Moving Forward Paige-less

[Tonyc]

Well we have 1 game Louisville until Marquette on Dec 29. Thats a long time to get ready and get back on track and help cure our injuries. Im thinking and hoping Griff, Nika and Azzi will be back by then. The layoff is allowing time for them to get back on track. There was talk about Griff playing last week and that didnt happen so here we are with another 7 days before LVille. Her return is encouraging. Nika was suppose to be out 3 weeks which tells me if all goes right she could be back. Im thinking we were told it will take a couple of weeks for Azzi would bring us to Dec 15 and about that time we should know if shes ready to go. Im hoping everybody heals and is 100% healthy and theyre 100% ready to go against LVille and if theyre not at least we have time to practice together to get ready without everybody. That leaves Paige and I would think the earliest we hear anything is the end of February. Im hoping shes healthy and ready to go.

We're all concerned where we're at as a team. Over this next 7 day layoff and with the possible return of Griff Nika and Azzi we should be in much better shape. As a team playing without them we are adjusting and showed improvement playing without them against UCLA. That was a huge hurdle to get over mentally. We now know we can do it without them and with this layoff we will only get stronger. The layoff gives us time to learn to play together. With that said this time off will only help and by us time to learn to play together.

I talked to a few fans and their thoughts were we would have a problem winning without our injured players being able to play. Now it looks like we may have 2 or 3 of them back which is encouraging. With 4 key players out we have been able to give others more playtime and gain more experience. There were some bright spots Sunday and thats going to pay dividends for the rest of the season. I think we're going to have more experienced depth which will allow Geno to play more kids with out fear of them not knowing how to play within his system. Moving forward, more players will see more minutes then they wouldve if these injuries didnt occur. We will be a stronger unit with depth.

So now we wait to hear from the doctors and coaches as to when the kids will be healthy enough to play and how long it will take to get them up to speed. In the mean time we have time to get ready for Lville and I think we will be ready and playing better then we did in the past 2 games. We have height and Liv and Dorka have shown us some much improved signs. Our bigs are playing big and that is something we have lacked. We have big games coming up with Lville Marquette and Depaul followed by Oregon South Carolina and Tenn through Feb 6. We've got time to get ready and although we are a different team without Paige we will become a better team imo when she finally comes back whether its this season or next. We are Paige-less now but the future looks brighter.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I said this in another thread: Didn't UConn have one season with 4 losses & win a Championship? All things are possible.

 

[veryolddog]

I am sad that Paige had this disabling injury. With that said, I saw a group of UConn players emerge as a Team without their primary player to rely on. All of a sudden, they began to perform and obtained a victory.

UConn has a lot of above average stars on their roster who began to demonstrate why they were recruited. Paige is great. No doubt. But these guys are also very good performers as well when they have to step up to the challenge. Most college teams would love to have these guys available.

In the next 10 days, with practice, I think that they will gain a lot of confidence and become a formidable opponent.

 

[msf22b]

I sense that the team will be quite engaged in coach's prescriptions for success, even if they haven't up 'till now.

But I think that dreams of miracle runs should be tempered.

Other teams have good players (and coaches) too. Some have not been hit by the injury bug. And taking the long perspective; Geno has succeeded in raising the level of coaching nationwide...It took a while, but a whole lot of people figured out elements of what he was doing (and put it to good use).

So, there are many decent teams and many decent coaches all licking their chops at the chance to knock off UConn...Some have a chance and other's don't.

We have a very decent team and when the walking wounded return and meld into a system, we might be very, very competitive, even without Paige.

But, its likely that this season will be one of enjoying incremental improvements
rather than domination and championships (with some possible backwards steps).

Saturdays game turned into quite a pleasure...Moving forward from here will be fascinating to watch.

 

[Blakeon18]

Season 2003-2004...Dee's senior year...record of 31-4....think they beat Minnesota in the semis...and LadyVol in the finals.

 

[Surly1]

After watching both UConn & South Carolina play this weekend, it seems reasonable to place SC as the prohibitive favorite for the NC. Dawn Staley and her team are playing with a mission in mind. They didn’t have an opportunity to compete in the called-off pandemic season and I feel Staley believes they gave away the game against Stanford in the Final Four, thus loosing out on winning in the championship game vs Arizona, which they would have been favored. Both Zia Cooke and Boston have dramatically improved their games and are playing with immense confidence. This is Boston’s third season and they are playing with one thing in mind. It was evident in The game against UConn - who is SC’s measuring stick.

In contrast, thus far, UConn’s key players, other than Paige, have not shown similar improvement or the same sense of urgency. With Paige on the floor, a UConn vs SC would be a close match, the game in the Bahamas notwithstanding. A scenario where Paige doesn’t return this season or is not back to 100% puts SC in the drivers seat. Is SC unbeatable? Of course not. There are a few teams that could not knock them off. NC St matches up well. Md on a hot shooting night. Texas could given Vic Schaefer is not intimidated. Stanford can if they develop an effective PG. And of course UConn.

Over the next few months, I believe this team will develop their identity similar to past UConn teams, with a reliance on defense, emphasis on every posesssion and a grind it out mentality. UConn has size this year and they can play inside/out ball. Much can change getting back injured personnel, but hopefully something clicked for the players during the UCLA game. It was the first time I witnessed this season a sense of ”fight” coming out in them. A sense of recognition as to “This is who we are.”

I hope it continues in the Louisville. The season can’t be placed on hold questioning whether Paige is or isn returning. As a team, they have to charge forward not expecting to have her. If she returns, all the better.