Tennessee Lady Vols vs. Auburn, 2 PM EST
by David Hooper on Feb 5, 2012 1:00 PM EST
in Lady Vols Basketball
Email
Print
 |
February 2, 2012
Knoxville, TN 7:00 PM EST TV: CSS / ESPN3 Internet Audio: Lady Vols Network Live Stats: GameTracker |
 |
|||
|
11-12 (3-7 SEC) |
|
16-6 (7-2 SEC) |
The scene in TBA should be interesting today. Coming off the South Carolina loss, the Lady Vols know they have to find their groove again. Meanwhile, the fans are getting anxious and (rightly) doubting this year's team's ability to fare well in the NCAA tournament. The talent's in place; they just have to use it, but playing at the top of their game has been increasingly rare as the season wears on. Will this game give them a chance to turn things in the right direction, or will it be more of the same?
| Position | Name | Experience | Height | PPG | RPG | APG | |
|
G | Meighan Simmons | So | 5-10 | 10.5 | 2.4 | 1.5 |
| P | Glory Johnson | Sr | 6-2 | 13.5 | 9.4 | 1.1 | |
| PG | Ariel Massengale | Fr | 5-7 | 8.2 | 2.6 | 5.3 | |
| G-F | Shekinna Stricklen | Sr | 6-2 | 15.0 | 6.5 | 1.9 | |
| F | Cierra Burdick | Sr | 6-1 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 1.1 | |
|
G/F | Tyrese Tanner | So | 6-1 | 10.7 | 4.1 | 1.1 |
| G | Camille Glymph | So | 5-10 | 9.4 | 2.1 | 1.6 | |
| G/F | Blanche Alverson | Jr | 6-3 | 9.1 | 4.3 | 0.8 | |
| G | Hasina Muhammed | Fr | 6-1 | 9.0 | 3.7 | 1.2 | |
| PG | Morgan Jennings | Sr | 5-8 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
This is not the Auburn team that Tennessee is used to playing. At 11-12, the Lady Tigers are hard-pressed to get an NCAA invite, short of winning the SEC tournament. This is the kind of game that, over Summitt's career, would be a near-certain blowout. But for the blowout to happen, the Lady Vols have to speed their game up. Their overthinking and tightness causes them to slow down, allowing defenders to stay in position and making even the simplest tasks difficult. It's a team that is in a cycle of terrific practice sessions and terrible games, which taken with their obvious hesitancy on the court, indicates that the problem is not their ability to play with each other or to execute, but that they just don't have their heads on straight.
From here on to the end of the season, the focus is on one thing: will the Lady Vols overcome their mental blocks and just go out and play? In this game: will Tennessee find its groove, pull away, and deny Auburn any hope, or will they fumble their way to a closer-than-it-should-have-been outcome again?
This may very well be the most talented team in the NCAA, but Tennessee has a mental road to recovery ahead of it. That can start today against Auburn.
79 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Pregame announcer chatter focused entirely on Tennessee's tendency to let a single player go off on them.
Most of their losses featured that very problem, as did a couple of wins.
And 28 seconds later, it's an Auburn timeout
after Tennessee makes it 9-9. A good series of passing to Glory for the and-1, and then a steal and Simmons layup.
Between the ears
It’s really difficult for me to fathom how a coaching staff with this experience can’t seem to get into the heads of four players they have been with for 4 or 5 years. Vicki, Glory, Kinna, and Alicia have been around it seems like forever and these coaches seem to have no clue how to get good practice to lead to a good game..
Here’s an idea I’ve touted for weeks – CALL A FREAIN TIME OUT EARLY WHEN IT STARTS TO GO WRONG.
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
I thought the game was at 7 as mentioned above
that post was supposed to be pre game
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
Still rough around the edges, but they are not as tight as Thursday.
That’s step one. Loosen up and get fluid. Nothing else gets corrected until they settle down.
Stricklen and Johnson both have 4 rebounds already.
Leading Auburn by 2 boards despite taking 3 more shots.
Simmons: no no no okay and one. Huh.
______________________________________________
Boom. Here comes the Boom. Braydy or not. Here comes the boy from the West.
Kamiko Williams scores about 5 seconds after checking in.
______________________________________________
Boom. Here comes the Boom. Braydy or not. Here comes the boy from the West.
Refs allowing them to play:
12 minutes in and we have 4 fouls total — and none on the Lady Vols.
______________________________________________
Boom. Here comes the Boom. Braydy or not. Here comes the boy from the West.
Baugh coming in
noturnoversnofoulsnoturnoversnofoulsnoturnoversnofoulsnoturnoversnofoulsnoturnoversnofoulsnoturnoversnofouls
The pressure defense is doing much better so far.
Halfcourt still has some issues, but that’s probably a consequence of the aggressiveness.
Vols lead is up to 11.
Vols playing with a lot of energy and synergy. Auburn’s hanging on for dear lives. Step. On. The. Throat.
______________________________________________
Boom. Here comes the Boom. Braydy or not. Here comes the boy from the West.
A/TO of 2.2
They’re relaxed and fluid. They can now start to work on making gameday as good as practice.
44 - 31 at the half.
Hard to find too much to not like. A 13 point lead could be 20 easily.
______________________________________________
Boom. Here comes the Boom. Braydy or not. Here comes the boy from the West.
Stat-candy
The Auburn shooting percentage is the biggest downside. Second is the number of missed close-in shots. Third is rebounds, which is partly a consequence of taking 7 more shots than Auburn, allowing more defensive boards for them.
The announcers talking about not trying to get the ball inside vs. South Carolina...
they forget that Dee Kantner was reffing.
Another early timeout.
The coaches must be reading Auburn’s schemes and calling these early timeouts to adjust.
Stricklen: 7 points, 7 rebounds, and probably done there.
If UT holds their lead, there’s no reason to bring her back in with 4 fouls.
UT's letting Auburn hang around a bit too much.
Part is lack of defensive focus, and part is that this game is stuck in mud thanks to all the fouls calls.
Burdick and Spani give us too much defensive liability
too slow to react
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
I agree with Burdick
who wouldn’t be in if Stricklen didn’t have 4 fouls. Spani moves fast enough, but Auburn is rotating until she’s guarding Stumpy, which is not a good matchup.
Harrison's going to be a good one in the post.
I feel better and better about her replacing Glory each time I see her play.
She's looking good today
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
Auburn is still scrapping
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
Yup.
Good to see. It’s probably out of reach now, but they can certainly give it a go. If UT takes a nap, you never know.
Nice to see Vicki and Izzy together
for the free throw shooting at the end of the game
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
no kidding -
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
Is Auburn intentionally missing their second free throws?
That’s two in a row that bounced clear beyond the normal rebounders.
I didn't notice either
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
I think it's over now
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
So who do u like? Pats or Giants?
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
Honestly, I don't really care.
I have unusually little interest in this one. We’re headed to a get-together, but I’m more interested in the socializing right now.
Not sure why the apathy, really.
Not a big fan of either so I go with Manning2
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
It was like different refs
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
I'm beginning to believe that refs swallow whistles in the first half to avoid putting starters on the bench early on
but then get a little loose in the second half to compensate.
Except for Kantner, who hates post players (and not just UT’s).
have a good party
Born in Fort Sanders - 1st Residence Aconda Court (Alumni Hall) - 1st games at Neyland 1947 - Mother = TORCHBEARER - Dad grad of UT & UT Law + professor BORN ORANGE and BLEED ORANGE .......
LSU women beat Kentucky today, 61-51.
A chance for a tie atop the SEC is still on. That South Carolina loss really hurts now.
In the LSU game, LSU took half the shots that Kentuckty did (30 compared to 60). LSU also took 31 total free throws, hitting 25 of them. Kentucky may create a lot of turnovers, but they are a terrible shooting team.
Now Kentucky gets a full week off before coming to TBA next Monday. UT better be sharp if they want to win the conference.
I saw that.
Mildly surprised, but hopefully the next week or so will allow for the current and future Lady Vol coaches to register victories over Kentucky.
Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.
by Chris Pendley on Feb 5, 2012 5:58 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
@ Vandy on Thursday and home vs. Kentucky on Monday the 13th.
Kentucky faces mighty Bye on Thursday. If the Lady Vols can improve on their better play today, they can really make a turnaround in the next eight days and put the South Carolina game in the past.
by David Hooper on Feb 5, 2012 10:54 PM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
SHOP THE ROCKY TOP TALK STORE
Animated Drive Charts
RTT Classics
