Holly Warlick's response worse than Lady Vols' loss

The decline of Tennessee women’s basketball continued Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

You could soften the outcome by appreciating the hard-fought nature of the Lady Vols' 66-59 loss to Oregon State in the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. You also could feel for Tennessee’s All-SEC seniors, Mercedes Russell and Jaime Nared, who talked about how blessed they were to have been a part of the program.

But that doesn’t alter the bottom line.

More: Tearful Holly Warlick: Lady Vols don't 'deserve half the crap thrown at them'

More: Lady Vols suffer first home loss in NCAA tournament, falling to Oregon State

Tennessee once reached the Final Four with regularity. Then it struggled to get past the Elite Eight.

And now it has gone consecutive seasons without advancing beyond the second round of the tournament.

Not even the home court could save the Lady Vols this time. The tough-minded Beavers weathered a first-quarter storm, gained their composure and handed Tennessee its first home-court loss in 58 NCAA tournament games.

The players handled the defeat better than sixth-year Tennessee coach Holly Warlick.

“Sometimes the things that are thrown at these kids are unfair,” an emotional Warlick said. “They come here wanting to learn and get better and just play the game. They get criticized quite a bit."

Later she added: "This isn't about winning or losing. It's about young ladies getting better on and off the court and I don't think they deserve half the crap thrown at them."

Given the situation, the response was out of place and over the top.

My guess is that Warlick was referencing criticism on social media. But most of that has been directed at her, not the players.

It’s fine for a coach to defend her players. Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy became famous for that.

However, let’s put Warlick’s reaction in perspective.

Imagine if an SEC football coach had reacted that way after a defeat. In fact, former UT coach Butch Jones did just that when he proclaimed his players “champions for life” after they lost an SEC East championship they should have won in 2016. The general public is still chuckling.

In big-time college athletics, it is about winning and losing. That shouldn’t be any different for women or men, basketball or football.

And if Warlick thinks her players are taking too much heat, she should check an SEC quarterback’s mailbox.

Outstanding high school basketball players like Russell and Nared are attracted to Tennessee because of its winning tradition and its passionate fan base. You can’t have it both ways.

If you play or coach at Tennessee, you’re expected to live up to that winning tradition – fair or not. You also need to understand that those passionate fans can become vicious critics when their team loses a game it's supposed to win.

Tennessee had a tough draw in this tournament. Women’s basketball probably hasn’t seen a sixth-seeded team as talented or competent as Oregon State. And even if the Lady Vols had prevailed, they probably would have had to get past two of the best teams in the country, second-seeded Baylor and top-seed Louisville, just to reach the Final Four.

The Lady Vols can blame only themselves for the challenging bracket, though. They shouldn’t have lost to inferior teams like LSU and Alabama during the regular season. They shouldn’t have blown a 23-point lead in a loss to Notre Dame.

That put them in the path of a determined Oregon State team, which had to travel across the country and face a program that never had lost on its home court in the NCAA tournament. And the Lady Vols weren’t up to the challenge.

That’s not criticism. That’s a fact.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.