Game Thread Lady Vols vs Florida

[Catbone]

Holly is not suitable for coaching UT

 

[Falcons02]

Why she played Jordan 21 minutes and most of the 4th quarter is beyond me. There is no lineup that shouldn't have at least 3 of Diamond, Nared, Graves, and Russell. Middleton should have played more instead of letting Cooper continuously go 1 on 3 and throw up a prayer, get stuffed, or turn the ball over. She's not as good as she thinks she is.

Cooper plays like she has a bball IQ of 4... Drive recklessly into the paint only to throw a kick out pass to a wide open vendor in row 3.

 

[VollyParton]

Pathetic shooting--laughably bad. And we were indeed lazy on defense: Cooper, Graves, DeShields---all beaten off the dribble many times tonight. Cooper plays defense at about 65 percent of the effort level needed to be a good defender--reminds me of Massengale, who was the same. She was bad on both ends tonight--again. DeShields can be a very good defender when she wants to be, but she gets moody and lazy about half the time. She had a bad game on both ends. She has been a disappointment. Graves was beaten off the dribble and is consistently slow to recognize when an opponent is driving open to the basket and slow to help--she stands doing nothing and then tries to help when it's too late. Great rebounding performance from her tonight--but she does not know how to score.

Warlick will complain about taking too many threes, and maybe we did: but most of them were WIDE OPEN shots. You have to make them! These are top recruits--and they can't shoot. Warlick wants to get the ball inside--and WHO exactly is going to score for us inside? Yes, Russell, occasionally--but she is hardly a dependable scorer. And that is it! Graves cannot score. This is why were are terrible on offense--we are not good inside or out. Middleton should be playing more. She's not as athletic as Cooper but she is a better shooter--and I kinda, rather think shooting is an issue for this team. Middleton also gives a honest effort on defense. Nared is a good athlete but she is another Vol with no discernable offensive game. Awful team performance.

Except for the games where she shoots 70-100%

 

[Orange_Mamba]

Basketball Fact: you don't have to shoot the 3 ball to beat a sagging zone. You can beat it with ball movement, screens, and cutting.

 

[FrozenLVFan]

Same old things, partly Holly's fault, but the players need to own some of these things:

--Can't break down a zone. This is clearly on the coaches.
--Poor shooting. This is on the players.
--Damaging substitutions. Every time we took out Carter & Nared for Reynolds & Cooper, we fell apart. On the coaches.
--Not valuing possessions with 21 TO's. Players.
--Failure to box out. Yes, we had 31 ORb's, but Fla had 17. Players.
--Poor defense effort by too many players to list. Players.
--Poor all-around effort and attitude by DeShields. This is on her, AND on CHW for not giving her a kick in the arse, or a seat on the bench. Yes, she scored 16 points, but gave up 14 with those 7 TO's, and her lackadaisical defense and lousy shot selection infect the rest of the team.

 

[Hoya Saxa]

Poor all-around effort and attitude by DeShields...Yes, she scored 16 points, but gave up 14 with those 7 TO's, and her lackadaisical defense and lousy shot selection infect the rest of the team.

She took 21 shots! If Brianna Turner or Morgan Tuck took 21 shots, how many points do you think they would score?

 

[Voldon18]

Same old things, partly Holly's fault, but the players need to own some of these things:

--Can't break down a zone. This is clearly on the coaches.
--Poor shooting. This is on the players.
--Damaging substitutions. Every time we took out Carter & Nared for Reynolds & Cooper, we fell apart. On the coaches.
--Not valuing possessions with 21 TO's. Players.
--Failure to box out. Yes, we had 31 ORb's, but Fla had 17. Players.
--Poor defense effort by too many players to list. Players.
--Poor all-around effort and attitude by DeShields. This is on her, AND on CHW for not giving her a kick in the arse, or a seat on the bench. Yes, she scored 16 points, but gave up 14 with those 7 TO's, and her lackadaisical defense and lousy shot selection infect the rest of the team.

Great post. It's rarely all on the coach or players. This is a concerted effort = disastrous results.

BB IQ falls on the coaching staff, however. They first and most importantly have to teach fundamentals, solid strategy and composure on the court. This team has none of these attributes.

We're witnessing the fruits of hiring a coach with no head-coaching experience. Holly was a great guard (yet a poor shooter) in her playing days. One would think she could coach our guards. Not! They are the weakest link on this team. IMHO, this is the most damning evidence Holly can't coach.

 

[armchair]

Except for the games where she shoots 70-100%

That's why she has a high shooting percentage sometimes. And that's fine but she couldn't even do that tonight--and she has no game other than rebounding and putbacks. She is a very stiff, wooden offensive player. You can't throw it into Graves and expect her to score--and yet Warlick seems to view her and Russell as these two dynamic scorers. We have NO scorers, that is the problem. DeShields will make a couple of brilliant drives to the basket and score--and we all think she's ready to roll--and then she'll miss her next five shots, make a shot, then miss 3-4 more. She's done that much of the year--and is moody besides. Our defense as bad or worse than our offense tonight--and that's saying something.

 

[armchair]

You gotta leave Carter in the game--but Warlick wants to take her out and play Cooper and then we starting playing badly. It's not all Cooper's fault, but she has not been good and has been playing far more than she should. Carter should not be off the floor more than 5 minutes per game.

 

[Amb3096]

You gotta leave Carter in the game--but Warlick wants to take her out and play Cooper and then we starting playing badly. It's not all Cooper's fault, but she has not been good and has been playing far more than she should. Carter should not be off the floor more than 5 minutes per game.

Carter scored more than normal, but as the starting PG, she had 1 assist and 5 TOs. She was far from good...but still by the far the best G wearing orange tonight, which is scary.

 

[VollyParton]

That's why she has a high shooting percentage sometimes.

No, that's why you can't say she is unable to score. Bashaara can score, Bashaara has games where she is the high scorer, but Bashaara is inconsistent, and that's been a problem her entire career at UT. Why she couldn't score tonight, I don't know, but it's not because she is unable to score. She's got the ability & she's a senior - the team should be able to count on her to put up good offensive numbers every game.

 

[FrozenLVFan]

She took 21 shots! If Brianna Turner or Morgan Tuck took 21 shots, how many points do you think they would score?

Based on their current shooting percentages, 23 pts apiece. DD actually only scored 12 points on those 21 shots...the other 4 pts were FT's.

 

[Pat4life]

And what the fans are starting to realize too, our players maybe not as good as we think they are, ranking aside. Diamond, her play so far has been unimpressive, **** I'll take Gray or Davis. j/k

Draya, shot well, but she played poorly, we had the game at our tempo, the first quarter, then she started walking the ball up the court, became passive Carter, five turnover later. The point guard dictates how we gon' play, glad she took ownership of this lost. Her motor has to go, but she is new in role, wearing a bulky brace but is looking the best at that lead guard spot. So, I'll be patient.

Draya, you gotta push tempo, then we can get into an offensive and defensive rhythm and if you don't push the ball, we get out of rhythm, and we lose games. (At practice coaches are able to control the tempo, the pace, they want to play at, and when the ladies play at their tempo, we are good on both sides on the ball, but see that tempo requires a lot of energy and toughness and our ladies haven't embraced that yet, they ok for 8 to 20 minutes).

So this is fixable, Draya push tempo, I dont care if you get tired, if your teammate get tired but you have to keep running, it forces everyone to get into shape, and it all starts with the lead guard, we have a team of mental midgets, and that's tough to coach, players who don't want to push through the pain and fatigue for the gain, in order to get better, that's what Championship basketball is all about.

There are no leaders on this team, simply as that, no one has emerged, cos there is no consistent performer, and until we get some leaders, that can lead by example with their play and effort, until we get that, our team will struggle, teams will always be in games against us, cos we play or our focus varies from player to player. Nobody, plays with a swagger, a hunger that says, I hate to lose, if you hate to lose you defend, rebound, get loose ball, and put the ball in the basketball.

Defense (heart), Rebounds (will), good guard play (soul) win championships.

The big picture, we're not as good as we thought. We see glimpse of a good team, and that's just lack of focus and toughness mentally and physically. My assessment of the team is we are average. They don't play hard for the names on the back of their jerseys, they don't play hard for the tradition, they don't play hard for the name on the court, they definitely don't play like Lady Vols, what will it take for these ladies to play hard and smart for 40 minutes, well that my friend separate the Great coaches from the average coaches.

All Americans in high school huh, who? which player? wuteva. And don't seem like none of em are worthy of playing on the biggest stage in wcbb, no player has embraced that moment, this moment on this team, consistently, they play on the biggest stage in women's basketball and no one wants to put on a performance night in and night out in front of thousands, at the games or watching at home, no player wants to be a star, to go down in history as a Lady Vol great, (cos we have made em all stars before they've proven anything) no one has been able to seized this moment, and that moment might be too big for Diamond, to pull once proud program from pretender to contender (if she can't play defense, she shouldn't be on the court, cos if players are seeing her half ass it, and nothing is said, you can't hold em accountable now, when they do it, and excuse, oh she's hurt, is the worst. If you can't defend or rebound, shouldn't play.)

Holly, your team doesn't listen to you, they are in control. Right now, we said their play will tell us all we need to know if we are average or elite, the players are in control and based on their effort and execution, we've seen so far. We are average. Holly has to figure out a way to demand more out of her team without breaking em.

Our team has a lot of upside, we can get so much better, and the quest to figure it out, falls on the players and coaches.

It baffles me no player on the team wants to be remembered in a great way, no one wants to be the star of the wcbb, a star at Tenn is like a star of all women's basketball.

They play when they want too, I watch when I want too, forget about dropping everything in the world to watch the games. You ladies haven't earned that attention. Good Luck, ladies and get mentally and physically tougher.

I still like the starting lineup, shots didn't fall you still defend and outwork people, I just hated the body language of Deshields this game, I thought she hurt the team tonight more than help, she was a distraction.

Hey ladies, heads up still a long season, just have to re calibrate my expectations again. Nice first quarter tho.

 

[Amb3096]

No, that's why you can't say she is unable to score. Bashaara can score, Bashaara has games where she is the high scorer, but Bashaara is inconsistent, and that's been a problem her entire career at UT. Why she couldn't score tonight, I don't know, but it's not because she is unable to score. She's got the ability & she's a senior - the team should be able to count on her to put up good offensive numbers every game.

I wouldn't say she's inconsistent as much as she's limited in the scenarios in which she can score. She cannot score against larger posts when the paint is clogged. She doesn't have the height or the hops to shoot over or around multiple defenders.

When teams cannot double down on the posts and she can use her speed to take her defender one-on-one off the dribble, she is nearly automatic. The problem this year has been that there is no consistent mid-range or long-range shooters on the team, so teams can smother the post game without repercussion.

It's a shame, because of all the players on the team, she's the one that I feel for and wish she had better teammates.

 

[Pat4life]

Graves is not even WNBA material. I would be surprise if she makes a roster, solid college player, but she's not Izzy versatile. Glory was athletic so, of course. Her upside, I don't see it, I think she's pretty much tap out, til she plays with confidence and is the best player on the court night in and night out. I just don't see it, I was expecting an Izzy kinda upside this year, its pretty much the same Graves, no focus, no confidence, its some timin'

Someone tried to compare Graves to Tuck, whateva. Personally, I would take a healthy Jasmine Jones at the four over Graves. Ijs. At least she fought this game, but she's just a mental midget, and when your senior(s), leader is mental midget, its makes for a long season.

At least we knew Burdick hated to lose, and stepped up. Graves when are you going to step up!

 

[Pat4life]

And maybe the Deshields factor is translating into recruiting.

Diamond looked like Meghan out there tonite, she shot us out of the game tonite.

Who wants to play hard for that, with that when your know your not going to touch the ball on offense? Ugh, I am not impressed. We would like to make a trade for Alisha Gray, if we wanted a player who could shoot threes. ijs.

 

[WVU05UT09]

I hate to speculate but based on what I saw tonight I wonder if the problem in Chapel Hill has relocated to Knoxville?

 

[madtownvol]

I wouldn't say she's inconsistent as much as she's limited in the scenarios in which she can score. She cannot score against larger posts when the paint is clogged. She doesn't have the height or the hops to shoot over or around multiple defenders.

When teams cannot double down on the posts and she can use her speed to take her defender one-on-one off the dribble, she is nearly automatic. The problem this year has been that there is no consistent mid-range or long-range shooters on the team, so teams can smother the post game without repercussion.

It's a shame, because of all the players on the team, she's the one that I feel for and wish she had better teammates.

Spot on. Graves mid range game has improved so one thing she could do is pop out for short jumpers. If she hits those, then players would close down on her and create a driving lane for her.

In many respects, Graves reminds me of Shyra Ely who was not a reliable go to scorer (though often asked to be and without great success);

 

[Pat4life]

I think the young lady is talented, I think she is still hurt, I don't think she used to playing with so many low iq players, so the road ahead of her is arduous, and when she looks around that there aren't any other scorers on the team. She is going to be targeted by multiple defenders every game, which takes some adjusting too.

Some of her turnover tonite , passes were spot on if she was playing with high bball iq players, you saw her frustration, them not being in right spot, so she took upon herself to take over, on an off shooting night. Her team gave up on her tonite, Graves didn't tank it but was noticeably frustrated, agitated all night. The players looked like if she wants to do by it all herself, she don't need me, hey let's let her do it then. She not going to follow the scanner report, then I don't have too. And that what it looked like tonite. She wanted to be showtime but her game was No Time!

Hopefully, she is competitive enough and coachable enough to figure it out. YOu can tell she wanted it bad tonite, but she did it at expense of the team, the win. And that's what you don't want as a coach. And that's a tough position to be in a coach.

Diamond took us off course tonite, shredded the scanner report and we lost and Draya and Graves allowed it to happen.

 

[armchair]

Carter scored more than normal, but as the starting PG, she had 1 assist and 5 TOs. She was far from good...but still by the far the best G wearing orange tonight, which is scary.

Carter has her own issues--she is not a great ball-handler, for starters. I didn't realize she had 5 TOs--not good. But I do think she has a steadying influence on the team, plays hard on defense--and has been shooting reasonably well lately--better than our other perimeter players, which may not be saying a lot as they've been horrible for most of the year.

I also think Middleton should probably be playing more. Middleton was 1-5 tonight but I think generally she has a better outside shot than Cooper or Reynolds. Middleton has some issues herself--she is not the most athletic person on the team--but she gives good effort all the time. Cooper has shot poorly all year and does not play good defense. This team is offensively challenged--coaches and players. The one asset we have is DeShields, but she has been very erratic and was absolutely woeful tonight. There is no way we can compete with good teams without a good performance from her. She is the one player who HAS to be consistently good--and she's been far from that.

 

[Pat4life]

Graves would have to hit those jumpers night in and night out, I wouldn't close out hard to defend her. I would defend her for the drive. I would give her that shot, she would have to have Notre Dame type games. Graves hitting jumpers don't excite me. Graves hitting layups, does. Teams already know how to defend Graves, keep her off the glass, cos she want demand the ball or seal defender to get more touches.

She got how many touches tonite, let's talk about Russell.

 

[armchair]

I think the young lady is talented, I think she is still hurt, I don't think she used to playing with so many low iq players, so the road ahead of her is arduous, and when she looks around that there aren't any other scorers on the team. She is going to be targeted by multiple defenders every game, which takes some adjusting too.

Some of her turnover tonite , passes were spot on if she was playing with high bball iq players, you saw her frustration, them not being in right spot, so she took upon herself to take over, on an off shooting night. Her team gave up on her tonite, Graves didn't tank it but was noticeably frustrated, agitated all night. The players looked like if she wants to do by it all herself, she don't need me, hey let's let her do it then. She not going to follow the scanner report, then I don't have too. And that what it looked like tonite. She wanted to be showtime but her game was No Time!

Hopefully, she is competitive enough and coachable enough to figure it out. YOu can tell she wanted it bad tonite, but she did it at expense of the team, the win. And that's what you don't want as a coach. And that's a tough position to be in a coach.

Diamond took us off course tonite, shredded the scanner report and we lost and Draya allowed it to happen.

DeShields has to play hard all the time, make good decisions, and be a leader. I have not seen that from her. She seems moody on the court; her body language gets bad regularly, which is surely one reason for her erratic play. She seems to have a bit of an attitude problem. Let's not blame others for her performance tonight: She had lot of open looks and clanged everything. She's got a pretty jump shot but she misses a LOT--it is surprising. Warlick thinks we should score inside all the time, but we don't have inside scorers other than Russell occasionally, and teams pack it in on us and play zone. You simply have to make open jumpers. Cooper has missed shots all year, too. DeShields needs to show more enthusiasm and have a better attitude, I think--and that is Warlick's challenge.

 

[FrozenLVFan]

Diamond looked like Meghan out there tonite, she shot us out of the game tonite.

DD does look like Meghan on offense. They both jacked up shots, disrupted the offensive flow, and cut their teammates out of the offense. But while Meghan's defense wasn't great, she played hard all the time. She didn't take plays off while she pouted.

 

[Pat4life]

Get it inside doesn't mean just feeding into the post, it means wings and guards getting higher percentage shots by attacking the rim, getting inside. There are more than one way to skin a cat unfortunately our team chose to do it their own way.

We have to get it inside, whether a pass or getting to the rim, simply as that, we are not a 3 point shooting team, here I thought this team had found their indentity with defense and getting to the rim, and they showed us the team we all hate to see play.

Holly pretty much said in her interview, what we have all been saying, that team did their own thing tonite and they lost, so now she can assert herself again, but Diamond has to know better, she is a leader, if she goes off script, the whole team follows.

Yep, Holly has big challenge? How does she get Diamond to be coachable and listen, cos that is a lack of respect going off script? The one thing about star player, they think they know everything. Tough, but if Diamond becomes coachable and follow her Captain's commands this teams can be good, cos if Diamond is playing hard on every possession, the whole team would follow suit. She can make everyone on our team better, smh!

The pine is a good teacher, but she would not be starting the next game, and I wouldn't know when she'll get in, til she listens and does things the right way.

Our celing is so high, I hope Diamond embrace the big stage and learn how to play like All American with her team otherwise this will be a long season, cos right now she don't look All SEC performer and our team look average with her leading the charge.

Nice post Arm. This one post tho! Well several tonite. lol

 

[Pat4life]

DD does look like Meghan on offense. They both jacked up shots, disrupted the offensive flow, and cut their teammates out of the offense. But while Meghan's defense wasn't great, she played hard all the time. She didn't take plays off while she pouted.

Dat part!