NCAAT Game Thread: Lady Vols vs Louisville

[ARPfan4life]

You are right in the big picture scheme but I agree that Dye's forcing that pass (for no reason) shifted the momentu,. The LVs were down by two and had Louisville rattled and then boom a 3 pt play off the TO. It does not all fall on that one play but in terms of critical moments, that one does stand out. But without Snoop, the LVs aren't in the Sweet 16.

I stated that I hope it would not shift the momentum, but it did.

 

[turbovol]

Frustrating but better than Holly

Now there's a backhanded compliment if ever there was one. You're better than the coach who was surely the worst major-college coach
in women's basketball!

We were resilient today--I'll give us that much on the positive side. We hung in there, despite not playing well--at least three times put ourselves in a position to win this game or at least keep it close down to the wire--and yet each time turnovers and missed shots resulted in Louisville growing its lead. We simply are not fundamentally sound enough to win games like this--haven't been for /at least/ a decade. Mediocre guard play, slow ball movement, poor 3-point shooting--and of course, as always, turnovers.

We had 9 assists and 18 TOs today--which was our standard of bad.
Louisville had 15 assists and 7 TOs.

A losing A/TO ratio and poor shooting will just about always result in an L. And, oh, we didn't even shoot 60 percent from the FT line.

I'm not convinced that having Horston would have much much of a difference, frankly. She is talented, to be sure, wish she hadn't gotten hurt, of course---but she dribbles too much and her shooting percentage is not good for someone who takes most of her shots from 15 feet or closer, and the rest of the team tends to stand around when she is doing her thing. I thought our overall quality of play was not much different without her. We're just not that efficient and cohesive offensively--don't move the ball quickly enough, don't pass the ball well enough, too much 1v1 basketball--which is why our assist total is usually quite low.

Key has improved, and I hope she can further improve next year. If she can, the team could benefit significantly. IMO, her biggest issue is that, owing to her size, she has no fast-twitch: Her movements are s-l-o-w. The coaches must work to improve her overall strength and to get her to be more decisive and quicker with her movements when she gets the ball. There is no reason why she can't be taught to pivot away /quickly/ from a defender in the paint when she gets the ball, get the ball up high and shoot a little 5-footer. She needs to use her lower body more effectively in the low block, to create space, and thebn to power up decisively for a shot off the glass as soon as she gets the ball. For a player with her size to have only 1 basket and 3 points in this game is....not good at all. I'd be drilling her hard on some basic offensive moves in the paint as she's simply got to develop more of an offensive game and become more of a consistent scoring threat.

Here's hoping we can be better next year.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

The Louisville game plan was to take neutralize Key by physical play and they were successful .The refs did not call the many fouls committed and Key let that bother her to the extreme.

That’s why you recruit tough centers. Give me a battler that can score and is aggressive and can move over someone that is just tall. More to basketball than just being tall. GBO

 

[Dergibvol]

Lmao...wtf have you been watching...we are no better than when Holly was coach.

Holly was mediocre. Kellie is a step above mediocre. Team is in a better position now than two years ago. Until the administration realizes having to hire someone who was with the program at one time I doubt they see much sustained success.

 

[Deebowbear]

Ridiculous. You know nothing and all your types want to say the coaches are bad and the team unmotivated. Learn something and then enlighten us.

Haha I know more than you think! Played and have watched mens and women. It’s sad some can’t stand to hear the truth. Did you watch the game

 

[turbovol]

I stated that I hope it would not shift the momentum, but it did.

That was a terrible decision and play by Dye--came at a terrible time---but alas typical of the bad decisions and bad plays that result in us having anywhere from 15 to 20 turnovers a game. AND we had another turnover on the next possession that result in another Louisville basket, and then did not get a shot off on the possession after that one! And suddenly, a 2 point lead is back to 8 or whatever. We had trouble throwing the ball inbounds ALL GAME. Absurd.

 

[AurantiacoFan]

I wish somehow that the rare-posting, five-game-a-year watching drive-by posters' words could be in a different color so everyone reading this board knows these aren't the diehard fans being so awful. It's the ones who come along only when they can get a charge out of saying awful things when the team falters. They don't represent the entire fanship. Just the absolute worst of humanity in general, and most are probably not even Tennessee fans to begin with. Terrible people who want to sow discord know they'll have a much bigger audience this time of year, so they bring as much ugliness as they can while its fresh.

Actually, it could be good to let your daughters see this so you can warn them to not allow a kid's sports team be so important in their life that you get so angry at their performance it gets personal.

 

[Rons1989]

Key love her but she has to get tougher lousiville basically said rough her up take her out the game..besides Engstler there werent much inside play from them either so their game plan was rough key up neutralize that and our guards are better than yours

 

[sisaq]

We got beat in coaching and playing today. We didn’t look good today all around cards wanted it more.

Why not u go and coach. If u can't give a team that lost 3 key players credit something is wrong with u

 

[mike099]

The two experienced ladies, one at point and one a proven scorer, joining us next year PLUS a 6'4" SHOOTER from the HS ranks will help a lot, plus we get Marta and Horston back. Like our chances next year a lot. Coach will need to establish a short leash for brain dead turnovers next year with plenty of options on the bench to send in there.

Agreed, the turnovers are a killer. I wonder if the staff will try and add another post from the transfer portal? Next year should be good, but the 2023 class better be a great one.

 

[VolBall09]

I was glad to see Tess get going a little and hit some shots in the second half. We are a better team when she’s hitting 3s.

If you give her enough time she will burn you. We didn’t find her enough when they were pressing in the first half. She needs to stay spread out and she would have had all day to line it up.

 

[VolBall09]

Agreed, the turnovers are a killer. I wonder if the staff will try and add another post from the transfer portal? Next year should be good, but the 2023 class better be a great one.

I do think we go for a big if we can. Striplin showed some of what she’s capable of today which was awesome. Still think she’ll have matchup problems though.

If Hollingshed from UGA were to opt to transfer I would die to have her. We were one of her final choices and I thought she was the best looking freshman this season. Tons of potential.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Key love her but she has to get tougher lousiville basically rough her up take her out the game..besides Engstler there werent much inside play from them either so their game plan was rough key up neutralize that and our guards are better than yours

She has degressed this Season. Not as Focused as she has been in the past. I am not sure if it is a physical or Mental issue.... by mental I mean focus nothing else.
You can tell there is an energy difference between her and Striplin.
I know she is eligible to come back next year but I am not sure she does....I think she is burnt out.

 

[spoton]

Key love her but she has to get tougher lousiville basically said rough her up take her out the game..besides Engstler there werent much inside play from them either so their game plan was rough key up neutralize that and our guards are better than yours

And they succeeded! Put TK on the bench! She can’t move, score, or even hold on to the ball.

 

[Rons1989]

Is Ayoka Lee in the portal yet lol

 

[AllVolinGA]

Wish the Lady Vols had won, but didn't happen. With that said, here are some of my thoughts. I loved CKH as a player and I am proud she is our coach. Is she perfect? No, but then there isn't one that is. Could this team do some things better? Yes. Too many turnovers and at times poor shot selection. Do I care about hair or nail length? No, but I can see that TK did not have a good game today and it has nothing to do with those things. I think she is slow and physically soft. She blocks shot because of her height and arm length. She can get better. The team can get better and I hope that they do. Of course losing starters to injury is not good. So there it is. Just my thoughts. As ever, Go Vols and Lady Vols.

 

[VolBall09]

She has degressed this Season. Not as Focused as she has been in the past. I am not sure if it is a physical or Mental issue.... by mental I mean focus nothing else.
You can tell there is an energy difference between her and Striplin.
I know she is eligible to come back next year but I am not sure she does....I think she is burnt out.

No way. She was way better this season. Without TK we don’t have a defense. It’s more than just scoring the ball she changes everything when she’s on the floor.

Routinely draws double and triple teams which helps our spacing.

 

[lvocd]

Turbovol, I agree with quite a few of your points, but I have to disagree that having Horston wouldn't have made much difference. If you go back and watch her last 10 games she had made tremendous strides in every area of play, and was finally looking like the player we all knew she could be. She had definitely become a true leader on the court and off. And then she was gone. Dagger!

I'm not going to negatively criticize anyone else's play today or for the season, but suffice to say I do agree there are plenty of areas that need improvement. Fortunately, we have some mighty fine players coming in, and I am confident some of our returning players will come back even stronger next season.

But Jordy not making a difference today if she were playing today like she was playing before the injury? Nope! That ain't right. She definitely would have helped today.

 

[Gilmore]

Proud of this team. Disappointed that we cut it to two and couldn‘t do more. Hopeful with some big game experience behind us and great talent coming in, we can become more aggressive yet play with better poise next year.

 

[djtee]

I do think we go for a big if we can. Striplin showed some of what she’s capable of today which was awesome. Still think she’ll have matchup problems though.

If Hollingshed from UGA were to opt to transfer I would die to have her. We were one of her final choices and I thought she was the best looking freshman this season. Tons of potential.

Hollingshed do have tons of potential but her knee has been a problem since HS. She miss games this year due to that knee.

 

[Deebowbear]

Why not u go and coach. If u can't give a team that lost 3 key players credit something is wrong with u

I would love to coach, nobody would want to play for me would be to tough on them. I could tell you lots of things that went wrong in the game. Yes I give credit to them, and we was not the better today

 

[Lucy]

Haha I know more than you think! Played and have watched mens and women. It’s sad some can’t stand to hear the truth. Did you watch the game

Then why the default complaint? Not for a second did Louis ville want this more than us and if the shots don’t fall, they don’t fall. And Haha sixth grade gym class does not count as basketball.

 

[Ladyvol777]

Sad, Sad, Sad. They give there all. I’m so happy to be a Lady Vol’s fan. As always go Lady Vol’s.

 

[ttharp]

The Lady Vols exhibited great effort and fight, which they showed all season. Ended the season with a competitive S16 run.

I do think this was a very winnable game though. With Jordan and Keyen, the outcome would probably be different, but I'm more focused how THIS team could've (and maybe should've) won that game. Missed FTs/bunnies, poor perimeter shooting, turnovers in crucial moments, lack of timeouts to regain (or stop the opponents momentum), really hurt. IMO, those issues were present even when Keyen and Jordan were suited up.

I hope Kellie focuses way more on offense this off-season, which has been the hope for a very long time. Kind of feels like a pipedream at this point. To me, having excessive turnovers on a consistent basis, reveals there's something about the offensive system that needs to be changed.
Having a pure PG, shooter, and all-everything player coming in will be huge. Even so, still think Kellie needs to make major adjustments on offense in order for next years squad to compete for a championship.

 

[Deebowbear]

Then why the default complaint? Not for a second did Louis ville want this more than us and if the shots don’t fall, they don’t fall. And Haha sixth grade gym class does not count as basketball.

Whatever you think I not here to argue with you. Just like everyone I have my opinion. Just like a$$holes everybody has got one