[TonyLima]

Looking at all the negativity on this board, I shudder to think what the Lady Vols board looks like.

That's what sports fans are like. I belong to a sports fan WhatsApp chat and you should see all the negativity and declarations: "Player X sucks!" or "Team Y stinks!" or "what the heck was Coach Z thinking? Terrible play-calling", etc.

The Cardboard has generally been blessedly free of the kind of panicky negativity that is typical of sports boards, and while it has infected our football threads (with ample justification, unfortunately) it seems particularly out of place when discussing our consistently outstanding WBB team. 

Once my daughter became a college athlete I changed my attitude about these bulletin boards just a bit.  One day she looked over my shoulder to see something I was posting about the performance of the players, and she asked whether I would appreciate amateur armchair analysts posting negative things about her.  Made me think just a little bit about how I phrase things, trying to make posts more analytical and less emotional, refraining from negative criticism without it being constructive in some way.  Yes, I know that is very atypical of these boards, but the Cardboard has never been typical.  The day the Cardboard become "typical" will be the day I stop coming here.

Getting back to the game, our team nearly gave me an anxiety attack in the 3rd quarter.  So much of the college game depends on emotions and how players can control them when they are flooding their psyches.   It seemed to me that Tennessee was intimidated in the first half, and we should give Harper credit for loosening them up and getting them to play their best in the 3rd.  We also started out very tight--this was probably the biggest crowd most players on our team have played in front of--given last year's lack of attendance.  At Maples this year crowd sizes have been depressed, probably due to the elderly fan base and the thread of COVID. 

Once we got a small lead, the nervous energy dissipated and our team played its game and played it well for the remainder of the half, but somehow the furor of the Tennessee comeback whipped up the tightness again and our offense in the third quarter looked much like the first few minutes of the 1st.  What reversed this scoring drought?   Prechtel!  Prechtel had been 0/5 before she went on her scoring blitz.  The memory of the Louisville game game flooding back to me, and perhaps to her.  Whatever you say about Prechtel's season statistics, she has a unique ability to get into the "zone" in the moments of most pressure.  We should nickname her "Gamesaver Prechtel" as she has done it under pressure more than once.

We should not forget that Jones had been having a fairly average to mediocre year, with many performances not nearly as fine as her outstanding performances last year.  But she too seems to be able to summon her best performances when they are needed the most.  Her shot was not going down today--3/18--but 12/12 free throws, 19 rebounds, and 5 assists were the primary reason we won this game.  She shined when we needed her, and did so even while overcoming some bad shooting.

Jump and Lexie were outstanding in the first half, but with Brink's foul issues, Iriafan deserves enormous credit.  We saw a freshman come of age in a national spotlight game with thousands of hostile fans.  4/4 with 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and she seemed unflappable.  What a brilliant future she has.

As a team, keep in mind that Tennessee is on paper a much better rebounding team than we are.  So the fact that we out rebounded them is a testament to Tara's scheme and especially to Jones. 

All in all, an important win in a difficult place to play.  South Carolina will be tougher, and we will need Brink to play for many more minutes if we are going to have a chance there.  But seeing 1) the free throws go down, 2) the rebounding improve, 3) Jones come alive, and 4) our three point shooting become respectable-- are all good signs.

Re attendance at Maples, I’m one of those elderly fans. I’m fully vaxxed. And I would gladly go to games if the mask mandate was repealed. I could go without a mask, but, if I was allowed in, I’m sure I would be harassed continuously. No thanks.

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Silverlining,  Brink should be well rested for her matchup against Boston

LOL good point. But I thought it was USC (east)

[TonyLima]

Looking at all the negativity on this board, I shudder to think what the Lady Vols board looks like.

That's what sports fans are like. I belong to a sports fan WhatsApp chat and you should see all the negativity and declarations: "Player X sucks!" or "Team Y stinks!" or "what the heck was Coach Z thinking? Terrible play-calling", etc.

The Cardboard has generally been blessedly free of the kind of panicky negativity that is typical of sports boards, and while it has infected our football threads (with ample justification, unfortunately) it seems particularly out of place when discussing our consistently outstanding WBB team. 

Once my daughter became a college athlete I changed my attitude about these bulletin boards just a bit.  One day she looked over my shoulder to see something I was posting about the performance of the players, and she asked whether I would appreciate amateur armchair analysts posting negative things about her.  Made me think just a little bit about how I phrase things, trying to make posts more analytical and less emotional, refraining from negative criticism without it being constructive in some way.  Yes, I know that is very atypical of these boards, but the Cardboard has never been typical.  The day the Cardboard become "typical" will be the day I stop coming here.

Getting back to the game, our team nearly gave me an anxiety attack in the 3rd quarter.  So much of the college game depends on emotions and how players can control them when they are flooding their psyches.   It seemed to me that Tennessee was intimidated in the first half, and we should give Harper credit for loosening them up and getting them to play their best in the 3rd.  We also started out very tight--this was probably the biggest crowd most players on our team have played in front of--given last year's lack of attendance.  At Maples this year crowd sizes have been depressed, probably due to the elderly fan base and the thread of COVID. 

Once we got a small lead, the nervous energy dissipated and our team played its game and played it well for the remainder of the half, but somehow the furor of the Tennessee comeback whipped up the tightness again and our offense in the third quarter looked much like the first few minutes of the 1st.  What reversed this scoring drought?   Prechtel!  Prechtel had been 0/5 before she went on her scoring blitz.  The memory of the Louisville game game flooding back to me, and perhaps to her.  Whatever you say about Prechtel's season statistics, she has a unique ability to get into the "zone" in the moments of most pressure.  We should nickname her "Gamesaver Prechtel" as she has done it under pressure more than once.

We should not forget that Jones had been having a fairly average to mediocre year, with many performances not nearly as fine as her outstanding performances last year.  But she too seems to be able to summon her best performances when they are needed the most.  Her shot was not going down today--3/18--but 12/12 free throws, 19 rebounds, and 5 assists were the primary reason we won this game.  She shined when we needed her, and did so even while overcoming some bad shooting.

Jump and Lexie were outstanding in the first half, but with Brink's foul issues, Iriafan deserves enormous credit.  We saw a freshman come of age in a national spotlight game with thousands of hostile fans.  4/4 with 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and she seemed unflappable.  What a brilliant future she has.

As a team, keep in mind that Tennessee is on paper a much better rebounding team than we are.  So the fact that we out rebounded them is a testament to Tara's scheme and especially to Jones. 

All in all, an important win in a difficult place to play.  South Carolina will be tougher, and we will need Brink to play for many more minutes if we are going to have a chance there.  But seeing 1) the free throws go down, 2) the rebounding improve, 3) Jones come alive, and 4) our three point shooting become respectable-- are all good signs.

Re attendance at Maples, I’m one of those elderly fans. I’m fully vaxxed. And I would gladly go to games if the mask mandate was repealed. I could go without a mask, but, if I was allowed in, I’m sure I would be harassed continuously. No thanks.

---

Silverlining,  Brink should be well rested for her matchup against Boston

LOL good point. But I thought it was USC (east)