I’m not calling for a firing on the tarmac. Kellie Harper gave too much to the Tennessee Lady Vols as a player for that. However, after UT’s 74-73 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament semifinals, they can’t let her coach another game.
Don’t risk it.
If UT makes a Cinderella run in March, Harper will have a strong argument to keep a job she is imminently unqualified for. Her decisions at the end of that South Carolina game were some of the worst coaching blunders in the history of the sport men’s or women’s.
Let’s recap what happened. The Tennessee Lady Vols had a real chance to upset the No. 1 ranked and undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks. They came back from 12 down at the start of the fourth quarter to take a 73-71 late in the game. Then they got a defensive stop, and Jasmine Powell drew a foul and two free throws with four seconds left.
The win seemed like a lock, but Powell missed both free throws. That’s when Harper’s poor coaching came in. South Carolina was out of timeouts and was rushing down the court to get up a prayer. However, with 1.1 seconds left at midcourt, Jewel Spear committed an intentional foul.
Now, it was a foul on the floor, as South Carolina was not in the bonus. On paper, that would seem like a smart move. However, you do it if the team is actually in a position to score! It makes no sense to do that, which she clearly did on Harper’s orders, when they are at midcourt and there’s a second left. There won’t be enough time for a good shot.
After the dumb foul, though, came the worst defensive call in the history of the game. With a second left, Harper drew up a defense that saw three Lady Vols in the post, one guarding the passing lane on the left side and one player actually guarding a potential scorer on the perimeter.
This is what came out of that defensive scheme.
Kamilla Cardoso had a wide open look and banked in a three. South Carolina, thanks to the worst sequence of defensive coaching in Tennessee Lady Vols history, remains undefeated, and UT is heading home, waiting for its NCAA Tournament seed that will be way too low with a team that has its talent.
Harper defenders will say Cardoso has never hit a three before so it made sense to leave her open. However, there was less than a second left when she caught the ball. If you’re going to leave somebody open, leave open the person in-bounding the ball. For her to score would require an extra pass, which there wasn’t enough time to make.
Also, you can’t explain the ridiculous foul beforehand. It’s as if she went by the book and couldn’t understand situational decisions on the fly. Again, yes, you foul on the court with that amount of time left IF a player is in a position to get a good shot. Instead, she wasted what was about to be a desperation miss.
Don’t spin this either by saying playing South Carolina this close is evidence of her coaching. She’s in her fifth year at the most prestigious program in the SEC. Playing anybody close shouldn’t be the barometer, and with players like Rickea Jackson and Tamari Key, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be on the level of Dawn Staley’s program now.
Oh, and Conference tournaments are wild crapshoots by design. Big upsets or playing elite teams close in those circus events shouldn’t help keep a coach around. The Georgia Bulldogs made that mistake with Dennis Felton because of the men’s team’s run in 2008 to win the SEC Tournament title.
Speaking of runs, that’s what gets us back to why the Tennessee Lady Vols should fire Harper now. The fact of the matter is March Madness is still a tournament in which any team can get hot. Harper was hired off a lucky Sweet 16 run with the Missouri State Lady Bears, but those runs aren’t always reflective of coaching.
By far the last thing UT fans will want is to see this program make a lucky run this year in March, keep Harper around because of that and then just sink into mediocrity or be stuck at this level. Expectations are greater, and it’s why they need to fire her now before it’s too late.
What will help is the Tennessee Lady Vols have a pool of elite candidates to now choose from. They can stick with tradition and hire Kara Lawson, but if not, hiring women’s basketball coaches is Danny White’s forte. He’s found gems at his previous schools, most notably now Syracuse Orange coach Felisha Legette-Jack. It’s time for him to do it again.
4 Responses
Yes fire her,I could have had better choices and never coached a day in my life,Kellie should be so embarrassed,she should resign,so ridiculous,that was just pitiful, no excuses none at all,I’m still in shock how dumb,I’m sorry,it was just dumb,worst call I’ve ever seen,I wouldn’t show my face again on the court,I truly mean it,that whole sequence was elementary, kindergarten stuff,I’m just being honest,they pay her money for that,realy ,I’d give every penny back.im not trying to be mean,it’s just pitiful,unreal
One recent, hypothetical, historical advantage for Harper is that LSU lost in the SEC semi-finals last year by two to the Lady Vols. LSU went on a big run and won the National Championship.
In the same fashion, it is UT’s to lose this year. If the team can use this loss, get a swagger, and stay confident start to finish they can put themselves in a position to win the ‘ship this year. Harper’s teams look too indecisive, maybe confused, all the time. It is not just the just USC game(s), and that’s from a non-UT fan’s standpoint.
Not being a Lady Vol fan, I’m curious to know whether she trusts her assistants and husband. I’ve seen where she has disgustedly waved off her husband’s play call. It also seems she doesn’t allow assistants to say much to her with conviction. Pat’s coaches always seemed to have played a big role in coaching during in-game situations.
In the situation of moving on from Harper m, I’m not sure who Danny White should hire. If they want to stick to husband and wife team look at the Arizona coaching duo. At least they can get to the ‘ship and they have a win vs. UCONN. They have struggled recently because of the Arizona program name not their coaching ability. Harper has the biggest program name ever yet hasn’t proven her coaching ability.
If UT looks at men coaches, how about a look at TCU’s head coach. Barring injury, the ‘Frogs would have had a huge season. They had the pieces. The WVU coach also has experience building back an NCAA- rich program at SFA. Now, he has kept WVU in the hunt of the Big 12 with little of his own personnel in just one year. 23+ wins. Impressed with his ability to build talent. Imagine if either of these men could would work their magic at UT. Try to lure Louisville’s head again. He has built a strong resume.
Lawson isn’t the answer nor is another Lady Vol. Any coach with an outside agenda or anyone wanting to drastically change the culture, or come in scared, is also not the answer. The best candidate is the right pick for rebuilding the talent pool and reigniting the Lady Vol legacy and winning a ‘ship within 3 years.
In the end, it is time to literally Burn the current Lady Vol ‘ship and step out into a new day UT.
Great minds think alike plus more reasons, I just posted on 247 Sports: What a painful learning experience: Take time before foul shots, both of them. After the foolish foul at 1.1 seconds (what was that player going to do in 1.1 seconds, while dribbling full speed???), call timeout (SC already had an informal one for 20 seconds with their coach), put in tall defender on player throwing in the ball (an open view for her must be avoided), it would have been a heave rather than a direst pass, have a defender on all players (an open shot should not be possible with 1.1 second remaining). An open shot must not be allowed!!! Victory would have been assured.
I totally agree. Tennessee has kept her Five years to long. And they should not stay with tradition and hire another Tennessee ex player. Go out and hire someone that is good at Coaching and Recruiting .