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Message: [QUOTE="JordyG, post: 2896386, member: 6819"] Hold on to that feeling. Make no mistake, this is one talented crew Muffet has. Not a lot of speed, but they have size at every position. It's maybe her most stocked team ever. They look like the best front 5 in WCBB. Yet the real questions for ND is how well do all these pieces work together? How well will Turner and Shepard play underneath, work the high/low? With all of her success last year basically as the number one option, can Arike willingly take less shots and share with Young who needs the ball. Conversely, can Young be the consistent player she's capable of being? Against some teams Young is going to be a nightmare. Can she be that player every night? Mabrey will continue to be the stretch option, and if she can hit close to 50% from the arc this team will be tough to stop. What do Vaughn and Cosgrove really bring to the table besides energy, size and defense? If they bring some consistent offense, man.... Dixon is a playa, no doubt, but she is a freshman. Gilbert is a baller too. And for all their talents neither Young, Arike or Mabrey aren't true PG's. Can one of these two step up early and spell Arike and Young with quality minutes? Patterson can really be a key player for Muffet at the 3. She's going to see a lot of open looks from the perimeter and a lot of space inside with Shepard and Turner playing the Hi/Lo. Bringing weak side help with either on the block can leave an open and opportunistic Patterson getting 20 a night. I like this team man. They got a coach, the swag, the talent, and the knowledge that not only can they beat UConn, but they can win close, hotly contested games. Yet....Yet. The toughest thing to do in sports is to repeat, and there are good reasons for this. ND is finally after many years going to find out what it really means to have a target on your back every game. They're going to find out what it means when Harvard and Gonzaga play over their heads just for the chance to say they kept it close against the NCAA champs; when the media and your own fans criticize you when you beat Western Kentucky by 25; where if you lose a game the media and your fans question whether the coach or the team are good enough, or you start seeing headlines that say, "What's wrong with the Irish?"; where anything less than a championship season is deemed a failure; where the pressure to win [B]AND[/B] perform well can crush lesser personalities; when suddenly you have more haters than you've ever had before; when certain teammates perhaps start to act a little more expectant and entitled; when what worked last year ain't working this year; where every decision by Muffet is open to question. And more. Lots more. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach