Game Thread: Lady Vols vs. Ole Miss; Thurs Feb 2nd @ 6:30PM; SECN+

[madtownvol]

I thought Kellie looked great. She had some sort of Orange necklace, and I think she wore Big Orange high heels. Sharp!

The orange heels and matching necklace were a nice touch.

Kellie in her press conference was asked twice about her starting line-up choices. Kellie got a little irritated on the second one, noting that she does not like to change her line-ups when things are working and everyone understands their roles. She added that the starting lineup is not the most important thing. She also noted how Jillian H. is playing with more physicality, more confidence, and not getting into foul trouble (and they had been working with her all season to make those adjustments). That kind of sounds like coaching.......

 

[madtownvol]

It was 47-41 at 6:56 of the 4th quarter when Kellie called a timeout that changed the game.

She also subbed in Hollingshead at that same time point, which might have had a little to do with changing the flow of the game.

 

[Benionsopinion]

I thought Kellie looked great. She wore some sort of Orange necklace, and I think she wore Big Orange high heels. Sharp!

Wow! I did not see Kellie very much tonight. Actually thought I was seeing the Coach Yo Show with all announcers pumping her and Ole Miss,

 

[Volfan2012]

you've got to remember Ole Miss is #4 in the SEC,,,it was going to be a war
I will take an ugly win,,,a beautifully ugly win !

It really wasn't that ugly except shooting the ball. They came out in the second half intent on driving the ball and getting layups and we made that difficult. Fourth quarter looked like a matchup zone to me cause when they did beat a one on one defender their were two players positioned on each side of the basket to pick it up. When you get up 69 shots to their 52 don't have to shoot really well to win if your defense is good. They shot 34.5 percent we shot 34.2 but all those extra created shot attempts propelled us to a 14 point win. That is awesome basketball cause shooting can always have an off day. A day when we were scoring as much off defense as the offense.

 

[Volfan2012]

21 for 40 for over 50 percent minus the three point shot. Our heralded three point shooters were 0 for 8. Our other players were 3 for 11 from the three. The duo of Franklin and Hollingshead went for 17 points and 10 rebounds with as a duo only playing 36 minutes. Hard to understand why they are not getting more minutes considering their production. I have and still believe our best lineup is those two Jackson, Horston, and Walker. Don't really care about the three point shooter for any stretch of the game the way these five can play defense and rebound as a group.

 

[DSunAthletics]

Anytime I read someone type a statement about this team having mid major talent I hit the ignore button. It’s not even worth reading. It doesn’t matter what stat you type in to justify it either. Basketball on all levels are about evolving in X’s and O’s. The brand of basketball has changed drastically. Tenn coaching, playing style is still a work in progress. I’m not faulting players and making false assumptions about their skill set without analyzing the bigger picture. There’s a clear path to success with this roster playing for a SEC & National championship and they could compete with any team.

 

[Memvol44]

Wow! I did not see Kellie very much tonight. Actually thought I was seeing the Coach Yo Show with all announcers pumping her and Ole Miss,

Coach "YO" if we have to call her that, gave very little credit to the Lady Vols in the press conference after the game.Other than we were tougher. I don't like her "I don't have an opening statement " type attitude.

 

[PRG]

The orange heels and matching necklace were a nice touch.

Kellie in her press conference was asked twice about her starting line-up choices. Kellie got a little irritated on the second one, noting that she does not like to change her line-ups when things are working and everyone understands their roles. She added that the starting lineup is not the most important thing. She also noted how Jillian H. is playing with more physicality, more confidence, and not getting into foul trouble (and they had been working with her all season to make those adjustments). That kind of sounds like coaching.......

I liked her comment about starters verses the rest of the knowledge that goes into all the other decisions that’s involved with the rest of the game ! Starting is not an IMPORTANT issue verses the total game ! A lot more going on that most of us don’t understand or know about….

I am old schooled…. Some of you coaches help me out ? Was Ole Miss using MOVING SCREENS the whole game ? It seems like the screener would pick the defensive player and then move 4, or 5 more steps to get in the way of our defensive player trying to get to the player with the ball? I think this is why Kellie went to a zone ? And everyone was bragging about Miss’s defense! To me it was BULLY BALL…
Hold , Push , kick , bite , Everything short of murder to get the ball ! ! ! Any UT player getting the ball in the paint was immediately attacked from all sides and let the flogging begin ! The refs let this play on and I am sure we had players getting IV’S at half time or behind the bench to replace the blood lost in those attacks ??
These basketball tactics are TAUGHT ….. And I don’t mind being aggressive, but if you are beaten on a play ….. move on to the next one ? But these Ole Miss players had a football mentality! Play until you hear a whistle or someone dies !!!!!! J M O

 

[cwbytruckers]

Before we rank this a good win take a look at Ole Miss schedule. The only quality win I would call for them would be a win at #24 Arkansas. Losses to Ranked Utah and Oklahoma. Loss to Alabama and Auburn. Not a gauntlet of a schedule. This game was at times painful to watch on both ends. Ole Miss hasnt played LSU or SC. If they had played Lady Vols schedule they would have 10 losses by now. Lets face it. We as fans have to make the best we can out of every win because this season is a total disappointment. So many high expectations that lets face it has left s all feeling disappointed. 17-8 right now and we could have easily been sitting at 23-2. Yes we could have won at OSu, vs Indiana, Virginia Tech, Gonzaga, Stanford and LSU. The UCLA and UCONN games were the only real blowouts. Surprisingly when you look at the losses they were in those five games the whole game. Losing Key didnt help. But coaching, bad lineups and refusing to call timeouts cost us those games. Some of these girls are not power five school level. But thats on recruiting also. The turnovers I complained about for several years has gotten way better. But allowing the forced shots by small guards and not getting into offensive sets. No adjustments on defense until several long scoring runs happen. Not calling timeouts to settle the team down. Playing slow lineups against much faster teams. Not shortening the rotation. Thats all on the coach. But if you think about what this team has done against one tough freaking schedule. There may be a March run in them. Not holding my breath. But it is possible.

 

[Coach Jumper]

It really wasn't that ugly except shooting the ball. They came out in the second half intent on driving the ball and getting layups and we made that difficult. Fourth quarter looked like a matchup zone to me cause when they did beat a one on one defender their were two players positioned on each side of the basket to pick it up. When you get up 69 shots to their 52 don't have to shoot really well to win if your defense is good. They shot 34.5 percent we shot 34.2 but all those extra created shot attempts propelled us to a 14 point win. That is awesome basketball cause shooting can always have an off day. A day when we were scoring as much off defense as the offense.

you're right,,,I was htere and for me it was beautiful
the girls never gave up and never dropped their countenance
only going into a stagnation once and that was bc coach waited on the media time in Q2
so yes I digress
it was beautiful!

 

[jp1]

Hollingshead needs 10 more minutes a game.

 

[Darth_Vol]

Hollingshead needs 10 more minutes a game.

So, we finally got Jackson back in the starting lineup. Now how much longer is Kellie pretending Striplin is an SEC starter?

 

[jp1]

So, we finally got Jackson back in the starting lineup. Now how much longer is Kellie pretending Striplin is an SEC starter?

The biggest issue I see on this team is lack of effort at times. Hollingshead seems like she always plays as hard as she can. We play lazy and uninspired at times. Talent wise, we are not as far off as it might seem. Effort wise, we have a long ways to go.

 

[glv98]

Strange game. I want to see us have a game that flows again. Those are fun to watch.

Before we rank this a good win

Every game we win means we didn't lose. Therefore every win is a good win. Another loss to a so so team and we are effed as far as NCAA seedings. If we don't beat SC or LSU in tourney, we probably already are.

So, we finally got Jackson back in the starting lineup. Now how much longer is Kellie pretending Striplin is an SEC starter?

Kellie's answers made me want to roll my eyes. Apparently she despises change and likes to keep things very consistent

RJ got in sort of by accident. JH was out at Missouri, there was an opening to do what the hell KJH knew she needed to do. RJ has played 30+ mins since Now KJH is using the exact same script "starting doesn't matter" "like her off the bench" for Jill she used for RJ. Jill will start soon I'm sure. Jill's development is a credit to the coaching, but they had alot to work with. Sweet midrange!

The tell is what KJH said emphatically, almost huffily when asked about it twice: "I DON"T LIKE CHANGE". Especially when she's wrong apparently. I guess stubborness can be a coaching asset at times, but also a problem.

Coach "YO" if we have to call her that, gave very little credit to the Lady Vols in the press conference after the game.Other than we were tougher. I don't like her "I don't have an opening statement " type attitude.

When a coach says, "I'm not taking anything away from them", they're exactly taking everything away from "them". Which she proceeded to do. Even saying we should be ranked seemed more to explain her loss than compliment us. Whatever. Yo's a show but it's already old.

 

[jp1]

.

 

[th2421]

This win moved us up one spot in the NET (to #18), Massey (to #22), and HHS (to #12), and two spots in RPI (to #17).

 

[jp1]

Interesting take. I was there and saw big effort throughout.

We are not a very outwardly emotional team, outside of Horston. Sometimes maybe lack of rah rah gets confused w lack of effort. We do get beat one on one sometimes but everyone, everywhere does. Running backwards to an unknown destination while trying to stay in front of someone running forward is hard. Bad shooting isn't about effort either.

Being emotional and rah rah is of little concern in my opinion. Some teams are and some are not. I think if you're being honest, you can admit what I'm saying is correct about effort. Every team shoots bad at times (not what I am talking about).

 

[glv98]

Being emotional and rah rah is of little concern in my opinion. Some teams are and some are not. I think if you're being honest, you can admit what I'm saying is correct about effort. Every team shoots bad at times (not what I am talking about).

I'm being honest. I did not see lack of effort at all. Neither did the coach, she praised effort throughout. But it's subjective, maybe your effort detector is more sensitive.

Speaking of effort, how valuable are the minutes we get from Franklin? Yep her shooting was awful last night but she always contributes when she's in. Tough as nails, cool as a cucumber, perfect role player.

Ditto Jordan Walker. Max effort always. Please let her steady improvement continue.

 

[Volfan2012]

The orange heels and matching necklace were a nice touch.

Kellie in her press conference was asked twice about her starting line-up choices. Kellie got a little irritated on the second one, noting that she does not like to change her line-ups when things are working and everyone understands their roles. She added that the starting lineup is not the most important thing. She also noted how Jillian H. is playing with more physicality, more confidence, and not getting into foul trouble (and they had been working with her all season to make those adjustments). That kind of sounds like coaching.......

Agree with her that it doesn't matter who starts. Total minutes of the best payers is what we need. She had Rickea and Jordan right where they needed to be. She needs to get Jasmine and Jill way up of where she has them. The others can fill in around these four. Finally the way Walker has played the last two games has been a totally different player. She is playing really well hope that continues.

 

[Volfan2012]

I'm being honest. I did not see lack of effort at all. Neither did the coach, she praised effort throughout. But it's subjective, maybe your effort detector is more sensitive.

Speaking of effort, how valuable are the minutes we get from Franklin? Yep her shooting was awful last night but she always contributes when she's in. Tough as nails, cool as a cucumber, perfect role player.

Ditto Jordan Walker. Max effort always. Please let her steady improvement continue.

Franklin went 4 for 9 not to bad. A couple forced shots when was in a bad situation under the basket were her only bad plays. We were 21 of 40 when we got paint shots and 3 of 19 from the three. We hit five more of those threes we beat Ole Miss by 30. Some really bad three point shooting from the players that usually make them. Puckett, Pissott, and Darby were 0 for 8.

 

[Volfan2012]

Hollingshead needs 10 more minutes a game.

Like to see her and Franklin going for about 60 total minutes between them.

 

[madtownvol]

Like to see her and Franklin going for about 60 total minutes between them.

Do you think Franklin could carry that kind of load on her knee?

 

[madtownvol]

Franklin went 4 for 9 not to bad. A couple forced shots when was in a bad situation under the basket were her only bad plays. We were 21 of 40 when we got paint shots and 3 of 19 from the three. We hit five more of those threes we beat Ole Miss by 30. Some really bad three point shotting from the players that usually make them. Puckett, Pissott, and Darby were 0 for 8.

So many air balls!!! Just weird particularly on your home court.

 

[madtownvol]

Strange game. I want to see us have a game that flows again. Those are fun to watch.

The tell is what KJH said emphatically, almost huffily when asked about it twice: "I DON"T LIKE CHANGE". Especially when she's wrong apparently. I guess stubborness can be a coaching asset at times, but also a problem.

Sigh, that could be her downfall in the long run. We live in a world, across all fields and professions, that demands flexibility and adaptability. No self-respecting CEO is going to proclaim "By darn, I don't like change. We make slide rules and 8-track cassettes and we will always make slide rules and 8-track cassettes!"

 

[glv98]

Franklin went 4 for 9 not to bad. A couple forced shots when was in a bad situation under the basket were her only bad plays. We were 21 of 40 when we got paint shots and 3 of 19 from the three. We hit five more of those threes we beat Ole Miss by 30. Some really bad three point shotting from the players that usually make them. Puckett, Pissott, and Darby were 0 for 8.

Shooting all around felt abysmal, probably bc of all the air balls. Shocking to see RJ miss two wide open layups. But bad shooting for her is relative to being the SEC's most efficient scorer - she was still just a click under 50%. I was really proud of JH to overcome a really slow start and bad shooting to be the Swiss Army Knife once again.

But they need perimeter help and I'm very concerned about Sara, and also now Tess. We have to get one or both going and soon. When your 3 pt threat is Jordan Walker, and who doesn't love her, it's not a good sign. Justine has been given ample chance, and she is not ready.

Striplin can flat shoot. From lots of places. I think we can find a good, Franklin-like role for her. Just not ahead of Jill.