I don't think the injuries helped at all. I think the injuries crumbled (not destroyed) any sense of cohesion. Gimme a full healthy season of PB any day of the week. Gimme a healthy sick-free Azzi Fudd any day of the week. Gimme a clear-headed Ducharme any day of the week. Gimme a healthy Dorka at season’s end any day of the week. Gimme a an injury-free Liv in the finals any day of the week.
Instead of being "better" they were just "surviving." Getting a 6 week crash course in cohesion is not superior to a full season working on team chemistry issues. Molding a different brand out of necessity is not necessarily better -0 it can also be out of desperation which this was.
And I agree with you about "redefine." If UCONN can get that next Azura Stevens and she stays then UCONN's offense can be redefined to a more positive extent. If we get that next commit from that great big post like Collier and a Hurricane doesn’t hit prior to school starting then the offense can be redefined. If they get that type of player- then I agree the offense can be redefined instead of being so much perimeter. But until they get that player then you let your guards take you as far you can go. And you can only do that by heavily featuring them and building that type of style cohesion within the season.
I was sickened during the title game to hear Lobo say how well SC was denying the ball to Paige (yet they had chances to get it to her.). I was a bit frustrated that Paige had chances to shoot early and was content not to. A healthy 5’11 – 6 foot Paige with a team that would have played for a full season would never let something like denial to the level in which a much smaller guard was defending her – would have the type of impact I was hearing/watching.
While the injuries helped them grow faster individually, they got healthy with very little time to become truly a team that executes like UConn excellent teams usually do. I couldn't watch because of the chances in making connections on offense were wasted by just a little late here and there.....then forced them to dribble a lot. And yes, SC's defense was a little quicker than Stanford but hey, they were better coordinated against SC last year (almost the same team) because the same group played together from the beginning....then they weren't mentally prepared against Arizona. Not clear they would have won against Stanford but.....
Sure, they will be better motivated and the coaching staff will work to get them closer to where they should be: Dorka becoming stronger; both Dorka and Aaliyah becoming more stable with better footwork; Amari to grow faster to play more freely - she has a number of skills which are quite useful. But what I am hoping for is a quick assimilation of Isuneh and Ayanna so operate smoothly in the offense and defense as well. Both are versatile, both can hit from long range with Isuneh supposedly having better accuracy; Ayanna's athleticism and speed will go well with Aaliyah's strength.
Question is, how fast can they progress? After all, it took Stewie the whole season to do it in time for the tournaments; Tina didn't consistently do it (for the most part) until her sophomore year. It took Stef even longer. Ayanna operating on the wing might get there faster but probably will be slower if at the 4. Because of this, I am doubtful that Geno will look for a post in the transfer portal because he has 5 with already good tools and qualities that need to develop farther by playing. And, he will probably continue with the remaking of Audrey into a wing/guard - he speed and athleticism will be an asset on defense, especially for full court pressure.
The loss of Dorka before the FF showed up more not in the need of another post to help match up with Boston and company but in someone having the highest potential for success operating in the high post. Dorka showed she is a good passer. She also showed that she does not hesitate to shoot from distance when open. While Olivia is a good passer, she was hesitant to shoot from the high post, so her defender often dropped off and clogged the post for the most part. Couple this with Aaliyah just as hesitant..... As strongly motivated SC was to prevail and prepared well on defense with their speedier guards, a few makes from distance by a post player would have made a difference in opening things up.
Much of the work of post players over the Summer is the high-post/low-post coordination that didn't quite work as well against really good teams like Stanford and, particularly SC....thanks to UConn's OOC schedule being decimated by injuries and Covid.
What we can be sure of is that the UConn guards will function much better next year in high profile games - they shall have worked together as a group much more by then. They are not too far away except for how to elevate the performance of Paige and Azzi when playing together.
...........I don't remember guaranteeing a victory or even predicting a victory, I simply said UConn could win...............there is a major talent gap at one position..............as Missouri and Kentucky proved, South Carolina can be beaten despite Boston's best efforts..............would you trade UConn's starting backcourt for South Carolina's?............are you trading Edwards for Saxton or Amihere?........... my assumption is that a Hall of Fame coach can devise additional ways to free up PB, and CD and more importantly those players will be operating at 100% when next they play............up front, one assumes thar Juhaz is able to play and she is joined by Edwards, Deberry and two new athletes that I would hope know how to box out and have the aggression to go after offensive rebounds............forgetting all my "fatuous" assumptions, what would you have a fan do? Should we plead with UConn to cancel the series because they simply aren't in South Carolina's league? Should we not even bother to attend or watch the game on TV because the end is a fait accompli? Finally, show me a team that didn't finish in the top fifty in NCAA scoring and I'll show you a team that can be taken down on a good shooting night..........
