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Message: [QUOTE="Surly1, post: 4527296, member: 11599"] For 30 years, the women's basketball program under Geno has built a legacy of excellence. Even more than the unmatched level of success, the style and brand of basketball was and is ne plus ultra. From the humble beginnings of Immaculata to La Tech and the Ladies of Troy, women's basketball had its origins. Pat Summit grew UT into a powerhouse. UConn used UT as a blueprint and later assumed the torch. Programs that sustain have an architect that drives the vision. Dawn Staley clearly used Geno as a model for building her version of a dynasty. Right now, SC is a powerhouse. We can't ignore the elephant in the room. Like life, sports is often unfair. Injuries are a part of life and certainly affect the way games are played. The fact is UConn is and will be shorthanded for the rest of the season. Many posters complain that Geno won't use his bench. He plays his starters heavy minutes for games like yesterday because the bench players are simply not ready to play against the level of SC. Yesterday proved his strategy works when down 12 in the 4th, they clawed their way back. It's a hard slog to get to the top. It's harder still to remain on the top perch, but it is hardest to come back after being toppled. Mount Union is the winningest Div III football program with 13 titles, but hey went through a stretch from 2007 -14 where they were beaten by Wisconsin-Whitewater under Lance Leipold (current coach at Kansas) 6 out of 7 times in the NC game. During that period, his teams had a record of 109-6. Success places a target on you and comes with unrealistic expectations of continuance. Imagine SC without Aliyah Boston or Iowa without Caitlin Clark? SC would still be a top 10 team, but they would have less margin for error. Iowa would be a second tier team. The fact that UConn has played with less than 2/3 of its roster for most of the season and that 2 of the injured are generational talents authenticates that UConn's relevance and seat at the top of the table. SC might be UConn's Wisconsin-Whitewater at present, but UConn isn't going anywhere with Geno at the helm. All it needs is to get healthy and another Final Four is in the offing and with a little luck, who knows how the ball bounces. It's the reason they play the games. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach