I'm not pushing a panic button here, but I have concerns. I remember all too well when UConn cruised into the NCAAs with a fantastic record and lost to Vic Shaefer and MSState in the last seconds. In an different year, I was among those in Denver suffering though a heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame against, again, a much-heralded UConn team. These things can and do happen.
This year, at this point, there is good and bad to talk about. I would feel better except for a few small details.
-- May I suggest that Sarah has finally hit the sophomore wall? Because she's Sarah, she is playing through it, but it appears to be there. I just wish it hadn't hit toward the end of the season. For stretches of the game, she doesn't seem as sharp as usual. Her game against Marquette was schizophrenic. Did anyone notice that in the first half she was not only missing, but missing short? It's as if she'd played a whole game first and was tired. Then she came back in the second half and carried the team. What was that about? Her Villanova game was much better. Here's hoping it was a short-term aberration.
-- In the Villanova game, Azzi piled up a lot of impressive statistics, but, by my count, threw the ball away at least three times, which is uncharacteristic, to say the least. Again, another case of a player losing focus, albeit briefly, a few times in the game, becoming a contributor to a rather high number of UConn turnovers in that game.
-- KK is a wonder, but opponents are getting wise to her style and opposing coaches are on the refs to call penalties that yes, she does commit from time to time. Kayleigh continues to improve.
-- It appeared to me that through the first half of the season, UConn defense (especially Sarah) was getting a bit of a pass from the refs. Not so much any more.
-- Every coach whose team might face UConn will be studying the last two games. The stuff Villanova did in the first half? There are at least five teams out there with the horses to do that all game long.
-- Blanca's Villanova game was what you'd expect from a freshmen coming back from an injury. Here's hoping she returns to form soon. She could be the difference in a big game.
-- A plus: Serah seems to be playing more consistently tough defense lately. I was at the Creighton game in Storrs and noticed how well she was doing at times. Hern offense, IMHO, still seems spotty, with lost of close-in misses.
-- Jana is Jana. We can all be grateful for the millions of rebounds she hauls in. The body fouls? Not so much.
-- Another plus: Ashlynn continues to be underrated. Tenacious defense and nail-in-the-coffin three pointers from time to time. It's impossible to tell whether Allie will be a factor in big games. She certainly has the gunner's instinct to be that.
