Grant Halverson - Getty Images
When basketball goes to square courts, these guys will be ready. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
 |
February 9, 2012
Nashville, TN 9:00 PM EST TV: CSS / ESPN3 Internet Audio: Lady Vols Network Live Stats: GameTracker |
 |
|||
|
17-6 (8-2 SEC) |
|
18-5 (6-4 SEC) |
Let the rehabilitation roadshow begin.
The Lady Vols are coming off a nice win against Auburn, but this is the game that can put the South Carolina debacle in the past. Last time against Vanderbilt, Christina Foggie lit up the scoreboard for 27 points (a career high, but you already knew that) and Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen came up with a hurt shoulder and knee, respectively. Tennessee won comfortably, 87-64, but the injuries may have played a part in the Lady Vols' collapse against Notre Dame.
Tonight, it's a familiar opponent in a familiar funhouse. Memorial Gym will provide the Lady Vols with the opportunity to prove they can play as a team when the bench is located somewhere in Uzbekistan. Will they answer the call? Will the magical floating rims present trouble? Will Vanderbilt again claim a sold-out game to prevent UT fans from buying tickets?
| Position | Name | Experience | Height | PPG | RPG | APG | |
|
G | Meighan Simmons | So | 5-10 | 10.6 | 2.3 | 1.5 |
| P | Glory Johnson | Sr | 6-2 | 13.5 | 9.5 | 1.2 | |
| PG | Ariel Massengale | Fr | 5-7 | 8.5 | 2.7 | 5.2 | |
| G-F | Shekinna Stricklen | Sr | 6-2 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 1.9 | |
| F | Alicia Manning | Sr | 6-1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 1.4 | |
|
G | Christina Foggie | So | 5-9 | 17.7 | 3.1 | 2.2 |
| PG | Jasmine Lister | So | 5-4 | 11.9 | 2.8 | 5.4 | |
| C | Stephanie Holzer | So | 6-4 | 11.0 | 7.4 | 1.0 | |
| G | Kady Schrann | Fr | 5-9 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 1.7 | |
| G | Elan Brown | Jr | 6-0 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 1.7 |
In the previous match, Tennessee destroyed Vanderbilt's interior, causing Stephanie Holzer to commit five second half fouls and giving Clarke some Glory Johnson-shaped nightmares for days afterwards. Tennessee scored 46 paint points, led rebounds 39-30, shot over 50%, and netted 28 points off turnovers. Despite an all-too close halftime score and an all-too-familiar career night for an opposing guard, it was a game that made you forget about the Kentucky loss and feel good about the chances moving forward.
Now that the Lady Vols have Taber Spani back, the perimeter game presents more of a legitimate threat. Additionally, the yeoman's work of Stricklen and Harrison in the post has allowed Glory to venture out to defend guards recently, adding a very quick and long athlete on the edge to help slow down the deep threat. Her shoulder is close to normal again which, along with the return of Spani, the healthy knee of Stricklen, and the recent surge in play from Kamiko, makes this Tennessee team as healthy as it's been in a very long time.
Speaking of Kamiko: the gal deserves special mention. When she came in against Auburn, she was everywhere on the court, disrupting the Tiger offense and finding ways to get open in the paint. Her conditioning is clearly beginning to come around, and she may help provide the defensive answer at the perimeter that Tennessee has needed.
But as always, Rube Goldberg Gym always allows the possibility of bizarro game play. The best counter is a strong interior game, where shots should be easier to see. (Then again, UT has excelled at missing the point blank attempts.) If Tennessee can replicate their interior dominance, they should walk out with a confident win and some momentum going into the rematch against Kentucky. If Dee Kantner is officiating and Glory has two fouls before the opening tipoff, then things get a lot more interesting.
Prediction: 78 - 66 Tennessee
BassWatch™: Under-4 timeout of the first half.
0 recs | 72 comments
I'm missing this, but you'll probably hear me swearing from wherever you are if Dee is on this game.
Chris Pendley - February 9, 2012
The miracle that is GameTracker's media view!
Officials: Bryan Enterline, Ed Sidlasky, and Brian Hall.
Aside: I didn’t realize they ever allowed three guys to ref a women’s game. I just assumed there was a Title XI parallelism in officiating that required at least one set of XX chromosomes.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
I watched a bit of the UConn - Duke game a week or two ago.
Dee was reffing. Sure enough, all the post players had foul trouble. UConn’s starter had 2 in less than 10 minutes, and Duke was effectively reduced to a 5-guard offense. That’s part of what makes me think she just hates posts.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Spani starting.
/happy
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Decent-ish start.
Vandy’s conceding the three and Tennessee’s missed three of them, but one early foul on Tiffany Clarke.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Tennessee's had a couple moments of confusion when switching on defense.
Hopefully that doesn’t become a trend.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Foul on Holzer now.
Good, good. (Stricklen has one now, too.)
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Men's team is now tied for 6th in the SEC
after Ole Miss loses at Mississippi State.
Caban - February 9, 2012
and they finally broke 100 in the Pomeroy rankings...
at #98
Caban - February 9, 2012
now would be a good time to beat Florida again.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
indoubatably
They give us a 12% chance, but I think that’s way too low. Of course computer rankings fail to take into account things like the arrival of Stokes and individual matchups.
It’s one of those games where I think we either lock them down defensively and win, or they just go off and massacre us. Figure its in the 35/65 range for which happens.
Caban - February 9, 2012
7-6 Vandy at the under-16.
Just a lot of misses by the Ladies. They started alright.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Vandy shooting 50% and UT shooting 29%.
Yet just a one point game. If those trends regress, UT should be fine.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
2 on Clarke.
Sweet.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
UT slumping.
Having a really hard time getting the ball inside. Now would be a good time for a timeout.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
19-12 Vandy.
Now the timeout. Ugh.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
22-15 at the under 12.
Tennessee just not in a rhythm. But Vandy certainly is. They have figured out a pretty nifty blockout to allow their guards to drive, and Tennessee hasn’t adjusted yet.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Oh, dang.
Mr. Whistler is back. I forgot about him.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
$$immons
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
26-22 at the under 8.
Not UT’s best first half.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Monster block by Burdick on Holzer.
33-27 Vandy, but UT looking better in the last few seconds. Glory is absolutely beasting it right now.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
35-29 under 4.
Johnson with 15 points and Simmons with 10. They’re 9 for 13 and the rest of the team is 2 for 11. They’re getting killed on rebounds 18-10. Part is Vandy shooting better (fewer D-boards available), part is Vandy committed to boxouts, and part is just not rebounding well enough.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Johnson with only one board.
I’ll take trends that can’t continue for 1,000, Alex.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Something has to change at halftime.
Vandy has clearly spent a lot of focus on scheming Tennessee, and it’s working. They’re playing a very, very sharp tactical game.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
The one upside for UT:
Clarke, Holzer, and Foggie all have 2 fouls. As does Brown.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
and 2 on Lister.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
42-34 Vandy at halftime.
Ugh.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Gametracker's frozen, so a quick summary:
Vandy shooting 58% to UT’s 43%, and much of it is off good passing for good looks.
Vandy outrebounding UT 19-11. Whaaa?
Vandy may face foul trouble if Tennessee presses the issue. No UT players have 2 fouls.
Johnson and Simmons: 28 of UT’s 34 points.
Burdick shooting well and with 4 boards. A couple of clumsy moments, but she’s a definite asset tonight.
Remember when we had Shekinna Stricklen? Good times.
(She’s 1-4 for 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 1 steal, and 1 foul.)
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Also:
Turnovers: 8 on UT, 7 on Vandy.
Points off turnovers: 12-2 Vandy.
Paint points: 24-16 Vandy. (again, whaaaaa?)
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
South Carolina lost to Arkansas, 68-47.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
You can bet Kentucky is watching this game
and taking notes.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
And Massengale gets her second foul five seconds into the half.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Glory gets an O-reb and promptly charges.
Ouch.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
And 3 fouls on Massengale.
This is just ugly.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Shotclock violation by Vandy, and Stricklen finally shows emotion.
48-40 at the under-16. UT has the ball and a chance to cut the lead.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
#9 Green Bay, #10 Ohio State, and #15 Nebraska all lose.
If UT can find anything resembling rhythm, they have a chance to move up and solidify.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Vandy has only played 7 players, and 4 have 2 fouls.
Need to cause foul troubles for them.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
$tricklen
Finally.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
3 on Holzer.
Good.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Just 2, I guess.
Thought it was her third.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Tied!
52-52. Where did this come from?
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
$ierra, btw.
How did we do that one again? 3ierra? I think that’s it.
3ierra!
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
5 of Vandy's 7 deep have 2 fouls.
They’re backing off, which is helping open things up a bit. Need to draw one or two, though.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
A 12-points Vandy leady at 15:01 left.
Tied at 12:32 left.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Stricklen is showing up now.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
The lead!
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
54-52 at the under 12.
Vandy will have the ball and a fresh shotclock after the timeout due to Spani’s first foul. Fouls are 5 on UT, 2 on Vandy this half.
Oh, and through all this, Brianna Bass has been leading the point. Ariel went to the bench after her third foul. If it’s close late, I’d be tempted to leave Bass in just for the momentum right now.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
But Ariel is great at drawing fouls off the drive.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Crap. 2 threys by Foggie.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Refs are swallowing whistles on rebounds.
Vandy’s really bumping Glory around.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
60-54 Vandy.
And the ugliness returns.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
4 fouls on Glory now.7-2 fouls.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
65-56 Vandy now.
UT just completely fell apart at the under-12 timeout.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
And the Vandy fans doing Rammer Jammer
minus the yellow hammer.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Very very frustrating to watch.
And I’m sure, even more frustrating if you are part of the team.
Bruce in Louisville - February 9, 2012
*fartnoise*
A vintage Tennessee team this ain’t
Caban - February 9, 2012
12 points down, 3:40 to go
Not insurmountable — but for this team at this moment, it may be.
Bruce in Louisville - February 9, 2012
Yeah, they're done.
I’m already working on postgame.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Vanderbilt looks like Tennessee used to look
and Tennessee looks like Vandy used to look.
Bruce in Louisville - February 9, 2012
That's not a bad way to put it.
It’s no longer a question of winning the SEC. They won’t. It’s a question of getting past Kentucky, trashing the rest of the season, re-learning how to play, and reloading for tourney time.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Which tourney, in which year?
Reloading for this year’s SEC? This year’s NCAA?
Or have we already started looking to next year?
Not being snarky — just curious about what you meant.
Bruce in Louisville - February 9, 2012
This year.
Can’t just fold the tents on the year, but they have to be realistic: getting ready for tourney time is going to take some resetting.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
I would also note
that anyone who talks about “lack of effort” on the Lady Vols part doesn’t know what he’s talking about, in my opinion. I think they played hard; they just didn’t have an answer for Vandy’s quickness or shooting.
I haven’t looked at the stats, and I didn’t watch the whole game, so YMMV.
Bruce in Louisville - February 9, 2012
They're playing hard, but they're out of sync.
Vanderbilt won by having the right schemes for Tennessee. And Tennessee didn’t have a way to adjust to it. Balcomb drew up a beauty.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
2 Dores have 20+ points,
and Holzer is at 19.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
48 paint points for Vanderbilt.
A stat I never expected to write.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
And a bazillion 3s
or so it seemed.
Bruce in Louisville - February 9, 2012
UT had more.
7 for UT; 6 for Vandy.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Outrebounded 39-27.
Vandy knew exactly how to box out Tennessee. 14 O-rebs for them, too.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
And I have a question.
I’m watching Pat on the bench, and she seems … resigned. Certainly not fiery, or into the game.
I’m sure none of us know just how much the disease is the cause, and how much is the play of the team. I also suspect that none of us really know how much it is affecting everyone else.
So does anyone else know? Any unofficial comments shared, any insights?
Bruce in Louisville - February 9, 2012
Postgame is up. Fwiw.
David Hooper - February 9, 2012
Caught the end of this one guys.....scouting, if you will, for next week.....
I know that Hooper and I discussed this earlier in the year when I brought up the same question that Bruce did above…..is it getting worse?
Greg Alan Edwards - February 9, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Rocky Top Talk to post a comment.