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Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 5209330, member: 12088"] I think UCLA [B]ought to be [/B]a great team. I'm just not persuaded they are one. They had a good win against SC early, and decent wins against MD and tOSU midseason. But otherwise they haven't been really challenged by anyone other than USC, and faced with those challenges they wilted. That's not a talent issue, or even necessarily a coaching failure (though it could be), but a player motivation problem. The real question is, how does USC keep doing this to them? Yes, Juju and Kiki played very tough -- not perfect games, but tough ones. Kiki also found the range on her midrange turnaround jumper, which is a pretty devastating move when it's working for her. More importantly, I think, USC played tougher defense than UCLA did. They were scrappier, chased down loose balls more effectively, and generally seemed to want it more. You can't coach this sort of tenacity, though you can recruit for it. And I'd say USC has been playing this way most of the year. Against UConn, this is what they did for the entire first half. There are definitely flaws in the way Coach Gottlieb has built this team, starting with the over dependence on two players for the bulk of the scoring. If Juju sits, the offense screeches to a halt. But her rotation goes 9 deep and the freshmen play as tough on defense as anyone else. Heckel, Smith, Samuels and Howell deserve a lot of credit for the work they do on defense. I can't really say the same for UCLA. Jones, Arnisalo and Jaquez are all I can point to, and only one is a freshman. Just an observation: KK and Ash could probably start or get major minutes for either of these teams, and UCLA would be better for having players like them. [/QUOTE]

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