Moving foward my advice

#1
W

wildorange

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2010
Messages
3,049
Likes
2,247
#1
for Holly is too go out and get ballplayers that are going to hustle and play hard. Overall since she has been here we have not played with enough want too, we have been overall passive for the most part. No defense, standing around watching loose balls etc. Some of our better players worry about being stylish than playing hard nosed basketball with a purpose. If that seems critical I am sorry, I am just calling it like I see it, UCONN and other top teams thrive on knocking you out. They go for the jugular, they play like their on a mission. They don't play like they are worried about scratching their nails. Basic passing skills and playing good defense should be a Tennessee trademark. Yes we played pretty good down the stretch but where were we most of the year. This team has talent but does it have the fight to uphold the tradition of this once great program known for it's tenacity. I didn't see much tenacity this year. It's dishearting, no matter what we vastly underachieved the great part of the year. Go after some players that love to play the game and play with passion, I am almost relieved we didn't face UConn because I am afraid they would have exposed us horribly, they play relentless. We have to get back to that. Go Lady Vols
 
#3
#3
T-TownVol said:
What you describe/suggest is 100% on the coaching staff.
Click to expand...

Exactly! It's the coach(es) that determine the success/failure of a team. Yes, the players have to execute but the coaches give the direction, prepare the team, and make adjustments as necessary. It had been mentioned many times this season that the girls didn't have confidence in the coach(es), especially Holly. Whether that's true or not I don't know but it's abundantly clear she can't make common-sense adjustments in-game. No doubt following Pat is a great mountain to climb but we're not expecting her to be Pat. We are expecting her to take charge of the team. You can't instill confidence in the team if YOU don't know what the _ell you're doing. Either she doesn't know or is ignoring the advice of assistants that do know. If I was (king) of administration for a day I'd sure look at some of the successful teams and try to get one of those coaches and as much as I can't stand Geno I'd sure look at some of his top assistants. Do you think he settles for mediocrity? No, he gets in their faces but he's also teaching them to be the best they can be. Holly is too passive and doesn't know what to do IMO.
I think us all spouting off is probably peeing in the wind as far as any significant changes coming until the program hits rock bottom. A lot of the games this year were hard to watch; playing hard is one thing, getting out-coached is another. :cray::cray::cray:
 
#5
#5
wildorange said:
for Holly is too go out and get ballplayers that are going to hustle and play hard. Overall since she has been here we have not played with enough want too, we have been overall passive for the most part. No defense, standing around watching loose balls etc. Some of our better players worry about being stylish than playing hard nosed basketball with a purpose. If that seems critical I am sorry, I am just calling it like I see it, UCONN and other top teams thrive on knocking you out. They go for the jugular, they play like their on a mission. They don't play like they are worried about scratching their nails. Basic passing skills and playing good defense should be a Tennessee trademark. Yes we played pretty good down the stretch but where were we most of the year. This team has talent but does it have the fight to uphold the tradition of this once great program known for it's tenacity. I didn't see much tenacity this year. It's dishearting, no matter what we vastly underachieved the great part of the year. Go after some players that love to play the game and play with passion, I am almost relieved we didn't face UConn because I am afraid they would have exposed us horribly, they play relentless. We have to get back to that. Go Lady Vols
Click to expand...

The returning players...especially the guards.. coming back need to learn how to play, period. Going into next season, the only decent players they have are DeShields, Nared and Russell.

If the guards continue to be a liability on both ends of the court, they will be lucky to make the S16, let alone the E8, next season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#7
#7
wildorange said:
for Holly is too go out and get ballplayers that are going to hustle and play hard. Overall since she has been here we have not played with enough want too, we have been overall passive for the most part. No defense, standing around watching loose balls etc. Some of our better players worry about being stylish than playing hard nosed basketball with a purpose. If that seems critical I am sorry, I am just calling it like I see it, UCONN and other top teams thrive on knocking you out. They go for the jugular, they play like their on a mission. They don't play like they are worried about scratching their nails. Basic passing skills and playing good defense should be a Tennessee trademark. Yes we played pretty good down the stretch but where were we most of the year. This team has talent but does it have the fight to uphold the tradition of this once great program known for it's tenacity. I didn't see much tenacity this year. It's dishearting, no matter what we vastly underachieved the great part of the year. Go after some players that love to play the game and play with passion, I am almost relieved we didn't face UConn because I am afraid they would have exposed us horribly, they play relentless. We have to get back to that. Go Lady Vols
Click to expand...
It was evident that the Orange wanted the game much more than the Lady Vols.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 people
#8
#8
T-TownVol said:
What you describe/suggest is 100% on the coaching staff.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, my thoughts on Holly are well chronicled in different post. I have nothing against her and will continue to hope she can improve as a head coach. I have no doubts that she was a great assistant coach, not all great assistant coaches make good head coaches. Bottom line until we get players that are dedicated to playing hard all the time we are going to continue to experience the fate we experienced this year. Yes, this team is young and many folks point to that defending Holly. Not me but many do, the proof will be no doubt laid out over the next 2 years as there is plenty of talent there and will they improve greatly or regress. If the latter happens and we don't get any better it will for sure say to me Holly is in way over her head. It doesn't take talent to play hard, and it doesn't take talent to play smart. For most of the year those 2 things were our biggest problem. Deshields smiling and smirking finger layups and missing them says it all. We have to develop a team that is focused and plays fearless, they used to be staples of Pat's teams and now their staples of Geno's teams. I've had many women players tell me they play passive and don't seem like they play with any fire. Holly needs to look at her mentors teams, they played with fire in their belly and simply would not be denied. We are playing the stellar opposite these days.
 
Last edited:
#11
#11
I watched the raw emotion of the UW and Cuse players after Saturday's wins and thought, "If the LVs played with that much fire and heart, and if winning meant that much to us, we'd be giving UConn all they want in the championship game." This LVs team hasn't played with that kind of grit, determination and teamwork all season. I'm not sure we have a single player on this team or a single coach on this staff that can bring that out.
 
#12
#12
LA Vol said:
I watched the raw emotion of the UW and Cuse players after Saturday's wins and thought, "If the LVs played with that much fire and heart, and if winning meant that much to us, we'd be giving UConn all they want in the championship game." This LVs team hasn't played with that kind of grit, determination and teamwork all season. I'm not sure we have a single player on this team or a single coach on this staff that can bring that out.
Click to expand...

You could be right. But, let's face it ... that is not easy to fix.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top