2022-2023 Record Prediction

[EricLA]

Yeah having Tennessee and Texas ahead of UCONN is a joke. If anyone who actually thinks it through and looks at the talent on all 3 of the rosters, it's not even close. But hey, makes Tennessee relevant again I guess, so there is that.

Look at what all 3 teams lost. Look at what they add. And in UCONN's corner, you have to "add" a healthy team. Last season it was a miracle they made it to the NC game with a sick Azzi, banged up Caroline who was a shell of her former self, no Dorka, no Aubrey, and DeBerry - who was just along for the ride. This year we add Ice and Ayanna, not to mention Lou, who very well may be a starter (she's certainly good enough to be - even if Caroline beats her out).

So I get Tennessee cleaned up in the transfer portal, but what they have healthy and ready to go pales in comparison to what UCONN has.

 

[Skeets]

Assuming everyone stays reasonably healthy I predict UConn will lose 2 or 3 games this year. Who those teams might be, I don't know. One thing I'm a little disappointed in my fellow BY'ers is that so many are predicting a S.C. loss. Come on folks. The game needs to be played. I feel UConn has more than a "punchers chance" of winning. Did S.C. go undefeated last year? I'm going to swim against the tide and predict a UConn win. Any BY folks wat to join in?

 

[WFFL]

We are all concerned about our depth at the point. We have a pretty good PG in Nika and Azzi backing her up. Some of the teams some of you are mentioning dont have a PG? Look what happened to Stanford last season in the NCAAs? Nika may not score alot of points but she brings fire and she can play the point. If Azzi is NOT at the point that means Lou Amari of Ice will be the other player imo. We are gonna learn alot about UConn against Kutztown Northeastern Texas and NC State. IF we start the season 10-0 it will be a wakeup call to everybody. This team lacks two things. Depth at the point and experience after the starting 5. IMO your chances of winning big games without a PG is slim.

Great post , Stanford could not get past us because they did not have a true PG forcing Jones to imitate the play and be the primary scorer taking them out of their normal triangle offense. This season we wont have paige so we will have to find a way to adjust better than what stanford did last season. Ill take a final four overall still though .

 

[WFFL]

Yeah having Tennessee and Texas ahead of UCONN is a joke. If anyone who actually thinks it through and looks at the talent on all 3 of the rosters, it's not even close. But hey, makes Tennessee relevant again I guess, so there is that.

Look at what all 3 teams lost. Look at what they add. And in UCONN's corner, you have to "add" a healthy team. Last season it was a miracle they made it to the NC game with a sick Azzi, banged up Caroline who was a shell of her former self, no Dorka, no Aubrey, and DeBerry - who was just along for the ride. This year we add Ice and Ayanna, not to mention Lou, who very well may be a starter (she's certainly good enough to be - even if Caroline beats her out).

So I get Tennessee cleaned up in the transfer portal, but what they have healthy and ready to go pales in comparison to what UCONN has.

You do remember the best player in college basketball is out for the entire season right ? Living in reality there's no way i can say we are a better team this year without paige . Just not possible.....As of now i have us losing 5-7 games this season . Anything more would be a disappointment , kind of have to lower our standards when the best player in the game is not there. I'm not going to wait until we have a rough patch of a few losses to start using paige as the reason . She's the reason every season for success .

 

[Stymie]

Assuming everyone stays reasonably healthy I predict UConn will lose 2 or 3 games this year. Who those teams might be, I don't know. One thing I'm a little disappointed in my fellow BY'ers is that so many are predicting a S.C. loss. Come on folks. The game needs to be played. I feel UConn has more than a "punchers chance" of winning. Did S.C. go undefeated last year? I'm going to swim against the tide and predict a UConn win. Any BY folks wat to join in?

The game comes late enough in the season for our two new freshmen to be getting a handle on the college game.
I think they’ll do us proud.

 

[Bigboote]

You do remember the best player in college basketball is out for the entire season right ? Living in reality there's no way i can say we are a better team this year without paige . Just not possible.....As of now i have us losing 5-7 games this season . Anything more would be a disappointment , kind of have to lower our standards when the best player in the game is not there. I'm not going to wait until we have a rough patch of a few losses to start using paige as the reason . She's the reason every season for success .

If Aubrey misses the season, Dorka is out for the end of the postseason, Caroline plays hurt the whole season, and Nika and Azzi are lost for several games and playing hurt in many others, then, yeah, I agree with you.

Many of the losses last season came right after a key player went down injured. (Recall the previous loss to an unranked opponent was the game after Kia Nurse had been injured, so that phenomenon is not just this set of players.) UConn could very well have had three losses last year with Paige missing half the season. It's entirely possible that we'll lose a key player or two at times but I won't start this season out assuming that this season will go like last.

And Geno has said that most people have no idea how much the team missed Aubrey last season. She won't fill the void Paige left, but she'll fill the void SHE left.

 

[WFFL]

If Aubrey misses the season, Dorka is out for the end of the postseason, Caroline plays hurt the whole season, and Nika and Azzi are lost for several games and playing hurt in many others, then, yeah, I agree with you.

Many of the losses last season came right after a key player went down injured. (Recall the previous loss to an unranked opponent was the game after Kia Nurse had been injured, so that phenomenon is not just this set of players.) UConn could very well have had three losses last year with Paige missing half the season. It's entirely possible that we'll lose a key player or two at times but I won't start this season out assuming that this season will go like last.

And Geno has said that most people have no idea how much the team missed Aubrey last season. She won't fill the void Paige left, but she'll fill the void SHE left.

I agree , but its not like Aubrey was going to average 20 PPG her defensive energy was the void im confident he was referencing along with her toughness something we lacked badly last season as Aaliyah had a down year versus her FOY campaign . Dorka played 32 out of 36 games so she's not really a great example to push the needle of this narrative. Caroline would be the one who would have made a significant difference healthy . Then again i return to my method of if your hurt you should not play. Caroline was the aggressive offensive player we needed when paige went down , but she was the only one which made her impact more noticeable versus the rest of the timid offensive players we had after paige went down. The SC loss was legit everyone played the first time , GT most likely we would win with a healthy squad minus Paige. The Louisville game Azzi missed and we lost by 5, still a toss up to me due to at the time Azzi was not playing her greatest basketball before the injury kept her out an extended period. The oregon game we only had 6 players minus our engine Williams , Azzi out , . The villanova loss we did not have ONO , so that would have been a win . The last loss which was to SC again we were full strength minus a cold from Azzi and lost the game from start to finish . Overall i do see the point of possibly only 3 losses if healthy , but most of the players that were not healthy are players who are not with us this season. Yet we expect to have better results ? Williams , Westbrook , Ono , Paige , All gone and the players that replaced them during those games are still here so we can only optimistically expect better results. I do not think we will be better than last years team whether they were healthy or not . I do think we will have better chemistry with expectations of whom we wont have this season forcing others to take a bigger role. Praying the injury bug takes a break this season as well as i would like to see this teams true potential minus injuries or sicknesses.

 

[Tonyc]

Are you guys looking at the same roster Im lookin at. Do you think a healthy UConn will lose more games this season then the injured sick team lost last season? We have Azzi and Caroline two of the best players in WCBB. IMO both will be AA's. There seems to be some question about Lou and the incoming freshman. Those of you who have been watching UConn and Geno for the past 25+ years know he will have them ready. It may not happen early in the season but it will happen. They're too good not to be ready. We have a solid nucleus coming back. We saw last season what we could do when healthy. The exhibition game against Kutztown and the Northeastern game will tell us alot about this team. More importantly it will tell us what Geno thinks about this team. I look back at last season with all the problems and think how the heck did we get to the final game having to beat Indiana NC State and Stanford. That was a tall order for a team that had so much to overcome. They did it and they are better for having to go through what they did. Now with all that said we must stay healthy this season. Foul trouble will be a problem we must avoid. Im not really to concerned about our tuff schedule early on. We have shown we can win those games and if we dont we will learn from them. The most important thing is that we are ready to play. I dont think they have more talent then us and I dont think they can beat us. This UConn team is better then advertised and for someone to say that Tenn MD and some of the other teams should be ranked ahead of UConn who finished the season in the Final game well that is just silly. We have one month before we face Texas.. Dont be surprised if we win big.

 

[WFFL]

Are you guys looking at the same roster Im lookin at. Do you think a healthy UConn will lose more games this season then the injured sick team lost last season? We have Azzi and Caroline two of the best players in WCBB. IMO both will be AA's. There seems to be some question about Lou and the incoming freshman. Those of you who have been watching UConn and Geno for the past 25+ years know he will have them ready. It may not happen early in the season but it will happen. They're too good not to be ready. We have a solid nucleus coming back. We saw last season what we could do when healthy. The exhibition game against Kutztown and the Northeastern game will tell us alot about this team. More importantly it will tell us what Geno thinks about this team. I look back at last season with all the problems and think how the heck did we get to the final game having to beat Indiana NC State and Stanford. That was a tall order for a team that had so much to overcome. They did it and they are better for having to go through what they did. Now with all that said we must stay healthy this season. Foul trouble will be a problem we must avoid. Im not really to concerned about our tuff schedule early on. We have shown we can win those games and if we dont we will learn from them. The most important thing is that we are ready to play. I dont think they have more talent then us and I dont think they can beat us. This UConn team is better then advertised and for someone to say that Tenn MD and some of the other teams should be ranked ahead of UConn who finished the season in the Final game well that is just silly. We have one month before we face Texas.. Dont be surprised if we win big.

I do think we will be a better "Team" whether that translates to more W's and less L's i cannot conclude. Exhibition games are like practice scrimmages . Using those as a barometer could build false expectations. To the 2nd portion , how the heck did we get to the final game ? We had paige bueckers lol , if we had her the entire season we make it to the final game without any concerns. Her missing so much time and coming back during the tourney propelled us to new levels. Do we all think with this team last season minus paige that we get past NC state or even make that game a double OT thriller in the elite 8 ? It seems this season with the collective knowing she won't play that we are kind of demising or choosing to forget her impact on this team. I'm sure that's not the case , but we cannot disregard how she literally has carried our team these last 2 years . So when i see that UCONN will be better without her it literally blows my mind. If they are better and make it to the final game in march i will eat the crow , but id rather take a wait and see approach that's all.

 

[oldude]

40-0, because “What the hell?”

 

[Bone Dog]

The GT loss is really indicative for me. Paige went down and as I recall we had no practice time before playing GT. Even through the UCLA near miss there had been little opportunity to practice in the new roles Paige’s absence required, much less reassure each other that they knew how and when to step up in the new roles.

At one point I think Evina said something in a postgame presser about having to remind teammates that she needed help inbounding the ball and bringing it up the court. E was the most mature presence on the team and she was the first to step fully into the new situation and rally the others. Yet another reason to admire her.

 

[Bone Dog]

So when i see that UCONN will be better without her it literally blows my mind.

I haven’t actually seen anyone say this or anything remotely resembling this. I think we’ve been around this block before.

What people have said is that our situation isn’t as bad as what we faced last year — a far cry from saying we’re better without Paige.

I don’t think anyone doubts that with Paige we’re a favorite to return to the NC game and obviously deserve a preseason ranking of at least #2. We are clearly not that now. But almost everyone here believes in this scrappy team and thinks we’ll punch well above our weight, as they say in the fight game.

And we all know there’s lots of “if” questions that have to break our way. But with some luck, the forbearance of the injury demons, and our untested talent stepping up, many of us believe that we match up surprisingly well against the main competition we’ll have to face.

Sure, let’s wait and see, but let’s also not rain on the parade. No one is being irrational here. It’s just healthy optimism.

 

[Conndog]

There have been several posters saying we need to avoid getting into foul trouble. Obviously this is true, but with our increased depth, we can survive better if someone does foul out. It’s not a big issue for me.

 

[TCC Kid]

I'm hoping for 40-0 and an NC!!! But I won't be surprised by 38-2, with losses to SC and Texas, but still an NC!!!!

I don't think we lose to Tennessee, but ND is possible, which means 37-3... and an NC!!!!

35-5 means another FF at least.

Ok, enough for my irrational expectations.\

Nothing IRRATIONAL here! 40 and 0 should be our hope as every season begins. This prediction, as pointed out above,is much too early. We need 3 good opponents games to assess this team. Until then--the expectation is 40 and ZERO.

 

[BBallF]

The single biggest factor that can not be overstated is that we lost Paige early pre-season. Geno and the team will have had months to adjust but the time we play Texas. They know she is not coming back this year.

We have 3 high caliber scorers in the guard/forward positions in Azzi, CD, and Lou Two. We have the biggest team in memory with power and the X factor in Aubrey. We also have a 5th year Dorka who will be the go to player in the paint and who, I predict, will have a great year. So don't worry if we lose a game or two or even three in the regular season. Geno does what he does with the scheduling for a reason. It prepares us for the post-season and it's worked for a ridiculously absurd and downright stupid 14 straight FFs.

I don't care about regular season losses except for seeding purposes, I care about how they play and what causes them to lose. It's a journey, there are usually bumps in the road and with the transfer portal, the talent has gravitated to the marquis teams which makes running the table that much more difficult. Look at this team in November and December, record the games, then watch them in late February and compare them. It will be a different team. The best example of this is what we didn't get to see in the Big Dance due to Covid in 2020. We didn't beat a highly ranked team all year in the regular season. Geno transformed the team with a modified pressing defense in February. They were unrecognizable and Megan Walker became an AA in the process.

It is as predictable as Spring itself. We are going to make the FF. After that, it's house money.

 

[TCC Kid]

The GT loss is really indicative for me. Paige went down and as I recall we had no practice time before playing GT. Even through the UCLA near miss there had been little opportunity to practice in the new roles Paige’s absence required, much less reassure each other that they knew how and when to step up in the new roles.

At one point I think Evina said something in a postgame presser about having to remind teammates that she needed help inbounding the ball and bringing it up the court. E was the Wmost mature presence on the team and she was the first to step fully into the new situation and rally the others. Yet another reason to admire her.

Who shall fills the E role this season? Lou has the potential. Azzi has the position. Nika will need help.

 

[TCC Kid]

Preach Brother!!!!! If they could watch some of Jamelle's games, and see the passion and desire she played with, that would be better for them than anything anyone could say to them. If Jamelle could do it at under 6 feet, we certainly can do it at 6-3 and above.
Keep in mind that DePaul's double-double machine Aneesah Morrow is only 6'1".

Jamelle: “As a player I was undersized,” Elliott told UConn Today in June 2019. “I won't say my height, but I'm less than 6 foot. I made up for it with with strength, and the determination to stay one step ahead. I knew I had to earn my time on the floor. My competitive spirit gave me a niche in the program.” She was a beast!! I mean that in a very respectful way. She played with fire and desire. Basically......she had heart (grit).

True GRIT--Jamelle-- some are born with it, some learn it with life's lessons, some are pushed into it by a coach and some get it by necessity. Frankly, I don't care where it comes from--Uconn's bigs all need it. Edwards comes the closest. Dorka, is 1/4th the way there, needs a swift kick where the Mongehela meets the Allegheny to form the ohio to get it impressed in her brain.

 

[TCC Kid]

As they say " way too early to predict " ( not knowing who is
fully healthy and playing up to our hopefull expectations and ...with some
very ++ expected improvements and
confidence concerning our Freshman " learning the system" ). So , for "fun" here we go:

Best 38 - 2 regular season losses to ... U South Carolina and Notre Dame , we win the N.C.!

Worse 33 - 6 regular season losses to ... USC, N.D, Texas, Tenn,
and Maryland. We have early season losses ( late to South Carolina ) and lose in the final 4
Semi or Finals to U. South Carolina ( darn it!) 38 or 39 total games

Probable 35 - 4 regular season losses to .... USC, N.D. Tenn, and a
Final Four "finals" close loss to somebody ( South Carolina gets tripped up in the NCAAs
prior to the finals ).
Actually I haven't a clue, and I have some concerns about Texas and North Carolina State,
but I'm more concerned about N.D. getting Egbo ( 6'4") s transfer from Texas and
the transfers streaming into the U of Tennessee... this will be very interesting... Go Huskies!

While it is true some TOP Players can "gel" quickly with a new team, Chemistry isn't an over night performance. Transfers don't always or even usually, become team leaders or effective in their positions with a new team.
Rare ones do. So, Tenn's coaching hasn't proven as much as they should have I worry more about NCS than ND or Tn. Texas, is playing UConn much too early for my fragile emotional system.

 

[Bone Dog]

Texas, is playing UConn much too early for my fragile emotional system.

I know what you mean. But I suspect we’ll be further along in building team chemistry than Texas will be. We can start a core of 5 veterans all familiar with the system and who have all been starters in it. They can’t.

 

[TCC Kid]

Impossible to make any kind of realistic prediction until we see how this team plays together. That said, if the key players stay healthy throughout the season and Griffin returns to earlier form, I could envision UConn only losing two or three games during the regular season and making it to the Final Four again...........

Aubrey isn't an X factor, at least not yet.
My brother, suffered injuries of legs, shoulders, back at various times. A tough kid, he sucked it up and charged forward, not letting an injury stop his life. Eventually, his body didn't meet his brains requests.

Point is, Griffin, has been seriously injured. Her mode of play was all out, sometimes, leaving caution to the wind, and not adjusting speed to the situation. Leaping and speed with talent was her gift, does she still have it?
More than an X factor she is (at least to me) and ?? factor.

 

[eebmg]

I know what you mean. But I suspect we’ll be further along in building team chemistry than Texas will be. We can start a core of 5 veterans all familiar with the system and who have all been starters in it. They can’t.

I do think many other teams have an early season advantage since we try to run a more precision communication based offense / defense scheme which requires more time for chemistry and gelling. Other teams and for me TX is clearly in this category focus primarily on swarming the ball and creating havoc and if/when things break down, Harmon (or maybe some one else?) goes iso and their bigs crash the boards without a care in the world about fouling.

TX also has that weave that I expect may give our guards fit's early in the season.

 

[oldude]

The single biggest factor that can not be overstated is that we lost Paige early pre-season. Geno and the team will have had months to adjust but the time we play Texas. They know she is not coming back this year.

We have 3 high caliber scorers in the guard/forward positions in Azzi, CD, and Lou Two. We have the biggest team in memory with power and the X factor in Aubrey. We also have a 5th year Dorka who will be the go to player in the paint and who, I predict, will have a great year. So don't worry if we lose a game or two or even three in the regular season. Geno does what he does with the scheduling for a reason. It prepares us for the post-season and it's worked for a ridiculously absurd and downright stupid 14 straight FFs.

I don't care about regular season losses except for seeding purposes, I care about how they play and what causes them to lose. It's a journey, there are usually bumps in the road and with the transfer portal, the talent has gravitated to the marquis teams which makes running the table that much more difficult. Look at this team in November and December, record the games, then watch them in late February and compare them. It will be a different team. The best example of this is what we didn't get to see in the Big Dance due to Covid in 2020. We didn't beat a highly ranked team all year in the regular season. Geno transformed the team with a modified pressing defense in February. They were unrecognizable and Megan Walker became an AA in the process.

It is as predictable as Spring itself. We are going to make the FF. After that, it's house money.

A couple comments. I agree, to a point, with your comment about “regular season losses.” To be honest, I only want to see UConn win one game, that being the last of the season…..

As for your comment that losing Paige is the biggest single factor heading into the season, while I certainly don’t minimize the loss of Paige, I believe the biggest single factor is the same as it’s been for the past 36 years. Geno Auriemma is quite simply the best coach in WBB.

The old saying that he’ll beat you with his team and then turn around and beat you with yours is hyperbole to be sure, but if it applies to anyone, It’s Geno. Every other team in WBB, including SC have questions that have to be answered in order to make it to the mountaintop of a National Championship.

Geno and his staff will figure things out. Young players will develop over the season. By the BE tournament, the Huskies will be firing on all cylinders. With the one caveat that this UConn team needs to basically stay healthy, I have no doubt that Geno will have the Huskies ready for another title run.

 

[Bald Husky]

Somehow, we have to get the name Paige out of our minds, like she was never here and never existed on our campus. If that were the case, what would you realistically think our chances at the big prize would be with what we actually have? I believe that if our Bigs have matured, our new girls come in and play up to their potential, and with shooters that are at least as good as the other best teams, we are in pretty good shape. Our only question would be the depth at PG. If Nika improves her offence, and Ines can do a good job in a supporting role, and with Azzi as another option, I think we are still a top 5 team that can compete for the NC. We have a wealth of talent right now, and I really am excited about our chances in the big games this season. Lets concentrate with what we have, and not what we don't have. Go Huskies

 

[Stymie]

Actually, Paige’s injuries ( especially last year) proved to be the catalyst for playing Caroline more than she may have otherwise.
No way she would have gotten the court time she did if weren’t for lack of healthy bodies (JMHO). Not Geno’s M.O.
So in my mind, based on playing time (and facing adversity), she’s a junior playing in her sophomore year (if you follow)
Also, Amari’s playing time ( meager as it was) was somewhat by necessity.
I believe we will know sometime before mid January if Amari is the real deal.
Closing thought on UCONN’s plethora of shooters: who are they?
I count 3 unless I’m experiencing a brain freeze- which is very possible.
More “ scorers” yes- but shooters?
TY