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Message: [QUOTE="Barkin Out, post: 4735631, member: 10481"] Lost amongst the angst created by Kevin McGuff’s pressing sweet sixteen defeat of our Huskies, was our own failure to generate more possessions through steals. Injuries to key ball handlers. foul trouble, and mental exhaustion set the Huskies up for failure against Ohio under the bright lights of the NCAA tourney. But these were season long challenges that were exposed. Challenges that contributed to last year’s defense being our least effective at generating steals in recent history. I took a quick peek at UCONN's team steal’s since the last undefeated season, courtesy of the UCONN website. It was the only year I could find where UCONN's opponents stole the ball more than our Huskies did from their opponents. Most steals given up. And least steals obtained. ’22-’23: 256 vs 286 ’21-’22: 321 vs 212 ’20-'21: 287 vs 167 ’19-’20: 292 vs 210 '18-’19: 304 vs 211 ’17-’18: 369 vs 217 ’16-’17: 370 vs 229 ’15-’16: 447 vs 232 Obviously, we’ve had steady leadership over this period from the most accomplished coaching staff in Women’s basketball history. And we’ve heard the constant refrain from Nika, AE and others about “turning defense in offense” at most presser’s last year. This leads me to believe that the decline is not related to a drop in coaching emphasis. Though, as has been discussed in [USER=11664]@sun[/USER] 's pressing thread, Geno may be less apt to press given the improvement in ball handling and coaching compared with the early period of his career. So was it personnel? And how will our newest pack of Huskies fare at stealing our opponents’ lunch? Historically speaking, our best thieves have been small forwards or guards blessed with quick hands and terrific court awareness. Think Nykesha, Maya, Rizotti, Moriah, and The Gabbulous One. This year’s Huskies may be relatively light in the front court, but we will be loaded with quick guards and athletic small forwards. Nika and Aubrey, who led the team last year with 50 steals each, will be back and should be able to play with more freedom and less fear given the deeper bench. Paige, who had 66 steals during her pandemic shortened freshman season and sees the floor with the clarity of a stadium cam, should make everyone around her better. KK looks like she’ll be a terror on the perimeter. She and Shade both averaged 3 steals per exhibition in Europe. And Q seems to have the length and athleticism to become disruptive force. Of course, the Huskies greatest thieves have all had the benefit of being able to play a riskier style of aggressive defense due to the presence of all-time great shot blockers behind them. Think Stewie, Rebecca and Kara, Tina and Pheesa. Will the absence of an elite shot blocker prevent our talented smalls from achieving their pilfering potential? What strategies should Geno employ to accentuate his perimeter advantage? I’ll inch out on limb and predict that this year’s huskies will fall short of the bar set by Moriah/Stewie/Morgan’s last season, [I]but[/I] they will take more steals than any of our teams since then. I’m looking forward to watching them reach 400 steals for the season during the final in Cleveland with my older and wiser brother. Go Huskies! [/QUOTE]

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