Thursday, November 6, 2008

Tennessee 135, Carson Newman 55

Granted, Carson Newman isn't Vanderbilt or Rutgers, but I couldn't be happier right now about Tennessee's debut. Not because of the score, which was completely outrageous; but because of all that talent I saw out there tonight, and the balanced scoring. Six freshmen in double figures! Dig:

http://www.utladyvols.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/tennw/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/ut-cn-exh01

Kelley Cain has such a nice soft touch with the ball. Such hands that she makes it look so natural. She is going to be one of Tennessee's best bigs ever pretty soon. And Glory Johnson! That young lady is going to be a star. Lyssi Brewer won my heart with her double-double, and I like Shekinna Stricklen's game.

Honestly, though, I like them all. I really like what each brings to the team and I like the way they work together. The defense needs some work, but if there's one thing Pat Summitt's about, it's that. So in the long run, I'm not worried.

Briana Bass played more minutes than Cait McMahan, who was supposed to start and have Bass as her backup. So I wonder if Pat's just experimenting, or if she's flipped them and will have McCahan back up Bass. And though Bass is the same height as Shannon Bobbitt, she seems taller than Lil Bit. Bobbitt also seems faster than Bass, despite Summitt saying last month that Bass was the fastest guard she's coached. Who knows, but it's interesting to note that Bobbitt's birthday is Dec. 6, and she wore the number 00, while Bass' birthday is Dec. 7 and she wears number 1. Weird, huh?

I was surprised to learn that the reason Angie Bjorklund and Vicki Baugh sat out tonight was because both cut a class over the summer. Now why would you want to test Pat Summitt? Crazy kids. But realizing we beat another team by 70 points without those two is frightening.

Tennessee fans, what do you have to say about this win and this new team? Are you excited? Please, discuss.

3 comments:

James Dean said...

Really excited for them. I Johnson really impressed as i was expecting. Even though C-Newman is not a top notch team, they are of to a good start.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to hunt down that boxscore and see if any SuperFreshmen got more than 15 minutes of play.

When you win by 80, that's a sign that things are going really well, even if it's just Carson Newman.

Sue Favor said...

Both of you: agreed! I never expected them to do that well - I am shocked, actually.