2022-2023 Record Prediction

[TCC Kid]

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.

Pure OLDUDE! I'd be a fool not to agree with your Geno Comments. That is the XX factor, Uconn has it and they don't.
But the greatest coach, and we've seen it some seasons, can only drive them to the water but can't make them drink. I.E. he can't play for them.
This group, Geno may sit more than usual, he will have what he hasn't had for a few years--some energetic, jumping, defending shooting, guards with experience and Larger ladies that hopefully can defend as well as score. ICE, Ameri, Ayanna, Griffin, Edwards, Caroline (she's no midget), Dorka, Azzi, Ines and Lou gives Geno fire power he hasn't had with energy/energetic taller and bigs. I still worry about the early games--yea, I'll worry until April 30th.

 

[oldude]

Pure OLDUDE! I'd be a fool not to agree with your Geno Comments. That is the XX factor, Uconn has it and they don't.
But the greatest coach, and we've seen it some seasons, can only drive them to the water but can't make them drink. I.E. he can't play for them.
This group, Geno may sit more than usual, he will have what he hasn't had for a few years--some energetic, jumping, defending shooting, guards with experience and Larger ladies that hopefully can defend as well as score. ICE, Ameri, Ayanna, Griffin, Edwards, Caroline (she's no midget), Dorka, Azzi, Ines and Lou gives Geno fire power he hasn't had with energy/energetic taller and bigs. I still worry about the early games--yea, I'll worry until April 30th.

I’m not quite sure what constitutes “making them drink” when it comes to Geno and UConn WBB. But what I look at as the most impressive aspect of Geno’s tenure as HC is not the 11 national championships, which are obviously impressive. IMO, UConn’s 14 straight FF’s and counting, is a testament to Geno’s ability to get his team ready to compete each and every season on the biggest stage.

 

[HuskyPhan]

As usual, oldude has nailed it. The fact that we have Geno and you don't, simply can't be overstated!! I understand that we have a lot of youth on this roster, by my god do they have massive potential and amazing physical attributes (that don't have to be and can't be taught).

Geno and his amazing staff have an unparalleled history of developing these types of players. Yes, Paige won't be walking onto the floor in uniform, but we have a very, very deep bench of highly skilled players and by January, we will certainly be one of the top 3 teams in the country.

As always, it won't look pretty early on, but Geno and Co will transform our team from a Cat 1 Hurricane early on to a Cat 5 monster that no one will want to play come tourney time. I for one can't wait to see the barometric pressure drop during the season

 

[Bone Dog]

It is never too early to predict. In fact, it’s in the very nature of prediction to be too early.

 

[TCC Kid]

I’m not quite sure what constitutes “making them drink” when it comes to Geno and UConn WBB. But what I look at as the most impressive aspect of Geno’s tenure as HC is not the 11 national championships, which are obviously impressive. IMO, UConn’s 14 straight FF’s and counting, is a testament to Geno’s ability to get his team ready to compete each and every season on the biggest stage.

11 NC's and 14 FF Straight are enough to close down any argument. I'm not arguing. Simple fact is, in some years with some talent, he lost an NC or FF. It happens. Top Talent in numbers, we've seen with other top coaches and top teams, just couldn't put all that wealth together to get that FF/NC. That and even the greatest teachers can't always impart the information that had developed students to excel. His course is WCBB. Long winded, I admit. But fewer words would not have answered your question, my way. The Sad truth is: Geno winning every year would be BAD FOR WOMEN's Basketball!

 

[BBallF]

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.

I don't disagree. However, the point was that, all other things being equal, including Geno being the coach, losing Paige early pre-season as opposed to early or mid season has a bit of a silver lining if there is any. Paige is not returning so the season is being set up with plenty of time to adjust without her ball handling, passing, shooting and scoring. The plays and offense to be designed for Paige were redesigned or newly designed for others, principally in my mind, Azzi, CD and Dorka with Liya and Lou Two in there also. No mid-season fix or changes on the fly are needed like last season. What we got is what we got and the players can't look to Paige. They have to look for each other. They are doing it going into the season as opposed to having to adjust precipitously to her loss. It's a big difference especially with all that extra time for preparation. I firmly believe what we got is good enough for the FF, bearing in mind full well who the man is behind the curtain. He has gotten there with a lot less than he has now.

 

[TCC Kid]

I’m not quite sure what constitutes “making them drink” when it comes to Geno and UConn WBB. But what I look at as the most impressive aspect of Geno’s tenure as HC is not the 11 national championships, which are obviously impressive. IMO, UConn’s 14 straight FF’s and counting, is a testament to Geno’s ability to get his team ready to compete each and every season on the biggest stage.

Your answer is right there---in the words that follow your " ", check it out.

 

[mattlow710]

with paige ，maybe we will get a perfect season
without paige ， i will guess we may be lose twice on top

 

[WFFL]

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.

I will accept and appreciate this outlook !! Sorry im kind of the over zellous glass half empty type of guy lol.

 

[WFFL]

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 .

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.

How much will seeding matter with the 2 neutral sites this season anyway. I like this POV , go through rough patch during the season and click the last 6 games of the year . They would have seen every possible team they could see in the F4 most likely so i got a strong hunch they will be more than prepared at redemption especially with the doubters just waiting ....

 

[Skeets]

I don't disagree. However, the point was that, all other things being equal, including Geno being the coach, losing Paige early pre-season as opposed to early or mid season has a bit of a silver lining if there is any. Paige is not returning so the season is being set up with plenty of time to adjust without her ball handling, passing, shooting and scoring. The plays and offense to be designed for Paige were redesigned or newly designed for others, principally in my mind, Azzi, CD and Dorka with Liya and Lou Two in there also. No mid-season fix or changes on the fly are needed like last season. What we got is what we got and the players can't look to Paige. They have to look for each other. They are doing it going into the season as opposed to having to adjust precipitously to her loss. It's a big difference especially with all that extra time for preparation. I firmly believe what we got is good enough for the FF, bearing in mind full well who the man is behind the curtain. He has gotten there with a lot less than he has now.

I agree and let me try to put a slightly different spin on this (hopefully coherently). Take a top team with a star player who graduates. What does that team do the following year, roll over and play dead? In the past 3 and a half decades how many star players has UConn graduated and how often has UConn had successful seasons the following year (recently 14 in a row). That is exactly the position UConn is in now with the loss of Paige. It's like she graduated (ok, more like taking a sabbatical). You grow the players that you have, add new talent and move on. I expect success just like we've always had following graduations that happen every year.

 

[Dognusty]

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.

Problem is UCONN is a big unknown. IF the freshmen play well they are contenders, if not what happens? Then the best player on the team is gone. Now can Azzi be a go to player and leader? Another unknown. Who replaces the seniors? It's a lot unknown with the team. Other teams have less questions.

 

[Stymie]

Problem is UCONN is a big unknown. IF the freshmen play well they are contenders, if not what happens? Then the best player on the team is gone. Now can Azzi be a go to player and leader? Another unknown. Who replaces the seniors? It's a lot unknown with the team. Other teams have less questions.

Problem?
For who?
Not sure our opponents are that sure how Coach is going to be coming at them.
Big?
Motion?
Bombs away?
Or a combination of the aforementioned?
D will be there.
That’s one constant.
On offense, your guess is as good as mine.

 

[Bone Dog]

Problem is UCONN is a big unknown. IF the freshmen play well they are contenders, if not what happens? Then the best player on the team is gone. Now can Azzi be a go to player and leader? Another unknown. Who replaces the seniors? It's a lot unknown with the team. Other teams have less questions.

I think you underestimate the questions on our main competitors. Maybe SC has fewer questions, though the one concerning point guard is a doozy.

But, yes, questions abound, and my infernal optimism leads me to decide all of them in our favor. Why? Because almost all of them were decided against us last year and we still made it to the NC game. Karma isn't fair, but if even half of the questions go our way, I like our chances for the brass ring.

 

[Tonyc]

I think you underestimate the questions on our main competitors. Maybe SC has fewer questions, though the one concerning point guard is a doozy.

But, yes, questions abound, and my infernal optimism leads me to decide all of them in our favor. Why? Because almost all of them were decided against us last year and we still made it to the NC game. Karma isn't fair, but if even half of the questions go our way, I like our chances for the brass ring.

Just one note. SC lost Henderson this season. Where would they have been without her last season???? I like our chances alot because I know our freshman will come along and I know are starting 5 has experience...oh yeah and we have a point guard. SC doesnt and last season Stanford didnt. Think about it.

 

[WFFL]

Just one note. SC lost Henderson this season. Where would they have been without her last season???? I like our chances alot because I know our freshman will come along and I know are starting 5 has experience...oh yeah and we have a point guard. SC doesnt and last season Stanford didnt. Think about it.

How can you say you like our chances because you "Know" our freshmen will come along and the Starting 5 has experience and yet in the same sentence not apply those same rules to SC or Stanford ? Do we make the F4 last season if paige does not come back ? Nope . We dont have her this season and we like our chances because we are holding faith our freshmen come in and dominate . If they dont , then what ? If our transfer does not adjust as the media hype has started then what ?

 

[Bone Dog]

How can you say you like our chances because you "Know" our freshmen will come along and the Starting 5 has experience and yet in the same sentence not apply those same rules to SC or Stanford ? Do we make the F4 last season if paige does not come back ? Nope . We dont have her this season and we like our chances because we are holding faith our freshmen come in and dominate . If they dont , then what ? If our transfer does not adjust as the media hype has started then what ?

Actually, if you look closely at the core veterans of SC and Stanford, neither team can start 5 veteran starters on the floor this year. We can and in all likelihood will. Each of them will have to rely on untested players in the starting lineup. That's a concrete difference -- the same rules can't be applied to speculation about them. There's nothing shocking about @Tonyc 's speculation. As it happens, I share his sentiment.

Still, we could be disappointed. We weren't last year in Azzi and Caroline, thank goodness. External events interrupted their seasons, but they lived up to our highest hopes when they could really play. If Ice Ayanna Ines do as well, it will be less surprising and more a confirmation of the skill and insight of the coaching staff. I have endless confidence in Geno & co as recruiters and teachers.

I'm sure the new faces at SC and Stanford are quite talented -- they didn't end up there by accident. Maybe they'll gel into reliable players within those respective systems. They are sure to be the main competition for us, along with Louisville, ND, Texas, Iowa, Iowa St., Indiana, NC St. and maybe a couple others. I don't think any of them can start 5 veterans this year.

 

[Tonyc]

How can you say you like our chances because you "Know" our freshmen will come along and the Starting 5 has experience and yet in the same sentence not apply those same rules to SC or Stanford ? Do we make the F4 last season if paige does not come back ? Nope . We dont have her this season and we like our chances because we are holding faith our freshmen come in and dominate . If they dont , then what ? If our transfer does not adjust as the media hype has started then what ?

I can say I know our freshman will come along because of my experience watching Geno and his staff in action since 1995. ICE and Patterson are top 5 recruits. Both have alot of talent and will be developed and in many cases have more talent then alot of starters on some other teams. How do I know they will be developed? I know that because in Geno's system you are developed. How fast that will happen Im not sure. We've seen top recruits come in and step up at UConn. Thats why I feel they will too. These are two really good players.

Our starting 5 of Dorka Edwards Nika and my two picks for AA's in Azzi and Caroline delivered last season when called upon. This season we are Paigeless and therefore can not depend or defer to Paige. So what our next options Azzi and Caroline and if you dont think they will play a big part on this team then I will disagree with you. Azzi was the most sought after recruit her senior year. Without Paige this season I feel Azzi and Caroline will be called on to do more. Azzi's talent is unmatched in WCBB.

As far as your remarks regarding SC and Stanford. Both lost their point guards. Thats a huge blow. Yet ESPN has them ranked ahead of UConn along with Texas and Tenn. To me thats funny because I dont feel either has the team chemistry and talent to match UConn's starting 5. Playing without a point guard does that to teams. You said where would UConn have been without Paige last season? You also mentioned we would not have made the F4 last season. How can you say that? It wouldve been a different game without Paige with both teams playing a different game. You cant say that because we will never know. On the other hand an injured riddled UConn team made it to the final game and we beat Indiana NC State and Stanford to get there. If I recall all 3 had number 1 seeds. Pretty great accomplishment for a team that was not healthy. That says alot to me about this years team especially when they get healthy.

We are not holding our faith in our freshman is another comment you made. Im holding my faith in Azzi and Caroline based on how they took over games when asked and that was when they were healthy. Im holding my faith in Edwards who showed us glimpses in the second half of the season what she could do. Dorka came back because she wants to get better. Im holding my faith in Nika who will be our point guard who has experience and leadership abilities to run our offense. Im hold my faith in Geno and company to have this very very talented team jell and improve from last years injured ridden team that made it to the final game.

If UConn stays healthy this season we are gonna be a very tuff out. Early on we will see how last seasons injuries affect us and learn how long if any time will be needed to get up to 100% healthy. Then again not healthy last season we were pretty good in the NCAAs .

 

[Bone Dog]

You also mentioned we would not have made the F4 last season. How can you say that? It wouldve been a different game without Paige with both teams playing a different game.

I kinda agree with @WFFL on this one, if we understand it a certain way. If Paige had not come back at all, there's no telling what we might have accomplished. The team received a huge emotional boost when she did come back, and I think that was crucial to how the season ended. But other trends were building in the team at the same time, so there's no telling.

However, and this is where I mainly agree, if we'd lost Paige again before the Stanford game, or even the NC St game, if she'd just been too worn out from the previous games to have a "Paige" game, or even to play at all, I doubt very much the team could have recovered from that loss. She had become the essential component of the team again. I suspect that's just who Paige is -- any team she joins, she will become the key to its success one way or another. It's her little bit of magic.

The downside of her magic -- and we saw it at the beginning of both seasons -- is that the rest of the team can succumb to "Paige-watching." This is why she is so careful to involve them in the offense, to find them open shots, to celebrate everything they do, etc. She knows a team of Paige-watchers can't win an NC.

 

[Cuango]

If Paige were completely healthy I believe we would likely win the title this season. As it is, I still believe we have a good chance to win but it’s certainly much more “iffy”. We clearly have the talent and the coaching. I think winning this year is going to turn on whether we have regained the “eye of the tiger” vs South Carolina! We have always (certainly since 2001-2002 gone into games with this fearless (We’re UConn and we’re here to win) attitude. Obviously, there were stretches in games where we didn’t play well, we were off our game, unfocused etc but never, never were we scared or intimidated.
The biggest concern for me is my memory of the game in The Bahamas where SC simply destroyed us in the first half and made us look scared and as if we didn’t even want to be there. That’s a bad, bad memory for me because it was the first time I’ve seen that from our team. Now I know that was early in the season and we showed lots of moxie at other times but virtually all of those “moxie” games were with Paige on the floor. I think, more than anything else, our title chances will rest on whether that game was merely an aberration or whether a seed of doubt has crept into the team’s psyche. I’m not saying it has, but I do worry about it based on that €£¥§*# game!
The question, in my mind, is whether this team can win a knock down, drag out kind of game with a team that has comparable talent but who plays physical, punishing defense for 40 minutes? I just hope that Geno has rooted out whatever it was that had the team playing scared that day, and that we are ready to get in the trenches and fight for every point next time we play SC! If we do that in February?, then, win or lose I’m gonna feel pretty good about our chances for #12. No one is better than Geno at shaping a team over the last couple of months of the season and getting them ready for March Madness! I just hope he emphasizes the “mentally and physically tough “ aspect a little more this season.
I do realize of course, we might win the NCAA Tournament without even having to play SC but the consensus seems to be that they will defend their title. Personally, I think it is not nearly as likely as many seem to think but certainly possible.

 

[Bone Dog]

The biggest concern for me is my memory of the game in The Bahamas where SC simply destroyed us in the first half and made us look scared and as if we didn’t even want to be there.

My memory is SC dominated us in the second half, especially the fourth quarter. It was frustrating to watch, and even to remember. To me, we seemed like a team that wasn’t ready. Paige was ready, but no one else was. And when is Paige ever not ready?

 

[Cuango]

My memory is SC dominated us in the second half, especially the fourth quarter. It was frustrating to watch, and even to remember. To me, we seemed like a team that wasn’t ready. Paige was ready, but no one else was. And when is Paige ever not ready?

Perhaps I’m misremembering. I thought that was when we fell behind by some ungodly margin in the first quarter but you are right! It was the fourth quarter where I felt like our team was just whipped mentally and physically. My bad, but my point is that I hated the feeling that we simply crumbled under pressure in that game! I do not want to see that again!

 

[MilfordHusky]

We were down by maybe 5-8 early, then had a nice run to go up by 10-12. Liv was blocking every shot. But we went ice cold in Q4.

 

[EasyEd]

I'm hoping for 40-0, but expect 35-4. Any worse than that would be a bad year and anything better would be a great year.

 

[Alydar]

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.

Trying to compare any season with last season is impossible. It was an outlier season as far as injuries. Last season the team was unprepared for Bueckers' injury and less ready as Fudd & Muhl et al missed time. Yes, Bueckers came back and was the reason UConn got to the title game but there had been no continuity to the season.
The 2023 team has a better roster than any since 2016. When Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck graduated they left a bigger hole than Bueckers has made for 2023 but UConn still made it to the FF in 2017.
SCar & Stanford have very talented teams and I'm sure a couple more will emerge. UConn is right among them.