Women v Tenn - 7:00 EST - espn2

[Indoor66]

Watch the Devils.

[Bluedog]

Student section isn't nearly full. Kinda disappointing...I'd say ~500 students...funny how Rebecca Lobo is lauding the Crazies as I type...

[juise]

Game was tied at the half... UT has now opened the second half with 4 unanswered (37-33).

[Duvall]

The locks on Joe Alleva's office should be changed tonight.

[willywoody]

The locks on Joe Alleva's office should be changed tonight.

how come?


btw, while it's not sold out, wait a minute they just said on tv it was sold out, anyways the student section isn't completely full but looks to be a good crowd, very loud on tv.

[Lavabe]

ABBY! ABBY! ABBY!

FOR THREE!!!!!!

TIED UP at 64!!!

LGD!!!!

[Bluedog]

gah...TN up 2...4.1 sec left...TN ball...I still believe!

[Duvall]

how come?

Do you really have to ask?

[Bluedog]

What the HECK was that at the end!?!?!?! Chante Black not know there was only 3.4 seconds left?!?!?!?!!? TOUGH GAME, but INEXCUSABLE ending...i'm sorry. Obviously, tough to go the length of the court in 3.4 sec, but she just stood with the ball for like 2 sec so that obviously made it impossible...very odd. Especially with a timeout remaining. I don't get it.

[Lavabe]

Nice try for the women.

DANG ... I thought we had a Sean Dockery repeat there.

Lavabe

[Duvall]

Nice try for the women.

Not really, no.

[calltheobvious]

What the HECK was that at the end!?!?!?! Chante Black not know there was only 3.4 seconds left?!?!?!?!!? TOUGH GAME, but INEXCUSABLE ending...i'm sorry. Obviously, tough to go the length of the court in 3.4 sec, but she just stood with the ball for like 2 sec so that obviously made it impossible...very odd. Especially with a timeout remaining. I don't get it.

Color me totally unimpressed with JM's management of the last five minutes of the game. She left Waner on the bench for far too long. Then, coming out of a time-out, Waner, baseball-style from 54 is the best the team can do?

This finish really couldn't have been worse. Black's freeze-frame was bad, but when the second FT went through the net, it was already clear from the herky-jerky, uncertain movements of the team that they were terribly uncertain of what they were doing. Again, How??? How do you not run the play there that you've practiced hundreds of times; you know, the one where you need to go the length of the floor off an in-bounds pass with under 4 to go? Am I making a bad assumption?

[allenmurray]

A number of ugly plays. On the other hand, it is hard for me to join into the chorus of "woe is us, all is lost, that horrible coach P, etc." We just played the #2 team in the country to the last few seconds of a game. A couple of blown offensive chances go differently and we would all be celebrating our new phenomenal coach. Chill out.

[bludev03]

Stat of the Game:
SECOND CHANCE POINTS!
Tennessee 21
Duke 0

OUCH (especially on your home floor!)

[Duke4Life]

This is just horrendous.

There is such a disconnect b/w the team, the players themselves, and the coaching staff. Coach G has really disrupted this program. Insert Coach P...and it only got worse.
What's up with Wanisha laughing at times after a TO...the players act like they don't even get along...like they know this season is a waste...they don't like the new coaching staff...it's so so so so sad.
You have Aby balling in tears at the end...and then some of the others on the bench are laughing...I just don't understand.

No sense of urgency amongst the staff or the players during this game. It seems to me they have lost the intangible of appreciating each possession...instead we see girls who are frankly PO'd..could give a care...and just going through the motions. This was not the case last season.

I am very afraid for our program. I mean we are seriously in big trouble. With the incoming recruits next year...what we have this season is the best we are going to get! :

[Duvall]

A couple of blown offensive chances go differently and we would all be celebrating our new phenomenal coach.

Perhaps, but we would be wrong. Duke's offense has been a mess all year, in blowout wins, blowout losses and everything in between.

[Bluedog]

A number of ugly plays. On the other hand, it is hard for me to join into the chorus of "woe is us, all is lost, that horrible coach P, etc." We just played the #2 team in the country to the last few seconds of a game. A couple of blown offensive chances go differently and we would all be celebrating our new phenomenal coach. Chill out.

Ya, I agree. It was a pretty solidly played game...I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I was just posting in the heat of the moment. Overall, it was a solid effort, just the last few seconds were not as planned. Abby didn't have the greatest shooting night, but hit a clutch three at the end. Chante Black also played pretty well. And we held Candace Parker to 4 of 13 shooting, but unfortunately, she went to the line so often and shot 9/12 there. Obviously, rebounding was the difference tonight. 40-29 and the second chance points just kill ya. But, this team has improved mightily from the beginning of the season, and this game just showed that we can beat ANYBODY in the country. It's not so bleak, IMO.

[allenmurray]

Ya, I agree. It was a pretty solidly played game...I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I was just posting in the heat of the moment.

My post wasn't directed at you, it weas directed at the general hysteria I knew was coming.

[calltheobvious]

A number of ugly plays. On the other hand, it is hard for me to join into the chorus of "woe is us, all is lost, that horrible coach P, etc." We just played the #2 team in the country to the last few seconds of a game. A couple of blown offensive chances go differently and we would all be celebrating our new phenomenal coach. Chill out.

This is a tough one, Allen. I wouldn't consider my attitude one of woe, but of great vexation. It's certainly a solid accomplishment to play so competitively with the #2 team, and to do such a good overall job on the best player in the country. But there were some really, really glaring problems down the stretch that I would like some answers on (not that I'm entitled to them, just saying). How, after Duke ties it late, can Parker be guarded so cavalierly? When Parker flashed to the ball, the defender was very, very unaggressive. The UT wing was actually quite late in recognizing Parker, and yet still Black had not bodied Parker from behind, nor was she attempting to dive in and deny the entry pass. Then after CP finally receives the ball, she is allowed the baseline without even having to make a great move.

The offensive movement down the stretch was virtually non-existant. Waner's last two looks came from two feet or more beyond the arc (thankfully she converted one), and the other stretch look was the tough reverse lay-up she missed coming out of a time-out.

I agree with a previous poster that the team looked very, very disjointed. I'm perfectly willing to chalk a lot of that up to a new coach developing new chemistry. But there are certain tactical aspects of the game that aren't--or at least shouldn't be--as chemistry dependent as others. I do expect that the chemistry will improve over the remainder of the season, but that won't mitigate against how bad things were down the stretch tonight.

So I'm not some lunatic after Coach P's head, just a little concerned right now, that's all.

To be continued...

[gadzooks]

I agree with a previous poster that the team looked very, very disjointed. I'm perfectly willing to chalk a lot of that up to a new coach developing new chemistry. But there are certain tactical aspects of the game that aren't--or at least shouldn't be--as chemistry dependent as others. I do expect that the chemistry will improve over the remainder of the season, but that won't mitigate against how bad things were down the stretch tonight.

I also agree; I've been very willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, since the first season with a new coach is hard on everyone, but there have just been some persistent glaring weaknesses that are troubling. I'm not ready to attribute their problems to the players hating Coach P or anything, just wondering what the heck is up, and hoping they really gel before this season is over. 'Cause dang, that game was painful to watch.