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Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 5201971, member: 12088"] I sympathize with your point, that UConn is regularly judged according to an unrealistic standard, even by UConn fans. But this one remark just set me off: "[B]... what a healthy UConn team can do.[/B]" You're primarily thinking of getting Azzi and Aubrey back, and I'm right there with you in this thought. But we don't have Ayanna or Caroline, and we likely won't have Ice back until the tournament itself, if then, and there's no timetable for Morgan's return. The fact is, when I think about our hopes and expectations from the summer, [B]this team is not healthy, not even close to healthy.[/B] Our front court has again been hollowed out by injury. We're hoping a freshmen big at the beginning of a steep learning curve can carry a huge load. And we're watching as Geno once again prepares to pursue an NC mostly running a small lineup. We know from last season that he can work wonders with limited resources. If anyone wonders why even fans turn such a critical eye on UConn, this is why. The SC game should give us all cause for optimism. The small lineup can work wonders and it may even carry the team to an NC. And Jana has a lot of courage, and that also can carry us some of the way. And Sarah and Aubrey can shore up a thin front court. What we do have is the best freshman in the country and the best back court in D1. Paige and Azzi can't guarantee an NC, but we also shouldn't count them out. And when I think about the players we're still missing, I imagine a standard that makes sense. I compare the UConn we see on the court now to the one that could have been: Jana backed up by Ice and Ayanna, Sarah free to focus on blocking shots because other bigs are focusing on rebounds, a front court that isn't at risk of foul trouble, a front court that doesn't need Paige to play power forward. I have no interest in exaggerating the strengths of other teams -- ND, UCLA, USC, SC -- and imagining how they'd deal with us in the tournament as if we were playing as we did in December. [/QUOTE]

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