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Message: [QUOTE="sun, post: 4477665, member: 11664"] There's some weaknesses with not only UConn but with WCBB in general that leads to inconsistent play and also reckless play as a result of bad decisions made during the heat of competition that can lead to injuries. There was a somewhat reckless play that led to Aubrey hitting the floor hard enough to potentially cause her to shatter her collarbone. I didn't think that it was caused by a push, but rather Aubrey wanting to rebound a ball so much that she would have invaded another player's space and possibly landed on top of her as a result of going after the ball with too much vigor at too difficult of an angle to successfully accomplish. I'm not going to go back and look at the score at the time to see how big UConn's lead was at the time to see whether that amount of risk was necessary or not. I thought that the other player may have been trying to defensively shield herself from being landed on. It shows that there's more to winning a game than athleticism, it takes mental discipline to realize whether making a risky play is worth the risk or not at the time that it's attempted. And it wouldn't be the 1st time that a player on either team has made a risky move that could end a UConn player's season. When playing a cup cake Big East team like Seton Hall, what's the point of taking unnecessary risks? That's where the mental part of playing enters how UConn needs to play a smart game to be able to finish the season healthy and intact. Yes, I have some worries about whether UConn can stay healthy for the whole season. If it's not the result of mistakes by our own players, there's also players on other teams making reckless moves to injure our players. And I don't see how any of our players being confrontational can lead to any good results, whether the confrontation is initiated by UConn or as a reason to get even. Each UConn player has shown some inconsistencies in some facet of the game. For some it's just being able to stay healthy. For others it can be a matter of offense or defense, fouls, turnovers, ball handling or shooting. I'm not seeing UConn display it's full depth yet because not all of the players have been readied to play their best game at the same time yet. Not only do they all need to have enough athleticism & talent, but they all need to have the mental discipline and fortitude to make the right decision at the right time. By right decision I mean that they need to make the smart decisions. Like when to make risky plays. risky passes, risky rebounds, when there are alternative plays and options that are smarter & safer and when they already have a sizable lead. The team still needs to learn how to mesh when Azzi comes back on the court. When she does its going to be like she was never on the court with them all before because quite frankly they weren't all playing together before when she was there with them. Some were missing and some weren't playing their best. Even Azzi only appeared to be playing her best for 1 half of each game. There's still a lot of progress that needs to be made for UConn to be a championship team. They need to stay healthy and they need to get smarter. Not as many turnovers and not as many risky plays. A lot of their mistakes are because they like to run hot. And when they run hot they are more prone to making mistakes and errors in judgment. Some of it may be a little too much reliance on athleticism and not enough BB IQ. They're still young and rather inexperienced. And other teams are targeting them with reckless acts too. I don't see how any team can defend themselves against the reckless acts of others. When playing the cupcake Big East teams, some of the UConn players just need to cool it a little bit and maybe let some of the bench players get more experience. If they get to play a little bit more then maybe the starters will be able to cool off enough to stay healthy for the duration of the season. When they're playing with a sizable lead they don't need to play like they're in a NACAR race. IMO that's being athletic, that's not being smart. I'd hate to see players take pot shots at UConn just because the game is a blow out. I'm not sure that UConn has the depth of talent to deal with intentional injuries the long run. [/QUOTE]

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