It wasn't about Ace vs. Ice after all. It was about Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and J. J. Hones versus Alexis Hornbuckle and Shannon Bobbitt. It was about Auguste and Parker and Anosike on the boards together against Appel (who played like she had the flu), Wiggins and Pederson.
It was about Tennessee pressing and trapping for 30-odd minutes, starting their defense way before half-court, and using superior reach, length, and foot speed to smash Stanford's deliberate offense to flinders.
And in the end, it wasn't much of a game. The Cardinal ended up with 24 turnovers, most of them in the first half, where it mattered; the first set were mostly forced by Tennessee athletes, but later the underdogs came mentally unglued, throwing the ball at teammates who weren't there, or picking up their dribble at just the wrong time. Athleticism-- as Clay often says (and may not enjoy saying) erased skills; experience beatenthusiasm nerves, and the Lady Vols had no trouble repeating as champions.
Voepel and Geno, in retrospect, look like prophets: Mechelle said that Anosike would show up and score, and Geno said after UConn's loss that top teams beat Stanford (if they can; UConn couldn't) by creating a full-court, up-and-down, maximally physical game.
"Who has the athletes to do that?" said Coach TV afterwards. "They do." Gold-Onwude (whose team, remember, beat Rutgers in November) added, "We hadn't seen that much pressure all year."
Candace should be happy: she showed, not just skills, but poise, and dedication (not least to the physical demands of rehab). Her team pulled together around her, and Pat Summitt's group of elite, experienced athletes looked like what they were: together, they came out on top.
UPDATE: Lady Vols fans celebrate; other fans discuss.
CLARIFICATION: new reader mail suggests that this post implied Tennessee's athletes weren't skilled. That wasn't at all the intended implication (not here, not in Clay's piece, not in coach TV's press conference either). Rather, Tennessee's physical gifts-- as applied, skillfully, on the defensive end-- made Stanford's players unable to use their skills.
It was about Tennessee pressing and trapping for 30-odd minutes, starting their defense way before half-court, and using superior reach, length, and foot speed to smash Stanford's deliberate offense to flinders.
And in the end, it wasn't much of a game. The Cardinal ended up with 24 turnovers, most of them in the first half, where it mattered; the first set were mostly forced by Tennessee athletes, but later the underdogs came mentally unglued, throwing the ball at teammates who weren't there, or picking up their dribble at just the wrong time. Athleticism-- as Clay often says (and may not enjoy saying) erased skills; experience beat
Voepel and Geno, in retrospect, look like prophets: Mechelle said that Anosike would show up and score, and Geno said after UConn's loss that top teams beat Stanford (if they can; UConn couldn't) by creating a full-court, up-and-down, maximally physical game.
"Who has the athletes to do that?" said Coach TV afterwards. "They do." Gold-Onwude (whose team, remember, beat Rutgers in November) added, "We hadn't seen that much pressure all year."
Candace should be happy: she showed, not just skills, but poise, and dedication (not least to the physical demands of rehab). Her team pulled together around her, and Pat Summitt's group of elite, experienced athletes looked like what they were: together, they came out on top.
UPDATE: Lady Vols fans celebrate; other fans discuss.
CLARIFICATION: new reader mail suggests that this post implied Tennessee's athletes weren't skilled. That wasn't at all the intended implication (not here, not in Clay's piece, not in coach TV's press conference either). Rather, Tennessee's physical gifts-- as applied, skillfully, on the defensive end-- made Stanford's players unable to use their skills.
posted by Jessie B at 10:36 AM
