LV players you believe were underutilized

[stllvf]

again a down-time thread.

recent discussion on other threads concerned using a longer bench than seven or eight. And we have heard and will in coming years hear the familiar FREE (player to be identified) by a well-known boarder.

NOTE: I do not have any knowledge on the practice habits of players toward earning playing time or non-conformity to requirements off the court.

one example: I always felt Pillow was underutilized during a time where Snow was the star.

And I also can name players who were not on the court often because they couldn't move fast enough to prevent the dribble-drive on the baseline. (smile)

 

[NoBackBoard]

Nia Moore, Alicia Manning, Angie Bjorklund

 

[VolBricks]

I believe that all of the current LV are being underutilized. I just do not feel that our current coaching staff knows how to get the best out of our players. I'm not "bashing" Holly, I believe all of the coaches have a hand in the let down of the program.

 

[ATLVolFan06]

Nia Moore, Kortney Dunbar, and Kamiko Williams

 

[xtpsrh08123]

Every player after the pat summit era

 

[gule]

no comment

 

[Chitownvol1129]

Every player after the pat summit era

Is Pat Summit someone we should know, I certainly know who Pat SummiTT is. After all, her name is on the court!

 

[Chitownvol1129]

The Butts sisters, Glory Johnson first 2 years, Avant, Bird until end of senior season, Middleton, Gwen Jackson until senior year

 

[xtpsrh08123]

Is Pat Summit someone we should know, I certainly know who Pat SummiTT is. After all, her name is on the court!

Why even respond ? You know who i was referring to and yet you chose to reply taking one letter from a full post and turning into something negative. Smh find somthing better to do please. Hopefully i spelled everything right this time :bad:

 

[FrozenLVFan]

Manning got a fair amount of PT by necessity but didn't put it to good use. I agree that Moore wasn't well-utilized, nor was Nunn, not by a long shot. Avant spent her freshman year mostly injured, then PHS uncharacteristically announced that Ariel Massengale would be the starting PG the following year even though she was still a HS senior, and Avant transferred, so I don't know if that constitutes poor utilization but I think we missed out.

 

[Amb3096]

Manning got a fair amount of PT by necessity but didn't put it to good use. I agree that Moore wasn't well-utilized, nor was Nunn, not by a long shot. Avant spent her freshman year mostly injured, then PHS uncharacteristically announced that Ariel Massengale would be the starting PG the following year even though she was still a HS senior, and Avant transferred, so I don't know if that constitutes poor utilization but I think we missed out.

Manning played out of position nearly her entire career. She was playing in the post her jr/Sr years because of the depth at guard/wing.

 

[Putbacks]

The Butt sisters, Glory Johnson first 2 years, Avant, Bird until end of senior season, Middleton, Gwen Jackson until senior year

Who are the Butt sisters? Left Cheek and Right Cheek?

If you are referring to Niya Butts and Tasha Butts (who played at separate times), were not sisters. I don't think they were even related. IIRC Tasha might have been related to a former player named Val Freeman.

Edited to confirm: Valerie Freeman (whose promising playing career was cut short in the 80's due to injury) is Tasha's aunt.

 

[1CHATTVOL]

Every player after the pat summit era

Yes, because you know Pat so well you can't even spell Summitt. Geez.

 

[1CHATTVOL]

Why even respond ? You know who i was referring to and yet you chose to reply taking one letter from a full post and turning into something negative. Smh find somthing better to do please. Hopefully i spelled everything right this time :bad:

Probably got a reply because your comment was just a thinly veiled Holly bash. Pat was not perfect, and I'm sure she didn't perfectly utilize every player for over 30 years.

 

[MsSportsGuy]

I agree with Manning not being well utilized. She was a good player but she never really seemed to find her groove. I think her constantly having to play different spots on the floor hurt her development as a college player.

 

[Chitownvol1129]

Why even respond ? You know who I was referring to and yet you chose to reply taking one letter from a full post and turning into something negative. Smh find somthing better to do please. Hopefully i spelled everything right this time :bad:

Or, maybe instead of jumping on the trash Holly band wagon, you decide to know something about our history and players, and then, I don't know, maybe our court, and the most important coach in the sports name! You post was ignorant

 

[Chitownvol1129]

Who are the Butt sisters? Left Cheek and Right Cheek?

If you are referring to Niya Butts and Tasha Butts (who played at separate times), were not sisters. I don't think they were even related. IIRC Tasha might have been related to a former player named Val Freeman.

Edited to confirm: Valerie Freeman (whose promising playing career was cut short in the 80's due to injury) is Tasha's aunt.

If they were not sisters...then i believe they were cousins...both out of the same area of Georgia...either way, both were under used as players and proved their basketball IQs in coaching. They were 4 yrs apart

 

[mlindsay]

1. Alberta Auguste (with so much Talent on that championship team I understand why!)

2. Shekinna Stricklen (was forced to play PG most of her career at UT)

3. Alex Fuller (there were a lot of Post ahead of her, I think she should've been tried at the 3 spot a little, she could hit the outside shot)

4. Alicia Manning (was forced to play the Post in her last 2 seasons which hurt her and us)

5. Nia Moore (don't understand why she couldn't see the floor even to just give Mercedes and Izzy a Breather at times)

6. Jasmine Jones (I don't understand why we never used her advantage in our favor, it was like we were trying to force her on the perimeter instead of using her athleticism to our advantage, she should've been the second coming of Glory Johnson)

7. Basharra Graves (Based on her freshman year, I don't understand how we couldn't tap into that potential and develop it. The skills were there we just didn't for some reason make her the focal point of our offense, when the beast was going she was damn near unstoppable)

 

[Orange Maniac]

Dominique Redding

 

[NoBackBoard]

Dominique Redding

She had soooo much potential and was rated higher than Sidney Spencer coming out of hs.

Pat envisioned Redding would be a "physical, power player" as she averaged 21.8 ppg and 10.4 rpg during her senior year of hs in Florida.

Redding was a McDonald's All-American and considered a Top 10 recruit coming out of high school. I had such high hopes for her.

But it seemed she may have lacked work ethic and her personality may have clashed with the coaches. She never developed like I thought she would and saw inconsistent time on the court.

During her UT career, Redding averaged 3.3 points (13 was her career high) and 1.3 boards (high was 8).

Just as a fan watching games on TV, she always seemed to be sulking or looking dispirited. I know it's not easy being a young person figuring things out.

She had a minor domestic issue back in 2010, so maybe she was going through a rough patch. I hope she's doing better now. Anyone know how she's doing?

 

[xtpsrh08123]

Or, maybe instead of jumping on the trash Holly band wagon, you decide to know something about our history and players, and then, I don't know, maybe our court, and the most important coach in the sports name! You post was ignorant

Love the Ignore button , never used it on this board but i think this will be the 1st time. I can post how i feel its a board . Im not the only person who feels this way so because i left a T off Pat's last name that means idk the history or anything about the program ok sure. Bye kid :rock:

 

[1CHATTVOL]

Love the Ignore button , never used it on this board but i think this will be the 1st time. I can post how i feel its a board . Im not the only person who feels this way so because i left a T off Pat's last name that means idk the history or anything about the program ok sure. Bye kid :rock:

You can post how you feel, but you have to be prepared to receive other people's feelings - it is a board, as you say.

Most online forums are primed & accepting of negative-laced comments not always based in fact, so no you're not alone.

But some fans are tiring of it, and are giving push back.

 

[LVFL]

I can remember when I first started following the Lady Vols and there was consistency in play and determination from the starters to the walk-ons. Amanda Canon, Sarah Edwards, Sydney Smallbone, and others played with the same tenacity and smarts as the starters they subbed for. Seems to me the players today don't really have that work ethic in them and I'm not sure why. I am certainly not bashing any player or coach. It just seems there was a totally different mind set years ago. They all believed in each other and the greater good of the team. They understood every role was important.

Also some players did not develop into their talent until later on. I loved watching the evolution of Sidney Spencer and Gwen Jackson. Each year they became better and better. Shekinna Stricklen did not play the way she does now in the WNBA while at Tennessee. At least not on a consistent basis. Neither did Glory Johnson. I wouldn't say they or players like them were not utilized, I think they were not at full potential then. I know this makes me sound 100 years old, but back in the day, players wanted to earn their rewards and worked hard for them. Now it seems that drive and desire is missing in a majority of players. Not just at Tennessee either.

 

[mlindsay]

She had soooo much potential and was rated higher than Sidney Spencer coming out of hs.

Pat envisioned Redding would be a "physical, power player" as she averaged 21.8 ppg and 10.4 rpg during her senior year of hs in Florida.

Redding was a McDonald's All-American and considered a Top 10 recruit coming out of high school. I had such high hopes for her.

But it seemed she may have lacked work ethic and her personality may have clashed with the coaches. She never developed like I thought she would and saw inconsistent time on the court.

During her UT career, Redding averaged 3.3 points (13 was her career high) and 1.3 boards (high was 8).

Just as a fan watching games on TV, she always seemed to be sulking or looking dispirited. I know it's not easy being a young person figuring things out.

She had a minor domestic issue back in 2010, so maybe she was going through a rough patch. I hope she's doing better now. Anyone know how she's doing?

She coaches an AAU team and seems to be doing very well based off of her Twitter page

 

[mlindsay]

I can remember when I first started following the Lady Vols and there was consistency in play and determination from the starters to the walk-ons. Amanda Canon, Sarah Edwards, Sydney Smallbone, and others played with the same tenacity and smarts as the starters they subbed for. Seems to me the players today don't really have that work ethic in them and I'm not sure why. I am certainly not bashing any player or coach. It just seems there was a totally different mind set years ago. They all believed in each other and the greater good of the team. They understood every role was important.

Also some players did not develop into their talent until later on. I loved watching the evolution of Sidney Spencer and Gwen Jackson. Each year they became better and better. Shekinna Stricklen did not play the way she does now in the WNBA while at Tennessee. At least not on a consistent basis. Neither did Glory Johnson. I wouldn't say they or players like them were not utilized, I think they were not at full potential then. I know this makes me sound 100 years old, but back in the day, players wanted to earn their rewards and worked hard for them. Now it seems that drive and desire is missing in a majority of players. Not just at Tennessee either.

Part of Stricklen's issue was we struck out at the PG position (Brianna Bass wasn't very good) which forced us to have to play Stricklen at PG when she was better at the 2/3 spot. If she was able to come off of screens and shoot (like she does now) we would have saw at UT what we see in the WNBA

Same with Glory, we've always been bigger and stronger than most of the teams we play and with Pat's focus on rebounding and defense (Everything that Glory is about) we focused more on her being the best at that. In the WNBA (and overseas) she was able to develop (and was able to) take 17/18 foot jump shots and extend her shooting to the 3pt line which she (imo) wasn't looked at as us needing her to do at UT