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Message: [QUOTE="Calbysdad, post: 3415618, member: 5064"] Plum, IMO, was the most assertive player on the floor while she was in. I was very impressed. I thought UConn handled themselves well for the most part. Some of the nitpicks were due to playing the, uh, NATIONAL TEAM... 1. I feel UConn gets stuck at times in half court offense. The ball stops for too much time and there seems to be a lot of thinking as opposed to doing - making them seem a step slow. This isn't as prevalent in normal play but having the incredible defense of the national team in front of them definitely made it challenging. 2. The national team was ungodly quick with their hands. Not many passes made it inside, either on post ups or cuts, without it being deflected or stolen. 3. The size and strength of the national team was tremendous even without the full roster suited up. Made ONO and Griffin look smaller (both height and physical size). Later in the second half, US started to flex their inside muscle and it was impressive. I have the feeling if they played an inside out game and really pounded us, the score would have been significantly different. As I said, this is not your average opponent. Some of the positives I noticed: 1. Megan looked like she belonged. I was close enough to hear the players and she was incredibly vocal barking out instructions to the others. She looked great and turned the corner multiple times. Her quickness hurt the defender. 2. Anna matched up well size wise. This was my first game this year (live in NH with two athletic boys so scheduling can be a challenge) and I read that she looks bigger in person and this is so true. Her shots and form were great. Most all taken in the offensive flow. Her misses were barely off. 3. Griffin also looked like she belonged. She banged against bigger opponents and frequently held her own. Her leap is just jaw dropping and I feel she is going to be one of the most important pieces going forward. 4. Crystal was fantastic. Her speed was on par with anyone on the floor. My only quibble was a few passes that got tipped but, again, the hand speed of the US team was ridiculous. This game was such a pleasure to watch. The US bench was so into it - DT was chirping with an official - and was often three feet onto the court cheering and (probably) trash talking UConn. When Megan got the intentional foul, the whole bench jumped up and went crazy. It was pretty cool. Kelsey Plum was chippy the second half. Very physical and frequently chirping with UConn. Did anyone see Geno try to run Ogwulike over on an inbound play? He kept bumping into her. Pretty hilarious. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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