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Message: [QUOTE="#12in21, post: 4238614, member: 10763"] 2017 for me was the one that got away, I fully believe that if that squad hadn't had the breakdown they had against Mississippi State they would have easily beaten South Carolina in the championship game. Having beaten SC already during the season, Geno, the coaches and the players had a tested gameplay that worked and SC would have had to make all the adjustments which I don't believe they could/would to beat UConn. I think for that team, an earlier loss (as Geno has suggested) to break the pressure of carrying on the record setting win streak may have made their game against Mississippi State a very different one. They came into that game,IMO, overlooking Mississippi State with anticipation of a probable rematch with SC to bring home #12 and end that season with the 113 game win streak intact. Vic Schaeffer and the MS players came in with a great game plan, that they executed to a tee and Geno and UConn were on their heels from the get go. If not for Gabby playing an exceptional game and Saniya being solid throughout we would have had no chance at the end. Lou came alive for the second half and gave us a chance but neither Pheesa or Kia showed up. That year if we had the kind of quality depth we have on our current squad we would be rooting for at least #13 this season. Even if Stevens had been eligible rather than sitting out her transfer year, an argument could be made, that would have been enough to make in game adjustments and we win that game. We'll never know. I agree with BlueSkyGLW assessment that last season if Nika had not been injured going into the final four we win the Arizona game and see what happens against Stanford in the final. As Geno said in a presser either just before or after the Arizona loss, Aubrey contributed significantly during the tournament to that point and Anna could potentially go off, but neither could bring what Nika brought to that squad and not having a healthy Nika who could go 40 minutes if needed was a game changer. This season, as we enter tournament play, we are at a place we haven't been in years. We have a solid nine player rotation all of which have the coaches and teammates trust to go out and do what they do best. Within that group we have a [B]handful[/B] who, for any given game, can potentially breakout and have a huge game. How many teams are in that position. We don't need any one or two players to consistently play exceptional games to stay alive we just need everybody to play really solid every game and one or two of the nine will exceed that on a given night. That alone should make us as fans extremely excited about this upcoming tournament, but beyond that we are hopefully anticipating the possible reemergence of Paige being Paige who has shown she can take it up a gear to sustained excellence, surrounded by a group of teammates playing at a level she has never experienced before. All said, we are at the best possible place as a team, playing the best basketball we have played all season, with the greatest quality depth we have had in recent memory and are hungry and ready to fight for #12! Winning this one, if it happens, will probably be the greatest team achievement since the first one. [HEADING=3][SIZE=4] [/SIZE][/HEADING] [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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