Shame on you Lady Vol "Fans" SHAME ON YOU

[teacherdean]

I am not a big Holly fan. At the beginning of the year I called for her head on a platter, however, my mind has changed a lot. Do I think she is one of the top five women's coaches in America, the answer is no, but she wins baby wins. It is not ours to question why, it just happens. Are the Lady Vols up to the quality of the UCONN Huskys, no, but neither is any other women's team in America. Yes point out weaknesses if you may but to hate for a coach to win is the most ignorant thing I have heard of. Can Holly improve as a coach, I would say that she has a distance to go before she is at the top of her field, but she wins. We cannot take that out of the equation. We need to learn to enjoy the ride, because what team could have taken the bullets that the Lady Vols have taken this year and survived? Three of our top players, Jones, Russell, and Harrison, are on the sidelines, one player, Tucker, has never hit the floor. If you call yourself a true Lady Vol fan, give Holly and the Lady Vols a break, either support or shut the hell up.

 

[LVJeff]

Warlick had NEVER BEEN A HEAD COACH.

So how do you get to be a head coach if you can't hire anybody but a head coach? :dunno:

 

[Amb3096]

And who recruited most of these players ? Why has Holly not developed or allowed a player like Dunbar to develop and help us through the season when it matters. Dunbar has length and range, don't you think if she would have played during the season more she could possibly help us now ?

Burdick and Graves are good rebounders, they have good size. Burdock played her ass off, Graves i believe is hot and cold. I do not have an agenda against Holly but she is the Head Coach and is responsible for them. They have a roster full of All-American recruits.

Holly recruited the true center on the bench recovering from foot surgery, the true SG on the bench recovering from knee surgery, and the combo forward on the bench out with a concussion. Pat recruited the center on the bench who was the teams leading scorer and rebounder before her season ending injury. If those four players were available, them yes, I would agree about Tennessee having great depth. But the reality is the team has played short handed all season, and did a remarkable job in spite of players playing outside their normal positions.

And no, I don't see why Holly should try to do more with Dunbar this year. She's not a good player, and she needed to invest her extra minutes on Alexa and Jaime, who were recruited as key parts of the rotation. I don't see the infatuation with her. She wasn't a highly rated HS player, and her game needs some work before she can expect to get actual playing time.

 

[jsc1973]

Holly's problem is that she replaced a legend of college basketball, which is impossible for her to overcome. She's done a great job considering that fact, I mean people are pissed and she just got the team to the Elite Eight.......get over yourselves people. Our football program was in the dumps, we have no men's coach, our AD is a douchebag, and y'all are worried about a lady that's got her team in the Elite Eight; seems logical to me.

+1

She's done a great job, in an impossible situation. Everyone should be grateful that Holly Warlick stuck around Knoxville and was waiting when Pat had to step down. Who the heck "volunteers" to be the next Gene Bartow unless they have incredible loyalty and love for the school? She could have had pretty much any coaching job she ever wanted years and years ago.

I can't help but remember that 19 years ago, the Lady Vols were in exactly the same situation in an NCAA Tournament game--down 17 late in the game, playing on the road against a lower seed, and in that case, a lower seed that they had crushed by 25 earlier in the season. (If you're a real fan, you know who the team was and where it was played.) Was Pat a terrible coach that day and her players bailed her out when UT came back and won?

The UT athletic department has a lot of problems right now. The women's basketball program isn't one of them. Leave the women's coach who is 30-5 with a decimated roster alone, and find someone competent to coach the men's team who can go five minutes without cheating.

 

[rizla]

This may get the award for the stupidest post I have ever read. Two of our best players are in foul trouble most of game, we have 3 Freshmen on the floor at one time, and come back from 17 down and it was not due to coaching? You seriously want to fire a coach who is 30-5 with three players injured (including possibly the top draft pick in WNBA) and has team in Elite 8. There is no way to type any more of my feelings with out using a whole lot of cuss words - mostly directed at your ignorant az.

Damn movin - you must be reading my mind.
This troll has many posts that would qualify, but his recent dropping really nails down the Stupid Trophy. He/She/It has become one of my faves when I want a good laugh.

 

[BigALWiLson]

So if Dunbar can't help why recruit her at all? I guess you have your point of view, I have mine. We are both entitled to an opinion. Holly isn't horrible, there are better coaches out there though. Also it has got to be tough for her to follow Pat. Difficult feat to overcome. I myself support the LV's, but I have my opinions

 

[LVJeff]

Here's the deal. Holly is not a Top Ten coach in Women's BBall. We can all see that, she is clueless on adjustments.

Holly made the adjustments to move Reynolds and Nared to the baseline and have them flash inside and get the feed from the high post. Holly made the adjustment to remove a struggling Carter. Holly made the adjustment to press hard at the end.

We need bigs, athletic bigs who can shoot and rebound.

They have/had athletic bigs, only Russell and Harrison are sitting on the bench with season-ending injuries, one of which occured 6 weeks ago.

...a true point.

A true point played the entire game and was a primary reason TN won.

...we need the ability to create our own shots...Gonzaga is a much better fundamental team then we are.

These two statements conflict. Players create their own shots by going one-on-one which is usually a result of having poor fundamentals.

What won the game for the LV's was depth and physical defense,the Zags just didn't have the legs.

The LV's played essentially 7 players. They only have 8 and Moore played only a few minutes and Carter about 20 because she was struggling. Ariel and Burdick in particular but the other players played heavy minutes. There isn't much depth right now.

 

[LVJeff]

So if Dunbar can't help why recruit her at all?

Fair question but plenty of freshman aren't ready to play. Dunbar is a shooter and may be able to help in the next three seasons. But right now - no. Maybe Holly saw future potential.

 

[LVJeff]

The UT athletic department has a lot of problems right now. The women's basketball program isn't one of them. Leave the women's coach who is 30-5 with a decimated roster alone, and find someone competent to coach the men's team who can go five minutes without cheating.

Good one! :thumbsup:

 

[Unimane]

I don't hate Warlick, but I still don't think she is a great coach and don't be fooled by the Elite Eight run, we've beaten three double digit seeds in a very top heavy sport. I'm also not rooting for her to fail, only for the Lady Vols to succeed. If Warlick does allow the Lady Vols to succeed, i.e. beat teams have equal or better talent on a semi-regular basis, then I'll be happy to be wrong.

As it stands, how I see it is that we have a coach who is in the premier traditional program of the sport, able to collect talent by the bushel and beat most teams simply by that talent. However, any time we face teams of equal quality, then she loses. In women's basketball that means she will go out at about the final 8 level.

In a sport with only a fraction of the competitiveness of the men's side, then the coach of UT needs to be someone who can get to the Final Four at least once, on average, per 4 or so years. I don't give a damn about what that coach wears, looks like, whatever, just as long as this is the accomplishment they reach. I'm of the position that Warlick is not this person.

 

[LVJeff]

When a team plays like crap for 34 minutes against an 11 seed...

No question about it - the LV's definitely struggled. Carter in particular and Graves for the first half although she came around a bit in the second half.

But this 11 seed business is curious to me. From what I saw Gonzaga has height, shooters, a reasonable amount of quickness and are well coached. They look to me more like a 5 or 6 seed. They beat Dayton who is scorching everybody now and also beat GW and OSU. This is a very good team. Did they have players injured during the season?

 

[BigALWiLson]

Holly made the adjustments to move Reynolds and Nared to the baseline and have them flash inside and get the feed from the high post. Holly made the adjustment to remove a struggling Carter. Holly made the adjustment to press hard at the end.



They have/had athletic bigs, only Russell and Harrison are sitting on the bench with season-ending injuries, one of which occured 6 weeks ago.



A true point played the entire game and was a primary reason TN won.



These two statements conflict. Players create their own shots by going one-on-one which is usually a result of having poor fundamentals.



The LV's played essentially 7 players. They only have 8 and Moore played only a few minutes and Carter about 20 because she was struggling. Ariel and Burdick in particular but the other players played heavy minutes. There isn't much depth right now.

We didn't play great yet won, I am more worried about this becoming a habit playing better teams. We won some games this year but we also lost some games this year we could have won. It is fair to critique Holly. She is still establishing her program. I for one do compare her to Pat, granted it isn't fair. It is what it is.... When you follow a legend this happens. Holly may be great in her own right one day. A fair assessment of this season is she has done a solid job. But there have been moments when you scratch your head like wtf..... The players I have no doubt give their all when motivated. What I would like to see is them playing a complete game.

 

[Franklin Pierce]

The Lady Vols, with four injured players sitting on the bench, and three of them 6-2 and taller, are playing great right now.

 

[Amb3096]

So if Dunbar can't help why recruit her at all? I guess you have your point of view, I have mine. We are both entitled to an opinion. Holly isn't horrible, there are better coaches out there though. Also it has got to be tough for her to follow Pat. Difficult feat to overcome. I myself support the LV's, but I have my opinions

Just because Dunbar is not ready to contribute today doesn't mean she won't have that opportunity over the next three years. In all likelihood, she was recruited as a project who might be able to play limited, meaningful minutes in her upperclassman years, but I doubt she was brought in to make an immediate impact her freshman year...unlike someone like Nared.

 

[roddo518]

If your not a fan because you think Holly is a horrible coach then I'm not a fan.

 

[Volstylexx]

I'm not saying criticism is not deserved but I'm still waiting on that list of great coaches we could have hired instead of Holly.

You won't get a list. All they want to do is spot off that Holly isn't a good coach but they can't tell you who they would Hire to replace her or who they would have hired to begin with. The general list you hear is:

Matthew Mitchell
Brenda Frieze
Louisville's coach
Niki Caldwell

.... and yet Holly's record is far better than any of them. With the exception of Brenda Frieze's one national championship, none of them have accomplished anything.

 

[Volbackhomefromtx]

As a student at UT and a HUGE football fan, I went to a women's basketball game at UT just to see what it was like. I went to a new high school where my senior class was only the schools second. The girls basketball team was superior to the boys team. The were good enough that there was a good natured scrimmage where the girls one. So I thought I'd check this one out.

I was aware but not fully aware of the significance of that game since it was UT's first women's game.

So obviously, I have been a lifelong Vols fan and cannot think of anyone I admire more than Pat Summitt. When Pat was in her prime, I thought about what it would be like after Pat because I watched the circus and turmoil that followed John Wooden at UCLA. I was thinking that the coach that game after Pat would have a very difficult time with fans and fan's expectations. How could someone follow Pat Summitt?

Holly Warlick. Third year head coach. Undefeated at home in the SEC and SEC Co-Champs. Elite 8 and 30 wins and coming upon win #100. I'd say that's pretty good for anybody.

 

[TNnative]

Criticizing a coach is fine. I agree it's the personal attacks that are sad.

If ANY other women's coach took their team to a 30-5 record and elite 8 appearance the same year they lost three key players.. including their leading scoring and leading rebounder in Harrison, they'd be a National Coach of the Year candidate... Holly will be evaluated with her recruits in the years to come, but now is not the time to bash her.

Mitchell's KY team got knocked out on their home floor by a 7 seed. Oregon State got knocked out on their home floor by 11 seed gonzaga and yet you don't see anyone calling for their coaches to be fired. Why do our fans?

Think about something for a brief moment. many times, coaches, administrators, and players have said, "Tennessee has one of the most passionate fan bases in the country." On the surface, that is a huge compliment.

However, I haven't heard the adjective "best" in that sentence. That is because a very vocal few prevents that from really being the truth. There is a portion of that great fan base that sometimes is a complete and total embarrassment. They cannot put their brains in gear before dropping the clutch on their mouths, or in some cases, their typing fingers or their writing hands. They think their opinion is paramount to how things happen at Tennessee, without realizing how much work they never see goes into building a program.

However, I think the root cause is current events. Firing coaches and bringing in the next one has become a habit. And the fan base has become so accustomed to coaching searches, and the knee jerk reaction is fire any coach for any reason, and bring on the next one.

When Pat handed Holly her whistle, that is enough for me. Is Holly ever going to be what Pat Summitt was? I seriously doubt it, but she has definitely earned the opportunity to carry on the legacy of the Lady Vols.

 

[Volstylexx]

For instance:

Matthew Mitchell has an overall winning percentage of 224-109 as a head coach. That's 67.3% In SEC play he's 82-43 with 65.6 % winning percentage. He has one regular season SEC championship in 8 years at KY. They've never advanced past the elite 8.

Nikki Caldwell has an overall winning percentage of 153-72 as a head coach. That's 63.6%. In SEC play she's 37 - 27 with 57.8% winning percentage. She has no sec championships while at LSU and her team has never advanced past the sweet 16.

Holly Warlick has an overall winning percentage of 80-16 as a head coach. That's 83.3%. In SEC play she's 41-6 with 87.2% winning percentage. She has 3 Sec Championships (either won or shared the regular season or won the tournament in each of her years as a head coach) and has advanced to the elite 8 in two of her three seasons.

So please tell me how these other coaches are better?

 

[LadyinOrange]

Reading the game thread, i have never been more appalled at the comments of Lady Vol "Fans." Your bashing of our players, our coach, and our team was appalling. You are NOT Tn "fans." Rooting and hoping for us to lose so you can "justify" Holly as a bad coach is the epitome of disgust.

What say you know??

TN has 30 wins and in an elite 8. The entire sports world sees how great a job holly has done. Your vitriolic hate saddens me and it's a disgrace to our program, to our school, and to Pat Summit and the legacy she built.

please, please... please GO AWAY.

Posts like this get on my last nerve. Who are you to determine who is and isn't a loyal fan? I criticized her shirt and if that appalls you, then so be it. I'm "sure" CHW went home and cried because I posted it. Getting frustrated, annoyed and even mad is a normal, human response when you are seeing your team get beat, even if you know they can come back and win. So in defense of all of us who appalled you so badly, it seems like there are more of us than there are of you, so why don't YOU go away?

 

[rizla]

Posts like this get on my last nerve. Who are you to determine who is and isn't a loyal fan? I criticized her shirt and if that appalls you, then so be it. I'm "sure" CHW went home and cried because I posted it. Getting frustrated, annoyed and even mad is a normal, human response when you are seeing your team get beat, even if you know they can come back and win. So in defense of all of us who appalled you so badly, it seems like there are more of us than there are of you, so why don't YOU go away?

You're a MOD???

 

[Volstylexx]

Posts like this get on my last nerve. Who are you to determine who is and isn't a loyal fan? I criticized her shirt and if that appalls you, then so be it. I'm "sure" CHW went home and cried because I posted it. Getting frustrated, annoyed and even mad is a normal, human response when you are seeing your team get beat, even if you know they can come back and win. So in defense of all of us who appalled you so badly, it seems like there are more of us than there are of you, so why don't YOU go away?

Judging by the one like your post received, sound logic says there actually aren't "more of us than there are of you." Get your style guide out. I hear Holly may sport some new pants tomorrow.

 

[LadyinOrange]

You're a MOD???

Nope.

 

[Darth_Vol]

I don't hate Warlick, but I still don't think she is a great coach and don't be fooled by the Elite Eight run, we've beaten three double digit seeds in a very top heavy sport. I'm also not rooting for her to fail, only for the Lady Vols to succeed. If Warlick does allow the Lady Vols to succeed, i.e. beat teams have equal or better talent on a semi-regular basis, then I'll be happy to be wrong.

As it stands, how I see it is that we have a coach who is in the premier traditional program of the sport, able to collect talent by the bushel and beat most teams simply by that talent. However, any time we face teams of equal quality, then she loses. In women's basketball that means she will go out at about the final 8 level.

In a sport with only a fraction of the competitiveness of the men's side, then the coach of UT needs to be someone who can get to the Final Four at least once, on average, per 4 or so years. I don't give a damn about what that coach wears, looks like, whatever, just as long as this is the accomplishment they reach. I'm of the position that Warlick is not this person.

By far the best post in an otherwise whiny, sanctimonious thread.... :clapping:

 

[BigALWiLson]

For instance:

Matthew Mitchell has an overall winning percentage of 224-109 as a head coach. That's 67.3% In SEC play he's 82-43 with 65.6 % winning percentage. He has one regular season SEC championship in 8 years at KY. They've never advanced past the elite 8.

Nikki Caldwell has an overall winning percentage of 153-72 as a head coach. That's 63.6%. In SEC play she's 37 - 27 with 57.8% winning percentage. She has no sec championships while at LSU and her team has never advanced past the sweet 16.

Holly Warlick has an overall winning percentage of 80-16 as a head coach. That's 83.3%. In SEC play she's 41-6 with 87.2% winning percentage. She has 3 Sec Championships (either won or shared the regular season or won the tournament in each of her years as a head coach) and has advanced to the elite 8 in two of her three seasons.

So please tell me how these other coaches are better?

Give them the talent Holly has had and maybe those stats change.

I don't think either are better but I sure do think Dawn Staley is a better coach