- First and foremost is the continued defensive intensity and teamwork. The switching, boxing out, deflections, and close outs on shots have been significantly fine tuned. It has been the change in emphasis that has changed this team.
- Second is the completeness of the game. We did not take our foot off the pedal against Cincinnati even when it became a clear blow out.
- Third is the overall team field goal shooting percentage which is related to the defense because it leads to transition baskets which are usually higher percentage shots such as lay ups.
- Fourth, team passing and turnovers. Keeping them to a minimum and not forcing passes are one and the same thing at times.
- Fifth are the individual players:
-For CW, that means no hesitancy on the shooting, pull up jumpers, offensive and defensive rebounding and also moving in the half court offense and a continuation of the bounce back from the shooting slump which Geno warned may not be fully over.
-For Liv, it is her continued evolution this year as the place where the half court offense starts, and where you can go to for inside buckets that open up the outside game with in to out ball movement and also most importantly, how her health is. It is also about keeping her arms up on defense so as to avoid cheap fouls.
-For CD, the pull up jumpers, 3s, and drives off the flow of the offense and her distribution of the ball to the open player.
-For AM, hitting the first or second 3 she takes, continued confidence and going to the basket off the dribble and either pulling up or going for a lay up. Also, no forced passes but taking what the defense gives her in terms of playmaking.
-For Aubrey, doing what she does best but pump or head faking on her put backs off the offensive boards and protecting the ball as she goes up.
-For everyone else, keeping the pressure and intensity up without any let up when they come in. We all speculate and talk about the FF and the posts are very insightful and knowledgeable but we have to sit back and enjoy what we are watching too.
These women have put in a tremendous amount of hard work and have been through a lot this year in many ways that predecessor teams have not with the defeats, media attention and criticism and negative "first time in..." statistics and yet they and the coaching staff have found a way to reinvent this team at precisely the right time. They are playing harder now and more together than ever before this season and the chemistry is visible and natural and a pleasure to watch. In short, they are having fun again out there. In a a very important way, how we play today, even against a Houston, will let us all know that what we have seen these last 3 games is what we going to see from now on. It's called UCONN basketball.
(edited to add paragraphs/breaks)
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