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Post by bulkey on Apr 13, 2021 20:49:59 GMT -5
Dwell on the fact that the first 6 players are all coming back.
And there are 2 fantastic team leaders in Paige and Evina.
And they have a tremendous incoming class, including a bona fide potential superstar in Azzi
And a tall 2-time all-B1G transfer.
And that means:
1. Summer informal practices are going to be exceptionally intense, exceptionally well-run by Evina and Paige.
2. When formal practice begins in October, the top 6 players already have the entire system down. This will pull along the obvious next level of Azzi and Dorka.
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Post by semper on Apr 13, 2021 20:55:58 GMT -5
Yeah, what killed us in the FF was simple lack of experience. Not this time!
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Post by davidinnaples on Apr 14, 2021 4:14:14 GMT -5
Add in the “unfinished business” mentality after losing to Arizona......😎
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Post by rockymtblue2 on Apr 14, 2021 8:42:53 GMT -5
Arizona dared the refs to call a foul. Mostly I can't abide "blaming the refs" but this game came close.
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Post by bulkey on Apr 14, 2021 8:58:22 GMT -5
Arizona dared the refs to call a foul. Mostly I can't abide "blaming the refs" but this game came close. Baylor had already shown how play UConn: be as physical as you can get away with. It was up to UConn to figure that out before the AZ game. Geno didn't blame the refs, he blamed his team. |
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Post by swash on Apr 14, 2021 12:03:31 GMT -5
Arizona dared the refs to call a foul. Mostly I can't abide "blaming the refs" but this game came close. The Arizona game ... while not called as closely as we might have liked, was officiated without bias. Sure there were some misses, but there was no favoritism. If you want to complain, choose the Baylor game. It was worse in every way. Inconsistent, mistakes leaned heavily to one side, whistles when there should have been none, no-calls where muggings took place ... It was the worst I saw all year. Followed closely by the final 5 minutes of a game between NCST and BC earlier in the season. |
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Post by bulkey on Apr 15, 2021 12:28:36 GMT -5
I posted this on the Draft thread, but it belongs here as well as a massive UConn advantage. A lot of folks on various boards thought this is why Dorka very much wanted to land in Storrs. http://instagram.com/p/CNsWGSjMPSa |
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Post by rockymtblue2 on Apr 15, 2021 13:26:01 GMT -5
Dorka said as much. Now I can't find it.  |
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Post by huskymaniac on Apr 16, 2021 7:54:17 GMT -5
A lot of good points in this thread. South Carolina may actually have more talent but we have a better coach. As for the refs, I will say this, if we face South Carolina in the championship game, we will win the championship. If we face them in the semi-finals, we will lose. The refs were not particularly biased in the Arizona game but Arizona dared them to call even more fouls and they didn't. Yes, the Baylor game was even worse. But reffing doesn't have to be one-sided to impact the game. How a game is called can have a huge impact. Do they "let them play" or do they call fouls? If they "let them play" it favors the more "aggressive" team. We are a finesse team. When we get grabbed, tripped, pushed and hacked with no call it simply comes down to whether we can play through the contact (fouls). There have been far worse games in the past where refs are concerned and ND has often been the beneficiary. In this game, like the Mississippi State game a few years ago, the game was called good enough where we should have won if we were mentally tougher. In the Arizona game our biggest issue was ONO. She completely disappeared. If she hits even half of her layups, the game dynamics would have been completely different at the end. It is one thing to bend in this situation. It is another thing to completely break. ONO snapped like a twig and she was a junior. The refs will suck. We need to be tough enough to still win despite them.
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Post by zoney on Apr 16, 2021 13:01:12 GMT -5
Yeah, what killed us in the FF was simple lack of experience. I apologize for being disagreeable. Maybe it's the mid April snow that makes me grumpy.
Yeah, what killed us in the FF was simple lack of experience: numerous point-blank missed bunnies, missed free throws, a 5th foul that NEVER HAPPENED on Christyn that put her on the bench - that killed us. Lack of experience? I dunno about that. I don't want to rehash that, but still........ I do agree that won't be an issue this season and we'll be awesome. |
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Post by bulkey on Apr 16, 2021 13:04:54 GMT -5
A lot of good points in this thread. South Carolina may actually have more talent but we have a better coach. How do you judge "more talent"? By adding up the high school evaluation scores of the recruits, and lowest number wins? Obviously, not a very informative way to do it. The talent levels among the best schools (UConn, SC, and Stanford currently; maybe Baylor) seem to me to be pretty equal in recent years, because the amount of superior talent has increased dramatically. As to coaching, Geno, CD, and their entire program is great, of course. But different programs produce different coaching that's best for their players. True, that if Liv had hit half her layups the game probably would have been different. But Paige went 3-10 inside the circle. She was probably pushed a lot. But Liv likely was, too. Liv needs to make the lay-ups even while being pushed. But it's not an easy thing to learn. |
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