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Message: [QUOTE="oldhusky, post: 4412583, member: 9844"] In terms of expectations, I think we have three key players who for a variety of reasons, have logical reasons why they might make more of a quantum leap this season. Some improvement year to year of course is expected, but I am talking about a major bump. Those players are Azzi, Caroline and Aaliyah. In Azzi and Caroline's case injuries are a major part of that hope. Azzi missed a ton of games, and apparently was dealing with foot issues even when she did play. As a result, a player with a reputation for being a shooter and a scorer wound up being more of just a spot up three point shooter. This year more healthy, we expect to see the full extent of her capability to create on her own, which was probably very limited by her injuries last year. Caroline we didn't really know, was dealing with a hip problem all year, and just as she was emerging as a star suffered another injury that seemed to really curtail the momentum she had up to that point. Prior to that injury she had a stretch where she had to carry us somewhat offensively when others were out. I was pleasantly surprised at both her volume and efficiency inside the arc, which was very good, but based on her track record and reputation as a three point shooter, I think most of us expect her % from deep to not just go up a little, but a lot. If she could shoot closer to 40% than 30% she will be a much better player. As for Aaliyah she simply has to do what she already did in her freshmen year. Simply being freshmen Aaliyah instead of sophomore Aaliyah is a quantum leap. The summer with the national team has been discussed, as has how this offseason has been different for her, so I am fully expecting freshmen Aaliyah to re-emerge. Those three presumed major improvements could go a long way towards compensating for the bad news we have had so far. Another player I think might have logical reasons for improvement is Dorka. Yes she is coming off a wrist injury, but I think that is relatively minor. Since she is very experienced, I don't expect significant skill improvement, but the team learning how to use her best could be quite different. Remember she had been just a C that was the focal point of the offense at Ohio State. At Uconn she was part of a three big rotation, playing half the time at the 4 in a new system, that rarely tried to get the ball to her down low. This year she is the starting C, will probably play all her minutes there, and will get more opportunities to score around the basket. While I don't expect a huge bump, I think offensively her scoring could be significantly better this year as well. [/QUOTE]

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