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Summitt sees link to last season, 1998-99
Lady Vols: UT V. Vanderbilt
- When: Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008, 3:30 p.m.
- Where: Away Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, TN
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
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By Pat Summitt's count, the present Tennessee team is vying for a historical correlation with two past UT squads.
The Lady Vols coach has a rooting interest in how this all plays out. She'll get another batch of clues this afternoon when Tennessee (22-2, 8-1 SEC), a lame-duck No. 1, faces Vanderbilt (19-6, 8-2) in an SEC women's basketball game at sold-out Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville. (TV: FSN, 3:30).
UT is reeling from a 78-62 thrashing at the hands of LSU on Thursday night. After stumbling in the race for the conference lead, the Lady Vols will try to hold sole possession of second place against the Commodores, who have won six in a row since a 79-63 loss in Knoxville on Jan. 20.
"We can mope around and keep our heads down,'' Summitt said, "or we can obviously take it to heart, come back and fight and pull together."
Thursday's loss is reason enough for Summitt to hope this season's team resembles last season's in an important aspect. During her weekly teleconference last Wednesday, Summitt spoke of how last season's 63-54 loss to LSU in the SEC tournament was a pivotal motivation for a team that won the national championship.
"At that moment, we had a meeting after the game and a meeting the next day,'' Summitt said. "We basically gave everyone an opportunity to voice their concerns and to determine which direction they wanted to go in. They said right then that they wanted to come together, play together and win a national championship. ... That was a defining moment for our team in the road to the championship."
This season's loss sparked at least one known meeting, Friday afternoon. The timing of this setback, though, is different.
"They were headed right into the postseason,'' Summitt said of last season's team. "We've got some games still left to play."
Therefore, the 1998-99 Tennessee team remains in contention for the correlation distinction. That team, which was pursuing the program's fourth consecutive national championship, skated through the regular season in a manner comparable to this squad.
The 1998-99 season ended in despair with a 69-63 upset loss to Duke in the East Regional final. Semeka Randall playing injured, Tamika Catchings' illness and the worst shooting night of Chamique Holdsclaw's career conspired against Tennessee's chances that stunning night.
Summitt made the connection between the respective UT teams during her scalding recap of Thursday night's beating.
"They were really a pain to coach,'' Summitt said of the 1998-99 team. "This team has not been quite as bad in comparing it to (then) but in the last couple of games they've reminded me of that team.
"No great sense of urgency. They start out great, they get casual and then (Thursday) they get beat."
The urgency for this season ought to be peaking because UT's offense, heretofore its strength, is bottoming out. The Lady Vols have averaged 62.7 points per game in their last three games against top-10 teams (Duke, Rutgers and LSU). Against three of the nation's top defensive teams, they have shot a collective 34.8 percent from the floor. Furthermore, they've averaged about 10 assists per game, compared to 17 turnovers.
In the past two games, the Lady Vols' overall field-goal accuracy has plunged from nearly 47 percent to 45.7. Their scoring average has dropped from 80.5 points per game to 78.8.
The offensive breakdowns apparently have their origins in a disconnect between the strategy discussed in team huddles and halftime talks and what's actually happening on the court.
Senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle described the second half against LSU in this fashion: "Everything that we weren't doing, (Summitt) was telling us to do."
On Thursday, LSU coach Van Chancellor opted to double- and triple-team UT star Candace Parker as the game wore on and "just take a chance with the rest of them."
Four weeks ago, when UT was shooting 50 percent from the floor and had four double-figure scorers against the Commodores, Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb thought just the opposite.
"Their starting lineup makes it very difficult to leave any of those players (open) this year,'' she said. "That's what makes (Parker) so good. You can't double and triple her as much."
Sounds like a case of two different Tennessee teams battling over one identity. This contest is more relevant than any historical determination and all the Lady Vols are invested in the outcome.
Said Summitt: "We need each other."
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by 98reax on February 16, 2008 at 8:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Coach Summitt's been reading my mind
Posted by Musicman74 on February 16, 2008 at 9:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ladies you need to turn it around. or your stay in the big dance will be short.
BO BIG ORANGE!!!
Posted by arkyvol on February 16, 2008 at 11:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
the lady vols have turned into candance and four spectators. there is rarely a time when any one of the girls in orange is not the athletic superior of the best player on the other team. i wish they'd start pitching in and help candance out.
Posted by gbeall on February 17, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I posted this on another story. I think it should be here.
I want to get this in before the game today.
The game will be a blowout for the Lady Vols.
However the neat thing is how all this is playing out with Pat. It is almost as interesting as watching their basketball games.
Pat will do what she thinks is necessary to get this team back on track and watching how she does it will be a story in sports physiology.
Pat has been around to long not to know how to fix this "problem". Great fun to watch and see how this plays out for the rest of the season.
GO VOLS
Posted by rccheek on February 17, 2008 at 10:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
gbeall, I think you mean "sports psychology". I agree with you, it will be fun to watch.
Posted by bmaples on February 17, 2008 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree, it will be interesting to see how Pat handles this. Even more interesting, though, would be what was said in the players-only meeting. I hope Candace made it plain that she can't do it alone. I also hope they looked each other in the eye and committed to work like h__l the rest of the way, individually and collectively.
Most important point in the story is that apparently they aren't listening to the coaches: "a disconnect between the strategy discussed in team huddles and halftime talks and what's actually happening on the court." That's a killer -- when the team thinks they know more than the coaches, they're asking to lose. Here's hoping they figure out that they need everyone to listen hard, play hard, and play together, not as individuals.
Prediction: this team either loses early in the NCAA, or wins it all. Depends entirely on what they learn and do after this loss.
Posted by johnlg00 on February 17, 2008 at 1:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe it's just me, but it seems that everyone on the team other than Parker has only two mental "settings" they operate on. They seem to think either 1) "Parker is our star, let her do it all." or 2) "We can't win unless I do something heroic." The idea of simply making the proper play at the proper time within the team context just seems foreign to them. One would think that they would have a better understanding of their roles by now and play accordingly. If I were their coach, I know I would be pretty frustrated at this point.
Posted by gbeall on February 17, 2008 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
rccheek, thank you! you are correct! My fingers and brain sometime do not connect at the same time or speed!
johnlg00, You said it, the others say "I needed to step up", "I let my team down", all after the game, OK, so now you know the problem, FIX IT before the next game, don't whine after the game.
It is almost game time. The lady vols will win!!
GO VOLS
Posted by 98reax on February 17, 2008 at 4:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Is anyone watching the slop LVs are throwing up today? WHY don't they know they are throwing up slop? Missing layups.
Posted by todd on February 19, 2008 at 2:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
time for a change!!!!!!!
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