Kara Lawson

[Coach Jumper]

I got the perfect coach, took over a team after 6 seniors left, returned one part time starter. One the SEC, made elite 8, won SEC tournament next season, made sweet 16, won SEC third season, despite losing 2, or 3 regular starters and made elite 8. Back in the NCAA again, with an up and down team, that never seemed to gel, lost two players
(one a McDonalds AA, the other a two yr starter) has one player coming off injury who hasn't played in over a year, and another in same condition who had to have both feet taken apart and put back together. I say we see what she can do.

++++++++++++

Statistics can legitimize and emphasize most any argument.............. HW is in over her head... Nuff Said

 

[LVCT]

Based on what????? Are you really serious??

 

[Coach Jumper]

Based on what????? Are you really serious??

Geno only has one more McAA 8 than Holly 7. UCONN was ranked #1 and the LV'a were ranked #4 in the country at the onset. He ran the table, she has made excuses and called out our players and let us leave the top 25 for the first time in IT'S history... We have lost twice to a team that had never defeated us.,....I could go on, but I am not here to bash Holly... (right now) And I am certainly not here to tell her how great a job she is doing.

Sorry but I am a Lady Vol fan,
I don't care if Godzilla coaches them.
My tie is to the team, not the coach.
It was to the coach, very much so. But not now.

My beef with Holly isn't that she hasn't done the job of HC well, it is that she never admitted she has not done well with what she was given to herself or anyone out here...Any decent coach could hide behind the lineup Pat left her with... But in four years, there are no remnant of Pat's influential recruits left. This class is the last of them. . . . Holly's first influential year, so far, it is, no recruited player.

 

[UCMiami]

Kara's current gig is perfect for a WNBA player as it allows a lot of time to work out and train and pays as well as most overseas players get if not better. Coaching except as an assistant at a pretty big pay cut would be her only other option. When her career as a player is definitely over, getting into coaching would certainly be possible - she is a great student of the game, very insightful in breaking down what is happening in both men's and women's games, and in offering thoughts on how a losing team might be able to change their strategy in the second half.
Whether she has any interest in coaching I have no idea, but if she has, any AD would have to give her serious consideration - whether a TN level program would take a flier on a first time coach I don't know, but of any such candidates out there, she would head the list and it has happened before at a step below a TN.
Personally I hope she remains in the booth - she is the absolute best analyst in the women's game, and part of a great studio team with Kevin and Rebecca. My biggest fear is that she will get coopted by the Men's side of the ESPN programming and we will lose her insights on the women's game.
She is smart, intelligent, personable, with humor, and she is very well spoken and articulate - she and Catch are the two best things to come out of TN in the last 20 years and they are both great ambassadors for the sport in general and the TN program in particular.
This from a Uconn fan that really does not like the color Orange!

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

UCMiami, I agree with what you are saying. How does one judge intelligence in what one is doing. Usually the most used senses in basketball are, what you see and what you hear from the team as well as their coaches. So far, I have not heard or saw what I think is intelligent basketball at UT with the current coaches. Kara if you listen to her is very intelligent in the basketball game. I also remember watching her play at UT and in the pros. She was very intelligent in this aspect of her game. I feel as many others do, that if she is in the market of becoming a coach at some level, UT could do much worse if they chose to have her coach their players. Kara is "Good on the Eyes and well as Good on the Ears in the terms of showing you how intelligent a person she is.

 

[Coach Jumper]

UCMiami, I agree with what you are saying. How does one judge intelligence in what one is doing. Usually the most used senses in basketball are, what you see and what you hear from the team as well as their coaches. So far, I have not heard or saw what I think is intelligent basketball at UT with the current coaches. Kara if you listen to her is very intelligent in the basketball game. I also remember watching her play at UT and in the pros. She was very intelligent in this aspect of her game. I feel as many others do, that if she is in the market of becoming a coach at some level, UT could do much worse if they chose to have her coach their players. Kara is "Good on the Eyes and well as Good on the Ears in the terms of showing you how intelligent a person she is.

++++++++++

In basketball :
if you can see it,,,it has already begun to happen and is being defended......if you hear it,you already missed it.

 

[bobkitten]

Kara's current gig is perfect for a WNBA player as it allows a lot of time to work out and train and pays as well as most overseas players get if not better. Coaching except as an assistant at a pretty big pay cut would be her only other option. When her career as a player is definitely over, getting into coaching would certainly be possible - she is a great student of the game, very insightful in breaking down what is happening in both men's and women's games, and in offering thoughts on how a losing team might be able to change their strategy in the second half.
Whether she has any interest in coaching I have no idea, but if she has, any AD would have to give her serious consideration - whether a TN level program would take a flier on a first time coach I don't know, but of any such candidates out there, she would head the list and it has happened before at a step below a TN.
Personally I hope she remains in the booth - she is the absolute best analyst in the women's game, and part of a great studio team with Kevin and Rebecca. My biggest fear is that she will get coopted by the Men's side of the ESPN programming and we will lose her insights on the women's game.
She is smart, intelligent, personable, with humor, and she is very well spoken and articulate - she and Catch are the two best things to come out of TN in the last 20 years and they are both great ambassadors for the sport in general and the TN program in particular.
This from a Uconn fan that really does not like the color Orange!

I most appreciate her insight and intelligence in understanding what needs to happen, and the fact that she is so well-spoken. Too many commentators that the SEC/ESPN has used have had TERRIBLE grammar. I think she could be an excellent head coach in training/generalist with special emphasis in guard play, but she might be nuts in leaving her current TV gig, and whether she would want to apprentice for a few years would remain to be seen.

 

[DR2]

In addition, Kara is now being given the chance to do some action on the men's side of the action, so the future seems far brighter for her in the booth, as ESPN seems to want to give both men and women a chance to work on both sides of the action. The big reason for pushing Kara is that in addition to all the qualities about her mentioned above, she is a homework hound who also pulls out memorable factoids about what she sees so she has a big back log of examples to pull out on the air without having to look at any cheat sheet. Ten years or so ago the ESPN command booth for WCBB was often painful to listen to with a trio of cliche-ridden, one-note blabberers. Now you anticipate some great commentary when they switch to HQ before, at halftime, and after the games. Kara must watch a ton of games from around all sides of basketball to be able to speak as she does. Her growth from her first days in the booth are amazing.

 

[2Alum4EverVol]

Geno only has one more McAA 8 than Holly 7. UCONN was ranked #1 and the LV'a were ranked #4 in the country at the onset. He ran the table, she has made excuses and called out our players and let us leave the top 25 for the first time in IT'S history... We have lost twice to a team that had never defeated us.,....I could go on, but I am not here to bash Holly... (right now) And I am certainly not here to tell her how great a job she is doing.

Sorry but I am a Lady Vol fan,
I don't care if Godzilla coaches them.
My tie is to the team, not the coach.
It was to the coach, very much so. But not now.

My beef with Holly isn't that she hasn't done the job of HC well, it is that she never admitted she has not done well with what she was given to herself or anyone out here...Any decent coach could hide behind the lineup Pat left her with... But in four years, there are no remnant of Pat's influential recruits left. This class is the last of them. . . . Holly's first influential year, so far, it is, no recruited player.

I am someone who completely lost much interest in UTWBB after HW got hired as a HC, and stopped watching/going to their games altogether pretty much except on "special occasions". I don't even read much of WBB-related threads anymore but I couldn't agree with it more: i happened to catch one of their celebratory post-game interviews (I can't even bear to hear HW's voice under normal circumstances) after a big victory at the end of regular season --maybe it was against GA. And instead of manning up the consequence and taking some (rather major!) blame for the lack of success this year, HW was putting the blame solely on the clueless players. What a turn-off. What a coward she is. NO class whatsoever. NOt only is she a terrible HC but she has no class and no integrity. I got really angry, and had to leave HW's presence asap. Please leave. Go away HW. Please just go..

 

[CincyLadyVol]

I think all the compliments folks are giving Kara and Tamika are well deserved but I just don't think either will be on the staff/coach. Tamika has said numerous times that she wants to be in the front office of an organization and Kara has worked hard to get where she has and opened a lot of doors for future female commentators in the men's game. I just doubt that she would give all that up right now.

The big question is who can the program get on staff to get the ship going in the right direction? If Holly stays, she better get some talented assistants, otherwise she's going to be on an even hotter seat next year. Secondary staff wouldn't hurt either. I don't feel our strength and conditioning is as good as it needs to be.

 

[CincyLadyVol]

And btw, doesn't LaTech play the Lady Vols next year? That is going to be an interesting matchup. Wondering if Coach Jumper would critique Tyler as a coach for us sometime. I'd like to read his comments.

 

[VolNExile]

only one thing missing with Kara. is she someone recruits believe will take their games to the next level - probably not...

Absolutely nothing against Tamika Catchings, but you can't say with a straight face that Kara Lawson doesn't have credibility in recruits' eyes, or less than that of Tamika Catchings. Lawson is a superb analyst of the game, and if you've ever met her, her intensity will fry you right out of the room if you're not on board.

I heard it straight from the horses mouth on ESPNW. Speaking of UConn, Lawson said with emphasis - "I LOVE THIS TEAM"

And that is because she's a cold-eyed realist.

I'm all for die-hard Vols, but you've gotta bring the smarts with the passion.


eta: and I really, really, really hate UConn. But I'm not stupid enough to pretend that they are not currently the benchmark in women's BB.

CURRENTLY --this can change. :thumbsup:

 

[LadyVol1908]

Louisville Cardinals coach Jeff Walz writing fans' bosses for day off

I think the next coach should be Walz! Lol

For some reason I think he'll re-energize our fan base and bring in a MUCH needed younger fan base to mix in with our current die hard Lady Vol fans. We need someone with a different type of energy around the LadyVol program because we've lost our mojo and aura around the program this year. You can feel it.

 

[Martic]

She has spent a lot of time as a sports analyst... where has she coached since her playing time?

she's still playing in WNBA

 

[Martic]

To meet her present salary would be a lot to pay a first time coach that is knowledgeable but with no head coaching experience. She is not just an expert on the women's game, ESPN also uses her expertise on the men's game. It would, more than likely, increase our ability to lead major recruits our way. As one poster said she has a great job now to switch from her present position to head of the LV program would be like going from a day on the beach to a pressure cooker. I think Kara is too smart for that, plus I believe that she still has plans of returning to the WNBA.

If Holly is replaced, I would rather it be with someone with head coaching experience and a proven track record. We have experimented with Holly and, at this point, we need to try someone who is tried and true.

What do you mean by returning? She never left.

 

[Martic]

only one thing missing with Kara. is she someone recruits believe will take their games to the next level - probably not. Tamika Catchings on the other hand would be absolutely the perfect lady vols coach. She doesn't have experience coaching, but if anyone is as tough as Pat and knows how to get the best out of those around her, it's definitely "Catch." People wanted to play for PS because they got better, they won championships, they played hard every possession. it didn't matter whether you were a superstar or not, if you didn't play hard for 40 minutes, every possession, you'd sit on the bench, or lose locker room privileges, or lose something. Players take on the attitude, demeanor, personality of their coach. If the coach is soft and in panic mode, so goes the players. Catchings has a huge following already, recruits know that she's tough and continues to push her peers to greatness. I don't believe recruits have all of a sudden stopped liking Tennessee, they just don't see their game going anywhere under this coaching staff. Speaking of coaching staff, when was the last time Dean Lockwood developed a post player? Mercedes Russell with all that height and not knowing how to use it. Catchings would push her ass around under the basket so much and have her so tough already, that she'd be making ESPN highlight reels.

Glory and Izzy!!!!

 

[Martic]

I am someone who completely lost much interest in UTWBB after HW got hired as a HC, and stopped watching/going to their games altogether pretty much except on "special occasions". I don't even read much of WBB-related threads anymore but I couldn't agree with it more: i happened to catch one of their celebratory post-game interviews (I can't even bear to hear HW's voice under normal circumstances) after a big victory at the end of regular season --maybe it was against GA. And instead of manning up the consequence and taking some (rather major!) blame for the lack of success this year, HW was putting the blame solely on the clueless players. What a turn-off. What a coward she is. NO class whatsoever. NOt only is she a terrible HC but she has no class and no integrity. I got really angry, and had to leave HW's presence asap. Please leave. Go away HW. Please just go..

I don't understand what people want. People complain that Holly doesn't discipline the girls and is too soft. When she calls them out she is throwing them under the bus. I loved coach PS but I fear people forget her doing the same. Blaming guards for their play when it was her fault we didn't have a true point guard and she was trying to make one out of a player when it wasn't their natural position. I agree that we need a new coach, but just don't understand people.

 

[meekfan]

Months ago I threw out Steve Gomez's name from Lubbock Christian University. Other than losing to Ucon in an exhibition game (big surprise) they are undefeated in div 2 and odds on favorite to win their tournament. He is a coach that could turn this program around. They had no quit when they were getting their butts kicked in Ct. He knows how to get the best out of his players!

Lubbock Christian University Athletics - 2015-16 Women's Basketball Schedule

 

[bobkitten]

I don't understand what people want. People complain that Holly doesn't discipline the girls and is too soft. When she calls them out she is throwing them under the bus. I loved coach PS but I fear people forget her doing the same. Blaming guards for their play when it was her fault we didn't have a true point guard and she was trying to make one out of a player when it wasn't their natural position. I agree that we need a new coach, but just don't understand people.

I think there is difference between calling them out in private (even in the "privacy" of the huddle, and throwing them under the bus in a press conference.

 

[brassie]

What do you mean by returning? She never left.

Lawson is getting a bit long in the tooth. I think this will probably be her last year. She has been bothered by nagging injuries for the last couple of years.

Unlike Catchings, who has been very clear that she has no interest in coaching, I don't recall ever hearing Lawson burn that bridge.

Walz would never leave Louisville for Tennessee.