Quit yer’ whining; Let’s break this loss down

[FrozenLVFan]

Formerly our Achilles heel was our inability to score against a zone and opponents' game plans capitalized on that. Yesterday's game exposed how weak our bench really is. I would expect other teams to try to capitalize on that issue for the rest of the season. Our players, particularly Reynolds, are going to have to play smarter and learn to stay out of foul trouble.

 

[madtownvol]

Formerly our Achilles heel was our inability to score against a zone and opponents' game plans capitalized on that. Yesterday's game exposed how weak our bench really is. I would expect other teams to try to capitalize on that issue for the rest of the season. Our players, particularly Reynolds, are going to have to play smarter and learn to stay out of foul trouble.

That is it in a nutshell. There is a substantial drop-off in quality after the starting 5. And 2 of the 5 (jackson and Jordan) are role players not game changers. So, the LVs need Russell, Nared, and Diamond on the court and playing well to be competitive. That is a solid big three but they may not have enough support.

 

[Amb3096]

Jackson for Nunn just shows how limited Holly's option really were. You could just as easily argue that Nunn would have only further crowded the paint which MSU packing. Yes, Nunn hit 4 FTs in the first half (and good on her for that) but she is not a scoring threat in the post. In contrast, the LVs needed perimeter defense and at least the threat of some outside shooting. So that would be Meme. And if Holly had made this move and the LVs lost, what are the odds you would be condemning Holly for the making a bonehead substitution.

The LVs lost so in hindsight, it is easy to place Holly in a damned if you and damned if you don't position.

In the moment of the game, I think her player decisions were solid.

MeMe may be an outside threat on paper, but she took two shots during the game and wasn't looking to score. MSU's post game was decimated by foul trouble. Why not put another big body in there to make it harder for them to grab rebounds and more difficult to defend? Diamond at SG/Jaime at W gives Tennessee the perimeter threat, and Nunn opens up more possibilities for high-low post plays and FTs as the fouls mounted up on MSU's interior players.

Having Jackson in the game wouldn't have been as much of a problem if she was looking to score. Sure, she can knock down open shots, but if she's passing up on them, then her presence on the court on offense becomes less valuable. On defense, she did a good job making Vivians uncomfortable, but as the game wore on, that role could have been just as easily played by Diamond.

Maybe Qui would have or might not have made a difference...who knows. But from what I saw, Holly made very little adjustment on either end of the floor. MS was continuing to get looks at the basket, and she didn't do much to disrupt that flow.

 

[Volfan2012]

Not once but twice did we have a chance to take the last shot of a quarter and both times we shot to early and both times they hit a three pointer so plus 6 for them thanks to bad coaching.
Add about ten to 12 terrible shots that should have never been taken and you can see that we had a lot of opportunities to win if we only used intelligence playing the game.
We also had 19 turnovers to their 7 so guess they are the better defensive team by quite a bit.
A very disappointing game where Holly got out coached severely and refused to make the right call several times or use a timeout to stop a second quarter run which in effect was a lost timeout because you have to take one in the first half or lose it. She decided losing it was the best option.

 

[sccshortstop]

Not once but twice did we have a chance to take the last shot of a quarter and both times we shot to early and both times they hit a three pointer so plus 6 for them thanks to bad coaching.
Add about ten to 12 terrible shots that should have never been taken and you can see that we had a lot of opportunities to win if we only used intelligence playing the game.
We also had 19 turnovers to their 7 so guess they are the better defensive team by quite a bit.
A very disappointing game where Holly got out coached severely and refused to make the right call several times or use a timeout to stop a second quarter run which in effect was a lost timeout because you have to take one in the first half or lose it.

I would take Shafer over any coach in the SEC including Staley. He is not the recruiter Staley is but a much better coach. HW is no where near the top and I surmise near the bottom. People all year long have said that our bench is not SHORT because most teams only play 6 or 7 player. I say BS. The short bench where 2 of the players just came off surgery and another was brought in just because last years recruiting sucked!! You can blame it on Elzy if you like but it is on HW. The buck stopped with her and she is the one who brought Elzy back home as she said!:banghead2:

 

[Coachmike17]

I never thought there would be a day for Lady Vols where we would be celebrating loss to a #4 team as 'respectable' one .. or loss to any team ..but oh well .. We are Tennessee Volunteers ..oops Tennessee Mediocres

That's player bashing! We don't bash our players. Get behind them or get out of the way.

 

[LVJeff]

I would take Shafer over any coach in the SEC including Staley. He is not the recruiter Staley is...

I wonder about that. It seems to me it would be difficult to convince recruits to come to Starkville Mississippi. I wonder how he would recruit at a more attractive school?

 

[sccshortstop]

I wonder about that. It seems to me it would be difficult to convince recruits to come to Starkville Mississippi. I wonder how he would recruit at a more attractive school?

You are right it does take a great recruiter to get 5* recruits to Starkville. I don't know that they ever have had one. That is the point, he does more with less when we cannot do more with more! Someone like him would do well in Knoxville as far as wins and loses but I am not advocating for him to be the LVs coach. Just stating my opinion. He lacks the charisma that Staley and Caldwell appears to have but he is a solid x and o guy. State will beat us by 15 or more in the next game. UT should and I think will most always be a high octane job and we eventually will get the right high octane coach I hope! I certainly do not know who that would be at this time but I do believe it will happen.