Will the Lady Vols be Improved next Season?

#104
#104
And1 said:
Expecting a player to jump from virtually no points per game to 15 per game is a pipe dream. I could see her having a similar jump as Striplin did from freshman to soph year into the 6-8 pts / 5 reb per game range and I would call that a huge improvement.
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Justine is way more athletic and has way more potential then striplin. No knock on striplin. Striplin is not very athletic but is a pretty good fundamentally sound player. Justine was a mcdonalds all American. I fully expect her to show out next year. Not unheard of for a player to need a year to get acclimated. 6'4 athletic can play guard and has a beautiful shooting stroke. Just a matter of if not when she puts it together. I think she's definitely capable this year. Guess we will see
 
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#105
#105
Vol4lifejbone said:
Does nobody think Justine makes a a sophomore jump? I think she could be a x factor for our offense. Jump up to 15 points a game and be a game changer for us. All that was really missing for her was confidence this year it seemed to me
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Did you watch the sophomores this year?
 
#106
#106
The Lady Vols should be no worse than 2nd maybe 1st in league South Carolina should come back to the pack next year as well as LSU with all the new and unproven players and yes I know Angel Reese will be back but they are losing a lot of production.South Carolina will have a problem replacing 2 time conference player of year Boston she was heart of team
 
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#107
#107
knoxvol52 said:
The Lady Vols should be no worse than 2nd maybe 1st in league South Carolina should come back to the pack next year as well as LSU with all the new and unproven players and yes I know Angel Reese will be back but they are losing a lot of production.South Carolina will have a problem replacing 2 time conference player of year Boston she was heart of team
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Are u saying that with our current roster, or with getting some good players in the portal?
 
#108
#108
Vol4lifejbone said:
Justine is way more athletic and has way more potential then striplin. No knock on striplin. Striplin is not very athletic but is a pretty good fundamentally sound player. Justine was a mcdonalds all American. I fully expect her to show out next year. Not unheard of for a player to need a year to get acclimated. 6'4 athletic can play guard and has a beautiful shooting stroke. Just a matter of if not when she puts it together. I think she's definitely capable this year. Guess we will see
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If all this is true then one wonders why she played hardly at all this year on a team that could have used the help. I'm sure she'll make progress, but how much, given how surprisingly little she played this year, is the question.
 
#110
#110
We have no real idea how the Lady Vols will look next year until the portal process is over. There is a lot of players in the portal who could change the outlook of the team. Add to the discussion the potential improvement of players like Puckett, Pissott, Darby, Striplin, Wynn, Powell, Holinshed, etc., add Wells to the mix along with the addition of two more significant players from the portal, and this might be one heck of a team. We can only hope and dream.
 
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#111
#111
knoxvol52 said:
The Lady Vols should be no worse than 2nd maybe 1st in league South Carolina should come back to the pack next year as well as LSU with all the new and unproven players and yes I know Angel Reese will be back but they are losing a lot of production.South Carolina will have a problem replacing 2 time conference player of year Boston she was heart of team
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Not only that regarding South Cackalack, but that team and anyone who watched the tournament this year knows Coach Staley walked into that game with a far superior team than Iowa and were soundly outcoached and beaten. That's going to be hard mentally to over come for those returning. Especially if they aren't quite as good without the talented Boston as they were with her.
 
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#112
#112
Remy said:
Not only that regarding South Cackalack, but that team and anyone who watched the tournament this year knows Coach Staley walked into that game with a far superior team than Iowa and were soundly outcoached and beaten. That's going to be hard mentally to over come for those returning. Especially if they aren't quite as good without the talented Boston as they were with her.
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There is no question that SC coach lost that game.She never adjusted to the sagging defense which left anyone 15 feet + completely open .She should have instructed the guards to shoot the ball and those 6-6.6-5,6-4 ladies to go get the misses.
 
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#113
#113
I’ll take a shot at the OP question….

Basically adding Wells and losing Jordy. I suppose points wise it’s a wash. I think UT loses a bunch of versatility and size in that exchange though, I mean Jordy was athletic as they come and 6’2. So maybe we call that one a slight to mid loss overall (Rebounds, defense etc). However, Key comes back, and that must be given its proper weight, which is a big defensive boost for the post, no question. All in all, Key + Wells is likely > Jordy on her own, likely…..

Then you bring in the question of the rest of the roster…expected improvement from Sarah, Caroline and especially Jill. This tips the scales decidedly in favor of the team being better next season. I can get behind that easily. I would note however that the schedule next season is expected to be more manageable, and there is a lot to be said for that as well. I say bet the over in wins for next season.
 
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#114
#114
Rooster1 said:
I’ll take a shot at the OP question….

Basically adding Wells and losing Jordy. I suppose points wise it’s a wash. I think UT loses a bunch of versatility and size in that exchange though, I mean Jordy was athletic as they come and 6’2. So maybe we call that one a slight to mid loss overall (Rebounds, defense etc). However, Key comes back, and that must be given its proper weight, which is a big defensive boost for the post, no question. All in all, Key + Wells is likely > Jordy on her own, likely…..

Then you bring in the question of the rest of the roster…expected improvement from Sarah, Caroline and especially Jill. This tips the scales decidedly in favor of the team being better next season. I can get behind that easily. I would note however that the schedule next season is expected to be more manageable, and there is a lot to be said for that as well.
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Poignant post
 
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#115
#115
Vol4lifejbone said:
Justine is way more athletic and has way more potential then striplin.
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Could not disagree more. Did you see Justine play in person? At this point in her development, Justine is far, far less athletic than Striplin. Is light yrs behind both in physicality and in mental intensity. Justine looks exactly like a player who played in a less than demanding league in HS and is getting eyes wide open at the next level. She may have great potential but she's a long way away.
knoxvol52 said:
South Carolina will have a problem replacing 2 time conference player of year Boston she was heart of team
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Kamilla Cardoso.
 
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#116
#116
Rooster1 said:
I’ll take a shot at the OP question….

Basically adding Wells and losing Jordy. I suppose points wise it’s a wash. I think UT loses a bunch of versatility and size in that exchange though, I mean Jordy was athletic as they come and 6’2. So maybe we call that one a slight to mid loss overall (Rebounds, defense etc). However, Key comes back, and that must be given its proper weight, which is a big defensive boost for the post, no question. All in all, Key + Wells is likely > Jordy on her own, likely…..

Then you bring in the question of the rest of the roster…expected improvement from Sarah, Caroline and especially Jill. This tips the scales decidedly in favor of the team being better next season. I can get behind that easily. I would note however that the schedule next season is expected to be more manageable, and there is a lot to be said for that as well.
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So having only one go to scorer that I trusting big games in Rickea, u think we will be better? So u think with the current roster we can go to the elite 8 or final four?
 
#118
#118
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#119
#119
DarkPhoenix said:
So having only one go to scorer that I trusting big games in Rickea, u think we will be better? So u think with the current roster we can go to the elite 8 or final four?
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The depth of a tourney run always depends on many factors, mostly the teams in your bracket and how they are playing, see Indiana and Stanford this past year. But yes, the LV team seems primed with the return of Key and addition of Wells, not to mention the expected improvement from that soph class (again, esp Jill) to be improved, I expect it completely.
 
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#120
#120
Rooster1 said:
I’ll take a shot at the OP question….

Basically adding Wells and losing Jordy. I suppose points wise it’s a wash. I think UT loses a bunch of versatility and size in that exchange though, I mean Jordy was athletic as they come and 6’2. So maybe we call that one a slight to mid loss overall (Rebounds, defense etc). However, Key comes back, and that must be given its proper weight, which is a big defensive boost for the post, no question. All in all, Key + Wells is likely > Jordy on her own, likely…..

Then you bring in the question of the rest of the roster…expected improvement from Sarah, Caroline and especially Jill. This tips the scales decidedly in favor of the team being better next season. I can get behind that easily. I would note however that the schedule next season is expected to be more manageable, and there is a lot to be said for that as well.
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The key for me is that one last upgrade that you didn't mention, probably bc it hasn't happened yet lol. That is a shooting guard who can both shoot and guard on the perimeter. If we add that, plus the Wells upgrade, the Rickea awesomeness, the Key return, and the Jill, Strip, and Puckett improvement we pray for, that's a solid squad. Add Powell as co PG with experience in the system, and Wynn as defensive specialist and there's no reason we can't be competitive all the time.

I think we can guarantee the pre-season schedule will be easier, but the SEC schedule will be much harder. We'll have SC, Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama away next season.
 
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#122
#122
No pun intended, but the key to improving the defense back to the 2021-2022 level is the addition of Key back at center, where she alters and blocks shots at the highest level, not enough can be said about this ability outside of also noting that she of course must be in game shape and ready to resume where she left off after that season. There seems to be no reason to expect otherwise at this time.
 
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#123
#123
Remy said:
Not only that regarding South Cackalack, but that team and anyone who watched the tournament this year knows Coach Staley walked into that game with a far superior team than Iowa and were soundly outcoached and beaten. That's going to be hard mentally to over come for those returning. Especially if they aren't quite as good without the talented Boston as they were with her.
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Coach Staley was out-coached in that game, no question. She came in riding on the tail of a 42 game winning streak however, so she had not been out-coached many times the past few seasons. It happens. Trying to parlay that one loss into an implosion of sorts for the program may or may not have merit, but if we are just looking at the raw odds, I think not.

Don't get me wrong here, next season is a transition year for SC, so undefeated conference record and 42 game win streak is off the table, it’s a true transition year from a group of five who started for four years and went 129-9 in that time. Next year will not be close to that standard, but it will end up being a competing team on the rise by year end, the youth changeover will need time, and will take some lumps, but implosion of program is silly, they could still challenge for the SEC title, I just think it will take another year to do that again. Most likely SC loses 6-10 games next year while they develop the young team, it’s all a process, always is. Personally, I enjoy watching the developing years as much as watching the dominating years, we all enjoy watching young players grow and develop.
 
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#124
#124
Rooster1 said:
The depth of a tourney run always depends on many factors, mostly the teams in your bracket and how they are playing, see Indiana and Stanford this past year. But yes, the LV team seems primed with the return of Key and addition of Wells, not to mention the expected improvement from that soph class (again, esp Jill) to be improved, I expect it completely.
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All we can do is wait and see, still crossing my fingers for some players through this portal.
 
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