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Message: [QUOTE="jdote33, post: 4900437, member: 11252"] Thanks for the post. My reason for optimism is that after starting 4-3, the team has gone 22-2. I just looked at the box score from the NC State loss, and Caroline and Azzi started :( (miss them both!). In the Texas game, Ice started and Ashlyn played limited minutes. So just the minute distribution and overall look of the team is totally different from early on in the season. It was after the Texas game that Geno committed to the 4 guard lineup and basically put Paige at the 4. Before this change they were kind of a team searching for an identity. So I'm not saying to throw the early losses out the window, but I do think they don't give that great of insight on the current team. So the 2 losses in the 24 game stretch were against SC and ND. Although they kinda feel successive, they were two weeks apart. The ND game is the one that still kinda bugs. It ended up being a 15 point loss but the team was only down 3 heading into the 4th. Nonetheless we were outplayed, and Paige probably had her worst game of the season (I like Sonia Citron a lot but I just don't believe she can limit Paige like she did again). At the end of the day, there are only a couple of players that could play like Hannah Hidalgo played that game. Additionally, I don't think Paige has another game like that in the tournament (I know it's a lot of pressure on her). The South Carolina game was never really close. But Paopao (who I really like as well) played out of her mind that game. I just remember she hit a crazy step back on the baseline, and I thought this is just her night. They did not have Cardoso, but in that particular game it may have been a good thing as Watkins and Kitts played great together. SC is pretty scary, can't say I want to be in their bracket. But they have not been as dominant in the past couple weeks. They struggled a bit yesterday vs Tennessee. I've watched a lot of wcbb this year (wayyy to much to be honest), and like your post laid out, every team is flawed. Similar to us though, some teams lost games with key players out, and also some teams are playing much better than they were earlier on in the season. In a nutshell, I think it would be hard to beat LSU (rebounding and overall talent), and SC (rebounding and depth). But there aren't too many teams that I would expect to lose to. Iowa is really good but I wouldn't be surprised if Nika was able to slow down Clark and we'd win. Similar scenario with Juju (I saw Oregon State give her fits). Ohio State is better than last year, and they knocked us out, but we should be better at handling the press this year and I don't think they have a great matchup for Paige or AE tbh. We may end up needing some luck in some games, but heading into most matchups, I'd think we probably have 2 of the top 3 players on the floor, and the better point guard, so I'm feeling good. [/QUOTE]

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