A New Season is about to begin

[Tonyc]

Well we finish the season against Xavier and I would expect everybody to play. Maybe a chance to work on a few things and a chance to relax a little. We all know whats wrong with the team and it starts with lack of rest and lack of practice. We play a game then hop on a plane and play another game and maybe a short practice in some cases then hop on another plane and it keeps repeating itself. Dont forget we need to study too. A full plate of work with not time for anything else. Well thats all about to come to an end.

Alot of talk about Azzi coming back. Well I think the reason we havent seen her is because we are giving her as much time as possible to get healthy. That has worn out everybody else and now they will have a few days of rest to recharge and work on the fundamentals to get us back to where we were a few months ago. I do believe Caroline and Azzi will be back maybe in limited minutes but still a boost off the bench which we have been lacking. Yanna and Ines showed some promise against Depaul which is encouraging but Im not sure it was enough to get them substantial minutes in the tournaments coming up. With that said they may have another chance to prove themselves over the next week.

On problem weve had has been trying to force the ball down low to much and many time telegraphing our passes which has resulted in TOs. With a healthy Caroline and Azzi on the floor we will be able to pass the ball around the perimeter more which will cause defenses to come out and guard us opening up the middle. I believe with a healthy UConn team we will be a tuff out. While other teams have struggled too over the past few weeks we have reinforcements coming it which changes the scenario. UConn if healthy will be a very tuff out in the coming weeks. With Azzi and Caroline clicking that only makes everybody else better especially Lou. We have the bigs, we have the ballhandlers, we have the shooters and we know we have the defense which has carried us this season all if we're healthy.

With the BET we wont have a short bench. With the BET we have played tired and run down. Most teams havent played tired or under the stress that we've gone through in the second half of the season. This is why I feel getting rest, having time to practice and relax over the next few days will get us back to where we were a couple of months ago when most of us felt we could win it all and now we can

 

[Bone Dog]

We all know whats wrong with the team and it starts with lack of rest and lack of practice. ...
... With the BET we wont have a short bench. With the BET we have played tired and run down. Most teams havent played tired or under the stress that we've gone through in the second half of the season.

I think this pretty much captures my hopes and expectations. Well said, @Tonyc .

 

[tomcat]

With your comment about passing the ball down low, I think you got it exactly right. Every opponent seems to have figured out how to defend against those entry passes. What UConn has yet to do is come up with an alternative way to keep the bigs involved near the basket. Or if they have, they players have not been able to carry it out.

Having Azzi would help a lot, of course. I just don't know if, ag this point in an impossibly difficult season, UConn's players have the legs to keep moving, finding space, and getting decent shots from outside. If they do, then maybe it'll all come together again.

 

[fomalhaut]

One good thing about the upcoming games is that they're all in Connecticut (Gampel and Mohegan Sun) until the Sweet 16, so travel is much less of a factor until the regionals.