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Message: [QUOTE="oldude, post: 2568111, member: 7511"] In another post I commented that when UConn’s starting 5 + Z & MW are at their best, there isn’t another team in the country that can stay with them. Unfortunately, as a result of numerous chronic injuries, it’s unlikely that the Huskies will be at their best for the rest of the season. So what to do? Geno limits practice time for all of the walking wounded, attempts to control PT when he can, holds players out of games as he did last night with Crystal and continually tries to develop a deeper bench. Of course, there’s a downside to all of this. If a team doesn’t practice hard together, execution and timing in games suffers, as they did last night in a rather ugly game. It also suffers when you are playing reserves who are not yet ready to play prime time minutes. Still, a win is a win, however it looks, and against UCF, the modern equivalent of the old Rutgers teams, I doubt that any UConn win will ever be pretty. Secondly, in order to limit minutes for some players, other players have to step up and play more minutes. Lou is playing far more minutes than she should on a bad ankle. Kia is a warhorse, jumping back and forth between the 2 guard and pg roles, and she continues to take hits that would place other players on the disabled list. Last night, against the relentless UCF pressure, Kia looked tentative for the 1st time this season and was beaten up to boot. There’s no real end in sight for this season. If the Huskies can win their last big OOC game vs Louisville on Monday night, they will once again earn the #1 overall seed in the Big Dance, and let’s face it, UConn will win the rest of the AAC regular season and conference championship games, and hopefully give the walking wounded some rest at the same time. This is one instance when being a member of a relatively weak conference benefits UConn. But heading towards the NCAA’s, there are far too many questions. Can the inflammation in Crystal’s shins be relieved enough so that she plays freely and dominates games like she did in the season opener against Stanford? Can Gabby continue to play like the best athlete in WBB with a painful hip flexor? Can Lou avoid coming down on someone’s foot again? Can the Huskies avoid injuries to any other key player? Can Geno get greater contributions out of someone, anyone on the bench? After Gabby toughed it out with another Gabulous performance in the statement win over SC, she was asked about her soar hip by ESPN reporter, Holly Rowe. She responded in a manner that indicated she was resigned to dealing with it by saying, “My hip is my hip.” Perhaps, Gabby could have answered the question by borrowing a Carly Simon’s lyric, [B]“I haven’t got time for the pain.” [/B] [/QUOTE]

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