Game Thread: Lady Vols vs. No. 1 South Carolina; 7PM Thurs, ESPN

[Amb3096]

Regarding Jusine, I have yet to see any player make significant strides in performance watching others play the game. It makes no difference the game or sex of the player either.

So she’s behind Kaiya Wynn in the depth chart. We all know what some of her shortcomings as a player are, so what does that say about Justine?

 

[VolFuture]

Against South Carolina we got absolutely nothing offensively out of our guards--and very little out of anybody not name Jackson or Horston.
Strictlin made 3 treys and has some qualities, but her limited athleticism limits her effectiveness. And we got a couple of baskets out of Hollingshead--who should have gotten the ball more. But that was it. We STILL have players who try to lob the ball into our low-post players--and at least three/four times in the first three quarters of the game, a SC defender deflected the lob. Poor fundamentals--you use the bounce pass to get the ball to a low-post player.

We lost this game in the 2nd quarter, when we let a nice lead evaporate--and the main reason we lost it is that Horston, who had an excellent first quarter, was absolutely awful in the 2nd quarter. She went from one extreme to the other. I think she was either 0-5 or 0-6 in the quarter. First, she took a terrible, off--balance shot and missed, then she missed a layup, then she badly missed another shot, then badly missed an open 3-footer--and finished by badly missing her last shot. She wasn't even close to making any of the shots she took. AND she had either 2 or 3 turnovers in the quarter. This is the issue with Horston. In this her fourth year, she's still prone to making bad decisions with the basketball--taking bad shots and missing. Just not a disciplined player. incredibly erratic, which describes her her entire career. You can't have wild swings in play from someone who's supposed to be one of your best players. She clearly tries to do too much at times, and, in her defense, when you don't have a lot other players who can score, you are apt to be over-aggressive and make bad decisions. She can take the ball close to the basket on just about anybody--but needs to kick the ball out more often for three-point shots instead of trying difficult, off-balance shots.

We were smart to play zone in this game--and really packed our players in the paint and made it difficult for their bigs. Still, we were very disorganized at times---players not knowing exactly where they should be---and gave up a ton of offensive rebounds, more than a few of which were the result of having all our players close to the basket, and so long caroms were often snagged by South Carolina players.

Lob>>>>bounce pass this isn’t middle school

 

[37620VOL]

I really feel like we've missed a chance to play really efficient NBA-style offense this year. Against man-to-man most of our sets should have Jackson and Horston creating scoring opportunities off of screens set by Puckett, Striplin, or Hollingshead. Darby, Puckett, Striplin, or Pissott should always be ready for a corner 3 if their defender leaves them.

I would also prefer not to see Jackson set any more screens. It's clear that she prefers not to get bumped as she sometimes appears to even move out of the way of the defender that she's supposed to screen. At this point in her career, she's not going to change so just let her do what she's good at.

 

[Darth_Vol]

Puckett's game is limited, but she has shown that she can play within herself and focus on what she does best: spot up shooter, posting up smaller defenders and crashing the boards. I don't see her trying to do things that are just not in her wheelhouse., so she's pretty smart about her on-court decisions. She'll never be an All-SEC type player, but she can be a reliable cog on both sides of the ball as long as she has other big-time players around her to carry the scoring load (and attract the opposing team's best defenders) Expecting her to be a go-to scorer or focal point of the offense is just not realistic. She simply doesn't have the tools for that, and the same is true for Darby, who is even more limited in what she can do offensively, and she is much easier to exploit defensively than someone like Sara.

Wynn...not sure what her role on the team will be especially since at present, she will have a bigger role on the team next season in the absence of some solid portal additions. Excellent athlete, but she lacks pretty much all basketball fundamentals (shooting, passing, decision-making, even defense). Miles has a bit more upside and is a solid defensive player, but that's probably not enough to overcome her complete lack of offensive production (both as a scorer and a playmaker).

One of this many disappointing revelations of this season is this highly-touted sophomore class clearly has a much lower ceiling than we were hoping. It's almost the end of their second year and Miles and Wynn still can't even get off the bench. It's highly unlikely Puckett and Striplin will develop into more than average SEC role players. It looks like Hollingshead has the most upside, but while she looks like she will be a good player I'm not sure she will be great.

It doesn't bode well for the future that Kellie's signature class to date are not players you can build an elite team around...

 

[turbovol]

Lob>>>>bounce pass this isn’t middle school

You know nothing about basketball...We had our lob passes into the post tipped away multiple times and stolen two/three times.

Lobs are slow getting to the post player and thus given defenders time to deflect it. That's not true of bounce passes. Powell understands this and used the bounce pass almost exclusively to get the ball into Jackson and others in the paint in the game before South Carolina--a game in which we feasted in the paint offensively. There is also a time/moment
to make the pass, when the player has really established great position. We see a lot of players with the ball--Walker did it more than once--look at the post player, should have passed it, hesitated and then didn't...opportunity lost.

 

[Darth_Vol]

In benchmark games/ranked teams. For us to have a chance she needs to be 12+ a game against this level. All but one was a loss as well. Miss St second game she had 10 points.

SC - 2 points
LSU- 6 points
Stanford- 5 points
UConn- 6 points
UCLA- 3 points
VT- 2 points
Colorado- 0 points
Gonzaga - 6 points

Still a one dimensional player that can easily be neutralized by good teams. This is why literally no other SEC team recruited her...

 

[madtownvol]

Still a one dimensional player that can easily be neutralized by good teams. This is why literally no other SEC team recruited her...

So disappointing Elvee. You have been trying so hard to sustain your passive aggressive sarcasm by referring to Tess's class as "highly touted" but just a little baiting from equally negative-minded poster and you're babbling about how no other SEC recruited this one-dimensional player, making it blatantly obvious Tess is not part of a "highly touted sophomore class."

Look man, it takes discipline and focus to stay in character and on-script.

You better button down it down and put in the extra work. A 100 hungry trolls are just dying to take your slot. I gotta say this is pretty serious slip-up that raises some real doubts because you have been at this a lot years and not much is going to change.

In fairness, you are a good mid-major troller but everybody I talk to now has real doubts if you are up to the standards of a power 5 board. Nothing personal. I was really pulling for you to suceeed but this board needs to start looking for a replacement troll who can really take it the next level.

 

[gule]

he'll always have "senior day"

 

[Coach Jumper]

Mad,
I was once high on Puckett, but two things I noticed this year, no speed and no jump in her game. So probably a role player, maybe a good role player but l don’t see a difference maker in her, hope I am wrong. I don’t particularly like her demeanor in games this year either, which is weird. She does not show the fire that Stripling shows as an example. She looks unattached.

Miles and Wynn to me are both role players. Too many holes in their games to fix in college to become above average starters. I like Darby also, but she has one tool in her box and it doesn’t work against teams with good defense. She still does not have the ability to put the ball on the court to drive to the basket or create space for her own shot. And defensively, you are always going to be challenged with her. Her role is hitting open 3’s, that is her wrench in the tool box. It’s a situational skill, meaning it can be taken away or denied to her. Then what? She doesn’t even get to the free throw line with that skill set.

Go back and view one of our earlier games,,,Do you see the same fire
I don't

 

[Coach Jumper]

Yes, having better players would make for a better team. If Kellie could bring a set of All-American candidates through the portal and could completely upgrade the team at every position, I for one, would support that move (as controversial as that statement might be, I will stand by it!!!)

But with the group of players we have now, yes Darby has her limits and has not produced in the bigger games as one would like. On the flipside, her improvement curve is impressive and she is by far the team's best 3-point shooter. Kellie offensive scheme does not help her cause because the LVs just don't run plays to free-up outside shooters. So, she is going to have improve her off the ball movement but I see evidence that such a change can happen in her remaining two seasons.

Sara "Bucketts" was an all SEC freshman player who seems to have hit the dreaded sophomore slump. Part of the problem has to be that, with line-up changes, her role on the team is not clear and she is over thinking things. I think that is correctable problem (for next season).

Wynn seems like a player with a big upside but she also needs some role clarity and playing time (and overall improvement in her offensive game), all things that can happen next year.

Holllingshead looks like she could become a beast. Her game has all the facets you want in a big but she is not consistent yet but that will come.

And Justine is waiting in the wings.....

Regarding Jusine, I have yet to see any player make significant strides in performance watching others play the game. It makes no difference the game or sex of the player either.

4th highest in minutes...Any player that gets 23.6 mins a game on the floor should progress

 

[Coach Jumper]

Yes, having better players would make for a better team. If Kellie could bring a set of All-American candidates through the portal and could completely upgrade the team at every position, I for one, would support that move (as controversial as that statement might be, I will stand by it!!!)

But with the group of players we have now, yes Darby has her limits and has not produced in the bigger games as one would like. On the flipside, her improvement curve is impressive and she is by far the team's best 3-point shooter. Kellie offensive scheme does not help her cause because the LVs just don't run plays to free-up outside shooters. So, she is going to have improve her off the ball movement but I see evidence that such a change can happen in her remaining two seasons.

Sara "Bucketts" was an all SEC freshman player who seems to have hit the dreaded sophomore slump. Part of the problem has to be that, with line-up changes, her role on the team is not clear and she is over thinking things. I think that is correctable problem (for next season).

Wynn seems like a player with a big upside but she also needs some role clarity and playing time (and overall improvement in her offensive game), all things that can happen next year.

Holllingshead looks like she could become a beast. Her game has all the facets you want in a big but she is not consistent yet but that will come.

And Justine is waiting in the wings.....

Tess 4th highest in minutes...Any player that gets 23.6 mins a game on the floor should progress
Give Justine that much opportunity and 5 stars becomes 5 bullets

 

[MrBiggles]

Tess 4th highest in minutes...Any player that gets 23.6 mins a game on the floor should progress
Give Justine that much opportunity and 5 stars becomes 5 bullets

And she averages 8 points per game and is our 3rd leading scorer.. And the other guards average much less and have turnover problems. All the good teams have at least 3 and some have 4 players averaging double digits. The upside on Pissott is that she tall guard who can shot and possibly pass well. As for D, the others aren't setting the world on fire. Having a guard shoot over Pissott would be difficult and she could post up the opposition guard throughout the game. I'd have Hollingshed on the floor instead of a guard and move JH to PG.

As 37620Vol said above, we had an opportunity to run an NBA style Offense, but we need a guard or someone who can drive at the basket to get the defenders in 2 minds. And we need players constantly moving too.

 

[lvocd]

I am always hesitant to read too much into a player's demeanor.

You and I are polar opposites on this. To me, demeanor (body language, facial expressions, interactions with teammates and staff) are EVERYTHING. Obviously some humans are more reserved or more outgoing. Some kids are more about checking on their teammates, and some are more concerned about keeping up with their own stats.

I'm not talking about that, really, but more about being able to see when a player is feeling happy or sad or challenged or appreciated or embarrassed or neglected or resigned.

At many points this season SEVERAL of our role players and end-of-bench players have given off unmistakable "WHY AM I EVEN EFFING HERE?" vibes, and I feel like that's a perfectly understandable response for people their age with so relatively little life experience.

Of COURSE they are disappointed to be spending exactly the same amount of time in practice, giving their blood, sweat and tears, as the players who actually get to play in games, but rarely get into the games themselves.

The far-off looks of these players is sometimes heartbreaking, and all I can think of when I see the is just, "Hold on! Your time is coming! Don't give up!"

 

[LVsinceJV]

At this point, I think it's a bit unfair to both blame the coaching and the players themselves for their own lack of development. Development, preparation for games, in-game plays, on-court and locker room chemistry are on the coaching staff.

 

[Coach Jumper]

At this point, I think it's a bit unfair to both blame the coaching and the players themselves for their own lack of development. Development, preparation for games, in-game plays, on-court and locker room chemistry are on the coaching staff.

THIS is fact!

 

[Majors]

You and I are polar opposites on this. To me, demeanor (body language, facial expressions, interactions with teammates and staff) are EVERYTHING. Obviously some humans are more reserved or more outgoing. Some kids are more about checking on their teammates, and some are more concerned about keeping up with their own stats.

I'm not talking about that, really, but more about being able to see when a player is feeling happy or sad or challenged or appreciated or embarrassed or neglected or resigned.

At many points this season SEVERAL of our role players and end-of-bench players have given off unmistakable "WHY AM I EVEN EFFING HERE?" vibes, and I feel like that's a perfectly understandable response for people their age with so relatively little life experience.

Of COURSE they are disappointed to be spending exactly the same amount of time in practice, giving their blood, sweat and tears, as the players who actually get to play in games, but rarely get into the games themselves.

The far-off looks of these players is sometimes heartbreaking, and all I can think of when I see the is just, "Hold on! Your time is coming! Don't give up!"

Body language gives you a glimpse of how someone feels in regards to the moment, the role, personal confidence/self doubt. There’s a difference in feeling sorry for yourself and feeling defeated.

 

[Coach Jumper]

You and I are polar opposites on this. To me, demeanor (body language, facial expressions, interactions with teammates and staff) are EVERYTHING. Obviously some humans are more reserved or more outgoing. Some kids are more about checking on their teammates, and some are more concerned about keeping up with their own stats.

I'm not talking about that, really, but more about being able to see when a player is feeling happy or sad or challenged or appreciated or embarrassed or neglected or resigned.

At many points this season SEVERAL of our role players and end-of-bench players have given off unmistakable "WHY AM I EVEN EFFING HERE?" vibes, and I feel like that's a perfectly understandable response for people their age with so relatively little life experience.

Of COURSE they are disappointed to be spending exactly the same amount of time in practice, giving their blood, sweat and tears, as the players who actually get to play in games, but rarely get into the games themselves.

The far-off looks of these players is sometimes heartbreaking, and all I can think of when I see the is just, "Hold on! Your time is coming! Don't give up!"

Body language gives you a glimpse of how someone feels in regards to the moment, the role, personal confidence/self doubt. There’s a difference in feeling sorry for yourself and feeling defeated.

Amen
I can recognize that "here we go again" look on nearly every player
People don't recognize how important such a skill of assessing body-language is

Court language is equally relevant
I can recognize when this offense is going to go stagnant and when they are subject to big runs by simply tracking forced/unforced turnovers