Lady Vols basketball had a closed scrimmage against North Carolina to prepare for the season, and Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell’s main takeaway was “we have to get a lot better.”
Caldwell joked on Oct. 22 that she had “25 pages” of improvements for the Lady Vols, even though Tennessee reportedly beat UNC 69-43 in a full-court scrimmage that lasted three quarters. Caldwell didn’t directly address playing the Tar Heels when asked about the scrimmage, but UNC coach Courtney Banghart confirmed in July the scrimmage was scheduled.
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Caldwell said they’ve had several live competitions against their practice players, too, and rattled off a list of improvements she wants to see before No. 8 Tennessee opens the season against No. 9 NC State on Nov. 4 (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
“I think we’ve seen some things click, but I guess the last time I talked to you, I talked about we’re going to shoot less 3s, and we seem to be settling for 3s,” Caldwell said. “We’re not rebounding anywhere close to where I want to be rebounding. We’re not getting to paint enough. We’re not putting enough pressure on the rim. We’re taking plays off, I mean, there’s a lot – that list is like, 25 pages long.
“(The season is) rapidly approaching. So the energy has been good, the mindset has been good, still kind of growing, working our way into it, but a lot to clean up.”
Caldwell also gave credit to their practice players. One thing on her list of things they needed to improve from her first season at Tennessee was their practice squad.
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Caldwell said their practices have been intense and competitive with their new practice players.
“Our male practice team has been phenomenal,” Caldwell said. “They show up every day. They play our players to their weaknesses. They make us better. And so we’ve really spent a lot of time going up and down versus them and being competitive with them, so that when the ball goes up, we’re ready.”
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Kim Caldwell took away from Tennessee scrimmage vs North Carolina
