Postgame Notes: #4 Tennessee 81, #12 North Carolina 65

[VN News]

No. 4 Tennessee defeats No. 11 North Carolina, 81-65.

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[90VOL]

Are they back? In other words, elite?

 

[gule]

only until the next missed shot... lol

 

[VOLINVONORE]

A Carter looked as good as any freshman guard I have seen at Tennessee. She also appeared to be having more fun than any player on the court. I believe she will be a special player.

 

[Fullfillmer]

A Carter looked as good as any freshman guard I have seen at Tennessee. She also appeared to be having more fun than any player on the court. I believe she will be a special player.

Appeared quick as a cat and very fluid. Moved her feet well on defense and very relaxed and accurate shooting the ball. If she can play half that well the rest of the season your assessment will be correct. I have to see more of her but she was exceptional against North Carolina. Our guards have not been very consistent recently - I also think I heard one of the announcers raving about her.

 

[Crazy Ivan]

The LVs have the makings of a very good back court w/ good depth with Massengale, Simmons, Carter, and Reynolds. Simmons may see her playing time continually diminish especially if she continues to make poor decisions.

 

[BigBadVol]

I was a little disappointed in M. Russell. I know she is a great player but she looked a step slow to me. Hope I'm wrong about this. We need great post play to be a great team.

 

[clkou]

So we should move up to #3 in the polls next week, right? Stanford didn't look so hot and we went on the road to get a decent win.

 

[Kev415]

I was a little disappointed in M. Russell. I know she is a great player but she looked a step slow to me. Hope I'm wrong about this. We need great post play to be a great team.

I'm saying the same thing but hope I wrong as well.
But I am optimistic with the help from coaches & teammates she will improve come March.

 

[orangeluvr]

MR can only improve as she adjusts to the college game. Ari Mass nailed five three pointers and the overall three ball shooting seemed improved. :good!:

 

[Bodeydad]

MR does appesr a bit slow and needs to get stronger. She is not use to the speed and complexities. Appears nervous. She will fit in nicely with playing time and weight training.

 

[armchair]

I was a little disappointed in M. Russell. I know she is a great player but she looked a step slow to me. Hope I'm wrong about this. We need great post play to be a great team.

I mean, she's not fast--she's a big center, but I think she moves well. It was her second game, and you can tell that she's been fairly well coached. She needs to concentrate on her low post game, establishing position, using her body and getting shots she can make. She will help this team a lot in games that are not as helter-skelter as last night's contest, which was very sloppy at times.

 

[stllvf]

in football the offensive linemen are seldom as fast as defensive backs. To make a remark about a step slow, is that when she makes a move in the post, or when playing defense in the paint, or trying to defend a guard in the perimeter or trying to keep up with Simmons on a fast break. Not to be critical just to not understand.

 

[W.TN.Orange Blood]

This game could have been a big blow out in the first half if those shots were to fall. I think if they would just settle down some & not rush everything as trying to be faster than the player that's guarding they can win this year w/big numbers.

 

[Voluble2]

in football the offensive linemen are seldom as fast as defensive backs. To make a remark about a step slow, is that when she makes a move in the post, or when playing defense in the paint, or trying to defend a guard in the perimeter or trying to keep up with Simmons on a fast break. Not to be critical just to not understand.

She is just not as athletic as you would think given her ranking. Candace, Anosike etc... would lap her on the court. But she is more mobile and faster than Kelly Cain was if that gives you any perspective comparing her to other posts we have had recently. She is smooth with all of her moves, not quick or explosive and she needs to run the court harder.

She is going to have to get a lot stronger (her legs are very thin) and more assertive on the court. She is going to have to learn to use her body better. Her coach said she never even had to jump in high school because of her height and it shows. But Holly says she is a quick learner, and the training table and weight room, along with game experience, will remake her into a completely new player soon enough.

We haven't really seen what she can do yet. Holly says she is an 80% free throw shooter for instance, but she was bricking them all night. I am sure she is nervous and still settling in. I bet she is pretty good by the end of the year... just not a world beater.

Carter was really impressive though.

 

[clkou]

FWIW, if you can remember back that far, look at Griner her Freshman year versus her Senior year. If you can believe it, we BEAT Griner and company in her very first college game 74-65 but then they were able to get it together by season end and win 77-62 against us as a #4 seed when we were a #1 seed. That first game was the only time we beat Griner and she was pretty dominant her Sophomore, Junior, and Senior seasons. They only got 1 championship, but those other two were clear upsets.

Mercedes is her own unique self and she may not dominate like Griner and she may not develop as quickly either but it's just worth remembering that as impactful of a player as Griner was, it wasn't that way from day 1. Her Freshman year, her team had 10 losses - she would only lose 5 more times the rest of her college career.

 

[Orange Maniac]

FWIW, if you can remember back that far, look at Griner her Freshman year versus her Senior year. If you can believe it, we BEAT Griner and company in her very first college game 74-65 but then they were able to get it together by season end and win 77-62 against us as a #4 seed when we were a #1 seed. That first game was the only time we beat Griner and she was pretty dominant her Sophomore, Junior, and Senior seasons. They only got 1 championship, but those other two were clear upsets.

Mercedes is her own unique self and she may not dominate like Griner and she may not develop as quickly either but it's just worth remembering that as impactful of a player as Griner was, it wasn't that way from day 1. Her Freshman year, her team had 10 losses - she would only lose 5 more times the rest of her college career.

Mercedes is much further along than Griner was when you're talking about shots away from the basket. Mercedes can shoot from further out than Griner. I think Mercedes is a more complete player than Griner was coming in. She is just going to have to get used to playing inside in the college game. I see good things ahead.

 

[Convoluted]

She is just not as athletic as you would think given her ranking. Candace, Anosike etc... would lap her on the court. But she is more mobile and faster than Kelly Cain was if that gives you any perspective comparing her to other posts we have had recently. She is smooth with all of her moves, not quick or explosive and she needs to run the court harder.

She is going to have to get a lot stronger (her legs are very thin) and more assertive on the court. She is going to have to learn to use her body better. Her coach said she never even had to jump in high school because of her height and it shows. But Holly says she is a quick learner, and the training table and weight room, along with game experience, will remake her into a completely new player soon enough.

We haven't really seen what she can do yet. Holly says she is an 80% free throw shooter for instance, but she was bricking them all night. I am sure she is nervous and still settling in. I bet she is pretty good by the end of the year... just not a world beater.

Carter was really impressive though.

Nice post. I'm sympathetic with Mercedes' plight. She didn't rate herself as the #1 player, and now she has to live up to that expectation. That's a lot to deal with for a young person. She would have been better off being rated as lower to take the pressure off. Sometimes I wonder if how much influence ratings have with coaches. In this case, perhaps too much.