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[QUOTE="CocoHusky, post: 2754585, member: 5823"]
In two consecutive years UCONN had an undefeated regular seasons and lost in OT  at FF  all while playing with a center that was 5'11" (Gabby)  and a PF that was 6'1" (Napheesa)-[B]BOTH AAs![/B]    
There was no reason to believe that Gabby and Napheesa could not get the job of guarding the post  done in those  FF games.  Both had gotten the job done against much better players previously:  Brown of Baylor, Wilson of South Carolina, and a healthy Turner of ND-[B]ALSO [U]all[/U] AAs.[/B]
Some criticism of Geno and the staff is fair here in this sense.   On each occasions Geno had 6'5" ( Natalie )  or 6'6" (Azura) available to him to provide some help in offsetting the high disadvantage of Gabby and Napheesa. 
Both Butler and Stevens had played in the post effectively against quality opponents:   Natalie against Brown of Baylor & Azura (mostly offensively) against Shepard of ND.   This was a big moment and it is moments like these why these players came to UCONN. The UCONN staff had 3 full years with Natalie and 2 full years with Azura to get them ready for a moment like this and it didn't happen.  Natalie Butler played 6 minutes against Mississippi State and Azura played 28 minutes against ND both games lasted 45 minutes.
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First name of men's bb coach