This thread seems to be a bifurcated view of black/white perspective, when in fact there is really a lot of gray.
1. Frenchy did start the thread off by what could be perceived as "black" with the non-perfect 40 minute game. I don't think he's wrong and maybe the tone was not in the "perfect" form and conveyed more negativity than intended or maybe more negativity was perceived.
2. Some other long time and well respected members offer their view of what did not go perfect after the first quarter and these comments were also perceived as "black".
3. Passionate and logical members then opined the counter points to the "black" and by pointing these out, taking a more "gray scape" into a "black/white" view.
So that said, here's my perspective of the anticipated showdown of the #4 Team with two outstanding players in Durr and Hines-Allen, a great young coach with 1st hand knowledge of the UConn aura, a passionate fan base and some pretty good role/supporting players.
1. The first quarter showed unbelievable energy by the two team and crowd and even ESPN with their efforts to "promote the game". Kia was magnificent on Durr and KLS either made the shot when given the ball or made the right pass to get it to the open player. This despite being hockey checked every time!
2. Louisville took the right time-outs to quell as best they could the run. The second quarter saw a more consistent Louisville half court offense (minimal turnovers) that restricted the transition points UConn leveraged in Q1.
3. Z came into the game and far too many UConn players tried to get her involved as she is a great talent but the passes and positioning were forced and it then stalled the normal fluidity we had in Q1.
4. As noted in another thread when Geno made the comment about the team needing to get Stewie touches, the same here for this team, they NEED TO GET KLS TOUCHES!!! When she touches the ball in the offense, great things happen and after the 15 minute mark, those touches went way down.
5. In the 2nd half, too many hoisted 3s by Z, Crystal Dangerfield, Pheesa and some questionable passing by Gabby/Pheesa led to empty possessions. Durr also did a better job shooting-she is a stud after all and worthy of POY consideration. Not only did she score but she also guarded Nurse and KLS rendering zero open looks for Kia (pause here for Kia who did not force any shots, I think was 0-1 in 3pters). Hines-Allen also put in a great effort on the defensive end and without KLS touching the ball, we became stagnant.
6. While we see what this team has for talent and how Geno, CD (shout out to our HOF Assistant!!!) and the rest of the staff, we also are bearing the burden OF OUR EXPECTATIONS from last year when despite the glorious ride, we kept pointing to this year with Z, Batouly and the bevy of star freshman and how dominant we would be. We even had so many fandoms of opposing teams saying it with regularity. We even predicted this team would or could be the greatest ever.
Now with those 6 points out there- This team is phenomenal and is in better position than most but the Senior year team of Stewie/Jefferson/Tuck for winning a NC. That 2015-16 team was pre-ordained to win going away and did.
Greatness is never appreciated during it's time as we are too close to it. Maya's teams as noted had many ups and downs yet, here we talk about them in reverence. The TASS force team also had some close wins during their senior year 9, 14, 14 and 12 points in the final against an Oklahoma team with minimal AA's on it. Yet, that team is revered mightily, and justifiably so. This team for all our picayune identification of flaws, still is on track for possible greatness.
Humbly submitted-DefenseBB
