2015 final 4 -- what teams?

[Vowelguy]

.

 

[pap49cba]

I'm not sure it matters....

 

[chrissaran]

It will if Aja Wilson comes through in her freshman season for South Carolina, and it will if Mercedes Russell comes through in her sophomore season for Tennessee. They have the size and talent to challenge UConn. I don't know if Notre Dame has the size and talent without Natalie Ochunwa and Kayla McBride.

 

[RadyLady]

mens or womens....or penguins?

 

[jennyo70]

I will be shocked if Mercedes Russell has a big sophomore leap as she has been sidelined this whole offseason with significant surgery on both of her feet.
My Cardinals have lost 4 of our 5 leading scorers to graduation, but I am very excited about our freshman and think we will surprise some folks toward the end of the season.
I think SC has the potential to be dangerous, but it is certainly uconn, and everyone else.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I too see it as UConn and everyone else, I simply picked the other teams that, all things considered, on paper, at this point, look like they have the most ability to join UConn at the FF. Beating UConn is much more tricky.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think we're the best team, by a large margin if healthy.

I pick ND second. They still have talent and coaching.

For everyone else, it may be a question of "is the youth ready to take the team to the next level?" Teams that applies to include South Carolina, UCLA, Texas, and Ohio State.

I'm picking S. Carolina and a wild guess if UCLA.

I think that Tennessee has yet to prove that they have the coaching and the ability to win a big game.

 

[AnotherVolFan]

IMHO I don't see it as UCONN and everyone else next season...yall have a great team and a GREAT group of incoming freshman...but I just don't see yall being DOMINANT without Steph in the middle anymore. To ME...she made a bigggg difference!

 

[DaddyChoc]

IMHO I don't see it as UCONN and everyone else next season...yall have a great team and a GREAT group of incoming freshman...but I just don't see yall being DOMINANT without Steph in the middle anymore. To ME...she made a bigggg difference!

I agree... Dolson will be missed and the freshmen are freshman

 

[Zorro]

But Stewie, KML, MoJet, Kiah, Morgan and Saniya are NOT freshmen. UConn and everyone else.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I learned in 32 years of coaching you don't rush to glory. That being said, I really feel that if UCONN can stay injury/sickness free they will have too much talent with the best coaching staff in USA to not win another title! Plus no-one plays defense for 40 minutes every game like UCONN!
The coaching staff will have the 4 athletic freshmen playing defense like vets quickly and they will hound opponents constantly!
ND lost 2 outstanding pieces to their puzzle in Achonwa and McBride, L'ville lost 4 top players, Baylor lost Sims, Stanford lost Chiney, MD lost A. Thomas, TN has not shown in the last 3 years that they have the coaching or the team work to beat a really good team, SoCar is still young and unproven, NoCar is too undisciplined and coached by by Sylvia Hatchell! TX, UCLA, OSU, have great recruits but might be a couple years away!
So most of WCBB is in flux while UCONN has a lot of their power back! Stewart, KML, & MoJeff can be AA's with Kiah, Morgan, Saniya offering able support is still much more firepower than anyone else has entering the season!

 

[stwainfan]

I'm interested in seeing the guard rotation for Tennessee. Having Ariel back helps. Jordan is very talented see how much better she is this year, Alexis won skills challenge at McDonalds all star, I think she will add some things.

 

[sawxfan23]

IMHO I don't see it as UCONN and everyone else next season...yall have a great team and a GREAT group of incoming freshman...but I just don't see yall being DOMINANT without Steph in the middle anymore. To ME...she made a bigggg difference!

And UConn is replacing her with a more athletic, better rebounding, better shot blocking, player in Stokes. If Stokes does nothing but make put backs and chippy layups on the offensive end she will be a double double machine this year.

 

[Vowelguy]

And UConn is replacing her with a more athletic, better rebounding, better shot blocking, player in Stokes.

UConn's offense often ran through Stef. She will not be easily replaced.

 

[meyers7]

UConn's offense often ran through Stef. She will not be easily replaced.

I agree. I don't think we will be as good as we were last year. However, our closest competition will not be either (ND, Stanford, Maryland). The teams that "should" improve (TN, SC) were not even FF caliber last year. So IF they do improve it may only be to the FF caliber, not a NC caliber.

Anything can happen (injuries, etc.), but it would surprise me if UCONN didn't win the NC this coming year. When you have a trifecta of Stewart, KML and Jefferson, that's gonna be real hard to beat.

 

[DaddyChoc]

after KML injuries last season... anything can happen to our Big 3... I'll enjoy each win one at a time

 

[Buzzyboy]

UConn's offense often ran through Stef. She will not be easily replaced.

Exactly. Stef was a point center, if there is such a thing. She very often was the person making the decisions in the high post that inevitably led to scores. Her abilities always kept the opponents defense off balance and aided the Huskies. Her decision making was almost always impeccable.

 

[Buzzyboy]

after KML injuries last season... anything can happen to our Big 3... I'll enjoy each win one at a time

There was a post here more recently that was talking about national championships that UConn might have had but for devasting injuries. One blatant example being the year we lost to Notre Dame in the semifinals when we played them minus Shea and Svet. To presume that can't happen again is naïve. Injuries happen often and some can potentially kill the hopes of lifting the trophy in April as national champions. You want depth and flexibility in the lineup and it doesn't hurt to have selfless players that play together along with a wonderful coaching staff. We have those things so we have better chances of overcoming injuries than do most other teams but let's hope that we have a pretty injury free season and aren't tested like that.

 

[Zorro]

I yield to no one in my admiration and appreciation of Steph ad Bria. And I think it might be just a little over the top to say that Kiah is a better shot-blocker and rebounder; Steph was damned good at both. And this year's team may NOT be quite as good as last year's (I say "may".) But think about this; how much worse would they have to be not to go undefeated?

 

[RadyLady]

I yield to no one in my admiration and appreciation of Steph ad Bria. And I think it might be just a little over the top to say that Kiah is a better shot-blocker and rebounder; Steph was damned good at both. And this year's team may NOT be quite as good as last year's (I say "may".) But think about this; how much worse would they have to be not to go undefeated?

Great point. And with Geno's excellence at X's and O's, he will have worked out the game plan sans Stef as soon as he has begun work with the team, if he hasn't already.

It is true that teams tend to have a "down" year after a graduation of their great player. What I believe our esteemed opponent's fans who are posting in this thread are forgetting is that we STILL have SEVERAL great players. And it is what we do with those players, i.e., development etc will only make them better, and that includes the ones who were injured.

Also forgotten is the absolute consistency and domination of the UConn program.
Consistency.
Practice until you can't get it wrong.

As I write it appears that perhaps many things are being forgotten by these folks in the glow and promise of a new season. No matter. It will only be a matter of time before the memories will stir.

UConn takes it all. Again.

Now I better go vote.

 

[Aluminny69]

UConn's offense often ran through Stef. She will not be easily replaced.

UConn's offense also ran through Bria Hartley. Bria never let the offense stall. She always tried to make something happen. Although not always successful, at least she tried. Give her credit for that. Two All Americans will be difficult to replace, I don't care what any other UConn fan believes.

That said, UConn still has two All-Americans (possibly three) coming back. Thus, the reason for optimism..

 

[Vowelguy]

Am curious what all the "other" votes are.

One person mentioned UCLA.

 

[semper]

I think whether or not we are better will depend on the health of Morgan Tuck. There was a time when she was one of the most highly touted players in her class, and if she ever were to return to that, our team would be better than last year's team, probably, that is if KML remains in good health too. I really like those new guards we picked up, and think the bench will be spectacular as a result, at least by the end of the season.

 

[JRRRJ]

I yield to no one in my admiration and appreciation of Steph ad Bria. And I think it might be just a little over the top to say that Kiah is a better shot-blocker and rebounder; Steph was damned good at both. And this year's team may NOT be quite as good as last year's (I say "may".) But think about this; how much worse would they have to be not to go undefeated?

Sorry, El Gris, this is one of the 2 major reasons I'm excited to see how this season plays out:

Per-40-minutes statistics:

Stat Steph/Kiah
ORB 2.60/4.98
DRB 8.88/10.40
TRB 11.41/15.38
Blk 2.88/4.92

Kiah is a better rebounder and shot-blocker than a very good rebounder and shot-blocker. And I think she has the strength & stamina to produce those kind of numbers for however many minutes Geno plays her. With all the inside opportunities Kiah should get, I'm hoping for a bounce in the FT success rate (which still isn't horrible at 69.8%).

Also:
Stat Steph/Kiah
FG% 56.4/60.0
T/O 3.19/1.99 (per 40)

A continuation of the above from Kiah over more minutes, some improvement in FT%, Moriah & Saniya continuing their superb distribution numbers and I think UConn will play a slightly different offensive game (not much different, as Stewie had better assist/TO numbers than Steph) at the same level as last year. Add in Morgan (more excitement for me!) and the talented freshmen and there's no telling how high they could go.

 

[meyers7]

Am curious what all the "other" votes are.

One person mentioned UCLA.

I voted "other", but didn't really have anyone in mind. Someone I don't expect always ends up in the FF.