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Message: [QUOTE="hoophuskee, post: 4707236, member: 3535"] Most teams that win titles win with a core of 7 players. And an 8th who is close to a 7 that can be used. Right now, UCONN has a core of 6 - Paige, Azzi, Nika, Caroline, Aubrey and Aaliyah. Need 7 and then a close-to 8th. What we heard last year from practices early was the Ice was doing well and Jana was doing decent. With Jana exploding recently it appeared that there was a good chance that at least one of Ice or Jana would do well. If that came to fruition, UCONN would have had a projected out-of-the-gate a projected 7/8 players. And if anyone of the others beat them out for time (beside the 2 bigs AP & AD) - including Q, KK or Shade) the you could have Aubrey/ Caroline play some PF and you would bet set as well. But the point is, there is more to an offense that relying on full court pressure or offensive rebounding. Basketball is also a game of skill not just endurance, athleticism, and physical strength. The fundamentals of offensive basketball are shoot, pass, dribble. And in some games, you just aren't going to be able to run. Teams that win titles are pretty adept at running a "good enough" halfcourt offense. Generally, this team has not given their core players (7/8) enough time of work on this aspect of the game. It might not be the fun/flashy thing to talk about but halfcourt offense is important and drilling your core players running it (with significant minutes) is also important. Unfortunately, this group of 6 has been hurt so much that they haven't had a normal already prerequisite number of minutes played on the court with each other these past few years. They need time. Ice is the frontrunner for the 7th spot- whether she starts or not- if we see anyone beat her out, that would be a very good sign. Any injuries to the core 6 - the team starts getting exponentially worse going forward. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach