Afraid of Competition?

[oldhusky]

In 2018 ND had Jessica Shepard- I would definitely consider her elite. Turner was hurt that season. BTW Turner was also elite.

IMO any college player that can make a WNBA team even for a year or two is elite. They may not make the Olympic Team or the All Star Team but as a college player they were elite. There are probably about a 1,000 graduating Division 1 players. Maybe 20 tops can stick in their first year in the WNBA. That is about 2% of the graduating seniors. In my book the 98th percentile in anything is elite.

 

[Bald Husky]

That Arizona team lost to a team in Stanford which had a rotation of 3 contribution bigs who will be back in WCBB for at least two more seasons. The last UCONN teams to win without an elite big was 2003=almost 2 decades ago now. Which of the last 4 NCAA champions would you consider as not having an elite big? UCONN 4 guard rotation of Paige, CW, Evina, and Nika was statistically and qualitatively the best foursome in the country last year. UCONN needs better/bigger more impactful post play from the 4 and 5 positions just to keep up.

With the guards that we will have next year we will not need a lot of offence from the post. Now I'm not saying that we don't need any, but just enough to keep the defense on their toes. ONO and AE have to concentrate on lay ups and FTs. They will eventually get a lot of opportunities when Paige and Azzi are being double teamed. This will be the bulk of where their scoring will be coming from. Their primary duties IMHO will be defense, protecting the rim, something that they have proven to be pretty good at. Keep the guards from driving, challenge the opponents BIGS, make them think twice about approaching the lane. If they can defend, if they can make lay ups, if they can make their FTs, our guards and wings will score enough to beat any opponent we will face. Easy solution, easy games, easy wins.

 

[huskiemaniac]

But he doesn’t go on and on about it Every.Single.G

You know Geno obsesses over it; otherwise, he and his staff wouldn't have won 11 NCs.

I'd guess the missed bunnies get a mention in practice.

 

[CocoHusky]

With the guards that we will have next year we will not need a lot of offence from the post. Now I'm not saying that we don't need any, but just enough to keep the defense on their toes. ONO and AE have to concentrate on lay ups and FTs. They will eventually get a lot of opportunities when Paige and Azzi are being double teamed. This will be the bulk of where their scoring will be coming from. Their primary duties IMHO will be defense, protecting the rim, something that they have proven to be pretty good at. Keep the guards from driving, challenge the opponents BIGS, make them think twice about approaching the lane. If they can defend, if they can make lay ups, if they can make their FTs, our guards and wings will score enough to beat any opponent we will face. Easy solution, easy games, easy wins.

Definitely agree with this. As I have said before it's about the easy baskets and balance. Simply put the UCONN is putting too much pressure on the 1/2 court offensive executions ,deep and mid range shooting. UCONN has to get more production out of the paint touches and we are not creating enough live ball turnovers to create easy baskets. That not just an ONO problem it's guards missing layups and turnovers in or near the lane. A perfect example is AE. The very good AE is leading the nation in FG%, the not so good AE is making way too many turnovers and here is the fatal part- Most of her turnovers are coming at or near the basket when the team has worked very hard to get the ball into that spot.

 

[CocoHusky]

No they weren't. They were good - no way elite.

Oh stop it! Jessica Shepard was definitely elite. You are just being salty. The NCAA doesn't grant immediate eligibility to just ordinary player so that she can go to ND, screw UCONN out of a championship, and knock UCONN out of consecutive FFs.

 

[BostonBay]

Oh stop it! Jessica Shepard was definitely elite. You are just being salty. The NCAA doesn't grant immediate eligibility to just ordinary player so that she can go to ND, screw UCONN out of a championship, and knock UCONN out of consecutive FFs.

UConn, not ND, wins the Title that year if Shepard was not allowed to transfer immediately. Thats why many UConn fans are still upset by this double standard set by the committee.

 

[Cornell Lt]

How does that change the fact that Arizona with no elite big came within inches of winning a NC?. I hope you're not arguing that you need to an elite big to win a NC, because that would mean you have no idea what you're talking about since I gave you examples of such. I don't think Notre Dame in 2018 had an elite big unless you consider Brianna Turner elite for which I don't. There is a difference between contributing and being elite.
WCBB is a guards game if you don't know that go ask somebody. The 3 teams with the most imposing post players this past season were Baylor, So Carolina and Stanford. Two of which as we know won nothing, and Stanford came within inches of losing to a team that had nothing that resemble an elite post.
UConn has potentially a great guard rotation if that comes to fruition they won't need an AA performance from any of their post to win, they would just need to contribute. If they get an AA performance out of AE or ONO that would be great they could still win without that happening.

This is exactly what HuskeyNan was talking about

 

[BostonBay]

Definitely agree with this. As I have said before it's about the easy baskets and balance. Simply put the UCONN is putting too much pressure on the 1/2 court offensive executions ,deep and mid range shooting. UCONN has to get more production out of the paint touches and we are not creating enough live ball turnovers to create easy baskets. That not just an ONO problem it's guards missing layups and turnovers in or near the lane. A perfect example is AE. The very AE is leading the nation in FG%, the not so good AE is making way too many turnovers and here is the fatal part- Most of her turnovers are coming at or near the basket when the team has work very hard to get the ball into that spot.

Yup. when UConn was winning titles they always went on big spurts against anyone - like 10 to 20 point runs - mainly because they were getting easy points from their defense, TOs, layups, etc. The only spurts I remember against a very good team this year was Paige against Tenn & SC - but it took a Wonder Woman-like effort from 3-point land.

The last 5 or 6 years has been a grind in the FF. Fighting for every point on the perimeter, 1-and-done halfcourt game, etc. - all because little physical, post presence - even with the best shooters in the country like KLS & Paige. Hard to win Titles that way. Cardosa what have been a game-changer in that respect for UConn. Thats why fans are upset.

 

[Cuango]

We are the victims of our own success. The blame can squarely be put on the shoulders of Geno Auriemma. We are in a very unique, awkward situation where Uconn got too good, and our conference (both of them) got too bad. It seems that we cannot play anyone consistently, that is, how should I say it, normal? Everyone in our conference in no match for us, thus we blow them out. Our OOC matches are against the top 15, so they are always tough, and usually fairly close. There is no team in between. We don't have to win by 40 to have a good game, and we can play poorly and win by 40. We have lost the ability to just enjoy the game, not look for perfection, and not to hold every player accountable for their latest performance. Forums such as this is great to discuss our successes, and even to cry in our soup. If I didn't know any better, you would think that we were talking about professionals. As I said, we are the victims of our own success, reaching heights never seen in WBB, so nothing we can do about it except maybe stop and smell the roses and just enjoy what we have and hope that more competitive teams will appear on our schedule in the near future. Too much of a good thing isn't always ideal.

I am woefully ignorant about computers and don’t really know how to go about it, but I’d be interested to know the percentage of OOC games that have been “fairly close). My guess is, that those numbers have changed considerably over the last five years. I would guess the games have (on average) become closer, but I’m not convinced one would find too many “close” games against anyone outside of the top 5-8. Sure, there will be a few but I still believe the single most dominant factor is that we have been without a true Alpha since Breanna left. Clearly there is way more talent out there now and some teams/coaches have stepped up their recruiting abilities/success. However, there are very few real alphas out there, often none. (In a given year) Personally, I believe Paige addresses that hole and (though I’m “from Missouri”) it is very possible that Azzi is one as well. With the other talent Geno has put around them, I believe we will see a huge difference over the next few years and are likely to see a return to “form”. I don’t think we will see any more Ark/Tenn/AZ games for the foreseeable future. Sure, SC, Stanford will still be question marks but I truly believe UConn is about to go on another dominant run.

 

[CL82]

I think Squeaks was underrated based on her play the last half of the season. If she is focused and aggressive, combining her newfound defense and attacking the basket, she can be top 5.

It seemed like Christyn struggled last year with adjusting to Paige and the attention she received. Not in a jealous way but more that she pressed more. Toward the end of the season she she played within herself much more and looked terrific. I think that the addition of another Azzi may really allow CW's game to shine. We are going to be a very good shooting team from deep between Chistyn, Paige, Azzi and Evina. That should open up driving lanes since teams that clog the paint will be vulnerable to the open three. Christyn excels at driving to the hoop. Play her tight, she'll go by you and take it to the hole but if sag off her she can make open threes.

It's early but I think Christyn may have a very good year next year.

 

[BBallF]

I think she will CL 82. She will be stronger. I would just add to your post the fact that she became the defensive stopper last year and that took her focus off of her offense and her offensive inconsistencies which actually made her a more consistent offensive player. I also think you have to add Caroline to the mix of 3 point shooters. With Paige and Azzi, she will get open looks and Evina sets up a 3 shooter as well as anyone. The concern about Ducharme is the effect of bigger, longer, more physical defenders on her.

To my mind, in order for the lane to be open, last year's offense of making an entry pass to a big on the high post with her back to the basket will be counter productive and should be limited if not abandoned in favor of a more open set. You are right that CW is the best driver, but Paige and Evina have very solid pull ups, with Azzi's being exceptional. The other important fact is range and Paige, Azzi and Caroline have it on their 3s. No matter how good we may seem, the Semis are the key. You have to play well to win, no matter your talent level. I have always sweated that game.

 

[Reypl21]

IMO any college player that can make a WNBA team even for a year or two is elite. They may not make the Olympic Team or the All Star Team but as a college player they were elite. There are probably about a 1,000 graduating Division 1 players. Maybe 20 tops can stick in their first year in the WNBA. That is about 2% of the graduating seniors. In my book the 98th percentile in anything is elite.

I'm an ND lover, and am missing the post play of Shepard and Turner. So I've been following them closely in the W.

Shepard tore her ACL rookie season, and missed 2020. Napheesa and her were starting to create really amazing chemistry, that I'm sure will continue this year. Reeve loves her on the Lynx, and in press conferences so far she has been impressed with her. I think Shepard landed on the ideal team for her skillset.

Turner has played both years, and in her second year she was on the 1st team All-Defensive team. She stepped it up in the wobble when Griner left. Turner also landed on a team where she is utilized when. She can run pick and rolls with DT and Skylar, and now she'll have BG in the post to work off of. She doesnt need to worry about scoring, just being an elite defender. Which she has shown she already is.

But yeah, they were both elite players in college. Turner was 2nd AA in her sophomore and junior year, and Shepard 3rd team her senior year (this is from memory, AP teams I believe). Shepard is the main reason why ND won the title. She played extremely well in the title game against McCowan.

 

[oldude]

It seemed like Christyn struggled last year with adjusting to Paige and the attention she received. Not in a jealous way but more that she pressed more. Toward the end of the season she she played within herself much more and looked terrific. I think that the addition of another Azzi may really allow CW's game to shine. We are going to be a very good shooting team from deep between Chistyn, Paige, Azzi and Evina. That should open up driving lanes since teams that clog the paint will be vulnerable to the open three. Christyn excels at driving to the hoop. Play her tight, she'll go by you and take it to the hole but if sag off her she can make open threes.

It's early but I think Christyn may have a very good year next year.

From the 7th game of her freshman year, when she put up 28 in a huge win at #1 ND, UConn fans have been waiting for Christyn to become the AA guard we expected when she was recruited as the #1 player out of HS. Unfortunately, careers don’t always progress in a straight line.

Christyn encountered a few bumps along the way. But Geno is the Master. He realized that Christyn’s game, which seemed to rise and fall based solely on whether her shot was falling, needed to be about something more. So Geno tasked Christyn with the role of “defensive stopper,” and she did a remarkable job in shutting down one top guard after another.

Remarkably, as Christyn focused on defense, she stopped worrying about offense and low and behold played the best offensive basketball of her career during the second half of the season. If Christyn plays all season as a senior, the way she played the second half of her junior season, we may yet see Christyn Williams, the AA that we all expected when she first arrived in Storrs.

 

[Longtime fan]

I have always enjoyed the wit and wisdom of the BY. But I must say in recent days I am perplexed by some BY’ers who appear to be afraid of tougher competition from teams like SC, Stanford, MD and others, who are loading up already talented rosters with top recruiting classes as well as talented transfers.

A few years back Geno made significant changes to his recruiting strategy seeking commitments from top HS players earlier, returning to the overseas market for talented European players and bringing in key transfers. As a result, UConn will field perhaps the deepest and most talented roster in their history next year.

Other teams are not required to simply cede national championships to UConn. Dawn is the national team coach and a fierce competitor who’s been so close to a second national championship that she can taste it. She’s proven herself to be a relentless recruiter in the past few years and she will go after any player she believes will help SC win a championship.

Tara has also upped her recruiting efforts. Always a great coach, she has built a versatile and deep roster that finally got Stanford back to the promised land after a 29 year absence, and there is every indication that the Cardinal will challenge for additional championships for many years to come.

Brenda too is anxious to return MD to the championship podium. She has put together an enormously talented team of top recruits and transfers, all of whom will be back next year seeking redemption for their early exit from this year’s tournament.

In the years to come we can expect Kim to build another powerhouse at LSU, Kelly Graves to continue his efforts to bring a championship to Oregon and Vic Schaefer’s TX team to take over the dominance of the Big 12 in recruiting rich TX as a springboard to a national championship run.

An overwhelmingly dominant UConn team is in fact bad for WBB. Great competition between great teams and coaches, like we will see over the next few seasons will be absolutely great for WBB. I am certain that neither Geno or his players are afraid of that challenge.

There is no reason for UConn fans to be afraid, but rather, we should all embrace the competition ahead. We will all witness some epic games. Personally, I will still put my money on UConn and the short Italian guy.

100% correct. It is what we have all ben waiting for for 20 years. What we need next is a non Power 5 ( what does that even mean ?) school to win the Big Dance. Like Missouri State or U of Wisconsin, Green Bay.

 

[Cuango]

Oh stop it! Jessica Shepard was definitely elite. You are just being salty. The NCAA doesn't grant immediate eligibility to just ordinary player so that she can go to ND, screw UCONN out of a championship, and knock UCONN out of consecutive FFs.

I believe hoophuskee clearly posted that they were good players. Just not elite. Which seems right to me as well. When I think of elite posts I think of Stewie, Parker, Charles, Fowler’s, Paris, etc. I do not put Shepard or Turner at that level although Turner might have been if she had not been injury prone. Jmo!