Having one tall center to anchor the defense makes a huge difference just as an intimidation factor alone. However, ....
UConn won three championships without a center over 6'3" .
UConn won four championships without a "power forward" over 6'0" .
UConn won eight championships with only one player over 6'2" as a starting post.
Two of those remaining three times the "power forward" was Stewart, who had the skills and athleticism to play any position on the floor.
Only once did UConn win a championship with Baylor's kind of line-up last year. "But times change," you say? Indeed they do. That one time was UConn's first championship in 1995. Since then our smaller line-up has at times beaten taller line-ups, with Tennessee being one delicious example.
I would love to see a line-up with a tall center and a Stewart-like power forward. Perhaps we'll have that soon. But even more I love to see the sort of high octane, efficient motion offense that UConn runs when at its best and there just aren't a lot of power forwards out there like Stewart to make that happen.
A couple of bigs is preferred. But it's been proven by UConn and other programs that it is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition to win championships.
Now that I know his secret I'm counting on Meyers to back me up.
