Tennessee Lady Vol News

[Volfan2012]

 

[VOLINVONORE]

We need, and I think we have, a lot of players who have her attitude.

 

[ttharp]

I smiled through the entire clip. WELCOME, Ruby! Love how much she talked about the legacy. And that she wants to play with a lot of dawgs! CKC is recruiting dawgs which, I have to assume, is a reflection of who she is as a coach. How refreshing.

And how about Sara Puckett?! To me she seems to have a more confident vibe about her.

 

[VolBall09]

I smiled through the entire clip. WELCOME, Ruby! Love how much she talked about the legacy. And that she wants to play with a lot of dawgs! CKC is recruiting dawgs which, I have to assume, is a reflection of who she is as a coach. How refreshing.

And how about Sara Puckett?! To me she seems to have a more confident vibe about her.

Yes, Puckett seems to have bought in and has lit up. Her personality is really showing and her confidence seems way up.

Toward the end of last season she did not look like she was having any fun at all. There were several tense moments in the SEC tournament and her body language and communication was not good with the coaches.

Glad to see she is in a better place!

 

[Lucy]

Yes, Puckett seems to have bought in and has lit up. Her personality is really showing and her confidence seems way up.

Toward the end of last season she did not look like she was having any fun at all. There were several tense moments in the SEC tournament and her body language and communication was not good with the coaches.

Glad to see she is in a better place!

SMH.

 

[LadyVol1908]

SMH.

I look forward to the day it ends!

 

[chuckiepoo]

SMH.

@VolBall09 can’t help but drop a harsh on Kellie.

 

[37620VOL]

SP does have a tendency to get down on herself, but even so, she's our #1 hustle player and our most versatile. One benefit of the pace that we will play at on both ends this year: no one will have time to pout or get in their own head.

 

[lvocd]

SP does have a tendency to get down on herself, but even so, she's our #1 hustle player and our most versatile. One benefit of the pace that we will play at on both ends this year: no one will have time to pout or get in their own head.

Great point!

Caldwell's planned pace means EVERYone -- players, coaches, stats keepers, everyone -- will have to be constantly hyper engaged. There will (hopefully, once they all eventually are doing it right) be no moments of standing and getting a little rest and/or taking time to decide what they'll do next. I suspect the team will be quite a few games into the season before we'll see Caldwell's plan really start to look good on the players.

When that finally clicks it's going to mean the entire LV contingent is gonna be in Go Mode, and it's gonna be fun to watch. Yeah, they won't have time to worry about a mistake. It'll be move on or move to the end of the bench.

 

[HerdLVol]

Great point!

Caldwell's planned pace means EVERYone -- players, coaches, stats keepers, everyone -- will have to be constantly hyper engaged. There will (hopefully, once they all eventually are doing it right) be no moments of standing and getting a little rest and/or taking time to decide what they'll do next. I suspect the team will be quite a few games into the season before we'll see Caldwell's plan really start to look good on the players.

When that finally clicks it's going to mean the entire LV contingent is gonna be in Go Mode, and it's gonna be fun to watch. Yeah, they won't have time to worry about a mistake. It'll be move on or move to the end of the bench.

Last year at Marshall it took 7 games before they got rolling. They lost 4 or those seven. Then never slowed down.

 

[lvocd]

Last year at Marshall it took 7 games before they got rolling. They lost 4 or those seven. Then never slowed down.

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, in my head I was thinking 8 to 10 games in and we should start seeing what Kim wants to see from her team on a consistent basis. If they were to round into anywhere near that within 6-7 games I'll be bowled over. Naturally, I'm kinda anxious to see the schedule. I'm also anxious to see how the players respond if, as most of us expect, they start the season looking less than impressive. Another big worry is that uninformed fans on social media will rip them to shreds to begin the season during their needed ramp-up time.

Could get brutal. Hopefully, though, the ugliness won't last long. They'll start rolling and then all will be forgiven. lol

 

[ttharp]

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, in my head I was thinking 8 to 10 games in and we should start seeing what Kim wants to see from her team on a consistent basis. If they were to round into anywhere near that within 6-7 games I'll be bowled over. Naturally, I'm kinda anxious to see the schedule. I'm also anxious to see how the players respond if, as most of us expect, they start the season looking less than impressive. Another big worry is that uninformed fans on social media will rip them to shreds to begin the season during their needed ramp-up time.

Could get brutal. Hopefully, though, the ugliness won't last long. They'll start rolling and then all will be forgiven. lol

I’m also looking forward to seeing the schedule. My guess is it’ll be released within the next week or two. I hope the staff created a schedule that makes sense for where the program is right now. In other words, I hope they didn’t schedule an OOC gauntlet for what will be a massive transition for everyone.

CKC has stated multiple times November isn’t her best month as a coach.

 

[LadyVol1908]

Honest question, why do some you all think it’ll take so long for the team to het used to this style of play?

Are they all not practicing together or have practice time before the season starts. I know there’s some type of limitations on team practice, but I can’t imagine it’ll take us a while to get used to a run and gun style of play. It’s basketball, it’s not really a super hard sport and not a ton of concepts when it comes to the style Kim seems to run. Maybe it’s the pace?! I’m genuinely curious.

 

[ReignSupreme]

Honest question, why do some you all think it’ll take so long for the team to het used to this style of play?

Are they all not practicing together or have practice time before the season starts. I know there’s some type of limitations on team practice, but I can’t imagine it’ll take us a while to get used to a run and gun style of play. It’s basketball, it’s not really a super hard sport and not a ton of concepts when it comes to the style Kim seems to run. Maybe it’s the pace?! I’m genuinely curious.

For some I think its a built in excuse if we start off losing to teams we shouldn't lose to, they will be able to say, it took her so many games to get rolling but once she did, her team made the NCAA tournament.

I am with you, they have been practicing long enough, so it shouldn't take long for them to be accustomed to the system, and there aren't any incoming freshman (except Boyd but she had a season to a least practice at the collegiate level) so getting used to the pace shouldn't be a problem either.

We shall see.

 

[glv98]

Honest question, why do some you all think it’ll take so long for the team to het used to this style of play?

Are they all not practicing together or have practice time before the season starts. I know there’s some type of limitations on team practice, but I can’t imagine it’ll take us a while to get used to a run and gun style of play. It’s basketball, it’s not really a super hard sport and not a ton of concepts when it comes to the style Kim seems to run. Maybe it’s the pace?! I’m genuinely curious.

It already took a long time to blend a portal heavy team as we saw with the LVs the last few seasons. But this season I expect it to be especially so with a brand new coach, new system none of them have ever played, a starting lineup almost completely made up of transfers, and in a league with new and powerful teams. It's true they will have had alot of practice time, but that's not the same as game action and you can't simulate alot of situations in practice.

IMO it's also going to be a big adjustment getting used to playing in short stretches and then being subbed for. No matter how fast the pace nor how tired they get, these players are used to having time to get in rhythm. That will take time to settle into. We as fans are used to complaining about crazy early season rotations under KJH so our learning curve won't be as steep.

I think it will be alot of up and down, depending on matchups and the ability to control tempo. There will be some teams the new LVs can overwhelm with speed and athleticism. But others will overpower the LVs with superior size, shooting, and tempo control. I'm really anxious to see the schedule too, I just hope the early season has plenty of the first type teams.

 

[knoxvol52]

It already took a long time to blend a portal heavy team as we saw with the LVs the last few seasons. But this season I expect it to be especially so with a brand new coach, new system none of them have ever played, a starting lineup almost completely made up of transfers, and in a league with new and powerful teams. It's true they will have had alot of practice time, but that's not the same as game action and you can't simulate alot of situations in practice.

IMO it's also going to be a big adjustment getting used to playing in short stretches and then being subbed for. No matter how fast the pace nor how tired they get, these players are used to having time to get in rhythm. That will take time to settle into. We as fans are used to complaining about crazy early season rotations under KJH so our learning curve won't be as steep.

I think it will be alot of up and down, depending on matchups and the ability to control tempo. There will be some teams the new LVs can overwhelm with speed and athleticism. But others will overpower the LVs with superior size, shooting, and tempo control. I'm really anxious to see the schedule too, I just hope the early season has plenty of the first type teams.

This is one year that I wouldn't mind Cupcakes mostly in the OOC part of the schedule.

Would give these young ladies ample time to gain confidence by beating teams and going into conference play.

 

[BruisedOrange]

Last year at Marshall it took 7 games before they got rolling. They lost 4 or those seven. Then never slowed down.

Honest question, why do some you all think it’ll take so long for the team to het used to this style of play?

Are they all not practicing together or have practice time before the season starts. I know there’s some type of limitations on team practice, but I can’t imagine it’ll take us a while to get used to a run and gun style of play. It’s basketball, it’s not really a super hard sport and not a ton of concepts when it comes to the style Kim seems to run. Maybe it’s the pace?! I’m genuinely curious.

Just spitballing a couple of thoughts on this...

It's not hard to play all out, pressing full court, trying to force a turnover on every possession, and whoever taking the first open shot they get. It's why 10-point leads with a minute to go so often turn into nail-biters. Defensively, you're just forcing the other team to get rattled and make mental errors.

But try that over the course of a game, and soon enough the other team gets used to the pace and stress, and starts exploiting the inevitable gaps and making you pay for your unsuccessful attempts on either end of the court.

So in CKC's system there has to be quite a bit of scheming and read-recognize-and-reposition, both on offense and defense. That means decisions are coming from the players on the court during the flow rather than from from the bench. IF SO, then the game will need to slow down (mentally) for the players, until they can assess and respond more quickly and correctly--together--each player who's on the court. I could see that taking a few games to achieve.

Trying to think of an example, take a steal at half-court coming from a full court press.

Defensively, your players are scattered all over the court (depending on the press scheme and how the offensive players are distributed). The one who stole the ball will be looking for, dribbling toward, her open shot. But if it's not available, or she can't dribble freely, LV players are going to be heading toward open shot positions to which the player can pass the ball. Still normal basketball.

But part of getting extra possessions over the course of the game will be getting those long rebounds off of 3-pointers. I'm sure there are pre-planned positions CKC wants players to find when that shot is in the air, depending on its angle. BUT... players also have to recognize and account for how many opponents are still on the other end of the court, potentially awaiting a fastbreak pass, either off of the rebound or the inbound after a made shot.

Each player will need to read the court as well as the situation, and respond as one. Another factor they will have to account for will be what kind of press they will run next if the shot is made, and where they need to position themselves for that.

So even though it's gonna look like a whirling dervish gone gangbusters, I figure there will have to be a lot of scheming, forethought, and situation recognition going on constantly. I'm thinking the players will find those first several games to be as mentally taxing as physically.

In this style of play, at this level of competition, there's only a split second's difference between playing as scrappy as you can and playing as crappy as you can.

 

[glv98]

Just spitballing a couple of thoughts on this...

It's not hard to play all out, pressing full court, trying to force a turnover on every possession, and whoever taking the first open shot they get. It's why 10-point leads with a minute to go so often turn into nail-biters. Defensively, you're just forcing the other team to get rattled and make mental errors.

But try that over the course of a game, and soon enough the other team gets used to the pace and stress, and starts exploiting the inevitable gaps and making you pay for your unsuccessful attempts on either end of the court.

So in CKC's system there has to be quite a bit of scheming and read-recognize-and-reposition, both on offense and defense. That means decisions are coming from the players on the court during the flow rather than from from the bench. IF SO, then the game will need to slow down for the players, until they can assess and respond more quickly and correctly--together--each player who's on the court. I could see that taking a few games to achieve.

Trying to think of an example, take a steal at half-court coming from a full court press.

Defensively, your players are scattered all over the court (depending on the press scheme and how the offensive players are distributed). The one who stole the ball will be looking for, dribbling toward, her open shot. But if it's not available, or she can't dribble freely, LV players are going to be heading toward open shot positions to which the player can pass the ball. Still normal basketball.

But part of getting extra possessions over the course of the game will be getting those long rebounds off of 3-pointers. I'm sure there are pre-planned positions CKC wants players to find when that shot is in the air, depending on its angle. BUT... players also have to recognize and account for how many opponents are still on the other end of the court, potentially awaiting a fastbreak pass, either off of the rebound or the inbound after a made shot.

Each player will need to read the court as well as the situation, and respond as one. Another factor they will have to account for will be what kind of press they will run next if the shot is made, and where they need to position themselves for that.

So even though it's gonna look like a whirling dervish gone gangbusters, I figure there will have to be a lot of scheming, forethought, and situation recognition going on constantly. I'm thinking the players will find those first several games to be as mentally taxing as physically.

In this style of play, at this level of competition, there's only a split second's difference between playing as scrappy as you can and playing as crappy as you can.

Good Lord, you're not making me feel any better. I'm not sure most of what you wrote argues for actually implementing this "system". Are we making the whole thing too hard? Overthinking it all and asking the players to do so as well? Every system has it's reads, adjustments, etc. but usually coaches are trying to simplify and free players to play more instictually. If it's really this much more complicated then we are going to need to be patient.

 

[knoxvol52]

Just spitballing a couple of thoughts on this...

It's not hard to play all out, pressing full court, trying to force a turnover on every possession, and whoever taking the first open shot they get. It's why 10-point leads with a minute to go so often turn into nail-biters. Defensively, you're just forcing the other team to get rattled and make mental errors.

But try that over the course of a game, and soon enough the other team gets used to the pace and stress, and starts exploiting the inevitable gaps and making you pay for your unsuccessful attempts on either end of the court.

So in CKC's system there has to be quite a bit of scheming and read-recognize-and-reposition, both on offense and defense. That means decisions are coming from the players on the court during the flow rather than from from the bench. IF SO, then the game will need to slow down for the players, until they can assess and respond more quickly and correctly--together--each player who's on the court. I could see that taking a few games to achieve.

Trying to think of an example, take a steal at half-court coming from a full court press.

Defensively, your players are scattered all over the court (depending on the press scheme and how the offensive players are distributed). The one who stole the ball will be looking for, dribbling toward, her open shot. But if it's not available, or she can't dribble freely, LV players are going to be heading toward open shot positions to which the player can pass the ball. Still normal basketball.

But part of getting extra possessions over the course of the game will be getting those long rebounds off of 3-pointers. I'm sure there are pre-planned positions CKC wants players to find when that shot is in the air, depending on its angle. BUT... players also have to recognize and account for how many opponents are still on the other end of the court, potentially awaiting a fastbreak pass, either off of the rebound or the inbound after a made shot.

Each player will need to read the court as well as the situation, and respond as one. Another factor they will have to account for will be what kind of press they will run next if the shot is made, and where they need to position themselves for that.

So even though it's gonna look like a whirling dervish gone gangbusters, I figure there will have to be a lot of scheming, forethought, and situation recognition going on constantly. I'm thinking the players will find those first several games to be as mentally taxing as physically.

In this style of play, at this level of competition, there's only a split second's difference between playing as scrappy as you can and playing as crappy as you can.

Good grief @Drewbydoo

 

[ttharp]

Just spitballing a couple of thoughts on this...

It's not hard to play all out, pressing full court, trying to force a turnover on every possession, and whoever taking the first open shot they get. It's why 10-point leads with a minute to go so often turn into nail-biters. Defensively, you're just forcing the other team to get rattled and make mental errors.

But try that over the course of a game, and soon enough the other team gets used to the pace and stress, and starts exploiting the inevitable gaps and making you pay for your unsuccessful attempts on either end of the court.

So in CKC's system there has to be quite a bit of scheming and read-recognize-and-reposition, both on offense and defense. That means decisions are coming from the players on the court during the flow rather than from from the bench. IF SO, then the game will need to slow down for the players, until they can assess and respond more quickly and correctly--together--each player who's on the court. I could see that taking a few games to achieve.

Trying to think of an example, take a steal at half-court coming from a full court press.

Defensively, your players are scattered all over the court (depending on the press scheme and how the offensive players are distributed). The one who stole the ball will be looking for, dribbling toward, her open shot. But if it's not available, or she can't dribble freely, LV players are going to be heading toward open shot positions to which the player can pass the ball. Still normal basketball.

But part of getting extra possessions over the course of the game will be getting those long rebounds off of 3-pointers. I'm sure there are pre-planned positions CKC wants players to find when that shot is in the air, depending on its angle. BUT... players also have to recognize and account for how many opponents are still on the other end of the court, potentially awaiting a fastbreak pass, either off of the rebound or the inbound after a made shot.

Each player will need to read the court as well as the situation, and respond as one. Another factor they will have to account for will be what kind of press they will run next if the shot is made, and where they need to position themselves for that.

So even though it's gonna look like a whirling dervish gone gangbusters, I figure there will have to be a lot of scheming, forethought, and situation recognition going on constantly. I'm thinking the players will find those first several games to be as mentally taxing as physically.

In this style of play, at this level of competition, there's only a split second's difference between playing as scrappy as you can and playing as crappy as you can.

Elite

I expect the play to be a bit erratic especially early on.

 

[Drewbydoo]

Good grief @Drewbydoo

Nice and thank you.
I love long posts, they convey so much.

 

[LV renaissance]

It already took a long time to blend a portal heavy team as we saw with the LVs the last few seasons. But this season I expect it to be especially so with a brand new coach, new system none of them have ever played, a starting lineup almost completely made up of transfers, and in a league with new and powerful teams. It's true they will have had alot of practice time, but that's not the same as game action and you can't simulate alot of situations in practice.

IMO it's also going to be a big adjustment getting used to playing in short stretches and then being subbed for. No matter how fast the pace nor how tired they get, these players are used to having time to get in rhythm. That will take time to settle into. We as fans are used to complaining about crazy early season rotations under KJH so our learning curve won't be as steep.

I think it will be alot of up and down, depending on matchups and the ability to control tempo. There will be some teams the new LVs can overwhelm with speed and athleticism. But others will overpower the LVs with superior size, shooting, and tempo control. I'm really anxious to see the schedule too, I just hope the early season has plenty of the first type teams.

Nice post, GLV! I agree with you. I think the new system, the almost historic mix of players who have never played a game with the LVs (half of the team) and zero players who have played for this coach will take time to jell. After all, learning is situational so practice doesn't immediately translate to stressful games.
I am no experts on the intricacies of her schemes other than some general knowledge that we have been told. I do know about the brain and how mental decisions and physical movement depends on repetition to establish new brain networks. This is especially true if the old networks have had literally millions of repetitions throughout their basketball years, which they have typically developed since they were a tot. Anyone who has broken their preferred arm or hand and has to learn a new way of doing things knows how hard it is to do this smoothly. There may not be one dramatic difference like this in basketball, but more like hundreds of smaller differences if you are playing in a fundamentally different system than you are used to. For example, if someone has always been instructed for years to wait for other players to come down the court after they steal the ball rather than take an open 3, that is what their brain and bodies will be trained to do even if they have had a few dozen practices that introduced a different approach, especially under the stress of a real Lady Vols game in front of thousands. They may still try the 3 in that situation per coach, but it will probably feel unnatural and perhaps a little delayed. Thus, they will be less likely to make it.
For all of us, high stress brings some regression to old patterns and habits. On top of that, they brains will also be unfamiliar with all the habits of their new teammates. I do think some game experience will help immensely, which is consistent with what coach is saying.
I am convinced that she is not making excuses but just being real about what to expect based on her experience and her knowledge about how long it takes to learn her system in a game situation.

 

[BruisedOrange]

Good Lord, you're not making me feel any better. I'm not sure most of what you wrote argues for actually implementing this "system". Are we making the whole thing too hard? Overthinking it all and asking the players to do so as well? Every system has it's reads, adjustments, etc. but usually coaches are trying to simplify and free players to play more instictually. If it's really this much more complicated then we are going to need to be patient.

It's not complex like learning plays. It's really just the coach codifying common sense to establish accountability, until it becomes instinctual for the players.

If I'm at halfcourt after a steal, and see there's a now-defender behind me, common sense tells me I can't crash the boards at the other end.

It becomes more complex if we have to account for 2 or 3 players still in the now-backcourt... but it remains common sense. The system is just assigning accountabilities to the instinctive read.

 

[VolBall09]

stay pppppppppressedd.

 

[ttharp]

This is one year that I wouldn't mind Cupcakes mostly in the OOC part of the schedule.

Would give these young ladies ample time to gain confidence by beating teams and going into conference play.

We already have UConn, Iowa and Florida St. I’d go with another ranked opponent + a quality opponent, and ride out the rest of the OOC with cupcakes.

SECs gonna be a gauntlet.