The Reasons Why We Struggle

#1
37620VOL

37620VOL

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#1
I've looked over the stats to date, and there are some fairly obvious reasons why we are struggling.

University of University of Tennessee Official Athletic Site - Women's Basketball

1. First, Diamond is not playing as poorly as many would lead us to believe. She is leading the team in scoring and steals. Third in rebounding. The turnovers are troubling, but even worse is the shocking decline in her shooting percentage from her freshman year at NC. She is .06 lower on both 2s and 3s. Her ft% actually improved, which tells me it is not her shot that is the problem is is the quality of the shot that she is getting - an offensive system problem.

2. We are shockingly poor shooting 3s. For an offense to function, you need 3 players on the floor at all times that are good shooters - able to shoot .333 from 3 or better. We only have one on the roster - Dunbar - she averages 9 minutes per game. Despite this, Dunbar should get the green light to shoot any shot she wants; Deshields, Middleton, Reynolds, Carter, Nared, and Cooper should be instructed to shoot 3s only when they have a "clean look". Dunbar should play more. She's not that much of a defensive liability.

3. Reynolds has by far the best assist to TO ratio and she should be our #1 point guard. Cooper is horrific in this area and should not be running the point until next year - not ready - let her play SG and get some experience. Everyone on the team has too many TOs - it's incomprehensible - an offensive system problem.

4. Russell plays more minutes than anyone on the team. She should play 25 minutes, not 30. I think a lot of our frustrations with her can be attributed to fatigue.

5. I'd love to see a +/- analysis from our top 25 match ups, but I don't see where this information is available. If there's going to be a Title IX lawsuit, it should be in regard to the lack of detailed stats in women's basketball. I kid.

Based on all of the above, I think we need:
  • An offense that gets us better looks.
  • An offense that opens easier passing lanes - should reduce TOs.
  • Discipline our 3 point shooters to take good shots.
  • Jordan Reynolds should be our #1 PG.
  • Get Russell some rest. Play Dunbar more.
  • We need to recruit 2 shooters and 2 posts ASAP.
 
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#2
#2
The stats tell the entire story anyone who looks will see that the owners are an average basketball team and that is exactly where we land right now.
 
#3
#3
I think the reasons they struggle because there is no defined offensive system which leads to indecisiveness and turnovers. Holly is not great at making in game adjustments and substitutions patterns are ridiculous. She still is trying to implement this old-school brand of basketball. Offense is one reason the Lady Vols struggles, but coaching is the major reason. Some fans are still on the Holly bus while other programs are passing by waving. I'm sorry, but I think we'll see this same grind it out, no offensive execution and turnover prone basketball until there is a new coach. We as fans can keep hoping and wishing things turnaround for the better, but I'm not optimistic. This is the brand of basketball we have seen the last few seasons.
 
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#4
#4
I see your point about Reynolds. I like that she doesn't turn the ball over. She should shoot more jumpers and post up smaller guards. A pg is like the quarterback. Their job is to read defenses, identify mismatches and get the ball to the right people. Reynolds needs to learn how to do that better.

I really admire Johnson at Baylor bc she is a TRUE PG. I don't think our pgs take ownership of the team. They should be literal floor generals and I don't see that mindset; which is troubling bc Law and Warlick both played pg. It should be instilled in our players.
 
#5
#5
NoBackBoard said:
I see your point about Reynolds. I like that she doesn't turn the ball over. She should shoot more jumpers and post up smaller guards. A pg is like the quarterback. Their job is to read defenses, identify mismatches and get the ball to the right people. Reynolds needs to learn how to do that better.
Click to expand...

Can she improve, yes. But my point is that she already does what your saying better than anyone else on the team - by a wide margin. She lead in assists and she leads in assist to TO, while it seems that she plays more SG than PG. I want the ball in her hands more often. Good things seem more likely to happen.
 
#8
#8
The reason why we struggle is we have a team of overrated players and a head coach that is way over her head. This program is dead until a coaching change is made.
 
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#9
#9
1985Vols said:
The reason why we struggle is we have a team of overrated players and a head coach that is way over her head. This program is dead until a coaching change is made.
Click to expand...

I don't think the players are overrated as much as I think the coaching is terrible. Players have lost their confidence. DeShields and Graves should be playing like All-Americans. There is no defined offense which leads to freelance and one on one basketball. The substitutions are ridiculous, there are no in game adjustments and the entire staff just looks lost on the side line. Loosing and this brand of basketball will be the norm until Tennessee hires a new coach. Jeff Walz may have never beaten Geno, but he'd be a major upgrade compared to Holly Warlick. Tennessee former players and alumni can not be happy with where this program is heading. All the hype this preseason and look at where this team is now is just sad. Some fans will still say Holly is the one even if the Lady Vols don't make the NCAA Tournament.
 
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#10
#10
I think you are spot on about Russell. She doesn't have the stamina to play more than 20-25 minutes a game--and she's not good enough to play more than that. She was really struggling to get back on defense tonight against SC. Not sure what her minutes were--but she looked tired at times and was ineffective against a big SC team.
 
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#11
#11
1985Vols said:
The reason why we struggle is we have a team of overrated players and a head coach that is way over her head. This program is dead until a coaching change is made.
Click to expand...

The players aren't overrated at all. We have the same girls that every top 10 ten team tried to sign. The difference is, everyone else has a coach, and assistants that develops the players. How many times did you see tonight, our team dribble and pass (sometimes) until about 5 seconds on the shot clock before a move toward the basket was made. 25 games into the season and we still can't play against a zone, well you figure it out. Instead of the road to the final four, I wish the Athletic Director would show her the road out of town. She is worse than awful, and everyone knows it, even the coaching staff, as they sit on the bench with their heads down. The worse is yet to come
 
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#13
#13
1985Vols said:
The reason why we struggle is we have a team of overrated players and a head coach that is way over her head. This program is dead until a coaching change is made.
Click to expand...

If you had traded the rosters tonight, the result would have been the same. It's all about the coaching.
 
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#15
#15
When Diamond's own dad, who was a professional league baseball player himself, comes out and says the coaching is bad, then you can start to see the writing on the wall.
 
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#21
#21
feathersax said:
So were he & daughter also unhappy at N. Carolina? Not a Holly fan, but there seems to be a pattern. :dunno:
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I think she left UNC because some players, who I think were upperclassmen was jealous of her. She is not as self-centered as some think. I also think her and Kaela Davis were planning on coming to Tennessee together until Pat Summitt stepped down. Diamond's mother was All-American at Tennessee. I also heard that Gray was a heavy Tennessee lean and everyone was shocked when they committed to UNC. Davis isn't at UT because of her mother, which I bet is loving this right now.
 
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#22
#22
feathersax said:
So were he & daughter also unhappy at N. Carolina? Not a Holly fan, but there seems to be a pattern. :dunno:
Click to expand...

Anybody who doesn't recognize that D.DeShields has an attitude issue is not paying attention. She acts EXACTLY like a lot of other kids who've been told how talented they were from an early age and play like spoiled brats. DD had bad body language from her first game of the season--immediate red flag--and has played poorly most of the year. DD is erratic in the way that Simmons was erratic--but Simmons had a great attitude and busted her tail most of the time and was never benched. I think one of the few good things Warlick has done this year is bench DD. Warlick may be the biggest problem with this team, but she's not the only problem. Last year's team played pretty well most of the time, and had a couple of good leaders in Burdick and Harrison, who played hard all the time. They left and were replaced by DD--and suddenly the team's chemistry is a disaster. Coincidence?
 
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#23
#23
37620VOL said:
I've looked over the stats to date, and there are some fairly obvious reasons why we are struggling.

University of University of Tennessee Official Athletic Site - Women's Basketball

1. First, Diamond is not playing as poorly as many would lead us to believe. She is leading the team in scoring and steals. Third in rebounding. The turnovers are troubling, but even worse is the shocking decline in her shooting percentage from her freshman year at NC. She is .06 lower on both 2s and 3s. Her ft% actually improved, which tells me it is not her shot that is the problem is is the quality of the shot that she is getting - an offensive system problem.

2. We are shockingly poor shooting 3s. For an offense to function, you need 3 players on the floor at all times that are good shooters - able to shoot .333 from 3 or better. We only have one on the roster - Dunbar - she averages 9 minutes per game. Despite this, Dunbar should get the green light to shoot any shot she wants; Deshields, Middleton, Reynolds, Carter, Nared, and Cooper should be instructed to shoot 3s only when they have a "clean look". Dunbar should play more. She's not that much of a defensive liability.

3. Reynolds has by far the best assist to TO ratio and she should be our #1 point guard. Cooper is horrific in this area and should not be running the point until next year - not ready - let her play SG and get some experience. Everyone on the team has too many TOs - it's incomprehensible - an offensive system problem.

4. Russell plays more minutes than anyone on the team. She should play 25 minutes, not 30. I think a lot of our frustrations with her can be attributed to fatigue.

5. I'd love to see a +/- analysis from our top 25 match ups, but I don't see where this information is available. If there's going to be a Title IX lawsuit, it should be in regard to the lack of detailed stats in women's basketball. I kid.

Based on all of the above, I think we need:
  • An offense that gets us better looks.
  • An offense that opens easier passing lanes - should reduce TOs.
  • Discipline our 3 point shooters to take good shots.
  • Jordan Reynolds should be our #1 PG.
  • Get Russell some rest. Play Dunbar more.
  • We need to recruit 2 shooters and 2 posts ASAP.
Click to expand...

Good analysis overall. I disagree on Russell that too much playing time is the cause of her effectiveness. She absolutely cannot hit shoots under the basket and rarely gets fouled making shoots...worse yet and the SC game is a case in point when SC players literally stole the ball from her in attempting to make a shot. She is horrible on free throws...she needs coaching and made to practice shooting at least 75 to 100 free throw shots everyday until she can get her average close to at lease 70%. DeShields has a problem in judgement that contributes to here immense number of turnovers...subtract the turnover points off her from her total points and she is not as effective as you might imagine.:pepper:
 
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#24
#24
VOL720 said:
I think she left UNC because some players, who I think were upperclassmen was jealous of her. She is not as self-centered as some think. I also think her and Kaela Davis were planning on coming to Tennessee together until Pat Summitt stepped down. Diamond's mother was All-American at Tennessee. I also heard that Gray was a heavy Tennessee lean and everyone was shocked when they committed to UNC. Davis isn't at UT because of her mother, which I bet is loving this right now.
Click to expand...

Didn't know that Diamond's mother played at UT. What was her name? Thanks for the information. :hi:
 
#25
#25
VOL720 said:
I don't think the players are overrated as much as I think the coaching is terrible. Players have lost their confidence. DeShields and Graves should be playing like All-Americans. There is no defined offense which leads to freelance and one on one basketball. The substitutions are ridiculous, there are no in game adjustments and the entire staff just looks lost on the side line. Loosing and this brand of basketball will be the norm until Tennessee hires a new coach. Jeff Walz may have never beaten Geno, but he'd be a major upgrade compared to Holly Warlick. Tennessee former players and alumni can not be happy with where this program is heading. All the hype this preseason and look at where this team is now is just sad. Some fans will still say Holly is the one even if the Lady Vols don't make the NCAA Tournament.
Click to expand...

While I agree Holly didn't just wake up one morning and forget how to coach. She may not be a very good coach, however, she did fine the previous three years with " supposedly" less talent than this team has. I think most of the players on this team were extremely overrated coming out of high school. Not one of them can hit the broad side of a barn, worst bunch of shooters I have ever seen. With that said , Holly obviously has lost control of this team. and it doesn't look like she will get it back.
 
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