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Summitt got tougher after Stanford loss
'It's my job to raise the bar every day'
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As a long-time resident of Southern California, Billie Moore lives with the ever-present threat of an earthquake.
Yet it was her many years as a women's basketball coach and as a mentor and friend of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt that had Moore bracing for the big one when she entered UT's locker room in Los Angeles the night of Dec. 19.
The Lady Vols had just finished an 82-70 victory over UCLA, which was achieved despite their sloppiness and listless play. Moore, the Bruins' former coach and Summitt's coach on the 1976 Olympics team, anticipated her protege would rattle the walls with her critique, regardless of the outcome.
Instead, she witnessed a postmortem that was low key and generally positive. There wasn't so much as a tremor. Moore was stunned.
When Summitt passed her on the way to do postgame interviews, Moore couldn't resist commenting, "I couldn't do that. It's a good thing I'm not coaching today."
The remark struck Summitt's personal fault line. A 73-69 overtime loss at Stanford three days later sent her home for Christmas and straight into an extended period of video review and self-analysis. She ended up seeing the situation as a direct reflection of herself.
"You just have to hold them to a different standard,'' Summitt said. "I blame myself, looking back."
Since then, Summitt has taken a different approach with No. 2 Tennessee (19-1, 6-0 SEC), which faces Kentucky (11-10, 5-2) at 3 today at Thompson-Boling Arena (TV: MyVLT2). She has marshalled her coaching staff and her experience and plotted a more demanding course.
"I think it's my job to see more in them than they see in themselves,'' said Summitt, referring to the players. "And I think it's my job to raise the bar every day, every day.
"I have the energy and I have the staff that has the energy and the teaching to make it happen. I mean that is what we're going to do."
The undertaking has been as much about practice as the games, perhaps more so on certain occasions. Thursday's game against overmatched Ole Miss, for instance, played out more like a workout than a competition. Playing time was parceled like practice reps and the game video of zone defense play was valued right along with the outcome. The strategy allowed for another hard workout on Friday.
"There's a lot that goes into it,'' Summitt said. "But it always comes back to me as a head coach. I'm pretty tough on myself. When we're not playing at the level I think we should be at then I've got to ask myself why. At times, I've got to ask the players."
The season has renewed Summitt's appreciation for the difficulties of coaching a defending national championship team. She's had more practice than any women's coach, having been in this position seven times. The rewards often are leavened by the more difficult quest to repeat.
"It's good news, bad news,'' she said. "The good news is we win. The bad news is we think we're going to walk out and win again. You can't do that."
In this case, the good news was that four starters returned. The bad news began with integrating three freshmen into the lineup, which put Summitt in the role of teacher, not taskmaster.
A warning flag was raised when the Lady Vols were outrebounded by 18 in an 83-79 victory over then-No. 4 North Carolina on Dec. 2, but it wasn't waved with sufficient conviction.
"What I was trying to arrive at at the end of that game is where do we have to get better,'' Summitt said. "My thinking was defense and boards. While I placed emphasis on it, I don't think I placed enough. I don't think I placed enough."
She knew she hadn't when those same attributes, the bedrock of UT's tradition, conspired against the Lady Vols in their loss at Stanford.
After the team returned from Christmas break, Summitt hit the mute button for one practice, watching without saying a word. She later convened a clear-the-air meeting with the players.
"We were making excuses,'' she said. "In my assessment we were a team that had an excuse for things going wrong instead of trying to come up with a solution.
"I think they realized from that meeting that they needed to come together and stick together and get better."
Senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle's assessment centered on behavior more than attitude.
"Everyone was frustrated,'' she said. "It wasn't like we had any quit in the Stanford game. I don't feel like we were as disciplined at that point. Coach can teach, teach, teach, but until we're disciplined enough to do it, it's not going to happen."
There was no debating, though, that a sea change had taken place.
"She's always an intense lady,'' Hornbuckle said of Summitt. "It's just I feel like (earlier) it was more about trying to get everybody learning the plays. It took away from 'I expect you to get on the boards every time. I expect you all to produce a 40-minute game.'
"After that Stanford loss, that didn't happen anymore. She's teaching. She's showing you what play to run. But you're doing a walk-through (practice) and you don't go to the boards, she's going to yell at you."
The results have been encouraging. The Lady Vols' defense is more aggressive and disruptive. They've outrebounded four consecutive opponents by an average margin of plus-10.5 since being outrebounded by Kentucky on Jan. 17.
Still, the yelling figures to continue. A telling clue was Summitt's criticism of All-American Candace Parker for her first-half defensive effort in a win against Duke Monday night. Turnovers, and other lingering inadequacies also await further scrutiny.
It takes time to remold a team that Summitt previously thought was "just kind of turning on the light switch and then when everything was real bright and good then they'd turn it back off and then we're in the dark again."
On Friday she joked, "I want to go in sometimes and say 'OK everybody tell me how many possessions you're going to take off. I'll sub you out right before you're getting ready to take your three,' "
As a veteran, Hornbuckle knows how rocky it can get. She hasn't been seasick over the sea change. But neither has freshman Angie Bjorklund, who hasn't been above rebuke even after some of her big scoring games.
"Scoring is one thing,'' she said. "In order for me to stay in the game, in her eyes, you need to be a good rebounder and defender."
In Bjorklund's eyes, Summitt is being the coach that Bjorklund was expecting in the first place.
"I like the high expectations,'' she said. "It makes me a better player. That's one of the reasons why I came here. She's going to get the best out of me."
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by bmaples on February 2, 2008 at 10:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You know, in any leadership position, especially with young people, it's HARD to just keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing. For Summitt to do it, and do it, and do it, up into her 50s, speaks volumes about her commitment, and focus, and just plain ol' determination.
I also think it is much harder to keep it up with a returning championship team. They've got to find that desire again, even though they've already got one banner of their own hanging in TBA.
Here's hoping they remember the Lady Vol mantra:
- Offense sells tickets.
- Defense wins games.
- Rebounding and stops win championships.
Go Lady Vols!
Posted by budd on February 2, 2008 at 10:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
well said,
it is nice to hear that we have players who chose UT to get better and know what CPS is doing when she challenges them. As long as we continue to get those folks we will continue to be the leader that everyone else measures themselves against.
Posted by johnlg00 on February 2, 2008 at 10:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pat is truly a treasure. Angie's quote at the end of the article says worlds about her quality as a player and a person, and tells a revealing truth about young people in general. Most young people, especially the ones with the capacity for greatness, WANT to be coached, pushed, and otherwise motivated by any moral means to be better players and better people. It is a shame that too many of us adults who should know better think that our children or our players want us to be their buddies instead of their teachers, mentors, and "discipliners". They WANT us to tell them when their behavior is unacceptable, and they want to know the standards by which behaviors are or are not acceptable. These young women are getting lessons that will guide them in life long after they have taken off that orange uniform for the last time. God bless you, Pat!
Posted by ggriggs939 on February 2, 2008 at 11:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I believe what Angie means is that Pat's coaching and leadership will make her want to give the best she has to Pat. 'Taking it to another level' is something the player has to decide to do and that
decision is influenced by the standard set by the leader.
Posted by mparker on February 3, 2008 at 12:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As in football, coaches get too much credti for wins and too much blame for losses. The buttons Pat can push are really pretty limited: fussing, practicing, substitutions. She can't take the shots, can't go to the boards.
I'm still sticking to my original assessmetn: the season hingss on Hornbuckle and Anosike. Hornbuckle has to keep playing smart and under control, and Anosike hss to be in shape and DOMINANT on the boards.
We do miss Spencer, but maybe Bjorkland will be there by toruney time.
A final piece of the puzzle: Vicki Baugh. If she gets tough, that will give us five more fouls and aggressive minutes. That will be huge in the NCAAW's.
Good luck, ladies.
Posted by 98reax on February 3, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Pat is so incredible. Today's game will be an awesome challenge. We know LVs will be crashing the boards. Baugh seems very frail and foul prone. Hopefully, chunks of minutes will get her to loosen up and move those feet. I am convinced anything I can think of to harp on, Pat has already covered. I'm glad to hear Bird is OK. Did you see where the Ladies won all those WBCA Awards? Of coarse, Geno got his just reward too: Coach Most Likely To Get A Technical.
Posted by jorido on February 3, 2008 at 9:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dan writes a good article.
Posted by adimatteo on February 3, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Whats ets us apart is that Ibeleive, maybe naive, but I believe that as much as Coach Summitt wants to win, I think she can sleep well at night if she never wins another game. She has the drive and ego to want to win eevry time, but I truly think she values justa s much the factthat her players go on and are happy/successful in life.
Also, its not just about being loud and yelling, its knowing when, and why, what strikes me is that Coach Summitt and her staff seem most low keyed when we are losing or having trouble, rathe rthan panicking as we see with some coaches (in allsports),they seem relaxed and rather than panicking, they calmly decide on what needs to be done, changes to help chane the game and/or win.
Posted by johnlg00 on February 3, 2008 at 10:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
mparker12, I agree with your statement as it applies to football more than to basketball. In football, there are just so many more variables that are beyond the control of any one coach. There are so many more players that coaches just can't have deep relationships with more than a few of them. Just look at the influence of CBP on the men's team. No one can argue that the talent he inherited was equal to the "power" teams in the conference at that time, yet they won from the beginning. The clear implication was that he took average talent and "coached 'em up" to the point that they believed in themselves enough to achieve at a whole new level. Pat has been here so long now that we take her excellence for granted. We expect the Lady Vols to be successful year after year, no matter how the team turns over. That is because we believe in HER to not only bring in great new talent every year but also to mold them into a winning team. Those are two different skill sets that few coaches master consistently, and she is one of the best ever at both. Add to that her ability to mold quality young adults who are successful in later life, and I just don't see how you can say, or at least imply, that her coaching is overrated.
Posted by pdhuff on February 3, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Raising the bar! What kind of concept is that? That kind of mess could lead to another NC.
Pat, you might need to rethink that in as much its easier to take the path of least resistance.
"If at first you don't succeed, quit". Or at least lower the bar to make goals attainable.
Posted by VolBall_1 on February 3, 2008 at 2:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
UaConn
They say ignorance is bliss--so you are full of bliss. We have figured out why you come here--between you and the other 2 UaConn fans you can't make a message board work...Now go back to sleep.
Posted by utchris2003 on February 3, 2008 at 3:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maya Moore plays on the Men's team now? The only outstanding performance I saw was the Men's team against a ranked team, not the women beating ProviWHO? I guess that Geno had to let Maya move over to the Men's team after Calhoun suspended half of his player's.
You can't seriously put Moore on the same level as Parker. Is she good? Yes. But seriously, Parker is not only dominating the college level, but she was one of the top players for the National Team last summer. Her three year's of playing will still be more impressive than Moore's 4. Actually Moore will still be be behind Holdsclaw, Catchings, and Turasi as well.
Posted by 98reax on February 3, 2008 at 4:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Now that's the CP3 the fans want to see. A nice one hand slam dunk. Gives the fans something to cheer about in an otherwise very sloppy boring game. Hornbuckle is playing great. Fuller is too. the Bird is doing some good thing, scoring some points. The stripes are making the game very ugly otherwise.
Posted by SFOrange on February 3, 2008 at 9:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That article sums up why UT has 7 national titles--a higher standard every year, year after year.
Go Vols.
Posted by BigOrangeVol on February 4, 2008 at 1:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
UF, no one outside of your immediate family cares about you, what you think, your inconsequential team, their pansy dwarf coach or what teams you hate. We don't want your well-wishes or your uninformed juvenile posts either. Your profanity and vulgarity only serve to betray your ignorance, lack of a comprehensive vocabulary and deficit of originality. We aren’t concerned about you, UConn or the Little East Conference! You are the epitome of the little yapping Chihuahua that thinks he’s a Rottweiler until someone says “Boo!” then he urinates in the floor and runs to hide under the bed. So go slip into your underoos, have your Mommy tuck you in and turn off your computer. Obviously you just don’t comprehend that your insignificance, as well as UConn’s, to us is immeasurable.
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