Game Thread: UT Martin v Lady Vols, Thurs Nov 7th; Home-FCC; 6:30PM; SEC+ network...UT wins 90-50

[Volfan2012]

Think I'd like to see more shots out of Whitehorn and Cooper in the paint. Spearman as well. Middle Tennessee coming up will be a much sterner test we need to be ready to play a lot better.

 

[glv98]

I didn't know Cooper would be this kind of defensive player. This will help her so much in pursuit of the W. Fouled too much, obvs, but she's a special defender. Reminds me of Jordy.

As a team, we did give up several dribble drives as Niya called out. That's killed us the past couple of years.

I thought Latham would play more and be more effective. Didn't see Favor getting almost as many mins. Ditto for Jill. Not sure why they wouldn't get extended mins in this game. Curious what kind of mins Edy would have gotten.

Ruby goes a little Rickea and was awesome. So under control and locked in. Great start to the season for her.

The rebounding, esp offensive rebounding and shot advantage stats are incredible. I fully understand the point is just fling em up there enough, rebound enough of em and eventually enough will go in. I'm still working hard to understand why it wouldn't be easier to just take good shots and hit them in the first place?

 

[VolBall09]

33 of 84 39 percent from the field. Good points 33 offensive rebounds and 18 steals and forced 31 turnovers. Total rebounds 54 to 28. Puckett 1 of 8 from the three going to need to shoot less or shoot a lot better. Darby 1 of 7 so 2 of 15 tonight.

Darby hit her first two buckets and never sunk one the rest of the night.

 

[Volfan2012]

When you take 40 more shots than your opponent….CRAZY

Needed them tonight for sure.

 

[VolBall09]

Think I'd like to see more shots out of Whitehorn and Cooper in the paint. Spearman as well. Middle Tennessee coming up will be a much sterner test we need to be ready to play a lot better.

I’d like to see Whitehorn and Cooper pull up from 10-12’ on some of those breakaways too. If the defense is back and you have two rebounders shoot that little pull up. They both have it in their bag.

 

[glv98]

When you take 40 more shots than your opponent….CRAZY

I'm old school - I'd trade that stat for a higher shooting percentage. At this rate, we need to worry about tired arms, not tired legs.

 

[Volfan2012]

Most of the threes were open shots they just didn't make them. Martin packs their defense in the paint wants you to take the three. We have to shoot better.

 

[VolBall09]

I didn't know Cooper would be this kind of defensive player. This will help her so much in pursuit of the W. Fouled too much, obvs, but she's a special defender. Reminds me of Jordy.

As a team, we did give up several dribble drives as Niya called out. That's killed us the past couple of years.

I thought Latham would play more and be more effective. Didn't see Favor getting almost as many mins. Ditto for Jill. Not sure why they wouldn't get extended mins in this game. Curious what kind of mins Edy would have gotten.

Ruby goes a little Rickea and was awesome. So under control and locked in. Great start to the season for her.

The rebounding, esp offensive rebounding and shot advantage stats are incredible. I fully understand the point is just fling em up there enough, rebound enough of em and eventually enough will go in. I'm still working hard to understand why it wouldn't be easier to just take good shots and hit them in the first place?

It’s all going to evolve a lot. I do wonder if a few are working back from mild injuries. We know Jill had a concussion. Latham seems a little cautious out there.

Favor really gets after it, I like her game, she was a nice pickup.

Wells must be physically limited still she’s the one I’m most surprised is so far down the depth chart. Only getting 1-2 garbage minutes so far. She is clearly not in the same shape so must not have been able to do the conditioning everyone else did in the offseason.

I’m bummed we have to wait a year to see Kaiya in this system. It’s tailor made for her game. All gas, no breaks no finesse lol.

 

[VolBall09]

I'm old school - I'd trade that stat for a higher shooting percentage. At this rate, we need to worry about tired arms, not tired legs.

Not me, hard to lose when you control the game like that.

 

[glv98]

Middle Tennessee coming up will be a much sterner test we need to be ready to play a lot better.

Really looking forward to this game. This team needs a challenge now.

 

[BruisedOrange]

CKC remarks from radio postgame:
"We knew it would be ugly because that's the way that team (UT-M) plays--they force you to play an uncomfortable game."
"The one positive on the sheet was offensive rebounds."

On things she will work them on between now and next Tuesday:
"Our half-court defense is horrible!"
"Our 3pt guarding has to improve."

 

[VolBall09]

Think I'd like to see more shots out of Whitehorn and Cooper in the paint. Spearman as well. Middle Tennessee coming up will be a much sterner test we need to be ready to play a lot better.

Will be the first game we have to defend a quality post. Boldyreva ate us up last season. Curious to see how the new pace we play with affects her.

 

[BruisedOrange]

See what Caldwell has to say probably didn't like the fouling or the defense on a lot of their possessions.

In the radio postgame she remarked again that in practice the coaches tell them that they're fouling, but they don't believe them.

"So they're just going to have to learn by sitting on the bench with fouls in a game to believe us."

 

[KnoxLikeUs]

She knows what it looks like too. Loved having her call the game, she did a great job.

I agree 100%! You can tell a lot of people across WBB eyes are set on Knoxville and this high octane LV team under Coach Caldwell. It’s one of hottest tickets in the sport right now!
An amazing and fun brand of basketball!
You have people out of their minds right trying to claim anything to discredit because from day 1 for no reason people said it couldn’t be done on the Power 4 level.
It’s a thing of beauty to witness before our eyes!
A former SEC defensive player of the year and two-time National Champion just told the world Tennessee is going to be a force to be reckon with.. GBO!

 

[volsagain]

54-28 rebounding margin. Excellent job on the boards! The offensive rebounding was great. Ugly game overall in my opinion, but Coach Kim said the first month or two would be “horrendous” and I can see why she says that. Our one on one defense must get so much better, and I’m sure it will. Lastly, huge game from Ruby with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Shoutout to her, and Sam Spencer, especially, who was all over the floor tonight. 2-0 and let’s bring on MTSU Tuesday night.

GBO

 

[LVFan1912]

All im gonna say is!!!!! Yes we still need to work on turnovers but that has been a problem for years!!!!!! A Kellie Harper team would’ve LOST this game where we went 9/39 from 3 with this many turnovers and missed shots. That’s growth!!!!

 

[BruisedOrange]

I agree 100%! You can tell a lot of people across WBB eyes are set on Knoxville and this high octane LV team under Coach Caldwell. It’s one of hottest tickets in the sport right now!
An amazing and fun brand of basketball!
You have people out of their minds right trying to claim anything to discredit because from day 1 for no reason people said it couldn’t be done on the Power 4 level.
It’s a thing of beauty to witness before our eyes!
A former SEC defensive player of the year and two-time National Champion just told the world Tennessee is going to be a force to be reckon with.. GBO!

I recognize a dangled piñata when I see one.

 

[newladyvolfan]

Best defense in the SEC.
It’s only up from here.
GBO!

GBO

 

[Ladyvol777]

Another nice win for the Lady Vol’s. I sure hope my favorite player Sara Puckett starts shooting the ball a lot better. I know she will. I’m enjoying the games. As always go Lady Vol’s.

 

[mike099]

The real test for this system will come with better competition. Not sure I am sold on jacking up this many 3’s

 

[KnoxLikeUs]

I’m planning to do a film study of this game tomorrow and really breakdown the performance.
Based on what I saw live, Alyssa Latham and Kaniya Boyd are really about to click soon along with Spear, Whitehorn, Cooper, Spencer, and Spearman who have had strong games to start the season.
And when they do folks better lookout!
Latham defensively was really impressive and she was crashing the boards hard. Jordan Horston-like!
She obviously is still transitioning and seems focused to get to the point where she’s contributing at a high level.
Kaniya Boyd is further alone offensively than a lot of people probably recognizes because she doesn’t take a lot of shots.
Boyd looks like a Top 20-30 recruit early in the season.
All it takes is one game, and I have no doubt that the next game could be that breaking out moment for Latham and Boyd.

 

[lvocd]

Here's the thing. The Lady Vols only have to score ONE point more than any opponent to win, and so far they've scored way more than that. Will it get more difficult against a perennial tournament team like MTSU? Of course! But can MTSU beat us for four quarters? I don't think so.

Go LADY VOLS!

 

[LV renaissance]

Yes, I agree that at times our games are ugly, especially when we are clanging our 3-point shots. No one expected anything else given that all these players are learning a new system and each other. Given that, our average scoring margin of 45 points is right up there with the other top teams playing weak opponents, and there have been several games by ranked teams where there wasn't a big margin. After last game, Caldwell said that she was really upset with our rebounding. She obviously made her point, and this was a tremendous improvement this game. She will continue to be on them about her concerns, and I imagine there will be similar improvements over time.
A couple of smaller observations: Favor was looked at as an afterthought when we signed her, but she is pretty good in rebounding, effort, and defense. In fact, I believe she was tied for 2nd when the LV players said who was the best defender. I am not saying she should be close to starting, but she fits the system well and will continue to get some playing time. Latham looked more comfortable tonight than the previous two games. Hopefully, this improvement continues as I think we will need her.
Early concerns: fouling and three-point shooting.

 

[travis929]

54-28 rebounding margin. Excellent job on the boards! The offensive rebounding was great. Ugly game overall in my opinion, but Coach Kim said the first month or two would be “horrendous” and I can see why she says that. Our one on one defense must get so much better, and I’m sure it will. Lastly, huge game from Ruby with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Shoutout to her, and Sam Spencer, especially, who was all over the floor tonight. 2-0 and let’s bring on MTSU Tuesday night.

This was my first game in-person in 3 years - and I pretty much agree with all of this! Loved the commitment to rebounding after missing boxouts in the exhibition and Samford games. There were some really ugly stretches (not loving that the first two games have lasted over 2 hours each with all the stoppages) but they are also really fun to watch overall. I can't wait until we go against some better competition to see how good we really are right now.

 

[Special Ed]

Darby hit her first two buckets and never sank one the rest of the night.

Maybe she'll make up for that in the next game.