Everything Kim Caldwell said after Tennessee basketball’s win over ole miss in Knoxville

Everything Kim Caldwell said after Tennessee basketball’s win over ole miss at Knoxville

First, we are excited to be going out of the gym with a win. We talked about as a team how we know we can grow. We know that there are things we need to be better at, walking out of this game. Again, excited for the win, excited for the growth we can have.”

On Destiny Salary’s Performance:

“I felt like the two things we did not start the game with were energy and composure. I thought Destiny came in and brought both of those. I thought she came in earlier on and took care of the ball but also just played hard. I thought she did some really good things on both ends of the court. She played with confidence. She scored some buckets there in the third quarter, which I thought were really big. I thought her defense in the second quarter was good. Again, I think a lot of people have confidence in her, because that’s how she been practicing. Her role is to be that energy player for us. She knows that, and I’m really happy for her. I mean, we needed it. We absolutely needed it tonight. She made big plays.”

On Marta Suárez’s Status:

“Well, I wish I knew for sure. We’ve not practiced her much since our last game and are trying to give her some rest. She has a foot injury, and as of right now, to be honest with you, I don’t know her status. We knew we were going to try to rest her and get her through a game to see how she did. Obviously, we knew at the tip that we weren’t going to be able to play her and that was unfortunate. I’ll tell you; she has played really well for us. That was a big blow for our team. Obviously, the depth in that position was already slim. So, that hurt us to start the game. We’ll just have to figure that out.”

On Defensive Performance:

“I thought our defense was not as locked in and focused as we needed to be, or as we have been. I thought we were a step slow or a step late. I did not think we anticipated well, in terms of what was about to happen. I thought we were on our heels a lot. That goes back to our focus. I think if we are locked in, we guard better. One of the things we’ve done well in last few weeks is guard well in the half court. I was a little disappointed in that tonight.”

These insights reflect Caldwell’s commitment to continuous improvement and her focus on both individual and team development. Her candid assessments provide a clear roadmap for the Lady Vols as they aim to build on their successes and address areas needing attention.