NCAA Women's Tournament Selection Show Thread - Tennessee Lady Volunteers, No. 5 seed in Birmingham Region 3

[Majors]

Really? Who emulates Cooper?

Dennis the sophomore practice player who led his church league to a runner-up finish in 2021.

 

[glv98]

Well that’s great intel. Didn’t know you to have access to OSU practice. Start calling you Bill Belichick.

Kevin McGuff has run this for decades. Didn't need great insight to assume they practice it.

Dennis the sophomore practice player who led his church league to a runner-up finish in 2021.

Maybe y'all are really right. Maybe no one else has ever seen or imagined an uptempo system before, nor has the players to practice or play against it. Even those who play it themselves. If true, makes me wonder more than ever what happened the last few weeks of the season.

 

[glv98]

Really? Who emulates Cooper?

Jaloni Cambridge, B10 frosh of the year, would be my guess.

 

[Majors]

Kevin McGuff has run this for decades. Didn't need great insight to assume they practice it.

Maybe y'all are really right. Maybe no one else has ever seen or imagined an uptempo system before, nor has the players to practice or play against it. Even those who play it themselves. If true, makes me wonder more than ever what happened the last few weeks of the season.

Everyone has seen it, not everyone can play to it. Practice is friendly with no time, no winning outcome, no pressure.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

If we make it to OSU both teams will have 25 turnovers. That could be an all timer of an ugly basketball game.

Then the important stat becomes points off turnovers. Bet Cooper leads the nation in points off turnovers in less than 5 seconds.

 

[glv98]

Everyone has seen it, not everyone can play to it. Practice is friendly with no time, no winning outcome, no pressure

But OSU does play it, has for yrs. I assume practicing it is secondary to playing it.

 

[glv98]

Then the important stat becomes points off turnovers. Bet Cooper leads the nation in points off turnovers in less than 5 seconds.

Coop's hands should be studied. Never seen anything like it. Incredible reflex and reaction time.

 

[Scotty4lvs]

I'm just so curious to see how this team looks on Friday. I feel like we saw 2 different versions of this team, pre and post Florida game, minus game 1 of the SEC tournament where Cooper want bananas against a broken AM team. If they can re capture their pre Florida game form, sky is the limit. They are certainly capable of beating OSU and then some IF they can be the best version of themselves, and that part is what kinda remains to be seen.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Jaloni Cambridge, B10 frosh of the year, would be my guess.

TC is 10th in steals in ALL conferences and only 1 player from ND is higher from non directional level teams, one OSU player on the list at 45.

I will go with TC. This does not even address the number of bad pass turnovers and backcourt violations she has created.

It is a high risk/reward game plan, but doubt many are more effective.

 

[KTrain]

USF is a team like us that really depends on the day. Looked atrocious at times, looked like they could play anyone at others.

Not an easy 5-12 but we played ourselves into that.

OSU isn’t great either for us.

If somehow we emerge from that I like TX as one of the weaker 1s

Yep, we played TX to a one possession game at TX so I agree with that. I know they beat us by 4 but I say one possession because we had ball with chance to win or tie but missed and fouled rebounder who made 2 FTs with hardly any time left.

 

[LV renaissance]

Hope the team is focusing on S Florida, who is considerably better than Georgia. Like us, they have some impressive games capped be upsetting Duke but also games in which you wonder what happened including some 30 to 40 point losses. I am hoping for their latter version so we don't have to expend all of our energy in this game, utilizing our deep bench instead.

 

[glv98]

TC is 10th in steals in ALL conferences and only 1 player from ND is higher from non directional level teams, one OSU player on the list at 45.

I will go with TC. This does not even address the number of bad pass turnovers and backcourt violations she has created.

It is a high risk/reward game plan, but doubt many are more effective.

Wasn’t comparing the two players per se, just answered who on their squad might emulate Coop in practice.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Coop's hands should be studied. Never seen anything like it. Incredible reflex and reaction time.

I remember a comment Kim made around mid-season I believe that Cooper's hands were so quick she could probably get a steal anytime she wanted. I know that comment was a bit in jest but also a serious one about her abilities.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I remember a comment Kim made around mid-season I believe that Cooper's hands were so quick she could probably get a steal anytime she wanted. I know that comment was a bit in jest but also a serious one about her abilities.

She has the feet and anticipation too. Like trying to play the tall guy in practice roll using a broom. You just can’t fake it.

She is so quick some refs assume some of her steals had to be fouls and blew the whistle.

 

[lvocd]

I doubt OSU, who has been pressing for years, needs magic to get in shape. This should be one of the most even matches we've had all season in terms of conditioning

Yep. What's concerning is that OSU, if I am thinking of the right team, also has a well-organized offense.

 

[lvocd]

If Iowa beat 'em, we can beat 'em.

I like your optimism and hope you are right! But this season has really hammered home the point that just about anybody can lose to a significantly less talented team on any given day. A quarter of the way into our SEC schedule I would have confidently bet my house that Georgia would not beat Tennessee in Knoxville on Senior Day.

Anybody know what went down that day Iowa beat Ohio State?

 

[lvocd]

Coop's hands should be studied. Never seen anything like it. Incredible reflex and reaction time.

Ya know, I think she lulls opponents into thinking she's not focused and going to just hang easy .... and then, in a nanosecond, Coop pokes the ball away from them. What I have noticed about Tay is that she does not, at first glance, appear to be a majority fast-twitch muscle group athlete. She can look lackadaisical on the court at times. BUT THAT'S A TRICK!!! She can change from "loper" to "antelope" in an instant, and she's sneaky as hell. I love her!

 

[barrylee]

I expect a good run. I think Kim may have miscalculated the physicality of an entire season in the SEC and they wore down!

They’re now rested and I expect mid season form!

 

[lvocd]

Hey, Gottlieb! I have a pro tip for ya:

Y'all aren't that special. Just hush and go win your games.

 

[GameTime]

Next assignment....

 

[JCP201]

add baseball championship and then we are the only one left.

 

[th2421]

Yep. What's concerning is that OSU, if I am thinking of the right team, also has a well-organized offense.

One good thing is that they are a bad free-throw shooting team (68%, 269th in the NCAA) - a good thing for us, a foul-prone team (349th in the NCAA).

 

[th2421]

Good to hear her say that with the extra rest, we look like we did in late December.

 

[lvocd]

I loved hearing about Tess in this terrific interview. She has no illusions that she'll have a pro basketball career, so this tournament is her Alamo. The proud native Tennessean fully intends to give her all for her teammates, her coaches, her family, friends, fans and the State of Tennessee. I am so excited for her and hope she finishes her career strong. She certainly deserves to.

 

[th2421]

Great to hear from Jewel that everyone on the team is on the same page and that the team chemistry is really good right now. Still probably won't shut up the (Cooper, in particular) haters, but I'm really glad to hear this.