So, what is UConn doing to prevent turnovers which we aren't?

#101
#101
High school coaches emphasize certain things, a player is only taught what a coaches teaches them and that can vary from player to player, from coach to coach. Uconn plays basketball, they have a team of athletes who have good court awareness and average to high Basketball IQ, they understand spacing, cutting, screening, screen and roll. Our girls turn their back in pick and roll, and don't roll to the basket. Ugh, proper defensive and offensive rotation.

Geno coaches for perfection, every mistakes is corrected and explained, he don't care about if they get the play, do you understand why we are doing it. You should attend one of his practices. Sometimes they spend an hour just on help side defense, and he's breaking down as to why, cos he knows he teaching BB IQ, all the other stuff will come, cos he has smart players, they are basketball players. He breaks it down, proper footwork, proper body body position, where your arms and hands should be, what you should be looking for as counters. He teaches perfection!

We have a team of athletes and our players with good Basketball IQ are the least talented players, while the ones who are great athletes lack BB IQ, which they can improve by playing a lot and a lot of teaching fron the coaches and sometimes that's hard during the season, and the offseason. Our girls need to play more basketball together, the summer is huge for this… Once our guard play improve, you'll see our passing improve.

Coaching is a huge part of it, Holly's philosophy is defense and rebounding but our girls look like they lacked, the why, cos they don't do things with a sense of purpose/urgency, well a few players do, whereas Uconn starting five does, he plays 8, 7, 6 players those who get it. Perfection vs Oh they'll get it.

Holly is a young coach, let's watch to see if she moves for perfection, like Pat! But players have to get in the gym too. Uconn players look like they live in the gym (with each other) lol, we can't say the same for our squad, but that goes for most team
 
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#102
#102
Pat4life said:
High school coaches emphasize certain things, a player is only taught what a coaches teaches them and that can vary from player to player, from coach to coach. Uconn plays basketball, they have a team of athletes who have good court awareness and average to high Basketball IQ, they understand spacing, cutting, screening, screen and roll. Our girls turn their back in pick and roll, and don't roll to the basket. Ugh, proper defensive and offensive rotation.

Geno coaches for perfection, every mistakes is corrected and explained, he don't care about if they get the play, do you understand why we are doing it. You should attend one of his practices. Sometimes they spend an hour just on help side defense, and he's breaking down as to why, cos he knows he teaching BB IQ, all the other stuff will come, cos he has smart players. He breaks it down, proper footwork, proper body body position, where your arms and hands should be, what you should be looking for as counters. He teaches perfection!

We have a team of athletes and our players with good Basketball IQ are the least talented players, while the ones who are great athletes lack BB IQ, which they can improve by playing a lot and a lot of teaching fron the coaches and sometimes that's hard during the season, and the offseason. Our girls need to play more basketball together, the summer is huge for this… Once our guard play improve, you'll see our passing improve.

Coaching is a huge part of it, Holly's philosophy is defense and rebounding but our girls look like they lacked, the why, cos they don't do things with a sense of purpose/urgency, well a few players do, whereas Uconn starting five does, he plays 8, 7, 6 players those who get it. Perfection vs Oh they'll get it.

Holly is a young coach, let's watch to see if she moves for perfection, like Pat! But players have to get in the gym too. Uconn players look like they live in the gym (with each other) lol, we can't say the same for our squad, but that goes for most team
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Guard play was at the root of most of our offensive struggles.....Even though we scored at a high rate most games, the guard play was at best, questionable...

The last game of the season is usually the lasting impression a fan base remembers...As I recall, our guards were (being kind) less than effective on offense, and dams near invisible on defense....

This is a new season and the eternal flame of optimism burns brightly again.
 
#103
#103
GameTime said:
Guard play was at the root of most of our offensive struggles.....Even though we scored at a high rate most games, the guard play was at best, questionable...

The last game of the season is usually the lasting impression a fan base remembers...As I recall, our guards were (being kind) less than effective on offense, and dams near invisible on defense....

This is a new season and the eternal flame of optimism burns brightly again.
Click to expand...

"This is a new season and the eternal flame of optimism burns brightly ORANGE again." ;)
 
#106
#106
Im reading these posts and jmo if you keep doing what your doing your gonna keep gettin what your gettin. Tenn has the talent and Ive said it a million times before what they lack is the instruction on how to play the game. One post made it very clear. Geno works his players on positioning and that includes legs arms body and mind. He drills them til they wont get it wrong. This doesnt take a couple of weeks or a couple of months it take a months of practice and drilling over and over and over again. This is why I say talent will not get it done. You have to have player who are willing to make a total commitment and give up on what they were taught and relearn the correct way of doing things. I know I play golf and Ive worked for some pretty good pros. It takes alot of discipline to commit to be great. Tenn needs somebody who can develop their players.
 
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#108
#108
tonyc said:
Im reading these posts and jmo if you keep doing what your doing your gonna keep gettin what your gettin. Tenn has the talent and Ive said it a million times before what they lack is the instruction on how to play the game. One post made it very clear. Geno works his players on positioning and that includes legs arms body and mind. He drills them til they wont get it wrong. This doesnt take a couple of weeks or a couple of months it take a months of practice and drilling over and over and over again. This is why I say talent will not get it done. You have to have player who are willing to make a total commitment and give up on what they were taught and relearn the correct way of doing things. I know I play golf and Ive worked for some pretty good pros. It takes alot of discipline to commit to be great. Tenn needs somebody who can develop their players.
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Good post TonyC.....And yes, it does take time to drill home winning technique that has a flow to it.....

Since it is a new season approaching, I hope with the addition of our "superb gunners" now on the team, a disciplined scheme of attacking the defense will be put in place.

From this fan you won't get any argument about where the team has missed the brass ring. One of the biggest sins that damned our team this past season, was ball discipline.

I'm hoping Holly realizes this as well.
 
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#109
#109
GameTime said:
Guard play was at the root of most of our offensive struggles.....Even though we scored at a high rate most games, the guard play was at best, questionable...

The last game of the season is usually the lasting impression a fan base remembers...As I recall, our guards were (being kind) less than effective on offense, and dams near invisible on defense....

This is a new season and the eternal flame of optimism burns brightly again.
Click to expand...


True since Alexis, Shannon and Albert left our guard play has been average. And you win Championships with good guard play, you win big games with good guard play, you get to the Final 4 and compete for Championship with good guard play. For the most part guard play in the whole SEC has been down, but it should be special the next two years.

In all the big games our guard play wasn't really nowhere to be found, that's one of the reason why I was kewl with Meighan but I was not kewl with Meighan, (glad she was here, closet to thing to a Alpha guard we've had,) but to be considered one of the greats you have to win and perform well in the big games.

Reynolds looked special in the big games, especially the SEC tournament, she stood high on defense, but she was one of the first guards who looked like they were playing the player and scouting defense, trying to force the opposing guard to their weakest hand, being disruptive.

Sometimes the players have to believe in the coaching and right now, the players have been in charge, they really didn't have to listen, their at the age where they know/knew everything, but not anymore now, there is competition all around the place.

Competition can breed success. Like for instance, Meighan she can dogged it on defense,( cos when we took her off the court, we played Jasmine, or when Draya was in foul trouble a lot at the 2 coming down the stretch), this is not to say Meighan is a bad player but the fear of sitting on the bench and might not getting another chance to play, wasn't there and it hasn't been there at the guard spot, and wing spot. Our 1, 2, 3 guard spots has been our achilles heel.

No Alpha guards.

If you don't get it, you ride the pine, sometimes performance is a reflection of coaching. Sometimes what a coach doesn't pay attention is reflected in the games. I feel Holly paid some attention to turnovers this season but what were the rewards and punishment for each player and team this year for turnovers.

The standard should be perfection you have a veteran team. 12 turnovers or less, we are a tough team to beat, cos we will get equal amount of shots on the opposing team basket, and if we miss a shot we have a 50% chance of getting another shot, why I liked Mieghan cos she shot the ball (shot a lot of times with our rebounders not in position) cos most of our guards and wing players look to scared to shoot, they're supposively are pass first point guards (relics/dinosaurs) with no confidence in their shots sorry to win now, your guards have to be aggressive on both sides of the ball.

But a lot of opposing guards are aggressive can score, now you have to defend from the the three to the rim, and most guards today can shoot the three and get to the rim, if they are good. Lady Vols should pick up full court next year, at the guard spot, a lil Rutgers' 55, Jolette is on staff.

I am a firm believer you can never have too many guards, you just hope, some are Alpha Female Guards, right now we have been recruiting BETA B******.


1. Reynolds
2. Draya
3. Ariel
4. Jasmine


Alexa is feisty, kinda quiet but she gets after it, Meme Jackson is aggressive active on defense and Te' gets after it on both side of the ball, and then Diamond all appear to be alpha guards...But we'll see.

Alpha guards hmm, sometimes it can be wait and see (we have been waiting, definitely hasn't been doing no seeing lol) and sometimes you have to recruit 8 to hit the lottery and sometimes you get 2 or 3...hmm your team really becomes special.
 
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#110
#110
Pat, interesting post......

Yes Meighan was usually not on her best, in the big games, however she did finish strong against Maryland.....At timers, she was the only offense we had, and when she was off, it was a long night. And yes, she often shot without re-bounders in place...This may have been from frustration, due to our other players being "shy" with the ball in their hands. Our offense at times was get the ball to Meighan, as much as it was get the ball inside.

What does kewl mean?

Assuming Tucker is ready to go, this squad will be loaded with shooters....A luxury this team has not had in many years.

If Holly can't find offense with this group, I don't know what to tell you.
 
#111
#111
I agree, a healthy Tucker, she would have been battling for #1 guard spot fighting for a starter spot at the 2 and 3 next year but with the injury, idk.

if Holly can't find defense, are they gonna play championship level defense (can they stop an opposing team star player from getting huge numbers? can we play as a unit/team), rebound and play smart basketball.

Ha. Kewl means cool. :rock:
 
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#112
#112
Its going to be interesting cos teams are going to pack the paint next year and force our guards to beat them. Izzy should get double teamed most of year, so there gonna be a lot of opportunity, and we'll see right away which player was in the gym.
 
#114
#114
Pat4life said:
True since Alexis, Shannon and Albert left our guard play has been average. And you win Championships with good guard play, you win big games with good guard play, you get to the Final 4 and compete for Championship with good guard play. For the most part guard play in the whole SEC has been down, but it should be special the next two years.

In all the big games our guard play wasn't really nowhere to be found, that's one of the reason why I was kewl with Meighan but I was not kewl with Meighan, (glad she was here, closet to thing to a Alpha guard we've had,) but to be considered one of the greats you have to win and perform well in the big games.

Reynolds looked special in the big games, especially the SEC tournament, she stood high on defense, but she was one of the first guards who looked like they were playing the player and scouting defense, trying to force the opposing guard to their weakest hand, being disruptive.

Sometimes the players have to believe in the coaching and right now, the players have been in charge, they really didn't have to listen, their at the age where they know/knew everything, but not anymore now, there is competition all around the place.

Competition can breed success. Like for instance, Meighan she can dogged it on defense,( cos when we took her off the court, we played Jasmine, or when Draya was in foul trouble a lot at the 2 coming down the stretch), this is not to say Meighan is a bad player but the fear of sitting on the bench and might not getting another chance to play, wasn't there and it hasn't been there at the guard spot, and wing spot. Our 1, 2, 3 guard spots has been our achilles heel.

No Alpha guards.

If you don't get it, you ride the pine, sometimes performance is a reflection of coaching. Sometimes what a coach doesn't pay attention is reflected in the games. I feel Holly paid some attention to turnovers this season but what were the rewards and punishment for each player and team this year for turnovers.

The standard should be perfection you have a veteran team. 12 turnovers or less, we are a tough team to beat, cos we will get equal amount of shots on the opposing team basket, and if we miss a shot we have a 50% chance of getting another shot, why I liked Mieghan cos she shot the ball (shot a lot of times with our rebounders not in position) cos most of our guards and wing players look to scared to shoot, they're supposively are pass first point guards (relics/dinosaurs) with no confidence in their shots sorry to win now, your guards have to be aggressive on both sides of the ball.

But a lot of opposing guards are aggressive can score, now you have to defend from the the three to the rim, and most guards today can shoot the three and get to the rim, if they are good. Lady Vols should pick up full court next year, at the guard spot, a lil Rutgers' 55, Jolette is on staff.

I am a firm believer you can never have too many guards, you just hope, some are Alpha Female Guards, right now we have been recruiting BETA B******.


1. Reynolds
2. Draya
3. Ariel
4. Jasmine


Alexa is feisty, kinda quiet but she gets after it, Meme Jackson is aggressive active on defense and Te' gets after it on both side of the ball, and then Diamond all appear to be alpha guards...But we'll see.

Alpha guards hmm, sometimes it can be wait and see (we have been waiting, definitely hasn't been doing no seeing lol) and sometimes you have to recruit 8 to hit the lottery and sometimes you get 2 or 3...hmm your team really becomes special.
Click to expand...

Definitely agree with your assessment about the guards. I think Reynolds has a big upside and hope she continues to develop. She has a chance to be a very dominating point guard.
 
#115
#115
Sandvol said:
Definitely agree with your assessment about the guards. I think Reynolds has a big upside and hope she continues to develop. She has a chance to be a very dominating point guard.
Click to expand...

It's hard to say with Reynolds. The light seemed to come on for her in the SEC tournament and then went back off in the NCAA so can we say she has truly turned the corner? If you look at her stats for the year as a whole they aren't that good. So was the spurt we sawat the end of the year what we are going to get from here on out or was that just an outlier? She reminded me a bit of how Alberta came in during our last championship run and played really well to help get us over the hump. Reynolds was just a freshman so you expect inconsistent play to some extent.

Middleton seems like she has worked very hard and made the most of her skills, but she was outclassed as an athlete in the all-star game and turned the ball over time after time. It was just one game, but I saw a lot that concerned me. I suspect she will do well against the mediocre teams and struggle against the elite teams or teams with really good and athletic guards. She will play well in a team role but won't dominate.

Nared looks like she is a scorer. She is a very smooth player. I worry some about her toughness and defense though. But that is also based solely on the all-star game.

Cooper's highlights looked a lot like Durr's to me. They seem to be very similar players. And we all know Diamond can be the real deal when she puts her mind to it.

But yeah, I have said since Head and Latina Davis were here that the team with the best guards usually wins in women's basketball. That hasn't changed much except for when there is a superstar at another position to tip the balance.

All of our guards have had pretty big holes in the their games and none of them have been complete players for quite a while now. The fact is that there just aren't many of those out there so we have to do a better job of teaching our players to overcome their weaknesses.
 
#117
#117
The biggest difference is Geno has instilled a mindset with his players and coaches. They have all bought into his system. Everybody is on the same page. He runs this team like basic training in the military. Its strict discipline and he makes it fun. The rewards are the highest. Tournaments overseas, and all over the country in the very best hotels, and restaurants. Uconn reserves flights for just the team and only the team everything is first class and then some. The rewards are high and the price they pay is high to be the very best. For me I dont see anyone surpassing Geno because what he has built has taken years. It wont take other coaches who can copy his system as long but most wont. Most wont pay the price. To be successful at anything you must pay a huge price, pay it in advance and there are no guarantees.

Tenn has the players and they guards. Guards are the key. What they need now is to be taught and disciplined. Tenn cant have players making the same mistakes over and over again. The Tenn coaching needs to step up. It takes time and repetition and anything in-between can not be tolerated. Coaches need to identify the key players and work them from their footwork, to their body, hands and head. It come down to pass first not shoot first. It comes down to the team first and who to get the ball to in certain situations. Winning is a mindset unfortunately so is loosing. You need to have the right mindset.

Some of you know I have a love affair with Golf. I paid that price. However I got married and my family came first. I remember getting ready for the State Amatuer and my daughter was getting ready for bed. I was hitting balls and realized she was waiting for me to kiss her good night. I stopped what I was doing and drove home.

My priorities have been God Family Work and Play in that order. When my daughter decided to play sports I gave up golf for her and her future. Thats the way Ive lived my life. Today my 3 daughters are in their 20's and have good jobs and promotions come and I couldnt be more proud of each of them. For me I am playing more golf not at the level I once did but enjoying it and Im still competitive.
 
#118
#118
TonyC,
Thanks for the background. I like your priorities. And I agree that Geno has a system that works almost to perfection. Just no substitute for correct practice habits.

Maybe the TN staff works the players just as hard. I don't know. But watching them commit turn over after turn over makes me doubtful of the level of instruction they receive. Doesn't look like they have practiced until "they can't get it wrong."
 
#119
#119
reno tony said:
Interesting stat about UCONN: Over their last 373 games, only one time did they allow a team to shoot 50% from the floor. Can you imagine that. With all the ranked opponents they played over the last ten years and only one team during one game shot 50% from the floor. Defense is the key to consistency. Even if they have a relatively poor shooting night, if their opponents can't score, they still give themselves a chance to win. If Holly can find someone who can focus on team defense, UT stands a chance to beat anyone.
Click to expand...

Who was this 1 team? I'm just curious.
 
#122
#122
I've been a huge lady vol fan most of my life, thanks to my grandfather who got me watching them and following them as a kid. As far as what we can do to up our level of defense to how uconn plays d..well I think it starts with coaching. Uconn is blessed to have, in my opinion, the best coach in the game today, men or women. he recruits the right players for his system and he instills disipline in his players, much like coach summitt did with her teams. I thought maybe their level of defensive play would drop a bit after losing Kelly faris to graduation, but they played just as good team defense without faris as they did with faris in the lineup. If holly can find a way to better disipline this team, then that will go a log way in improving team defense and will dramatically reduce the turnovers. uconn also had one of the lowest turnover rate of any other team. Again, this is a sign of a coach who knows how to disipline his players.
 
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#123
#123
The difference is coaching, pure and simple. Geno is a very demanding coach--and his offense has always been centered on quick ball and player movement and crisp passing. That leads to open looks, which leads to a higher shooting percentage. As one person astutely notes, UT has always been too focused on a star system, getting the ball to one or two players. That is a bad philosophy that leaves others players out of the offense and leads to turnovers--because players who are open but afraid to shoot get confused, or scorers are covered and yet take bad shot because that's the focus of the UT offense. Watch when we have the ball: Typically, somebody, or more than one player, will hold the ball too long. Or somebody will dribble too much. You move and you pass--that's how you create open looks. ND and Ct. do this with talented players better than anybody--and far better than we do. That's why we are on the downside looking up.

Also, open players need to shoot the ball, starting as freshmen. If you are open, shoot. That's the only way you develop confidence: when open, you shoot. It is pointless to run a set and make good passes if someone gets an open look and then doesn't shoot. You've wasted the play. If you are playing for UT, you are good enough to make shots if you have even a modicum of confidence. Tentative offensive players often hesitate and hold the ball too long--that's how turnovers happen. This is why Graves needs to start shooting the ball when she is open.
 
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#124
#124
The different is Geno is getting the better players now. That is the different now nothing else. Pat use to get the better players and she was kicking butt, now Geno is getting the players and he is kicking butt. It has very little to do with coaching. Its Holdclaw, Catching, @ Parker for Tenn and Turasi, Moore @ Bird from UCONN. You can go back and look at last year team stats for both teams. UCONN average 11 turnover and force 16, Tenn average 16 turnover and force 15. Now look at the strength of schedule. When UCONN played teams that was quality teams (Notre Dame-Louisville) they turnsover rose to average 15 per game. When they play that powerful SMU team their turnover goes down. Its going to be like this for awhile because of that powerful conference UCONN is in. Geno plays teams he don't even practice for. So I say to you wonderful LADY VOLS fake fans Geno is not a better coach he gets more talent than anyone now. It will change just like it change for Pat. When the lady vols get back on top don't jump back on the band wagon.:pepper:
 
#125
#125
cmford said:
The different is Geno is getting the better players now. That is the different now nothing else. Pat use to get the better players and she was kicking butt, now Geno is getting the players and he is kicking butt. It has very little to do with coaching. Its Holdclaw, Catching, @ Parker for Tenn and Turasi, Moore @ Bird from UCONN. You can go back and look at last year team stats for both teams. UCONN average 11 turnover and force 16, Tenn average 16 turnover and force 15. Now look at the strength of schedule. When UCONN played teams that was quality teams (Notre Dame-Louisville) they turnsover rose to average 15 per game. When they play that powerful SMU team their turnover goes down. Its going to be like this for awhile because of that powerful conference UCONN is in. Geno plays teams he don't even practice for. So I say to you wonderful LADY VOLS fake fans Geno is not a better coach he gets more talent than anyone now. It will change just like it change for Pat. When the lady vols get back on top don't jump back on the band wagon.:pepper:
Click to expand...
then its tournament time... its just UConn and the best of the Best, whats the excuse then. Weak conference but cant duck teams during March Madness. all that SOS crap doesnt mean jack, play ball
 
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