Game Thread: Lady Vols Vs Oklahoma; Sun Jan 5th ; Home game; 3 PM Eastern; ESPN

[volfan102455]

Despite the loss and myriad reasons for it, my glass is still at least half full. We played the ninth rated team in the country. We gave up 87 points, and about half of those were uncontested. It could have been a simple problem with back-side rotation. It might have been schematically ill-advised. Doesn't matter. Our players, and it's fair to suggest, our Coach(es) were individually and collectively much too slow to adjust. That layup party went on for too long.

However, adjustments were made, and we caused several second half turnovers. The leaping snag by Jewell was a thing of beauty. And, that steal of Payton Verhulst by Talaysia was silk. Nine steals!

Sure, it was too little, too late, but to play bad defensively and still produce thirty-one turnovers; and to shoot poorly and score 86 points, against the top-ten, very well coached Sooners ...that's something to hang your Davy Crockett hat on. What I'm getting at is, I think this thing is about to explode.

Cheers.

We'll know soon (Thursday) if lessons were learned from the OU loss. You can bet that LSU is going to attempt to do the same thing OU did to get easy layups.

We have seen that in at least three games now - I'm hoping we finally learn how to be aggressive defensively without giving the opponent a layup. If we can solve that, we will be okay. If we can't, we are going to see every team remaining attempt the same thing that OU did.

 

[mudcat1973]

Oklahoma 85
Tennessee 80
Going pick against the crowd today.
Hope my guess is wrong.

still waiting for my score prodiction to be fixed..

 

[Coach Jumper]

still waiting for my score prodiction to be fixed..

fixed,,,but I don't give wins unless TN wins
Not gonna glorify our competitors or those who pick them

 

[papatomany]

It was an open look. Not a great one. 23% from three isn’t the player you want taking that shot.

Wasn't the shot I wanted either; but the 23% is misleading. She shot over 35% from 3 last year, improving every year prior, and is a tick under 35% from the Iowa game on this year, which suggests she's settling into the system and will end up in the 32%+ range before the season ends. Last year's was slightly better than Tess and better than anything Samara had done prior to this year. (On that note, Samara obviously didn't need any "settling in", perfect fit for her.)

I'll add this. There are very few coaches, men's or women's, who consistently get that last shot right. I know there was plenty of debate over the defense on Cardoso's banked buzzer beater, but I didn't see a lot of, "Wow! That Dawn can really draw them up!"

 

[papatomany]

You know, I get the impression, from the discussions on here, that nearly everybody EXPECTED us to be 14-0. Must not be any of the same folks who lamented the hire to begin with.
I, for one, am thrilled with the results so far.

Also, the system seems to require a learning curve for the fans as much as the players. For example, even when run nearly perfectly, forcing 40 turnovers, there will be some wide open layups as well. (Yes, way too many in this game; but several comments make it sound like one is too many.)

 

[VolBall09]

Wasn't the shot I wanted either; but the 23% is misleading. She shot over 35% from 3 last year, improving every year prior, and is a tick under 35% from the Iowa game on this year, which suggests she's settling into the system and will end up in the 32%+ range before the season ends. Last year's was slightly better than Tess and better than anything Samara had done prior to this year. (On that note, Samara obviously didn't need any "settling in", perfect fit for her.)

I'll add this. There are very few coaches, men's or women's, who consistently get that last shot right. I know there was plenty of debate over the defense on Cardoso's banked buzzer beater, but I didn't see a lot of, "Wow! That Dawn can really draw them up!"

23% is what she’s shooting. End of story.

 

[Rooster1]

I believe UT is going to send LSU home with a loss, probably a ten point+ loss. I will be surprised if the LSU guards can handle the LV press, they lack a true PG with elite handles and decision making. And when Williams has to handle the ball in a press situation she will cough it up a bunch, her handles are not the best. I bet Johnson has to do a lot of the ball handling for LSU, which takes away from her offensive game.

 

[gule]

that's crazy talk, rooster. LSU will be ready for anything that Tn does on Defense. They have the best coach in the league and they have Flo.

we have Puckett the non bucket and a bunch of players who don't pass the ball.

 

[Rooster1]

that's crazy talk, rooster. LSU will be ready for anything that Tn does on Defense. They have the best coach in the league and they have Flo.

we have Puckett the non bucket and a bunch of players who don't pass the ball.

Tell that to Mulkey who cannot find a PG she trusts yet on her team. Gule, I suspect your post was intended in jest. But yeah, LSU should be going home with a loss. Morrow will need to be watched on the backside of the LV presses, but the ladies should be ready for that. Maybe press hard with 3-4 players and always have 1-2 covering that backside.

OK had a lone unguarded player behind the press too often. Kim can fix that fairly easily imo. I don’t want to say I know how she should coach the game, she knows more than all of us about her team so I’m not second guessing her if anyone was thinking that. But if she feels like adapting some, that might be an area she goes to. Just an opinion, not worth much.

 

[volfan102455]

You know, I get the impression, from the discussions on here, that nearly everybody EXPECTED us to be 14-0. Must not be any of the same folks who lamented the hire to begin with.
I, for one, am thrilled with the results so far.

Also, the system seems to require a learning curve for the fans as much as the players. For example, even when run nearly perfectly, forcing 40 turnovers, there will be some wide open layups as well. (Yes, way too many in this game; but several comments make it sound like one is too many.)

It is not that "one is too many", it is that there were seemingly no adjustments until the last 2 to 4 minutes of the game to account for the situation. I don't know if that was the coach or the players doing what they should have been doing all along - but something changed late in the 4th quarter and the easy layups stopped.

 

[volfan102455]

I believe UT is going to send LSU home with a loss, probably a ten point+ loss. I will be surprised if the LSU guards can handle the LV press, they lack a true PG with elite handles and decision making. And when Williams has to handle the ball in a press situation she will cough it up a bunch, her handles are not the best. I bet Johnson has to do a lot of the ball handling for LSU, which takes away from her offensive game.

Seriously? I think we can beat LSU, but it will not be easy, and we have to play much better than we played against OU.

 

[Rooster1]

Seriously? I think we can beat LSU, but it will not be easy, and we have to play much better than we played against OU.

I didn’t mean to sound authoritarian on the topic, I was giving a fan’s perspective on how it may roll out. I truly believe LSU is walking into a hornets nest however.

 

[madtownvol]

I didn’t mean to sound authoritarian on the topic, I was giving a fan’s perspective on how it may roll out. I truly believe LSU is walking into a hornets nest however.

We are way too early in the season for "must win" but back-to-back losses against ranked opponents would be a blow to all the positive momentum that has been generated so far. These early games do have some enduring impact on seeding.

If Puckett's shot had dropped, they would have notched that top 10 win but it didn't and LSU at home looms a bit larger.

A LV win and they are back on track toward the 10; a loss and they are out of the top 20.

 

[PRG]

We are way too early in the season for "must win" but back-to-back losses against ranked opponents would be a blow to all the positive momentum that has been generated so far. These early games do have some enduring impact on seeding.

If Puckett's shot had dropped, they would have notched that top 10 win but it didn't and LSU at home looms a bit larger.

A LV win and they are back on track toward the 10; a loss and they are out of the top 20.

I agree a win would be great! But a one point loss to any top ten team ( for a first year)! Not a bad thing …..? Just my opinion.

No moral victories. But stay close and having a last shot for the win is not a bad thing ? I would love to see Mulkey sweating out that last shot !

 

[madtownvol]

I agree a win would be great! But a one point loss to any top ten team ( for a first year)! Not a bad thing …..? Just my opinion.

No moral victories. But stay close and having a last shot for the win is not a bad thing ? I would love to see Mulkey sweating out that last shot !

Of course. One made shot and the conversation becomes very different. But we have been one shot away from a different conversation on many other occasions.

It is always just one game in a long season and a first year coach gets a pass on not winning high profile games on national television...... or maybe no so much when the program is the LVs.

The dilemma is that we have had 5+ years plus of this program not being able to get over the hump against high ranked teams and OK was one they could have and maybe should have had.

Contrary to some posters, I don't expect LSU to be an easier game than OK (I hope to be wrong), So, the LVs will need to turn it up.

CKC's recruiting class buys her some considerable grace this season but it sure would be nice to rack up some wins against top 10 teams. We ain't "back" till that happens.

 

[Orange.]

I agree: I think LSU may well be tougher. But I still think we can beat them. Learn from the mistakes. Get our heads together. Play confidently. Turn it up!

 

[lvocd]

Surely to goodness the Lady Vols won’t have back-to-back-can’t-buy-a-bucket games, so unless that hot mess DOES happen I figure we’ve got a decent chance of pulling the upset.

Even with the normal 5-7 points I spot every home team, it may still take spectacular shooting, 40 minutes of defense like the Lady Vols played at the end of the OU, AND some lucky breaks in order to eke out a close win. The staff will have had to modify the game plan they had for Oklahoma, ‘cause if they don’t, it’s possible that not only will LSU score a gazillion fast-break points, they may even break whatever record their program holds for scoring on fast breaks.

All this said, do I think Tennessee can pull the upset? I do. Will they? Honestly, LSU will and should be favored, but they’re beatable by the best version of the Lady Vols.

 

[knoxvol52]

Can't imagine what kind of meltdown would happen if Lady Vols took a @$$ whipping like the Men's team just did...

 

[chuckiepoo]

Can't imagine what kind of meltdown would happen if Lady Vols took a @$$ whipping like the Men's team just did...

…gofundme for a moving van.