Game Thread Lady Vols vs Arkansas

#76
#76
Diamond 0 turnovers and 2 assists, 15 points and 7 rebounds. If she could play this game everytime out we'll win most of them.
 
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#77
#77
They did look better in the 4th quarter than they have about all year. Improved - yes. Keep it up girls. Holly still gotta go though.
 
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#79
#79
This last stretch of games will let us know what the LVs have improved on and not improved on....Will Holly keep Beast on the bench? When she is healthy to return???
 
#80
#80
Figure out the third quarter and we'll win most of the games left on the schedule. For some reason we get bashed in that quarter.
 
#81
#81
20 assists tonight so we did move the ball well. The third was about going cold from the field even though we had the shots.
 
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#84
#84
mlindsay said:
I think Jackson (From Arkansas) may have awaken Diamond, early in the 4th her and Diamond got into a verbal altercation where she asked Diamond "Who are you again" and Diamond responded "Diamond DeShields" for which Jackson asked "Who is Diamond DeShields", since then she played lights out the end of the game! Hopefully this is what we needed!
Click to expand...
I'm so glad you could hear what they were saying! I caught that they were arguing but couldn't make out what was being said!
 
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#85
#85
The last two games they have played only one post player low.Holly has finally figured it out.Plus they are moving the ball better ,making better decisions in shot selection and they are knocking their fair share down.They have also played with poise when the game was tightened up .Making vast improvement against zone defense but still have a long way to go to be competitive with the big girls of women's bb.With continued improvement there is still some hope....the next two games will have a lot to tell about where this team goes this year.....
 
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#86
#86
The LV's shot 45% for the game, limited their turnovers, won the rebounding battle and got 75 points. Great, right?

Well, I may be the only one unimpressed with this win. Hitting shots solves a lot of problems and the LV's hit enough shots in the first half to get out to a lead. But when they went cold in the third quarter, Arkansas outscores the LV's 17-4 before the LV's close the quarter with a couple of baskets. The LV's still can't play defense against good opponents. Jackson and Cosper of Arkansas get 35 points on 47% shooting. They are good players but nothing special.

Arkansas averages close to 17 turnovers a game and TN forced only 15. Again nothing special. The LV's should have turned them over more than that.

Arkansas shoots 46% from three. Arkansas neutralized that by shooting 36% for the game. But I wish the LV's could identify and close on three point shooters. The LV's don't do this very well. I don't know why.

The LV's won the rebounding battle for once but Arkansas's tallest player is only 6'-3" and she hangs around the three point line a third of the time. The teams were equal on points in the paint at 26 each and Arkansas wins the second-chance points. No way should this be the case. The LV's miss Graves, yet, confoundingly, they play better without her.

The FT% was poor - 65%. This team needs every point it can muster. They have very little margin for error.

When things went bad in the third quarter the team fought back and that's a good sign. But if any other quarter had went like the third the LV's may have lost the game.

Arkansas has only 9 wins on the season. This should have been an 85-50 blowout. Yeah, I know. I'm a spoil sport.
 
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#87
#87
Volfan2012 said:
Regardless of when Graves returns need to keep the one post offense really makes the defense have to stretch to guard everybody. We've had all the three point shots wide open that we want. We have also went inside well Moore missed that easy layup and that five footer in front of the basket. We could sub Graves in there may cut her minutes but she could play about 15 while Russell is on the bench.
Click to expand...

Been saying this for weeks, maybe months. One post and run, run, run. Threes, drives, rebounds on O. Once in a rhythm this team can play. But they stand around too much on D in the half court. Not enough effort.
 
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#88
#88
LVJeff said:
The LV's shot 45% for the game, limited their turnovers, won the rebounding battle and got 75 points. Great, right?

Well, I may be the only one unimpressed with this win. Hitting shots solves a lot of problems and the LV's hit enough shots in the first half to get out to a lead. But when they went cold in the third quarter, Arkansas outscores the LV's 17-4 before the LV's close the quarter with a couple of baskets. The LV's still can't play defense against good opponents. Jackson and Cosper of Arkansas get 35 points on 47% shooting. They are good players but nothing special.

Arkansas averages close to 17 turnovers a game and TN forced only 15. Again nothing special. The LV's should have turned them over more than that.

Arkansas shoots 46% from three. Arkansas neutralized that by shooting 36% for the game. But I wish the LV's could identify and close on three point shooters. The LV's don't do this very well. I don't know why.

The LV's won the rebounding battle for once but Arkansas's tallest player is only 6'-3" and she hangs around the three point line a third of the time. The teams were equal on points in the paint at 26 each and Arkansas wins the second-chance points. No way should this be the case. The LV's miss Graves, yet, confoundingly, they play better without her.

The FT% was poor - 65%. This team needs every point it can muster. They have very little margin for error.

When things went bad in the third quarter the team fought back and that's a good sign. But if any other quarter had went like the third the LV's may have lost the game.

Arkansas has only 9 wins on the season. This should have been an 85-50 blowout. Yeah, I know. I'm a spoil sport.
Click to expand...

You're not the only spoil sport. I see it basically the same as you. I'm glad the Ladies gained some confidence tonight. Happy for them. Some improvement seen. But the fact remains the same to me that Holly Warlick still has to go.
 
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#89
#89
For the pseudo fans wanting Holly to go, suck it up, she's not going anywhere soon. For the ones that know what is wrong and how to fix it, perhaps you should apply at some college for a coaching position. Go LADY VOLS!!
 
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#90
#90
It was good to see the improvement with Diamond tonight. I don't care how many points she scores as long as she gets rebounds and doesn't turn over the ball. Great to see Cooper playing so well. Reynolds and Carter playing well too.
 
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#91
#91
*Arkansas at No. 23 Tennessee This was a good game for UT as it keeps them in the Top 25 for another week before playing two of three against the top teams in conference. They fell four spots after losing last week to Mississippi State, but they did interrupt the losing after a win scheme. The program will not have 20 wins for the first time since Pat Head Summitt’s first two seasons. The schedule is set up for four straight wins to close, five of six.
Te’a Cooper continued hot for UT with nine points in a 23-14 opening quarter. Arkansas cut it to 23-26. Then Diamond DeShields scored five unanswered and assisted on another and it was back to a nine-point lead.
Starting at the 3:58 mark the Vols went cold and took the Gators with them. With 16 seconds left, Jamie Nared made a layin and it was 41-27 at the break, an 18-8 second quarter.
Cooper had 10, as did reserve DeShields, with five defensive rebounds. Mercedes Russell had six rebounds.
UT scored six of the first eight points to start the second half and was holding itself together. Jessica Jackson hit four free throws and a 3 in a one-minute explosion and cut the deficit to nine. Then teammate Devins Cosper hit a 3 against the worst 3 defense of the top eight teams in the league.
Steady in the middle, Russell free throws and then a block kept the advantage at eight.
The Vols finally had a balanced attack, four in double figures: DeShields and Russell with 15, Cooper with 13 and Carter with 10. Tennessee won rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. UT held out its team leaders and center Bashaara Graves for a second game with an ankle tweak and it did not matter.
Arkansas committed 21 fouls trying to keep up. The 9,414 in attendance appreciated the effort.
Coach Holly Warlick has 100 wins as a coach, faster to that than Pat Head Summitt made it and not counting Summitt’s final season when Warlick was the only game coach.
“I am just excited for our kids,” Warlick said. “I want to first thank (athletic director) Dave Hart for taking a chance on me. He hired an assistant coach in a big time women’s basketball program and he has done nothing but support me. I want to really say thank you to him. I understand how you get your wins, it is from your coaches down to everybody and the players. They were excited and some of those kids have been here for the four years that I have been here. It is a great honor and I appreciate it, but it boils down to surrounding yourself with great people. If I learned anything from Coach Summit I did learn that. I’m excited we got the win tonight.”
She said Arkansas indeed gave them a good tussle.
“Well I just think they got back in it. We weren’t playing solid defense, we gave up a 3 and I think we needed to slow down and get a little bit more disciplined on our defensive end. We got a bit 3shot happy. We got a couple where we hit some in the beginning and I thought in that stretch where Arkansas started coming back that we shot four or five 3s I am fine with us shooting 3s beause we have kids that can make them, but it’s time and possession and when you shoot three, four or five 3s in a row and you don’t hit them then you have to have the basketball sense to not shoot threes anymore.
“Let’s shot fake and get the ball closer to the basket or in the paint. Our kids held strong. I thought Alexa Middleton in that series hit a big 3. I thought Mercedes was just solid tonight, and I kept wanting her to move the basketball and she continued to demand the basketball.”
She said Graves could have played.
“I wanted to hold her out because I think that we are going to need her in whatever games we have down the road,” Warlick said. “I had her on injured reserve and I was going to play her if we needed her. She wanted to play, but I didn’t want to take any chances. She could tweak something and get hurt. She could have played tonight I just chose not to play her.”
Those games include the toughest close in the league.
“Our schedule has been unbelievable, really,” she said. “We played Kentucky on the road, and then we had to play Mississippi State on the road. In this stretch we go to Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, so it is just a tough stretch for us. Every time I look up it is a tough stretch.
“Obviously we didn’t make the SEC schedule because it wouldn’t be this way. We have to go with what we got. We just have to be ready, we may not like it, but its what we have and what we have to deal with. We have to take it one game at a time.”
She said any offensive improvement starts with ball control.
“It started in our practice,” Warlick said. “We’ve really practiced getting more looks and more movement in our offense. It’s so great to see that we had more assists than we had turnovers. We had 20 assists and 12 turnovers. That’s huge for us. I thought we took care of the basketball. A walk and couple things, I can live with that. I can live with those. It’s the ones that we just throw it out-of-bounds that I have a hard time with. I think the 12 turnovers, most of them we were attacking and trying to advance the ball and attack the basket.”
She continues intense work with DeShields.
“I spend a lot of time with Diamond in my office, Dean (Lockwood) and I do. I think the games you’ve see Diamond is a result of Diamond putting a lot of pressure on Diamond DeShields. I just told her, ‘Look, this team is here to help you. You’re part of this team, and you don’t have to carry this team, and you don’t have to do everything.’
“All I ask her to do was to go out and play hard; just play to the best of your ability. Bring the passion and the energy that I know you have. I’m not surprised the way she played because she set the tone totally in practice. When you practice hard it carries over to the games. I think you saw the result of Diamond committing to practicing hard, and that’s the Diamond DeShields that we need to see all the time.”
DeShields said she got some more personal advice, from her dad.
“He basically gave me a piece of reality. He said that right now I have to kind of play an old man’s game. He said, ‘I know your body is not feeling great, but you’ve got to understand that you can’t go very fast right now, as fast as you’d like.’
“That’s a lot of the reason I felt like I was turning the ball over, and having problems over the last couple of games. I was trying to go too fast. Tonight I really took my time and found my spots. I was really able to slow myself down and in-turn make good plays for everyone around me.
“I actually thought I had a couple (of turnovers). I know a couple of passes got deflected, or whatever. I felt more comfortable out there. I appreciate my Dad for coming out here. I know he’s about to leave for spring training. So, we try to spend as much time as we can together.”
"It's a very important game for us. I know their guards are very talented and they have some size inside. We're really going to have to control the paint, and just keep the high energy that we have been having the past few games and hopefully we can get a win.”
Warlick said Russell remains the anchor.
“Mercedes had a great game,” Warlick said. “ She was being strong with the ball when she got doubled. She was kicking it back out. We were kicking it back in, I think we played well with Mercedes and Mercedes played well with us.”
Russell said the coaches prepared her well.
“We went in to practice knowing they would play the whole game in 2-3 because that is what they did the first time we played them. So, we did a lot of cutting and moving the ball and then we also worked on me and Bashaara getting triple- teamed and double-teamed. I think practice really helped us because we worked on that 2-3 a lot."
Freshman guard Cooper is proud of the start.
"We warmed up hard. We were feeling it outside the arc,” Cooper said. “ We just felt good in the beginning. We new we had to start the game off strong.”
The celebration of Warlick’s 100th win was not in the game plan.
“It wasn’t planned,” said Cooper. I found out that this could be her 100th win before the game. I think everyone found out after the game. We all just ran over to her and celebrated. She deserves it.”
Warlick thought the celebration a little goofy. She was carried off the court and the men’s coach joined in the fun.
“That was Andraya (Carter) and Jordan (Reynolds). Two that do not have a lot of sense. They brought me a cake. Rick Barnes was very gracious and he came in and said some kind words and then rolled me in a cake. Andraya proceeded to put the cake on my face and neck so if I have icing it isn’t because I ate the cake. I promise you.
“They brought in a cake that had 100 wins on it and it was very special.”
She did get revenge on the players who threw cake at her.
“I hugged a couple of them. I got Andraya back when I hugged her and then I got Mercedes and a couple of others. I got Bashaara; she didn’t like it though because I got to close to her hair."
 
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#92
#92
I back Pat and roll with Holly. I figured the board would be kinda dark, gloomy, depressed, angry, not understand we have a young team.


Through good time and/or bad times. I'll be on yo side for ever more... that's what fans are fooooooor....
 
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#93
#93
Reynolds has gotten better. Draya, ugh! Beastshaara, actually like her out of the lineup, nice change up, bring her off the bench.

Defense, rebounding and good guard play win championships.

I back Pat and roll with Holly!
 
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#94
#94
Just got to watch the replay, mostly solid...moving on.

GBO!!!
 
#96
#96
vol66 said:
Just got to watch the replay, mostly solid...moving on.
Click to expand...

A game against an unranked cupcake doesn't tell the team much about where they stand. Massey has Arkansas at #108. Breaking 70 at home against the Blind Sisters of the Poor is quite different than going on the road and doing it against a quality team like Maryland, Notre Dame, or Baylor. While a win sure beats another loss, the competition was so poor that it doesn't really give the team any idea how they would do against stronger competition.
 
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#97
#97
OldMikey said:
*Arkansas at No. 23 Tennessee This was a good game for UT as it keeps them in the Top 25 for another week before playing two of three against the top teams in conference. They fell four spots after losing last week to Mississippi State, but they did interrupt the losing after a win scheme. The program will not have 20 wins for the first time since Pat Head Summitt’s first two seasons. The schedule is set up for four straight wins to close, five of six.
Te’a Cooper continued hot for UT with nine points in a 23-14 opening quarter. Arkansas cut it to 23-26. Then Diamond DeShields scored five unanswered and assisted on another and it was back to a nine-point lead.
Starting at the 3:58 mark the Vols went cold and took the Gators with them. With 16 seconds left, Jamie Nared made a layin and it was 41-27 at the break, an 18-8 second quarter.
Cooper had 10, as did reserve DeShields, with five defensive rebounds. Mercedes Russell had six rebounds.
UT scored six of the first eight points to start the second half and was holding itself together. Jessica Jackson hit four free throws and a 3 in a one-minute explosion and cut the deficit to nine. Then teammate Devins Cosper hit a 3 against the worst 3 defense of the top eight teams in the league.
Steady in the middle, Russell free throws and then a block kept the advantage at eight.
The Vols finally had a balanced attack, four in double figures: DeShields and Russell with 15, Cooper with 13 and Carter with 10. Tennessee won rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. UT held out its team leaders and center Bashaara Graves for a second game with an ankle tweak and it did not matter.
Arkansas committed 21 fouls trying to keep up. The 9,414 in attendance appreciated the effort.
Coach Holly Warlick has 100 wins as a coach, faster to that than Pat Head Summitt made it and not counting Summitt’s final season when Warlick was the only game coach.
“I am just excited for our kids,” Warlick said. “I want to first thank (athletic director) Dave Hart for taking a chance on me. He hired an assistant coach in a big time women’s basketball program and he has done nothing but support me. I want to really say thank you to him. I understand how you get your wins, it is from your coaches down to everybody and the players. They were excited and some of those kids have been here for the four years that I have been here. It is a great honor and I appreciate it, but it boils down to surrounding yourself with great people. If I learned anything from Coach Summit I did learn that. I’m excited we got the win tonight.”
She said Arkansas indeed gave them a good tussle.
“Well I just think they got back in it. We weren’t playing solid defense, we gave up a 3 and I think we needed to slow down and get a little bit more disciplined on our defensive end. We got a bit 3shot happy. We got a couple where we hit some in the beginning and I thought in that stretch where Arkansas started coming back that we shot four or five 3s I am fine with us shooting 3s beause we have kids that can make them, but it’s time and possession and when you shoot three, four or five 3s in a row and you don’t hit them then you have to have the basketball sense to not shoot threes anymore.
“Let’s shot fake and get the ball closer to the basket or in the paint. Our kids held strong. I thought Alexa Middleton in that series hit a big 3. I thought Mercedes was just solid tonight, and I kept wanting her to move the basketball and she continued to demand the basketball.”
She said Graves could have played.
“I wanted to hold her out because I think that we are going to need her in whatever games we have down the road,” Warlick said. “I had her on injured reserve and I was going to play her if we needed her. She wanted to play, but I didn’t want to take any chances. She could tweak something and get hurt. She could have played tonight I just chose not to play her.”
Those games include the toughest close in the league.
“Our schedule has been unbelievable, really,” she said. “We played Kentucky on the road, and then we had to play Mississippi State on the road. In this stretch we go to Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, so it is just a tough stretch for us. Every time I look up it is a tough stretch.
“Obviously we didn’t make the SEC schedule because it wouldn’t be this way. We have to go with what we got. We just have to be ready, we may not like it, but its what we have and what we have to deal with. We have to take it one game at a time.”
She said any offensive improvement starts with ball control.
“It started in our practice,” Warlick said. “We’ve really practiced getting more looks and more movement in our offense. It’s so great to see that we had more assists than we had turnovers. We had 20 assists and 12 turnovers. That’s huge for us. I thought we took care of the basketball. A walk and couple things, I can live with that. I can live with those. It’s the ones that we just throw it out-of-bounds that I have a hard time with. I think the 12 turnovers, most of them we were attacking and trying to advance the ball and attack the basket.”
She continues intense work with DeShields.
“I spend a lot of time with Diamond in my office, Dean (Lockwood) and I do. I think the games you’ve see Diamond is a result of Diamond putting a lot of pressure on Diamond DeShields. I just told her, ‘Look, this team is here to help you. You’re part of this team, and you don’t have to carry this team, and you don’t have to do everything.’
“All I ask her to do was to go out and play hard; just play to the best of your ability. Bring the passion and the energy that I know you have. I’m not surprised the way she played because she set the tone totally in practice. When you practice hard it carries over to the games. I think you saw the result of Diamond committing to practicing hard, and that’s the Diamond DeShields that we need to see all the time.”
DeShields said she got some more personal advice, from her dad.
“He basically gave me a piece of reality. He said that right now I have to kind of play an old man’s game. He said, ‘I know your body is not feeling great, but you’ve got to understand that you can’t go very fast right now, as fast as you’d like.’
“That’s a lot of the reason I felt like I was turning the ball over, and having problems over the last couple of games. I was trying to go too fast. Tonight I really took my time and found my spots. I was really able to slow myself down and in-turn make good plays for everyone around me.
“I actually thought I had a couple (of turnovers). I know a couple of passes got deflected, or whatever. I felt more comfortable out there. I appreciate my Dad for coming out here. I know he’s about to leave for spring training. So, we try to spend as much time as we can together.”
"It's a very important game for us. I know their guards are very talented and they have some size inside. We're really going to have to control the paint, and just keep the high energy that we have been having the past few games and hopefully we can get a win.”
Warlick said Russell remains the anchor.
“Mercedes had a great game,” Warlick said. “ She was being strong with the ball when she got doubled. She was kicking it back out. We were kicking it back in, I think we played well with Mercedes and Mercedes played well with us.”
Russell said the coaches prepared her well.
“We went in to practice knowing they would play the whole game in 2-3 because that is what they did the first time we played them. So, we did a lot of cutting and moving the ball and then we also worked on me and Bashaara getting triple- teamed and double-teamed. I think practice really helped us because we worked on that 2-3 a lot."
Freshman guard Cooper is proud of the start.
"We warmed up hard. We were feeling it outside the arc,” Cooper said. “ We just felt good in the beginning. We new we had to start the game off strong.”
The celebration of Warlick’s 100th win was not in the game plan.
“It wasn’t planned,” said Cooper. I found out that this could be her 100th win before the game. I think everyone found out after the game. We all just ran over to her and celebrated. She deserves it.”
Warlick thought the celebration a little goofy. She was carried off the court and the men’s coach joined in the fun.
“That was Andraya (Carter) and Jordan (Reynolds). Two that do not have a lot of sense. They brought me a cake. Rick Barnes was very gracious and he came in and said some kind words and then rolled me in a cake. Andraya proceeded to put the cake on my face and neck so if I have icing it isn’t because I ate the cake. I promise you.
“They brought in a cake that had 100 wins on it and it was very special.”
She did get revenge on the players who threw cake at her.
“I hugged a couple of them. I got Andraya back when I hugged her and then I got Mercedes and a couple of others. I got Bashaara; she didn’t like it though because I got to close to her hair."
Click to expand...

I believe Tennessee will get 20 wins this year.
 
#99
#99
Warlick: "In this stretch we go to Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, so it is just a tough stretch for us."

So ESPN will be televising an empty arena on Feb. 15?

I was so looking forward to getting to see how the other half lives, having been invited as a guest to one of the private boxes at Thompson-Boling. Well, at least I've been told that they stock drinks, so it won't be a completely wasted trip. :crazy:
 
Last edited:
#100
#100
Hoya Saxa said:
A game against an unranked cupcake doesn't tell the team much about where they stand. Massey has Arkansas at #108. Breaking 70 at home against the Blind Sisters of the Poor is quite different than going on the road and doing it against a quality team like Maryland, Notre Dame, or Baylor. While a win sure beats another loss, the competition was so poor that it doesn't really give the team any idea how they would do against stronger competition.
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100%
 
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