Ruby Whitehorn’s only two shots in the first quarter against UT Martin didn’t fall, so the junior guard for Lady Vols basketball decided to take another route.
She started crashing the boards to get easy put-backs. She allowed her effort to get her on the scoreboard, and it led to a double-double by halftime. Whitehorn ended the night with a game-high eight offensive rebounds, which was more than UTM’s seven as a team.
Whitehorn’s 18 points and 14 rebounds led the Lady Vols to a 90-50 win over the Skyhawks (0-2) on Thursday at Food City Center.
She embodied what is required to thrive in new coach Kim Caldwell’s system. The pace doesn’t give players time to dwell on mistakes, missed shots or turnovers.
Whitehorn said they often see their mistakes a little too late. But they’ve been able to correct them when they can regroup during the game.
“We’re playing for the next game, always, like we’re looking into the future,” Whitehorn said. “We just got to get better, and whatever we need to fix, we fix it in this game and in the next play.”
When they make a shot or they miss it and don’t get the offensive rebound, they’re immediately on defense in the full-court press. There simply isn’t time to focus on the shot they just took or they’ll be making the next mistake.
“Coach always says, not to forget, but learn from it and don’t hang on to it,” senior guard Jewel Spear said. “Just move on and be ready for the next play, because then you can make an even bigger play.”
And there lies the extra motivation. They’re playing a completely different style of basketball, and it affords them more opportunities to make an impact on the game.
“They’re getting more possessions, so one mistake doesn’t really matter, so shake it off,” Caldwell said. “I could hear them on the bench saying, ‘next play, next play,’ to each other, which is big.”
Players have a chance to make up for mistakes immediately. The Lady Vols don’t feel the impact of turnovers as much because they’re getting it right back or forcing a turnover on the next defensive possession. UTM finished with 31 turnovers, which Tennessee turned into 48 points. The Skyhawks only scored 11 points off 15 turnovers by the Lady Vols.
Missed shots aren’t the end of the world – Tennessee took 84 shots compared to UTM’s 45. The Lady Vols shot worse from the floor, only hitting 39.3% of their field goals, yet they blew out the Skyhawks, who shot 42.2%.
GIRLS INC: Why Kim Caldwell, Lady Vols helping out at Girls Inc. basketball clinic
Tennessee has a long way to go, and Caldwell knows that. She wants her team to get better at making in-game adjustments and improve its half-court defense – a lot. But she was unhappy after their first win with the rebounding effort, and the Lady Vols came out Thursday and won the battle on the boards 54-28.
“They’re going to have to see it click, and they’re going to have to see it fail before they have this whole vision of what I am trying to tell them,” Caldwell said. “Because I can only tell them so much until they experience it.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her atcora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: No time to dwell on mistakes for Lady Vols in Kim Caldwell’s system
