Game Thread Lady Vols vs Wichita State

[sccshortstop]

You must have blinked.



We won by 12 on the 3rd quarter play alone. CHW has got to show some moxy and sit the starters and run with the whole bench when they play like that!

Meme turned the tide when she started the third and was subbed way too fast...Kortney hits a putback in the first half, looks pretty sharp and was playing the boards and was subbed way too fast.

I give this game a C-

KD downfall was the two passing TOs I think!

 

[governmentmule]

I thought they should have rotated the players to coach jumper

 

[tennparker3]

Not a good performance tonight. This kind of play will get us beat quite a lot this year. Distracted by the swaying eagle's nest atop her head (and I only half-kid), Nared was terrible--couldn't make anything. I tried to warn you early-on. Our three-point shooting was awful--3--12--and we were equally awful from the free-throw line. As I said months ago, three-point shooting is going to be a problem for us as we have one player--Nared--who can shoot the trey, and if she is off we have no one dependable. The trey is a big-part of the game nowaday; if you can't hit at least 5 a game, your opponent will.

And why is Russell playing 36 minutes against a winless Wichita State? Mark it: she will wear down before the season is three-quarters gone. I thought Greene was good? Saw her tonight for the first time and didn't see much, perhaps because she only played four minutes. Lack of depth is an obvious issue, too. Warlick better understand that Russell needs more rest. Thirty-six minutes in an early-season game against a winless team is not smart.

Davis does have loads of potential if she can polish her game, and I expect that she can. Hayes? Like Cooper before her, she is built for open-court play; I don't see her being enormously helpful in half-court games and facing zone defenses, and we will again see lots of zone defenses. Still, she will play a lot and learn to adjust.

Green picked up two fouls right away and was the last one down the court on defense while sucking wind and Holly took her out. Green will take time to work into a consistent role. She hadn't played in a game for almost two years prior to ETSU. I thought Holly had the right players in and while our offensive output was not stellar we had a pretty consistent attack mentality. Just have to finish both under the basket and at the line. Defensively there were a number of bad reads and lapses but effort and close outs were solid. Wich St. made a number of shots falling away with a hand in their face.

This is the first game a team was able to dictate the pace and it really affected us, especially on offensive. Our ladies had to play a lot of long possessions on defense and that can really throw your flow off. Despite being 0-3 Wich St. has a senior lead team with two athletic forwards and very quick guards and we did a pretty good job of keeping them in from going nuts on dribble drives like most teams have on us the last two years.

Evina hasn't looked for her own offense much but tonight later in the game she started to attack and his some nice floaters and got to the line. I think she'll continue to look for her own offense more as the season goes on.

 

[Coach Jumper]

There was a triple double:

14 Missed Free throws
10 Missed 3 pointers
15 Turnovers

 

[armchair]

We were stagnant tonight offensively and defensively, but they found a way to win, that's encouraging. Russell needs as many minutes as she can get, she hasn't played in the fourth quarter in the previous two games.

Relax.

She's a senior--not a freshman; she doesn't need minutes. You want her relatively fresh late in the season. She is a big woman--and players her size tend to wear down and are prone to developing physical problems that smaller, lighter players do not get. Her feet and knees and hips are carrying a lot of weight. There is a reason Russell had foot problems when she got to UT, requiring surgery. You don't need her playing all but four minutes against a winless team--not wise.

 

[governmentmule]

There was a triple double:

14 Missed Free throws
10 Missed 3 pointers
15 Turnovers

I did think Russell would get the triple

10 steals

10 assists

10 free throws


:hi:

 

[wikileaks]

12 point win over winless Wichita State. Interesting!

 

[Putbacks]

The positives first: I think team chemistry is much improved. I think these freshmen play with passion and maturity. Despite last year's predictors saying that the 2017 high school graduating class had "no game changers" in it, I think Davis has the potential to be exceptional. Her maturity combined with her athleticism set her apart. But she needs to be held accountable now. Her game craves coaching and correction.

The reality of where the team is--and is potentially destined--was put into perspective in this game. Lack of attention to details and precision will cost this team. Warlick sent the message that she doesn't trust the bench. That is unsettling since this was winless Wichita State on our home floor. Only 6 players shared 192 out of a possible 200 minutes. Dunbar and Green split the other 8 minutes. Nared shot 3 of 16 from the field but played all 40 minutes. Seniors aren't immune to coaching/correction. A little bench tonight would have helped her tremendously in Cancun. The team missed 14 FTs, gave up 12 offensive rebounds, committed 15 TOs, and surrendered too many layups without help side defense and our bench isn't sound enough to come in and sit someone so she can just think a play or two about cleaning up her game or tightening up her game? Huh?

Summitt granted no immunity cards. She held seniors accountable as well as freshman. And Warlick doesn't have to be Summitt but at least hold them accountable for repeated mistakes and lack of effort plays....

 

[teacherdean]

Defense, Rebounding and Good Guard play wins Championships, actually I didn't like the rebounding or the players not boxing out. We need to become a more physical team, aye Bridgette, Lady Vols basketball. Rennia, just needs to get stronger.

We didn't impose our will this game, with sound fundamentals but these team looks like it plays better scanner report defense.

A win!

I agree that we did not impose our will as we should have. The dominant person in the middle has to be Russell, however, she dominates off and on. She still does a lot of game watching. I am very impressed with the toughness of Davis and Hayes. Davis can jump out of the building. Davis saved our butts tonight.

 

[volfanIND]

Our first game that the refs let them play. How did we respond?

1 - we got to the line 34 times. That’s fantastic. That’s some aggressive attacking offense!
2 - physical play led to more TO’s (15)
3 - this game would of been a yawn if we would of made free throws. The negative nancy’s want to pin this on something that just isn’t there.

Bottom line - clean up the free throws! Absolutely horrid shooting 58% out of 34 tries. Again, this game would be forgotten about like our first two games if we would at least shot 80% from the charity stripe. This game should of been a 20 point win tonight.

Not sure if this is right... but the shots tonight reminded me of when we (thinking of high school days) would hit the weight room the day before and come out the next day and shoot short on everything?

 

[wtorange]

This is the first game we have played against a real D1 opponent (albeit a very mediocre one). It looked like the team from last year. We got beat down the court by guards and gave up a ton of wide open looks. A better team would have clocked us tonight. Realistically I can see us getting beat at least twice in the Holiday tournament. Oklahoma State beat the Wichita State bunch by 35. I still didn't see a real scheme on offense. Westbrook sees the court very well and her passing can be special in time. Davis is just a player. There is hope for the future from an athletic standpoint but will they be developed?

 

[CannonVol80]

wtorange, I must have been watching a different game. There were really only a few occasions when the Wichita State guards beat our ladies down the court. And while there were, without question, some wide open shots given up, the vast majority of Wichita State's 23 made field goals (I would say 65-70%) came on contested shots. And the Wichita State players made some really phenomenal shots while being closely guarded. Should the Lady Vols allow 30-35% of an opponents' shots to be taken uncontested? Obviously not! But, I wouldn't call that a "ton". And, I will also say that both teams were probably bothered on defense by the wildly inconsistent calls being made by the referees. This may have been our freshmens' introduction to the vagaries of wcbb officiating!

I also do not think this team looked a lot like last year's team with one exception. First, this team did not let their poor offensive showing effect their effort on defense, in my opinion. The exception that I mentioned is Mercedes Russell. She has got to get more aggressive in rebounding, in my opinion, although I have almost given up on seeing that change. It's almost as if Mercedes waits to see where the ball is going to bounce before she makes a move! And, too many times to count in a game, she allows herself to be boxed out by smaller players without any effort to get around the boxout and position herself to get a rebound! She had 9 rebounds tonight and she could have easily had 6 to 10 more with a modicum of effort. I'm not saying that Mercedes Russell is not a good player, but, in my opinion, she could, and should, be a great player and should be in the discussion for player of the year, and the only thing that is going to keep her out of that discussion, is herself!

All in all, I agree with most of the posters in this thread. I saw a sloppy game that was marred by player error as well as, in my opinion, coaching error, particularly in not making use of her bench, but, overall I saw a number of positive things, also. And, that gives me a good feeling about the upward trajectory of this team.

Jim

P.S. And, by the way, OSU only beat this Wichita State team by 24.

 

[Pat4life]

To stand 6'6", Russell sure gives up a lot of layups. I guess she's afraid of getting into foul trouble, but she's got to be an inforcer! MeMe played pretty good, especially on defense, but once she came out she wasn't seen again.
I don't think Holly has it in her to take the freshmen out and let them know, that turnovers are not a part of the game plan.

Russell is not that player in your mind. She is the player, we have seen a past few years defensively. Get that imaginary beasty 6'6" Leslie Leslie type player defensively out of your mind.


She still watches a lot on defense and doesn't have a lot of activity, and she's not a rim protector, i do agree, we give up way too many layups and she has to contest or jump out of area (jumping and not landing in the same spot) but she does a lot other things well and is one of the best centers in the game. (If her defensive presence matched her offensive presence, she would be on the road to beasty. All American for sure.)

Mercedes can still get so much better. How scary is that?

Holly is letting her Freshman play through mistakes, she doesn't want them to be timid. Holly do your thing.

What you want more guards like Jordan Reynolds? Indecisive, timid. NO! They are smart players, they will figure it out.

Stop the hate. Congratulate a Win.

 

[Pat4life]

Our first game that the refs let them play. How did we respond?

1 - we got to the line 34 times. That’s fantastic. That’s some aggressive attacking offense!
2 - physical play led to more TO’s (15)
3 - this game would of been a yawn if we would of made free throws. The negative nancy’s want to pin this on something that just isn’t there.

Bottom line - clean up the free throws! Absolutely horrid shooting 58% out of 34 tries. Again, this game would be forgotten about like our first two games if we would at least shot 80% from the charity stripe. This game should of been a 20 point win tonight.

Not sure if this is right... but the shots tonight reminded me of when we (thinking of high school days) would hit the weight room the day before and come out the next day and shoot short on everything?

lol Nice post.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[The Dog]

I think I will be optimistic and agree with the posters that said the Lady Vols would have lost this game last year. They won by double digits, I'll take it as a learning experience for the freshmen and hopefully a reminder for the upperclass women of how U can lose to teams with inferior talent (Bama, Auburn, etc.)

 

[Pat4life]

Hopefully, she realize that's her defensive's play plays a part her being named an All American. I hoped in the offense with the added size she would be ready to bang, I don't think opposing players are afraid of going against her. She still plays small.

But for us contend for a Final Four with Freshman guards, she has to play like an All American, and that's a high level on both sides of the ball, every night, and that goes for Jamie.

But she plays (or has) big in big games. So we shall see..

 

[blackv]

HW can not coach! If they were playing a good team they would have lost by 20.

 

[tennparker3]

This is the first game we have played against a real D1 opponent (albeit a very mediocre one). It looked like the team from last year. We got beat down the court by guards and gave up a ton of wide open looks. A better team would have clocked us tonight. Realistically I can see us getting beat at least twice in the Holiday tournament. Oklahoma State beat the Wichita State bunch by 35. I still didn't see a real scheme on offense. Westbrook sees the court very well and her passing can be special in time. Davis is just a player. There is hope for the future from an athletic standpoint but will they be developed?

We gave up very few layups. Their points in the paint were minimal and Jaime, Cedes and Evina all altered shots off of helpside. Our breakdowns on defense need to be corrected but they have little to do with giving up on that side of the ball, something we saw a lot of last year. Finding open players on broken plays and in transition is not easy but we had more moments of good close outs than not.

We missed a ton of shots that came from well executed plays and got to the free throw line a lot. We just didn't finish. This team is much better at setting screens and moving without the ball in comparison the last year. I just skimmed through three games from last season a few nights ago and the difference is noticeable. Not saying the offense is spectacular but there isn't a lack of "schemes."

Jaime and Cedes are the key lines of communication on the court. Shots weren't falling and we needed the freshmen to step up and having those two log big minutes had a lot to do with helping allow the freshmen to do their thing.

Outside of UConn, Texas and Louisville every top 25 team this year has had a slog fest of a game. South Carolina was trailing 1-3 Wofford 24-20 after the first quarter the other night. Notre Dame struggled mightily versus Western Kentucky. Tennessee is not some monolith of a Power 5 team that has had a game that they struggle with a lesser opponent. Early season always produces questionable results.

 

[Franklin Pierce]

Marquette may win by 20 points if UT doesn't get alot better real quick.

 

[FrozenLVFan]

There was a triple double:

14 Missed Free throws
10 Missed 3 pointers
15 Turnovers

It was a quadruple double if you include the missed layups.

 

[madtownvol]

Well, not a great game and it was a bit of a flashback to last year when the team could not make lay-ups open jumpers, or FTs. Unlike last year, they stayed aggressive on the offensive, worked hard defensively, and crashed the boards. A performance like this won't win against better comp. but it showed that these LVs no how to play through a tough night.

Jamie was really off but Davis and Hayes stepped up quite nicely and Mercedes provided the finishing hammer.

Someone mentioned Holly not trusting the bench. Seriously she had no choice because the bench players were horrible tonight. Green seemed unable to move; KD had two quick turnovers. That only leaves Harris and KK (who looked pretty shaky against James Madison). This team is skating dangerous territory because they don't have a lot past their first six players. I think Green just had an off night so maybe we have 7.

I do wonder if the team lost focus with Cancun on the horizon or if Holly upped their work load in preparation for Cancun. All the missed lay-ups adn FT could have been signs of tired legs. I am really hoping that is the ultimate explanation here.

 

[Voltopia]

I would pay good money if I never had to see another lazy cross court pass again. They're already dangerous, you're throwing a slow high pass in a straight line that just screams "steal me." Not once, not twice, but multiple times. Move with the ball. Step into the pass and throw it fast if you just *have* to do it but jeez. How Holly doesn't call a timeout and break a clipboard on those is beyond me.

That and the ol' 1 on 3 three point attempt. Could go another fifty years of watching basketball without ever seeing someone shoot in transition when their entire team is trailing them.

 

[Volfan2012]

Mercedes had her usual game, but the freshmen pulled us through to a win. Hopefully Davis got more confidence tonight she made some huge plays. Down the stretch Westbrook and Hayes pushed us to victory. Were getting great play from the guard positions when those two play together 10 assists and 4 turnovers is great work. They also had 21 points on 5 of 11 shooting. They need to do more in the offense. Westbrook has been relenting to the upperclassmen she can score when she decides to try and take a few shots.
Jaime and MeMe both had bad games 4 of 20 from the field. We have to hope they don't have many of those and when they do want take this many shots.
The final verdict is that we played a bad game leaving 14 points at the foul line and several unforced turnovers.
Oklahoma State beat the same team by 24 points so we'll have to bring a much better game when we play them.

 

[Volfan2012]

Annie Hayes has been to the line a shocking 32 times in three games. She has made 25 for 78 percent. She needs to be a starter she makes things happen in a game.

 

[mcannon1]

We need to beat Wichita State and send em home wanting us to come to there house for revenge, yet also fearing that same thing.

Prediction: I think 2 double doubles, maybe a triple double (from an unlikely player) is gonna happen.

Believe you missed with that prediction Coach. Wish it had been accurate. Shades of the last two seasons. Or maybe the first two opponents had us looking through rose colored glasses.