i've been as hard or harder on CHW as anyone, since before she was given the keys. i posted last week in the thread "lady vols will win 2018 championship", that I believed this team would lose the next four (A&M, SC, ND & MSST). I could be completely wrong, and may get surprised, but I doubt it.
I'll admit, I thought the LVs would get beat worse, but they were able to get it to OT, so a little credit to CHW. That said, they played into A&M's hands by the slow, methodical, tentative play, that's common to all CHW teams. The best Lady Vols teams pushed the ball up the court. Unfortunately, it's been years since we've seen one of those teams. I understand to an extent, why this particular team doesn't push it - Mercedes Russell. If the LVs could've run the floor more, they would've beat A&M by 20, 'cause Hillsman was actually slower than Russell.
Also, I believe this team could've been better prepared had CHW scheduled Duke, or UNC, or Maryland, or OSU, or Louisville, or some other perennial powerhouse, early in the season. Neither did it help to have so many consecutive home games. While I understand trying to acclimate the freshmen, I believe it helps to get them good competition early in the season. I don't believe Texas, Stanford or the others provided that. Texas is very similar to the LVs, still overrated, and a coaching staff very similar to the LVs.
I wish as much as anyone that the LVs return to the glory days of old, sooner vs later, but I have some serious doubts. I predict 9 regular season losses and I don't see much more than a sweet 16 from this team. That may be all that's expected given the freshmen. I believe it would've helped if they'd been given a little more freedom, to just play the game, while playing some of the cupcakes. It would've also helped to get the other posts (Harris & Kushkituah) as much time on the floor as possible when playing cupcakes, vs running up the score. By the way, CHW said the coaching staff believed Kushkituah was the best post in her class - is she injured? Why isn't she playing?
In the words of CPS - "Here's how I'm going to beat you. I'm going to outwork you. That's it. That's all there is to it."
"You can't always be the most talented person in the room. But you can be the most competitive."
"We do not win championships with girls. We win with competitors"
"There is always someone better than you. Whatever it is that you do for a living, chances are, you will run into a situation in which you are not as talented as the person next to you. That's when being a competitor can make a difference in your fortunes."
"There is nothing wrong with having competitive instincts. They are survival instincts."
I don't think CHW has that competitive fire, so it's hard to teach it to others.