2022-2023 Record Prediction

[Carnac]

Why? Horston, to me, is the most underrated player in the country; who will now be able to player her natural position. A front line of her, Rackea Jackson, and Tamari Key is pretty good. They have shooters, a PG, and a great transfer from Minnesota. Plus, the game is on the road where there will be 23k in TBA.

I might be wrong, but there is no way I'm overlooking this team and these are all Jolly's players now.

I don't was to lose to them, obvi. But I don't think this is a guaranteed win.

I agree with your take except for the last sentence. I'm NOT conceding anything. Going into Thompson-Bolling Arena in Knoxville that night will be by far............THE MOST hostile arena UConn will play in this year. It won't be easy. Any UConn fans brave enough to attend that game wearing UConn gear will also get jeered and booed. The players absolutely CANNOT have rabbit ears that game.

Most of those fans (the old guard) hate Geno and UConn with a passion that's indescribable. UConn will receive a reception that night commensurate with the disdain and vitriol they harbor for us. Tennessee and Notre Dame are the two teams I don't want to lose to. If we lose to someone else, so be be it, but not these two.

 

[Bigboote]

This UConn team is top heavy with shooters and scorers. This team should regularly score an average of 65-75 ppg. The question is how many ppg will they allow?

I'm with Bone Dog somewhat -- I think it'll be more like 75-80.

But that's beside the point. I've said before that I think this team has the potential to hang its hat on its defense. Don't forget Aubrey is back. If there's lax defense a couple of possessions in a row, Geno can put Nika, Aubrey, and Ayanna on the floor all at the same time.

 

[UConnCat]

Offensive ppg/defensive ppg over the past few seasons

2021-2022 73.8/54.9
2020-2021 81.8/52.5
2019-2020 78.7/52.8
2018-2019 82.8/56.6

 

[Carnac]

I'm with Bone Dog somewhat -- I think it'll be more like 75-80.

But that's beside the point. I've said before that I think this team has the potential to hang its hat on its defense. Don't forget Aubrey is back. If there's lax defense a couple of possessions in a row, Geno can put Nika, Aubrey, and Ayanna on the floor all at the same time.

Me too, but I was trying to come in with a "lowball" prediction. It would not surprise me if they busted 90 at least 8-9 times this year. I've said in several posts recently, UConn IS NOT going to have problems scoring points......too many players that can shoot/score.

One more thing I neglected to add in my last rant. I want to see one of our BIGS declared the BADD ASS of the game at least 10 games or 1/3 of the time. I don't care which one, just one of our BIGS. I don't want to see Azzi, Caroline, Nika, Lou, Aubrey or Aaliyah proclaimed the BA every game.

 

[DrummerDee]

He

You lost me at loss to TN

Lost me at loss to ND. No way we lose to ND....or TN.

 

[Carnac]

54.9% defensive ppg last year. THAT would work for me. Try to keep opponents at or under 59 ppg. Thanks Cat.

 

[UConnCat]

You mean the year with covid restrictions ? Come on be fair lol

Yes, I acknowledged it above. Read post #33. Not sure how you could miss it. I forgot about Covid. I know, how could I?

My original point is correct, though. Tennessee has drawn crowds anywhere close to 23,000 since the Parker years.

 

[WFFL]

Would we accept a loss to TN if we could trade it in for another final four ? Or a Tennessee win and a loss in the elite 8/s16 ?

 

[WFFL]

Yes, I acknowledged it above. Read post #33. Not sure how you could miss it. I forgot about Covid. I know, how could I?

My original point is correct, though. Tennessee has drawn crowds anywhere close to 23,000 since the Parker years.

I deleted it i had to continue reading updated posts to see you had already answered this comment by someone else sorry. Overall attendance wont make a difference in the court performance this year. It's all or nothing for Tennessee imo . With paige beating tennessee is a no brainer without her and the team they have this season im concerned.

 

[Stymie]

Would we accept a loss to TN if we could trade it in for another final four ? Or a Tennessee win and a loss in the elite 8/s16 ?

Really?
What do you think?

 

[Bone Dog]

With paige beating tennessee is a no brainer without her and the team they have this season im concerned.

I dunno, we beat them pretty handily last season without Paige, Dorka, or Caroline. They may be stronger this year, but I'd say we're more strongerer too, as things now stand.

 

[UConnCat]

I dunno, we beat them pretty handily last season without Paige, Dorka, or Caroline. They may be stronger this year, but I'd say we're more strongerer too, as things now stand.

Dorka played, but you're correct: no Paige or Caroline.

 

[GEAinAustin]

A loss in Knoxville on Jan. 26th would not alter U Conn's trajectory to the final 4 or the N. C. I am also predicting that Tenn. does not make the final four. The S.E.C. this season is setting up like murderers row.

 

[cgshuskie]

39 and 1. S Carolina is the only mountain they'll have to climb. That game will be more mental
than physical. After game one, we'll figure it out!.

 

[WFFL]

I dunno, we beat them pretty handily last season without Paige, Dorka, or Caroline. They may be stronger this year, but I'd say we're more strongerer too, as things now stand.

Strongerer i love it lol . Time will tell where a lot of this season pre-season picks stand and how strong they are . History says we are def stronger than Tenn with or without paige. This year there's question marks on both . The losses of our squad with injury and senior departs and the additions to their squad with chemistry and history of not living up to potential. Im excited !

 

[EdSaid]

Geno will see to it that the defense keeps opponents under 55 PPG avg. If they don't play his defense, they ain't gonna.
play.

Last season PB, CW, ONO, & EW combined to score 1342 points, which is slightly more than half of the 2656 points the team scored, averaging 73.78 PPG. That's the hole that needs filling.

The season will be a tale of two seasons. The first half (leading up to DePaul) may see a few more losses than most people want to see. 2-3 losses to Texas, NC State, Duke, ND, or Maryland might happen. That's all right if the team stays injury free, gels and grows offensively, and the most important piece, the two freshmen, Brady and Patterson start or move into the first 7 rotation AND average 10-12 PPG each. New Lou needs to earn meaningful minutes and score 6-8 PPG. If all that happens and averages 22-24 PPG, AE, DJ, & CD avg 10-12 PPG, then we're on the right track. What ever you get from NM and AG is gravy.

The second half of the season might see a loss to SC, but if all goes to plan they could run the table after Feb 5.

 

[Alydar]

Why? Horston, to me, is the most underrated player in the country; who will now be able to player her natural position. A front line of her, Rackea Jackson, and Tamari Key is pretty good. They have shooters, a PG, and a great transfer from Minnesota. Plus, the game is on the road where there will be 23k in TBA.

I might be wrong, but there is no way I'm overlooking this team and these are all Jolly's players now.

I don't was to lose to them, obvi. But I don't think this is a guaranteed win.

Nobody's overlooking Tenn. They will be tough and they will be home. But UConn appears to be very deep on their own front line and as long as UConn can play even in the paint UConn's outside shooters should win it.

Best - 40-0

Worst - 37-3

Losses: SCar, FF & one of a large group of possiblities.

If I had to pick a team to lose to it would be Creighton.

For all the questions about UConn, when I look around the usual suspects I see teams with more holes than the Huskies. Many of those teams are looking for someone new to the program to step into a starting position and for some it's multiple new players. There are all sorts of reasons for transfers and some of those aren't complimentary to the player.

 

[Alydar]

Yes, I acknowledged it above. Read post #33. Not sure how you could miss it. I forgot about Covid. I know, how could I?

My original point is correct, though. Tennessee has drawn crowds anywhere close to 23,000 since the Parker years.

It was more than 5 years ago that I read the the upper level seats are curtained off.
The rental cost of the hall remains the same though. It's nice to have 23K seats but only if you can sell them.

 

[Bone Dog]

Just thinking about the last Tennessee game, Azzi torched them shooting 7/9 from 3 and one statement drive against Horston who was unable to stop her. Christyn had one of her off-shooting nights, but recovered enough to put in 6 quick points at the beginning of the 3rd quarter followed by 8 pts from Nika including a statement mid court steal off the dribble from Walker. Tennessee never recovered, and when they showed any sign of life, Azzi rained down daggers or Evina would make a steal and score.

The painful truth of that game was that Tennessee was simply too slow. One thing that might mean for us is that we could play 3 bigs against them and let Amari Ice and Ayanna get a feel for the game against a major opponent.

I often think of that game as a sort of paradigm for Nika's best work. It happens in the 3rd quarter, she disrupts an opponent's guards, demoralizes an entire team, and they don't have a chance to recover. I hope to see a lot more of this from her this season.

 

[Tonyc]

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.

 

[EricSD]

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?”