Lady Vols Decline Started in 2008/09

[Wbbfan1]

Maya signed with UConn and played for UConn starting in 2007/08. Maya was supposed to be the Lady Vols next go to player after Candace Parker graduated/went Pro. Its a presumption on my part but if Maya signs with the Lady Vols they probably make the F4 in her last 3 years. Who knows which elite recruits would have signed with the Lady Vols to play with Maya.

Besides Maya not signing with the Lady Vols, Lady Vols also did not renew the UConn series starting in 2007/08 season. I also shouldn't overlook Pat's decline in health which probably started around the 2008/09 time period.

Since 2008/09 Lady Vols have not gone to the Final Four. While at the same time UConn has been to every Final Four and have won 5 National Championships.

How would history have been changed if Maya signs with the Lady Vols instead of with Geno and UConn?

 

[UcMiami]

The decline started in 1995! Everyone knows that!

Actually, truthfully, I think it started around 2000 and Parker's arrival and the PG transfer just proved to be the last flicker of a dying flame - Pat had already started to learn new tricks to combat the modern game that was starting to pass her by.

 

[pacific 44]

Tennesse's demise, your honor, all started when the team bus drove into the town of Yield.

 

[EricLA]

Someone made a great comment in another thread - Holly is using the same tired old format on offense and defense that the learned for 20+ years from Pat, but she lacks the forceful personality that Pat had - and can't bend the team to her will. As for when their decline started, what you said sounds about right. I hesitate to use Moore as the measuring stick/starting point because some/many Tenn fans will tell you UCONN cheated to get her and they will then ultimately blame Geno for the decline of their team.

Honestly, Maya may have "considered" Tennessee, but UCONN was always her favorite. She was ours to lose right from the beginning.

 

[huskeynut]

Looking at the 1999 - 2000 season, this may have been the one that started the downward spiral.

UCONN backdoored the Lady Vols into submission. It was the view of things to come with Geno's motion offense.

 

[Padutch5]

The decline started in 1995! Everyone knows that!

Actually, truthfully, I think it started around 2000 and Parker's arrival and the PG transfer just proved to be the last flicker of a dying flame - Pat had already started to learn new tricks to combat the modern game that was starting to pass her by.

It started in Philadelphia in 2000. If my memory is Correct, Tennessee came into the championship game as number 1. Geno backdoored her to death. It was over by halftime. If you watched her as she left the court, she saw the future and it was Connecticut.

 

[johnnyc]

The decline started in 1995! Everyone knows that!

There is a scene in the Birth of A Dynasty doc that has Geno with a big grin on his face after beating Tenn. And in the background you see Summitt walking off screen.[/QUOTE]

 

[johnnyc]

I don't know when the decline started but I'll always be a fan of Ball St.

 

[CL82]

I take no schadenfreude in the program's apparent demise....

.... at least not publicly.

 

[HoopsFan21]

The decline began when teams started figuring out how to play offense, and Tennessee was a one trick pony and never really adapted. I'd argue it started before the Maya Moore recruitment, and the Parker championships were more of a blip than a trend.

 

[CocoHusky]

Looking at the 1999 - 2000 season, this may have been the one that started the downward spiral.

UCONN backdoored the Lady Vols into submission. It was the view of things to come with Geno's motion offense.

I was at that game in Philadelphia. I am still/was astounded that Pat made no adjustment.

 

[alexrgct]

Maya signed with UConn and played for UConn starting in 2007/08. Maya was supposed to be the Lady Vols next go to player after Candace Parker graduated/went Pro. Its a presumption on my part but if Maya signs with the Lady Vols they probably make the F4 in her last 3 years. Who knows which elite recruits would have signed with the Lady Vols to play with Maya.

Besides Maya not signing with the Lady Vols, Lady Vols also did not renew the UConn series starting in 2007/08 season. I also shouldn't overlook Pat's decline in health which probably started around the 2008/09 time period.

Since 2008/09 Lady Vols have not gone to the Final Four. While at the same time UConn has been to every Final Four and have won 5 National Championships.

How would history have been changed if Maya signs with the Lady Vols instead of with Geno and UConn?

Maya plus the vaunted 2008 recruiting class highly-rated(stars in Stricklen and Glory, another talented home-schooled girl in Taber Spani, a Kelly Faris sort of kid in Alicia Manning) definitely wins NCs. However, not having the supporting cast of Tina Charles, Alexis Hornbuckle, or Nicki Anosike, would have been a challenge for that LV team from 2008 on. A post-Candace dropoff was inevitable.

Bottom line, this was a mysterious recruiting year that didn't have it. Injuries were killer, especially as Vicki Baugh was concerned, and chemistry was lacking. The LVs were slowly languishing behind the scenes and suffered from a mediocre S&C program towards the end. Pat's worsening cognitive functioning was a source of sorrow to experience, even if it happened before it was reported anything was wrong. However, her 2008 recruiting class resulted in the following:

• a #5 seed over the 2008-09 season, followed by the shocking loss in the first round of the NCAA tourney to Ball State.
• A #1-seeded regular season with a regional semis loss to Baylor.
• A #1-seeded regular season, followed by an upset suffered at the hands of Notre Dame in the 2011 regional finals.
• A #2-seeded regular season, followed by a loss to #1 Baylor in the 2012 regional finals. This season was tumultuous and almost certain to be Pat's last.

With Maya, the 2008 LV recruiting class, plus Maya, wins plural NCs and maybe even challenges the 90-game win streak the LVs otherwise witnessed. Uconn without its three-time NPOY winner? The Huskies simply don't have a Golden Age of five NCs, eight consecutive Final Fours, FIBA/Olympic success,, three undefeated seasons, a two-peat and a three-peat, a 90 -game win streak, and a second dual men's-women's NC, without Maya Moore.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I don't know when the decline started but I'll always be a fan of Ball St.

Mechelle Voepel after the 2009 loss to Ball State understood how earthshaking this was"

http://espn.go.com/ncw/ncaatourney09/columns/story?columnist=voepel_mechelle&id=4007369
"Tennessee goes home and tries to comprehend how far wrong this season went -- just 12 months after the program had been the champion. Sunday's loss was a microcosm of this season: poor perimeter shooting (2-of-18 from behind the arc), more turnovers lost (16) than were forced (13) and shaky defense (Ball State shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half).

"Summitt instantly proclaimed this one of her most difficult losses, putting it in a category with the 1990 Elite Eight loss to Virginia, which kept Tennessee from playing in the Final Four on its home court. The year after that, Summitt won her third national championship.

Whether she and her program can rebound to that degree next year remains to be seen."

Deja Vu all over again?

 

[malevocalist#]

Maya signed with UConn and played for UConn starting in 2007/08. Maya was supposed to be the Lady Vols next go to player after Candace Parker graduated/went Pro. Its a presumption on my part but if Maya signs with the Lady Vols they probably make the F4 in her last 3 years. Who knows which elite recruits would have signed with the Lady Vols to play with Maya.

Besides Maya not signing with the Lady Vols, Lady Vols also did not renew the UConn series starting in 2007/08 season. I also shouldn't overlook Pat's decline in health which probably started around the 2008/09 time period.

Since 2008/09 Lady Vols have not gone to the Final Four. While at the same time UConn has been to every Final Four and have won 5 National Championships.

How would history have been changed if Maya signs with the Lady Vols instead of with Geno and UConn?

Ooh! I don't even want to dwell on that (Big If). Gives me chills reading what you stated regarding it.

 

[bags27]

It started in Philadelphia in 2000. If my memory is Correct, Tennessee came into the championship game as number 1. Geno backdoored her to death. It was over by halftime. If you watched her as she left the court, she saw the future and it was Connecticut.

Thanks for the excuse to replay it. UConn did backdoor Tenn to death, but the Huskies were just a lot better at every facet of the game. According to the announcers, going in they were favored by 30 of 35 of the sportswriters and it was never in doubt.