Lady Vols looking for more out of their press as they host Mississippi State
Kim Caldwell’s Tennessee Lady Vols return home tonight to take on Mississippi State in what is a key game for Tennessee with road trips to Vanderbilt and top 10 Texas looming in the next seven days.
After two losses at home by a total of 3 points to top 10 Oklahoma and top 5 LSU. The Lady Vols got back to winning on Sunday in a 30 point rout of Arkansas. An easy win that still left plenty to be desired for Caldwell on the defensive end end especially in their full court press.
“I think we were just a little bit lethargic the whole game,” Caldwell said. “We didn’t really have a lot of pop or juice to us which is something I really wanted coming off the games that we had come off of. We allowed each entry after easy entry. We didn’t get a whole lot of turns. Our half court defense was better, but our full court was not where it should have been.”
In her first year, Caldwell’s pressure defensive attack has Tennessee second nationally in turnovers forced a game with 24.4 and third nationally in steals per game at 14.4. Tennessee is averaging nearly 36 points a game off turnovers. While the numbers look good for 15th ranked squad who is 14-2 overall and 2-2 in the SEC, Caldwell believes there’s another level for her team to reach on the defensive end of the floor when it comes to playing 94-feet.
“I think it’s very inconsistent,” Caldwell said of her press. “I think there are times where we turn it on and there are times where it’s just not there. We are just kind of out there just to be out there. My theory is we press really hard when we are hitting shots and when we are not we aren’t really doing it the way we should be doing it.
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“I think it’s just human nature. You score and you get a little extra adrenaline and you want to press a little bit harder.”
The other area where the pressure shows up is when the Lady Vols are down and into a more of a mode of desperation.
“I think they do it when they are down,” Caldwell offered. “So it’s just finding a way to get them to do it for forty minutes which is hard.”
Thursday night, the press will be key as it always is against a Mississippi State that’s won two straight SEC games including a home win over 10th ranked Oklahoma and a road win at Georgia. Mississippi State averages nearly 16 turnover a game.
Tip off Thursday night is set for 7pm ET and can be seen the SEC Network.
