DobbsRover2
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I realize that UConn fans have no interest in anything about the Lady Vols and this post is just going to be greeted by a long thread of "Who cares?", but TJI's WHB has a link to a Nashville edition Memphis Ledger story called "Lady Vols Seem to Be Slipping Off the National Stage" by Dave Link that was written last weekend and supposedly updated to yesterday, though not really since the Vol and GameObscenity game is still in the future in the article. The theme I know will be extremely upsetting to many here on the Boneyard, but the info in the piece is all well-known and obvious, so I don't believe it will come as a total shock to anyone here that the Vol team is no longer the alpha chick that UConn used to have such a fun time partying with a while back.
But the best part of the article has to be the end piece where Link asks Lady Vols' longtime beat writer Dan Fleser a series of questions about the LV's that definitely can make at least one Husky fan feel he's living in an alternate universe from K-town's world. Among the choice Q&A tidbits:
1. When asked about whether the LV's could make a deep run in the Tournament (UTenn was still a defined #1 seed when the article was written), Fleser said the balanced LV's could do it because they had experience playing without Izzy Harrison, the team's lost leading scorer and rebounder.
So after hearing all those "sure we lost to Chattanooga and Texas, but that was without Izzy" lines from the fans, now it's that they have a bunch of Izzy-less players left who are balanced. Does not grok.
2. When asked when he noticed that the once dominant team of Pat Summitt had seen a power shift to "UConn and other schools," Fleser said it was some time after the last LV NC in 2008 when "All of a sudden UConn was winning multiple championships" and signing the very top players.
I get the feeling that someone was so buried in his beat that he didn't have time to pull his head out of a hole on Rocky Top and notice what was going on in women's basketball many years before. A little late to the party there, Dan, but we saved some clippings of the nets for you.
3. When asked why the LVs hadn't been to a Final Four since the Candy Girl left town, the proposed "big reason" was Brittney Griner, whose teams the LVs lost to twice, plus Skylar Diggins' Irish knocked them off once. Not having a first team All-American hurt the LVs when playing teams with a good player.
Just wow, and shame on Brittney that big bully, though in 2010 when she throttled the Vols she was a non-AA freshman and didn't look that impressive two games later against UConn. A team has one top player and you might as well fold the tent. Still think the real culprit was Ball State's Porchia Green, but actually in the six years of FF-less existence, the LVs have only gone up against 4 WBCA AA's in the 6 bow-out games, Diggins in 2011, Griner and Sims in 2012, and Thomas in 2014. And true they have only had Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen as WBCA AAs due to some developmental problems, but BB is a team sport and to say that you just haven't got to the FFs because you had to play some tough teams with a good player in the Tourney doesn't speak well of all the slate of opponents in the years when the LVs did get to the FF.
4. When asked what it would take for the LVs to get back to the FF and win a championship, the answer was a real hoot. Fleser has a theory that teams that are led by top-level players tend to prosper in the post season (big Duhhhhhhhh there), which he thought LVs could "test" with Harrison in the lineup. Without her the answer is "I'm not sure now," though it's a little unclear whether he is unsure about his theory of Tourney success or whether the LVs have a chance this year.
Just speechless. Obviously it's time to start digging six feet down for the 2014-15 LVs. Maybe the theory can be retested next year because . . .
5. When asked whether the 6-year straight first-team-AA-less LVs need a star player to be successful, Fleser said that star power is the way to go and that Mercedes Russell and Diamond DeShields were #1 players in their class.
Can't argue with this point too much except to say that UTenn has had a number of other top recruits not really pan out in recent years, Russell was certainly not # 1 impressive in her freshman year and the "two foot surgeries" can be a sign of optimism or wariness, and that building a team around DeShields after her one-year education at UNC is a job for a tough task master.
6. When asked how to rate Holly Warlick's performance as LV coach, the answer was that "she had done a commendable job," and that recruiting was the key to the future.
That's certainly one way to look at it, though I'm not sure that "commendable" can ever produce any FF appearances let alone an NC, and yes, recruiting is an important part of building a winning team.
The seventh and last question was personal. I don't know, there's always hope for the future, but those who are fuzzy about their recent past may be doomed to repeat it.
But the best part of the article has to be the end piece where Link asks Lady Vols' longtime beat writer Dan Fleser a series of questions about the LV's that definitely can make at least one Husky fan feel he's living in an alternate universe from K-town's world. Among the choice Q&A tidbits:
1. When asked about whether the LV's could make a deep run in the Tournament (UTenn was still a defined #1 seed when the article was written), Fleser said the balanced LV's could do it because they had experience playing without Izzy Harrison, the team's lost leading scorer and rebounder.
So after hearing all those "sure we lost to Chattanooga and Texas, but that was without Izzy" lines from the fans, now it's that they have a bunch of Izzy-less players left who are balanced. Does not grok.
2. When asked when he noticed that the once dominant team of Pat Summitt had seen a power shift to "UConn and other schools," Fleser said it was some time after the last LV NC in 2008 when "All of a sudden UConn was winning multiple championships" and signing the very top players.
I get the feeling that someone was so buried in his beat that he didn't have time to pull his head out of a hole on Rocky Top and notice what was going on in women's basketball many years before. A little late to the party there, Dan, but we saved some clippings of the nets for you.
3. When asked why the LVs hadn't been to a Final Four since the Candy Girl left town, the proposed "big reason" was Brittney Griner, whose teams the LVs lost to twice, plus Skylar Diggins' Irish knocked them off once. Not having a first team All-American hurt the LVs when playing teams with a good player.
Just wow, and shame on Brittney that big bully, though in 2010 when she throttled the Vols she was a non-AA freshman and didn't look that impressive two games later against UConn. A team has one top player and you might as well fold the tent. Still think the real culprit was Ball State's Porchia Green, but actually in the six years of FF-less existence, the LVs have only gone up against 4 WBCA AA's in the 6 bow-out games, Diggins in 2011, Griner and Sims in 2012, and Thomas in 2014. And true they have only had Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen as WBCA AAs due to some developmental problems, but BB is a team sport and to say that you just haven't got to the FFs because you had to play some tough teams with a good player in the Tourney doesn't speak well of all the slate of opponents in the years when the LVs did get to the FF.
4. When asked what it would take for the LVs to get back to the FF and win a championship, the answer was a real hoot. Fleser has a theory that teams that are led by top-level players tend to prosper in the post season (big Duhhhhhhhh there), which he thought LVs could "test" with Harrison in the lineup. Without her the answer is "I'm not sure now," though it's a little unclear whether he is unsure about his theory of Tourney success or whether the LVs have a chance this year.
Just speechless. Obviously it's time to start digging six feet down for the 2014-15 LVs. Maybe the theory can be retested next year because . . .
5. When asked whether the 6-year straight first-team-AA-less LVs need a star player to be successful, Fleser said that star power is the way to go and that Mercedes Russell and Diamond DeShields were #1 players in their class.
Can't argue with this point too much except to say that UTenn has had a number of other top recruits not really pan out in recent years, Russell was certainly not # 1 impressive in her freshman year and the "two foot surgeries" can be a sign of optimism or wariness, and that building a team around DeShields after her one-year education at UNC is a job for a tough task master.
6. When asked how to rate Holly Warlick's performance as LV coach, the answer was that "she had done a commendable job," and that recruiting was the key to the future.
That's certainly one way to look at it, though I'm not sure that "commendable" can ever produce any FF appearances let alone an NC, and yes, recruiting is an important part of building a winning team.
The seventh and last question was personal. I don't know, there's always hope for the future, but those who are fuzzy about their recent past may be doomed to repeat it.