Pursuit of 1,000: Lady Vols / Auburn Tigers Game Thread

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 2:01 PM EST in Lady Vols Basketball

	January 25, 2009 3:00 EST TV: CSS Internet Radio: Lady Vol Network Radio: Lady Vol Network GameTracker: CSTV
12-5 (3-1) NR (AP) NR (USA Today)		15-3 (5-0) No. 22 (AP) No. 24 (USA Today)

Tennessee		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
G	5 Angie Bjorklund	6-0	-	So.	12.5	3.2	2.5
F	25 Glory Johnson	6-3	-	Fr.	12.0	7.2	0.9
F	40 Shekinna Stricklen	6-2	-	Fr.	13.4	5.9	2.8
F/C	44 Alexis Fuller	6-3	-	Sr.	6.4	5.6	1.1
G	1 Brianna Bass	5-2	-	Fr.	4.9	1.6	2.1
Auburn		Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
F	24 DeWanna Bonner	6-4	-	Sr.	20.2	8.6	1.6
F	22 Reneisha Hobbs	5-11	-	Jr.	12.7	4.7	1.1
G	5 Alli Smalley	5-8	-	So.	12.6	2.6	2.3
G	44 Whitney Boddie	5-9	-	Sr.	10.0	4.2	8.0
F	1 Trevesha Jackson	6-0	-	Sr.	7.1	5.0	0.4

Short Summary:

Never tell a lady's weight! Finding weight stats on the gals wasn't intuitive; none of the major sites list it like they do for the guys. And I wasn't going to go digging too far for it.
Auburn can score. Five of the Auburn starters have double-figure PPG averages. That means it'll take a full-team defense for all 40 minutes to keep the Auburn scoring machine in check.
When Auburn is on offense, watch Boddie. Note the Assists/Game for her: 8.0. Yikes. She's the pivot of their offense; whoever draws her as the defensive assignment has a lot of work to do today.
Box out! Auburn's leading rebounder, Bonner, is 6'4" tall. To limit her boards, the Lady Vols will have to adhere very strictly to Summitt's emphasis on defense and rebounding, and keep her boxed out at all times.
There will be no fooling Auburn. UT is the team with the lack of experience, while Auburn starts 3 seniors, a junior and a sophomore. UT won't be able to trick Auburn; they'll have to beat them straight-up by outworking them and staying focused.
Watch the first 10 minutes. Tennessee has made a living of strong finishes this year, which has masked their slow starts. If they can hit the deck running today, they can be confident in their endgame play. If they fall behind early, Auburn is good enough to keep them out of the game for the rest of regulation.
The advantage is Auburn's. It's in Auburn. They have the experience. They have the better statistics. They have the better team chemistry. I would still assert that the Lady Vols have the potential to be the better team by March, but that amounts to nothing if they don't play to their potential today.

Go Ladies! Bring home 999!

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Comments

D____ it, why isn't this game national?

More like Comcast Sports SELFISH.

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I will give my shirt for Tennessee today.

by Holly Anderson on Jan 25, 2009 2:40 PM EST reply actions

I'll be on the radio feed myself.

Even though I’m in K’ville, I’m saving college $$$ by not getting cable. Less spending and more time to work.

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 2:48 PM EST up reply actions

trade secret:

I get one of those six-month new customer deals every year at the end of August and cancel it right after the Super Bowl. Because who needs TV that does not contain footbawl?

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I will give my shirt for Tennessee today.

by Holly Anderson on Jan 25, 2009 3:07 PM EST up reply actions

clever!

And the answer is: No Freedom-Loving American. Footbawl-less TV is for 3rd-world dictatorships.

And the Amish, but that’s for entirely different reasons.

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:09 PM EST up reply actions

They must be nervous.

Lotsa travelling to start.

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:12 PM EST reply actions

BTW, somebody needs to help ESPN, et. al. with ladies' stats.

It was a pain getting the information. I’m still not sure about the positions of a couple of the Auburn players; nobody even listed the players, much less their info. And that’s for the #6 team in the nation right now.

O.o

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:27 PM EST reply actions

Didn't they just slash a bunch of college hoops staffers?

I know they tossed a bunch of bloggers on the men’s side…maybe the ladies coverage was affected as well. (Not that that makes it any less shameful, mind.)

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I will give my shirt for Tennessee today.

by Holly Anderson on Jan 25, 2009 3:36 PM EST up reply actions

I hadn't kept up on that news.

But that wouldn’t be surprising. (On a somewhat-related-but-not-totally note, I wouldn’t mind seeing the MSM quit referring to journos as “bloggers”. The issue is not the title; the issue is laziness in reporting.)

But hey, ESPN has GameCast up for the game, so there’s that.

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:39 PM EST up reply actions

The Lady Vols have almost played everybody already.

They’re rotating players much faster than Auburn; clearly, Summitt hopes this game is decided in the final minutes.

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:28 PM EST reply actions

5 minutes left in the 1st:

UT is actually outshooting Auburn. The reason the Tigers lead 22-19 is 6-8 free throw shooting. UT has zero FT attempts.

And 5 travel calls.

Hmm…

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:42 PM EST reply actions

Halftime stats will be very informal, but quite interesting.

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:49 PM EST reply actions

Haltfime: UT 26, Auburn 31

Stats of interest:
UT: 12-25 FG, 2-11 3PT, 0-0 FT
AU: 10-27 FG, 2-9 3PT, 9-12 FT

Fouls: UT 8, AU 4
Travel Calls: UT 5, AU 1

UT made some mistakes, particularly in the final 2 minutes, but are actually in great position considering the way the calls have gone. Whatever they’re doing that’s causing the travels to be called needs to stop. Likewise, whatever Auburn is doing that keeps them from getting called on shooting fouls, UT needs to start doing.

Though behind by 5, UT is in good shape. They now know they can outwork Auburn and there is a lot more room for natural improvement in UT’s stats (fewer travels, more free throws, etc.) than in Auburn’s. With the Ladies’ penchant for strong second halves, this is still a game.

by David Hooper on Jan 25, 2009 3:57 PM EST reply actions