When the No. 4 Tennessee women’s basketball team takes to the court against Chattanooga Sunday, it will do so in unaccustomed fashion – without an illuminated bull’s-eye on their jerseys.
Tennessee is expected by many to spend this year rebuilding a team that lost its cornerstones in Gwen Jackson and Kara Lawson.
In building those opinions, the pundits failed to consult the team.
Entering her 30th season as UT’s coach, Pat Summitt said her team is more than up to the task of replacing last year’s seniors.
“We recognize that we lost two great players in Gwen Jackson and Kara Lawson,” Summitt said. “Obviously, players have to step up their games this season to pick up the slack.
“But in terms of talent, with what we have, we are very excited with the makeup of our team.”
Heading into the season, however, Summitt said her team still has some issues to work out. For one, Summitt and her staff see a need for commitment and dedication to practice.
“We have two concerns this season that are not related to talent,” Summitt said. “They are the day-to-day commitment of coming into practice and working hard. We haven’t been as consistent as our coaching staff and seniors would like.
“We also need consistent leadership. Tasha Butts and Ashley Robinson are the two most consistent leaders we have. They are seniors, and I think they feel that time is almost running out. They have a sense of urgency.”
The team’s commitment is definitely a focus, Butts said.
“It is early in the season and we need to grow up and be leaders,” she said. “We need to put forth that extra effort to make sure we stay consistent. We have to grow up and learn quickly.
“We don’t have time to sit back and whine about our strength of schedule. We just have to work hard every day.”
In their effort to step things up for the upcoming season, Summitt and staff threw a loop into the team by adding the triangle offense to the sets. So far, Summitt said the new offense will give the Lady Vols a facet they didn’t always have before.
“Assessing last year and looking at the percentages of our post players, we found that we were not taking advantage of the talent inside,” Summitt said. “We only lost five games and played in the NCAA championship game, but it is important to always look to get better.
“I’ve already seen great signs. We just have to develop those habits and make great reads. The motion offense has made us better without the basketball. When the players come in as the best offensive players on their high school teams, they are used to having the ball in their hands. The motion offense helps us to teach the newcomers how to make passes and reads as well as play without the ball.”
The new offense is also a helpful step at replacing the offensive production that Jackson and Lawson provided last season. Summitt said she expects her team will find balanced scoring rather than one player producing it all.
“We have a lot of players who have put up big numbers in the past,” she said, “but the consistency came from the two seniors. We do have some players who will step up. If one player doesn’t get 20, we won’t be in trouble.”
Junior forward Shyra Ely should be one of those players Summitt sees increased productivity from. After showing flashes of brilliance during her first two seasons, Ely is looking for a new consistency.
“I see myself as having a bigger leadership role this season and being more of a scorer and a defender,” Ely said. “Somebody has to fill what we lost to graduation and there is no reason that it should not be me.”
Aside from filling the scoring void, Summitt said this year’s senior class, which includes Ashley Robinson, Tasha Butts, Courtney McDaniel and LaToya Davis, is helping to get the team into working order.
“These are four seniors that have played, year-in and year-out, the toughest schedule in the country,” Summitt said. “They have been a part of three consecutive SEC regular season championships. They have been warriors on the road.
“The seniors can teach the younger players. As coaches, you can’t always get to players like you want. Hopefully, the players will respect this class enough to respond to them.”
Butts, one of those seniors, said this season’s effort will a combined effort of players stepping up their games and coming together for the good of the team.
“We don’t have room for one-dimensional players on this team,” Butts said. “Everyone will need to be an offensive threat and rebound the ball. We have to count on each other to the point that I know that Brittany (Jackson) will knock down her open shots and she will be able to count on me to be the defensive stopper that I will be.”
That ability to count on each other is something the Lady Vols expect will help them work at maintaining the level of success that Tennessee is known for.
“Our chemistry is very good,” Butts said. “That will carry over onto the court and that is good for us.”
