There is talent and experience, and we should do well, but there are also many questions. Among them:
1) Does Warlick know how to build and lead a championship contender? She and her staff have shown that they can recruit, but I have doubts about HW's mentality and the overall coaching.
2) Defense: UT hasn't been a good, tough man-defense team for a number of years. Slow players, soft players, indifferent defensive players. In the past UT NEVER played zone. In recent years, we've played it quite a lot because the man defense has been a problem--players getting beat regularly. We've got three or four players now who are fairly good at man defense--but it has to be better.
3) Turnovers/half-court offense: The achilles heel of UT basketball for a LONG time. I keep thinking the coaches will fix this problem--which is basically about slow ball movement and crappy passing, no sense of purpose in half-court sets--but they never do. We remain a poor passing team, which is why the assist/turnover ratio is not good, and that's a big reason why we can't beat the better teams.
4) Development of Graves, Jones and Russell: Graves and Jones simply have got to get better. Graves badly needs an offensive game in the half court, and Jones needs more basketball IQ. Harrison had no help inside--that's why we got thumped by Maryland, that and bad defense. I though Jones should have played more than Graves last year; instead she played far less. Jones turns the ball over, but she's not afraid offensively and can rebound and defend as good if not better than Graves. Jones would help the team more playing closer to the basket, IMO. Mercedes, with her body and good hands, needs to become a low post scoring threat--and there is absolutely no reason why she can't be.
4) Massengale. There have been a number of UT players over the years who so impressed me as freshman that I thought they'd be great--and then they weren't. Massengale would be close to the top of the list. She has the skills and body that outstanding point guards tend to have; she can distribute and shoot--her decision-making is fairly solid. BUT: she has never shown the toughness and leadership that you need to be a championship-level PG. And it is hard to see how that will change now that she is coming back from the head injury that kept her out far longer than expected last year; indeed, she didn't play again. I think Carter might be our best PG option, but then shooting guard becomes a question!
There are a lot of good pieces, but weaknesses too--and the mark of good coaches is that they play up individual and team strengths and play away from weaknesses, which results in the whole being greater than the sum of the pieces. I thought at times last year that the team was coming together in that way--but didn't happen. This feels like an important year.
