Game Thread: Liberty v Lady Vols, Sat. Nov 16th; Home-FCC; Noon; SEC+ network; win 109-93

[Jax_Vol]

 

[Mafiaboss]

Timpson is going to have 30 Rebs against lady Vols

 

[Mafiaboss]

Basic.

 

[VolBall09]

Timpson is going to have 30 Rebs against lady Vols

Ok EarlVolFan we all know it’s you. I’m surprised your wife’s boyfriend lets you have internet access.

 

[Golfteacher]

There are some challengers but we’re top tier.

One of the challenges I see is a lack of good defense in the paint. This will have to be corrected, or against a good post team, we will get eaten alive in the paint. The offense appears to be top-tier. Our shooting is much improved.

 

[Ladyvols4ever!]

That sounds like me lol

It may have been.

 

[VolBall09]

It may have been.

Pretty much verbatim on my thoughts on Duke.

I’m 99% sure newladyvol fan is @FormerLadyVolFan previously EarlVolFan. Huge Kellie supporter and had a full meltdown when she was fired.

Posts are similar to when she was fired, repetitive, whiny, glass half empty blah blah blah.

He’ll never admit she was a disaster of a coach and watching Kim have success is going to shorten his lifespan greatly. Not handling it well lol

 

[Ladyvols4ever!]

Pretty much verbatim on my thoughts on Duke.

I’m 99% sure newladyvol fan is @FormerLadyVolFan previously EarlVolFan. Huge Kellie supporter and had a full meltdown when she was fired.

Posts are similar, repetitive, whiny, glass half empty blah blah blah.

He’ll never admit she was a disaster of a coach and watching Kim have success is going to shorten his lifespan greatly. Not handling it well lol

Ahh. Ok. I'm fairly new, so that helps. Was wondering.

 

[newladyvolfan]

I see there's another one to place on ignore. Not even going to try to give the fool anymore chances. lol

Players are telling the coach that subs…. And my guys would be Jenna. The coach needs to have a better feel/pulse of the game…. if someone is cooking offensively they stay in… cant be starting Darby and Puckett …. or on the floor at the same time… Cooper shouldn’t be running Point wi th any unit. Latham looks very good at the top of the press!!

Starters
Spencer
Cooper
Ruby
Puckett
Latham

They need to do a lot of 5v5 games in practice and keep track of wins and stats. To find out what groups are most productive and also add this drill

 

[LV renaissance]

These games take a while for me to digest. So much - both good and bad- going on. I thought the first quarter was a thing of beauty: The offense was off the charts and the defense was good though no steals. The offense stayed good for the first 3 quarters, but on man, the defense. Similar to other posts here, I believe the biggest problem on defense is the transition for our effective press to our half-court. Most of it does seem like confusion. Additionally, we haven't figured how to transition our energy from being the aggressor during the press to having to settle down and have a narrower focus while staying energized when we switch to half-court. I do think at times this makes them look like they aren't giving good effort in the half-court. It reminds me of any quick paced team in football and basketball that all of sudden has to run out the clock and they lose their focus.
I had a great view of Kim in the 2nd half, and she was furious yet focused on giving them lots of specific feedback during the huddles. I mean, lots and lots. I wish I could have heard the content.
Despite how bad our defense has played, the sky isn't falling. I think it will get much better though I do think our half-court will be a relative weakness. It is hard to be a great press team and a great half court team, but at some point, Kim will have the personnel and the tweaks to the system that this might happen.
I know many of us panic when we think of how rated teams might do against our defense. I know there are limits of comparative scores, but three of the teams we played also played a rated team. Here are the point margins: Against Samford LV had a 48-point margin, Florida State had a 32-point margin. Against UT Martin, LV had a 40 point-margin and Louisville had just a 22 point-margin. Finally, despite our porous defense against Liberty, both the LVs and Duke had a 16 point-margin on them. Given how much upside our team has, her system is already working in some ways by all the steals, turnovers, extra shots, and improving 3-point shooting we have. (Dang, I thought this was going to be a rare short one from me).

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

These games take a while for me to digest. So much - both good and bad- going on. I thought the first quarter was a thing of beauty: The offense was off the charts and the defense was good though no steals. The offense stayed good for the first 3 quarters, but on man, the defense. Similar to other posts here, I believe the biggest problem on defense is the transition for our effective press to our half-court. Most of it does seem like confusion. Additionally, we haven't figured how to transition our energy from being the aggressor during the press to having to settle down and have a narrower focus while staying energized when we switch to half-court. I do think at times this makes them look like they aren't giving good effort in the half-court. It reminds me of any quick paced team in football and basketball that all of sudden has to run out the clock and they lose their focus.
I had a great view of Kim in the 2nd half, and she was furious yet focused on giving them lots of specific feedback during the huddles. I mean, lots and lots. I wish I could have heard the content.
Despite how bad our defense has played, the sky isn't falling. I think it will get much better though I do think our half-court will be a relative weakness. It is hard to be a great press team and a great half court team, but at some point, Kim will have the personnel and the tweaks to the system that this might happen.
I know many of us panic when we think of how rated teams might do against our defense. I know there are limits of comparative scores, but three of the teams we played also played a rated team. Here are the point margins: Against Samford LV had a 48-point margin, Florida State had a 32-point margin. Against UT Martin, LV had a 40 point-margin and Louisville had just a 22 point-margin. Finally, despite our porous defense against Liberty, both the LVs and Duke had a 16 point-margin on them. Given how much upside our team has, her system is already working in some ways by all the steals, turnovers, extra shots, and improving 3-point shooting we have. (Dang, I thought this was going to be a rare short one from me).

Good post. I don't think anyone is panicking here just concerned the half court D needs to be tightened up. I am very confident Kim will address it before next game. They get the D working with O we got, they can put some real hurt on some teams.

 

[VolBall09]

Good post. I don't think anyone is panicking here just concerned the half court D needs to be tightened up. I am very confident Kim will address it before next game. They get the D working with O we got, they can put some real hurt on some teams.

From the looks of things we spent most of preseason putting in the press and her offense which are the two most important things in her system.

The half court D seems to have taken a backseat but is about to get some attention over the next 10 days.

A lot of the new players are further along than returners. There are some bad habits that are hard to break. Poor rotations, standing behind and not boxing out, slow close outs and allowing straight line drives down the middle of the paint were hallmarks of our teams the last few seasons. Some of those players from that system really have to come alive.

Spear is an offensive weapon but her defense is so spotty, sometimes she gives it and other times she’s just loafing around. With this roster someone else will play if she’s going to do that.

Dead horse but Puckett and Darby are just too slow. Just going to have to cheer for them and support their final season and look forward to filling their spots with significantly more athletic players. Neither can keep a player in front, both are slow to close and neither is good on the back of the press where we are forced to play them due to their foot speed.

 

[lvocd]

From the looks of things we spent most of preseason putting in the press and her offense which are the two most important things in her system.

The half court D seems to have taken a backseat but is about to get some attention over the next 10 days.

A lot of the new players are further along than returners. There are some bad habits that are hard to break. Poor rotations, standing behind and not boxing out, slow close outs and allowing straight line drives down the middle of the paint were hallmarks of our teams the last few seasons. Some of those players from that system really have to come alive.

Spear is an offensive weapon but her defense is so spotty, sometimes she gives it and other times she’s just loafing around. With this roster someone else will play if she’s going to do that.

Dead horse but Puckett and Darby are just too slow. Just going to have to cheer for them and support their final last season and look forward to filling their spots with significantly more athletic players. Neither can keep a player in front, both are slow to close and neither is good on the back of the press where we are forced to play them due to their foot speed.

All valid points, sadly.

 

[Jax_Vol]

All valid points, sadly.

Sadly?

Probably in our best shape since Candace departed in 2008

 

[lvocd]

Sadly?

Probably in our best shape since Candace departed in 2008

Well, when I said that I was actually thinking mostly that I'm sad that Tess and Sara are probably always going to struggle to stay in front of people. They are both amazing Lady Vols and I love them and value all they bring to the team and program. But genetics are what they are, and they have higher ratios of slow-twitch muscle fobers than they do fast-twitch, which is why they'll never be quick.

I agree the team is in our best shape since the CP3 era.

 

[Oldman70]

The ladies are not getting enough recovery time, they need to be in ice tanks and getting massages.

 

[Jax_Vol]

Well, when I said that I was actually thinking mostly that I'm sad that Tess and Sara are probably always going to struggle to stay in front of people. They are both amazing Lady Vols and I love them and value all they bring to the team and program. But genetics are what they are, and they have higher ratios of slow-twitch muscle fobers than they do fast-twitch, which is why they'll never be quick.

I agree the team is in our best shape since the CP3 era.

Got ya now. My fault...didn't read close enough.

Sara is hanging in there.

But, yeah...not full court press type players. Same with Jillian.

 

[lvocd]

Got ya now. My fault...didn't read close enough.

Sara is hanging in there.

But, yeah...not full court press type players. Same with Jillian.

I'll tell ya right now, Sara and Tess are two of the most resilient, tough-minded players and leaders to wear Lady Vol uniforms in a long, long time. They are important to this team, even with a limitation neither can control. They've made the most of the gifts they do have.

 

[Volinnooga]

When our shots are falling, we’re going to be super hard to beat!!!!

True of most teams.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

 

[Vunhopper]

Liberty shot just about as good of a team can shoot and still lost by double digits. Some of the points Tenn gave up were due to lackluster effort, but Liberty wasn't exactly taking layup after layup... Lady Vols don't get enough minutes to be fatigued. They got up big and got a little lazy. It happens. To blame it on fatigue defies logic because they only get 18 minutes a game. lol, fatigue is a lazy excuse.

 

[Voluble2]

Maybe she doesn’t know how to fix it… maybe that’s why she doesn’t call timeouts

LOL, that was Kellie's problem, and it is why you are parroting that criticism where it obviously doesn't belong.

Try to be less transparent, Earl.

 

[VolBall09]

Liberty shot just about as good of a team can shoot and still lost by double digits. Some of the points Tenn gave up were due to lackluster effort, but Liberty wasn't exactly taking layup after layup... Lady Vols don't get enough minutes to be fatigued. They got up big and got a little lazy. It happens. To blame it on fatigue defies logic because they only get 18 minutes a game. lol, fatigue is a lazy excuse.

They did strike it from 3. Smuda did get a LOT of wide open layups though lol

 

[Voluble2]

One of the challenges I see is a lack of good defense in the paint. This will have to be corrected, or against a good post team, we will get eaten alive in the paint. The offense appears to be top-tier. Our shooting is much improved.

Against a tall, skilled post we are going to give up points. Hollingshead can't guard anyone. Zee is good, but can get a lot better. Latham is a good post defender but is too short against the taller posts. Favor is the same. We are not built to stop a strong post game. Our best bet in those sorts of games is to deny them the ball. And the post can't score if their team can never get the ball over half-court. We had an 8 pt spurt today where the other team never got the ball past half-court.

That is probably what this style is going to look like. Swarm the larger posts if they bring the ball down, deny them the ball, and rebound like hell on their misses. I thought we were missing the help defense today that would have kept their big girl from maneuvering as much as she was. She was able to turn in any direction she wanted, and make slow post moves that required a lot of set-up. You gotta take that away and limit her moves by filling those spaces.

 

[madtownvol]

Y'all remember when CKC was saying that her teams aren't very good in November. And remember that "good" is a relative term based on where the coach wants them to be when it really matters.

So, this game was one to put in the not very good yet/ need to improve file.

Teams are getting film on the LVs and seeing ways to beat it. One bounce is often what it takes. If you have a reasonable agile big, you can bring them up to be an outlet.

I said before that predictability makes teams vulnerable. Right now, our press is very one note and if teams don;t get trapped in the corner, they are handling it okay (and we have played teams with no where the athletes we have or will face).

So, the solution is to mix things up. Change your spacing. change your point of attack and so on. I am sure different press wrinkles will get built in as he season goes on.

I think the subbing pattern might change a bit too, When you have a group that is really flowing, manybe leave them on a bit long say 5 minutes than 90 seconds.


Cooper is being consistently outstanding every game so far, Everyone else has been running a little hot or cold but Cooper has been a monster in every game.