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Message: [QUOTE="NycUcWbbFan, post: 5155002, member: 13453"] Was going to eventually post something similar, after the somewhat annual rendition of “why aren’t we there yet” passes. [LIST] [*]Every season’s prizes lie in March-April. Geno always has his teams ready for postseason. [/LIST] For this season, [U]after 12 games in a 31-game regular season[/U], many things are true at the same time: [LIST] [*]Besides 2022-2023, the [URL='https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut_w/']last time[/URL] Geno has failed to produce a UConn team to the final four is 2007-2008 (Maya Moore’s freshman year); [*]This year’s team is [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/do-we-have-the-horses-to-get-back-to-the-ff.204488/post-5154149']arguably[/URL] one of the deepest and most talented rosters in UConn history; [*]The team is folding in 5 incomers (JMASK: Jana Morgan Allie Sarah and Kaitlyn); [*]The walking wounded — includes game changers Azzi and Aubrey, Caroline (?) and Ayanna (another injury) — were practically unavailable for UConn’s two marquee losses in its first 12 games; [*]UConn lost its game decisively to Notre Dame and at least course corrected to almost make it a winnable game against USC. [/LIST] Yes, UConn is 10-2. And this is probably the [U]worst this team would look this season[/U]. Geno knows all his pieces, and the deliberate absence of a running game as a [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/uconn-oregon-state-postgame-thread.203757/post-5126905']crutch[/URL] in the early season, is imo by design to produce his best postseason team: [LIST] [*]Paige, Azzi and Sarah will be the engine of UConn’s beautiful offense; they have not yet played their best games together; [*]End of season Nika and Aaliyah have not yet been replicated by early season versions of (Kaitlyn/ KK) and (Ice/ Jana); [*]Ash is very streaky; [*]UConn’s half-court game with 2 bigs is still a work in progress particularly against elite competition; [*]The four guard lineup (with Morgan most times as last year’s Paige analog at the 4) has been fine even against elite competition; [*]Geno has not yet fully unleashed his press; [*]The press and the rotation will be turbocharged when Aubrey returns; [*]By March, UConn would have a battle- and practice-tested rotation of at least 10: (Kaitlyn/ KK), (Azzi/ Ash), (Paige/ Morgan), (Sarah/ Aubrey), (Ice/ Jana); [*]There are still 19 games to the regular season. [/LIST] I would like to think UConn’s two early season losses would have the same effect on this group with 5 incomers and 4 walking wounded as [U]Diana’s stinker game[/U] in her freshman year’s NCAA tournament (when Svet and Shea were lost for the season): [LIST] [*]Sure, wins would have been great; [*]But these losses probably have more teaching weight for every player to strive for the best version of themselves by March-April. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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