NCAAT Game Thread: Lady Vols vs Louisville

[shiverz]

She did have 22 points this game…soo

If it was not for Burrell it would have been worse. I think she played her way into a lottery pick. I question her decision making sometime but there is no denying she can score at all 3 levels and she has good size.

 

[sisaq]

For those complaining that they didn't do this or that, praise them for once. If other great coaches can praise Kellie and her staff for fighting with wat they got left after injuries but u can't because something is wrong with u.. On behalf of my family, I say Kellie & staff, players, thanks a lot for a wonderful season. Next will be a championship team that we've not seen for long..

 

[AntiochVol81]

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.

Yeah I think she needs a different offensive system more like UCONN’s System lots of movements and cuts to the basket the player with the ball always has like three passes they can make..

 

[Orange_Mamba]

As always first few things to address this post season: breaking the press, turnovers, making layups, and our stagnant offense

 

[Texas]

This game was lost because of turnovers, Louisville’s defense negated our height advantage and a lack of offense. KJH and her staff are good on teaching defense but we need shooters and to stop making unforced errors. Key is a great shot blocker but she needs strength and footwork training. She also needs to be more consistent making easy shots in the paint. I still believe that this would have been a different team if Horston, Green and Suarez were not injured. With what we have coming in, TK, Horston, Walker and Darby this will be a much better team. However, we must develop a consistent inside and outside offense. Something we have not had in a while. Just good defense will not get it done.

A height advantage is not an advantage in college ball anymore. The officiating has changed and favors speed and physicality. ENH stele was allowed to climb Snoop’s back to bat away am entry pass for a quick 2. There was a time it was a near auto foul of you don’t get around the player to the side to slap it away. All these low seeds reaching as far as they have show it. The lady Vols need to focus on recruiting Mobil, fast shooters. The clog the paint is getting very boring and frustrating. I’ve said it repeatedly, I’d have Key spend half her time at the elbow shooting and hitting cutters.

 

[stlvolsfan]

Such a winnable game although we were missing our best player! Still don’t understand some of the coaching decisions!

So winnable. That’s what hurts the most.

 

[ttharp]

Yeah I think she needs a different offensive system more like UCONN’s System lots of movements and cuts to the basket the player with the ball always has like three passes they can make..

Yep. Been saying it for over a decade. Our offense is *mostly* predicated on one-on-one play (being able to create your own shot), as well as offensive putbacks. Every now and then, you have the occasional transition 3, or a player being open by happenstance if we're in the half-court.

 

[NOTembarassedanyMO]

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.


^^^^^^This..... The stats don't care about how well a coach is liked they just show how well they have coached their team... You cannot rebound a turnover... Between the A/TO ratio and missing 8 free throws this could very well have been a win with the team they had available if they were disciplined.. Not seen that tho since Pat....

 

[Voltopia]

Yeah I think she needs a different offensive system more like UCONN’s System lots of movements and cuts to the basket the player with the ball always has like three passes they can make..

Even UConn's system looked pretty pedestrian when they didn't have all of their 5* ranked superstars in the lineup.

 

[turbovol]

Ew, I think you have memory loss. Mercedes’ Russell was one of the first of the TN biguns to lack that tenacity that Glory Johnson and Michelle Snow brought to the TN post position!

Johnson was a power forward, not a center, and while she was athletic and excellent rebounder and played hard, she didn't have much of an offensive game. Mercedes had some of the same issues as Key--big player who did not move all that well, but she moved a bit better than Key and had more of an offensive game than Key.

 

[utkCREW]

Even UConn's system looked pretty pedestrian when they didn't have all of their 5* ranked superstars in the lineup.

Imagine being UCONN working with everything on their roster and still flailing at times. At least when TN and Pat Summitt had a seriously unbalanced/unfair talent advantage for all those years of dominance… they at least dominated like they were supposed to do.

 

[sechamp2012]

Very impressed with Striplin tho shes gone be a good one very skilled

Yep, she played like a freshman most of the year but today I saw something different, it looked like she was cool, calm collective, and belonged. Think she shoots FT's well and today she was about the only one when she got the ball didn't go into panic mode. I just see her just getting better and better. She may should have played more with the way Louisville was playing full-court D and Key being under the goal did not help break the press. The few times we tried to throw a long pass to Key to break the press pass was missed, bobbled, or thrown away. At least Striplin could move and help with getting the ball up the court. UL made it helter-skelter and basically took Key out of the game and limited Snoop 9 points. (hoping for double/double from her). They were game planning on us missing open 3's which we did so they stayed with the plan. If we hit 35% from 3, it's a different game and Key & Snoop game opens up. but if and buts all day long. Great year for the Lady Vols, think Kellie & staff have done a great job managing the injuries and refocusing throughout the year. They will be pre-season Top 5 2022/23 IMO.

 

[JCP201]

Without Jordan, I really wasn't expecting us to make the sweet 16, but was hoping for elite eight. Looks like we have a good team coming back.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

This was a winnable game, even though we did not have Jordy or Green. But I want to say it was a very good season. We improved immensely over the last season, and our roster next season looks better still. Thanks to the LVs players, coaches, and staffers a lot of terrific moments this year. Looking forward to next season, I think we will be a very good team, better than this one. Onward..........and upward is the trajectory CKH has put us on.

 

[turbovol]

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.


^^^^^^This..... The stats don't care about how well a coach is liked they just show how well they have coached their team... You cannot rebound a turnover... Between the A/TO ratio and missing 8 free throws this could very well have been a win with the team they had available if they were disciplined.. Not seen that tho since Pat....

Our poor A/TO ratio goes back to the last few years of Summitt's coaching career and then all through Warlick's and now Harper's time with the Vols. It's been a problem for probably 15 years. The fans forget that more often than not, we were not good offensively under Summitt. She won a ton of games in spite of offensive performances that were poor pretty regularly--and if you want to look at the key difference between Geno and UT coaches...it's A/TO. We have had team offense (ball movement, poor passing, weak shooting) issues for a LONG time.

And this is my one question/concern about Harper: She, like Warlick, seems a player's coach---and she hasn't fixed our TO problem in 3 years.

 

[ocoandasoc]

Rae played well today. Her draft stock will be fine.

I thought Rae was the most talented player on the floor today. Not her fault that she feels like she has to be a one-man band when the offense is struggling.

I'm not sure that Louisville was the more talented team, but they were the most disciplined team.

 

[VolBall09]

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

We don’t need too many minutes.

 

[teacherdean]

A height advantage is not an advantage in college ball anymore. The officiating has changed and favors speed and physicality. ENH stele was allowed to climb Snoop’s back to bat away am entry pass for a quick 2. There was a time it was a near auto foul of you don’t get around the player to the side to slap it away. All these low seeds reaching as far as they have show it. The lady Vols need to focus on recruiting Mobil, fast shooters. The clog the paint is getting very boring and frustrating. I’ve said it repeatedly, I’d have Key spend half her time at the elbow shooting and hitting cutters.

Height alone is certainly not an advantage, however, if you add good footwork, soft hands around the basket, strength and physicality then you have a player who can dominate a game. TK is a great shot blocker but not a dominant scorer, she lacks good foot work, does not have consistent soft hands around the baskets and is not that physical. If TK was coached up to play her position by a good post coach, she would be a much better post player. Boston, with South Carolina, became a much better post player after receiving coaching from Tim Duncan.

 

[RAVOL]

For those complaining that they didn't do this or that, praise them for once. If other great coaches can praise Kellie and her staff for fighting with wat they got left after injuries but u can't because something is wrong with u.. On behalf of my family, I say Kellie & staff, players, thanks a lot for a wonderful season. Next will be a championship team that we've not seen for long..

I do believe also that this staff did a really good job not only with injuries but also we were very limited in guard play. Most of our turnovers were because not only Walker struggled with pressure but Tess is no help either against pressure. Your starting guards struggle with pressure. Even with turnovers and Key really struggling today but we had a chance because this staff has built this tough mentality into our team foundation. In CHRIST Alone

 

[creekdipper]

Why is no time outs being called to settle them down

Because "is" is singular and "time outs" is plural.

 

[Twinsbornoncampus]

Not if we don’t want her to be. Vol twitter to boycott Key’s immediate transfer?

I hope you made that statement out of frustration rather than conviction.

 

[RAVOL]

I thought Rae was the most talented player on the floor today. Not her fault that she feels like she has to be a one-man band when the offense is struggling.

I'm not sure that Louisville was the more talented team, but they were the most disciplined team.

They were better because they had 2 20 ponit players who also effected game on D. Rae was good but her guards with her really struggled. Neither handle pressure really well and that hurts your overall Offense. In CHRIST Alone

 

[Orange_Mamba]

Who works with the post players?

 

[LadyVols_WBK]

No Mercedes now is a TOTALLY different person. You gotta watch her AU highlights. She can ball.

Mercedes got away from Holly and became a better basketball player and got a raise out of Seattle with a lot of teams wanting her service in free agency

 

[glv98]

I'm so glad Rae had a good game. What an incredible roller coaster her career has been. I wish her all the best.

I'm glad Dye had this last nice little run she's been on. We definitely would have lost several more games this year without her.

I'm even more appreciative of Puckett's game winning shot against Belmont since she slumped so badly before and after it. But I still think she's going to be a jewel, a real compliment to the Jackson/Horston duo.

Everyone who has actually followed this team knows they are plagued by injury, and by inconsistency and limitations in abilities that cause our problems to repeat themselves and be really frustrating. The inability to handle the press, the struggle to score, the lack of consistent outside shooting, we know. But Harper has already successfully addressed every single one with high quality recruits Had done so before this season even ended. Got a true PG, an all star scorer, and one of the top h.s. 3 pt shooters. I'm not sure what more she could do.

I've enjoyed the journey so much this year and have felt this group gave it their all at all times. Can never understand talk of laziness, lack of hustle, etc. I saw just the opposite, which made them a very lovable team. IMO this team is the foundational team for the LVs build back to the top and that's how I'm going to remember them - a firm foundation.

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our LV lives, and it sure looks bright.