175-0? TonyC was crazy...

[Tonyc]

We are loaded and 2 deep at every position. Our future is bright maybe even blinding bright. Talk about a tuffer conference??? We'll see who wont schedule UConn for the next 4-6 years. There are some good teams out there and will be good for the next few years but no body has a Paige and Azzi with the bigs that UConn will have. Hope everybody stays healthy.

 

[veryolddog]

With the kind of talent on this team and what is coming, I am going to force myself to live to 80. I really do not want to miss this.

 

[ScuderiaDiU]

We are loaded and 2 deep at every position. Our future is bright maybe even blinding bright. Talk about a tuffer conference??? We'll see who wont schedule UConn for the next 4-6 years. There are some good teams out there and will be good for the next few years but no body has a Paige and Azzi with the bigs that UConn will have. Hope everybody stays healthy.

We will, no doubt, have the best backcourt. I also like our PF a lot. And we will have lots of good players to choose from to put on the wing. Our problem is the low post. We are going to struggle to stop the giants some of these teams have. And that will, in turn, leave the perimeter open. On the offensive side, we don't have a low post that can score while being fouled. The difference between our championship teams and non-championship teams have generally been their ability to score while being hacked, pushed and grabbed.

 

[lsj001]

Just some people forgetting that South Carolina has 15 top 10 players on their roster. And that Stanford has as many as we do and just landed the next Greiner. Who was the last player over 6'5" that we landed? Don't get cocky people....

No where near as athletic as Griner from what I've seen on tape.

 

[BostonBay]

Just some people forgetting that South Carolina has 15 top 10 players on their roster. And that Stanford has as many as we do and just landed the next Greiner. Who was the last player over 6'5" that we landed? Don't get cocky people....

yeah, but we have Geno and you have Dawn...

 

[ScuderiaDiU]

yeah, but we have Geno and you have Dawn...

To be clear, I am a long time UConn fan and I believe Geno is the greatest basketball coach of all time. I am just pointing out that we have fallen short in some aspects of recruiting. That would be no big deal if the losses were spread around but they seem to be concentrated among 2, maybe 3, teams. No one has done better recruiting skilled players between 5'11" and 6'2". Not even close. But post players? Not so much. ONO was highly regarded. That's one. Name another. Edwards appears to be a serious diamond. Geno did a great job finding her while Dawn and Tara were scooping up all of the top 10 post players. But the reality is that we have lost a ton of these players to SC, Stanford and even Baylor and Texas. How many times are we going to find an Edwards?

That is a lot of quality bigs concentrated at a handful of schools. Not exactly the picture of parity.

 

[ScuderiaDiU]

I agree with the spirit of this.

The major difference between this era and the eras of the ridiculous mega-long win streaks is that UConn isn't the only program recruiting at an extremely high level.

Do we have to put a number to our happiness, though? Can't we just celebrate the get? I'm still in happy dance mode.


View attachment 66100

We have never been the only school recruiting at a high level. TN, Duke, MD, ND, Baylor, Texas and Miss. St. have all recruited a very good number of top rated recruits at various times over the years. The one that is especially different now, versus then, it SC. I would argue that they have recruited better lately than we ever have. When the top 5-10 recruits are more evenly spread out, Genos and CD's coaching becomes the difference, over time. But Dawn is landing these kids at a rate we have never seen before and at every position. I don't think she is even a fraction of the coach Geno is but she is actually hoarding elite talent like people have said, incorrectly, that Geno was. Even Muffett, when ND was dominant, didn't have this kind of depth of elite talent. As much as I hate to admit it, she was also a very good coach.

 

[EricLA]

Some of you are obsessed with height. I get it - The ONE weakness UCONN will have over the next 6 years is that we have no one 6'6" or taller.

How did that work out for Stewie? I don't see Kalani Brown or Tierra McCowan with any NC trophies. How did that work out for Griner? 1 NC, and a humongous upset to L'ville clearing the way for another UCONN NC. Fowles? Even with Olympian Augustus on the roster, the best LSU could do was 4 final 4's. Never made it to the NC game.

Do a little visual for yourself. Hold your fingers 2" apart. That's the difference in height between 6'5" and 6'7". Even at 6'3", Liya has an albatross reach. Reminds me of Stewie in that respect. With her strength, guarding a 6'6"+ player, keeping them off the block, and using her length, will give them fits.

There's a reason Griner, Xan Hu, Tiera McCowan, Kalani Brown, Kara Braxton, Azura Stevens, Carolyn Swords, Mercedes Russell, etc. Don't routinely dominate the WNBA and international scene. The 2 best centers in the history of the game for their size - Lisa Leslie and Sylvia Fowles.

Why? (BTW this is all just my opinion) Because Fowles and Leslie (6'5") were the rare combo of super tall, athletic, and strongly built centers which allowed them to do more than plant themselves in the post, and made them way more mobile than bigger, but less athletic, players.

Tall slender post players like Griner, Stevens (should be a post player), get displaced too easily. Big strong post players like Braxton, Brown, McCowan, Swords, Hu, etc. are beefy but not athletic enough. The one outlier I didn't mention is 6'8" Cambage. Tall, strong, athletic enough, teams need a special defense to slow her down.

Lauren Betts is tall like Griner, but not as athletic. She's decidedly NOT strong. She's fairly nimble for her size. IMHO, she will be dominant some games, disappear in others. It will be fun to watch her transformation as she goes thru 4 years of college. But there is no way I'd trade her even for JUST Edwards, never mind DeBerry and Brady.

To slightly change the subject, SC and Stanford are recruiting gangbusters. BUT even in a talented recruiting year, there's a HUGE difference between generational players like Fudd and Bueckers, or truly elite talent like Patterson/Edwards/Williams vs. kids rated 5-10. (Yeah, I think the light has finally come on for Christyn). Their fans should be very proud and excited about the talent they are recruiting, but IMHO it's simply not at the level UCONN is recruiting.

 

[huskyd]

SC will have 9 top 11 and 10 McDonalds All Americans next year with a roster of 14.

But the same coach. However, what you write would make a good banner for next year.

 

[shiverz45]

But the same coach. However, what you write would make a good banner for next year.

I just was clarifying a question. Was not boasting or bragging.

 

[hoophuskee]

To be clear, I am a long time UConn fan and I believe Geno is the greatest basketball coach of all time. I am just pointing out that we have fallen short in some aspects of recruiting. That would be no big deal if the losses were spread around but they seem to be concentrated among 2, maybe 3, teams. No one has done better recruiting skilled players between 5'11" and 6'2". Not even close. But post players? Not so much. ONO was highly regarded. That's one. Name another. Edwards appears to be a serious diamond. Geno did a great job finding her while Dawn and Tara were scooping up all of the top 10 post players. But the reality is that we have lost a ton of these players to SC, Stanford and even Baylor and Texas. How many times are we going to find an Edwards?

That is a lot of quality bigs concentrated at a handful of schools. Not exactly the picture of parity.

I agree with you to an extent regarding being cocky in that no title is ever assured and to go undefeated is not assured.

But in terms of your other I think your fears are a bit over-inflated exaggerated a bit. Using phrases like "We are going to struggle to stop the giants some of these teams have." Or "That would be no big deal if the losses were spread around but they seem to be concentrated among 2, maybe 3, teams."

But isn't it the point of being a power team that there are only 2-3 teams that can beat you? And isn't it inevitable that other teams have great coaches and great players too? UCONN beat this year the two big teams that could challenge to them but lost to the small team.

And up until this year when was the last time UCONN had an All-American guard? Why does this get ignored? UCONN did not only lose to ND because of inside-out play. There is a reason why the other team's guards/ wings were picked higher in the draft vs the UCONN guards and wing, right? In all but one of their 11 championships did they not have a 1st team all-American guard or wing. So why just only focus on the posts? They got beat by 2 buzzer beaters - so that is the criticism?

SO when you say things like "we are going to struggle." And UCONN "has fallen short in some aspects of recruiting." Well - of course. That's the nature of competition. Even when you think you have the best guards/wings such as Katie Lou and Dangerfield they sometimes get outplayed in a game or by the end of their career another lesser recruit ends up showing more value. And yes - it is just very, very, very few teams (2 or 3) able to beat the UCONN wings and guards too.

And in terms of after Stewart/Tuck left - UCONN did have Stevens for 1 year. Don't think Geno counted on her leaving after 1 year. But if that is your criticism - since Stevens left they have been short in post play-- okay. Okay a bit unlucky imo but okay. But just like this year UCONN was able to fend off the bigger teams and next year it will only be the super elite or one isolated game that will cause "a struggle." Why you think that it being worse for only the concentrated teams having a shot to beat UCONN - I don’t agree with. Some of UCONN greatest teams haven't been that big.

 

[Zinethar]

Just a thought - who jumped center when UConn had Stevens? Gabby. Why? Because she (at 5'11") could out jump Stevens (6'6"). Height is not everything. If a center reaches to get the rebound she will get beat by the player who jumps for it. Often space taking bigs are not able to deal with much faster more athletic players who are not quite their size. The answer is the whole package - not just the height.

 

[ABCDFE]

Some of you are obsessed with height. I get it - The ONE weakness UCONN will have over the next 6 years is that we have no one 6'6" or taller.

How did that work out for Stewie? I don't see Kalani Brown or Tierra McCowan with any NC trophies. How did that work out for Griner? 1 NC, and a humongous upset to L'ville clearing the way for another UCONN NC. Fowles? Even with Olympian Augustus on the roster, the best LSU could do was 4 final 4's. Never made it to the NC game.

Do a little visual for yourself. Hold your fingers 2" apart. That's the difference in height between 6'5" and 6'7". Even at 6'3", Liya has an albatross reach. Reminds me of Stewie in that respect. With her strength, guarding a 6'6"+ player, keeping them off the block, and using her length, will give them fits.

There's a reason Griner, Xan Hu, Tiera McCowan, Kalani Brown, Kara Braxton, Azura Stevens, Carolyn Swords, Mercedes Russell, etc. Don't routinely dominate the WNBA and international scene. The 2 best centers in the history of the game for their size - Lisa Leslie and Sylvia Fowles.

Why? (BTW this is all just my opinion) Because Fowles and Leslie (6'5") were the rare combo of super tall, athletic, and strongly built centers which allowed them to do more than plant themselves in the post, and made them way more mobile than bigger, but less athletic, players.

Tall slender post players like Griner, Stevens (should be a post player), get displaced too easily. Big strong post players like Braxton, Brown, McCowan, Swords, Hu, etc. are beefy but not athletic enough. The one outlier I didn't mention is 6'8" Cambage. Tall, strong, athletic enough, teams need a special defense to slow her down.

Lauren Betts is tall like Griner, but not as athletic. She's decidedly NOT strong. She's fairly nimble for her size. IMHO, she will be dominant some games, disappear in others. It will be fun to watch her transformation as she goes thru 4 years of college. But there is no way I'd trade her even for JUST Edwards, never mind DeBerry and Brady.

To slightly change the subject, SC and Stanford are recruiting gangbusters. BUT even in a talented recruiting year, there's a HUGE difference between generational players like Fudd and Bueckers, or truly elite talent like Patterson/Edwards/Williams vs. kids rated 5-10. (Yeah, I think the light has finally come on for Christyn). Their fans should be very proud and excited about the talent they are recruiting, but IMHO it's simply not at the level UCONN is recruiting.

Yup.

Also - Height is one thing. Vertical and wingspan are also other factors. Some on the BY can sometimes only focus on height as the end all be all. There are so many things that go into being an effective "Big", but just focusing on the height is quite myopic

 

[hoophuskee]

We have never been the only school recruiting at a high level. TN, Duke, MD, ND, Baylor, Texas and Miss. St. have all recruited a very good number of top rated recruits at various times over the years. The one that is especially different now, versus then, it SC. I would argue that they have recruited better lately than we ever have. When the top 5-10 recruits are more evenly spread out, Genos and CD's coaching becomes the difference, over time. But Dawn is landing these kids at a rate we have never seen before and at every position. I don't think she is even a fraction of the coach Geno is but she is actually hoarding elite talent like people have said, incorrectly, that Geno was. Even Muffett, when ND was dominant, didn't have this kind of depth of elite talent. As much as I hate to admit it, she was also a very good coach.

On the flip side look at some of the all-time great teams UConn has had.


In 05-06 Renee Montgomery and Tahira Williams, and Cassie Kerns.
In 06-07 Tina Charles, Megan Gardler, and Kaili McLaren.
In 07-08 Maya Moore and Lorin Dixon.
This led to 08-09 and 09-10 titles and back-to-back undefeated seasons.

Nowhere near the hoarding of talent. And they put out teams regarded as some of the greatest ever and they had a small pf (couldn't find the smile button). And UCONN followed up that recruiting class with Tiffany Hayes, Carolyn Doty and Heather Buck. UCONN now is following up with Brady and Patterson. . . so far too.

What recruiting class did better than Maya and Lorin that year? If you got LeBron James out of High School - and added a few other recruits who would have had the better class? SO far it's scary to say this but hasn't Paige been a bit better than Maya? And haven't we heard that Azzi was at one time better than Paige? SO ofc anything can happen -- but isn't it also possible that what SC has / will be getting -- it will be nothing like they or the game has ever seen? It's "possible," right? After all, who wore down Maya because they had a deeper bench? With a year under Paige's belt and with Azzi coming in - and next year their lineup more solidified at the start than this year with hopefully little-to-no COVID impact- isn't it possible that Azzi is not going to get worn down either regardless as to how many players SC has?

 

[Cuango]

Or all top 10 players!

 

[Cuango]

We will, no doubt, have the best backcourt. I also like our PF a lot. And we will have lots of good players to choose from to put on the wing. Our problem is the low post. We are going to struggle to stop the giants some of these teams have. And that will, in turn, leave the perimeter open. On the offensive side, we don't have a low post that can score while being fouled. The difference between our championship teams and non-championship teams have generally been their ability to score while being hacked, pushed and grabbed.

I guess we’re going to find out if Geno is right. (Actually, we already do) Does speed trump bulk in the front court?

 

[UcMiami]

What stands out with Uconn and recruiting over the years is that Geno generally gets the players he needs, and consistently strings together two, three, and four year recruiting cycles of strong recruits. And the 'down cycles' usually have lasted only a year or at most two. Pat during her 1990s to early 2000s run is the only other coach to have had that long a run of good cycles and she almost blew her Parker years untill she pulled Bobbitt, a JC transfer in to run the show.

Stanford and SC are in a really good sequence right now, but Dawn has had to mine the transfer market for help as has Kim at Baylor and Muffet at ND for their NC rosters.

 

[ScuderiaDiU]

I guess we’re going to find out if Geno is right. (Actually, we already do) Does speed trump bulk in the front court?

I already know the answer. It depends. In a game where the refs actually call the fouls, speed trumps bulk. In a game where they don't, you better have players that can muscle through contact.

 

[UcMiami]

I already know the answer. It depends. In a game where the refs actually call the fouls, speed trumps bulk. In a game where they don't, you better have players that can muscle through contact.

I remember Tiff Hayes go at Griner and winning a number of times by drawing the foul or making the shot in one game. And you are constantly seeing speed vs. height in the WNBA with equal talent. And sometimes the speed wins and sometimes the height wins - and not just based on the refs.