With Caroline on the floor

[Tonyc]

Well opponents game plan will change with Caroline on the floor. UConn now has another shooter who can create her own shot and most importantly wants the ball and isn't afraid to shoot. This forces defenses to come out and guard her. With her presence on the floor she will force defenses to guard her all over the floor making life on the court easier for Lou and open things up for everybody else. Its gonna be the Lou and Caroline show on Saturday afternoon.

Nova counters with Maddy and Olsen. I believe UConn has made adjustments to handle Olsen which means that somebody else will have to step up for Nova. Remember we beat them the last time without Caroline. With Caroline on the floor defenses will have to adjust. With Caroline on the floor and when ball goes down low, UConn now has someone else to kick the ball out to and she isnt afraid to take a shot.

Caroline gives UConn another scoring option something Geno has been talking about that UConn lacked. With Caroline on the floor so many things change for UConn offensively. The middle will open up. Griff can dribble drive easier. Dorka and Aaliyah with have more freedom and Nika may just find herself open more.

UConn now has someone coming off the bench who can score. Caroline's taller and can rebound and is a shot blocking threat. With her height defenses will have to find someone who can guard her at 6'2. More importantly team mates wont have to be concerned so much about playing under the duress of having to worry about getting the ball to someone. There was a huge difference in the 4th qtr against Creighton when Caroline got going. The team showed more confidence and played with more confidence. I think Saturday will open alot of eyes because with Caroline on the floor our offensive has changed dramatically. We now have 2 shooters who can create too.

In the past few games we saw defenses stuck like glue to Lou and pack it in which hurt our bigs inside. This caused UConn to force passes and force shots and many times leading to TO's With Caroline on the floor that all changes because of what she can do offensively. I expect more scoring because defenses can no longer pack it in and double team Lou and Aaliyah, higher shooting percentages because defenses wont be able to double team Lou, more rebounds because of our height and less TO's because we wont be forcing passes. The Nova game will be a battle and not easy however mentally with Caroline on the floor UConn can play more relaxed and confident.

 

[Bone Dog]

Right on, @Tonyc

Also, as Caroline rounds into game shape, she brings another canny defender. She's a shot blocker and a passing lane disruptor. She knows where to be on the floor, once she gets her game face on. I hope this is who we see tomorrow. It could be like, "Hey Villanova, SURPRISE!"

 

[msf22b]

It is a mistake to expect Caroline to be the temporary savior of the team

All the things Tony says are correct...a healthy, fit, Caroline will take enormous pressure off Lou and permit her to more do her thing.
That will also allow the bigs more room to operate.
And make the team much, much more dangerous

And having two scorers is way better than one...

But Caroline is still not 100% and Lou is banged up.
Let us be reasonable and hope for incremental improvement.
And not be terribly disappointed if that is not enough to prevail on Saturday.

 

[BBallF]

It is a mistake to expect Caroline to be the temporary savior of the team

All the things Tony says are correct...a healthy, fit, Caroline will take enormous pressure off Lou and permit her to more do her thing.
That will also allow the bigs more room to operate.
And make the team much, much more dangerous

And having two scorers is way better than one...

But Caroline is still not 100% and Lou is banged up.
Let us be reasonable and hope for incremental improvement.
And not be terribly disappointed if that is not enough to prevail on Saturday.

Very fair. The real change will come with Azzi's hopeful return. You then have a 7 man rotation with 3 knock down 3 point shooters. THAT opens up the inside.

 

[Aluminny69]

How were Caroline's 20 minutes distributed? Among all five starters? No. 12 minutes from Aubrey, 8 from Dorka. The other three played 40 minutes.

 

[veryolddog]

I just hope that Caroline does not get knocked on her butt ending up whacking her head on the floor or taking and elbow to the head by a very aggressive physical player. Then Carolines great comeback is a setback.

 

[huskeynut]

Caroline helps open up the floor when she is in the game. That is a big improvement over the last month+.

She is not a savior nor should any body think that. She is another piece of the puzzle that improves our floor game. With her and Lou moving on the floor, opponents can't clog the lane. They must keep a defender on Caroline or she will get free and drain a 3.

It's one day at a time and one step forward at a time.