I said earlier
Let's see what they look like tonight
(before we complain about our ranking)
There were a few positives:
For a while...it was clear that a 2nd scorer would open up the UConn offense...and for periods...Caroline provided that 2nd scorer...even though Lou was not particularly sharp with the exception of a tiny period... it didn't matter...There was single coverage...That was a segment in which the bigs had more room to operate and Lou was not hounded unmercifully.
And there was a period in the 2nd half, that the defense looked good and the lead went back to double digits.
(That's the good part....)
But the defense became careless in the middle of the first quarter, Xavier took heart, and the UConn offense became stagnant and loose. The magic never really returned...a dogfight, a slog, the rest of the way...too bad.
The Lou episode in the 2nd half seemed pretty unfair as she clearly was being targeted, molested, jostled, as always (there is a prohibited word on this site, I'm not sure what has been occurring rises to that level, but there are plenty of synonyms)...And we don't know what impolite words she uttered to achieve the technical...I hope they were choice...
And so back to a conclusion...At this point in time (remember that stupid phrase), UConn does not look like a championship team...Much too much effort is required to get mediocre if relatively positive results...It's so much easier and requires much less energy. when the shooters shoot, the team moves and the entire procedure almost looks like a ballet.
The last couple of games more resembled a prize fight...players getting banged up and all the effort...(surely one recognizes the effort) is in a sense wasted energy...Much too much expended against an inferior opponent such as what we faced this evening.
But that's where they are right now; every game is a scrum...and a bunch in a row may be too much for even UConn to handle.
And bringing in another shooter; even an Azzi Fudd nay not make a substantial difference for this season at least.
Ed...later
Oh yes, the bench...which I have been bellyaching about...Not so useful tonight eh?
The 2 bigs confusion on D was pretty noticeable...
Ines was mostly unobjectionable, got back nicely on a fast break but was not included in the offense...(or didn't force her way in...she wouldn't would she...
Still looks athletic...
Deberry looked pretty lost...too bad