The day after being yanked from the starting lineup, Tennessee’s Glory Johnson sat down for a chat with Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt following the team’s practice.
“We need Glory to be more efficient,’’ Summitt said. “Glory is typically a player you know is going to play hard. She has to have so much more composure offensively.”
Heading into Sunday night’s regular-season finale against SEC rival Vanderbilt, Johnson is averaging nine points per game in conference play, compared to 10.7 overall. The former Webb School star started the season by becoming the second Lady Vol freshman to score in double figures for her first 10 games. Since then, she’s scored in double figures just five times.
The 6-foot-3 freshman forward’s field-goal shooting percentage is at 40.2 percent and she’s committed 75 turnovers.
Baugh Update: Forward Vicki Baugh, who underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament and a medial meniscus tear, was rehabbing at practice Saturday.
“She struggled for a couple of days with pain and with some nausea . . . but now we have all that regulated,’’ said Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols associate athletic director for sports medicine. “Today was her first real day of rehab and she caught up to the day or two we missed before. So I am very pleased with where she is right now.”
Moshak said that it’s not uncommon to suffer a meniscus tear along with an ACL tear.
Notebook: Vanderbilt is the third SEC team to face UT after having a week off because of a bye in its schedule.
Kentucky and Mississippi State both had byes prior to playing UT last week. The Lady Vols split those games, losing at Kentucky 66-56 on Feb. 19 before returning home to beat State 82-68 on Feb. 22.
UT's new $45 million football…
Images from Larry Murphy's book on…
Tennessee 69, South Carolina 57 men's…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 18
knoxdaniel#213742 writes:
I hope Amber Gray gets some playing time. I would like to see her play like the star she is. We can only get better with her. Go Lady Vols!
CTOWNICON writes:
I think Glory is a good player. Her offense is up in the air right now but it will come back to her. She plays defense pretty good and she is a great rebounder. Those are two positives to her game. I am glad her and Pat are having the talk, maybe they can fix the problem on her offense. Someone needs to tell her to play the way she was playing early in the season. I think she will be ready against Vandy.
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
I've noticed hints of a pretty good temper with Glory. I wonder if she does have a pretty hot temper and all the pushing and shoving going on around the block is what's effecting her shooting percentage. If so, she'll come around with experience and become one of the good ones...if she can learn to control it...that and controlling her obvious speed. She reminds me a little of Anosike with her toughness. Imagine a Nikki Anosike with Glory's speed...WOW! Sure hope she can live up to all the hype...
jr2miles writes:
Lets play hard Johnson and prove everybody wrong. We need a statement win against Vandy. Congrads Alex and have good game tomorrow night. Go Vols!!!!!
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
Thanks to Alex for sticking around and playing this year. I hate to think where we would have been without your leadership and consistency. Good luck in all your future endeavors.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
If anything, Glory has to slow down a little bit and dial back the temper. Physical play that would have drawn fouls in HS are just "play-ons" in college ball. When she gets whacked without a foul called, she tries too hard to get even. I love Glory's feistiness, but she overdoes it at times. When she learns to let the game come to her, she will be great. She is one who can't be accused of not playing hard, but she is just a bit too tense right now. She has as much upside as anyone on the team.
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
she just tries to do too much sometimes, and the refs don't help her out either, they just let some players sink or swim, and this is where she is at! Once she starts playing to the ways the refs are calling it, then watch out@ She's only get smarter and smarter, to go with her zeal and passion!
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
Glory's problem, IMHO, is her HS career. If Glory had played in the same way as CAndace did (at Napierville), she'd be a much better player. I'm not dissing Webb, I'm saying that the competition wasn't there for her in a lot of games.
I agree, too, with the 'play on' post. My daughter and I were discussing one of the HS seniors on another team, a girl who will be all state. Her main goal is to 'dive' into a defensive player and draw a foul, and she shoots over 10 FT's per game. As my duaghter said, 'once she hits college, those won't be fouls, she'll just be throwing up wild garbage'. There is a LOT of contact in college, especially underneath, that goes uncalled. It's a tough world under the basket (I can hardly stand to watch the men play, there is so much fouling going on).
xvolx writes:
Summitt is on the right path with Johnson. The path to the bench.
richvol writes:
Glory is so much better athletically than everyone she faced in high school that she hasn't spent enough time on developing the skill level she needs in college. She is still a better athlete than almost everyone she faces in college now but she is not the best shooter,ballhandler,passer or student of the game that she could be with work. If she is willing to work on polishing her skills she could be a tremendous player.
Kids today don't seem to understand what it takes to excel at this level of sports. Just because you can jump higher and run faster than everyone it doesn't make you a better ballplayer than the one who has refined his game. The men's game is especially rife with this type of player.
Michael Jordan was the best athlete on the floor but he was also the best at all the skills that define a great player.
LadyVolFanForever writes:
mparker, I agree. Too many high school coaches are teaching or putting up with too much of the "dive into your opponent" way to get free throws instead of learning to play true basketball and score goals. I don't think this is in the best interest for the kids. Your daughter sounds like a very basketball savy kid.
Glory has great physical ability but I think she needs to work more on pure basketball skills. I like the way she has a nose for the ball on rebounds but she misses a lot of putbacks. Time, effort and lots of practice will fix these problems. She has the speed and conditioning, she has the will to play and win.....she will learn what she needs and become a great asset to the Lady Vols.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Well said. The thing about all the truly great ones such as MJ, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and such, is that they always DID work on their games and CONTINUED to do so even AFTER they were All-Pros and champions. Physical talent alone will take you far, but it isn't NEARLY enough to take you all the way.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I don't like to knock a kid, but Amber Gray just hasn't shown me a thing this year. She seems to be completely overwhelmed with culture shock in every aspect of the program. Of course, the old saying is that the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores, and she is young enough to be a completely different player next year. For now, though,...not so much.
littleorange writes:
How long until Mike from Connecticut graces us with his infinite wisdom???
98reax writes:
Littleo, why would you conjure up such a thing? As long as you are conjuring, get us some hungry, conditioned, 100% focused players against Vandy today.
Get us some guards who are willing to lay it all on the line to close out this regular season with a victory. Someone like a Semeka Randall who had such a nose for the ball that before her rookie season even started she called Pat Summitt and asked could she pick up the ball full-court. Boo Randall was not afraid to go after the ball no matter where or who. She would take it and drive whirling-dirvish the length of the court and hit a lay-up.
At the sake of being greedy, get us a Tamika Catchings type who would rather die than take herself out of the game. Catch could outwork anyone on the court even with a severely swollen ankle, a busted nose and 4 personal fouls.
Could you conjure up some guts for Glory and some bravery for Bj? How about a bionic knee for Cain? And make the basket about the size of Old Hickory Lake so Sydney Smallbone can pull off a Sydney Spencer stat line. But leave Mikey under his rock, OK?
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Good post.
I'm about 30 miles from good old ancient Old Hickory lake (actually Cumberland river in upper reaches).
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
my daughter and I talk about the 'human' side of the sport a lot. I blush when I say, but I DO NOT know all the intricate details of the game. I play it, and love it, but I went to a large high school with a big minority presence, adn I was slow-footed and could not jump...so I played football.
Anyway, what we talk about are the head games, of 'play a clean opponant clean', of how to handle cheaters or dirty players, and mostly about how to read the game.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
About all the Vol Freshmen...several could have used a 'redshirt' year. To me, that includes Amber and Glory. Manning and Strcklen are learning on the job, they are 'getting it', They are just simply wearing down.
As for Brewer and Bass... they probably fit into the 'redshirt' category.
I think ALL these can be great LV's, they just don't have it yet and are learning in the bitterest way possible.
My main worry: learning can be stopped if you don't have some success. A lot of these girls are struggling to find ANY success right now.
BTW, we WILL beat Vandy.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.