After Paige and Azzi come back, should Caroline gets some PT as a forward?

[oldude]

Doesn't UConn play position-less basketball??

Yes and no. Position-less basketball is, to some degree, a goal as much as a reality. Not everyone UConn puts on the court has the same ability to rebound, defend, shoot or run the offense. So by default, there has to be a certain level of specialization going on.

On the other hand, UConn has fielded several teams that came as close to the ideal of position-less basketball as any team in the history of WBB. Both the 2015-16 & 2016-17 teams were a pleasure to watch, because everyone in the starting 5 for those teams could score, defend and pass the ball.

 

[sun]

A team with 9 players could allow everyone to play 22 minutes each.
A team with 8 players could allow everyone to play 25 minutes each.
A team with 7 players could allow everyone to play 28-29 minutes each.

UConn basically has 8 players without Paige and 9 players with Paige.
Obviously adjustments would be made depending on which opponent the team is playing and Geno's wishes.
When Azzi returns there will be 8 players, some may play 20-22 minutes (or less), while others play 28-30 minutes (or more).

 

[BBallF]

You are right. Her numbers are tremendous.

 

[DICKG]

Ducharme has earned a starting spot. Auriemma said today that he did not know where the team would be right now without her. My guess is that she will start and play in a 4 guard lineup. Bueckers, Williams, Muhl and Ducharme as a guard/small forward.

Is this the same player that Geno would not play in the beginning because he said she was not ready. When will he take some responsibility about making the wrong calls on some of these players. He just is not comfortable with playing more than eight players.

 

[BBallF]

I think there is a DePaul freshman who may have something to say about that. I believe her name is Morrow? Anyway, she is having an exceptional season and is currently (I believe) the odds on favorite for FOY. Caroline may be able to overtake her but she is certainly not a prohibitive favorite.

Yes, you are right. Morrow is having a great year at 20 and 12.5. It will be interesting tonight though.

 

[oldude]

Is this the same player that Geno would not play in the beginning because he said she was not ready. When will he take some responsibility about making the wrong calls on some of these players. He just is not comfortable with playing more than eight players.

Not sure if you are misinformed or simply trolling. Caroline has played in 14/15 UConn games this season. Geno has never said, “She was not ready.” In fact, he and his entire coaching staff have praised Caroline repeatedly since the start of fall practice.

Early on Caroline struggled with shooting and turnovers, like many freshmen do when they get to college. Nonetheless, Geno kept giving her PT, and she has rewarded his confidence in her by stepping up big time as other players went down with injuries and illness.

As for Geno’s rotation, until injuries and illness cut into his roster, UConn used 9 players in their regular rotation this season. That rotation would have been 10 had Aubrey been available. So your post is basically a “swing and miss.”

 

[NU2BY]

I would agree that Aneesah Morrow is definitely the front runner for FOY, but this season is long from over. I hope Liv eats Morrow's dinner tonight and Caroline continues to contribute her winning ways.

 

[Waquoit]

Her role for the rest of the year, assuming she is able to come back this season, should be like Saylor's last season: run to your favorite spot, get set, and when the ball comes to you drain the 3.

If she can't give us more than last year's Saylor Poffenbarger she should just shut it down for the season.

 

[cferraro04]

Nothing wrong with a 3 guard line-up. Interchangeable players is an earmark of a good team with flexible options.

 

[CocoHusky]

First of all, she is playing small forward. Secondly, she is going to start for the rest of her career. Her starting stats are 18.5 points and 4.75 boards a game. If you don't love her game, you don't love basketball the way it was meant to be played. As she gets a little stronger, gets a little better handle and improves her defense ( she allows the other player to turn the corner on her too easily at times), you are looking at a budding superstar. Her game is so fundamentally strong that her off games are rare, as in one out of eight (Seton Hall) since she has been starting. I saw her live at Seton Hall. She looked very overrated. Kept on stepping on the baseline, turnovers, bad misses. Here we are 10 games later and you have a real serious contender for a future AA and a lock for this year's FOY in the Big East.

Caroline isnot a lock for the Big East FOY. That distinction will go to Aneesah Morrow of DePaul who is averaging 20.3 PPG and 12.5 RPG. Not only is Morrow going to win FOY in the Big East she might win National FOY.

 

[hoopsfan22]

If she can't give us more than last year's Saylor Poffenbarger she should just shut it down for the season.

But isn't that the standard Geno m.o. for first year shooters like an Azzi, Saylor, KML, and KLS? For example Geno has said that KML's first season was easy because the only job she had as a freshman was to get open and shoot. That seems like a good plan for a player like Azzi that can shoot who isn't going to have much time left in the season to take on much more responsibility than that. She's essentially a high school player coming in at the end of the season having played 79 whole minutes of college ball. If she can knock down 3 or 4 threes a game and average 12-15 points the rest of the way I think that would be a good contribution from someone that's likely to be the 4th or 5th guard option once Paige returns.

 

[UCTitleTown]

What's the latest on Paige's return timeline?

 

[BBallF]

Caroline isnot a lock for the Big East FOY. That distinction will go to Aneesah Morrow of DePaul who is averaging 20.3 PPG and 12.5 RPG. Not only is Morrow going to win FOY in the Big East she might win National FOY.

After seeing her tonight I wholeheartedly agree except that Caroline hit the dagger!

 

[CocoHusky]

After seeing her tonight I wholeheartedly agree except that Caroline hit the dagger!

Morrow just dropped 30 and 14 on UCONN and may have just wrapped up National Freshman of the year and an AA Spot.

 

[CocoHusky]

Nothing wrong with a 3 guard line-up. Interchangeable players is an earmark of a good team with flexible options.

The 4 guard lineups tonight was when DePaul made their runs 17 to 0 in the first half and 9 to 0 in the second half. With 4 guards we also went to zone defense and was giving up 2 shots per possession for long stretches. Geno hand was forced a little bit buy foul trouble from ONO and Edwards gave them nothing tonight.

 

[MrT]

I'll agree with whatever Geno does...and I don't think he's going to forget what Caroline brings to this team.

At this point CD has picked up at least 98% of the college game and she belongs on the court all the Time. is a good shooter , but she does not have a complete game yet (Defense is suspect), let her come off the bench.

 

[cferraro04]

Morrow just dropped 30 and 14 on UCONN and may have just wrapped up National Freshman of the year and an AA Spot.

What was Morrow ranked coming out of high school?

 

[CocoHusky]

What was Morrow ranked coming out of high school?

See the @SVCBeercats post from a different thread

Where did Doug Bruno find Ms. Morrow? In Chicago of course!
What was her Hoopgurlz rating? 90! Hoopgurlz' ranking? Not in the top 100! PreGirlsHoops? 46! ProspectNation? 45! ASGR? 34! Anyone have access to BlueStar rating?
Will she be defending Caroline? Should be interesting.

ESPN says this about Ms. Morrow:
USJN-June 2020: Athletic hybrid-4 with college-ready frame punishes defenders in the paint; physical, quick-leaper, plays taller than advertised; brings a feathery touch in the key, rising over the defense and manufacturing shots consistently; offensive arsenal extends to the arc; cleans the glass and handles coast-to-coast, finishes plays through contact; quick and versatile, defends with aggressive persona; among the elite prospects in the class of 2021. (Olson)
The National Championship-July 2019: Athletic-4 pounds the glass, finishes plays in traffic; rebounder deluxe, strong and physical, attacks into the defense off the bounce; mismatch creator; potential. (Olson)
USJN-May 2019: Athletic front court performer brings developing offensive firepower; quick-leaper, active on the glass, scores through contact; superb in transition game; potential. (Olson)

BlueStar quote about Ms. Morrow:
Without question one of the weekend’s top performers was 2021 workhorse Aneesah Morrow. Morrow proved to be too much to handle for defenders all weekend, leveraging multiple 30 point performances in beastly fashion. A kid who can cash out from three one trip, and post up to score the next, she’s a match-up nightmare.

 

[MrT]

What was Morrow ranked coming out of high school?

Ranked #1 to go to the WWE

 

[cferraro04]

See the @SVCBeercats post from a different thread

How in the world did she slip under the radar?

 

[CocoHusky]

How in the world did she slip under the radar?

No idea. I would speculate that it is because she is undersize 6'1" and per some of the commentary from the game tonight has a history of knee issues already. She is a hell of a player but part of the prior post is that Dough didn't have to go very far to find her.

 

[temery]

At this point CD has picked up at least 98% of the college game and she belongs on the court all the Time. is a good shooter , but she does not have a complete game yet (Defense is suspect), let her come off the bench.

Please don't use abbreviations for names. Only a small number of people immediately understand.

In this case, I sent up an auto correct for A F to auto correct to Azzi Fudd. Eventually it starts to act hinky, changing other words.

 

[Waquoit]

But isn't that the standard Geno m.o. for first year shooters like an Azzi, Saylor, KML, and KLS? For example Geno has said that KML's first season was easy because the only job she had as a freshman was to get open and shoot. That seems like a good plan for a player like Azzi that can shoot who isn't going to have much time left in the season to take on much more responsibility than that. She's essentially a high school player coming in at the end of the season having played 79 whole minutes of college ball. If she can knock down 3 or 4 threes a game and average 12-15 points the rest of the way I think that would be a good contribution from someone that's likely to be the 4th or 5th guard option once Paige returns.

LOL at Fudd being the 4th or 5th guard option.

 

[hoopsfan22]

LOL at Fudd being the 4th or 5th guard option.

She'll be behind Paige, CW, and Nika for the rest of this year, but I will concede after last night's game she is much further along that I would have suspected given the way Geno talked about her injury and the recovery plan.

 

[sno-cat]

Paige, Azzi, Caroline, Dorka and ONO starting are my choices for a final four run with great support from the bench. Time will tell.