No Concerns

[ABCDFE]

Good to see someone else acknowledge this. Bueckers’ presence demanded a lot of the defensive focus and allowed Fudd and Strong to play free and loose. And her confidence ran through the rest of the team. It will be interesting to see if the other two can generate the juice and make the plays to carry them this year.

I think the value of Paige beyond her outwordly talent was her leadership in tough games and helping keep everyone calm, and know that when needed she could get a bucket. As BobbyJ pointed out defenses had to put their best defender on Paige. I also want to point out (another poster has mentioned this) that in tight end of game situations Paige, KChen were very good free throw shooters (along with Azzi). KK and K9 are solid but not nearly as automatic. This year although we have depth, I am interested in seeing how we do in tight game situations or god forbid if we're trying to make a come back how this team handles the pressure. Only time will tell, but sounds like Geno has high confidence in this team, which is a good sign.

 

[meyers7]

In the most recent presser, after acknowledging the recent swoon and suggesting that all the top programs go through this every season, he said “I think the team is in a really good position heading into the BE tournament.” This is not quite as confident sounding as what he said last season, but it’s pretty close. He seems to be saying that the team is as healthy as it’s been all season. That’s a very good sign.

I'm hoping that they can get themselves focused and hit that "tournament switch". I'm hoping this swoon is a bit of boredom on their part. And the excitement of the the Tournaments will wake them up some.

In the past, a lot of times they have played much better in the tournaments. I'm hoping that trend continues. He seems pleased with where they were at this time. Just needs to show up in the games.

 

[browns]

Browns, I have a different opinion of Dawn's game plan going into last year's championship game. I think once the brackets were announced, all of the Gamecocks approached the FF thinking that they were going to reverse the outcome of the earlier loss by playing South Carolina basketball with more intensity.

I base that not just on her and her players' postgame comments after that regular season blowout loss to UConn, but also on her team's comments leading into the SEC and NCAA tournaments about being motivated to avenge the UConn loss by coming out right from the start of the game with proper focus and intensity.

So.... from my perch in the NC game. I saw Dawn employ basically the same strategy that she did in the first game (i.e., trying to shutdown/limit Paige) while counting on her team's increased focus and intensity to carry the day and to show the world who USC really is. I don't think Dawn tried anything in the NC to slow down Azzi and/or Sarah. Rather, Dawn's plan differed from the first game in that she wanted to minimize the damage inflicted in the first game from beyond the arc. That is what Dawn said in the postgame presser according to the NCAA transcripts.

I agree with BobbyJ's assessment that the statistical results of Paige, Azzi and Sarah were largely due to Dawn primarily focusing on a single star player. My personal opinion of Paige's two games in Tampa is she played well, not fair. I agree with you that play of Azzi and Sarah was outstanding.

My two cents. Go Huskies!

Another key of the game just like the first time they played was Sara completely dominated Edwards the best player for SC..I can see that happening again but UConn has to face the 6'5" Okot now and if they play UCLA Betts and Texas 6'6" Olda cher an 6'4' Cunningham..all season long posters hav complained about UConn posts.., I agree..that is the one weakness Uconn has..for whatever reason Williams just hasn't worked out and Jana has regressed from last year..will it finally catch up with the team in the Big Dance if they hav an off night shooting an get nothing from the Bigs? that is my only concern..Uconn can go small and hav SS play the 5 and Bianca the 4 and this is their best team but then SS has to do more than she usually does but I guess if your the NPOY you should be up to it ..they hav had a great year and it would really be a bummer if they don't bring home # 13