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Message: [QUOTE="oldude, post: 2430194, member: 7511"] In the immortal words of the great Satchel Paige, “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.” Put another way, if you’re Geno Auriemma and every other team in WBB is trying to catch up with UConn, you continue to set the bar higher by adding new elements to the way you coach and the way the team plays. When Geno took a trip to Boston before the season to spend some time with Brad Stevens and the Celtics, I just assumed that it was an easy road trip that Geno could combine with a tee time at the Brookline CC. But it was not due to mere convenience that Geno decided to visit Boston. The Celtics, after losing their top player 5 minutes into the season, are the NBA’s biggest surprise, having reeled off 16 straight wins and counting. Watching the Celts come back from 17 down against the reigning NBA champions a week ago, I was struck by their youth, incredible effort and their [B]SPEED[/B]. After UConn’s heartbreaking loss to MS St, where Geno took responsibility for not speeding up the pace of play, I’m sure he never, ever wants to get into another game where the opposing team can walk the ball up the court and run their offense comfortably, and then get back and set up on defense. During the initial SNY All-Access show, Justine asked Geno what was different with this year’s Huskies. Geno replied, “We’re going to play much faster. We’re going to play faster than any team in the country.” What exactly does that mean? After watching UConn dismantle 4 straight ranked teams, including an extremely talented and athletic UCLA squad at Pauley Pavilion, we’ve got a pretty good idea what playing faster means. It starts with pressure defense to speed the other team up, not allowing them to get into any kind of offensive rhythm while forcing more turnovers. On offense, everyone runs the court and attacks: Lots of layups and open jump shots. At times it can be a little sloppy. No more beautiful symphonies on offense, so we might just see a game where Gabby totals 5 steals and 10 TO’s, or the sloppiness of the last 5 minutes vs UCLA. While we often joke about UConn being bad for WBB, Geno’s emphasis on “playing fast” really is bad for WBB. The Huskies have unveiled a new accelerant that allows them to create even more distance between themselves and everyone else. Other teams will have to alter the way they coach, how they recruit and the way they play in order to compete with UConn. Once again, Geno is taking WBB into a Brave New World, where [B]SPEED KILLS[/B], and other teams will continue to struggle to chase down the Huskies. [/QUOTE]

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