Game Thread-Tennessee Lady Vols (12-7, 5-2 SEC) @ Georgia Lady Bulldogs (10-10, 1-6 SEC) 2-1-2024, 7:00 PM (EST)

#354
#354
Anyone else having trouble with the replay? It gets to about the 15:00 mark and then won’t play any further. Tried both on ESPN and sling
 
#358
#358
Jump from 56 to 49 in the net just because we won a game by more points than the spread and over 20. Net is weird but will take a seven point jump. That certainly gets us out of the last four in to at least last four byes maybe even as high as a 10 seed. If we could beat Missouri by 25 bet we move up another 7 to 8.
 
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#359
#359
Dak1219 said:
This horrible coach had UConn on the ropes just 2 years ago in the NCAA tournament leading a mid major program. Just because of the current outcome of a game does not determine how good or bad a coach is. Your comment is an unknowledgeable one about this coach from Georgia.
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So you thought that UGA team was well coached? Did you watch their defense? Wide open 3s available at will, design left players in no position to rebound, never made any adjustments to what we were doing.

I did not say she is a "horrible coach" (please work on your accuracy); I said this UGA team is poorly coached right now. If she is a good coach, she will make some off-season adjustments and come back better.
 
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#361
#361
37620VOL said:
So you thought that UGA team was well coached? Did you watch their defense? Wide open 3s available at will, design left players in no position to rebound, never made any adjustments to what we were doing.

I did not say she is a "horrible coach" (please work on your accuracy); I said this UGA team is poorly coached right now. If she is a good coach, she will make some off-season adjustments and come back better.
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She is a Danny White hire who did a really great job at UCF but Georgia has been a challenge.
 
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#364
#364
Volfan2012 said:
He knew how to hire for a mid major basketball program. She is having a lot of difficulty in the SEC probably going to Georgia was a bad move considering their interest these days in basketball.
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He didn’t hire her at UGA, not his issue.
 
#366
#366
Volfan2012 said:
No but the reasoning is if you can coach one place you can coach another. Maybe she will still get it done there doubt they fire her even with this bad season.
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P5 schools coaching board looks drastically different than UCF. DW now has the league, resources and history to not make another mid-major selection. So the reasoning is flawed, we see it here with our own.
 
#367
#367

galleries

ATHENS, GA - February 01, 2024 - The Tennessee Lady Volunteers during the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, GA. Photo By Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics, Women's Basketball at Georgia
utsports.com utsports.com
I love this pic so much. Let's all stretch our necks while looking in different directions.

After a bad coaching day at Ole Miss, I thought the LV coaches had a bounce back night last night. Of course GA is not good but sometimes that doesn't matter for us. Good game to trial starting TK, and IMO they managed her mins flawlessly. Esp notable since they didn't have the Jill option.

Spacing and ball movement was among the best we've seen this year. One of my concerns w TK's expanded presence is her clogging the lane when Rickea needs space. Worked that beautifully, moving TK around and to the high post to clear the way.

In general all the subbing looked good and timely to me.

Can't overestimate the added value of Jewel finding her groove. Now defenses really have a dilemia about how much energy to devote to stopping Rickea alone. Before it was kind of a no brainer. RJ helped her own cause by hitting 3 3s bc now they have to think about that too. I've been disappointed in her lack of improvement in that area and hope this is the start of some better numbers for her. She's going to need that in the W.

Been awhile since I remember a player that plays with the joy Jewel plays with. I love that the energy is just directed at enjoying and not taunting, self-promoting, etc. She just has a helluva good time, esp when she's scoring. On a team that is pretty full of poker faces, it's fun to see.

Someone said that it's been a long time since we've had a truly elite pg, and that's true. But when we get one, I hope she also has the heart that Jordan Walker passed down to JP. Hopefully JP leaves it for Destinee. I love what JP has done this season so much, always fun to see a player squeezing out every ounce of talent she has available and mostly succeeding. This was her 4th straight game w 6 or more assists.
 
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#368
#368
Volfan2012 said:
He knew how to hire for a mid major basketball program. She is having a lot of difficulty in the SEC probably going to Georgia was a bad move considering their interest these days in basketball.
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Yeah, I think she’s a great coach but she’ll have trouble recruiting very well there. Even Taylor who is a very good recruiter never recruited very great there. Her first season or two at A&M she has recruited more talent than she did in her entire time at UGA.

Coach Abe also just doesn’t have that floor leader they are used to. Battles was an excellent player and really understood her system on both ends of the floor. They graduated a lot and then had a couple devastating injuries like everyone else this season.

I expect them to be a middle of the pack SEC team longterm which I think would keep her job at UGA until retirement.
 
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#369
#369
I was delighted to see Coach Kellie break up the Karoline Sarah underneath and go with Sarah and Tamari. I would've been fine with Tamari and Karoline just not her and Sarah. Tamari alleviates a lot of the defensive woes of one or the other. I really loved how we kept taking the shot the defense was giving us and not trying to force it inside as much. We showed patience on offense moving the ball side to side until we got a great open look. We didn't go away from taking the open shot even after just 4 of 15 from the three in the first half we came back with 8 of 14. We did find a way to lose the turnover battle after having only 7 to their 12 we ended up with 15 to their 14. We won the boards by a huge margin in this game they were only getting one shot and even though they scored 30 in the third quarter just one shot although they were making the shot.
 
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#371
#371
I am a simple man with simple thoughts but the LVs almost always look good (and win) when they have more than 10 threes on 40%+.

We can discuss line-ups all day (and some line-ups may help to generate more open looks) but some games, the LVs just can't hit the side of a barn and others they are more locked in.

That shooting variability has been their Achilles heel over the course of Kellie's time here.

I think that is why it is comforting to build your identity around "DEFENSE!" because it should be a more of night in and night constant (though again with the LVs that is not always the case either).

In the 2nd half, Georgia started getting and making those same open mid range shots that Ole Miss used to beat the LVs. We have gotten better in the post (the Key factor), are closing out better on the perimeter but are now getting exposed in the mid range areas.

This team is probably going to live or die with its offense. I think we have the players to have more good nights than bad nights but every game is going to be an adventure.
 
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#372
#372
Lets talk about what matters.. Jewel Spear is now averaging 13.4 ppg putting her in the Top 20 in SEC scoring for the entire season.

In SEC play, she is averaging 16.8 ppg which would make Spear the 8th leading scorer in the SEC.

Rickea Jackson is averaging 18.8 ppg on the season and is currently the 2nd leading scorer in the SEC despite missing 8 games.

Tennessee best basketball still has not been played yet.

A lot of opposing coaches and teams know this as well. Nobody will prefer to face this team in February and through the SEC/NCAA tourney.

I would pick the team that scores 95 points on the road yesterday to have a chance to beat any team in the SEC.

It’s two sides to this story. People have discredited the win because it’s Georgia.

That doesn’t matter. Tennessee has two elite basketball players in Rickea and Jewel.. a formidable defender in 6’6 TK that has recovered from missing an entire season, two athletic perimeter defenders in Jasmine Powell and Kaiya Wynn, and depth with shooters Karo, Sara, and Tess in the rotation. Jillian will have a breakthrough moment. It always happens in sports. People talk about players and how bad they look when struggling, and the moment they start playing better and regain confidence it becomes a distant memory.
Tennessee should and will beat LSU.
We can talk all day long and look at HS rankings (that others have told me are irrelevant in the case of Talaysia Cooper and Kaniya Boyd) who are sitting out but on the court I’m not taking Flaujae over Jewel Spear and neither did team USA.

The freshman is still a freshman. TK versus Reese is going to be a major factor. Rickea versus Morrow is a mismatch in Rickea’s favor. Morrow is too small particularly height wise closer to 5’10 than 6’0.

If this matchup is Williams vs Rickea it’s an even bigger mismatch in Rickea’s favor.

The PG battle is even.. Powell just can’t get in foul trouble or play one on one basketball.
Powell was all conference at Minnesota. People talk “elite” and say what the LVs don’t have in certain players. That’s their opinion. Night in and night out Powell is making explosive plays that if you change the name on the back of the jersey this is what major sport channels are showing as top highlight plays from other players with “hype” behind their name.

Against SC, still Tennessee has the best two players on the court. Tennessee right now just needs to focus on Tennessee.

Last point, Vandy or Alabama isn’t beating Tennessee with Tamari Key starting at center the roster depth and balance is a strength in the SEC. For one thing, I think the LVs will have more fan support at the game at Vandy than the home team.

Karo plays well off the bench. Her and Jillian give the team a better combination of post depth than it was with TK and Jill playing together off the bench. With the emergence of Kaiya Wynn that’s three solid players coming off the bench and puts TK as a rim protector and offensive weapon in the post with Spear and Rickea.


Question: How many times has any team scored 95 points or more in an SEC game this season on the road?
 
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#373
#373
Majors said:
P5 schools coaching board looks drastically different than UCF. DW now has the league, resources and history to not make another mid-major selection. So the reasoning is flawed, we see it here with our own.
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Not blaming him for her taking a bad Georgia job she could've done better. DW is the best AD in the country and have complete confidence in his decisions on anything.
 
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#374
#374
Volfan2012 said:
Not blaming him for her taking a bad Georgia job she could've done better. DW is the best AD in the country and have complete confidence in his decisions on anything.
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Best AD we agree on. Only issue is the party deck not having assigned seating for the aisle tops.
 
#375
#375
Dak1219 said:
With key in the starting lineup it changes everything on both ends of the Court. It sucks the defenses in because there is a 6-7 post on the offensive end that has to be accounted for and it deters their offense from trying to get to the paint early and often which was evident. She may not block every shot but at 6-7 she sure is altering the shots. This is a different team with her on the floor. It gives our shooters cleaner looks and allows our defense to get up and guard without the worry of getting beat with no one behind them. I don't care if she's "lumbering" up and down the court or not as many have said, she's moving quick enough to make a huge difference for this team
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I agree with you. Also, she’s not even lumbering up and down the court that’s just not true.. actually last night she beat Georgia’s defense down the court and Powell found TK for an easy layup.

She’s in good playing condition.

On multiple possessions last night on several 50/50 rebounds she moved her feet and beat a Georgia player to the ball and stretched the LVs advantage in rebounds.

Simply put, as the SEC Network analysts put it Tennessee is Top 3 in the conference right now.

I have them going 2-0 at home against SC and LSU. Jewel and Rickea are game changers. The entire core of the roster around them is playing good basketball.
 
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