I mentioned in my preview that Stanford had terrific guards but I thought they would be worn down…boy was i wrong about that.
The opposite happened.
Aside from the guards, the Samuelson lasses played a really wonderful game. In previous meetings they were just window dressing.
I think Tara may have miscalculated in not finding their worth earlier. Sure sprung them on us tonight.
It was a great game and they deserved to win but there were currents that could be seen in UConn's 3 warmups.
1. Moriah doesn't seem right. Was it not only a few weeks ago that she was wearing a boot? I wouldn't be surprised if she's far less than 1
100% And if so, that takes away an important dimension to our squad…fewer steals for example.
2. We all want Kiah to step in and be Stef, well it may not happen (or at least right away). I've felt for a while that when she turns
around in the high post and there is no one there, she has to rumble a bee-line to the bucket; never happened, reminded me of Ariel
Braker in the title game.
3. Morgan is still a bit rusty…That's one thing that will take care of itself. She was a monster in the overtime. Perhaps, even likely we would
have won if she didn't foul out.
4, No one player can win by themselves, even Stewie.
5. Geno had some problems, as did the team when he returned from the last Olympics; to a lesser extent it could be happening again.
He hardly had a week off and bang, practice starts, Even he's human, like the rest of us. He never had a chance to observe the kids, even
if he can't coach them, just getting to better know their capabilities is more than useful.
6. This season (to date) UConn is more of a finesse team and Tara realized it and played a tough physical game. Clearly the refs assisted
her in this by letting her kids get away with some mugging of Stewie, but she couldn't have known that in advance. The refs didn't call
a good or even a fair game game but I don't want to hear that that was the difference; we were outplayed.
7. I'm not sure why K didn't' play better; we'll all have to go to the tape to try to figure it out. Too bad. I suspect
it won't happen often.
8. One thing for sure; the vaunted UConn help D was nowhere in sight when needed down the stretch. If we're giving up layups like we did
near the end, we don't deserve to win. Think Notre Dame 2 seasons ago in the semi's; nothing, but nothing easy.
9. Chong and Nurse acquitted themselves well in general. They'll be fine. nurse might have played just a bit more off the one she was
guarding
A tough loss, a surprising loss, even shocking. it will be interesting to see how coach is able to pick this team off the mat to destroy Notre Dame and South Carolina.