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This is not exactly a new topic -- we've been hashing it out from a variety of angles for maybe a year now. But as we get closer to the season and think about walk-ons (will it be one? two? none?), it probably is worth considering the implications of a nine-person roster, which I contend is the story of the year right now. It will influence the way the team plays its games, the way the coaches substitute players and the scores of cupcake games. There are those among us --I'm one -- who wish that things had gone differently for UConn and that the team had the talents of 10 or 11 scholarship players to draw on. The thought of an injury is frightening. The thought of something lingering or debilitating -- like what Bria faced or, God forbid, a knee -- is nothing I want to even think about for a second.
Some other thoughts: You don't have to possess Tony's optimism to see UConn going far this year. The team is just too good not to. But discussion of who the MVP is will be pointless. On a roster such as this one, it's likely to be someone different every night. And that's a good thing, because the team will face differing styles throughout the year, and absolutely should respond differently depending on which the other side throws at them. My prediction? It'll be a good year if, near the end, we're all haggling about who the MVP is, because that means a number of players have risen to the occasion throughout the season.
Along with that, the key is the Most Improved Player. I don't know who it'll be, but let's hope there is spirited competition there as well. It it Moriah, settling in to the role as floor general, effectively using her speed and putting up at least a few points every game? Is it Banks, coming back from an awful injury and, over time, proving that she's returned to the form she demonstrated before she got hurt? Is it Kiah, finally achieving the potential we all know she has? Is it Morgan, consistently stepping up as the sixth player? Or is it Bria, achieving superstar status with an incredible year?
As BYers have pointed out previously, any of these could happen, as could any combination of them. But at least one of them HAS to happen for UConn to have the kind of year we all would like.
There also is no way to know how Chong will fit into the mix, but she probably will see more action than the coaches would have liked under other circumstances. She seems to be a really good kid, but we also don't know how her talents will hold up in her first year of college ball against top-notch competition. This is true of every rookie, but especially so when the day-to-day competition she faced in high school was not necessarily the best.
I believe the Stanford and MD games on Nov. 11 and 15 will be instructive, as will the Duke game in mid-December. Stanford is, well, Stanford. That game is immediately followed by Maryland, a tough team that will test UConn's ability to impose its will on an opponent. If UConn wins that one, its performance against Duke the following month will give us a good idea of whether the team is improving the way a championship unit should.
Way out here in Arizona, I have no access to in-person games, so I'm relying on fellow BYers to provide the color that makes a season more than a season. You have my gratitude in advance, not just for that but for being the well-informed, highly observant, cantankerous fans that you are. In any case, I cannot wait.
Some other thoughts: You don't have to possess Tony's optimism to see UConn going far this year. The team is just too good not to. But discussion of who the MVP is will be pointless. On a roster such as this one, it's likely to be someone different every night. And that's a good thing, because the team will face differing styles throughout the year, and absolutely should respond differently depending on which the other side throws at them. My prediction? It'll be a good year if, near the end, we're all haggling about who the MVP is, because that means a number of players have risen to the occasion throughout the season.
Along with that, the key is the Most Improved Player. I don't know who it'll be, but let's hope there is spirited competition there as well. It it Moriah, settling in to the role as floor general, effectively using her speed and putting up at least a few points every game? Is it Banks, coming back from an awful injury and, over time, proving that she's returned to the form she demonstrated before she got hurt? Is it Kiah, finally achieving the potential we all know she has? Is it Morgan, consistently stepping up as the sixth player? Or is it Bria, achieving superstar status with an incredible year?
As BYers have pointed out previously, any of these could happen, as could any combination of them. But at least one of them HAS to happen for UConn to have the kind of year we all would like.
There also is no way to know how Chong will fit into the mix, but she probably will see more action than the coaches would have liked under other circumstances. She seems to be a really good kid, but we also don't know how her talents will hold up in her first year of college ball against top-notch competition. This is true of every rookie, but especially so when the day-to-day competition she faced in high school was not necessarily the best.
I believe the Stanford and MD games on Nov. 11 and 15 will be instructive, as will the Duke game in mid-December. Stanford is, well, Stanford. That game is immediately followed by Maryland, a tough team that will test UConn's ability to impose its will on an opponent. If UConn wins that one, its performance against Duke the following month will give us a good idea of whether the team is improving the way a championship unit should.
Way out here in Arizona, I have no access to in-person games, so I'm relying on fellow BYers to provide the color that makes a season more than a season. You have my gratitude in advance, not just for that but for being the well-informed, highly observant, cantankerous fans that you are. In any case, I cannot wait.
