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That's a MAYBE!!The rest of the country also will be improved by March as well..
That's a MAYBE!!The rest of the country also will be improved by March as well..
South Carolina IS a very good team so is Stanford. Yet both have been beaten, this year. You stated--SC looked great especially in the 4th quarter--which means Uconn looked very good in 3 quarters. SC,Dawn, rotated players more often than Geno felt was right--wore down Uconn as did jeff Wallz, Louisville. With a short bench that's the tactic used against Geno's teams a lot when Uc had a short bench. With a rested, revised, chemistry-ized team in late March or early April--(If Uconn is that lucky) all those concerns may not be realized. Things change quickly in WCBB, we have seen. Ooops there goes another Rubber Tree plant. Riding high in April, Shot down in May??Don’t know. I do know South Carolina looked very, very good against us in the fourth quarter.
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing a healthy Azzi Fudd. If she truly is the lights out shooter that she has the reputation of being all of a sudden we become an extraordinarily difficult team to match up against. this is particularly true with the emergence of Caroline.
I don’t know if we can match up against the South Carolina bigs, OK I do know… we can’t, but they won’t be able to sit in the paint if we have a perimeter team of a healthy Bueckers, Fudd and DuCharme. That potentially could be a fascinating chess game with each team attempting to impose its will in style of play on the other.
Regardless of the loss, South Carolina is an extraordinarily formidable team this year. Stanford too, is a very good team. I’ll just come out and say it. I thought we would be the team to beat this year. We’re not, but we’re in the hunt and have the potential to be dramatically improved by March.
I am glad you mentioned Stanford as well--before their colossal meltdown largely due to poor guard play, they had completely mastered SC. To me, they are the scarier team come FF time...South Carolina IS a very good team so is Stanford. Yet both have been beaten, this year. You stated--SC looked great especially in the 4th quarter--which means Uconn looked very good in 3 quarters. SC,Dawn, rotated players more often than Geno felt was right--wore down Uconn as did jeff Wallz, Louisville. With a short bench that's the tactic used against Geno's teams a lot when Uc had a short bench. With a rested, revised, chemistry-ized team in late March or early April--(If Uconn is that lucky) all those concerns may not be realized. Things change quickly in WCBB, we have seen. Ooops there goes another Rubber Tree plant. Riding high in April, Shot down in May??
On paper, UConn has as much talent as anyone in the country. However, UConn is dealing with a pandemic within a pandemic. With so many players missing quality time, game time and even practice time, it‘s impossible to get an accurate gauge on this team.SC is the best team in wcbb right now, even with the Mizzou loss yesterday. UConn, as the team stands today, doesn't have a realistic chance to compete for a national championship. But we have four players injured. If some or all of the injured players return in time to get back into the flow before the NCAAs, can we expect to compete evenly with SC and other top teams?
Assuming that returning players are at least as good as they were pre-injury, but not greatly better, how much does UConn improve? Nika and Azzi are most likely to be back and at full strength within the next month. Nika will give other players rest time and we'll be better with her but not that much better. Azzi also provides another body to rest other players but she'll need to knock down 4 or 5 threes a game to have a big impact. With both of them back we are better but not as good as SC.
It isn't clear if Paige and Aubrey return or not. Aubrey hasn't played basketball in a loooong time and even after cleared to play will need time to be a significant contributor. Add Nika, Azzi and Aubrey to what we have and we still aren't as good as SC.
Add Paige along with Nika and Azzi, we are as good as anyone. Paige is such a huge talent that just adding her alone is a significant upgrade. Anything Aubrey could add to the mix would be gravy.
I thought we played their frontcourt evenly for three quarters. We stopped their bigs early on and it got us off on the break in the first half. It looked like we might run them off the court. Our girls just played too many minutes in the 2 days before. I think we can take them if we have all our players back. If not then we get them next year.It's certainly possible but UConn simply can't compete with South Carolina's front court..........the only way they beat SC is if the UConn front court simply holds their own while the rest of the team has a great shooting game.......with everybody back including PB, I'd give them a 35%-40% chance of winning that game........
On the other hand, I'm not sure there was a "before the injuries" for any of UConn's injured players except for Paige.It's possible, but a return to health by itself is not enough. There seems to be an assumption that it might be ok if they return and play like they did before the injuries. The way they played before the injuries this year was not anywhere close to being good enough.
Brian, I applaud your optimism. IF they make it that far, maybe they do have a puncher's chance of beating SC. The problem there is that there are other top ranked (top 10) teams UConn has to get by BEFORE they play SC. On their current pace, UConn can very like be a 3 seed in the tournament. Especially if they lose a conference game or two.I am confident we will beat SC in the FF if we make it to play them in the championship game. Everyone knows we don't lose in the finals.
Excellent points in bold and red. Geno can't flip a switch and make everything alright.On paper, UConn has as much talent as anyone in the country. However, UConn is dealing with a pandemic within a pandemic. With so many players missing quality time, game time and even practice time, it‘s impossible to get an accurate gauge on this team.
What is apparent though is the current mix who have played the last 3 games is not good enough to contend for a title. That should be clear by now. SC has their core group relatively healthy and intact. Essentially, UConn will be starting over at some point, trying to find the right mix, blend of players.
It seems to me that too many posters are overly optimistic and players can be put back in and everything coalesces. UConn‘s expected team chemistry has taken a severe hit this season and are lagging far behind a lot of teams.
Can it all come together? Yes, because they have the pieces. However, almost everything has to occur positively - which is not a given in this season of turmoil.
For Azzi and Nika I agree that could be the case. I hope that their performance was hampered by injuries, and as a result bouncing back being much more likely. The team provides little details so if a player sits, we get an explanation, but if they are playing with a nagging injury we generally don't know it, and assume they are good to go, but of course sometimes they are not.On the other hand, I'm not sure there was a "before the injuries" for any of UConn's injured players except for Paige.
Azzi was in a boot this summer and certainly didn't play like herself in the U19's. Nika was dealing with a foot injury during the preseason. Both of them were shut down for the same injuries as they'd had earlier, which makes me think neither was fully healthy early in the season.
AgreeIf UConn can hit outside shots and play solid defense, then they can beat SC and anyone.
Attitude would be great but what we really need is scoring and rebounding, neither of which are Nika’s strong points. I do agree we need her back, though.Just having Nika back would be huge. This team needs attitude.
No. Cannot count on seniors to lead on a consistent basis, an important variable. Then, after Paige, no underclassmen living up to their hype with noted exception of Caroline. Thinking we’re a year away.SC is the best team in wcbb right now, even with the Mizzou loss yesterday. UConn, as the team stands today, doesn't have a realistic chance to compete for a national championship. But we have four players injured. If some or all of the injured players return in time to get back into the flow before the NCAAs, can we expect to compete evenly with SC and other top teams?
Assuming that returning players are at least as good as they were pre-injury, but not greatly better, how much does UConn improve? Nika and Azzi are most likely to be back and at full strength within the next month. Nika will give other players rest time and we'll be better with her but not that much better. Azzi also provides another body to rest other players but she'll need to knock down 4 or 5 threes a game to have a big impact. With both of them back we are better but not as good as SC.
It isn't clear if Paige and Aubrey return or not. Aubrey hasn't played basketball in a loooong time and even after cleared to play will need time to be a significant contributor. Add Nika, Azzi and Aubrey to what we have and we still aren't as good as SC.
Add Paige along with Nika and Azzi, we are as good as anyone. Paige is such a huge talent that just adding her alone is a significant upgrade. Anything Aubrey could add to the mix would be gravy.
Will UCONN have Paige this season? Does a chicken have lips?SC is the best team in wcbb right now, even with the Mizzou loss yesterday. UConn, as the team stands today, doesn't have a realistic chance to compete for a national championship.