UT lacks marquee player, wins with team concept
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — No marquee names, no problem for the Tennessee Lady Vols.
Without well-known players like Kara Lawson, Tamika Catchings or Chamique Holdsclaw, top-seeded Tennessee (28-3) reached the round of 16 for the 23rd straight year with hopes of winning a seventh national title and first since 1998.
This year’s team differs from many of the past that were built around at least one star player who took charge game after game.
Tennessee is relying on every player to contribute — even more important after point guard Loree Moore’s season ended Jan. 24 because of a knee injury.
The Lady Vols don’t wonder if a player will be the hot shooter, get a key steal or make a critical defensive play. The mystery instead is who will be the hero this time.
“That’s the way it’s been all year for us. No one in my eyes has just dominated our team this year. It just seems that on any given night somebody can dominate,” senior center Ashley Robinson said.
The Lady Vols, who face fourth-seeded Baylor in the Midwest Regional semifinal Sunday, had only one player on the Associated Press All-America list for the first time in six years.
Junior Shyra Ely made the AP third team. She is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. Ely was the top scorer in 14 games this season, but she shared that distinction with seven other players.
Tennessee learned in last season’s NCAA tournament that having one or two key players wasn’t enough. Lawson and Gwen Jackson were the main focus of opposing defenses, and the Lady Vols struggled when one or both weren’t scoring.
“We felt like (last year) we were playing offensively two against five or three against five. It’s tough to win that way,” coach Pat Summitt said Wednesday. “Certainly that makes us a better basketball team when we have a five-on-five attack.”
Tennessee ended last season with a 73-68 loss to Connecticut in the national championship game.
The Lady Vols missed the leadership of Lawson and Jackson early this season but have made huge strides since then. Summitt realized she had to put the offense in the hands of the whole team, not just one person.
“We haven’t always played this way. We’re not going to necessarily have across-the-board equal opportunity offense unless we feel that’s to our advantage. With this team, we felt it was to our advantage,” she said.
During games, the players recognize who is having a good game, and point it out to the coaches.
“If Shyra is hot, they will say, ‘We need to run this and get Shyra the ball.’ Or ‘We have to get (Shanna) Zolman open or Brittany (Jackson) open for the 3,'” Summitt said. “I really like the responsibility that every player has taken on offensively and defensively for us to be successful.”
Another good example was Tasha Butts during Tennessee’s 94-88 win at Vanderbilt on Feb. 15. The senior guard came into the game averaging 7.8 points a game and finished with a career-high 37 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. She made all six 3-pointers she attempted.
The points are distributed more equally in some games, such as the Lady Vols’ 79-59 win over DePaul in the second round. Six players reached double figures.
Summitt has found it is easier to coach a team of equal players, and the players think it’s better for them, too.
“When people scout us, they can’t focus on guarding one person,” Robinson said. “They have to guard all five of us.”