Warlick - Pat's Good Cop to her Bad Cop

[MDVolFan14]

I was just on another board discussing this team and a poster pointed out something that may very well be a huge contributing factor as the why this team is performing so badly.

VolNation knows that PS was a no nonsense, demanding and in-your-face type of coach. Most coaching staffs that have a demanding and in-your-face male or female coach has one assistant coach that is the caretaker or Ying to that HC's Yang. That coach that goes to the players after the HC has chewed their butts from a size 3 or 4 down to a size 0 and smoothes things over and coddles the players and gives them a break.

I think HW was probably that assistant. And if she was and that's been her personality for 30 years sitting next to Pat, to be the Ying or the "Good Cop", it's hard to turn that off and become the "Bad Cop". Then add to that, her questionable ability to coach.

This team with this talent needs a "Bad Cop" HC. One that they respect. A coach that will put a foot in their behinds, demands excellence and knows how to coach the game. A coach that won't put up with whatever little petty issues they are having amongst themselves that is causing this Chemistry issue. IMO, I don't think that they respect HW enough to play better or give any better effort than what they have been giving.

And the players see the same things the fans see like when you burn two timeouts while you are up late and leave a 57% FT shooter on the floor in a must foul situation late in the game. Then in the presser toss her under the bus. The players see that and question your ability to coach.

Timeouts late in the game when you are up and rarely used. The only time you use them is if you can't inbound the ball and you've instructed your players to use it if they can't get the ball in. And with the rule changes this year, calling timeout after a score late allows you to advance the ball to half-court. Which would have helped this team with 3.4 seconds left on the clock.

The players see all of this stuff and will question what you are doing and ultimately lose respect for you.

 

[armchair]

I was just on another board discussing this team and a poster pointed out something that may very well be a huge contributing factor as the why this team is performing so badly.

VolNation knows that PS was a no nonsense, demanding and in-your-face type of coach. Most coaching staffs that have a demanding and in-your-face male or female coach has one assistant coach that is the caretaker or Ying to that HC's Yang. That coach that goes to the players after the HC has chewed their butts from a size 3 or 4 down to a size 0 and smoothes things over and coddles the players and gives them a break.

I think HW was probably that assistant. And if she was and that's been her personality for 30 years sitting next to Pat, to be the Ying or the "Good Cop", it's hard to turn that off and become the "Bad Cop". Then add to that, her questionable ability to coach.

This team with this talent needs a "Bad Cop" HC. One that they respect. A coach that will put a foot in their behinds, demands excellence and knows how to coach the game. A coach that won't put up with whatever little petty issues they are having amongst themselves that is causing this Chemistry issue. IMO, I don't think that they respect HW enough to play better or give any better effort than what they have been giving.

And the players see the same things the fans see like when you burn two timeouts while you are up late and leave a 57% FT shooter on the floor in a must foul situation late in the game. Then in the presser toss her under the bus. The players see that and question your ability to coach.

Timeouts late in the game when you are up and rarely used. The only time you use them is if you can't inbound the ball and you've instructed your players to use it if they can't get the ball in. And with the rule changes this year, calling timeout after a score late allows you to advance the ball to half-court. Which would have helped this team with 3.4 seconds left on the clock.

The players see all of this stuff and will question what you are doing and ultimately lose respect for you.

and I've made this point about HW a bunch of times. She does not have the personality/leadership style/persona that one needs to be a head coach. The best head coaches are naturally tough and demanding--extremely so, in many cases--and yet know how to relate to and motive players and team. And different players need to be handled differently. HW definitely was that players' coach for a long time--and while I think she has tried to be tough as a head, I think players inherently know when someone is tough and someone is merely trying to be tough but isn't. Good coaches know when to get in kitchens and when not--and they are teachers. I never see HW teaching the game to players during games--she just pulls players out and whistles and lot and stands with her hands on her hips. Very early in the season, second or third game, on TV, and they show HW talking to the team before the game--and she is barking at them: "Relentless! I want you to go out and be relentless!" I thought, wow: She's tone deaf: Who screams that at her players in the third game of the season? Who needs it?

While leadership style is a part of this debacle, it's not all of it. There are definitely player issues. Russell is too soft and slow and old school center; Graves can make an occasional jumper but has never REALLY expanded her game so that she can play /dynamically/ 10-15 feet from the basket as opposed to 5 feet), Carter has not really developed much, and, like all of these players, Nared has been slow to develop. She has excellent length and athleticism, seems to have a decent shot (though I wouldn't swear to it)--but what do we get out of Nared most games? Not much? Typical of this team. There is not a play of player or team development. Look at us: We're as bad now at attacking a zone as we were in game 1. And I've spoken my mind about DeShields: She has a very noticeable negative personal vibe that has nothing to do with HW or the coaching--she's had it since the first time she stepped on the court for UT, and I don't think it's her shin problem. Whatever she is someone who a coach like PS would have got in line.

But let's not pretend that PS was a genius. Pioneer? Yep. Great leader? Yep. But the offensive side of the game passed her by--and it has passed by HW and our staff as well. Holly's coaching philosophy mirror's PS's--meaning it is 30 years old. This is why, on a team that can't shoot and can't score and can't hit threes--something you MUST to in today's game--our best shooter sits on the bench for 90 percent of the game! I don't know how much Dunbar should play--but she should have been playing 10 or 15 minutes early in the season, at a minimum, instead of 0-5, to see what her potential was. We still don't know--and the season is nearly over! You can play good defense and rebound--but at the end of the day you need to score points, and an average of 55 damn sure isn't going to cut it. This is why we lose--18 points in the first half against the second worst team in the league--and yet she STILL doesn't get it.

 

[reverseosmosis]

It was more good coach bad coach I think.

 

[MDVolFan14]

and I've made this point about HW a bunch of times. She does not have the personality/leadership style/persona that one needs to be a head coach. The best head coaches are naturally tough and demanding--extremely so, in many cases--and yet know how to relate to and motive players and team. And different players need to be handled differently. HW definitely was that players' coach for a long time--and while I think she has tried to be tough as a head, I think players inherently know when someone is tough and someone is merely trying to be tough but isn't. Good coaches know when to get in kitchens and when not--and they are teachers. I never see HW teaching the game to players during games--she just pulls players out and whistles and lot and stands with her hands on her hips. Very early in the season, second or third game, on TV, and they show HW talking to the team before the game--and she is barking at them: "Relentless! I want you to go out and be relentless!" I thought, wow: She's tone deaf: Who screams that at her players in the third game of the season? Who needs it?

While leadership style is a part of this debacle, it's not all of it. There are definitely player issues. Russell is too soft and slow and old school center; Graves can make an occasional jumper but has never REALLY expanded her game so that she can play /dynamically/ 10-15 feet from the basket as opposed to 5 feet), Carter has not really developed much, and, like all of these players, Nared has been slow to develop. She has excellent length and athleticism, seems to have a decent shot (though I wouldn't swear to it)--but what do we get out of Nared most games? Not much? Typical of this team. There is not a play of player or team development. Look at us: We're as bad now at attacking a zone as we were in game 1. And I've spoken my mind about DeShields: She has a very noticeable negative personal vibe that has nothing to do with HW or the coaching--she's had it since the first time she stepped on the court for UT, and I don't think it's her shin problem. Whatever she is someone who a coach like PS would have got in line.

But let's not pretend that PS was a genius. Pioneer? Yep. Great leader? Yep. But the offensive side of the game passed her by--and it has passed by HW and our staff as well. Holly's coaching philosophy mirror's PS's--meaning it is 30 years old. This is why, on a team that can't shoot and can't score and can't hit threes--something you MUST to in today's game--our best shooter sits on the bench for 90 percent of the game! I don't know how much Dunbar should play--but she should have been playing 10 or 15 minutes early in the season, at a minimum, instead of 0-5, to see what her potential was. We still don't know--and the season is nearly over! You can play good defense and rebound--but at the end of the day you need to score points, and an average of 55 damn sure isn't going to cut it. This is why we lose--18 points in the first half against the second worst team in the league--and yet she STILL doesn't get it.

Great points.... I would add to your assessment of the players piece that coaching is a huge reason why they are playing and acting the way they are. You have to "coach" them up, hold them accountable and like you said, that's not yanking them out of games, standing with hands on hips, or yelling ".....RELENTLESS!"

I am not in Knoxville and not around these young ladies but on your point about DD from game 1. What I have learned is that there are things that happen in the locker room, practice court, dorms, on the road, etc. that have an effect on these athletes and how they view things and respond towards the things that they see and hear.

I would take a wild guess, judging by DD's demeanor and body language, especially from game 1 on, that there was something not right in Rocky Top that extends to even before the season started and maybe in the year she sat out. But of course she can't go back and transfer again because that would make her look like someone who's is nuts.

What that something is, I don't know or we may never know unless we were one of those 12-15 girls, the coaches, trainers, their parents, etc.

What looks like smoke to the outsiders looking in, is actually a four-alarm blaze on the insider or vice-versa. That best that can be hoped for now and going forward is an end to the mess of a season and a fresh start in the off-season with a new perspective and maybe a new coaching staff.

And one last thing.... If they lose to Alabama tonight.... HW and her staff might as well catch separate flights or buses back to Knoxville, go straight to their offices and clear them out......