I love our team, and I am very proud of what it accomplished last year. That said, I do not think we are the favorites to repeat.
1) Last year was the most unusual year in the history of NCAA WBB. I think it may have helped us more than it hurt us. Who knows whether we can sustain the same focus we had in a more "normal" year.
2) We barely eeked out two wins to take the national championship. We also lost twice along the way and looked quite beatable at times. We would get leads and then let games become competitive again. We were no juggernaut. Many of our teams in past years looked more dominant for more of the season that last year's team did.
3) We don't yet know whether we will have an adequate replacement for Williams. We hope so, but no one really knows yet. If none of the possibilities work out, then our stock will plummet. Not having a recognized, excellent point guard is enough of a reasons to question our prospects.
4) Repeating will require certain players to improve from last year. Brink has to defend effectively without fouling, Belibi needs to get her mojo back that she appears to have lost in the second half of last year. We have no way yet of knowing if this will happen. For example, for several years I felt we would be a contender if only Dodson played up to her potential, but she never quite did. Will that be true of our developing players this year or will we see major improvement from someone like Brink?
Before these questions are answered, I think we deserve to be thought of as a likely final four team, but no more.
1) Last year was the most unusual year in the history of NCAA WBB. I think it may have helped us more than it hurt us. Who knows whether we can sustain the same focus we had in a more "normal" year.
2) We barely eeked out two wins to take the national championship. We also lost twice along the way and looked quite beatable at times. We would get leads and then let games become competitive again. We were no juggernaut. Many of our teams in past years looked more dominant for more of the season that last year's team did.
3) We don't yet know whether we will have an adequate replacement for Williams. We hope so, but no one really knows yet. If none of the possibilities work out, then our stock will plummet. Not having a recognized, excellent point guard is enough of a reasons to question our prospects.
4) Repeating will require certain players to improve from last year. Brink has to defend effectively without fouling, Belibi needs to get her mojo back that she appears to have lost in the second half of last year. We have no way yet of knowing if this will happen. For example, for several years I felt we would be a contender if only Dodson played up to her potential, but she never quite did. Will that be true of our developing players this year or will we see major improvement from someone like Brink?
Before these questions are answered, I think we deserve to be thought of as a likely final four team, but no more.