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Message: [QUOTE="EricLA, post: 5170364, member: 26"] It was a meh game. UCONN's problem, IMHO, is that their inconsistency often lasts an entire quarter. Against USC, we got down big early, had to mount a mammoth comeback, but ultimately fell short. Against any top 10 team, that won't cut it, and efforts like we saw against SJU last night might well result in bowing out in the NCAA's in the sweet 16. Honestly, I get that people want to be positive about the effort, players, etc., but we still need to be realistic. AT THIS TIME IMHO, this team MIGHT make the elite 8. It would depend on the matchup. But there is no way this team (as it's constructed and playing right now), makes the final 4. There were some really good things in the game. I think KK continues to show spark, fire, and energy, and if she can consistently make 3's (like 33%, not 8%), she will be a major weapon. I think Jana continues to improve, and she's better than Ice by a fair bit at this time. Ash is solid and you know you are going to get major effort from her. Morgan is solid and the first "post" off the bench now (ahead of Ice, shockingly). And you know that Sarah, Paige, and Azzi can all go off at any given time. One "meh" game from all of them doesn't concern me. On the flip side - our half court offense is weak. If we aren't forcing TO's off our defense, we struggle in the half court. Cait seems not to have improved at all this season. I was NOT expecting her skills to improve, but I WAS expecting her chemistry with the team to improve. She still gets caught too often in no man's land with the ball, and honestly, I like KK at the 1 better than Cait at this time. Also this team gives up way too many open 3's and we often get lucky if the other team misses. Don't know what's going on with Ice, but something ain't right with her. The fact that she's behind Morgan on the depth chart for the 5/4 position is troubling. And Q - she's an adventure out there and really seems no better than last season. Let's be honest. Give SJU all the credit in the world for "in your face defense", but they are just not as good as the other elite teams out there and if we struggle against them, imagine what it will like against a much better team. We went thru a 5 minute stretch scoring 1 point. I get playing the subs and giving them scratch to get experience in games, but even some of our poor stretches include most of the starters on the floor. Bottom line is that this team not only hasn't managed to put together a 40 minute performance, generally they put together about 20-25 +/- really good minutes a game. The rest is average. I get that he's tinkering with the roster, and there is still room for growth, but to pretend everything is great is just people wearing blue blinders... [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach