Movin forward through our Murderers Row schedule

[Tonyc]

So Im gonna take a stab at where we are as a team now. We dont have Paige but we now have a much improved Azzi. After watching Azzi the last 2 games we have something special much like we had Paige last season. Azzi is no Paige and Paige is no Azzi but Azzi is a terrific replacement for Paige this season. Lou is no Azzi however Lou filling the spot left open with Paige out, well Lou is a dam good replacement. Everybody else from last years team has improved and looks much better.

There have been questions and comments about playing against teams with physical bigs. I think we did pretty good last nite against a very physical team in Texas. Yeah we need to clean up a few things which you all mentioned in your posts individually and team wise. This years team reminds me of last years team only better and that team limped into the final game of the season. If healthy we wont be limping this season

Some of us thought that we could win last nites game by 30 based on Texas's two previously played games. Texas was up to the challenge last nite and was down 17 pts at one point. We won by 7. That is something Im sure Geno will fix. Fouls were a problem last nite and being a physical game you might expect that. Some fans mentioned Azzi had to many turnovers and she did but it was her first game at the point and I feel she will adjust and get better at the point. Every team has their strengths and weakness's and both need to be worked on to make the FF. From what Ive seen in the first two games this years team is better then last years team and Azzi and Lou can pick up the slack left with Paige out. For one Lou will be on the floor more because she will understand how to stay out of foul trouble.

When Caroline gets up to speed we will be scary good if we're not already. I can only imagine what other teams are thinking after watching last nites game which was nationally televised. Next up NC State. It seems like the first half of the season we are facing murderers row much like last seasons NCAA tournament only with a better team. The point Im making is Azzi and Lou seem to me to have replaced the Paige and Azzi from last season and thats huge because last season we were in the last game of the season. Everybody else on the team is better too. There isnt much to worry about right now because we have shown just how good we are and our potential is through the roof. All of a sudden we are now ranked 3 in the polls and could be ranked higher next week after SC goes out to Cal to play at Stanford. Man do we look good.

 

[Bone Dog]

What sort of test are we expecting from NC St? They look rather like last year's team. They lost Cunane Jones Perez and Crutchfield from last year. But they can now start Johnson Boyd Brown-Turner Hobby which looks like a solid, experienced team. Mimi Collins gives them a second big who can score more reliably than Hobby, and she has some perimeter range, too. Hart and Baldwin give them size off the bench. So, this is another big team.

Will Diamond Johnson pose the problems Harmon might have had she played yesterday? Turner and Boyd are scorers alongside Collins. It looks like scoring isn't their problem. I wonder what their D is like.

I think this win -- if we get it -- combined with a Stanford loss to SC would make it difficult for us not to be ranked #2.

A side story -- Brown-Turner was a star in high school whose seemingly pre-destined district Championship was derailed by a newcomer, Azzi Fudd who engineered a notable upset. When they met again last year, Fudd's team again derailed a championship run. I wonder how Brown-Turner feels about another rematch.

 

[dtbtbtb]

But who replaces ONO, CW and E?

 

[Nolefan]

But who replaces ONO, CW and E?

Lou ,Griffith, Patterson ..

 

[LoTrader]

Any UCONN fans coming to Portland for the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament?

 

[HuskyNan]

@Tonyc !!!! Spelling badass and the use of paragraphs in one week! Wowza, I’m impressed!

 

[Jim R]

I think this win -- if we get it -- combined with a Stanford loss to SC would make it difficult for us not to be ranked #2.

Am not sure I’d take that to the bank - Stanford may (Iriafen and other newbies have made them better) surprise many!

 

[Bone Dog]

Am not sure I’d take that to the bank - Stanford may (Iriafen and other newbies have made them better) surprise many!

That’s a good point. On the other hand, just looking at the records, if we have two wins over top 10 teams and they have only a loss and a few cream puff wins, it would be hard to justify giving them a special ranking. Of course, I don’t expect it to happen. I’m merely pointing out how an incoherent system will fail to maintain any integrity in its judgments.

 

[Jim R]

That’s a good point. On the other hand, just looking at the records, if we have two wins over top 10 teams and they have only a loss and a few cream puff wins, it would be hard to justify giving them a special ranking. Of course, I don’t expect it to happen. I’m merely pointing out how an incoherent system will fail to maintain any integrity in its judgments.

Would agree, but, not sure they’ll be on the short end of that 1 vs 2 match-up.

 

[Next 12]

Would agree, but, not sure they’ll be on the short end of that 1 vs 2 match-up.

Some say that if Stanford beats SC, even by 2 points, Stanford will be NO.1. But,if SC beats Stanford By 2 points, Stanford will still be No.2. SC would have to beat Stanford by 10 points or better for Stanford to drop in the polls. Uconn is like watching your family growing as they go forward in life,every day getting better, more accomplished, more confident and believing in themselves. I'm loving what's ahead for this team as the season progresses. NCAA title No.12 is in our future. GO HUSKIES!!!

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

On a drive home from my wife's medical appointment today, I heard a song from my youth... "I Like Dreamin'" by Kenny Nolan,,, that song and @Tonyc post made me think just how things would have been... if only...

Just imagine, Azzi, Lou... AND Paige as the starting back court on this year's Team. Sure would have loved to see that! Oh Well... stuff happens. Gotta dance with the Team we got! And so far, they are dancin' pretty well.

GO HUSKIES

 

[Cuango]

What sort of test are we expecting from NC St? They look rather like last year's team. They lost Cunane Jones Perez and Crutchfield from last year. But they can now start Johnson Boyd Brown-Turner Hobby which looks like a solid, experienced team. Mimi Collins gives them a second big who can score more reliably than Hobby, and she has some perimeter range, too. Hart and Baldwin give them size off the bench. So, this is another big team.

Will Diamond Johnson pose the problems Harmon might have had she played yesterday? Turner and Boyd are scorers alongside Collins. It looks like scoring isn't their problem. I wonder what their D is like.

I think this win -- if we get it -- combined with a Stanford loss to SC would make it difficult for us not to be ranked #2.

A side story -- Brown-Turner was a star in high school whose seemingly pre-destined district Championship was derailed by a newcomer, Azzi Fudd who engineered a notable upset. When they met again last year, Fudd's team again derailed a championship run. I wonder how Brown-Turner feels about another rematch.

The question is, what will happen when Stanford beats SC? Will we, assuming we win, (which is no guarantee) rise to number 2 or will SC simply switch places with Stanford? I’m pretty sure we all know the answer to that! Sunday is gonna be a big day!

 

[hookshot]

Lou ,Griffith, Patterson ..

Patterson is a long way from replacing any of those, but it will be fun watching her try to get there. She struggles on defense, doesn't have much of any offensive game yet, but can bang, block, and hustle with the best of them. if you don't hang too much in the way expectations on her this year, she won't disappoint.

 

[MSGRET]

Some say that if Stanford beats SC, even by 2 points, Stanford will be NO.1. But,if SC beats Stanford By 2 points, Stanford will still be No.2. SC would have to beat Stanford by 10 points or better for Stanford to drop in the polls. Uconn is like watching your family growing as they go forward in life,every day getting better, more accomplished, more confident and believing in themselves. I'm loving what's ahead for this team as the season progresses. NCAA title No.12 is in our future. GO HUSKIES!!!

I'm trying to figure out why Stanford is ranked so high, they've played 5 teams so far this season and only one of the is in the Top 100 in Massey Ratings. Portland is #99, while Pacific is 122, San Diego St is 162, Cal State Northridge is 245, and Cal Poly is 262. That's embarrassing that a school like Stanford has a schedule like that, I see them not winning against SC for one reason they haven't played anyone in the top 75. South Caroline will have played 3 games when the two meet on Sunday, #230 East Tennessee St, #63 Clemson, and #15 Maryland.

When it comes to NC State, they have played 4 games with the highest being #85 Charlotte, then #175 Quinnipiac, #184 Elon, and #301 Mount Saint Mary. While UConn will have played two games, #173 Northeastern and #16 Texas, who dropped from #8 after the loss to the Huskies.

 

[Stymie]

Lou ,Griffith, Patterson ..

Or Azzi, Caroline and Ayanna…

 

[veryolddog]

Very solid post, Tony and you hit a lot of good points. I would like to reiterate that this years team is a very good team and not yet a great team where it might be going into the tournement. Winning against Texas by 7 is better than losing by 7 but they need to beat these teams by 17. Good solid defense would help with this along with improvement in their foul shooting. I am sure that Geno, in the coming practices will emphaze those issues and enhance those abilities.

 

[Bone Dog]

The question is, what will happen when Stanford beats SC? Will we, assuming we win, (which is no guarantee) rise to number 2 or will SC simply switch places with Stanford? I’m pretty sure we all know the answer to that! Sunday is gonna be a big day!

If we win on Sunday, I will be totally convinced going forward. Passing two tests of this caliber. I won't care what the experts say -- or rather, I will relish their error even more. the only game after this I worry about is ND.

 

[Stymie]

The question is, what will happen when Stanford beats SC? Will we, assuming we win, (which is no guarantee) rise to number 2 or will SC simply switch places with Stanford? I’m pretty sure we all know the answer to that! Sunday is gonna be a big day!

IMHO.
Depends on the final score.
Blow out one way or the other and a team’s heretofore minor shortcoming exposed a major flaw. (Is this possible, not likely) -then a possible slide.
Injury to a pivotal player ( god forbid)-then a possible slide.
Most likely- small reversal if Stanford wins.
#1 solidified if SC wins.
Won’t matter much, in the short term, unless UCONN hammers NC.
HUSKIES just needs to take them down one at a time and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[tchalla1]

So Im gonna take a stab at where we are as a team now. We dont have Paige but we now have a much improved Azzi. After watching Azzi the last 2 games we have something special much like we had Paige last season. Azzi is no Paige and Paige is no Azzi but Azzi is a terrific replacement for Paige this season. Lou is no Azzi however Lou filling the spot left open with Paige out, well Lou is a dam good replacement. Everybody else from last years team has improved and looks much better.

There have been questions and comments about playing against teams with physical bigs. I think we did pretty good last nite against a very physical team in Texas. Yeah we need to clean up a few things which you all mentioned in your posts individually and team wise. This years team reminds me of last years team only better and that team limped into the final game of the season. If healthy we wont be limping this season

Some of us thought that we could win last nites game by 30 based on Texas's two previously played games. Texas was up to the challenge last nite and was down 17 pts at one point. We won by 7. That is something Im sure Geno will fix. Fouls were a problem last nite and being a physical game you might expect that. Some fans mentioned Azzi had to many turnovers and she did but it was her first game at the point and I feel she will adjust and get better at the point. Every team has their strengths and weakness's and both need to be worked on to make the FF. From what Ive seen in the first two games this years team is better then last years team and Azzi and Lou can pick up the slack left with Paige out. For one Lou will be on the floor more because she will understand how to stay out of foul trouble.

When Caroline gets up to speed we will be scary good if we're not already. I can only imagine what other teams are thinking after watching last nites game which was nationally televised. Next up NC State. It seems like the first half of the season we are facing murderers row much like last seasons NCAA tournament only with a better team. The point Im making is Azzi and Lou seem to me to have replaced the Paige and Azzi from last season and thats huge because last season we were in the last game of the season. Everybody else on the team is better too. There isnt much to worry about right now because we have shown just how good we are and our potential is through the roof. All of a sudden we are now ranked 3 in the polls and could be ranked higher next week after SC goes out to Cal to play at Stanford. Man do we look good.

Very good assessment, TonyC--as usual. However, one aspect that I take exception to--and this coincides with many UConn fans thus far this season--is the propensity to compare Azzi to Paige and/or ponder whether Azzi is a suitable "replacement" for Paige. Azzi has her own special qualities and skills and so does Paige. They are not interchangeable parts. This is a disservice to Azzi, because in many ways, Azzi is a superior basketball talent to Paige, and I, like many, feel that before it is all said and done, Azzi will not be compared to anyone. The great thing is that next year we probably will have them both at full strength....

 

[Wilderness]

Just imagine, Azzi, Lou... AND Paige as the starting back court on this year's Team. Sure would have loved to see that! Oh Well... stuff happens. Gotta dance with the Team we got! And so far, they are dancin' pretty well.

I'll take Nika, Paige, Azzi. Dollars to donuts Geno would too. Lou is a great addition, and critical especially until Caroline is full strength, by I don't think she'd start over Nika or will later over Caroline. Aubrey took her off the floor for the second half versus Texas.

 

[visitingcock]

The question is, what will happen when Stanford beats SC? Will we, assuming we win, (which is no guarantee) rise to number 2 or will SC simply switch places with Stanford? I’m pretty sure we all know the answer to that! Sunday is gonna be a big day!

If Stanford runs SCar out of the arena, you could jump SCar. But, if Stanford wins by less than double digits, you won't. Road losses to a top 5 opponent don't generally get counted against you very much by people or computers. Stanford's 4 point loss to SCar in Columbia didn't hurt them.

BTW, Massey has this ranking for the coming up weekend:

Team	Record	Δ	Rat	Pwr	Off	Def	HFA	SoS	SSF	EW	EL
Correlation	710		1000	979	898	872	-153	311	901	736	-735
South Carolina Southeastern	2-0 1.000		1 9.39	1 73.78	11 99.35	1 39.18	2.74	9 56.59	7 55.17	23.60	3.40
Stanford Pac 12	5-0 1.000		2 9.18	2 72.20	7 101.09	2 35.85	2.72	125 40.45	3 55.99	22.07	4.93
Connecticut Big East	2-0 1.000		3 9.04	3 69.33	10 100.07	5 34.01	2.78	21 51.84	10 55.01	22.65	5.35
NC State Atlantic Coast	4-0 1.000		4 8.94	4 69.10	5 101.77	8 32.08	2.75	168 37.96	1 56.78	18.63	6.37

 

[DEpup]

Very good assessment, TonyC--as usual. However, one aspect that I take exception to--and this coincides with many UConn fans thus far this season--is the propensity to compare Azzi to Paige and/or ponder whether Azzi is a suitable "replacement" for Paige. Azzi has her own special qualities and skills and so does Paige. They are not interchangeable parts. This is a disservice to Azzi, because in many ways, Azzi is a superior basketball talent to Paige, and I, like many, feel that before it is all said and done, Azzi will not be compared to anyone. The great thing is that next year we probably will have them both at full strength....

Azzi and Paige have two very different skill sets and thus go about getting to a 20+ point outcome without comparison. If we are going to make comparisons, I have gotten Maya flashbacks so far this year watching a healthy Azzi. I would say they go about getting business done more alike than Paige.

 

[Stymie]

Azzi and Paige have two very different skill sets and thus go about getting to a 20+ point outcome without comparison. If we are going to make comparisons, I have gotten Maya flashbacks so far this year watching a healthy Azzi. I would say they go about getting business done more alike than Paige.

I believe Azzi and Paige have very similar skill sets.
One may speculate that Paige has superior court vision, but she had a one season head start to become accustomed to the speed of the DI game.
Please remember, we have seen Azzi completely healthy for TWO WHOLE GAMES.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

I'll take Nika, Paige, Azzi. Dollars to donuts Geno would too. Lou is a great addition, and critical especially until Caroline is full strength, by I don't think she'd start over Nika or will later over Caroline. Aubrey took her off the floor for the second half versus Texas.

I was referring to the 3pt barrage that could be rained down by UCONN with those 3 on the court... don't get me wrong I an a huge Nika fan for her defense, passing and intensity.

Go Huskies