What are your expectations now?

[ivyleague]

South Carolina barely beat unranked UCLA by 3 points. Dawn Staley obviously did not have her team prepared. Perhaps South Carolina should consider other coaching options. This makes two out of four games that South Carolina has barely scraped by. The number 2 team in the nation should be s*** stomping teams into the ground.

Also, Oregon State only leads UC Riverside by 3 points a few minutes into the 3rd quarter. Rueck obviously needs to be gone and now.

I mean, poor play is ALWAYS the coach's fault. Right? Right?

 

[Ladyvolfan4ever]

South Carlina beat UCLA by 3 in final minute. UCLA unranked

 

[volnationnj]

South Carolina barely beat unranked UCLA by 3 points. Dawn Staley obviously did not have her team prepared. Perhaps South Carolina should consider other coaching options. This makes two out of four games that South Carolina has barely scraped by. The number 2 team in the nation should be s*** stomping teams into the ground.

Also, Oregon State only leads UC Riverside by 3 points a few minutes into the 3rd quarter. Rueck obviously needs to be gone and now.

I mean, poor play is ALWAYS the coach's fault. Right? Right?

You're reaching. Those are not the best examples. That was a road game for USCe against a UCLA team that will almost certainly be ranked in the top 25 this year.
Also, Dawn has already made it to the final 4 so that question doesn't follow her around. Oregon St. will win that game without a sweat.
Is poor play ALWAYS the coaches fault ? No, just most of the time. However, the coach is the one ALWAYS held accountable for the team's poor play.

 

[armchair]

And it is MY opinion that CHW IS a top coach (not THE top coach in the game, maybe not one of the top 5 coaches in the game (yet), but certainly one of the top 10) and she is the right fit for the Tennessee program.

Here's the thing, Armchair. Do I trust Pat Summitt's assessment of who should have taken over the Lady Vols program, or do I go with the assessment of some armchair, wannabe coach who is most likely making these pronouncements from his food-stained, 30-year-old La-Z-Boy in the front-room of his momma's rusted-down single-wide trailer at the head of some Hawkins County "holler"? (Right or wrong, that's my image of you, armchair.) I'm going to go with Pat Summitt.

Bottom line, I intensely dislike a fairly large percentage of Tennessee fans, at least during game-time or game discussions. I love the Lady Vols, but the fan base in general is contaminated with every bad personality trait imaginable., and they give the university and its programs a bad name. When I travel to Richmond, D.C., New York, and/or Boston (I'm in one of those four places at least once a month, sometimes more), I wouldn't be caught dead in Tennessee gear. I simply don't want people to associate me with the hot, ignorant mess that is the Tennessee fan base.

whether you wear your UT gear or not. And what does wearing your UT gear or not have to do with a Vol forum that .999999999 of the public would have no awareness of? Get real. And I'm happy to talk basketball with you or anyone else at any time. If you think Warlick is one of the top 10 coaches in the country, you clearly know nothing. First, you'd have to put all the coaches ahead of her who've played us close despite having half the talent. That would be a lot of coaches. PS wanted Warlick to have the job because Warlick is her longtime friend; it was an act of friendship and loyalty. Since Warlick had NEVER coached a team or made ANY decisions relevant to being the head coach of a major program, it couldn't have had much to do with with her basketball acumen. And here's the thing: the proof is in the playing. Do we play a lot of good basketball? No, despite having superior talent to most every team we pay, we don't. We win games, but we often do not play well in winning games--and ultimately the way you play catches up to you. Our stats prove, game in and game out, that we don't play good basketball. That is why we haven't been to the final four in a decade. Meantime, we'll all shed a tear because you don't wear your UT gear.

 

[gule]

they're saving up their beat down game for UT. usc 92 tn 56

mark it!

 

[madtownvol]

go find the thread of late November 2014 - Izzy hurt - game at Texas, LVs shoot 25% in first half and 50 second but Texas hist 60% second and wins easily.

" Burdick, and Mass can't shoot - if only we whine as a board they will do better. If you find the thread you can cut and paste the statements made by some of the regulars. and FYI Moore only played five minutes and some regular wanted to know why after her good start she was not playing more.

And several years before that the classic discussion on whether a boarder watching on television had better visibility and insight that the coaches on the floor.

Well, of course, these complaints are coming after two wins so the comparison is a little strained-- And I get it, close wins against "lesser" teams are the same as a loss except they count as wins or something like that.

We can look at other games last season-- like against KY and Texas A&M where the LVs looked like world beaters and the different was the Massengale was sinking threes and that Burdick was scoring. That has been the real history of this team, going back to CPS and the baby vol group. If they are shooting a decent % from outside, they generally look like title contenders. But on nights like the Syracuse game, they look very, very ordinary.

 

[ivyleague]

they're saving up their beat down game for UT. usc 92 tn 56

mark it!

If you believe that, then you're so full of s*** that you're swimming in it.

 

[armchair]

Who said Dawn Staley was a brilliant coach? Not me. She's never won anything. She has been recruiting very well, however, and she did beat us twice last year.

 

[gule]

did they play twice last year?

 

[Trixietrouble]

Whether or not a person is pleased or concerned at this point is completely related to their 2015-2016 goals and expectations. Based on the Lady Vols performance thus far, this is what I perceive people are feeling for the outcome of the season that would make them satisfied in March or April:

• HAPPY if the goal is teaching the girls to be high quality individuals
• HAPPY if the goal is a winning season
• HAPPY if the goal is to get into the NCAA tourney
• HAPPY if the goal is a sweet 16
• SOMEWHAT CONCERNED if the goal is to get the the final 8
• CONCERNED if the goal is to get to a final four
• WORRIED if the goal is to win a NC

I think opinions are differing because the end-of-the-year expectations are different.

 

[ivyleague]

You're reaching. Those are not the best examples. That was a road game for USCe against a UCLA team that will almost certainly be ranked in the top 25 this year.

Well, the fact is, UCLA ISN'T currently ranked. Syracuse IS currently ranked. Yet apparently the world almost ended Friday night when UT played a close game against a RANKED team; SC beats unranked UCLA by three points and, well, it's all good because, you know, UCLA might be ranked by the end of the season.

Also, Dawn has already made it to the final 4 so that question doesn't follow her around.

And Holly likely would have made it to the Final Four as well if five of her top players weren't sitting on the bench. Put Wilson, Coates, and Mitchell on the bench for USC and do you think they would have made the Final Four? Seriously?

Oregon St. will win that game without a sweat.

Well, I guess we can assume the players just started playing despite the poor coaching. Isn't that always the case when UT pulls it out? So, I figure the same can be said for Oregon State.

Is poor play ALWAYS the coaches fault ? No, just most of the time. However, the coach is the one ALWAYS held accountable for the team's poor play.

I think I see what you guys are trying to prove.

When UT loses or wins a close game, it's Holly's fault. Always. Poor coaching only affects UT because, well, Holly and her 89-20 record suck.

When another team loses or wins a close game, then other things must be considered as factors. For example, the team was playing an away game, some players were injured or sick, the opposing team had several hot shooters who just couldn't be stopped, etc.

You people are ridiculous.

 

[LVJeff]

did they play twice last year?

Yes, once in the regular season in Columbia, SC and then in the SEC tournament. Both were USC wins.

 

[volnationnj]

Well, the fact is, UCLA ISN'T currently ranked. Syracuse IS currently ranked. Yet apparently the world almost ended Friday night when UT played a close game against a RANKED team; SC beats unranked UCLA by three points and, well, it's all good because, you know, UCLA might be ranked by the end of the season.




And Holly likely would have made it to the Final Four as well if five of her top players weren't sitting on the bench. Put Wilson, Coates, and Mitchell on the bench for USC and do you think they would have made the Final Four? Seriously?



Well, I guess we can assume the players just started playing despite the poor coaching. Isn't that always the case when UT pulls it out? So, I figure the same can be said for Oregon State.



I think I see what you guys are trying to prove.

When UT loses or wins a close game, it's Holly's fault. Always. Poor coaching only affects UT because, well, Holly and her 89-20 record suck.

When another team loses or wins a close game, then other things must be considered as factors. For example, the team was playing an away game, some players were injured or sick, the opposing team had several hot shooters who just couldn't be stopped, etc.

You people are ridiculous.

You couldn't have graduated from Harvard by using the same simplistic analysis that you just displayed.
Yes, Syracuse is ranked by the AP, but NOT in the coaches poll. Polls this early in the season are a reflection of last year's results. Would you want to wager which team ends up higher ranked this year, UCLA or Syracuse ?
Holly may well have made it to the final four last year if not for the injuries. However, she didn't. And I did think that Tennessee played well in the NCAA tournament last year despite all the injuries.
Pulling the game out against a team like Penn State at home doesn't mean that you played well. Don't confuse the two. You can play well and lose and you can play poorly and still win the game. Do you think Tennessee played well the last 2 games ?
As far as the USCe game today. I sincerely doubt that Dawn is satisfied with their performance.
A while back I asked you if you were 100% sure if Holly was capable of leading Tennessee to a national championship and you replied "yes"
I think your Harvard professors would be aghast if they knew that you abandoned critical thinking in favor of blind faith.

 

[ivyleague]

You couldn't have graduated from Harvard by using the same simplistic analysis that you just displayed.
Yes, Syracuse is ranked by the AP, but NOT in the coaches poll. Polls this early in the season are a reflection of last year's results. Would you want to wager which team ends up higher ranked this year, UCLA or Syracuse ?
Holly may well have made it to the final four last year if not for the injuries. However, she didn't. And I did think that Tennessee played well in the NCAA tournament last year despite all the injuries.
Pulling the game out against a team like Penn State at home doesn't mean that you played well. Don't confuse the two. You can play well and lose and you can play poorly and still win the game. Do you think Tennessee played well the last 2 games ?
As far as the USCe game today. I sincerely doubt that Dawn is satisfied with their performance.
A while back I asked you if you were 100% sure if Holly was capable of leading Tennessee to a national championship and you replied "yes"
I think your Harvard professors would be aghast if they knew that you abandoned critical thinking in favor of blind faith.

You display zero critical thinking skills. The only thing I get from you is that everything that is wrong with the Lady Vols comes down to the fact that Holly is coach. When other teams display less than stellar performances, it is due to a wide range of factors. When UT has a less than stellar performance, it's all the fault of the coaching staff not coaching them properly. That tells me you have a one-track mind and will consider nothing beyond your own misguided views. (You also claim that the Syracuse ranking means nothing because it was based on last year's performance; Staley's trip to the Final Four last year (which she earned on a wish and a prayer against Florida State in the Elite Eight) was also based on last year's performance. If Syracuse's ranking doesn't count, neither does Staley's trip to the Final Four.)

You say that UT played well in the NCAA tournament despite the injuries, implying that you still think they should have made it to the Final Four had Holly been able to coach them up a little better. What I see is Graves, Carter, and Massengale playing injured and Russell, Jones, DeShields, Harrison, and Tucker sitting on the bench with injuries (and, in Diamond's case, serving her sit-out year). The team left on the court was worn down and mentally and physically exhausted by the time the tournament rolled around, and it showed. None of that was Holly's fault. Had Auriemma, McGraw, or Staley had multiple top players sitting on the bench with injuries and hence not made it to the Final Four, few would say anything or blame them. However, in Holly's case, injuries apparently shouldn't matter. It's Final Four OR ELSE for the Lady Vols fans (and hence why, when Holly either steps down or is run off, no coach who values his or her career will come within a one-hundred mile radius of Thompson Boling Arena . . . not unlike the hot mess involving the football and men's basketball programs over the last several years. You people can't ever seem to understand why you can't get top-notch coaches for the football or men's basketball teams . . . what you don't understand is that no top-tier coach wants near those programs; they're toxic.)

Perhaps it is you who should go back to school and learn how to think critically and independently, rather than jumping on the "Holly sucks" bandwagon.

 

[teacherdean]

Why are we discussing degrees from Harvard, Yale, or from any other school in the Ivey League? What does that have to do with basketball analysis? I respect an Ivey League degree, but it does not mean you know everything. The facts are the Lady Vols have room for improvement, but so do a lot of top ten schools. If we do not fix our offensive issues, we will not get to the final four unless it is strictly on defense. We have turnover and shooting issues. We have issues that only good coaching can fix. We have time to fix those issues. We will get some idea just where we are as a team in the next four games.

 

[ivyleague]

Why are we discussing degrees from Harvard, Yale, or from any other school in the Ivey League? What does that have to do with basketball analysis? I respect an Ivey League degree, but it does not mean you know everything. The facts are the Lady Vols have room for improvement, but so do a lot of top ten schools. If we do not fix our offensive issues, we will not get to the final four unless it is strictly on defense. We have turnover and shooting issues. We have issues that only good coaching can fix. We have time to fix those issues. We will get some idea just where we are as a team in the next four games.

1. I never claimed to know everything. I don't.
2. It's other posters who continue to bring the degree issue up, not me.
3. I know the coaching staff makes mistakes. All coaching staffs do. I'm not convinced Holly makes more mistakes, miscalculations, or misjudgments than any other coach, however. Fans are just more pissed off and unreasonable about it when it happens because she's coaching "their" team.
4. I have confidence this staff knows how to fix the problems that are within their control.
5. Some things are not within a coach's control, however. Injuries are a prime example. Right now, a lot depends on how Diamond DeShields heals from and manages the ongoing effects of her injury. Tennessee will have a much more successful season with a healthy Diamond.

 

[volnationnj]

Your only digging a deeper hole for yourself. I haven't seen such a myopic analysis in quite some time. The only way you can get your remark "implying that you still think they should have made it to the Final Four had Holly been able to coach them up a little better." from my statement " And I did think that Tennessee played well in the NCAA tournament last year despite all the injuries." is to completely disregard what I typed and replace it with your paranoid interpretation. I did think that Tennessee played well, despite all the injuries, in the NCAA tournament. As coach, Holly should be commended for that. If there is any implication at all in my statement, it would be that.
In your effort to defend Holly against all criticism, real or imaginary, you've descended from reality into the imagined.

 

[ivyleague]

Your only digging a deeper hole for yourself. I haven't seen such a myopic analysis in quite some time. The only way you can get your remark "implying that you still think they should have made it to the Final Four had Holly been able to coach them up a little better." from my statement " And I did think that Tennessee played well in the NCAA tournament last year despite all the injuries." is to completely disregard what I typed and replace it with your paranoid interpretation. I did think that Tennessee played well, despite all the injuries, in the NCAA tournament. As coach, Holly should be commended for that. If there is any implication at all in my statement, it would be that.
In your effort to defend Holly against all criticism, real or imaginary, you've descended from reality into the imagined.

Do you, like many fans, believe it was Holly's fault that the team didn't make the Final Four last year?

Would you prefer another coach for the team? If so, why?

 

[Sandvol]

I'm thinking the Ivy League grants degrees in idiocy.

 

[ivyleague]

I'm thinking

No, junior. You're not.

 

[Smallvol#1]

How can you reasonably expect any team to be full speed on opening night -- especially a relatively young team with one key player (DeShields) still suffering the effects of injury? The Italy games were a great experience, but the competition was overall very weak. To think the Lady Vols would be light years ahead of everyone else. . . no. The fact is, many of the top pre-season teams are not showcasing their best basketball right now -- Notre Dame, Ohio State, Baylor, Florida State, Louisville, and yes, Tennessee have all had less-than-outstanding early performances. South Carolina got lucky against Ohio State; had the game been played at Ohio State, I'm not entirely convinced SC would have won. Neither team looked like world beaters; far from it, in fact. I'm anxious to see how SC performs against UCLA today. I could see that game going either way. SC may blow UCLA out of the water, or they may lose. It's not out of the question, in my opinion, that SC falls today.

It's a uconn troll, ivy. Damning with faint praise, predicting uitimate perfection so failure is assured, etc. Ignore it; it thinks it's being sly when it's really just being obnoxious.

 

[volnationnj]

Do you, like many fans, believe it was Holly's fault that the team didn't make the Final Four last year?

Would you prefer another coach for the team? If so, why?

Finally, straightforward questions. Thank You. I will answer as best I can.
No, I do not believe it was Holly's fault that they didn't make the final four last year. The injuries were too much to overcome.
This one is more difficult to answer. I don't want change for change sake but I do think the coaching could use a fairly substantial upgrade. We have as many if not more AA's than any team we're scheduled to play this year. Yet our offense looks as though the 5 players on the court have never played with each other before for far too much of the game. IMO, our performance against Penn State, on our own court, should set off alarm bells. If this was the first year that the team displayed such tendencies, I could rationalize it as it's early in the season. Unfortunately, we've seen this type of play before. The main problem that I see in the possible replacement of Holly is, who do we replace her with ?
I've said this before. I still haven't seen a viable candidate for the position mentioned. There are better coaches than Holly out there, IMO. However, I don't think
any of them are available.
My turn.
Do you think the team is presently playing close to their potential ?
1) If not, are you sure that they will at some point this season ?
2) If not, who should be held accountable ?

 

[ivyleague]

Do you think the team is presently playing close to their potential ?

Not yet.

If not, are you sure that they will at some point this season?

Barring injury (or Diamond not overcoming her injury), I am quite confident that they will.

2) If not, who should be held accountable ?

All involved, including coaches AND players. Of course, deeming a season a failure or not is an individual thing. I have a feeling you will consider it an abject failure if the team doesn't at least reach the Final Four. I won't.

 

[volbabyvol]

LOL LOL as i sit back and watch Posion Ivy try to take on the whole board but he/she knows zero about the game!!!!

I'm gone let yall in on a secret he/she waits for yall to post 24/7

LOL stop I can't take no more!!

 

[ivyleague]

LOL LOL as i sit back and watch Posion Ivy try to take on the whole board but he/she knows zero about the game!!!!

Explain this comment. What makes you think I "know zero about the game"? The fact that I disagree with you?

And for what it's worth, I'm a she.

I'm gone let yall in on a secret he/she waits for yall to post 24/7

LOL stop I can't take no more!!

You're "gone" let me in on a secret? LOL

I have made fewer than 600 posts in almost two years. So of course . . . I'm on the board 24/7 waiting on people to respond. *eyeroll*