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Message: [QUOTE="#12in21, post: 4801525, member: 10763"] At the beginning of last season in an interview, in response to a question, Geno said, (paraphrase) for Nika to be great she needs the players around her to be as well. We all saw the results, an uptempo offense and stifling defense, where all of our top players were excelling and in sync. Coming into this season we had lost Lou but gained Paige and lost Dorka but gained Jana and Ice, so on paper we should have been able to play that style again, especially since we had a much deeper more talented bench. Last season even faced with some early injuries to key players we managed to keep it going. When Azzi went down for an extended period and Caroline continued to be hampered by ongoing issues things became much more difficult. We saw a lot of heroics from Lou, but with no real help from the bench - well you all saw what happened. With key injuries to Jana and Azzi, continued recovery time for Ayanna and Caroline's ongoing issues, the intended gameplay for this season took a huge hit. A huge difference this season is that besides having Ice and Paige back we have three gifted (each in different skillsets) freshmen added to the mix. IMO, Geno and the rest of the coaching staff over the next few weeks will find how to effectively use the very talented pool of players we have. I don't think that will look like a deliberate grind it out approach, rather it will be an uptempo offense looking for transition baskets and lots of passing to find the best shot paired with an aggressive defenselookig to disrupt the opponet. In other words, the goal will be to play like what we originally envisioned. Combinations rather than individuals will need to replace replace the talent we are missing. Before Azzi's season ending injury it looked like we just needed to mesh and wait for Ayanna's return for some more depth at the bigs.The path is much more difficult without Azzi but unlike last year we have talent anxious to fill the void, particularly if we can get a healthy Caroline back. Last season Aaliyah, Aubrey and Nika all played the best they have at Uconn and Paige can excell in any style of play but I believe will be most effective in the uptempo motion offense and aggressive defense. KK is a great compliment to Nika in playing this style of game as it will allow us to always have an aggressive PG on the floor with the occasional option of at times using them together to add an extra burst on either end of the court when we have the opponent on their heals. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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