NCAA Game Thread: (1) Texas vs (5) Lady Vols

#804
#804
Get the impression that a lot of people believe Kim is the strict with her system and not flexible for the demands. I admit I felt so too during the season. Overall, however, she did have to amend her approach a whole lot for this team. She also, got a lot out of her players that many would feel are not the same level of athleticism or skill as teams that the Lady Vols played. They so nearly beat so many teams built with top talent and did beat UConn and OSU.
 
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#805
#805
madtownvol said:
I agree but being a first year coach does not excuse a head coach in a S16 game not recognizing that her players needed a TO where she could settle them down. I am sorry if Kellie Harper had let her team commit 6 straight TOs with a game in balance, people would be screaming for blood.

CKC made a major coaching mistake here. The long term, important question is what does SHE learn from this.
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madtownvol said:
Disagree. TX was flying high, smelling blood in the water. We were the team looking a little gassed. A timeout would have been all upside.
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I felt this game, ugly as aw get out and even with our crappy shooting, was totally there for our taking. I was all buckled in for a nerve wracking finish and then - nothing. We just sort of stood there and watched Texas win the game. Talk about not with a bang but a whimper!

If ever there was a time to call t.o. and I dunno, maybe draw up a play or something for those critical possessions that our season depended on. How about a play for Zee who was going great? Instead we really left poor Ruby hanging out to dry repeating the same hero play she’d been keeping us in the game with. No way we’re fooling ole Vic with that in this situation.

It was a strange, anticlimactic concession by the staff to end the season. I suspect they simply didn’t have anything to offer. Definitely a huge area of opportunity for them this offseason is to have much better half court plans on both O and D. They now know how necessary plan Bs are going to be.
 
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#806
#806
glv98 said:
I felt this game, ugly as aw get out and even with our crappy shooting, was totally there for our taking. I was all buckled in for a nerve wracking finish and then - nothing. We just sort of stood there and watched Texas win the game. Talk about not with a bang but a whimper!

If ever there was a time to call t.o. and I dunno, maybe draw up a play or something for those critical possessions that our season depended on. How about a play for Zee who was going great? Instead we really left poor Ruby hanging out to dry trying to do with the same hero play she’d been keeping us in the game with. No way we’re fooling ole Vic with that in this situation.

It was a strange, anticlimactic concession by the staff to end the season. I suspect they simply didn’t have anything to offer. Definitely a huge area of opportunity for them this offseason is to have much better half court plans on both O and D. They now know how necessary plan Bs are going to be.
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Big yes. To all of it.
 
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#808
#808
madtownvol said:
Disagree. TX was flying high, smelling blood in the water. We were the team looking a little gassed. A timeout would have been all upside.
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That was my chief issue that was clearly a coaching decision. When I read this, I wondered why I didn't think of it during the game when it was happening. Then I realized I called a timeout for myself and got less engaged for a moment to get less reactive. If experienced fans need this, what do young players who never experienced the emotional intensity of a Sweet 16 game need. Every positive and every mistake is amplified on this new to them BIG STAGE, so you can't expect your players to "figure it out" without guidance when they start having their mistakes snowball. Earlier in the season, you can afford to experiment with this and help players get more resilient but not at the end of a Sweet 16 game in which your mistakes just cost you the lead. Perhaps Kim was having her own stress and anxiety given this is the biggest stage as the coach of the Lady Vols who everyone is evaluating, A hopeful thing that she said after the Ohio State game when the OSU run was addressed is something like "I didn't know it was a 16-0 run. I probably should have called a time out". She didn't and it still worked out for that game, so maybe it will take this loss to really get more flexibility about this.
 
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#809
#809
glv98 said:
I felt this game, ugly as aw get out and even with our crappy shooting, was totally there for our taking. I was all buckled in for a nerve wracking finish and then - nothing. We just sort of stood there and watched Texas win the game. Talk about not with a bang but a whimper!

If ever there was a time to call t.o. and I dunno, maybe draw up a play or something for those critical possessions that our season depended on. How about a play for Zee who was going great? Instead we really left poor Ruby hanging out to dry repeating the same hero play she’d been keeping us in the game with. No way we’re fooling ole Vic with that in this situation.

It was a strange, anticlimactic concession by the staff to end the season. I suspect they simply didn’t have anything to offer. Definitely a huge area of opportunity for them this offseason is to have much better half court plans on both O and D. They now know how necessary plan Bs are going to be.
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And what I’m nervous about is if they even recognize that. Because didn’t a lot of posters recognize that during the regular season? If we did, did they not?

This system will produce championships with the right players AND coaching. Kim is in the big leagues now and honestly went toe to toe with a lot of great coaches! I just hope she realizes she has to make some minor adjustments to the system to actually win and not just compete!
 
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#811
#811
LadyVol1908 said:
And what I’m nervous about is if they even recognize that. Because didn’t a lot of posters recognize that during the regular season? If we did, did they not?

This system will produce championships with the right players AND coaching. Kim is in the big leagues now and honestly went toe to toe with a lot of great coaches! I just hope she realizes she has to make some minor adjustments to the system to actually win and not just compete!
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well written post 1908
 
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#812
#812
LadyVol1908 said:
And what I’m nervous about is if they even recognize that. Because didn’t a lot of posters recognize that during the regular season? If we did, did they not?

This system will produce championships with the right players AND coaching. Kim is in the big leagues now and honestly went toe to toe with a lot of great coaches! I just hope she realizes she has to make some minor adjustments to the system to actually win and not just compete!
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Yeah, it's worrying that nobody on our staff had the guts to go to Kim and say, "Jeez, Kim! Ya think we might need to call a time out here?!"

Kim has a strong personality and is definitely running the show. For the most part I LOVE that. But sometimes support staff needs to step up if they know she is hyper-focused on the wrong things at crunch time. Helen Keller would have known our team needed a time out and an end-game plan discussed with players instead of letting them melt down like they did.

And if none of the support staff realized the time out was needed, that may be even worse.

The good news is I believe Kim and the staff are going to be willing to take a good, hard look at all the areas THEY need to improve in, and once they've all watched that final game for themselves, I'm certain they'll recognize the mistake. If not, then DW just gave a raise and an extension to someone too stubborn for her own good.

But again, I think she's going to make the necessary adjustments and will NOT be too stubborn. She has already admitted to some mistakes even before the tourney, so she'll step up. I just know it.
 
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#813
#813
LV renaissance said:
That was my chief issue that was clearly a coaching decision. When I read this, I wondered why I didn't think of it during the game when it was happening. Then I realized I called a timeout for myself and got less engaged for a moment to get less reactive. If experienced fans need this, what do young players who never experienced the emotional intensity of a Sweet 16 game need. Every positive and every mistake is amplified on this new to them BIG STAGE, so you can't expect your players to "figure it out" without guidance when they start having their mistakes snowball. Earlier in the season, you can afford to experiment with this and help players get more resilient but not at the end of a Sweet 16 game in which your mistakes just cost you the lead. Perhaps Kim was having her own stress and anxiety given this is the biggest stage as the coach of the Lady Vols who everyone is evaluating, A hopeful thing that she said after the Ohio State game when the OSU run was addressed is something like "I didn't know it was a 16-0 run. I probably should have called a time out". She didn't and it still worked out for that game, so maybe it will take this loss to really get more flexibility about this.
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That is a good point. If we go back to the OSU game, it was fine margins in some ways. If Coop clanks that three that regained the lead maybe things go differently. OSU worked out in part because they had climbed a mountain to get close. In contrast, the LVs had the uphill battle against TX and that it is a big situational difference, particularly when Jewel says the players got anxious in the moment.

I am not a MAGIC time out guy and CKC's sub strategy is another way to break up an opponents run. But you save TOs for when they are strategically necessary. Based on these last two games, it may be that CKC is not great at tracking these kind of momentum shift moments.
Honestly, she also seemed unaware of the "foul to give" situation in the first game against LSU. She may need an assistance to help with situational awareness.

If so, and per LVOCD above, she probably should also empower one of her staff to have a "code red" time out option.
 
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