KLS and Napheesa are certainly excellent, though Napheesa didn't match her AA year this year. Yes, good point guard. But we're looking at a starting line-up including two freshmen, neither of which has been tried in big games. And that means that the one possibly reliable bench player is Walker, who might be better, or might be more like she was this year, which was just not up to the hype, especially on defense. And let's recall that ONO is coming off a major knee injury. We've been lucky in the past, especially with Gabby, who suffered two season-ending knee injuries in high school, then avoided a recurrence in college. But can we really expect ONO to play 30 minutes or more a game against top teams in the non-conference schedule?
UConn is looking at another small line-up, but this time without a seasoned post. And without a surprise post in the form of Gabby. The rest of the bench? Can we really expect top-tier performance from them? We can wish and hope, as the song goes. But in terms of helping defeat non-conference majors, probably not.
Baylor is loaded. Mississippi State brings back McCowen. Oregon has almost everyone back from a team of mostly sophomores this year. Louisville is maturing, and brings back most players. Yes, Walz has been unable to beat UConn in the past, but Coach Geno took almost a decade before his teams were ready to challenge the best.
In short, we have far more question marks and obvious weaknesses than strengths relative to the other top teams next year. Great post players are a must to win championships, and the jury is most definitely out on that one. Indeed, with Breanna, we had Stokes. Also had Steph for backup for part of that. Next year, we'll have zero backup for ONO.
Dicey. Very dicey.
