re: Lady Tigers 62, Tennessee 64 final

quote:

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LSUAlum.... we'll have to agree to disagree. I like Nikki, but the last 2 minutes were bad coaching.

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Isn't that what I just said? She coached a good game, but those last two minutes............actually last MINUTE, was not her best. But I still say that some of that has to fall on players. She didn't go out there and miss Lutley or Plaisance's free throws in that last minute. Had they hit those, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

.............and here's another thing that we're overlooking.

Nikki really HASN'T done a poor job recruiting. In her first recruiting class she got..

Krystal Forthan 6'4" - McDonalds All American, #5 rated HS player in the nation
Sheila Boykin 6'2" - #27 rated HS player in the nation

In her second class she got.....

Danielle Ballard 5'9" - #27 ranked HS player in the nation
Kuaneshia Baker 5'10" - Louisiana HS player of the year
Derreyal Youngblood 6'4" - One of the top HS players in Louisiana

In this upcoming recruiting class thus far...

Raigyne Moncrief 5'10" - WBCA All American, #18 ranked HS player in the nation
Laquinta Jefferson 6'0" - NJCAA All American

Also, keep in mind that the CURRENT starters are supposed to be.........

Forthan
Plaisance
McKinney
Webb
Kenney

or

Forthan
Plaisance
Ballard / Lutley
Webb
Kenney

Either of THOSE teams would've beaten UK AND Tennessee. No one could've known that Forthan, after having played so well in the NCAA tournament, would leave the program to become a "model" in May..........catching the coaching staff completely by surprise. Remember.........?

Forthan Leaving to be a Model

So, again..........give Nikki time. She had a "franchise" type player leave unexpectedly and was left with the current team. The team, as frustrating as they are(and they are DEFINITELY testing my patience ) are actually getting better. A month ago, UT would've blown this team out. I really hope that this team starts to understand the kind of effort and FOCUS they need to be able to beat teams like UT, UK, and TAMU. Hopefully before this season is over but, definitely next season when Plaisance, Kenney, Lutley, and McKinney will be seniors......and Ballard, Baker, and Youngblood will have a year under their belt.



By the way, FWIW, a friend of mine who was at the game said that Nikki was trying to call a timeout before that last play but, neither the players nor the refs saw her.

Nope.
Van didn't "sign" Forthan. He got a verbal commitment from Forthan and when he was relieved Nikki had to re-recruit her.........remember? And then she was able to get Boykin to switch from UCLA to LSU. Get YOUR facts straight.

We're definitely close to competing for the SEC. That's already been shown by the way the team competes against the top teams. If you think she's done a poor job then that's your opinion. But she's definitely an upgrade over Chancellor.

Yes, Pokey's resignation set the program back a few years. But even with that, Van could've done a MUCH BETTER job with player development and motivation than he did. He did a good job recruiting his first two seasons.

Yes it's my opinion just like you have yours. And fortham committed to van period. So what record this year would disappoint you considering we have nothad a losing record since 1998 in sec???? And how about coach p still being on sidelines and two coaches with their under 1 year olds traveling to away games? That all good for the team? The image of the team is done nothing but go down on and off court. Is this all vans fault? I am nothing but rooting for this team but IMO nc has done a poor job on and off the court. Rebuilding year or worst season in 15+ years? Fortham left and not nc fault but so you give her credit for getting her but not losing her? Time will tell but so far it is not good for our program

Honestly, once I knew Forthan was gone, I wasn't expecting much more than 18 wins AT BEST.

Worst season in 15 years? Are you kidding? The season's not even over yet. Wait till it ends before you make THAT assessment. Look we're all disappointed at the close losses the team has had but there's still SIX GAMES to play. Are you giving up on the season already? Really?

As far as all that off the court stuff you're talking about (Coach P, the babies, etc), I don't think that that's the reason the team hasn't played well during the SEC season. Again, if Forthan was here, they'd still have all of those other factors you're talking about but, their record would be much better. And, I didn't assign "fault" in Forthan's departure. I said it was UNEXPECTED. In other words, Nikki couldn't plan for that.

Again, you may not like Nikki...........you may not like her methods..........but, at least give her a chance. She's already taken the team to the SEC tournament championship game after only one season. To want to complain during a rebuilding season, after what she did the first season, is premature at best.

This team just lacks depth and inexperience, we return Ballard, plaisance, and Kenny. Next year we bring in a lot of weapons that will contribute immediately. Moncrief is a 5 star guard out of Florida who is a clone of Ballard but is suppose to be better offensively. We also bring in a top 5 juco player Laquinta Jefferson who will probably start next season and we bring in a very underrated wing player called jasmine Rhodes. She would easily be in the top 50 but her injury a year ago took her off the map. She brings incredible offensive skills, she can shoot and rebound really well. Personally, I expected what is happening this season after we lost 7 players from last years team. To want Nikki fired after leading a class of underachieving seniors to a sec championship game and not ever get through her second season is just ignorant.

That is encouraging, you can see the fatigue in the players each game. We play the same 5-6 players every game, all game. We have no depth which kills us, that is what seperates teams like Tennessee, Kentucky, UConn from everyone else.