Saturday Mar 5 conference games (merged threads)

[UcMiami]

That Warlick permitted Diamond to do these things over the length of the season would indicate that that's what passes for her offensive plan. If Diamond were ignoring her coaches and just doing her own thing, she would (presumably) be sitting on the bench. I think Warlick's offense is "Get the ball inside or to Diamond. Whichever".

Good point, but in fact for the last month of the regular season DD was on the bench and not starting, and was on a very short leash when she got into games - if she mad a couple of turnovers she might only get 5 minutes in the first half of a game.
I agree that If Holly actually has a plan it is hard to figure out as they have gone through about 15 different starting line-ups and substitution patterns are all over the place. It would appear in the last three games, she has decided whatever happens with DD happens - she is back to starting, and playing major minutes.

 

[Vowelguy]

She has put together a string of three decent games while the rest of the guards and wings have struggled.

You mean the 3 games in which TN played among its best this season?

I remember when Mazzante was at penn state and folks would criticize her for relatively low shooting percentage. Yes bad stats often indicate bad performance. But suppose that her teammates only took open shots and the rest of the offense were waiting around for someone to do something .., leaving Mazzante to create it herself? I don't know that's what happened, but I don't think these situations are as cut and dried as some would claim.
If DD were as bad as folks say, the team would perform better when she's not on the floor. Or she would score a lot only in the games they lose. I have not measured this closely, but I believe neither of those things are true.
And, no, for the record, I am Not a DD fan. But I am a fan of fact-based arguments. It seems like many of the negative comments about DD "diva", "bad attitude," etc are not based on anything concrete.

 

[UcMiami]

vowel - the season is really inconclusive as far as DD stats go - they have won with her putting up terrible stats and also with her putting up very good stats, and have lost with the same. I think her shooting is not a determining factor - the TOs might be more indicative. The TN offense is such a mess that it is really hard to come to any conclusions and it really has been that way for years. Simmons was not dissimilar in her production swings from game to game and her tendency to monopolize the ball at times. Bobbitt is probably the last really good PG TN has had and that dates back a long time - since then, finding someone to shoot has been an issue (or holding someone back from shooting too much!)

 

[EricLA]

They've got some nice pieces. Canada and a Canadian (the veteran Fields). Three-point sharpshooter, Korver. Two athletic bigs in Billings and Drummer (?). Not sure about depth.

Billings was a beast. She was tenacious on the boards and is a very athletic player. I love her game as a forward/post.

 

[EricLA]

And, no, for the record, I am Not a DD fan. But I am a fan of fact-based arguments. It seems like many of the negative comments about DD "diva", "bad attitude," etc are not based on anything concrete.

Oh, you mean like the comments from Linnae Harper regarding the chemistry problems at Tennessee, which in part helped her eliminate them and decide on Ohio State as her destination for her transfer? "Harper visited Tennessee two weeks ago, and while she liked the talent, the palpable chemistry issues within the team was something Harper noticed, sources told Swish Appeal"

I don't disagree that DD has played better of late, but let's not pretend the chemistry problems that are often spoke of aren't mainly due to her "attitude".

 

[UcMiami]

I don't disagree that DD has played better of late, but let's not pretend the chemistry problems that are often spoke of aren't mainly due to her "attitude".

But I don't think anyone who is talking actually knows the 'source' of the chemistry issues. It is easy to assume they are related to DD, but she was there last year and no one was talking chemistry issues.

 

[EricLA]

But I don't think anyone who is talking actually knows the 'source' of the chemistry issues. It is easy to assume they are related to DD, but she was there last year and no one was talking chemistry issues.

She was on the bench last year and not playing. That's a far cry from being on the court like she is this year. You are correct - no one has "named names". But too many things point to 1 or 2 players.

There were NUMEROUS reports from "people surrounding the recruiting process" that we heard about (not on the board of course) about 2 potentially problem players with "me first" attitudes. One is a freshman and one did not play last year. And it's not like this was from just 1 source. It was repeated many times by many different people - some associated with the recruiting process. I tend to believe where there's smoke, there's usually fire. This isn't like politics where people can flat out lie, and make everyone believe it. WCBB is just not that "important" to the rest of the world.

I do agree that no one has come out and directly said "Diamond has an attitude problem", but there are so many tangential comments about it (add to that the fact that NONE of her former teammates transferred with her - they all went to different schools than she did even tho Tennessee recruited most, or all of them). Just too much circumstantial evidence to not draw some relatively obvious conclusions... Just my opinion of course.

 

[UcMiami]

Eric - I suspect you are right, but it is often not cut and dried, and coaching staffs have a lot to do with how it works out. There were issues with both Jen and Sue when they arrived at Uconn (self reported in the legends TV programs a few years ago) but the team was strong and the coaches I suspect were all over it pretty quickly and the fans never knew anything.