wuzzy bear said:
Yeah, I got smoked on the in game thread about not being able to go to a FF without KW. You expect Mulkey and the whole team to have the attitude of champions. That's who we are. Now reality is going to set in. Without the engine that makes the motor run, our chances of going to a FF just went from about 90% to maybe 40%. This team is that good. But the one thing KW brings to everything is really almost everything: game management, QB the offense, inspiration, great leader, great shooter. When a game comes down to a couple possessions she is the one who is guaranteed to make the shot or the assist and you have confidence that she can and will do it... not every time but almost. When you add the pressure like we had vs. Oregon St. two years ago when you know we were the better team but the nerves caught up with em and we laid an egg.
This is exactly the scenario without KW, because she is a senior and those moments she thrives on. Who else on this team can bring that? I'll probably get blasted for this post, but that is the reality when your whole team is decimated and thin. You absolutely had to have KW to make everybody else better and to have the energy in a close game to play through the pain and tiredness which is what the tourney will bring on.
In reality, and hindsight is always 20/20, don't you rest your team a bit cuz in the greater scheme of things that game last night meant nothing in terms of a chance at a FF. So they go undefeated in the big12. Would you rather have that or a FF appearance. That may be what CKM is thinking about this morning in spite of the BRING IT ON comments. Just sayin' it wasn't worth it although when I look back at the play there did seem to be some slippage and if there was moisture on the floor there is nothing you can do about it.
I;m like everybody else here in that I'm praying God can heal KW at least by the sweet sixteen. I think we get there without her. But a 3 or 4 seed will be a dogfight without her and I really think that with her we are almost a lock for a FF. So I'm gonna keep praying cuz it somehow works for me.
I think your estimate of our chances of getting to the Final Four with Wallace was a bit generous. Don't get me wrong: I liked this team's chances. Still do. But 90%? Only UConn would I give a 90% chance.
With Kristy, I'd have put our chances at more like 50%. Assuming we hold onto a No. 1 seed, there are going to be some very dangerous No. 2s out there. South Carolina. Either ND or Louisville. Either Oregon or a UCLA team that already showed it can beat us. And of course Texas. (It would be just like the NCAA selection committee to put Texas in our bracket so that we'd have to beat them at least 3 times in the same season -- maybe 4 if we meet and defeat them in the Big XII tourney. Remember the year they did that to us and the Aggettes when both teams really should have been No. 1s? It's awfully hard to beat a very good team 3 times, even if you are actually better than them.)
Without Kristy, our chances are definitely diminished -- but not because there's such a dropoff in pure talent. Juicy can play. She can't QB the defense (yet) like Kristy. There's a big dropoff in experience, and it will hurt our depth, even after Chou comes back. We still got a helluva team.
Know what I think broke WVU's back last night? Lauren Cox hitting 3s like it was shooting practice. If she can remain a consistent threat from here out, it will help offset the loss of Wallace a bit by stretching defenses and creating more space for Kalani Brown.