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Message: [QUOTE="BruinGold, post: 5276241, member: 11533"] It's a nice write-up, and I think it's mostly on the money. As a UCLA fan, I am probably more conscious of player shortcomings than many (because aren't we all the biggest critics of our own teams?), and I would say that Timea Gardiner's main issue with usage is that she is way too slow to defend on the perimeter, and way too streaky to depend on for offense. I said this elsewhere, but offensively she is a 2 and defensively, more of a 5 (and a 5 who doesn't like contact). If she is on, it's very hard to defend a 6'3" player dropping 3s. But, she loses confidence easily and then becomes a complete negative on the floor. I hope that this offseason she is working on lateral quickness and fitness... and confidence... because when she got hot, UCLA won by 20+. Kneepkens' level of consistency makes her a serious upgrade here. Kiki's main issue is also confidence. She, frankly, seems to think too much. She's got all of the skills, but slows the pace down with a deliberative style that allows defenses and individual defenders to set up. When she plays faster, she makes more mistakes, but more than offsets that by being able to get places that defenders haven't gotten to, yet. Pressure is not her friend. When UCLA is in front, she plays smoothly and creatively. When behind, she starts to lock up, dribbles too much and goes for a perfect play, rather than settling for a good one. I'm pretty sure that Close sat her a few times last year, with Aarnisalo running things, just to loosen up the offense. I actually think that Kneepkens and CLW will lessen the "hero" mentality for Rice and help take the pressure off her. AND, I think that we will see that trio on the floor together a lot. Lauren Betts is, well, Lauren Betts. I expect incremental improvement from her and think that the areas she needs to work on include catching the ball on the move, range, and an "on" switch on defense. I think that the coaching staff specifically, and successfully, worked on avoiding fouls on defense, because her value on offense is so vital to the team. But, sometimes, in crunch time, you have to assert yourself. I think that Jaquez and Dugalic are both smart, experienced players who add more than most people see on both ends of the court, and won't be left on the bench for long. They have both improved every year for the Bruins and I expect more of the same. I think that most people believe that Sienna Betts will have an immediate impact on the team... but no one is really sure how that will play out. Will UCLA have twin towers? Will Sienna drive and drop off to Lauren? Will she be hitting midrange shots, or primarily spell her sister in the post? I don't know, but what I have seen of her is very exciting. That leaves 6'3" Lena Bilic, and non-injury redshirt returner Amanda Muse. Muse just didn't look good her freshman year, and probably made a good decision to sit out one. She has good height, but got banged around pretty easily in her first campaign. Hopefully, a full year of apprenticing with Betts has improved her game. Bilic, though... looks like the more athletic version of Timea Gardiner. From the limited tape that I have seen, she's a stretch 4 with good handles (but they don't show you dribbling the ball off your foot on your highlight tape). Close seems to think that she picked up a key piece moving forwards. For my own sake, I hope she's right. My team criticism: as [USER=12088]@Bone Dog[/USER] said, athletic teams are the ones who play great defense, fight for the 50/50 balls, and hustle because they can't shoot. Well, the Bruins used to be that team. And, now they can shoot. I can no longer say that UCLA is going to clamp down on a team for a whole game. In spurts, they absolutely shut some folks down. However, they did that with Barker, Jones, and even Dudley last year. Next year, I dunno. The coaching staff loves defense, but I'm not convinced that anyone on the team REALLY wants to take their player out of the game. If UCLA has a move or two left in the portal, I would want them to be looking for a junkyard dog who just wants to make someone's life miserable. I don't care if they average 2.0 points a game, as long as steals/blocks and wounded pride are part of the equation. [/QUOTE]

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