I really think the so-called experts mostly do not do their homework. MOSTLY. Some of them are VERY knowledgeable. But others just seem to look at the total stats (who's at the top), or pay attention to the hype. And I count Creme in that second category. ANY expert who had UCONN pushing towards #10 pre-season and had Tennessee and Iowa as top 5 teams simply was not paying attention.
Yeah, I get that it's all pre-season, but there are at least 20 BY posters who are WAY more knowledgeable than the experts. Sometimes it gets overwhelming with all the arguing and sniping on the board, but truly there are some people on here who are not only super smart regarding UCONN, but also incredibly well versed in all WCBB as well. I'd stack any of those folks up against the so-called experts at ESPN (and other places).
All you guys are right tho - Azzi should flat out be the leading candidate for NPOY at this time, and it's not even really close. I don't care what anyone else is averaging - not only has Azzi scored insane points against top competition, but her defense has been stellar and she is SUCH a complete player. All this so far against UCONN's murderer's row of competition...
To me, Aubrey has been the biggest surprise by far this season - I thought maybe we'd see the Aubrey a little better than her freshman season, but was unsure how she'd do coming off her health issues... However, not only is she putting up stats, she's LOOKING for her shot. In the past she'd grab a rebound and immediately pass it out. Now she grabs a board and looks to go to the basket and score. And her defense - WOW.
Aaliyah has started off the season seemingly on an mission. Thank goodness she's the Aaliyah we say the end of last season and not the one at the start. She's a beast. 20 points and 13 boards against NC State - if she keeps that up, or even comes close to it, I like our chances in ANY game a lot.
Lou - just wow. Yet again, experts had her about 20 for "impact transfers". I haven't done official research, but it seems like she's easily one of the top 5 transfers of the season.
And Nika - She's just a joy to watch. She's reigned in the excessive fouling, and is really learning to be aggressive without taking herself out of games. It really is her team.
All this now happening without Dorka, with Ayanna finding her sea legs, and Caroline coming back from whatever has ailed her. UCONN has won NC's before basically with a roster of 6 who played in big games. I'm praying it doesn't come to that as we still have some incredible quality depth, but this team has been such a joy to watch so far. GO UCONN!!