Non-Lady Vol Basketball News 2024-25

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New power rankings (espn), UT in at #4. Overall, the list looks solid. UGA up to #15, I’d rank them higher.
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Player of the Week: Jenna Staiti, Georgia Lady Bulldogs
Staiti led the way in an 82-80 upset at No. 2 NC State on Thursday with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots, holding her own against Wolfpack center Elissa Cunane. Then on Sunday, the 6-foot-4 center Staiti had 16 points, making 7 of 8 shots, in an 82-45 rout of St Francis (Pa.).
For the season, Staiti is averaging 13.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. She played her freshman season at Maryland, then transferred back to her home state of Georgia. Staiti was on the SEC all-tournament team last season, and took advantage of the NCAA's blanket eligibility waiver to return for a fifth season.

Women's college basketball Power Rankings: Stanford jumps four spots ahead of Final Four rematch with South Carolina
 
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Amb3096 said:
UConn fans are funny...probably moreso some of the fans here. They are proclaiming Ducharme and Juhasz (Hungarian, not Russian) as their new go to players after all of 2 games while trashing Williams/Westbrook/ONO...whom they were praising beforehand. Talk about bipolar moods and unrealistic expectations! They should probably admit that the team has a lot of talented players, but have zero chemistry right now. I don't think Ducharme can be counted on to drop 24 pts night in, night out...although I think she will end her career as a really good player. She's smooth.

As long as Tamari doesn't get in early foul trouble, I think Tennessee will beat UConn (even with all of their injured players back, with the exception of Bueckers). Fudd appears to be easier to guard than Bueckers, and doesn't create her own shot as effortlessly. Tennessee's defense will make it hard for UConn to find easy scoring opportunities. Unless they are bombing away from deep (including Juhasz), I predict that Tennessee wins in a slugfest decided in the last 5 min.
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Tennessee wins in a slugfest if they play defense for two halves like the 2nd half (mostly) of the Stanford game. Tennessee strength is defense and rebounding. They allowed Stanford to out rebound and out defense them in the first half and in the closing minutes of the game. The Tennessee offense will always be classified as slightly above average even with the return of Burrell.
 
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Nute Gunray said:
Tennessee wins in a slugfest if they play defense for two halves like the 2nd half (mostly) of the Stanford game. Tennessee strength is defense and rebounding. They allowed Stanford to out rebound and out defense them in the first half and in the closing minutes of the game. The Tennessee offense will always be classified as slightly above average even with the return of Burrell.
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Their first half struggles with defense and rebounding was due to Tamari's foul trouble. If she can stay on the court for 30+ min, they are a totally different team.
 
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Amb3096 said:
Their first half struggles with defense and rebounding was due to Tamari's foul trouble. If she can stay on the court for 30+ min, they are a totally different team.
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Question (I don't know the answer, hence the question): In games this season where Key has faced a similarly sized and skilled center has she been able to avoid foul issues? Not sure if anyone qualifies outside of Brink, and also not sure if that was a fluke.
 
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Rooster1 said:
Question (I don't know the answer, hence the question): In games this season where Key has faced a similarly sized and skilled center has she been able to avoid foul issues? Not sure if anyone qualifies outside of Brink, and also not sure if that was a fluke.
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Against Virgina techs she held her own and i think only fouled twice (maybe 3). Techs center is very talented, key just had a great defensive game verse her.
 
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Rooster1 said:
Question (I don't know the answer, hence the question): In games this season where Key has faced a similarly sized and skilled center has she been able to avoid foul issues? Not sure if anyone qualifies outside of Brink, and also not sure if that was a fluke.
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Elizabeth Kitley/VT was the best I can think of. Key dominated that matchup, and Kitley is a pretty polished offensive player, but not a physical defensive player. She's not at the same level as an Aliyah Boston, Shakira Austin, and maybe even Jenna Staiti who Key will get to square off against in conference play.
 
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Rooster1 said:
Question (I don't know the answer, hence the question): In games this season where Key has faced a similarly sized and skilled center has she been able to avoid foul issues? Not sure if anyone qualifies outside of Brink, and also not sure if that was a fluke.
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She had no trouble keeping Kitley in check. Tamari has actually had less trouble with fouls against teams with a true center.

Texas game as well she played really well against Egbo after struggling with fouls against smaller/poorer teams. That was her triple double game.

In the Stanford game neither she nor Brink ever stood a chance. The way the game was called the big girls were at a significant disadvantage.
 
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I admit I didn’t watch much of the Louisville-Connecticut game, but every time I clicked over to it I thought Connecticut looked good. I kept thinking that they would definitely be hard for anyone to beat in the post-season once Bueckers gets back. Their depth is being shored up with every game.

I don’t know about some of y’all calling that team “bad.” o_O
 
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lvocd said:
I admit I didn’t watch much of the Louisville-Connecticut game, but every time I clicked over to it I thought Connecticut looked good. I kept thinking that they would definitely be hard for anyone to beat in the post-season once Bueckers gets back. Their depth is being shored up with every game.

I don’t know about some of y’all calling that team “bad.” o_O
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They looked good without Bueckers they are still a tough team to beat especially now with their posts clicking offensively
 
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Vols2015 said:
UCONN out of the top 10 for the first time in 16 years! Didn’t think them losing to a higher ranked team in single digits would bump them out that far.
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It was an impressive run for them, and knowing they’d still be Top 5 if their best player weren’t injured surely hurts the CT fans to their core.

I can’t say I exactly hate that last part. lol

But it does actually bring back some painful memories for me. When we lost Pat, we lost more than just the best player on the team, we lost the very heart and soul of the program, and for many like me, an absolute icon of the state.

Losing her was so profoundly devastating on so many levels, and what’s worse, the public “losing” of her played out gradually, the pain of it relentless.

So even before she was gone, she was going. And we began the gradual fall in the ranks. And then after she was gone, and after the initial “rally in Pat’s memory” period waned, the REAL effect of losing a once-in-a-lifetime icon finally took hold, and we fell HARD.

I never thought I’d feel much joy in watching basketball again, but this imperfect team has done a LOT to get my heart going for it again. I’m grateful to them for that. ❤️
 
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lvocd said:
I admit I didn’t watch much of the Louisville-Connecticut game, but every time I clicked over to it I thought Connecticut looked good. I kept thinking that they would definitely be hard for anyone to beat in the post-season once Bueckers gets back. Their depth is being shored up with every game.

I don’t know about some of y’all calling that team “bad.” o_O
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I watched the second half of yesterday's game, and I don't think UConn looked good at all. They play with a lot of indecisiveness. Their previous teams were very crisp on both ends of the floor. That hasn't been the case since Collier/KLS graduated, and that includes last season. A player like Paige can mask a lot weaknesses, but those have become obvious since she went down. Juhasz has asserted herself the last few games, and Ducharme had a hell of a game, but their offense is not flowing well at all and ball movement has not been with purpose. They aren't "bad" per se; there's still a lot of talent on the team, but they are a cut or two below a team like SC and probably not on par w NCSt, Stanford, etc.
 
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