Texas @ Tennessee 11/21

This is a game where Hunter could’ve been really effective. Get the ball in the middle and make the zone collapse then kick it out to the open shooter but Texas made no adjustments with that zone whatsoever. We desperately need Moore back because she is the only aggressive one on the boards but all in all I was impressed for the most part besides that 4th quarter. Allen-Taylor really needs to get it together quickly we need her to get back to last season form. The only thing Texas needs to work on right now at practice are free throws and rebounding!

 

Okay, here's my take...beat me up if you like.

Lattimore and Gaston stunk it up. Totally different outcome if Kobe and Aaliyah were in the game, even Kendall. Gaston looked much better as a freshman, and Lattimore just needs to rip off those eyelashes and start playing tougher. Zone defense killed us again. Seems like Coach didn't have an answer for it. We definitely gave this game away in the fourth.

 

This game goes go show that even good coaches (and Vic is a damn good one) get out coached sometimes. Kellie Harper and staff deserve credit.

Going forward not a ton for me to overreact too. Having Aaliyah at the 4 would cure a lot of what ailed us down the stretch (the boards and not having a big target to hit that high post jumper)

 

Meh on the merits you’re not wrong in saying Lattimore and Gaston didn’t play well today. The eyelash comment made me cringe though

 

I’m here in Knoxville, and all I can say is sometimes, when the refs decide they don’t want you to win, there is not a whole lot you can do about it.

 

Joanne yet again with a horrific shooting day, forcing bad shots and missing wide open 12 footers. Audrey turning the ball over and giving nothing offensively. Those are seniors and should be better. I certainly would be getting Hunter and Kobe minutes when they return because we are limited offensively at the moment. We REALLY missed Moore’s presence down low...

 

I am consoled by the fact that Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Oklahoma State also suffered their first loss. And, when Iowa State plays somebody of substance, like Iowa, they'll lose, too!

 

It's a tough pill to swallow because we were up as many as 12 points early in the 4th quarter. Could have been a second great RPI win on the road, but too many mistakes by our players and coaches down the stretch.

 

JAT had 11 points and 4 rebs. Just thought I would put that out there.

 

On 5-18 shooting (28%), 1-5 three-point shooting (20%), and 0-2 FT shooting.

 

Yep. But in a game where several struggled with shooting, 11 points matters.

 

The criticisms are valid, but that game never goes to OT and Texas wins with just one or two less ****** calls. I don’t complain a lot about officiating for the most part, but this was borderline blatant in my opinion. It’s frustrating to lose one you shoulda had. It’s not a bad loss and won’t do much damage come tournament time provided Tennessee continues to have a good year is my only consolation right now. I hope we get healthy soon. We had some pretty effective weapons out today.

 

Random thoughts:

- several players put up air balls today; they weren't even close to touching the rim

- Warren still dribbling way too much for my taste and she just doesn't have the handles to be doing that in the dribble-drive weave offense

- Warren does good things, and not-so-good things. Her missing that 2-foot bunny off the glass on a perfect entry pass early in the first quarter is just a lack of concentration, but it was a momentum changer

- Femme Masudi did some good things in the first half

- when the opposing Center is on with her timing by having 10 blocks, you kind of have to STOP going at her in the paint -- Ebo, Warren, Rori, Gaston, Latasha, etc. ineffective going at Key

- in the 4th quarter when Tennessee started using their 2-3 zone defense, we played right into their hands by having Rori give up the ball; then the recipient would rush their shot (plenty of time on the shot clock) from the free throw line. That's my biggest gripe of the game; we want Rori moving with the ball all over the court, not giving up the ball early in the possession and never getting it back.

- too many offensive fouls, including some setting screens; those count as turnovers

- not having a player taller than 5'9 who can help guard taller guards like Horston really exposed us today; Joanne did the best she could, but she was completely mismatched. Not having Celeste Taylor any longer was huge; Vic not addressing this area via the transfer portal still leaves me scratching my head.

- when Rori got called for a 10-second violation for not getting the ball at half-court, I was upset that Vic didn't call a timeout. The entire coaching staff should have been on that as we still had all our timeouts left in the first half, I believe.

- Gaston has been disappointing in our two road contests; I have high hopes for her, but she just doesn't seem to be into the games mentally.

- too bad Matharu got into early foul trouble in the first half and had to sit many minutes

- Matharu is good, and I'm glad we have her on our team. Not sure why she took that shot at the end of regulation with 7 seconds still left in the game; not sure if that's what Vic drew up during the timeout, but, would have preferred Rori or Aliyah trying to get a bit closer and either take a short jump shot, or get fouled.

- missing 6 straight free throws (Joanne, Ebo, and Matharu) were critical misses down the stretch

- allowing Tennessee to get so many rebounds on their missed free throws time and time again hurt; but, that's what happens when you are undersized and inexperienced in the post

 

11 points is not the point. JAT has struggled more than today and too many times forces the issue and takes bad shots. Scoring 11 points on 5 for 18 shooting is not good period. Especially from a senior. Both JAT and Audrey had WIDE OPEN 12 footers in the soft spot of that zone and couldn’t deliver. Audreys ball handling is atrocious!!! They both need to be better. I hope Kobe and Hunter develop defensively because we really need more options offensively. BOTH JAT and Warren are at the moment hurting us offensively...

 

I hate to lose, but if there's such a thing as a "good loss" perhaps this may be one? This one definitely produced some critical teaching opportunities.

 

Yes, her 11 points matter. But, 13 missed shots by your senior, many of which were ill-advised, might as well be counted as turnovers.

 

Actually it is the point. Who else was going to make those baskets? I AGREE that she missed way too many, but only one player was really on today offensively and sometimes you just have to get your baskets from wherever you can get them. If we had a better option (other than Matharu) I didn’t see it. Again, I agree that she needs to make more of those shots but she isn’t the reason we lost. Vic did not adjust appropriately to the zone. THAT killed us.

On a separate note, I was sitting with my Vol friends today at the game. And even they admitted the three very odd calls in the 4th completely changed the momentum. And the out of bounds call late in the 4th should have been reversed. Plus an elbow to the face not getting called… WTH????

 

True, JAT's shooting was not very good. But let's be fair about this. Harmon, our most amazing player, had just as poor a shooting day, 3 for 16. And Audrey at 2 for 11. Except for Matharu, we shot bad. Looking at that, you would be surprised we came so close to winning. I like Lattimore's potential, but right now, she doesn't look like she's played much basketball. Can't hold her own on the block. Masudi looked a lot more comfortable and I would have played her more. The six missed free throws doomed us.

 

A young team, on the road, with missing pieces. I agree with many of the criticisms. But I can live with this loss in part because I believe in Vic's teams to "learn" from "learning experiences." This game will help Texas down the road.

Key and Horston were difficult match-ups for Texas. As Moooooo mentioned, Horston is that big guard Texas does not have. And, she is a very talented individual player. Texas team needs Moore back! Freshman she may be, but Texas needs her inside. Texas had one true inside player - Ebo. Lattimore needs some time and work to develop. In agreement with Moooooo again that Masudi gave creditable minutes at the end of the first half. Perhaps she should have played in the second half but the third quarter went so well and Vic stayed with experience in the fourth. I don't know about Gaston. It may be simply that her frequent injuries have impacted both her skill development and physical conditioning. It's hard to have offensive spacing and flow when you seem to have no scorers except for three small to smallish guards.

Rori did not shoot well today but had 11 assists!

 

I think we can all agree that better shot selection is needed by almost every player. Sometimes, it's not the shot itself, but when the shot is taken within the 30 second shot clock.

For example, Rori doesn't need to be taking 3-point shots with so much time left on the shot clock; she can get that same shots 20 seconds later.

 

This game was in hand. I think it’s clear that we could not respond to their adjustment in the 4th. There were several mid-range chances past the front two on the zone that we just didn’t convert. We stopped the clock too much (okay, yes those calls) but got bailed out by some poor FT shooting on their part too.

We didn’t adjust to getting beat by the block.

I still feel like we are just messy when we are in traffic (like off of an O-board or a dribble penetration dish at the basket).

Agree about Warren dribbling so much too.

Ugh, I really thought we had this one. But we’ve got to learn to play with the lead (and a big one). Felt like we lost some mental toughness.

 

Also, we took way too many shots late in the fourth quarter with like 15-20 seconds still left on the shot clock; on those misses, we rarely get the rebound. So, again, we played right into Tennessee's hands as they were trying to mount their comeback.

 

We're young... we need our seniors to perform better in these games. Period.

 

I never said she was the reason we lost. I said we are at the moment challenged offensively because of the way both she and Audrey are playing. If you think 5 for 18 is ok....no comment. Both JAT and Audrey looked like they were cemented to the floor, flailing up bricks and forcing the issue unnecessarily. THEY WERE a big part of the problem with our offense and affected others on the floor. THAT is the point!!! You talk about Vic not adjusting to the zone, but we had WIDE OPEN shots by Audrey and Joanne in the soft spot of the zone from roughly 12 feet and they both threw up BRICKS, so yes they both contributed significantly to our poor performance offensively and need to be better.... They are both seniors....

 

If we had made our damn free throws we WIN….can’t give those points away…

 

Vic will be the first to state that he doesn't play for moral victories.

And, with a 12 point lead in the fourth quarter, anything less than a win is a disappointment. That's why I'm extremely disappointed; we let what was a comfortable lead get away. It's different if we had been behind the whole game, and then made a comeback that fell just short. So, no way to spin it other than we let a win slip right out of our clumsy fingers.

And, it's not like Tennessee came back with a flurry of 3-point shots; they really took advantage of every single one of our bad coaching decisions, and player decisions. They got the key rebounds, and out-gritted our team.

We still had a 59-56 lead with 40 seconds left after Rori's layup. But, a missed rebound on a UTK missed free throw, and then another missed rebound after a missed Horston putback allowed them to get 3 points in that sequence instead of just 1 point. Secure that rebound, and we get fouled with a 2-point lead and like 20 seconds left.

 

Rory is a freshman. JAT and Audrey were a combined 5 for 29. That was a huge part if our failings offensively. We need more options. Their size in the front court AND their guards really hurt us. We threw this game away... We will get better....

 

I personally don't care for holding JAT and Warren responsible for this loss. Yes, they didn't make those short jumpers at the end, but our team missed shots throughout the game. And I'm not one who subscribes that being a senior makes you more responsible. It is actually more pressure, and sometimes that pressure makes people miss. I like to see everyone play to their potential, from freshman to senior. I can think of a lot of great seniors who had trouble with shooting in their senior year. Our dear Brooke had a shooting slump in her senior year. Even more pronounced was Heather Schreiber's slump in her senior year. They were trying just as hard, probably harder than they ever had. They always say the only way out of a shooting slump is to keep shooting. Having a bunch of people bitching at you and blaming you never helps. The kids are already doing that to themselves.

 

I don't think people stating that more solid performances are needed by the most experienced players on the team equates to blaming them for the loss. There were bad decisions,.missed free throws, and poor shooting by others as well. The point is that senior leadership is needed when the game gets tight especially in big games.

 

Sky King to Penny...... I did not blame them for the loss!!! BUT when TWO SENIORS go 5 for 29 with very poor shot selection, it had a big impact on our offensive struggles and contributed to our problems in general. Several missed free throws and Rori got an unnecessary 10 second call. They both have FORCED very poor choices in their shot selection and hopefully that improves. If we are to get better, we need Hunter and prob Kobe to come along on the defensive end and contribute because they are both far more polished offensively.... They are seniors and we need them to play like it!!! Pointing out facts is not criticism, but mere observations...