Number 9

[baggerbob]

Breanna is going to play more then 23 minutes a game this year, unless every game is a blowout. She showed in the Final Four she can erase layups on defense, steal the ball at half- court, then lead the break. She scored a lot of points in the final four, but when Kelly made the statement after the Final Four, " we needed her to play like that", she was talking about the other parts of Stewie's game. The ability of someone her size to step out, and play defense on the perimeter, but get back to erase an inside shot makes this possibly, the best defensive team in history. When you add all the other great defenders, you don't need one person to replace Kelly, they all will.

 

[meyers7]

I like cognoscenti. Perhaps you would prefer literati? Any other suggestions?

Using these big words, you gotta remember the intellectual level of the people on the Boneyard (or any internet board for that matter).

 

[chrissaran]

Kaleena spent a lot of time with Kelly last year. A lot of "Kelly's mantle" is attitude, which Kaleena certainly picked up. She was much tougher inside, whether it was scoring or rebounding. As incredible as Kelly was even she said her unselfishness didn't always get the team where they needed to be. Defense certainly sparks the Huskies, but you also have to be able to score the basketball. That's what Kaleena does best. Will she be the defensive stopper Kelly was? No. Then again Kelly will never be the scorer Kaleena is. Everybody does their part.

 

[chrissaran]

Actually I thought that UConn had a great shot at beating Baylor, particularly if Baylor went undefeated and they met in the Championship game. All the pressure in the world would have been on Baylor and by that time, I surmised that the freshmen would no longer be FRESHMEN, that they would be seasoned and playing like sophomores. The only thing I got wrong is that Baylor got beat by someone else. The surprise was that UConn took those three hits from Notre Dame, all of which UConn could easily have won. The most upsetting loss to Notre Dame might have been that 3 overtime game when so many things went wrong after UConn pulled away including missed free throws by seasoned very efficient foul shooters, plus that clunky 3 point shot to tie the game by McBride.

If Stef was healthy and Brianna was healthy, yes we could have beaten Baylor. Mostly Stef being healthy. No one else could have defended Griner the way Stef did in the Baylor game. Why do you think Griner committed those two hard fouls? Most teams collapse three people around her. It's frustrating when it's just one person with a bit of help, but not three people constantly.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I like cognoscenti. Perhaps you would prefer literati? Any other suggestions?

I was going to chime in with intelligentsia.

Also, the scary thing for the rest of the WCBB landscape is the fact that our two best players in the Final Four were a freshman and a sophomore. Yikes.