Angel Reese in the portal

[cancontent]

In all seriousness, that may be part of the problem. These kids might have pro aspirations and understand they need to be better at both ends of the court. They may want to be at the level of the UConn/So Carolina/Stanford/NC State/Louisvilles so they can compete for spot.

Great point. This was one reason why Englster left Syracuse. It definitely paid off for her. Who knew how disruptive she could be if she was allowed to play man-to-man instead of zone all the time?

 

[Argonaut]

Would’ve been a huge get.

Enormous. Literally.

 

[sweetspot]

Anyway, the reporting out there suggests that she wants to be a perimeter player, so unless she’s fine with ONO’s positioning in the high post, I doubt she’d fit in Geno’s system.

 

[sun]

That is very true. Geno could recruit a "proven" post player from the portal over Amari and Piath. I would not like to see that. If they didn't choose UConn the first time around, why now? I have always believed that you promote from within first. Then, if you still have positions that need to be filled you hire or promote from outside. Nothing kills morale faster than promoting or hiring outside when there are people that have been waiting to promote right in front of you.

Hypothetically, only if all things were relatively equal between the players.
But the reality is that they usually do not have equal talent in all areas.

As individual players, none of them can be said to be good enough to win a NC.
Only working as a team can they even begin to approach solving the problem of beating the competition.
Once that's realized, then the players are supposed to defer to those who have superior skills.

That shouldn't mean that the other players don't play, they just won't play as much.
Except in Geno's case some don't play at all unless it's an exteme blowout.
But that doesn't always need to be the case unless Geno wants it to be.

In Angel Reese's case, she's a 3rd team All American which means that she has superior talent compared to anyone on UConn's roster at her positions.
The other players are supposed to acknowledge that superiority & support the team's quest for a NC.

 

[Nolefan]

I hope so. SC would be unstoppable next year. Not that they won't be anyway. These two would make it ridiculous though.

We were unstoppable till injuries and it could happen to any team just sayin ..

 

[WFFL]

There was no tampering & these rules are already in place. A player cannot be contacted until they are officially in the portal. Players in the portal have a "do not contact me" option.

Same conspiracy was said when we got Evina....the portal makes things very grey at this point with NIL .

 

[UConnCat]

Geno recruited Reese. She attended a game. I recall hearing/reading that Geno told her where she would fit in his offense (think Maya, Stewie, Gabby, Napheesa role/position which isn’t bad). UConn wasn’t one of her finalists. I doubt things have changed even if Geno were to go down that road again which I doubt.

 

[JoePgh]

Geno recruited Reese. She attended a game. I recall hearing/reading that Geno told her where she would fit in his offense (think Maya, Stewie, Gabby, Napheesa role/position which isn’t bad). UConn wasn’t one of her finalists. I doubt things have changed even if Geno were to go down that road again which I doubt.

I would be very surprised if Geno told her anything of the sort. He has said that recruits ask him all the time what their role would be on the team (just like they ask about how many minutes they would play), and his answer is always that he has no idea until he sees them in practices competing against his other players. It's up to each player, during practice, to define her own role by her play.

I don't think he was blowing smoke; I think that if she asked about her role, that is almost certainly what he told her. And I can easily imagine her being disappointed by that response. And if she asks again now that she is in the transfer portal, I think she will get the same answer -- and she will again be disappointed.

 

[tower1]

That is very true. Geno could recruit a "proven" post player from the portal over Amari and Piath. I would not like to see that. If they didn't choose UConn the first time around, why now? I have always believed that you promote from within first. Then, if you still have positions that need to be filled you hire or promote from outside. Nothing kills morale faster than promoting or hiring outside when there are people that have been waiting to promote right in front of you.

I would like to see Geno recruit any proven player that can help us now. This is Division 1 you don't worry about hurting feelings. If you want to play you must be a good player.

 

[sun]

Reese was MD's highest scorer with a 17.8 PPG avg. this season.
That would be like losing a healthy POY Paige.
She certainly has superior scoring ability compared to any of this year's UConn bigs.
Reese doesn't just quack like a duck, she's an All American duck.

 

[meyers7]

We need more than the threat of the three, need to make more! For much of the tourney that part of our game was in another state. Was it because of playing against better defense? Lack of solid picks? Seemed like the black and white strips called a lot of moving picks against us but not against them. All this equals turnovers and early trips to the bench by our bigs. Hope the players and coaches are able to fix this.
Other than our sturdy defense, there didn't seem to be one go to effective offense. In many games we didn't establish our offense early, we were sloppy in our set-up resulting in turnovers and no shots.

Well I was addressing something a poster said with the "threat". But sure we do need to make more 3's ....and 2's. We only shot 34% from the 3. Needs to be around 37-38%. Also we only shot 48% overall. Are lowest shooting % in years. We only averaged 73.8 points a game. Our lowest since 2006.

Now I think a lot of our offensive problems stem from 1) not having The Kid for half the season 2) having so many other injuries we never really had a fixed lineup where players could learn to play together. People were always going in and out of the lineup...all the way to the end.

Next year, having (knock on wood), The Kid and Fudd for the whole year and having a more fixed lineup should improve our offense and our shooting %'s.

 

[jaydee602]

Same conspiracy was said when we got Evina....the portal makes things very grey at this point with NIL .

The difference is that Westbrook didn't commit to UCONN until 5 weeks she entered the portal.
My concern isn't that these two players transfer to SC. It's the expediency in which this was done. Enter the portal one day, commit to a school the next day.

 

[Jibariqua]

Angel Reese was coached by Chloe Pavlich, the former UM Terp AND UConn Grad Assistant. Th

Where was this?

 

[Hoops66]

I hope so. SC would be unstoppable next year. Not that they won't be anyway. These two would make it ridiculous though.

Then you wonder how many of the secondary "stars" on the SC bench will jump ship or become problems.

 

[Cuango]

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it! Bringing in the wrong type of player, no matter how good she may be, would be a huge mistake! However, I’m not too worried that could happen, in spite of many tunnel-visioned, slavering fans, as I am 99.9999….% sure, that Geno will not let that happen (except possibly, by accident). He has achieved his success here by recruiting players that fit into his and Chris’s plan (a plan that incorporates much more than the skill level of the player) and (thankfully) I’m positive he won’t falter now!

Hard to see her logic here? She’s not beating out Boston, they already have Cardoso, Amihere, Feagen, so where are her minutes? I suppose she might beat those others out but they’re not going to be happy and may transfer out as a result.

 

[Longtime fan]

I would love to see her in a UConn uniform!

How does the portal work? A player declares that they are entering and then what? Five -ten schools put in a claim; " I would like to have her come to my school?" Then the player does what to decide? In what period of time?

This young woman ( Reese) is in what year ( how many years is she likely to play at the college level ) ?

She sounds like someone UCONN could have interest in, and if she is that good UCONN probably recruited he at some point. So they probably know a lot about her and her character. However, we have 11 on the roster ( if Aubrey returns). Twelve is not manageable.

I would be surprised if UCONN puts a " bid " in. But you never know.

 

[darrell]

 

[Longtime fan]

For those who have failed to actually look at next years roster.

We have

1/2/3 spots - The Kid, Fudd, Muhl, CFD (that's 4 for 3 spots)


4/5 spots - Edwards, Juhasz, Griffin, DeBerry, Brady, Patterson, Gabriel (that's 7 for 2 spots)

Yea, we are probably going to have to use Griffin or Patterson or ??? at the 3 spot some. Which isn't really ideal.

I think Patterson will be great there.

 

[Argonaut]

How does the portal work? A player declares that they are entering and then what? Five -ten schools put in a claim; " I would like to have her come to my school?" Then the player does what to decide? In what period of time?

This young woman ( Reese) is in what year ( how many years is she likely to play at the college level ) ?

She sounds like someone UCONN could have interest in, and if she is that good UCONN probably recruited he at some point. So they probably know a lot about her and her character. However, we have 11 on the roster ( if Aubrey returns). Twelve is not manageable.

I would be surprised if UCONN puts a " bid " in. But you never know.

From what I understand, there is a box they can check to indicate whether or not they're welcoming inquiries from coaches. Some players already have an idea of where they want to transfer (relationships with other players, a finalist from their original recruitment, a change in coaching staff, seeking a specific academic program, etc.), so they don't want a bunch of other coaches to blow up their phones/DMs. Other players are open to any and all opportunities and welcome the contact from whomever is interested in them.

 

[Charliebball]

Well I was addressing something a poster said with the "threat". But sure we do need to make more 3's ....and 2's. We only shot 34% from the 3. Needs to be around 37-38%. Also we only shot 48% overall. Are lowest shooting % in years. We only averaged 73.8 points a game. Our lowest since 2006.

Now I think a lot of our offensive problems stem from 1) not having The Kid for half the season 2) having so many other injuries we never really had a fixed lineup where players could learn to play together. People were always going in and out of the lineup...all the way to the end.

Next year, having (knock on wood), The Kid and Fudd for the whole year and having a more fixed lineup should improve our offense and our shooting %'s.

According to NCAA stats as of April 3rd, UConn was the number three team in the country in shooting percentage, well ahead of NC State, Louisville and Stanford......... I don't even see South Carolina in the top 50.......three point shot percentage was a different story.......UConn did not make the top 50..........Part of that is based on PB's numbers which were way down this year........I suspect she'll be much better next year although maybe not up to her freshman level which may have been a one time thing......

 

[Longtime fan]

From what I understand, there is a box they can check to indicate whether or not they're welcoming inquiries from coaches. Some players already have an idea of where they want to transfer (relationships with other players, a finalist from their original recruitment, a change in coaching staff, seeking a specific academic program, etc.), so they don't want a bunch of other coaches to blow up their phones/DMs. Other players are open to any and all opportunities and welcome the contact from whomever is interested in them.

So, basically, if ( as a HS senior) you were torn between Louisville and Maryland, but chose Maryland, you might ring up the Louisville coach and say, " hey coach, I made a mistake. Are you still interested?" Is it " legal" for that conversation to take place prior to declaring for the portal? I think there must be more " controls" on the process. I do expect that there is a time period involved for both sides; I do believe a kid entering the portal must have some risk ( i.e. maybe 5 schools are interested but none are the school the player was hoping for , etc ). And I think I heard Geno say that many kids who enter the portal wind up with no one calling. So, they are " done " with their current team, but have no where to go. I guess I have to google this

 

[HopJim]

Agree we could use more drives. However, it's hard to drive to the basket when the floor is not spread out and there are too many people in the lane.

I said "threat". You don't necessarily have to shoot the 3s but the threat needs to be there so defenders get out of the lane to defend out to the perimeter. Then that allows dribble drives and post ups and drives and kick outs.

Agree. In addition to the potential issues with the UConn offense, putting Brady and/or Patterson at the 3 means they would typically be guarding a smaller, but quicker player. Love both but most of UConn's competition plays 3 traditional guards. Putting a player at the position they are best suited for typically works out best for all.

 

[HopJim]

Any roster that starts with Paige and Azzi is “good enough”. Put those two on the court with some decent players and they’ll beat enough teams. Add in Nika, Caroline, Dorka, Aaliyah, Amari, Aubrey and some promising freshmen and you’ve got a really talented team.

Agree. While many UConn posters appear to want to load up on bigs, I suspect many other teams are looking at a healthy Fudd and Paige saying they need to load up on defensive guards. I like our chances.