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Message: [QUOTE="Conndog, post: 4478325, member: 5939"] I think this year's team is almost as good as last year's as regards both front court and guard play- I'm calling it a wash for the sake of this thread. While it would be nice this year to have Ono, Juhacz is an equally good replacement. In my opinion, Juhacz is better offensively but I'd give edge to Ono on defense. Aaliyah is definitely better this year. Not sure yet what Ayanna will provide but she is strong and a good rebounder, she doesn't play many minutes but hopefully will keep learning the systems and how to play within her abilities. If I were coaching her, I'd get her to stop trying to block shots (she fouls because she leans too much into the shooter) and instead keep hands up and block out to get rebound. Seeing an improved Azzi (when she returns to full health soon), having Senechal to fill in for Paige, hopefully seeing an improved Ducharme, and an improved Nika who is shooting more, will substitute pretty well for last year's guard group. No Paige hurts but that's what the dice rolled- what a pickup to get Lou! Not having Christyn or Evina is a fact, but I always felt they were inconsistent. This year's guard group provides great shooting, and we won't lose games because our guards are not playing well. The big difference between last year's team and this year's team(besides Paige's injury) is the availability of Aubrey. Both on defense and also on offense, I feel that she is the key to how far this year's team will go. Her ability to score on fast breaks, get rebounds and score inside on drives, make the occasional three, and be a defensive clamp on other teams' forwards, will be the difference. There are a lot of good teams in women's basketball, and UConn will soon have all the pieces available this year to keep humming along. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach