season. I know it was Liberty but they were capable of giving us a game. They had played a better game versus Louisville losing by 9 and Texas losing by 18. We really excelled in this game making 12 threes. Of course just one game, but I like what I saw and on to the SEC.

 

[glv98]

Tennessee still doesn’t know how to use Jewel.

What are you talking about? No one is trying to make Jewel a spot up shooter or discouraging her from getting to the rim. In fact, after Jewel struggled to score in the first half, a play was drawn up for her at halftime and she scored off a screen that allowed her to, wait for it, get to rim. Worked so well they ran it again and she scored again. Then she hit her first three.

Jewel has had a slower start than we would have liked, but that is in no way because she is being misused. She'll benefit greatly from the extra space and lessened defensive attention now that Rickea is back.

Beating Liberty means nothing--why delude yourself.

But having Jackson back and healthy is significant, and of course make the Vols a lot better and gives us a chance
of winning games that do matter.

Beating Liberty means alot bc losing to Liberty would have been a disaster. I think others are the ones being delusional. Ya'll can pine for the old days and moan about standards that haven't been real in over a decade all you want. But I'm quite realistic about what this team is capable of, both positive and negative. I'm not happy that winning every and any game is meaningful, but this is the current situation.

I agree the best part of yesterday were the many positives. Rickea healthy and playing hard and very well is #1. Also the play of TK, JP, and KW was very encouraging. Of course we don't know if any of this will transfer to SEC play, but that's why every game is meaningful.

 

[WinnerCircle]

As I said, they don’t know how to use Jewel.
Your frequent posts (paragraphs) nor quotes changes nothing to me.

 

[Coach Jumper]

correctamundo glv
losing to or beating Liberty by less than 15 would have dropped us to a new depth...winning by that margin upped us 11 spots in the NET

 

[glv98]

As I said, they don’t know how to use Jewel.

Explain please.

 

[Knoxvol14]

Free Ace! lol is she even still on the team?

She's had two concussions this year. You don't mess with a head injury.

 

[Knoxvol14]

Didn't Liberty's coach Green used to coach at Roane State CC?

Yes and two knoxville area high schools. He also went to high school in Blount County and has a masters degree from UT

 

[Knoxvol14]

The thing with Tess is less thinking, quicker shot. It seems the rest of the team has begun to understand that.

That's what she basically said on tbe post game interview. She also said she doesn't like to let her team down. I wonder if being in the starting lineup was mentally putting more pressure on her. I like her off the bench.

 

[Volfan2012]

We have enough three point shooters now that even if a couple don't have good days we can have great shooting from there overall. With Jewell and Sarah going 1 for 10 from the three we were still able to shoot 40 percent from there overall. This is more of what I expected from the three this season. Rickea makes it all happen they have to try to stick inside to stop her and it gets even worse with Tamari or Striplin as an option. Players can get the open threes they just need to knock a nice percentage down like yesterday.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

That's what she basically said on tbe post game interview. She also said she doesn't like to let her team down. I wonder if being in the starting lineup was mentally putting more pressure on her. I like her off the bench.

I think your post and Chucks are spot on. Tess has good shooting mechanics, so usually a slump for a good shooter is mental. Like the interview says about letting her team down, she misses a few shots and her confidence drops. Staff just needs to work on developing and shoot and forget mentality, on to the next shot.

That was coaching advice I got when I played DB in FB, when you gave up a TD or a big play, forget and move on. It does work.

 

[WinnerCircle]

I’m watching the replay of Tennessee 8-time Nat’l champion and about half way through the 1st qtr there’s a segment being discussed by the game commentators titled “The Orange Standard!”

Tennessee is and will continue to be the brand of WBB.

As for the game, folks on here must forgot about the AmeriCup games because this is the closest Rickea has been to fully healthy since dominating on the worlds biggest stage of WBB.

She has gotten stronger and still carrying the added weight nicely despite one poster claiming she is no longer built to bang in the post… maybe it’s just my TV screen but she looked to have a very very strong physical presence on the court yesterday!

As for talent, man a team with Tamari, Jillian, Rickea, Sara, and Karo looks formidable in the post. Kaiya is the player that most SEC teams will not enjoy playing against mark my words.
High IQ player with elite athleticism. The basketball skills are developing but you can’t teach elite athleticism.
Also congrats to Tess Darby. Sara will have her moments.. stay patient. She did against Missouri last season.
She did against Texas, Virginia Tech, and Belmont her freshman year.

Lets GBO

 

[Lucy]

Beating Liberty means nothing--why delude yourself.

But having Jackson back and healthy is significant, and of course make the Vols a lot better and gives us a chance
of winning games that do matter.

Scraps!