Game Thread: SEC Tournament Second Round. #18/14 Lady Vols (9 seed) vs. Vandy (8 seed). Thurs., March 6, 11 am ET, SECN

[glv98]

Do you all think it would help with fatigue if we leave players in longer and rest longer on bench. We sub so quickly that there is not much recovery time when you are out. Sometimes this year Coop would come out and go back in less than a minute or two later. I sort of think this along with hard practices may be why the team seems tired here at the end of the season.
Just a thought!

While the short rests have worked within games, they obviously haven’t worked over the long haul, in spite of some scientific posts here explaining why they should. The team is tired according to their coach.

Speaking of subbing, Sara only played 6 mins today. Perfectly reasonable to give those mins to Strickland, but should have been done weeks ago. All the sudden in the SEC tournament? Doesn’t make sense.

 

[Coach Jumper]

Do you all think it would help with fatigue if we leave players in longer and rest longer on bench. We sub so quickly that there is not much recovery time when you are out. Sometimes this year Coop would come out and go back in less than a minute or two later. I sort of think this along with hard practices may be why the team seems tired here at the end of the season.
Just a thought!

what beat us today was the same thing that has beaten us in most of our losses...we aren't working the refs!

24 fouls v 12 fouls and we hit the floor more than they did and their PG shoved her way down the court continiously
3-8 v 16-22 in FT's...that's 13 points
nearly every other stat is virtually even

The team IS exasperated, yes, but not with fatigue,,,its with not being fought for

I keep reading from you posters how it's not Kim's personality to get angry or show indignation and aggression,,,but that same thing is expected out of her players...This IS a contrast and very confusing for players

There is an age old adage "Teams take on the character/persona of their coach"...well if the coach is low key and shows no fight,,the team w ill gravitate to that same persona

 

[NOLACHUCKEYTOM]

Would love to see us run 1-2-1-1 press after made baskets. Sprint back and get into man in the half court after missed shots and use some half court traps and have one good zone we could throw at teams in the front court just for a change up now and then. Keep them guessing and throw the athletes at them.

 

[glv98]

Good news is there’s a decent chance for a successful reset for the NCAAs. If the issue really is fatigue, two weeks off then stepping out of the SEC should be just what the doc ordered. A lot will depend on matchups.

 

[TnVolsX4]

what beat us today was the same thing that has beaten us in most of our losses...we aren't working the refs!

24 fouls v 12 fouls and we hit the floor more than they did and their PG shoved her way down the court continiously
3-8 v 16-22 in FT's...that's 13 points
nearly every other stat is virtually even
View attachment 726352
The team IS exasperated, yes, but not with fatigue,,,its with not being fought for

I keep reading from you posters how it's not Kim's personality to get angry or show indignation and aggression,,,but that same thing is expected out of her players...This IS a contrast and very confusing for players

There is an age old adage "Teams take on the character/persona of their coach"...well if the coach is low key and shows no fight,,the team w ill gravitate to that same persona

Doesn't our defensive style lend itself to more fouls though?

 

[Deebowbear]

Let's hope it's the former and not the latter.

I think the system will be fine once she gets the right players for it. This year she had several that doesn’t fit in and not the defensive plays either. The class coming is going to show what speed, athleticism and better ball handling will be like in coaches system. Still need get a couple of good transfers wing and center at least.

 

[VolBlocker]

She still has it if she had enough basketball IQ to quit driving into those double teams and getting tied up. She needs to pull up and shoot her mid range they are aware of that move she makes and know she is going for a layup. Her one on one play along with Cooper is killing the team. Neither want to pass and there would be a lot of open looks if they would.

What game did you watch? Tay Coop gets double and tripled team on drives...when she kicks it out or dumps it off...it's either a blown layup or a missed three. Check tape from today's game. Smh

 

[VolBlocker]

Both are mid range shooter Prawl is just a lot better. Both drive the basket. I know Ruby is going through a rough patch right now, but when she is on she is an excellent mid range shooter and get to the basket player. That is what Prawl does she is just somewhat more talented.

Listen, Ruby Whitehorn's game is so basic. Straight line mover with a pump fake and spin move that's it. She's not really a good shooter either. Deniya Prawl has more potential as a shooter and she's much better than Ruby Whitehorn right now. She has an array of moves offensively. She can get to the basket and finish with either hand. She defends and rebounds. Oh and she's very FLUID doing these things.

She's a BABY TAMIKA CATCHINGS!

 

[VolBlocker]

Your saying Ruby can't create her own shot. I know she has played ugly lately, but she was really great first half of the season.

She can't create consistently. That's why she's been struggling.

 

[Coach Jumper]

Doesn't our defensive style lend itself to more fouls though?

Did they play with any less intensity?

 

[spojo13]

I’m a little concerned about the amount of eggs being put in the freshmen basket. They are good but they will be freshmen who will hit a freshman wall especially in a system that has already tired out athletes that have been in college training programs for years. We need them to help and they definitely will but I don’t know that we should expect them to do all the heavy lifting for next season. We need our returners to get better, find some good portal transfers and give the freshmen room to grow to be successful next year.

 

[VolBlocker]

Ruby and Cooper are the reincarnations of Rae and Jordan...
-Ruby(Rae) bull in a china shop early on,,,dribbled into trouble consistently
-Cooper (Jordan H) above average skills,,,can disappear,,,you take the good with the bad

How did Rae/JH turn their game's around and how did their "switch" get flipped,,,and by whom?

certanily not Holly or Kellie,,otherwise they'd still be here

Nothing alike! Cooper is much better than Hortson. She literally has to do EVERYTHING for Tennessee. Ruby Whitehorn isn't nowhere near Rae Burrell.

 

[Rooster1]

Match up zone is very similar to switching man to man.

Similar, but in true man to man nobody is restricted to an area of the court.

 

[Tnphil]

It is interesting that Kim said the opposite about Vandy. She said they were hard to prep for when she had more time, and it would be even more difficult with the quick turnaround.

A couple of things I would like to see next year is someone work with Cooper on getting more arc on her shot. That would do her a world of good and I am surprised she doesn't already have that given she used to play so much with guys. If she is going to shoot the volume she does that can only be justified if she shoots a higher percentage. When I was growing up a shot like hers was not unusual. But everyone refines every technique and tries to perfect it these days for a reason.

Another thing that would help is that some of our players heavily favor their right hand on drives. All of these tendencies and weaknesses have been scouted which is part of the reason why scoring got harder at the end of the year. Teams pack it in to take away the drive and get the rebounds and know who to let shoot from the outside and who to chase. In other words, they are beating us to our spots because a lot of our players don't have much variety in where their spots are.

Kim had to install a new system this year, with new players so you expected it to be rough. But it is a bad sign that the team is not playing its best ball at season's end.

This is how I grade the year so far.

Portal recruiting - exceeded expectations
High school recruiting - greatly exceeded expectations
Regular season - underperformed
SEC Tournament - underperformed
NCAA Tournament - TBD

It turns out that the saving grace this year was stacking the pre-conference schedule with cupcakes. Hopefully, we won't need that next year.

Agree with your post. I'll add one more....I think being a first time new mom and a HC at UT was tougher than she thought it would be.

 

[VolBlocker]

Yes and Kim doesn’t change anything within her broke ass Press, she gives away 10 + points a game with that press.

Vandy will get beat bad tomorrow by SC bc Dawn will play zone and stop them from all the dribble drives that they like to do.

Playing uptempo is where they succeed, the fact Kim doesn’t make any changes to her game plan is the reason why this team will prolly be put out the tourney in the first weekend.

Which will be just fine. She doesn't need to make changes when implementing a new system. She needs players who fit her system. Tess, Spear, Puckett, and Hollingshead all lack foot speed to play this system so when Coach Kim gets her players in...it want be an issue. You just stay on that side when she beats the brakes off Vandy next season.

 

[djohnnyg]

I still like KC despite this late season meltdown.

 

[kdcg6642]

Doesn't our defensive style lend itself to more fouls though?

Why is the blame placed on the refs every time we lose? That gets old.

 

[VolBlocker]

I’m a little concerned about the amount of eggs being put in the freshmen basket. They are good but they will be freshmen who will hit a freshman wall especially in a system that has already tired out athletes that have been in college training programs for years. We need them to help and they definitely will but I don’t know that we should expect them to do all the heavy lifting for next season. We need our returners to get better, find some good portal transfers and give the freshmen room to grow to be successful next year.

Why? Mikayla Blakes is doing just fine with Vandy! It's funny how you folks say the darndest things.

 

[Coach Jumper]

Why is the blame placed on the refs every time we lose? That gets old.

read it again:
24 fouls v 12 fouls
3-8 v 16-22 in FT's

 

[Coach Jumper]

Nothing alike! Cooper is much better than Hortson. She literally has to do EVERYTHING for Tennessee. Ruby Whitehorn isn't nowhere near Rae Burrell.

Cooper is indeed better skilled
I'll give you that
but Ruby and Rae...peas in a pod

 

[spojo13]

Why? Mikayla Blakes is doing just fine with Vandy! It's funny how you folks say the darndest things.

Blakes doesn’t play in a system that presses the whole game and Vandy still ended up unranked and 8th in the SEC. I don’t think that is where we want to end up. You have a different opinion but I’ll stand by not depending on freshmen to lead us to where we want to be.

 

[KnoxLikeUs]

Why? Mikayla Blakes is doing just fine with Vandy! It's funny how you folks say the darndest things.

I agree with you 100%. It’s really simpler than that to be honest Tennessee has one freshman on the team this season and arguably she has been more consistent than any upperclassman on the team. This coming off a major injury to end her senior season in high school. Kaniya Boyd missed months of basketball and rehab at Tennessee as an early enrollee and has had two different coaching staffs in college.
You mean to tell me there’s people acting as if getting 4 or 5 more highly talented and college ready freshmen like Boyd is a bad thing? Like depending on them would even be considered a risk? First thing nobody is depending on freshmen like this team isn’t depending on Boyd. Every player has a role. Just as the freshmen have the opportunity to come on and play a role. Getting a college player out of the portal doesn’t make them any more dependable than an incoming freshman. Especially elite freshmen on a #1/#2 recruiting class. Some of which beat Blakes head to head in High School.

 

[lvocd]

Good news is there’s a decent chance for a successful reset for the NCAAs. If the issue really is fatigue, two weeks off then stepping out of the SEC should be just what the doc ordered. A lot will depend on matchups.

Absolutely! They need only to watch their diet and maybe, at most, do daily light stretching sessions for a while. Get away from the game a bit. Have some fun. I am NOT throwing in the towel for these girls yet.

 

[SGMVols]

Wow, what a terrible loss this is about to be for Bama. May knock them out of hosting.

 

[lvocd]

I would take the odds and bet we aren’t two years away. It’s happening now based on what I’m seeing right now from the players returning and the 2025 recruiting class. Every year and every team is different.
They have to establish their culture, team identity, and develop chemistry from Day 1. For whatever reason, that wasn’t accomplished this season. This current team never created the on-court chemistry to get over the hump.
I believe they get alone fairly well off the court. The trust on the court just isn’t strong and I can understand why when it seems a lot of players they depend on can’t consistently perform their role. Maybe they do things in practice and in games never are able to come through which would be frustrating and cause a rift in the locker room.
From my research every player returning and coming to Tennessee next season has been a winner from AAU to High School. Most are natural leaders. 5 McDonald’s All-Americans, 9 Top 50, and 10 Top 80 recruits. This is before the transfer portal additions.
I’m taking the odds every time.

I believe Kim's system will be quite a bit easier to teach the newcomers with several returning players there to help walk them through it. This season EVERY player was new to it, and even some of the staff were, so it naturally took longer for everyone to grasp it, and even longer still to get comfortable in it. Next season has potential to be special with new system-ready players coming in. That said, I still believe some tweaks will need to be made to make us less predictable and save on wear-and-tear physically and mentally.