Kim Caldwell didn’t sugarcoat much after Tennessee’s 98-60 road win over Coppin State on Thursday night. The Lady Vols are 2-0, and the margin was comfortable, but Caldwell spent most of her postgame time talking about the parts of the performance that still need work.
Her biggest takeaway from the night was the way Tennessee responded after a shaky opening quarter. Coppin State made things uncomfortable early, and Caldwell said that was exactly the kind of test her young team needed.
“Yeah, I mean, they gave us a great first quarter, and we needed that. We came out a little bit rattled, and their pressure got to us.
I think the environment was good for our newer players, our younger players. We appreciated that, it’s something that made us better.
We missed a lot of layups at the rim. We wanted to put pressure on and fly around.
I think we played harder today, and that’s why we were able to come away with a win.”
On the Vol Network radio broadcast, Caldwell echoed that same theme. Tennessee got sped up, struggled to settle in at the rim, and never really found a clean rhythm early.
“We needed this. We knew it was going to be a loud, hostile environment.
We’re a very young team. We’re a new team.
We got sped up. Just missed a lot of layups, really.
Didn’t turn it over too much. Just got sped up at the rim.
Shot selection became an issue because we couldn’t quite find our flow. So that was really good for our program.
We had a pretty good response. Didn’t love the fourth quarter either, but the middle two were okay.”
Even with the rough edges, Caldwell said she likes the group she’s coaching. The energy is there, but she’s also clear-eyed about how much cleaner Tennessee needs to be.
“They’ve been great to coach. They want to get better.
We have to get a lot better on the court. We’re making a lot of mistakes and mistakes we shouldn’t make that are going to cost us a lot of points down the road if we don’t clean it up.
But they want to get it right, they’re fun to be around and they’ve been great to coach.”
That work starts with the basics before Tennessee faces New Haven. Caldwell said the Lady Vols need better ball movement, stronger defense, and fewer fouls, especially in the press.
“We’ve got to share the ball a little bit better on offense. We’ve got to sit down and get stops.
We’ve got to learn our press rotations and stop fouling. Just clean it up.”
She pointed to Kennedy Fauntleroy as one of the night’s bright spots, especially in the second quarter. Caldwell praised the guard’s activity and efficiency, noting the seven assists and zero turnovers that stood out most.
“She was good. She was all over the place.
Seven assists, zero turnovers is what really stands out. She was flying around, getting steals, making things happen.
She didn’t have a great game against Duquesne, and so it was really good to see her put a great week of practice together. She’s really close to home.
She had a lot of family here, so I was glad she could have a great day.”
Freshman Gabby Minus also earned a mention after getting to the free throw line and crashing the glass. Caldwell highlighted her relentlessness and seven offensive rebounds.
“She’s relentless. She had seven offensive rebounds as a freshman, and I think that’s just her will is to go in there and do that. Our team was very complimentary of her tonight in the locker room, and I think that that’s good for her confidence and just continuing to teach her live and getting game experience under her belt.”
Kaylene Smikle’s night followed a different path. After an early foul issue slowed her down, Caldwell said sitting players with two fouls became part of the lesson. Smikle responded once she got back on the floor.
“It was great. She got in foul trouble early.
We made the decision to sit the girls that had two. We had, I think, four players with two fouls really early before the second quarter, and that’s something we’ve been trying to hammer home and teach is to play good defense without fouling, and sometimes the only way you can learn that lesson is when you’re sitting on the bench watching.
And so when she got back in the game, she really took advantage of it.”
Tennessee’s 2-0 start is in place, but Caldwell made it plain that the bigger story right now is growth. The wins are there. The clean-up work, she said, is still very much underway.
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