[treetop11]

Utah HC Lynne Roberts was very complimentary of our team in her postgame comments: "I actually think they're better than they were last year, and last year they won the national championship...I do think they're the best team in the country."

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...tournament

Do you agree with her? We've played very well, on a 20-game winning streak (with a few close games in there, however) and we put in a great defensive effort yesterday.

Comparing our team to last year's, obviously, we added four new freshmen, but Iriafen, I would argue, has been the only one who has had a significant contribution so far this season. Demetre put in a few key minutes in a handful of games, but Bosgana has really only seen action in the waning minutes of games and Harriel hasn't played at all.

Several people were worried in the early season about our PG situation and I posted basically not to worry, that the only thing that Had to happen was for Tara to settle on how it was going to be run long term. As it turns out, Anna is the answer with Lacie as second on command.

I would argue that we are both better this year (for a number of reasons) and that Anna is better than Williams overall. That's no knock on Ki because I was a big fan of hers. But Wilson is much more consistent than Williams. Anna is a better defender and brings that every game. On offense, she runs the O consistently and with not many turnovers. She doesn't ut up the points that WIlliams did, rather Anna makes others better and I have noticed that if our O gets in a rut and we need a score, she takes over with a drive or a 3 pt or mid shot, and she does this consistently. Williams OTOH could go cold and miss a lot of shots or disappear - taking our offense down. She had poor games in the semi and final and we struggled and had to eke out a win. 

What the Ute coach was saying is that we have a more diverse set of weapons now - she obviously wouldn't say that lsoign Williams opened things up for our other players, but I see that implied. Plus, our defense is sounder all around. We can either plug in Lacie for our best defensive starting 5 or Jump for more firepower. When Jump was absent, Tara went with Lacie at the 2 and apparently Tara has come to the conclusion that a stronger D lineup is to our advantage and hopefully get in Jump later to put up some instant points.

Yes, we are better and if we face SC for the title or in the FF, we will beat them. Not sure about NC State because I have only seen them in part of a game and not enough to tell how we would match up with them. Every other team we can and will beat. However, like several other posters, I do have concerns about UConn. They have their best back and now are deep. I believe that we beat them in a real dogfight, but I rather not have to play them; hope someone else knocks them out. The FF will be Stanford, SC, NC State, and UConn if it gets in the baracket of the other #1 seed. The #1 seeds this year are really strong with the lowest #1 seed vulnerable. For Stanford, it doesn't much matter who we play until the FF. We just have to play to our level, challenge ourselves to a higher bar. We have more talent and depth than anyone with SC and UConn right there with us, so it's a matter of us playing our way without being complacent. If we go out there with killer instinct, play hungry with energy, we will repeat as national champions. 

Conversely, losing Williams was a significant loss. Though we've adapted over the last few months, you can't easily replace a player of her caliber. Though we still have a bevy of three-point shooters, no one quite has her ability to come down the floor, survey the situation and then stop and pop for a long range three. 

However, we also need to consider how our returning players have improved (or not) since last season. I would argue Belibi is playing better and with more confidence than last year at this point, but beyond that, I wouldn't say, anyone is markedly that much better (they were at already high levels, so that's a tall bar to climb) than last year.

Anyway, just curious, as we have some time, before our next game, to muse over these things.

[treetop11]

Utah HC Lynne Roberts was very complimentary of our team in her postgame comments: "I actually think they're better than they were last year, and last year they won the national championship...I do think they're the best team in the country."

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...tournament

Do you agree with her? We've played very well, on a 20-game winning streak (with a few close games in there, however) and we put in a great defensive effort yesterday.

Comparing our team to last year's, obviously, we added four new freshmen, but Iriafen, I would argue, has been the only one who has had a significant contribution so far this season. Demetre put in a few key minutes in a handful of games, but Bosgana has really only seen action in the waning minutes of games and Harriel hasn't played at all.

Several people were worried in the early season about our PG situation and I posted basically not to worry, that the only thing that Had to happen was for Tara to settle on how it was going to be run long term. As it turns out, Anna is the answer with Lacie as second on command.

I would argue that we are both better this year (for a number of reasons) and that Anna is better than Williams overall. That's no knock on Ki because I was a big fan of hers. But Wilson is much more consistent than Williams. Anna is a better defender and brings that every game. On offense, she runs the O consistently and with not many turnovers. She doesn't ut up the points that WIlliams did, rather Anna makes others better and I have noticed that if our O gets in a rut and we need a score, she takes over with a drive or a 3 pt or mid shot, and she does this consistently. Williams OTOH could go cold and miss a lot of shots or disappear - taking our offense down. She had poor games in the semi and final and we struggled and had to eke out a win. 

What the Ute coach was saying is that we have a more diverse set of weapons now - she obviously wouldn't say that lsoign Williams opened things up for our other players, but I see that implied. Plus, our defense is sounder all around. We can either plug in Lacie for our best defensive starting 5 or Jump for more firepower. When Jump was absent, Tara went with Lacie at the 2 and apparently Tara has come to the conclusion that a stronger D lineup is to our advantage and hopefully get in Jump later to put up some instant points.

Yes, we are better and if we face SC for the title or in the FF, we will beat them. Not sure about NC State because I have only seen them in part of a game and not enough to tell how we would match up with them. Every other team we can and will beat. However, like several other posters, I do have concerns about UConn. They have their best back and now are deep. I believe that we beat them in a real dogfight, but I rather not have to play them; hope someone else knocks them out. The FF will be Stanford, SC, NC State, and UConn if it gets in the baracket of the other #1 seed. The #1 seeds this year are really strong with the lowest #1 seed vulnerable. For Stanford, it doesn't much matter who we play until the FF. We just have to play to our level, challenge ourselves to a higher bar. We have more talent and depth than anyone with SC and UConn right there with us, so it's a matter of us playing our way without being complacent. If we go out there with killer instinct, play hungry with energy, we will repeat as national champions. 

Conversely, losing Williams was a significant loss. Though we've adapted over the last few months, you can't easily replace a player of her caliber. Though we still have a bevy of three-point shooters, no one quite has her ability to come down the floor, survey the situation and then stop and pop for a long range three. 

However, we also need to consider how our returning players have improved (or not) since last season. I would argue Belibi is playing better and with more confidence than last year at this point, but beyond that, I wouldn't say, anyone is markedly that much better (they were at already high levels, so that's a tall bar to climb) than last year.

Anyway, just curious, as we have some time, before our next game, to muse over these things.