just because it looks like your'e trying harder to pound to the other side like stef does, she is slow, don't be delusional, she looks slow, thick and heavy. BG "lopes" because she is so long legged, she beats guards at the other end of the floor many times for some fast break points in our highlights reels. we will see how stomping around is slower than BGs loping gate... she is simply more athletic and stronger this year than a heavy girl.
BG is most often the last one down the court for Baylor. Your observations of Stef are completely wrong. Stef hustles hard and has lef the break several times. Stef is not the slow kid from last year, she has trimmed down and never lags for effort. She, also, has learned a great deal about playing the post at the college level and what is allowed and isn't in the college game. No one her size is tougher than her mentally. Against aTm that was seen twice when she took shots and then just went down the floor and scored.
BTW, Stef played 31 minutes against both Stanford and aTm. Don't confuse the minutes she has had in blowouts with the minutes she plays against tough competition. Yes, UConn manages minutes as necessary. Last year BG was begging to come out of at least one game. I'd rather have someone 100% on the floor and give them rests than someone checking out while still on the floor.
It will be a huge danger for Baylor to assume Stef is just another post player just as much as it is for UConn in reverse. Baylor, however, is much more likely to make that mistake, especially, since they think they know her from last year. Plus we have a lot more size to back her up (6'4", 6'3", 6'3") and fouls to give in the post this year, if necessary.
BG will literally have a body leaning on her 100% of the time if I have my way along with constant blind side doubles taking any breathing space. She will be passing out but our defensive speed makes thar more risky than against most team. From the constant running and the body pressure BG will be exhausted and she will need to be mentally tough in a way she has not shown to date.
"I think what happens when you're willing to play at that pace for 40 minutes, I think the other team just kind of gets to the point where they just go, 'I can't keep this up.' " Auriemma said. "You can see it in their face sometimes and in their body language. It's the one thing I'm most proud of. We keep that pace. There's no getting tired, or going I don't feel like it this possession. You try to make people keep up with us."
Offensively, I expect us to run a lot of the high four we saw against aTm with multiple cutters. If BG plays back and bites on the first cutter expect us to trap BG off the ball with Stef and the extra pass, after all, it is UConn. If not, expect pull up jumpers. UConn. If not, expect pull up jumpers. If BG is quick off the ground she will unable to respond on the pass.
In the end this year's UConn team is much better than when we played each other with two freshman starting against Baylor in their second college game. And this year's freshman, well, they have already played in two nationally televised big games.
Big challenge for UConn is the first road trip of any size and managing the routine.
