5 Reasons UConn has Improved

[PhillyCoach]

I know it is early and we have no "real evidence against the good teams", but I am going on the old reliable EYE TEST. For example, most posters will agree that --with the eye test-- that Allie is fitter, quicker, more confident and more productive than last year. So, this is what I see for the team.
*The Rotation is deeper and stronger than last year. When Ice is at 9 in the rotation (behind K9, Blanca, & Jana) and Allie at 10-- UConn has some decent talent that deep. Ice helped in important spots during tournament times (BE & NCAA.) She also looked more confident and worked inside better. One heck of a #9 bench player.
*Team D is sharp already. When you have 4 of the 5 key defenders back (Sarah, Azzi, Ash & KK) and they are not only quicker but smarter; that is a level higher. Now add 2 PROVEN defenders in Serah and Blanca. You have an inside big defender and an all-around defender in Blanca. K9 is also pretty good too. Eye test - Oh Yeh!
*How about something new to add this year. Blocking MORE Shots! Serah & Blanca are mind boggling good and they block shots without fouling. Add in Sarah and you have 3 shot blockers. LOOKS better than last year.
*More Inside scoring and driving to the hoop. There was some last year and it was inconsistent. Add in Serah (that's her game) and go with Blanca (who LOOKS like the best player driving inside.) Definitely more inside scoring. Key note--adding more inside play and drawing fouls from the opponent and putting many opponents on the bench early. Remember last year it was mentioned a few times that UConn drew less foul calls than most teams.
*I added this as a 5th, but it could be related closely with the 4th. Shooting and MAKING more foul shots. Serah and Blanca had double digit scoring because of their foul shots and going inside.
With the Championship experience, another year of development and the ever evolving coaching staff---I SEE a better team!

 

[ConnMotors]

You forgot that the the Civic Center had been updated and the locker rooms are all new. Yes, I know that there is a name change but it will always be the Hartford Civic Center.

 

[Bone Dog]

Right on all counts, @PhillyCoach. I'm totally with you on every one of these. And as for the rotation being "deeper and stronger" I'd only add that stronger also means more athletic by the addition of Blanca and Serah. Those two are impressive athletes. And team speed seems to be improved as well. Geno said he wants to press more -- well, he has the roster to do it for once.

 

[EricLA]

I know it is early and we have no "real evidence against the good teams", but I am going on the old reliable EYE TEST. For example, most posters will agree that --with the eye test-- that Allie is fitter, quicker, more confident and more productive than last year. So, this is what I see for the team.
*The Rotation is deeper and stronger than last year. When Ice is at 9 in the rotation (behind K9, Blanca, & Jana) and Allie at 10-- UConn has some decent talent that deep. Ice helped in important spots during tournament times (BE & NCAA.) She also looked more confident and worked inside better. One heck of a #9 bench player.
*Team D is sharp already. When you have 4 of the 5 key defenders back (Sarah, Azzi, Ash & KK) and they are not only quicker but smarter; that is a level higher. Now add 2 PROVEN defenders in Serah and Blanca. You have an inside big defender and an all-around defender in Blanca. K9 is also pretty good too. Eye test - Oh Yeh!
*How about something new to add this year. Blocking MORE Shots! Serah & Blanca are mind boggling good and they block shots without fouling. Add in Sarah and you have 3 shot blockers. LOOKS better than last year.
*More Inside scoring and driving to the hoop. There was some last year and it was inconsistent. Add in Serah (that's her game) and go with Blanca (who LOOKS like the best player driving inside.) Definitely more inside scoring. Key note--adding more inside play and drawing fouls from the opponent and putting many opponents on the bench early. Remember last year it was mentioned a few times that UConn drew less foul calls than most teams.
*I added this as a 5th, but it could be related closely with the 4th. Shooting and MAKING more foul shots. Serah and Blanca had double digit scoring because of their foul shots and going inside.
With the Championship experience, another year of development and the ever evolving coaching staff---I SEE a better team!

Great post. To take it a bit further...

I would totally like to see more focus on post scoring. Blanca is a Tasmanian Devil when driving to the basket, and I suspect she will draw a LOT of fouls. This time it will be ND's turn to whine about all the FT's from driving into traffic. I think Serah looks terrific in the post, but it seems so far that other teams are collapsing on her - a bad strategy when our 3-ball is accurate. I suspect against better teams, there will be more 1-1 defense on her which will really give us a chance to see how she works.

Went back and watched the Southern game again. Yes I know it was a solid Div 2 team, but the defense from the core group was really good. Lots of help side and switching - it seems like they are in synch, surprisingly so for so many new faces this early in the season. Very exciting to think it will only get better!

I really do think Geno will have a core 10, not 8. I do wonder in the biggest games if he will stick to this or drop to 8, but really I think 10. This is great news for Ice and Allie, who have been very solid, especially Allie, but not so great for the other 4. I think Kelis is going to be quite good, but this season, she will need to be content with the latter half of Q4 and working hard in practice. I know some will disagree, but even in blowouts,

To add... I'd like to see the core 10 work together for most of the game. Let Geno mix and match with that group not bringing in Kelis, Ayanna, Carol or Gandy till the last 5-6 minutes. This is NOT a season for giving the end of the bench lots of minutes when you have no less than 3 total newbies in the core 10, and maybe 1-2 others taking significant leaps (Ziebell for sure, and KK as the undisputed engine).

Blocking shots - man is Blanca good at that - so athletic, gets airborne, but totally vertical, and NO tomahawk chop. Hell, ONO STILL does that in the W. Impressive for Blanca only as a freshman.

Regarding the 3 ball, IMHO Azzi, Sarah, and Allie should shoot whenever they want. I think KK is a competent 3 point shooter (she was WAY better 2nd half of last season), and Ash should shoot it when open. However I'd like to see Blanca limit her 3's to 1 or 2 at most unless she makes 1, and even then, it's not a strength of her game.

Against BC we took 28 3's, which was 41% of the total shots. Vs. Southern, it was 34, and 47%. That just seems too high, altho we did hit 41% from deep which is really good. Not sure what I'd like to see but hell, if we can shoot 40%+ per game, hard to complain about launching 3's.

Full court press - yes please, and lots more of it.

One other thing - yeah i know it was exhibition games, but vs. BC, 29 assists on 34 made baskets. Vs. Southern, 27 assists / 34. Azzi, Sarah and KK all averaged 4+ assists each over the 2 games. Wow.

 

[Bigboote]

One other thing - yeah i know it was exhibition games, but vs. BC, 29 assists on 34 made baskets. Vs. Southern, 27 assists / 34. Azzi, Sarah and KK all averaged 4+ assists each over the 2 games. Wow.

I'd add to that that Sarah is the best-passing big UConn has had since Gabby, and she may wind up being better. What a luxury. She may very well lead UConn in assists for two or three years.

 

[DennieEddy]

I'd add to that that Sarah is the best-passing big UConn has had since Gabby, and she may wind up being better. What a luxury. She may very well lead UConn in assists for two or three years.

Was Gabby a big? I saw her more as a "small forward".

 

[huskeynut]

The five points are valid.

What is missing is the fact that it will take time for the team to gel. Talent improvement is great put the chemistry on the floor has to develop. I remind people that it took the loss to Tennessee to bring the team to the point it needed to have.

So be patient. There is a lot of work for Geno and the staff and the team to do.

 

[Bald Husky]

Was Gabby a big? I saw her more as a "small forward".

I believe she played the 5 for most games.

 

[hookshot]

I know it is early and we have no "real evidence against the good teams", but I am going on the old reliable EYE TEST. For example, most posters will agree that --with the eye test-- that Allie is fitter, quicker, more confident and more productive than last year. So, this is what I see for the team.
*The Rotation is deeper and stronger than last year. When Ice is at 9 in the rotation (behind K9, Blanca, & Jana) and Allie at 10-- UConn has some decent talent that deep. Ice helped in important spots during tournament times (BE & NCAA.) She also looked more confident and worked inside better. One heck of a #9 bench player.
*Team D is sharp already. When you have 4 of the 5 key defenders back (Sarah, Azzi, Ash & KK) and they are not only quicker but smarter; that is a level higher. Now add 2 PROVEN defenders in Serah and Blanca. You have an inside big defender and an all-around defender in Blanca. K9 is also pretty good too. Eye test - Oh Yeh!
*How about something new to add this year. Blocking MORE Shots! Serah & Blanca are mind boggling good and they block shots without fouling. Add in Sarah and you have 3 shot blockers. LOOKS better than last year.
*More Inside scoring and driving to the hoop. There was some last year and it was inconsistent. Add in Serah (that's her game) and go with Blanca (who LOOKS like the best player driving inside.) Definitely more inside scoring. Key note--adding more inside play and drawing fouls from the opponent and putting many opponents on the bench early. Remember last year it was mentioned a few times that UConn drew less foul calls than most teams.
*I added this as a 5th, but it could be related closely with the 4th. Shooting and MAKING more foul shots. Serah and Blanca had double digit scoring because of their foul shots and going inside.
With the Championship experience, another year of development and the ever evolving coaching staff---I SEE a better team!

 

[hookshot]

Hmmm, so far looks like Alli 8, Ice 9, Jana 10 but no matter how you slice it that is a lot of depth when you also eventually have Caroline, Morgan, Fisher champing at the bit.

 

[hookshot]

Was Gabby a big? I saw her more as a "small forward".

played big, just like Sarah can play small. Sarah has maybe an inch on Gabby

 

[Bone Dog]

played big, just like Sarah can play small. Sarah has maybe an inch on Gabby

More like 3+ inches. Gabby is 5'11"

 

[oldhusky]

Hmmm, so far looks like Alli 8, Ice 9, Jana 10 but no matter how you slice it that is a lot of depth when you also eventually have Caroline, Morgan, Fisher champing at the bit.

Right three, but I have Jana at 8 and Allie at 10. I believe Ice and Allie are vulnerable because unless they are pretty good, Geno could go with a rotation of 8, with one guard (Kayleigh), one wing (Blanca) and one big (Jana) off the bench.

If Jana is substantially better than Ice, she could play some with Serah at the 4, not needing a pure 4 backup like Ice or Ayanna. Similarly if Blanca is much better than Allie, she could get more minutes at the 3 with Ash at the 2 backing up Azzi.

I think 10 is ideal, but the standard for 9 and 10 is high enough that if there is a significant drop-off Geno might keep it at 8.

 

[Bone Dog]

Since we’re speculating about rotations, I’ll add that 8 seems more natural than 10. This is what Geno played last season: Paige Azzi Sarah Jana Kaitlyn with KK Ash and Ice off the bench. In part this was dictated by the injury to Morgan. But 8 also seems to be an easier number to manage. If Geno really means to have a 10 player rotation after mid-February, he’ll have to develop not just a new substitution pattern but also a new team concept and a new flavor of chemistry.

In interviews recently, Geno has indicated that he means to do just this, to use a deeper rotation and to have the team press much more, maybe even for entire games. This is not a simple change like flipping a switch, but a momentous shift, and he’s joked about this too. I think this will be one of the most exciting aspects of this season, to watch how this new team shape emerges. We may catch a glimpse of it Tuesday.

 

[Bills Fan]

A couple of points to remember:

1. Everyone seems to have forgotten about Morgan; and

2. For all these comparisons we need to factor in the loss of the best player in the country, along with our starting PG and a senior who could turn a game around in her short periods on the floor. None of this year's team provides the skills and leadership of PB.

 

[YKCornelius]

Coach has had success employing a ten player rotation in the past.

The 2012-13 National Champions (35-4) had ten players averaging over double digits, with nine of them averaging over 15 minutes, and just one (KLM) averaging over 30.

The 2007-08 Final Four team (38-2) had eleven players in double digits (albeit two played in less than half the games due to injuries), with nine over 15 minutes and only one above 30 (Renee Montgomery).

The 2004-05 Sweet Sixteen team (25-8) had ten players averaging double digit minutes, with eight above 15 minutes and only one (Ann Strother) over 30. All ten played in at least 29 games.

The 2000-01 Final Four team (32-3) had eleven players averaging 10+ minutes (although Ashley Battle only played five games), with nine above 15 mpg, and nobody above 30. Sue Bird was highest with 27.7 mpg.

So precedent has been set.....

 

[Glenn]

I believe we will be quite strong this year and win #10. But if you are comparing to last year, you do need to include the 3 we lost in your assessment. By March we may well be better than last year's team because of the improvement of the returning players and the addition of Sareh and Blanca.

 

[sun]

There's mainly one player who I think makes this year's team better than last year's team.
And hands down that player is Serah Williams.
Without her I would be a lot more concerned about the outcome of the season.
She's truly a juggernaut.

What is the definition of a Juggernaut?


: a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path. an advertising juggernaut. a political juggernaut. 2. chiefly British : a large heavy truck.

 

[BobbyJ]

I believe we will be quite strong this year and win #10. But if you are comparing to last year, you do need to include the 3 we lost in your assessment. By March we may well be better than last year's team because of the improvement of the returning players and the addition of Sareh and Blanca.

UConn won #10 back in 2015.

 

[Skeets]

A rotation of 10 seems almost unwieldly after having virtually no bench a couple of years ago. I will say 1 thing, only against the weaker teams can Geno afford to have all 5 starters on the bench except in the final minutes of mop up time. As is usually the case it will be 2 or 3 starters in, and 2 or 3 staters rotated out. The big difference this year is that Geno will have more choices to fill in for the 2 or 3 starters who are rotated out.

 

[FanSince17]

I feel like Will McAvoy in episode 1, season 1 of "Newsroom". Watch it, if you've never seen his speech, "America is not the greatest country in the world".
We are not better than last year.......yet. Personally, I want to tout last year's squad as the greatest women's college basketball team ever. Savor what that felt like as a fan.
I'm expecting lots of learning pains on Tuesday. Especially defensively. Remember that it wasn't until February that our defense connected and got locked in last year. We had a 32 point lead on SC in the championship game. They couldn't score. The UCLA game was over like a Tyson fight, because of the defense. I expect that aspect to take a while this year. I want to see veteran presence defensively, heavy doses of Ash and KK. Don't forget we were locked in defensively in 2024 too. I think the D 94 feet is gunna take a while to gel.
Offensively I think we'll have weapons all over the place, but again, it'll take a while to look pretty. I predict UConn 80- Louisville 68.

 

[hoophuskee]

The five points are valid.

What is missing is the fact that it will take time for the team to gel. Talent improvement is great put the chemistry on the floor has to develop. I remind people that it took the loss to Tennessee to bring the team to the point it needed to have.

So be patient. There is a lot of work for Geno and the staff and the team to do.

Certainly anything can happen - and for sure expect the team ot be stronger by the end of the season. But last year

Azzi didn't come back until January.
Sarah was a freshman.
Both Paige and Azzi got hurt in either January or February for a few games.

 

[1974yankees]

One reason why Uconn is better this year...

Serah Williams....

She is exactly what we didn't have over the past 4 years....

 

[ec33]

I will say 1 thing, only against the weaker teams can Geno afford to have all 5 starters on the bench...

All other teams are weaker teams.

The problem with taking out all five starters is the second five has two centers and overall doesn't work as a five piece. Just different players that you wouldn't want to combine at once.

It will be interesting to watch Geno's rotations evolve over the season.

 

[HuskyNan]

Right on all counts, @PhillyCoach. I'm totally with you on every one of these. And as for the rotation being "deeper and stronger" I'd only add that stronger also means more athletic by the addition of Blanca and Serah. Those two are impressive athletes. And team speed seems to be improved as well. Geno said he wants to press more -- well, he has the roster to do it for once.

And Kelis plus the return of Ayanna