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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 2743561, member: 1131"] I think you are all being too pessimistic about Molly Bent. As I've said before (and others have agreed), her problems in her first two years were entirely "above the shoulders". No, she is not as fast or as athletic as Crystal or CW, but she is fast and athletic enough to be a very capable guard at the college level. I think she CAN accomplish more in the upcoming year than Mikayla, if only because her shooting form is far better (and I think she understands the UConn offense and defense better than Mikayla). I would offer an analogy: Nicole Wolff. Nicole played very well in her first few games as a freshman, and then got a stress fracture (probably from working too hard). That wiped out most of her freshman and all of her sophomore season. By her junior year, she was the best practice player on the team, and the coaches made her a co-captain and a starter to reward her play and effort in practice. But she never contributed on the stat line in games, and her minutes were very limited. Like Molly, she was a good-but-not-great athlete and a topflight student. I think she was also similar to Molly in that she internalized too much and could never really relax on the court. She tried so hard to avoid mistakes that she never made good plays and certainly never played instinctually. No doubt -- the exact same thing could happen to Molly. On the other hand, the light bulb could go on for her at any time, or maybe she will just decide (or allow herself) to "chill out". If she puts it together, she could be the third guard behind Crystal and CW, and make a significant contribution. It might help if she cuts down the number of hours she devotes to basketball, and lets herself "smell the roses". I don't have the same hope or expectation for Kyla. I think she has already played about as well as her physical talent allows (which is not true of Molly). I don't think she has enough speed or athleticism to play more than about 8-10 minutes in even slightly competitive games. I think Batouly will be more effective, and will take most of the minutes at the backup 4 position. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach