What happened since the 21-22 season (when the LVs were pretty good)?

[glv98]

Sometimes Wells and Powell or Spears are getting posted up by bigger guards or rebounded over but they are mostly getting beat in the open court. That is an inexplicable defensive problem.

We known that Darby and Puckett are going to struggle on that dimension but Wells, Spears, Powell, and Wynn (while many keep saying she is a lock down defender, she gets beat routinely).

IMO Wells and Spear lack quickness just like Darby and Puckett, esp on defense. JP is just short, short.

But yes, even the rangey D specialists like Wynn and Jordy still get blown by and everyone struggles getting over or under screens. That leads me to think there's a systematic problem with either design or teaching.

While we're demanding to know assistants roles, I wonder who designs defenses and teaches them. Rick Barnes always has an assistant who's whole focus is being like a defensive coordinator.

 

[Majors]

Yes, yes, yes RJ makes us better to the extent that her not playing exposes every weakness .Call her Curad, bc she's a human bandaid. It's why we rejoiced when she came back and why we are currently living in a van down by the river. Shouldn't be that way, but yes, it is. Remember how well Sara and Jewel scored when we had RJ?

She did it last year most of the time too. Sometimes Jordy stepped up but that wasn't always reliable. Remember the first of the SEC season last year? Remember the SEC tourney? She is that player.

Can she do it again when/if she comes back? It's iffy but I sure as sh*t hope so. And I won't be giving any win back bc we used a band aid.

We discussed it last week, when she comes back the game plan will be make someone else beat you. She will get points….but will she get what she needs to make up the difference in the bigger games with better talent on the other team.

 

[glv98]

The "burn her" crowd

Love that! Makes me think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail

 

[madtownvol]

Love that! Makes me think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Majors did the nose.....

 

[glv98]

We discussed it last week, when she comes back the game plan will be make someone else beat you. She will get points….but will she get what she needs to make up the difference in the bigger games with better talent on the other team.

Pretty sure that's always been the strategy against RJ. Don't think what's happened to us and what our weaknesses are without her is exactly headline news to opposing coaches.

My worries for her return are first about her continued health and second whether the team mindset is so effed up it can't recover. We'll need players like Jill, Puckett, and Spear to shake it off and step up. They were really benefitting from the make them beat you strategy before RJ went out.

 

[Vol4gzus]

Maybe you're forgetting one year ago when Kellie sat her prized portal recruit for a "coaches decision"? Showed that snowflake some really tough love by making her sit on the bench, in public, every minute of every game. Made her interact in huddles, get the camera in face from tv while they discussed her crimes, etc.

Unlike Kim's snowflake who was hidden away the whole time before once again emerging the wronged hero. But I get it, she had to make sure no more fisticuffs broke out.

Ya know maybe I am or maybe I'm not...ya know I don't quite remember..."are ya feeling lucky punk...go ahead make my day"...CE for lil humor

 

[Volfan2012]

IMO Wells and Spear lack quickness just like Darby and Puckett, esp on defense. JP is just short, short.

But yes, even the rangey D specialists like Wynn and Jordy still get blown by and everyone struggles getting over or under screens. That leads me to think there's a systematic problem with either design or teaching.

While we're demanding to know assistants roles, I wonder who designs defenses and teaches them. Rick Barnes always has an assistant who's whole focus is being like a defensive coordinator.

I agree that this team really doesn't have the personel to play man to man defense. We should play match up zone where you guard an area left right center with three players with two players left and right of the basket that defend there and the corners. It certainly is a big help against three point shooting, but less effective if teams have big post players as they can get the lob in there a lot easier. Overall I just don't want to give up any threes unless they are totally contested so I am willing to accept a few inside twos if I can prevent the three.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Ya know maybe I am or maybe I'm not...ya know I don't quite remember..."are ya feeling lucky punk...go ahead make my day"...CE for lil humor

…maybe a little “get off my lawn”, stirred in…

 

[pasadenavol]

There's enough talent on this team to be much better than 4-5 at this point in the season, even without RJ. One of the main problems is that this staff has not schemed to mask some of the obvious problems - certain players not fast enough to guard one on one, switching on screens, stagnate offense by not moving the ball, etc. There's no excuse for a player to simply camp out in the same spot on the perimeter every time your on offense. You sit their butt on the bench until they learn to move.

Good coaches understand their team's strengths and weaknesses and how to game plan for particular opponents - but especially how to make in game adjustments when their strategy isn't working. As Coach J mentioned, if you keep getting burned by a particular play over and over, you have to change your player personnel or change your strategy. Right now none of that is happening - unfortunately...

 

[pasadenavol]

I agree that this team really doesn't have the personel to play man to man defense. We should play match up zone where you guard an area left right center with three players with two players left and right of the basket that defend there and the corners. It certainly is a big help against three point shooting, but less effective if teams have big post players as they can get the lob in there a lot easier. Overall I just don't want to give up any threes unless they are totally contested so I am willing to accept a few inside twos if I can prevent the three.

Or a 2-3 zone for teams that don't shoot the three well and tend to pack the paint.

 

[Coach Jumper]

I agree that this team really doesn't have the personel to play man to man defense. We should play match up zone where you guard an area left right center with three players with two players left and right of the basket that defend there and the corners. It certainly is a big help against three point shooting, but less effective if teams have big post players as they can get the lob in there a lot easier. Overall I just don't want to give up any threes unless they are totally contested so I am willing to accept a few inside twos if I can prevent the three.

Or a 2-3 zone for teams that don't shoot the three well and tend to pack the paint.

The trouble with zone, is if the coach is a good offensive coach he/she knows where to find the creases in the zone.

If someone zones me, I tell my team to shoot a 3 and then the next play call for a shot-fake on the 3,,when the zone extends I send high-cutters to the upper third of the paint and when the low post extends to stop their midrange shots, I send backdoor and baseline cutters,,,

I teach that there are area in the zones that are confusing ...places on the floor and angles of attack that makes the zone-defenders have to decide who is going to leave their spot and if they do I exploit that opening.

I know and do this, and my forte isn't even being an offensive-minded coach...I am a skills and mechanics instructor

 

[Rixxx]

We discussed it last week, when she comes back the game plan will be make someone else beat you. She will get points….but will she get what she needs to make up the difference in the bigger games with better talent on the other team.

Good point. Even with RJ scoring 30, 4 other players have to score 10 each to make up the required point total to win games. Only great defense against good teams shrinks the need for 70 points.

 

[knoxvol52]

We discussed it last week, when she comes back the game plan will be make someone else beat you. She will get points….but will she get what she needs to make up the difference in the bigger games with better talent on the other team.

Wouldn't surprise me if other teams play a Box and 1 defense to take RJ away and make everyone else beat them...

 

[Majors]

Good point. Even with RJ scoring 30, 4 other players have to score 10 each to make up the required point total to win games. Only great defense against good teams shrinks the need for 70 points.

That would be tough for anyone who doesn’t have others who can take a game over. We will have games where it’ll click and the team will shoot for high percentage. Most nights it’ll be a struggle…don’t even want to think about if she struggles or gets in foul trouble.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I think you have the consider that the talent level dropped to much. That is the only thing I can think of as why we can't suddenly rebound and play defense. Both those teams you mentioned were very solid rebounding teams and Tamari as a healthy young center made the defense of both those two teams better.
I have always said if we could get Rickea and Tamari back healthy with Tamari playing in her old form this team could make some noise. Rebounding and defense wins games were just not doing either very well this season.

Don't spend a lot of time on this board. Is there a KNOWN participation plan for KEY? Is an unlimited return possible? How about RJ? Knowing this would help me develop some real expectations for the rest of this year. Kind of assuming the other injuries are more run of the mill types.

 

[Volfan2012]

Don't spend a lot of time on this board. Is there a KNOWN participation plan for KEY? Is an unlimited return possible? How about RJ? Knowing this would help me develop some real expectations for the rest of this year. Kind of assuming the other injuries are more run of the mill types.

Last two games she has played sixteen minutes and 13 minutes and has looked a lot better still a ways to 100 percent. I think it looks like she might be ready to make a huge contribution by the time conference play gets here still a couple weeks away. Rickea is out of her boot other than that knowledge no time line as to when she will return. I think they may be hoping for conference season for her as well. Those two at 100 percent changes everything with this team for the better.

 

[sgacock]

As an outsider playing word association:

You say “Kellies’ Vols.

I say “ Turnovers.”

 

[Dak1219]

I agree that this team really doesn't have the personel to play man to man defense. We should play match up zone where you guard an area left right center with three players with two players left and right of the basket that defend there and the corners. It certainly is a big help against three point shooting, but less effective if teams have big post players as they can get the lob in there a lot easier. Overall I just don't want to give up any threes unless they are totally contested so I am willing to accept a few inside twos if I can prevent the three.

I have been saying this for the last 3 years. A run and jump zone half-court defense would help this team so much. It has a man-to-man concept by being aggressive out of the zone, but still basically leaves everyone else in a position to help if players are rotating correctly in that zone. Kellie has said she has John Calipari's zone defense in her back pocket. I have no idea why she hasn't used it. Hell, Coach Sam played in that system and Kellie coached in it as an assistant and John was a practice player against it when they were at Auburn. You would think it would be a no-brainer when comparing the defense that we are currently putting on the floor and not adjusting until begrudgingly doing so in the 4th quarter of games after the damage has been done.