Lady Vol Hoops Report - 9.5.13

[VN News]

In the second edition of the 2013-14 Lady Vol Hoops Report, UT assistant coach Kyra Elzy and senior guard Meighan Simmons talk about how hard the team is working in the preseason.

ELZY l [URL="http://1tn.co/17bNu3y"] SIMMONS [/URL]

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[W.TN.Orange Blood]

Ready for this season to get on it's way. With the regular players coming back & the new recruits coming in to help the team this should be another banner year for our Lady Vols basketball team. GBO & Go Lady Vols. Make us proud of you as a team like I know you will this year.

 

[governmentmule]

great interview ,I'm ready for some basketball

 

[armchair]

Not to be negative, but we haven't had a banner year in several years.

 

[W.TN.Orange Blood]

Not to be negative, but we haven't had a banner year in several years.

Where were you back in March of this year when the TN girls were one of the teams playing in the national tournament going toward the NC game? We were one game out from playing for the NC. I'd call that a "banner year" by being there among the best in the nation of College Basketball for Women!! You must have gotten TN Lady Vols basketball team mixed up with someone else's team. And you might won't to pay closer attention this coming season because they will be a better team going forward.

 

[Convoluted]

Where were you back in March of this year when the TN girls were one of the teams playing in the national tournament going toward the NC game? We were one game out from playing for the NC. I'd call that a "banner year" by being there among the best in the nation of College Basketball for Women!! You must have gotten TN Lady Vols basketball team mixed up with someone else's team. And you might won't to pay closer attention this coming season because they will be a better team going forward.

Isn't it two games out? Not a banner year, since a NC is required to display a banner, but still it was a good year. Only 8 teams got as far. Any team that makes the NCAA tournament should be proud.

Tennessee recruiting remains quite good, although not up to past expectations. For 2014, The LVs have the 12th best recruiting class as of this date.

The problem is that even with highly ranked players, the team has under performed the past 5 years. It remains to be seen if this trend can be reversed.

 

[W.TN.Orange Blood]

Sorry about calling it a banner year, as in hanging a NC Banner from the rafters. I just should have said a damn good year for last year. EDIT: it could have been two games out but we were right there anyway nonetheless. :thumbsup: GBO & Go Lady Vols.

 

[Voluble2]

The problem is that even with highly ranked players, the team has under performed the past 5 years.

If you think getting picked to finish 5-6th in the SEC by the coaches and then going on to win it and being ranked in the top ten in the nation is under performing then you have an odd definition of it.

By all accounts we exceeded what could reasonably be expected of the team we had last year. It remains to be seen if we can continue improving and attracting top talent. Losing Tucker hurt. I am still not sure what happened with her. Russell will be very good, but we really need to load up with talent in this class --- and it needs to be elite talent if we are going to get back on top. You can find a diamond in the rough but it rarely happens in women's basketball since there is a limited supply of talent and they beat the bushes looking for what there is pretty hard. Everyone normally knows who the players are who will get you a championship.

It will be interesting to see how this year's team does. Kamiko will be much harder to replace than people imagine and we are still very thin on numbers. I think this is the pivotal year for Holly. She needs to get what she can out of this team on the court and reel in a top five class.

 

[Convoluted]

If you think getting picked to finish 5-6th in the SEC by the coaches and then going on to win it and being ranked in the top ten in the nation is under performing then you have an odd definition of it.

By all accounts we exceeded what could reasonably be expected of the team we had last year. It remains to be seen if we can continue improving and attracting top talent. Losing Tucker hurt. I am still not sure what happened with her. Russell will be very good, but we really need to load up with talent in this class --- and it needs to be elite talent if we are going to get back on top. You can find a diamond in the rough but it rarely happens in women's basketball since there is a limited supply of talent and they beat the bushes looking for what there is pretty hard. Everyone normally knows who the players are who will get you a championship.

It will be interesting to see how this year's team does. Kamiko will be much harder to replace than people imagine and we are still very thin on numbers. I think this is the pivotal year for Holly. She needs to get what she can out of this team on the court and reel in a top five class.

What I meant by under perform is based on the quality of the players vs. how the team did. It's a squad of McDonald's all Americans and highly ranked players. Based on their resumes, they should have done better.

If you look at their performance compared to the entire Division one world, I agree with your assessment, but Tennessee and the fans never have been satisfied with a top ten performance. Perhaps what you're saying is the expectations have changed and Tennessee is now more than satisfied with Elite 8 and uconn getting all the glory.

 

[AllforTenn]

What I meant by under perform is based on the quality of the players vs. how the team did. It's a squad of McDonald's all Americans and highly ranked players. Based on their resumes, they should have done better.

If you look at their performance compared to the entire Division one world, I agree with your assessment, but Tennessee and the fans never have been satisfied with a top ten performance. Perhaps what you're saying is the expectations have changed and Tennessee is now more than satisfied with Elite 8 and uconn getting all the glory.

What he is saying is they did not under perform, which is correct. Louisville over performed and the Lady Vols had a bad game, resulting in failure to reach the final game. Overall, starting well outside the top 10 rankings, they did pretty well.

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

This conversation reminds me of Ricky Bobby...If you ain't first you're last - YouTube

 

[armchair]

If you think getting picked to finish 5-6th in the SEC by the coaches and then going on to win it and being ranked in the top ten in the nation is under performing then you have an odd definition of it.

By all accounts we exceeded what could reasonably be expected of the team we had last year. It remains to be seen if we can continue improving and attracting top talent. Losing Tucker hurt. I am still not sure what happened with her. Russell will be very good, but we really need to load up with talent in this class --- and it needs to be elite talent if we are going to get back on top. You can find a diamond in the rough but it rarely happens in women's basketball since there is a limited supply of talent and they beat the bushes looking for what there is pretty hard. Everyone normally knows who the players are who will get you a championship.

It will be interesting to see how this year's team does. Kamiko will be much harder to replace than people imagine and we are still very thin on numbers. I think this is the pivotal year for Holly. She needs to get what she can out of this team on the court and reel in a top five class.

We weren't picked to finish 5th in the SEC--that's absurd. We had more talent that 98 percent of the teams in the country. Tell me who in the SEC had more--and don't say Kentucky. The little sisters of the poor excuse doesn't fly. We had more talent than Notre Dame and got killed because are better coached, had a great guard and our perimeter defenders were TERRIBLE. We had more talent than Louisville--and choked. We couldn't have asked for an easier Elite 8 game. I won't name names, but our perimeter players were pretty much terrible on offense and defense in every big game we played last year.

 

[armchair]

Where were you back in March of this year when the TN girls were one of the teams playing in the national tournament going toward the NC game? We were one game out from playing for the NC. I'd call that a "banner year" by being there among the best in the nation of College Basketball for Women!! You must have gotten TN Lady Vols basketball team mixed up with someone else's team. And you might won't to pay closer attention this coming season because they will be a better team going forward.

We didn't have to beat anybody, really, to get to the Elite 8 game--and in Louisville couldn't have asked for easier game to get to the final four for the first time in 5 years. We had more talent than Louisville. If you think last year was a banner year, then you know nothing about UT women's basketball.

 

[Convoluted]

We weren't picked to finish 5th in the SEC--that's absurd. We had more talent that 98 percent of the teams in the country. Tell me who in the SEC had more--and don't say Kentucky. The little sisters of the poor excuse doesn't fly. We had more talent than Notre Dame and got killed because are better coached, had a great guard and our perimeter defenders were TERRIBLE. We had more talent than Louisville--and choked. We couldn't have asked for an easier Elite 8 game. I won't name names, but our perimeter players were pretty much terrible on offense and defense in every big game we played last year.

Lots of truth here. Unless something changes, Tenn is headed in the wrong direction. Coaching is a major contributor. Schedule is getting weaker, other teams are getting more competitive, and under performance is continuing. The coming year will be critical to long term success. The #1 player, and an overall strong squad must perform above expectations. With this squad, another poor year will not bode well for getting future recruits.

Right now, Tenn is living off of the past. This will not go on forever. These high school kids are quick to change allegiance when they see a team struggling.

 

[W.TN.Orange Blood]

We didn't have to beat anybody, really, to get to the Elite 8 game--and in Louisville couldn't have asked for easier game to get to the final four for the first time in 5 years. We had more talent than Louisville. If you think last year was a banner year, then you know nothing about UT women's basketball.

It might have been an "easy game" in your eyes but Louisville was coming off a win against Baylor, which was the defending NC team & a very hard team to beat w/Griner playing, & Louisville was freaking sky high playing basketball at the time & didn't care who was next to be played. I saw the game against the Lady Vols a trap game. A banner win last year to me was Ws & losses and we had a great year last year. Like I said, a banner year "as in" hanging a NC banner then NO. I'm glad that I've had a conversation w/the one guy that's the "only authority" on Lady Vols basketball.....you must kiss yourself when you look in the mirror each day.

 

[Convoluted]

It might have been an "easy game" in your eyes but Louisville was coming off a win against Baylor, which was the defending NC team & a very hard team to beat w/Griner playing, & Louisville was freaking sky high playing basketball at the time & didn't care who was next to be played. I saw the game against the Lady Vols a trap game. A banner win last year to me was Ws & losses and we had a great year last year. Like I said, a banner year "as in" hanging a NC banner then NO. I'm glad that I've had a conversation w/the one guy that's the "only authority" on Lady Vols basketball.....you must kiss yourself when you look in the mirror each day.

The L'ville Game plan against Baylor was great but required hitting 3s to win the game. In a best of 7 series with L'ville, Baylor probably would have won 4 to 1.

Beating Baylor was a true gift to Tenn and probably raised Tenn's confidence level. But L'ville was the better team against Tenn. When L'ville had to face uconn, no amount of confidence could overcome the disparity in talent. In some ways, L'ville did Tenn a favor by winning their game. Tenn playing uconn would have been a humiliation for Tenn. Uconn was just too good to be beaten at that time, so it's best for the game not to have happened. Let L'ville be humiliated and left crying on the bench.

 

[armchair]

The bottom line is that we should have beaten Louisville. Their victory over Baylor was a total fluke. The Vols got a HUGE break when that happened, and then blew it by playing tight against a team that had never even been to the Final Four. We were in a total panic mode 6 minutes into the game. We had a nice year last year but we didn't beat any of the good teams and failed again to reach the final four. Holly is doing some good things, recruiting seems to be on an upswing (fingers crossed), but we've got a long way to go to regain the old Tennessee swagger.

 

[boxerpupsrcool]

Tennessee's lack of perimeter defense all year really hurt them against Louisville. I knew after the Mizzou game that if we played a good perimeter shooting team in the NCAA's, then things might get really tough for us. Simmons also made some key turnovers in the first half and also shot really bad. That didn't help either. Our guard play will be much better this year and our front should be one of the best in the nation. The game that really got me was the SEC tourny game against A&M. We should have won that game, especially being up, what, ten with about 10 minutes left..

Kentucky will be tough to beat this year. That new guard they got will fit perfectly in their press system. I see Kentucky and maybe Vandy being the two toughest SEC teams for Tennessee.

 

[boxerpupsrcool]

The L'ville Game plan against Baylor was great but required hitting 3s to win the game. In a best of 7 series with L'ville, Baylor probably would have won 4 to 1.

Beating Baylor was a true gift to Tenn and probably raised Tenn's confidence level. But L'ville was the better team against Tenn. When L'ville had to face uconn, no amount of confidence could overcome the disparity in talent. In some ways, L'ville did Tenn a favor by winning their game. Tenn playing uconn would have been a humiliation for Tenn. Uconn was just too good to be beaten at that time, so it's best for the game not to have happened. Let L'ville be humiliated and left crying on the bench.

Good point. I would have loved to seen us face UCONN in the title game last year, but that team was just in the zone. I think their D and perimeter scoring would have just overwhelmed us and it could have got pretty ugly. Now this year might be a different story..Would have been nice to have Tucker though in a game like that..

 

[governmentmule]

I think it was a lack of depth,with the injuries,that did them in with Louisville,they had struggled in short turn around games,they looked tired in that game,like others have said,i hope there are no major injuries this year