1) I would say that Caroline has been far more impacted by her inability to play over the summer and her limited practices to this point. I would also say that Caroline has been far more impacted by her stiff neck which to some extent has limited her upper body ROM, and it shows in her shot, her running the floor, her rebounding, and her ability absorb contact.
2) I would say that UConn's strength is not their 3 pt shooting but their mental and physical toughness, each players ability to contribute no matter what combination of players are on the floor, and the teams ability to execute no matter the situation, and no matter the obstacle. I would say in every observable way this team has taken on Nika's personality, and that this is Nika's team.
3) And yet when Nika does sit and Azzi is on the floor The Queen of Braids has been the PG. In those instances she brings the ball up (which she frequently does even if Nika is on the floor), positions the players, and distributes the ball. What games are you watching? Nika gets to "freelance"? Nika is "doing a solid job"? Nika isn't penetrating? Again, what games are you watching? Nika plays well within UConn's offensive scheme or she wouldn't be on the floor. Whether you noticed or not, yesterday UConn was able to run every one of its offensive schemes, and each of them (the 45, the wave etc) were executed, some very well executed. Despite the fact that Duke face guarded Azzi, and double or triple teamed her inside. UConn was also effective in primary and secondary transition. When Nika rebounds or is near the rebounder she can effectively throw that long pass over the top, which is UConn's best weapon in transition. It also enables her to push the tempo which is UConn's second best weapon in transition.
4) The beauty of a big hitting outside shots is it forces the competition to extend their defense. It forces her mark from under the basket, leaving other players to grab the rebound. It forces her mark to play on the perimeter where most bigs are notoriously poor defenders. In some cases it forces the other defenders out of their comfort zones. It also opens up the driving and passing lanes for her and the rest of the team. Have you ever studied any BB in this regard? Ayanna can't catch a break on the fouls? That's because she commits a heck of a lot of them, and right in front of the ref. In fact, she's making many of the same mistakes that AE made the last two years. Ayanna will learn to keep her arms straight up to defend inside while using her body and feet to get herself in better position. Nevertheless I see your referee complaining is in late season form. Yesterday UConn was called for a whopping 11 PF, 7 of which were called on AE and Ayanna. Duke was called for 18. In the two previous games the fouls called were virtually equal. So much for the other team flopping and getting the calls.
5) I really don't know what that means other than an attempt to be pithy or clever.