KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Head Coach Holly Warlick met with members of the media before practice on Wednesday in Pratt Pavilion. No. 15/14 Tennessee (21-6, 9-5 SEC) is preparing for its last road trip of the regular season, traveling to Gainesville to face Florida (11-16, 3-11 SEC) on Thursday at 7:02 p.m. ET.
Answering questions from the media, Warlick discussed Rennia Davis‘ play and what to expect against Florida.
The Tennessee-Florida matchup will be streamed online via SEC Network+.
Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick
On Rennia Davis‘s response during practice this week after not converting on free throws in the final minute of the game against Missouri:
“She’s good. She’s been in the gym. It hurt then, but she’s gone back to work. She is a tough kid.”
On what’s been the primary focus in practice:
“Ball movement against sagging man-to-man and sagging zones. We did a lot of that yesterday, defending Florida sets. They shoot the three. They spread the floor. They shoot a ton of threes. (We’re) just trying to zero into Florida and what they do.”
On the importance of winning the next two games:
“Florida is our focal point right now. It’s on the road, and we tend to struggle with teams that are on the road and not ranked. Our focus is zeroed in on Florida, and we’ve got to get the win.”
On if she’s concerned about her team’s confidence:
“I don’t think so. I think it’s made us more focused at practice. They understand that there’s not an easy game, not that they thought there was. You have to play hard all the time, and I think they are realizing that. Every possession matters, and we have really been focusing on that. It continues to be a learning process for us. We’re really still young. We have two seniors that play a lot, but the rest are still learning. They are going to continue to learn.”
On showing the team footage from the first 15 games:
“Yeah, we do. We’ve seen it. A lot of teams are running sagging zones against us right now. Earlier they ran a lot of man-to-man, and we were successful with that. Now we need to get as comfortable with sagging zones as we are man-to-man. We are going to get there.”
On the Rennia Davis, Evina Westbrook, and Anastasia Hayes‘ play:
“I think Rennia (Davis) has stepped her game up. (Westbrook and Hayes) probably haven’t produced as successfully as other games. They’re still working hard. They’re still leading the basketball team. They are getting better defensively. We’re trying to get them quality shots. I think sometimes they take quick shots and just try to identify those and make sure they run the basketball team. There is so much more that they have to do besides scoring points or those type of productions.”
On the effort against Missouri compared to the effort against Alabama:
“I really don’t think in the Alabama game our kids overlooked them. I really don’t. We were pretty focused. They were more in-tune. The more I watch it and talk to our kids, I think our offense affected our defense. When our defense got going, we turned them over and scored. In the fourth quarter, we got great looks and they didn’t go. So it was a learning experience for them. At Missouri, once we settled in, I thought we played really hard. The last couple practices we had have been really hard. I think they see a correlation between when you cut hard and play hard and put the pressure on the defense, it will make the defense move when they are sagging. We just can’t stand, and I think they understand that.”
On struggling to the run the offense vs. Missouri:
“I don’t think we struggled to run our offense. I thought we penetrated more. If they are going to allow us to penetrate to the basket, then we don’t need to run our offense. I thought that’s what Jaime (Nared) was doing. We were getting a lot of steals and scores, and a lot of penetration and buckets and going to the free throw line. I wasn’t so concerned about our offense. We were attacking. I was more concerned about our defense and stopping Missouri.”
On dealing with a player in a shooting slump:
“I think it’s a combination of things. It’s getting in the gym and getting your muscle memory back and confidence and consecutive shots. I think you watch tape, (and say), ‘Was that a good shot?’ There are a lot of times when kids are in slumps its due to their shot selection. A lot of times they are forcing it because they want to score, and they take bad shots. I think recognizing shot selection and saying, ‘Is that a good shot for me? Is that a great shot for me? Am I working to get open?’ Those type of things. Then try to get them to focus on different things – rebounding, defense. Defense will lead to easy buckets. We talk a lot about that. Get your teammate open, so not just focusing on you. And you can get in the gym, and you can watch it on tape and see what quality shots you are taking.”
On what’s the biggest improvement that needs to be made:
“Probably ball movement on offense. One-on-one on defense, just awareness of where people are. We have to continue to be solid on rebounding the basketball. Don’t give people a second chance, and then we need to get second chance points.”
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