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Message: [QUOTE="BfromCT, post: 4149031, member: 10542"] The Huskies’ rash of injuries and two transfers that have made a mockery of the contention by so many of us that the team was 9-10 deep. One can make the argument that the injuries to Anna Makurat and Nika Mühl last season cost UConn its 12th championship, but this is the first time in some 20 years that the team has lost a player of All-American caliber for such an extended period. Think back. The undefeated 1996-97 UConn team’s hopes for its second championship collapsed with the knee of Shea Ralph. The following season Nykesha Sales suffered her ACL in the last home game of the regular season. In 2001, two All-Americans suffered season ending injuries - Svetlana Abrosimova and Shea Ralph. And there have been other serious ones, like Sue Bird in her freshman season, or the career of Caroline Doty ruined by multiple knee problems, or Nicole Wolff who started her first game at UConn at point and was never the same after a season ending one in her freshman year, and there are other examples one could cite. Still, I think it might be useful to summarize depth and injuries for the last quarter century. The following table is pretty much self explanatory and injured players are in bold. Year Rotation 1995 - NC 7 (Lobo, Webber, Elliott, Rizzotti, Berube, Wolters, Sales) 1996 - FF 6 (Elliott, Rizzotti, Berube, Wolters, Sales, Duran) 1997 - 8 7 (Berube, Wolters, Sales, R. Williams, Duran, [B]Ralph[/B], Sauer) 1998 - 8 6 (5) ([B]Sales[/B], R. Williams, Duran, Hansmeyer, Sauer, Abrosimova) 1999 - 16 8 (7) (Duran, Hansmeyer, Sauer, Abrosimova, [B]Bird[/B], Cash, Jones, T. Williams) 2000 - NC 10 (Hansmeyer, Sauer, Abrosimova, Ralph, Schumacher, Bird, Cash, Jones Williams, Johnson) 2001 - FF 9 (7) [B]Abrosimova[/B], [B]Ralph[/B], Schumacher, Bird, Jones, Cash, Williams, Johnson, Taurasi) 2002 - NC 6 (Bird, Cash, Jones, Williams, Taurasi, Battle) 2003 - NC 8 (7) (Conlon, Taurasi, Battle, Moore, Crockett, Strother, Turner, [B]Wolff[/B]) 2004 - NC 8 (Conlon, Taurasi, M. Valley, Battle, Moore, Crockett, Strother, Turner) 2005 - 16 7 (Battle, Moore, Crockett, Strother, Turner, Houston, Thomas) 2006 - 8 8 (Crockett, Strother, Turner, Houston, Hunter, Thomas, Swanier, Montgomery) 2007 - 8 8 (Houston, Hunter, Swanier, Thomas, Montgomery, Greene, Charles, McLaren) 2008 - FF 10 (8) (Houston, Hunter, Swanier, [B]Thomas[/B], McLaren, Montgomery, Charles, [B]Greene[/B], Dixon, Moore) 2009 - NC 8 (7) (Montgomery, Charles, Greene, McLaren, Dixon, Hayes, Moore,[B] Doty[/B]) 2010 - NC 8 (Charles, Greene, McLaren, Dixon, Moore, Hayes, Doty, Faris) 2011 - FF 7 (6) (Dixon, Moore, [B]Doty[/B], Hayes, Faris, Dolson, Hartley) 2012 - FF 7 (Hayes, Doty, Faris, Dolson, Hartley, KML, Stokes) 2013 - NC 9 (Doty, Faris, Dolson, Hartley, KML, Stokes, Jefferson, Stewart, Tuck) 2014 - NC 7 (Dolson, Hartley, Banks, KML, Stokes, Jefferson, Stewart,[B]Tuck[/B]) 2015 - NC 8 (KML, Stokes, Jefferson, Stewart. Tuck, Chong, Nurse, Williams) 2016 - NC 8 (Jefferson, Stewart, Tuck, Chong, Nurse, Williams, Collier, Samuelson) 2017 - FF 6 (Chong, Nurse, Williams, Collier, Samuelson, Dangerfield) 2018 - FF 7 (Nurse, Williams, Collier, Samuelson, Stevens, Dangerfield, Walker) 2019 - FF 6 (Collier, Samuelson, Dangerfield, Walker, ODO, C. Williams) 2020 - 6 (Dangerfield, Walker, ODO, Williams, Griffin, Makurat) 2021 - FF 8 (6) (ODO, Williams, Westbrook, Griffin, [B]Makurat[/B], Bueckers, Edwards, [B]Mühl[/B]) As a rule, the greater the depth the better chances of grabbing the gold ring. Of the team’s 11 national championships, 10 had rotations of at least 7. The outlier is 2002 when the Huskies had an exceptional starting 5. The extent of the rotation is, of course, not the sole factor, particularly when one thinks of the results in 2017 and 2018, last second shots in overtime. Given the depth of South Carolina and Stanford, it will be a steep climb for UConn even with the return of the walking wounded and perhaps without Bueckers at peak play. The team may be able to win its Sweet Sixteen game, but a further advance appears unlikely. [/QUOTE]

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