Game thread: NCAA Second Round: No. 6 Seed Lady Vols vs. No. 3 Seed NC State

#879
#879
The time out where we stole the ball in the last minute was not only a bad call but seemed to deflate the team. That's not on Kelly or any of the Lady Vols.
We had a "LEGEND" coaching at Tennessee for years and we got spoiled. Today's women's game nationally is a direct result of Pat's legacy and leadership during her years coaching and though most teams have not come close to her record, they are starting to catch up. Will Kelly become a legend in time, I hope so .... she bleeds orange. But Legends are few and far between and the playing field is way more competitive. I don't believe its time to throw in the towel on Kelly Jolly Harper but improvement is needed as a team to bring the Lady Vols back to prominence on a consistent basis. There are over 350 division 1 women's teams currently and though we may be in the Top 10% nationally, its a position that we are not accustomed to being in. Lets see what the off-season brings before we light the torches and brandish the pitchforks.
Go Vols
 
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#880
#880
Voltopia said:
Old Dominion? Old Dominion, the program that hasn't gone to the NCAA tournament in 16 years? Or Louisiana Tech, the program that hasn't gone to the NCAA tournament in 13 years?

We're like them now? Tennessee is like them now?

Hmm. Ok. Sure. That make sense.
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i think it is fair to say Tennessee is closer to a program that will miss the NCAA tourney than a team that can win the NCAA tourney, or make a Final Four, for that matter
 
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#881
#881
glv98 said:
Yes. Replay showed it, commentators said it. Ball was in play.

In 30+ yrs, I’ve never seen one team get screwed as much as this one did on bad crucial calls this yr.

Cue the gravedancers to say it shouldn’t come to one call, etc. Interpret it how you will. But the fact remains and is valid
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Agree. Frustratingly as that momentum changing ref gaffe may be, it is kind of the cost of being a low seed. The refs are primed to see the games in ways that give the benefit of the doubt to the higher seeded home team.

The 2nd quarter was also the worst game scenario we all feared and that hole proved just a little too deep.

What a final game from Rickea. What a player. Best LV since Candace
 
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#886
#886
therealitytheory said:
So now they're players - instead of, your words, girls.

And if you let a characterization like "stiff" upset your sensibilities, then maybe forums like these aren't your baliwick. And Puckett is being paid, btw. And you're paying to watch...
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So name calling is fine as long as they are getting paid. Justify it however you want and throw shade my way if it boosts your ego. Carry on my man
 
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#887
#887
creekdipper said:
I was a little worried when Rickea got hot & became the offense early. Unless she scored 40, it seems that the effect it tended to have whenever that happened throughout the season was for everyone else to stand and watch, especially if it happened early in the game. Even worse, it seemed to affect our defense, too. Just sapped all our energy. We always played our best when Rickea was scoring and fishing out assists.
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Wow, an interesting assessment. Rickea ruined the D by being on fire. I do agree her development as a passer was a big improvement in her game, and it was beautiful to watch when she fished to Jewel and Sara as well as scored late in the season. But the important thing that ruined that yesterday was not that Rickea hit shots, it was that Jewel and Sara didn't.

Moore was asked how he held RJ to just two points in that awful second quarter after 16 in the first and his answer was the one we can all recite by bitter memory by now - he was able to change up his D and collapse on her. It is to the credit of the best offensive player we've had since Candace Parker that she was able to fight through that and score 15 in the second half. Truly a performance for the ages.

All of which makes me think about Jewel. Love her, love her happy warrior spirit, believe she'll be back, but truthfully, Jewel is Sara v.2, only with even less length. Jewel got eaten alive by their speedy guards literally fm the tip off. Like so many of our returning players, she's a step slow to do what she does consistently against the best teams. She can be great against the Alabamas of the world, but will really have to take a step forward in the off season to be the consistent scorer we need her to be next year. I'm not super confident that can happen at this point in her career, but sure hope so.
 
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#888
#888
Rooster1 said:
No, it’s actually more developed than the low country, far from back country. But I digress. Charleston and Greenville are better than anything in NC still however. As for coastal regions, Pawleys Island, Beaufort, Hilton Head, Murrells Inlet, Foley Beach, Charleston, Isle of Palms etc are miles ahead of the NC coast as well.
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The word hillbilly was first coined to describe those inhabitants of the Appalachian section of NC.

Nothing is more satisfying than crushing the tar-holes. I'm old enough to remember our ACC days and how badly SC was treated by the powers on tobacco road.
 
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#889
#889
glv98 said:
Wow, an interesting assessment. Rickea ruined the D by being on fire. I do agree her development as a passer was a big improvement in her game, and it was beautiful to watch when she fished to Jewel and Sara as well as scored late in the season. But the important thing that ruined that yesterday was not that Rickea hit shots, it was that Jewel and Sara didn't.

Moore was asked how he held RJ to just two points in that awful second quarter after 16 in the first and his answer was the one we can all recite by bitter memory by now - he was able to change up his D and collapse on her. It is to the credit of the best offensive player we've had since Candace Parker that she was able to fight through that and score 15 in the second half. Truly a performance for the ages.

All of which makes me think about Jewel. Love her, love her happy warrior spirit, believe she'll be back, but truthfully, Jewel is Sara v.2, only with even less length. Jewel got eaten alive by their speedy guards literally fm the tip off. Like so many of our returning players, she's a step slow to do what she does consistently against the best teams. She can be great against the Alabamas of the world, but will really have to take a step forward in the off season to be the consistent scorer we need her to be next year. I'm not super confident that can happen at this point in her career, but sure hope so.
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Well, I meant to include that the lack of energy on defense was not Rickea's fault. I was just posting that the lack of involvement while on offense seems to carry over to the other end. It's not a new phenomenon. Happens to a lot of teams & players.

Theoretically, having to work less on offense should translate into energy saved to use on defense. In reality, what I have often observed is that players who are not mentally engaged on one end find it harder to flip the switch and amp up the defense. It's not jealousy, just harder to go from zero to sixty when you're not physically moving and mentally focused instead of spectating. That especially shows up a lot when getting back on transition buckets, imo.

Just my opinion as a former player and coach and current fan.
 
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#890
#890
Volfaninfl2 said:
k, in the transcript of Kellie’s after game interview, a reporter asked what she thought about bad or missed calls by the refs in the SC game, and tonight’s game, that possibly effected the outcome of the game. He said that in the replay of today’s call, that the ball was already in play, and had bounced, before the timeout was called.
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That was dear Maria, and I believe if she been there in person instead of zoom Kellie might have punched her. You'd have seen some passion then lol.

That question, that reminder at that particular point when KJH had just sent her visablly shaken seniors off, just cut thru Kellie like a knife.
She said a sarcastic "thanks" then dropped her head and struggled with emotions. I know the grave dance crew will point to that as weakness, but I see it as how much she cares. And how incredibly painful the "what ifs" of this season have been for her.

Unfortunately, without a huge portal haul, next yr is likely to be even more painful. Wild speculation, but IMO it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Harpers might resign at the end of next year. Their kids are growing up, Jackson is about 10 or 11, and will want to have their own activities and sports. Gets harder to drag them around the country for half the year. Maybe time to early retire to some honorary UT positions and focus on them.
 
#891
#891
glv98 said:
Wow, an interesting assessment. Rickea ruined the D by being on fire. I do agree her development as a passer was a big improvement in her game, and it was beautiful to watch when she fished to Jewel and Sara as well as scored late in the season. But the important thing that ruined that yesterday was not that Rickea hit shots, it was that Jewel and Sara didn't.

Moore was asked how he held RJ to just two points in that awful second quarter after 16 in the first and his answer was the one we can all recite by bitter memory by now - he was able to change up his D and collapse on her. It is to the credit of the best offensive player we've had since Candace Parker that she was able to fight through that and score 15 in the second half. Truly a performance for the ages.

All of which makes me think about Jewel. Love her, love her happy warrior spirit, believe she'll be back, but truthfully, Jewel is Sara v.2, only with even less length. Jewel got eaten alive by their speedy guards literally fm the tip off. Like so many of our returning players, she's a step slow to do what she does consistently against the best teams. She can be great against the Alabamas of the world, but will really have to take a step forward in the off season to be the consistent scorer we need her to be next year. I'm not super confident that can happen at this point in her career, but sure hope so.
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Failure of the game was on our coaching staff not calling a timeout and making adjustments in the second quarter. You can’t just get your butt beat like that for 10 minutes and do nothing.

Heck you don’t even have to use a timeout all the time, direct your team and make sure they are ready to listen when you call a play.

Pat used to change things up from the sideline frequently based on what she was seeing. Just like Moore did last night. Kellie has to wait for halftime when she can process because she’s too emotionally involved in winning and losing and not focused on coaching.

At that point the game was over, we all know this team is capable of a big comeback but why do that to your team? We did that about 15 times this season. Some of them we came back and won, some of them we lost. Especially on the road, just like this game.

I’ve slept on it, I’m not mad anymore, just apathetic. It’s time for a coaching change. I do think she gets one more season but it’s just going to be a formality. Hopefully they take the opportunity to start putting out feelers and make a deal on a real coach.

Womens basketball is a stain on the Tennessee brand at the moment. Extremely sad considering it’s one of the only P5 schools whose brand was built by women’s basketball. Every other UT program is doing really well, well coached or on the rise. WBB is stagnating and likely taking an even bigger step back next season unless we make a huge portal haul, which I don’t see happening.

Don’t think the portal will be as active with talented players this year. Some of the most talented who will be in there are already there and already have ideas on where they’re going and it doesn’t appear to be Tennessee. I’m sure there will be 3-5 really good players enter after the tournament is over, but I’m not sure we can compete for them with other top programs. Our closing on recruits sucks. Coach Sam does a great job getting the right players to campus but the Harper’s cannot close the deal. Season after season talented kids are visiting 3-7 times and then choosing another school, what a waste of time and resources.
 
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#892
#892
creekdipper said:
Theoretically, having to work less on offense should translate into energy saved to use on defense. In reality, what I have often observed is that players who are not mentally engaged on one end find it harder to flip the switch and amp up the defense. It's not jealousy, just harder to go from zero to sixty when you're not physically moving and mentally focused instead of spectating. That especially shows up a lot when getting back on transition buckets, imo.
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Could be, but I think that was more about their tremendous speed advantage on the perimeter. Jewel and Sara just got cooked. Hopefully Cooper and Boyd can help with that next year.
 
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#893
#893
VolBall09 said:
Failure of the game was on our coaching staff not calling a timeout and making adjustments in the second quarter. You can’t just get your butt beat like that for 10 minutes and do nothing.
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A million time outs and hall of fame coaching adjustments would not have helped Jewel, Tess and Sara hit shots or be any faster.

It's the roster and recruiting, not the in game or practice coaching. Still a coaching problem though.
 
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#894
#894
glv98 said:
A million time outs and hall of fame coaching adjustments would not have helped Jewel, Tess and Sara hit shots or be any faster.
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True, but you have to do something to get someone else a look in a position they can be successful. Especially when teams are doubling and tripling Jackson in the post. Someone’s got to back cut and give her a release. Instead they all just stand around and then jack up a contested three off a poor pass out of a double team.

And imo our defense was the biggest issue in that quarter. That’s where you throw in a press for a possession or two, see if you can get a couple turns and easy baskets.

We only turned them over 4 times. This team was not aggressive defensively all season, not consistently anyway. If your offense isn’t creating scoring your defense has to.
 
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#896
#896
VolBall09 said:
Failure of the game was on our coaching staff not calling a timeout and making adjustments in the second quarter. You can’t just get your butt beat like that for 10 minutes and do nothing.

Heck you don’t even have to use a timeout all the time, direct your team and make sure they are ready to listen when you call a play.

Pat used to change things up from the sideline frequently based on what she was seeing. Just like Moore did last night. Kellie has to wait for halftime when she can process because she’s too emotionally involved in winning and losing and not focused on coaching.

At that point the game was over, we all know this team is capable of a big comeback but why do that to your team? We did that about 15 times this season. Some of them we came back and won, some of them we lost. Especially on the road, just like this game.

I’ve slept on it, I’m not mad anymore, just apathetic. It’s time for a coaching change. I do think she gets one more season but it’s just going to be a formality. Hopefully they take the opportunity to start putting out feelers and make a deal on a real coach.

Womens basketball is a stain on the Tennessee brand at the moment. Extremely sad considering it’s one of the only P5 schools whose brand was built by women’s basketball. Every other UT program is doing really well, well coached or on the rise. WBB is stagnating and likely taking an even bigger step back next season unless we make a huge portal haul, which I don’t see happening.

Don’t think the portal will be as active with talented players this year. Some of the most talented who will be in there are already there and already have ideas on where they’re going and it doesn’t appear to be Tennessee. I’m sure there will be 3-5 really good players enter after the tournament is over, but I’m not sure we can compete for them with other top programs. Our closing on recruits sucks. Coach Sam does a great job getting the right players to campus but the Harper’s cannot close the deal. Season after season talented kids are visiting 3-7 times and then choosing another school, what a waste of time and resources.
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It seems like this year the third quarter was our best quarter in.. Lady vol basketball. Probably Kelly got them and the locker room and gave them a pep speech or a dressing down one or thee other and they were fired up for the third quarter.If the momentum carried over in the
Fourth in close games we would win. If it didn't
We lost ,,, jmo.
 
#899
#899
utVolFanInVA said:
Tony Parker was 6'2" which is not small for a PG in the NBA but closer to average. If he was 5'10" it would be more comparable.

Think Caitlin Clark 6'0", Paige Bueckers 5'11", JuJu Watkins 6'2", Aneesah Morrow 6'1", etc. They are able to drive, shoot over defenders and defend. We have not had many like that recently. Only one that comes to mind is Jordan Horston who was not a true PG and had too many turnovers.
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Morrow is not point guard
 
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