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Message: [QUOTE="diggerfoot, post: 3435144, member: 1673"] You ask a fair question, but I think there are some false assumptions that even BYers hold behind it. Auriemma often has said he simplified either defense or offense as he felt the team needed, but that is in terms of plays. Where the burden lies in Auriemma's system is the responsibility he places on players to read and react, to figure things out during real time action. He once told Bird that if anything goes wrong, ANYTHING, it was her fault. So Auriemma could have very few plays, but if players do not read and react well even a very few will seem poorly executed. Consequently, there have been freshman that have fit in well right from the start, some of them even starting. Makurat this year is obviously a player who gets it out there. In recent years both Samuelson and KML got significant play as freshmen. Both came here from Mater Dei; I do not think that is a coincidence. I have never seen a Mater Dei game in my life, but I will bet a large pizza their coach is superb at teaching the game. Go back a little further and another player who got significant time as a freshman, despite a physical limitation at the start, was Dolson. She just happened to be an extremely smart player who could read and react well from the start. She in essence became our point center. In recent years he has talked about the athleticism and/or skill of recruits like Griffin, Walker or Williams. But his comments for both Bueckers and Muhl are that they are "basketball players." In other words, they just "get it" and should fit into his read and react, the player is fully responsible, style of play. Every year we have top level athleticism and skill; next year we will have at least three players that really "get it," and I think we will be bad for basketball again. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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