Tennessee moved a step closer to the official start of women's basketball practice next month by convening their first full-team workout on Thursday.
Since fall semester began, the Lady Vols had been conducting individual workouts that involved no more than four players at a time.
"We worked on all these things in individuals,'' freshman Taber Spani said, "but now it's understanding it in a team setting."
Actually the Lady Vols spent most of the individual sessions introducing and drilling on defensive concepts. They will use the team workouts to start playing catch-up on offense.
Team workouts also introduce the use of male practice players.
"The size of the guys down low defensively surprised me,'' freshman Faith Dupree said. "I've played some big people, but those are the biggest I've played."
UT coach Pat Summitt likely will be more vocal as well. During individuals, she spent more time observing while her assistant coaches directed the drills.
Dupree was happy to report that she survived a Summitt scolding on Thursday.
"You know what? Bring it,'' Dupree said. "I'm going to mess up, and she is going to tell me what I did wrong."
Fellow freshman Kamiko Williams has been waiting to hear more from Summitt. Until now, Williams has been struggling to get a read on Summitt's coaching style.
"I'm trying to figure out how she coaches,'' Williams said. "She'll pull me to the side and say something and five seconds later she'll yell at me.
"OK normally does she yell all the time or is she calm all the time or does she do both? Is she yelling because I did the same mistake twice? I try to pull her aside and ask questions."
She'll get more answers as the team workouts progress.
"As we get more comfortable with what we want to do offensively and defensively, then we're going to have to dial it up,'' Summitt said.
Nice Return: Lady Vols associate head coach Holly Warlick said the fund-raiser for breast cancer awareness that she and UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell held last week raised approximately $17,000.
Warlick said she and Caldwell, a former UT player and assistant coach, plan to hold similar events.
"We had two people approach us that have done major events who want to get involved,'' Warlick said.
Gray In Town: Sophomore forward Amber Gray, who's been recovering at home in West Chester, Ohio, after undergoing surgery in July for a brain aneurysm, made her second visit campus of the fall semester last weekend.
She donned her uniform and took part in a team photo shoot last Friday.
Quotebook: Williams on mastering the proper footwork for playing defense: "I get mad at myself. I don't understand why my feet aren't cooperating. I'm going to have to have a one-on-one with my feet, that's what I'm going to have to do." ... Summitt on Spani: "I don't even think of her as a freshman. I think of her as a player and a leader, vocally and by example." ... Summitt on the added benefit of the weekly team workouts: "It puts more peer pressure on them ... You put everybody out there and I think there's going to be some players who are going to say, 'Well, I've got to pick it up.' "
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
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Comments » 15
VolInIndy writes:
Number nine, number nine, number nine
halloffamebowler writes:
Not this year.Too young and inexperienced.
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
Bring it!!!!
dwa7#337691 writes:
remember..........sadly..........Ucan't will be trying for an undefeated season again and they may do it. Geno does have a full stable....
richvol writes:
Well TDTN...Dupree finally made the team. A Lady Vols team but still a Vols team. Halls will be sooo excited.
Need_2_Know writes:
Any further update on Amber Gray's progress. The Vol nation holds her dear, and we would like to know as much about her recovery as she is willing to share.
On or off the court, she is still one of us.
utfan00 writes:
What's is the latest with Vicky Baugh? Will she be ready to play the fall?
utfan00 writes:
I wouldn't under estimate these girls. They know Pat Summit isn't going to tolerate the mess she put up with last year out of them.
utfan00 writes:
To all lady vols fans - I think the 5 starters
will be Angie,Kelly,Shikenna,Brianna, and Baugh
if she is ready to play. Comments?????
utfan00 writes:
I can see Gloria being the 6th man player. I don't think Manning and Brewer are good ball players. Can Spani play ball or is she overated too?
utfan00 writes:
I can't wait to see their performance this year.
Hopefully the fans will see a big improvement.
Go Lady Vols!!!!!!
tonyvick#213307 writes:
I am such a fan of the lady vols but the last two years of recruiting has me baffled. We don't seem to be targeting the best players anymore or they tend to go some where else. Is it just me?
utfan00 writes:
The top players made a choice to play at other colleges. Notice Pat's attitude on tv. That's enough scare any player away from KNOXVILLE.
eldr5#344719 writes:
I think, whether she starts or not, Glory needs to play big time minutes and stay out of foul trouble for us to have a great season.
kazoo writes:
Pat's recruiting has been pretty mediocre in recent years, really: She was bailed out by Parker's greatness, that's for sure, but she simply isn't able to put a really cohesive, athletic team on the court any more; it's typically a hodgepodge of players--many admittedly highly recruited-- who often struggle to score. PS keeps signing shooting guards who simply aren't athletic enough for the position.
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