Game Thread: Tulsa v Lady Vols, Sat Dec 21st ; West Palm Beach Classic; 11AM Eastern; BallerTV:

#580
#580
Some take aways from the game and tournament:
So glad that Puckett and Spear got in the groove today. Puckett really needed this game.
Most significant development that continued in the tournament is our increasing success in our drive and penetrate game. We have several players who can do this, and it puts more balance in our offense than just a proliferation of 3-point attempts. Second thing is that our half-court defense is improving but still way too erratic by quarter. We clamp down on certain quarters and non-existent in others. This has to improve. The player who I think has developed the most so far this season is Spearman. She just averaged 7 at Miami, but was used mainly for defense and rebounds. She is gaining confidence on offense by the game and is really adding another layer to our offense. It is great to see the game connection between Cooper and Spearman. They will be quite the pair the rest of the year and next year. Beside more consistent defense, the other thing that we really need to work on is not fouling so much. In the 3rd quarter, Tulsa barely scored field goals but almost kept us with us due to our fouls. A final note: Go Edie!
 
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#584
#584
newladyvolfan said:
I want their freshman Toby to transfer to Us
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She’s very athletic but needs a lot of work. Great shot blocker but I don’t like her offensive package at all. Terrible looking shot, doesn’t get square when she goes to score just tries to rely on out jumping her defender and contorting her body. Would not fly against bigger players in the SEC.
 
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#590
#590
VolBall09 said:
The way we sub nobody is regularly playing over 25 minutes though. Very creative way to ensure load management in a long season. We don’t have any kids beating their body up playing 40 minutes.
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Interesting point regarding load management. If it's true, it should bode well for our tournament fate if most everyone else is beat-up from a long season while we've been coasting relatively fresh thru-out the year.

But to then play Samara 24 minutes thru an injury in a mid-major blowout game...

Well, at least she has time to heal up until the start of SEC play on the other side of New Year's Day.
 
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#591
#591
VolBalls33 said:
Also glad Sara had a solid game, she needed that bad. Happy for her.
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Kim is probably seeing a very different player in practice when it comes to Sara Puckett than what we've been seeing in games and is sticking with her until it carries over to game play. Sara is a very competent player, but she needs to get out of her own head when its game time. She thinking too much rather than reacting.
 
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#593
#593
newladyvolfan said:
Be careful I have been saying that all year and they come for my head lol
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There is a contradiction. One the hand, CKC is a super hard nosed coach who demands effort from her players and on other, she is twiddling her thumbs while her best player is being lazy on the court. You can't square those positions.

People used to say the same thing about Jordan Horston - oh she is a lazy player (who game after game led the team in rebounds, assists, steals, and was the teams number one defensive stopper). Hey maybe laziness is not so bad.

Some players just have a calm demeanor on the court and make some parts of the game look easy and people see that, oh, she is being lazy!!

Coop is not lazy
 
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#595
#595
newladyvolfan said:
Be careful I have been saying that all year and they come for my head lol
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I don’t know why you think it’s funny… you or anyone else attempting to discredit Coop play in anyway is being ridiculous. She has some of the most explosive highlights of any player in WBB this season. The blocks, assists, steals, a two way versatile player that makes big time baskets in the mid-range, attacking the basket, and shooting the three ball.
And has the clutch gene.
All in just over 20 minutes per game.
You don’t know how bad it sounds when you think you can discredit Coop then turn around and say something as ridiculous as this team needs to add a freshman from a team that can barely score 50 points in a game.
 
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#596
#596
madtownvol said:
There is a contradiction. One the way hand, CKC is a super hard nosed coach who demands effort from her players and on other, she is twiddling her thumbs while her best player is being lazy on the court. You can't square those positions.

People used to say the same thing about Jordan Horston - oh she is a lazy player (who game after game led the team in rebounds, assists, steals, and was the teams number one defensive stopper). Hey maybe laziness is not so bad.

Some players just have a calm demeanor on the court and make some parts of the game look easy and people see that, oh, she is being lazy!!

Coop is not lazy
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Her only "lazy" that I see is more bad habit/mentality. She does not strain thru a defensive possession. She is very max initial effort to cause a steal. Then if she is out of position she just reaches and stabs at the ball. If she was determined to say this girl will not beat me off the dribble then she could be great.
 
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#597
#597
madtownvol said:
There is a contradiction. One the way hand, CKC is a super hard nosed coach who demands effort from her players and on other, she is twiddling her thumbs while her best player is being lazy on the court. You can't square those positions.

People used to say the same thing about Jordan Horston - oh she is a lazy player (who game after game led the team in rebounds, assists, steals, and was the teams number one defensive stopper). Hey maybe laziness is not so bad.

Some players just have a calm demeanor on the court and make some parts of the game look easy and people see that, oh, she is being lazy!!

Coop is not lazy
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These things come with the territory I guess. When you start to make a name for yourself the way Coop has as arguably the best player in the SEC there will always be people looking to poke holes in your game.
This so called flaw in her game will run its course and then these naysayers will find something else to critique.
It is what it is.
 
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#599
#599
I assume they're saying what they're saying because they've seen plays where Cooper was in position to make a play, and played passively instead. We absolutely need our most athletic players to play actively on defense, not passively, so if that's what he's seen, then he's right to call it out.

That said, if I saw that, [and there has been occasionally been a play where I thought that it might've, but I wasn't looking directly at Cooper to be able to say] I would attribute it to Cooper being fatigued and conserving energy, not to her being lazy. But I don't think gaslighting the guy for his opinion is right either.

But yeah, using the term "lazy" might be a bit far on his end. I think back to Tamari, when people wer criticizing her, before we knew she had clots... you don't know what the player's body is telling them, so be careful before you accuse someone for something that may be out of control! [and hey, and this also applies to the criticism of Puckett, specifically of whether her heart is in it or not; maybe it's just that her body isn't built for coach's basketball system!]
 
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