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Tennessee Lady Vols dramatically failed to use height advantage during skid

By Caleb Calhoun

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 15: Smokey, the mascot of the Tennessee Volunteers, performs during a time out in the second half against the Wright State Raiders in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 15, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - MARCH 15: Smokey, the mascot of the Tennessee Volunteers, performs during a time out in the second half against the Wright State Raiders in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 15, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Despite the Tennessee Lady Vols’ size, they lost to all five recent quality opponents. The women’s basketball Volunteers have not exploited what they have.

Well that was a dramatic failure. In Kellie Harper’s first season as head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols, things were looking up. This young team started red-hot, and despite a few hiccups, they were 17-4 and 7-1 in the SEC three weeks ago with a quality win over the LSU Tigers.

But the real tests were about to begin. At that time, Rocky Top had a strength of schedule that by most metrics was outside of the top 150. But they were about to prove themselves with five straight games against teams in the top 50 of the RPI and either in the top 25 of the AP Poll or the top 25 of the RPI.

So what happened? They lost all five. It started with a blowout loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks on the road. With this team, there was no shame in that. But then they returned home to lose to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a blowout. Still, the Tennessee Lady Vols had to play that one without Rennia Davis. That was understandable.

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After MSU, they got a week off, but then they lost on the road in a rematch against LSU by 10. All of a sudden, things were not looking good. A home game against the Texas A&M Aggies was their best chance at a quality win. But they collapsed in that one and lost by two. Then they lost on the road Thursday night to the Arkansas Razorbacks.

What went wrong? Well, the answer is very obvious. Kellie Harper did not exploit the size advantage this team has. Instead, her young guards committed far too many turnovers, and their inside game couldn’t ever get anything going offensively.

This is the tallest team in Tennessee Lady Vols history. Tamari Key, Kasiyahna Kushkituah, Lou Brown, Jaiden McCoy and Kamera Harris make up the four and five spots. Rennia Davis and Rae Burrell bring major height advantages as wing players, and starting together, they should be unstoppable on the court.

Now, rebounding and defense hasn’t been too much of a problem for these guys. The issue is that the post players have not established themselves at all as threats under the basket. Not one of those players scored in double figures in any of those five games.

In fact, they combined to average just over 17 points a game. That means the five players individually were averaging just over three points a game. Given the hype behind Key and the experience and size of the other players, that’s a major problem.

Now, Harper does deserve blame for this happening. But it wasn’t all her fault. Key was aggressive against Texas A&M. She would just go to the line a lot, and she missed five-of-six free throws that day. In fact, she has missed seven-of-12 free throws during this stretch.

Even without Key, though, there is enough size for this team to be more aggressive in the paint. So Harper has not done what she needs to do to make sure that happens. In a close battle with Texas A&M, she let her players launch it from downtown way too quickly down the stretch rather than utilize the inside game she has.

As a former point guard, it’s understandable that Harper would be more focused on working with those players. But this team is built to play slow, inside-out basketball. Judging by the scoring on the inside, the Tennessee Lady Vols failed to do that miserably.

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Now, with three games left agianst teams outside of the top 100 of the RPI, they have little left they can prove until postseason play. The key is to run the table and figure out how to incorporate the inside game more into the offense. After all, what has happened so far is embarrassing.