Does anyone know what has happened to Viviens? She has not scored well at all...

[IMissJack]

in the last 5-6 games. Is there an injury or something?

[RocketDawg]

She doesn't seem to be injured, and at times looks like the "old" Vivians for a few minutes. So I don't think she's injured. May have just lost confidence for some reason.

[hailstate17]

She never really plays great when we play ranked teams.

[fader2103]

Season fatigue?

[confucius say]

She had really good games against ky and tenn to close the season. Had a bad tourney. 3 games.

[BayouDawg]

She's always been a bit streaky I think. Hopefully she gets hot in the tournament

[lamont]

She is a volume shooter- not a good shooter. Our team is in transition because the offense works better going thru our Center- not Vivians. Viv forces too many shots instead of letting the game come to her. Its tough for someone thats been the Scorer for her teams since she was in the 8th grade to adjust to running the offense thru the Center- and its showing. We actually play better with her on the bench right now because she hasnt adjusted.

[preachermatt83]

She is a volume shooter- not a good shooter. Our team is in transition because the offense works better going thru our Center- not Vivians. Viv forces too many shots instead of letting the game come to her. Its tough for someone thats been the Scorer for her teams since she was in the 8th grade to adjust to running the offense thru the Center- and its showing. We actually play better with her on the bench right now because she hasnt adjusted.

Hahaha!!!

[lamont]

Hahaha!!!

Whats haha?

Viv is 7th on our team in 3 pt shooting- 7th on our team- not the SEC
She is 11th on our team in overall shooting precentage- not the SEC- 11th on our team

She is not a good shooter- she is a volume shooter that gets hot in spurts

[ZedFedder]

Vivians is, at best, our fourth best player right no behind William, Dillingham, and McCowan. If I have one critique of Vic, which obviously hard to do, it's that he hasn't honed in her shot selection. She just throws up prayers that rarely go in.

[HSVDawg]

Whats haha?

Viv is 7th on our team in 3 pt shooting- 7th on our team- not the SEC
She is 11th on our team in overall shooting precentage- not the SEC- 11th on our team

She is not a good shooter- she is a volume shooter that gets hot in spurts

This is all correct. I think people think she's better than she is strictly due to how decorated she was in high school and how highly recruited she was (imagine that). She is no LaToya Thomas, Tan White, or even Jennifer Fambrough by any stretch.

[preachermatt83]

Why is she on the wooden finalist list? Wonder if it has anything do with her ability to play great defense... oh and that she's averaging 17 points per game. Yea she should be benched**

[lamont]

Why is she on the wooden finalist list? Wonder if it has anything do with her ability to play great defense... oh and that she's averaging 17 points per game. Yea she should be benched**

We played half the game without her yesterday. When she went to the bench we were down 9- when she came back on the floor- we were down 1.

Nobody is saying she isnt talented- but her numbers show she isnt a great player. Of course she averages 16.6 PPG- she leads the SEC in shots taken per game at 15.5. The SEC's leading scorer scores 5 more PPG on 1.5 less shots per game.

She is not in the top 25 in the SEC in 3 pt shooting percentage- but is 4th in attempts

[basedog]

We played half the game without her yesterday. When she went to the bench we were down 9- when she came back on the floor- we were down 1.

Nobody is saying she isnt talented- but her numbers show she isnt a great player. Of course she averages 16.6 PPG- she leads the SEC in shots taken per game at 15.5. The SEC's leading scorer scores 5 more PPG on 1.5 less shots per game.

She is not in the top 25 in the SEC in 3 pt shooting percentage- but is 4th in attempts

I pretty much agree with RP. She is having a tough time adjusting, she is talented and now she is going thru a change.

I imagine her head is spinning and she is confused, upset and lost some confidence. Hopefully she will turn things around.

[smootness]

Vivians is, at best, our fourth best player right no behind William, Dillingham, and McCowan. If I have one critique of Vic, which obviously hard to do, it's that he hasn't honed in her shot selection. She just throws up prayers that rarely go in.

I've said this all year but got chewed out for it when we were #2 in the country. I said it would eventually hurt us against good teams, and here we are.

That said, there's no easy fix. Her chucking doesn't help us, but we struggle to score at times anyway. We just don't have even one go-to scorer, let alone multiple. McCowan is starting to get there, but she still has a ways to go.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

She had a terrible 3 games in Greenville but her last 3 regular season games she avg 23ppg while shooting 43%. She's a volume shooter she's always been a volume shooter. When you're a shooter you're going to shoot & keep shooting. It's not in her DNA to stop shooting. The problem is if she doesn't score we have a hard time winning. We don't have another consistent scoring option that can carry the load when Victoria is off. McGowan is growing as a player & is going to be very good but she's not ready to carry this team yet. Morgan had a great tournament & scored well yesterday but negated those buckets with 7 turnovers. If any of you have dreams of a Final 4 run you better hope Victoria gets her jumper back because we're not making it without her.

[Jacksondevildog]

For as good of a "shooter" as she is supposed to be, she shoots way too many air balls and hits the side of the back board form the corner nearly every game.

[smootness]

She had a terrible 3 games in Greenville but her last 3 regular season games she avg 23ppg while shooting 43%. She's a volume shooter she's always been a volume shooter. When you're a shooter you're going to shoot & keep shooting. It's not in her DNA to stop shooting. The problem is if she doesn't score we have a hard time winning. We don't have another consistent scoring option that can carry the load when Victoria is off. McGowan is growing as a player & is going to be very good but she's not ready to carry this team yet. Morgan had a great tournament & scored well yesterday but negated those buckets with 7 turnovers. If any of you have dreams of a Final 4 run you better hope Victoria gets her jumper back because we're not making it without her.

I pretty much agree with this. I don't think the answer is to have Vivians sit on the bench or anything. I do think she needs to be much better in her shot selection. I'm fine with her shooting more than anyone else, but they need to be good shots. Getting the pass, turning, and chucking it with a defender in her face is not a good shot, she hardly ever makes them, and she takes several every game.

But yes, she is our biggest threat to go off. I think our most consistent offense is William creating and dishing to McCowan, but there are limits to the number of times we can go to that well.

I just think our fanbase needs to realize that Vivians isn't a big-time bona fide star who can carry a team to a championship. I think we've been assuming that's what she'll be, but she's not. That's not a knock on her any more than it's a knock on any of our other players for not being that. But the reality is that she isn't that kind of player. She is a volume shooter, as you said, who is very inefficient. We just need her to take better shots and to drive to the basket more often.

[Cooterpoot]

Vivians hurries her shot too much. She's best when she fakes it and then takes the pull up instead of the three. McCowan can open up the three for her too if she'd just realize though.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I just think our fanbase needs to realize that Vivians isn't a big-time bona fide star who can carry a team to a championship. I think we've been assuming that's what she'll be, but she's not. That's not a knock on her any more than it's a knock on any of our other players for not being that. But the reality is that she isn't that kind of player. She is a volume shooter, as you said, who is very inefficient. We just need her to take better shots and to drive to the basket more often.

I think this is the biggest issue. Victoria was the most highly decorated player to ever come out of MS & best player to come out of the state in a while. The problem is she isn't a transcendent player. She's a really good player & a vital part of this team but people who were expecting her to carry this team on her shoulders just weren't paying attention to her skill set.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Vivians hurries her shot too much. She's best when she fakes it and then takes the pull up instead of the three. McCowan can open up the three for her too if she'd just realize though.

I'm not sure McGowan can. 1st if we run the offense through her & she's effective the defense will start to collapse & help. The problem for Victoria is they'd help off Richardson, Chapel, Dillingham, etc but not Victoria. 2nd if we ran 2 man game with Victoria & McGowan on 1 side of the floor where Victoria is the entry passer I don't think McGowan has developed enough to receive the entry pass & pass it back out if she doesn't have the shot.

[lamont]

If she doesn't score we have a hard time because she keeps shooting no matter what. We have had success running the offense thru our inside players- we just refuse to keep doing it. Yesterday was a perfect example

What's interesting as the team has gotten better- her 3 pt shooting has gotten worse. She's been about the same overall from the field each year- but her 3 pt shooting is dropping year by year. She has got to stop forcing so many terrible 3's just because she feels like she needs to shoot on that trip.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

She's not injured. It's something else.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

If she doesn't score we have a hard time because she keeps shooting no matter what. We have had success running the offense thru our inside players- we just refuse to keep doing it. Yesterday was a perfect example

The question/problem is can that plan be successful enough to carry us to a final 4? Can McGowan/Okorie carry the offense enough to make a Victoria a piece of the puzzle & not the focal piece.

[starkvegasdawg]

The question/problem is can that plan be successful enough to carry us to a final 4? Can McGowan/Okorie carry the offense enough to make a Victoria a piece of the puzzle & not the focal piece.

They need to learn how to make a shot two feet from the basket on a consistent basis. If they can do that then I think we could make a final 4 run. If they miss as many as they make then I think we make a much quicker exit if VV keeps shooting 3-15.

[lamont]

The question/problem is can that plan be successful enough to carry us to a final 4? Can McGowan/Okorie carry the offense enough to make a Victoria a piece of the puzzle & not the focal piece.

We saw in the 4th Q yesterday we aren't going to be a FF team running our offense thru our guards. We had a 1 seed beat yesterday running the offense thru McGowan as we took a 5 point lead. We were even getting their best player in foul trouble. And we simply just quit in the 4th

[smootness]

We have had success running the offense thru our inside players- we just refuse to keep doing it. Yesterday was a perfect example.

We didn't just suddenly decide to stop feeding it inside. They switched to the zone and denied the entry pass. McCowan is not athletic enough or skilled enough yet to operate effectively from the high post. So she is parked down on the low block, and in a zone we can't get the entry pass in there consistently. Yesterday we shot horribly from the outside, which will kill you against a zone. And we don't have anybody besides Vivians who can beat good teams like that off the dribble and just get baskets when we need them. And she doesn't do it nearly often enough.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

We saw in the 4th Q yesterday we aren't going to be a FF team running our offense thru our guards. We had a 1 seed beat yesterday running the offense thru McGowan as we took a 5 point lead. We were even getting their best player in foul trouble. And we simply just quit in the 4th

They changed defenses & we didn't adjust well at all.

ETA: Looking back on it the big question is what took so long for Staley to go zone on us. We shot 0-15 from 3 yesterday. We're lucky they didn't go zone early in the 2nd half.

[maroonmania]

Watching yesterday's game was almost like rewatching the SEC women's regular season in microcosm. In the regular season we had a 1 game lead over SC with 2 to play and we folded to lose to the title to them, yesterday we had a 5 point lead going into the 4th quarter at the tourney and folded to lose the title to them. Of course it would be nice to actually play SC somewhere other than in SC.

[lamont]

We didn't just suddenly decide to stop feeding it inside. They switched to the zone and denied the entry pass. McCowan is not athletic enough or skilled enough yet to operate effectively from the high post. So she is parked down on the low block, and in a zone we can't get the entry pass in there consistently. Yesterday we shot horribly from the outside, which will kill you against a zone. And we don't have anybody besides Vivians who can beat good teams like that off the dribble and just get baskets when we need them. And she doesn't do it nearly often enough.

They switched at the 8 min mark of the 4th and used it for about 5 possessions. Then went back to man. Agreed with IYOK we didn't handle the change of D well at all. Either time. We struggled when they went zone because we didn't flash into the middle to run any Hi/Lo to get it to McGowan. Then when they went back to man at the 5 min mark- we just kept firing with Willem. Terrible job from Vic down to the players

[rbdog82]

As I told some friends yesterday during the game, she's Carmelo Anthony. Doesn't like to play defense, is usually a black hole when she gets the ball, and isn't terribly efficient offensively.

[HSVDawg]

She had a terrible 3 games in Greenville but her last 3 regular season games she avg 23ppg while shooting 43%. She's a volume shooter she's always been a volume shooter. When you're a shooter you're going to shoot & keep shooting. It's not in her DNA to stop shooting. The problem is if she doesn't score we have a hard time winning. We don't have another consistent scoring option that can carry the load when Victoria is off. McGowan is growing as a player & is going to be very good but she's not ready to carry this team yet. Morgan had a great tournament & scored well yesterday but negated those buckets with 7 turnovers. If any of you have dreams of a Final 4 run you better hope Victoria gets her jumper back because we're not making it without her.

Her "always being a volume shooter" and it being in her DNA to be a volume shooter is not an excuse. She has to have that coached out of her for us to be the best team we can be. Only way you can get away with being a volume shooter is if you are a good shooter. She isn't. Less than 40% overall from the field for the SEASON and less than 30% from 3 proves exactly that. She needs to focus more on feeding our actual high percentage shooters both on the perimeter (Dillingham / Johnson / Schaefer) and in the paint (McCowan) all while taking good looks when she is open.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Her "always being a volume shooter" and it being in her DNA to be a volume shooter is not an excuse. She has to have that coached out of her for us to be the best team we can be. Only way you can get away with being a volume shooter is if you are a good shooter. She isn't. Less than 40% overall from the field for the SEASON and less than 30% from 3 proves exactly that. She needs to focus more on feeding our actual high percentage shooters both on the perimeter (Dillingham / Johnson / Schaefer) and in the paint (McCowan) all while taking good looks when she is open.

Where did I use that as an excuse? Well if her coach doesn't see a need to focus on those high % shooters well you know she isn't. It's not like this is some new development. She's been the same player all 3yrs at MSU. She has been a 37-38% shooter & 30-33% 3pt shooter. Also lets not act like her teammates don't look to her to take those shots. None of those girls you named are really aggressive on the offensive end. Johnson probably the closest to having an offensive motor. Until Vic decides he has a problem with her shot selection & # of shots then nothing will change.

[CadaverDawg]

She is a volume shooter- not a good shooter. Our team is in transition because the offense works better going thru our Center- not Vivians. Viv forces too many shots instead of letting the game come to her. Its tough for someone thats been the Scorer for her teams since she was in the 8th grade to adjust to running the offense thru the Center- and its showing. We actually play better with her on the bench right now because she hasnt adjusted.

Totally agree.

If she isn't going to do what she does best, which is drive to the basket, then she isn't going to help us right now. She has gotten worse as a shooter bc everything she shoots is forced. She makes her mind up before she gets the ball whether she's shooting or not, and that is a recipe for disaster. Drive the ball and either lay it up, dish it to McCowan, pull up for the short J, or kick out to someone for an open 3. She can still take over games if she will commit to driving it instead of settling for a contested 3 from damn near half court

[HSVDawg]

Until Vic decides he has a problem with her shot selection & # of shots then nothing will change.

I agree, that was my point. He needs to make a course correction at some point. It's pretty hard to look at a stat sheet and see that many shots taken by someone who is not even our 2nd or 3rd best shooter. And it will bite us in the tourney well before we get to UConn if it continues.

[tcdog70]

Why is she on the wooden finalist list? Wonder if it has anything do with her ability to play great defense... oh and that she's averaging 17 points per game. Yea she should be benched**

I think she was averaging over 20 in SEC play. She is in our top 2 defender. She rebounds well. Her , just being on the court makes it easier for the other players.