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Message: [QUOTE="NycUcWbbFan, post: 5321609, member: 13453"] That UCLA video triggered observations I had in watching (and many times rewatching) the NCAAT games with respect to the coaches’ game time interviews: [LIST] [*](a) Cori Close gave a spiel about her “joy and struggle” practices to produce a “tough and together” team for the tournament; at the back of my mind, some sappy sentimental violin played; [*](b) Geno’s interview focused on the advantages and “cat and mouse” feel of going small, Sarah vs. Lauren Betts, where each one is a problem for the other; Geno, of course, has developed many mix-match combinations besides the [B]most potent winning-time combination[/B] ([I]he will have more this year[/I]), whereas UCLA played within a singular predictable system, where the coach’s last resort levers seem to be emotional exhortations to play harder, smarter, tougher, together; [*](c) in the South Carolina game, Ryan and Rebecca said Geno already [B]stress-tested[/B] his team so that they can play to win when not all the usual things are going their way; [*](d) with (c), one is reminded that Geno said he will have a great team by the NCAAT time, despite the crushing losses, despite not clicking on all cylinders for most of the season; in fact, Geno and Paige said the team clicked on full cylinders (e.g. the small lineup winning time combination(s) clicked) only four times up to the UCLA game — i.e. five times last season. [/LIST] At bottom, we have Geno and his curated team. In the Superteam Era when injury is not a factor, Geno’s 40-minute, full-throttle, symphonic &1 mix-match, backed by his best-in-class “basketball player” farm system, is now a measuring stick; [LIST] [*]Geno has been doing this spectacularly since he led a merry band led by an unheralded Kerry Bascom to the program’s first final four which gave way to a “Field of Dreams” script; [*]And Geno has had [B]remarkable consistency[/B] when he has strung together consecutive superb rosters unmarred by injury; and he has [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/heckel-to-uconn-merged-threads.207545/post-5284061']fewer headwinds[/URL] for the 2025-26 season; [*]The UCLA video possibly hinted at Cori Close acknowledging the Geno mix-match standard, by getting Lauren Betts to buy into less minutes next season (and also pointing out that out-transfers Barker and Jones were not great roster fits that were exposed during elite games); [*]So, maybe, elite teams will use their quality depth more within the spectrum of TN’s headless chicken schemes to UConn’s mix-match. [/LIST] &1 The “machine-like” almost intuitive and obviously-practice-ingrained [B]team mental speed and execution [/B]of basketball plays at any given moment of a game against any given opponent. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach