[old spanish trail]

I think posters are drastically understimating how difficult it is to instantly play without your superstar and be effective. Look at what happened when UCLA played without Betts. Or imagine how bad Iowa would be if they had to start playing without Clark. It's not so much that the remaining players aren't talented enough. It's about all the other stuff that goes into the making of a high performing team. On defense, for example...Our guards have practiced all season on a defensive system where the guards go over every screen, forcing dribble penetration right into Cam. On top of her blocks, Cam contests so many more shots! All that just goes away without her in there. That's just one example of it not being just about everyone's individual talent - it's how it's all connected.
 
My point is that Cam's presence is everything for this team. It dictates how the players have come to play together on the court, and they can't be expected to instantly "be that other type of player" (even one they used to be). It would take weeks to change everything around, not a few days. I know a lot of posters get caught up in the recruiting rankings. To paraphrase..."we are sooo much better than Arizona because we have players ranked much higher than them, so we should have beaten them even without Cam. Why didn't player X score more? What is player Y even doing out there?". It's not remotely close to being the right way to look at it. The other players' worlds are upside down on the court. There's a ton of role confusion, lack of leadership...even simple things like who talks in the huddle. 

Anyway, I'm not overreacting to the loss. It doesn't surprise me one bit that we lost without her. We've lost 4 games all year: At Gonzaga (Cam sick), at Colorado (Top 5 team in the country, at their place, Cam in foul trouble), home vs. USC (to one of the greatest shooting performances ever in womens college hoops by Juju), and now to Arizona (Cam sick).

Agree

[old spanish trail]

I think posters are drastically understimating how difficult it is to instantly play without your superstar and be effective. Look at what happened when UCLA played without Betts. Or imagine how bad Iowa would be if they had to start playing without Clark. It's not so much that the remaining players aren't talented enough. It's about all the other stuff that goes into the making of a high performing team. On defense, for example...Our guards have practiced all season on a defensive system where the guards go over every screen, forcing dribble penetration right into Cam. On top of her blocks, Cam contests so many more shots! All that just goes away without her in there. That's just one example of it not being just about everyone's individual talent - it's how it's all connected.
 
My point is that Cam's presence is everything for this team. It dictates how the players have come to play together on the court, and they can't be expected to instantly "be that other type of player" (even one they used to be). It would take weeks to change everything around, not a few days. I know a lot of posters get caught up in the recruiting rankings. To paraphrase..."we are sooo much better than Arizona because we have players ranked much higher than them, so we should have beaten them even without Cam. Why didn't player X score more? What is player Y even doing out there?". It's not remotely close to being the right way to look at it. The other players' worlds are upside down on the court. There's a ton of role confusion, lack of leadership...even simple things like who talks in the huddle. 

Anyway, I'm not overreacting to the loss. It doesn't surprise me one bit that we lost without her. We've lost 4 games all year: At Gonzaga (Cam sick), at Colorado (Top 5 team in the country, at their place, Cam in foul trouble), home vs. USC (to one of the greatest shooting performances ever in womens college hoops by Juju), and now to Arizona (Cam sick).

Agree