Game Thread Lady Vols vs Texas

[BruisedOrange]

How can you come into such a storied program and not expect higher expectations and demands put upon you as a player.

My guess is there's a difference, subtle in word only, between wanting to be the best (coming to Tennessee) and having to be the best (playing for Tennessee).

Maybe there's actually been no change in the coaching they receive. Maybe it's as simple as, when "the legend" told them they were ready to win--players believed it 100%. Maybe the only change is when the current staff tells them... they believe it 90% and hope it 10%.

As for the "Kick Me" sign, we're kinda like Tiger Woods now. Intimidation is no longer a factor. In fact, "beat-a-bility" has become its own motivating factor for opponents.

 

[ivyleague]

wow, the lady vols are average. we have become an average program, we're gonna be like Oklahoma, Sweet Sixteen is going to be our high...smh Hopefully they can get they're head in the game, cos Texas is looking better.

"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" cried both Chicken Little and hysterical Lady Vols fans.

 

[ivyleague]

My guess is there's a difference, subtle in word only, between wanting to be the best (coming to Tennessee) and having to be the best (playing for Tennessee).

Maybe there's actually been no change in the coaching they receive. Maybe it's as simple as, when "the legend" told them they were ready to win--players believed it 100%. Maybe the only change is when the current staff tells them... they believe it 90% and hope it 10%.

As for the "Kick Me" sign, we're kinda like Tiger Woods now. Intimidation is no longer a factor. In fact, "beat-a-bility" has become its own motivating factor for opponents.

I hope neither the players nor the coaching staff has the time or inclination to read this board or any other. They'd quite possibly lose all faith in humanity.

 

[And1]

I predict the Lady Vols will bounce back against Texas (with Harrison hopefully back), win by 10-15 points and hopefully silence all of this negative chitter-chatter by all these fickle Lady Vol fans.

 

[ivyleague]

I predict the Lady Vols will bounce back against Texas (with Harrison hopefully back), win by 10-15 points and hopefully silence all of this negative chitter-chatter by all these fickle Lady Vol fans.

This. It absolutely amazes me how certain elements of the fan base have no problem whatsoever positively trashing the players and especially the coaches of a program they claim to support. These individuals rarely if ever comment when good things happen -- which is most of the time -- but as soon as a loss occurs, they worm themselves out of the woodwork and scream the loudest about how far they think the program has fallen. They don't see it, but they became spoiled and entitled during an era when parity did not exist; now that it does, they cannot bring themselves to accept it, and instead, lash out at the most readily available target -- the coaching staff. To them, demanding that a coach with a 60-15 record, an SEC regular season championship, an SEC tournament championship, and two fairly deep runs into the NCAA tournament during two years of head coaching is perfectly reasonable. It isn't.

No coach is perfect. Holly certainly isn't, and she's made mistakes. I'm sure she'd be the first to admit that. That doesn't make her a bad coach, or a "useless" coach. Not by a long shot. She is a good coach who is still on a learning curve. I'm utterly sick and tired of the doom-and-gloom rabble-rousers who gleefully take to the public forums to trash the very program they claim to support every time something doesn't go the way they think it should. Though I'm not as big a supporter of the men's basketball team, I felt much the same when this same segment of the fanbase was calling for Martin's head last season. Enough is enough.

 

[TennFan]

I think if the Lady Vols win it will be close-less than 6!

 

[ivyleague]

I think if the Lady Vols win it will be close-less than 6!

And if they lose, some of these posters' heads will explode. Of course, that might not be such a bad thing . . .

 

[TennFan]

Lady Longhorns are always tough!

 

[Freak]

Lady Longhorns are always tough!

Yep. Looking forward to see what kind of effort the girls give tomorrow.

 

[mikey2smart]

I'm so tired of reading rant post on how bad of a coach Holly is. It's rather comical actually because NONE of you have ever coach a day in your life and truly don't understand it. Then to top it off the complainers like to bring up how much better South Carolina, Stanford, Texas, Maryland, Notre Dame and Louisville are in comparison to the LVs. Last time I checked NONE OF those teams or coaches for that matter have led their teams to winning a National Championship since our last one in 2008 neither. Truth be told we have more titles since 2007 than any other team not named UCONN. All of those coaches have been the Head Coach a lot longer than Holly has and their fan base isn't calling for their heads. I think some of you complain because you have nothing better to do. If you don't watch the game, who cares, just means you aren't a true fan. Real fans back their team no matter the circumstances. This season is still young, and their is still room for growth, but to bash the team after they don't perform to your standards is ridiculous. Tell me, when was the last time any of you won a National Championship? Better yet, have any of you won a Recreational Championship?! Didn't think so!

 

[ivyleague]

I'm so tired of reading rant post on how bad of a coach Holly is. It's rather comical actually because NONE of you have ever coach a day in your life and truly don't understand it. Then to top it off the complainers like to bring up how much better South Carolina, Stanford, Texas, Maryland, Notre Dame and Louisville are in comparison to the LVs. Last time I checked NONE OF those teams or coaches for that matter have led their teams to winning a National Championship since our last one in 2008 neither. Truth be told we have more titles since 2007 than any other team not named UCONN. All of those coaches have been the Head Coach a lot longer than Holly has and their fan base isn't calling for their heads. I think some of you complain because you have nothing better to do. If you don't watch the game, who cares, just means you aren't a true fan. Real fans back their team no matter the circumstances. This season is still young, and their is still room for growth, but to bash the team after they don't perform to your standards is ridiculous. Tell me, when was the last time any of you won a National Championship? Better yet, have any of you won a Recreational Championship?! Didn't think so!

Have you also noticed how these jokers only crawl out of their caves when they feel they have a reason to post something negative (a recruit doesn't select UT, the team loses a game, a player gets injured, etc.)? They rarely post anything positive. I think it's against the code of jerkdom.

Stanford has dropped two games since beating UConn early last week. Kentucky got beat by unranked Illinois a few nights ago. Maryland just got beat by unranked Washington State. Parity is here to stay. Fifteen or twenty years ago -- even ten years ago -- there were far fewer teams that could compete with UT. Now there are many. It isn't a reflection of UT's decline, but of the growth of women's basketball in general, which is a good thing. It would be nice if the Lady Vols could win every game during any given season, but that's increasingly difficult to do. UConn managed it last year, although the caveat to that is that they had a relatively weak schedule and, minus Louisville, played in a very weak conference. They lost their second game of the 2014-15 season to a team that has since not shown much promise. This is parity at work.

Like you, I am beyond tired of the whining, complaining, and constant b******* that occurs after a loss. No other fan base consistently treats their teams and their coaches as poorly as UT's fanbase. And that's a shame.

 

[mikey2smart]

Have you also noticed how these jokers only crawl out of their caves when they feel they have a reason to post something negative (a recruit doesn't select UT, the team loses a game, a player gets injured, etc.)? They rarely post anything positive. I think it's against the code of jerkdom.

Stanford has dropped two games since beating UConn early last week. Kentucky got beat by unranked Illinois a few nights ago. Maryland just got beat by unranked Washington State. Parity is here to stay. Fifteen or twenty years ago -- even ten years ago -- there were far fewer teams that could compete with UT. Now there are many. It isn't a reflection of UT's decline, but of the growth of women's basketball in general, which is a good thing. It would be nice if the Lady Vols could win every game during any given season, but that's increasingly difficult to do. UConn managed it last year, although the caveat to that is that they had a relatively weak schedule and, minus Louisville, played in a very weak conference. They lost their second game of the 2014-15 season to a team that has since not shown much promise. This is parity at work.

Like you, I am beyond tired of the whining, complaining, and constant b******* that occurs after a loss. No other fan base consistently treats their teams and their coaches as poorly as UT's fanbase. And that's a shame.

Let's not forget that had Syracuse not had a second half meltdown, South Carolina would have a loss on the books as well. I agree with you, these whining butt holes only complain after something doesn't go their way. Like a 2 year old throwing a fit over candy. Notre Dame struggled with Michigan St. last week too. No team is a drawn out favorite to win this season. Like you said the parity is at an all time high and instead of living in the past and banking on the accomplishments of past LVs, we have to encourage our current ones to listen to the coaching staff and follow the game plan placed before them. I currently am a coach and understand all to well how hard it is to get my players to do what I want for 40 minutes.

 

[ivyleague]

Let's not forget that had Syracuse not had a second half meltdown, South Carolina would have a loss on the books as well. I agree with you, these whining butt holes only complain after something doesn't go their way. Like a 2 year old throwing a fit over candy. Notre Dame struggled with Michigan St. last week too. No team is a drawn out favorite to win this season. Like you said the parity is at an all time high and instead of living in the past and banking on the accomplishments of past LVs, we have to encourage our current ones to listen to the coaching staff and follow the game plan placed before them. I currently am a coach and understand all to well how hard it is to get my players to do what I want for 40 minutes.

I visited a Stanford board a little while ago and while those posting (in a short 2 page thread, no less) were rightfully disappointed about the 16 point loss to North Carolina last night, no one -- no one -- was calling for Tara's head or complaining about the "rotten" product she put on the floor. Stanford is currently 3-2, and one of those wins was a near escape against an 0-3 New Mexico team. There are concerns about Stanford's ability to win against unranked Hawaii tonight. Yet, again, NO ONE is demanding that Tara be fired. No one has called her a "useless" coach or implied that she is past her prime. Can you imagine if UT and Stanford exchanged records? This board would be full of threads with 20+ pages each of histrionics, mental breakdowns, and a petition to fire Holly.

We only see 2-page threads when something good happens. When something negative occurs, the thread counts and page counts explode. That leads me to believe many UT "fans" are just shameful (or shameless) whiners and complainers.

 

[mikey2smart]

I visited a Stanford board a little while ago and while those posting (in a short 2 page thread, no less) were rightfully disappointed about the 16 point loss to North Carolina last night, no one -- no one -- was calling for Tara's head or complaining about the "rotten" product she put on the floor. Stanford is currently 3-2, and one of those wins was a near escape against an 0-3 New Mexico team. There are concerns about Stanford's ability to win against unranked Hawaii tonight. Yet, again, NO ONE is demanding that Tara be fired. No one has called her a "useless" coach or implied that she is past her prime. Can you imagine if UT and Stanford exchanged records? This board would be full of 20+ pages of histrionics.

I agree and that is not acceptable at all. I say until she has proven to be out of her league (which a 60-15 record seems to be damn good and reason enough for her to stick around) we as fans need to relax and let her do her job. Coaching is already difficult with the expectation of a National Championship every year. But then to have your every decision dissected by those that supposedly are your support system is disrespectful, cruel and down right disgusting in my opinion.

 

[BruisedOrange]

I hope neither the players nor the coaching staff has the time or inclination to read this board or any other. They'd quite possibly lose all faith in humanity.

:birgits_giggle: Yeah... like anyone's letting humans post on this board!

 

[ivyleague]

I agree and that is not acceptable at all. I say until she has proven to be out of her league (which a 60-15 record seems to be damn good and reason enough for her to stick around) we as fans need to relax and let her do her job. Coaching is already difficult with the expectation of a National Championship every year. But then to have your every decision dissected by those that supposedly are your support system is disrespectful, cruel and down right disgusting in my opinion.

QFT

You are correct.

 

[ivyleague]

:birgits_giggle: Yeah... like anyone's letting humans post on this board!

I've had my doubts.

 

[boxerpupsrcool]

And if they lose, some of these posters' heads will explode. Of course, that might not be such a bad thing . . .

Actually if holly tinkers with the starting lineup a bit, and actually uses her timeouts, but we end up still losing..what else is there to do? we need harrison back in the worst kind of way and having tucker back, I believe, would do wonders for this team.

 

[mikey2smart]

Actually if holly tinkers with the starting lineup a bit, and actually uses her timeouts, but we end up still losing..what else is there to do? we need harrison back in the worst kind of way and having tucker back, I believe, would do wonders for this team.

Finally, someone with solutions to what they perceive is a problem. This I can accept.

 

[ivyleague]

Actually if holly tinkers with the starting lineup a bit, and actually uses her timeouts, but we end up still losing..what else is there to do? we need harrison back in the worst kind of way and having tucker back, I believe, would do wonders for this team.

Agreed. I'm a bit flummoxed about the non-use of timeouts when another team is on a run, especially in the first half of the game when timeouts are plentiful. Of course, I'm speaking only as someone who has watched a lot of basketball over the years (and a lot of Lady Vols basketball), not as someone who is or has been a coach or played at the college level. Non-expert that I am, taking a time-out to settle the team down just seems like a common sense move. I also don't think Burdick should start.

Harrison is badly needed. Badly.

 

[mikey2smart]

Agreed. I'm a bit flummoxed about the non-use of timeouts when another team is on a run, especially in the first half of the game when timeouts are plentiful. Of course, I'm speaking as someone who is not a coach, has never been a coach, and has never played college ball. Non-expert that I am, taking a time-out to settle the team down just seems like a common sense move. I also don't think Burdick should start.

Harrison is badly needed. Badly.

I agree with Harrison being a necessity for this team to be successful this year. As a coach, I can tell you that timeouts are normally used to slow a run when you have a young team. Most veteran teams don't need or want a timeout called because they know how to get to their go to player in a position to score and stop the run. Right now Tennessee is without that player so in this instance I would agree timeouts should've been used to get the message across and plan of attack to stopping the run by the other team.

 

[Pat4life]

"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" cried both Chicken Little and hysterical Lady Vols fans.

Im glad someone is happy with being average but a loss to UTC is satisfactory to you, you are part of the problem. We play for Championships and we win all the games we are suppose to win. Its like a broken record of no defense and rebounding, and no energy, no competitive fire. Sorry, that's not Lady Vols basketball and we're tired of seeing it and hearing how its been fixed.

Yes I am upset and will be that way til we win and at least compete against a quality tem cos a loss to UTC is unacceptable, and will always be unacceptable to me. I'll be damned to be happy after a loss to UTC. I understand being positive but damn.

 

[ivyleague]

Im glad someone is happy with being average but a loss to UTC is satisfactory to you, you are part of the problem.

I never said a loss to UTC -- or any loss -- is satisfactory. But losses happen. Especially in a sport with increasing parity, it's something fans have to deal with. The fans who refuse to face reality are the problem.

We play for Championships

I imagine everyone does, or tries to.

and we win all the games we are suppose to win.

Only in fantasy land does every single team win every game they are "supposed" to win.

Its like a broken record of no defense and rebounding, and no energy, no competitive fire.

So you say.

Sorry, that's not Lady Vols basketball

A team is not going to be "on" every single game. It just doesn't work that way. It never has. For many years, off nights were able to be masked due to the Lady Vols' vast superiority over most other teams. There is far, far more parity in the sport now. An off night in 2014 can easily result in a loss even for a "superior" team. Just ask Geno. Or Tara. Or Brenda. Or Matthew. Or Kim. They've all lost to "inferior" opponents within the past two weeks. Their fans just appear to be a bit less hysterical about it.

and we're tired of seeing it and hearing how its been fixed.

Okay.

Yes I am upset and will be that way til we win and at least compete against a quality tem cos a loss to UTC is unacceptable, and will always be unacceptable to me. I'll be damned to be happy after a loss to UTC. I understand being positive but damn.

Feel better now that little tantrum is out of your system?

 

[Pat4life]

I never said a loss to UTC -- or any loss -- is satisfactory. But losses happen. Especially in a sport with increasing parity, it's something fans have to deal with. The fans who refuse to face reality are the problem.



I imagine everyone does, or tries to.



Only in fantasy land does every single team win every game they are "supposed" to win.



So you say.



A team is not going to be "on" every single game. It just doesn't work that way. It never has. For many years, off nights were able to be masked due to the Lady Vols' vast superiority over most other teams. There is far, far more parity in the sport now. An off night in 2014 can easily result in a loss even for a "superior" team. Just ask Geno. Or Tara. Or Brenda. Or Matthew. Or Kim. They've all lost to "inferior" opponents within the past two weeks. Their fans just appear to be a bit less hysterical about it.



Okay.



Feel better now that little tantrum is out of your system?

This my fellow lady vols fans is what a loser look like... wave to the loser, losing to UTC is acceptable, parity okkkkkk. Tantrum will be over after win over Texas.I back Pat and roll with Holly.

 

[ivyleague]

This my fellow lady vols fans is what a loser look like... wave to the loser, losing to UTC is acceptable, parity okkkkkk.

Explain to me where I said losing to UTC is acceptable. Losing is part of the game. That's reality. Parity is here to stay. What do you expect to do about it? Magically make the majority of teams that have gained a great deal of competitive ground in women's basketball over the past ten years less competitive? How is that good for the sport?