Another Replacement Guard ?

[Zarathustra]

The players I am aware of that Uconn seemed to have an interest in from those tournaments are Raina Tomasicka from Latvia, Tilda Trygger from Sweeden, Ines Bettencourt from Portugal and Matilde Villa from Italy. Bettencourt and Villa are point guards. Trygger is a slim 6-6 and although the brief clips of her looked pretty impressive, her individual stats from that tournament and her team's performance was not that good. I don't think she is Uconn material and is not a position of the most need.

Tomasicka looked interesting as more of a SG that could also pass. I watched a previously played game between Latvia and Italy so I could watch Tomasicka and Villa in the same game. Overall I liked Villa better and feel her stats for the tournament were also better, but both are possibilities. Tomasicka has some shake and bake in her game and uses a hard change of direction to free herself for shots. Villa uses her speed to drive into the middle of the defense and kick back effectively or drop it inside to a big. Skilled passer and good floor general.

Bettencourt I watched for part of a game as well. She played like a point guard as well but there was another on her team that was the principle ballhandler. It seemed like they played two point guards to me. Anyway she looked like a good ball distributor as well, pretty good scorer, and was very aggressive on the defensive end. Her stats revealed a-lot of steals but also quite a few personal fouls, but overall her numbers were pretty good but against the B level competition. The others were playing at the A level in the U18 tournament.

There may be others of course, and I have no idea if any of these would consider being an emergency fit for our guard shortage this season, but those are players that I would inquire about.

thanks for the overview.!!! I have not watched nearly as much but was impressed by the play
of Matilde Villa. Villa is very tenacious, but I wish she were physically bigger. Elena Buenavida
Estavez has exceptional games and then some less so!! However, the offensive and defensive
style of Spain appears very compatible with UCONN's style. Maybe a one-year trial player? I've
noticed that a number of the European players do not stay for their full 4 years at U S Schools.
Juste Jocyte is remarkable. If Spain can beat Lithuania and if the Spanish guard again
show their skill set in this game I think that we will be seeing one or both of the Spanish
guards in an American College Uniform (i.e. Brito for Spain, the scorer, and Buenavida, a
somewhat all-purpose ball handler. Prognostication: SPAIN in an upset! Spain again shows
their poise, hustle, determination, and " grace under pressure" (in the fourth quarter). Spain has
some height, 6'6" ' 3".... But how will they handle Juste? Let the games continue! Find a backup
point guard, please!
how can they handle Juste!!!!

 

[SARG 2011]

Both Brito and Asensio of Spain are signed to play for Jose at USF this upcoming season.

 

[socal613ws]

It's mid August what is getting someone at this point gonna accomplish? People just look at this as a basketball decision it's not, that means they possibly have to move states and transfer to new school and if their major fits Uconn. People make it seem like it's so easy.

 

[awhom111]

The players I am aware of that Uconn seemed to have an interest in from those tournaments are Raina Tomasicka from Latvia, Tilda Trygger from Sweeden, Ines Bettencourt from Portugal and Matilde Villa from Italy. Bettencourt and Villa are point guards. Trygger is a slim 6-6 and although the brief clips of her looked pretty impressive, her individual stats from that tournament and her team's performance was not that good. I don't think she is Uconn material and is not a position of the most need.

Tomasicka looked interesting as more of a SG that could also pass. I watched a previously played game between Latvia and Italy so I could watch Tomasicka and Villa in the same game. Overall I liked Villa better and feel her stats for the tournament were also better, but both are possibilities. Tomasicka has some shake and bake in her game and uses a hard change of direction to free herself for shots. Villa uses her speed to drive into the middle of the defense and kick back effectively or drop it inside to a big. Skilled passer and good floor general.

Bettencourt I watched for part of a game as well. She played like a point guard as well but there was another on her team that was the principle ballhandler. It seemed like they played two point guards to me. Anyway she looked like a good ball distributor as well, pretty good scorer, and was very aggressive on the defensive end. Her stats revealed a-lot of steals but also quite a few personal fouls, but overall her numbers were pretty good but against the B level competition. The others were playing at the A level in the U18 tournament.

There may be others of course, and I have no idea if any of these would consider being an emergency fit for our guard shortage this season, but those are players that I would inquire about.

Matilde Villa is a relentless slasher who is still working on improving her decision-making. She has signed what is a reported multi-year agreement with Reyer Venezia so she will have to fight for playing time on a higher-level team. Her former team, where she played with her twin sister Eleonora, who is more of a natural shooter given her need to defer to her sister, decided to sell their top division spot to a team in the second division this season.

Tomasicka was born in 2005, albeit on January 1st so it seems like college would still be a year away. Unfortunately, the competition that she will face this season is not at the same level as her club TTT Riga has faced in recent years.

Trygger is certainly an interesting stretch five prospect, but as someone who could easily be a 2024 in recruiting terms, her next couple of years carry some interesting choices. She was playing in the second division on a team of all young players where playing time was split pretty evenly. I would think that playing limited minutes with a club in the top division might be preferable.

 

[Zarathustra]

Both Brito and Asensio of Spain are signed to play for Jose at USF this upcoming season.

Nice for Jose! Maybe USF will replace UCF at the top of the AAC!

 

[Zarathustra]

It's mid August what is getting someone at this point gonna accomplish? People just look at this as a basketball decision it's not, that means they possibly have to move states and transfer to new school and if their major fits Uconn. People make it seem like it's so easy.

Nothing is easy. But because the discussion was started on the Blog, one can dream! " When you look upon a star" ... (Player, that is, not as in Pinocchio!)

 

[veryolddog]

what a shameful post. So trade a player that comitted to Uconn for no reason just cause you don't like her? Unreal
Also learn to spell her name.

First off lighten up. Did you not see the little smile emoji. Second, don't lecture me or anyone else. And third, do not come across as the almighty elitist who can do no wrong.

 

[oldude]

what a shameful post. So trade a player that comitted to Uconn for no reason just cause you don't like her? Unreal
Also learn to spell her name.

A couple things to consider when responding to posts on the Boneyard and social media in general:

1. Whimsy, sarcasm & irony are endemic to the Boneyard, and very much appreciated by those of us who truly value the wit and wisdom of posters like veryolddog.
2. On social media, it’s not considered appropriate to call out someone for misspelling a word or name. Nobody is writing a term paper here.

 

[ballerfan]

First off lighten up. Did you not see the little smile emoji. Second, don't lecture me or anyone else. And third, do not come across as the almighty elitist who can do no wrong.

I do think your post about Amari was a bit odd, even with the smile emoji. But I can think of at least a couple posts I wrote on the BY that I now regret, so I’m not lecturing you.

Anyway, social613ws probably shouldn’t have used the word « shameful » or criticized you for misspelling a name, and maybe attacking social613ws as an « almighty elitist who can do no wrong » wasn’t necessary. I hope you and social613ws and everyone else here, all anonymous UConn fanatics, can « lighten up, » as you said, and get along. We’re on the same team.

 

[hoophuskee]

Anyway, social613ws probably shouldn’t have used the word « shameful » or criticized you for misspelling a nam. . .. We’re on the same team.

But you can't go by what socal says. He or she is not "on the same team." That poster has twisted comments from me and olddude (and probably others) to fit his or her own negative narrative in the past as well. Any chance that poster gets to take a swipe at UCONN or posters, he or she relishes it.

Veroolddog's post was a simple comment made that we should trade a frontcourt player for backcourt player (in context with the thread too.). That's all nearly all of us would take from it in context. Not this poster. Heck, recently he or she got one of his posts pulled on the thread- "Silver linings to Paige's injury." It was a pro-UCONN positive post thread but ofc he or she chimed in right away with a negative. Other positive threads he or she interjects negative too.

So no not all of us are on the same team. We have to understand the context from some, that's all. Nothing wrong with it. Some posters want to be negative near all the time - so be it. Just understand/recognize it is what it is.

​

 

[ballerfan]

But you can't go by what socal says. He or she is not "on the same team." That poster has twisted comments from me and olddude (and probably others) to fit his or her own negative narrative in the past as well. Any chance that poster gets to take a swipe at UCONN or posters, he or she relishes it.

Veroolddog's post was a simple comment made that we should trade a frontcourt player for backcourt player (in context with the thread too.). That's all nearly all of us would take from it in context. Not this poster. Heck, recently he or she got one of his posts pulled on the thread- "Silver linings to Paige's injury." It was a pro-UCONN positive post thread but ofc he or she chimed in right away with a negative. Other positive threads he or she interjects negative too.

So no not all of us are on the same team. We have to understand the context from some, that's all. Nothing wrong with it. Some posters want to be negative near all the time - so be it. Just understand/recognize it is what it is.

​

Thanks for the explanation. I didn’t know. I hope most of us are on the same team, and I hope most of us can get along.

 

[Skeets]

A couple things to consider when responding to posts on the Boneyard and social media in general:

1. Whimsy, sarcasm & irony are endemic to the Boneyard, and very much appreciated by those of us who truly value the wit and wisdom of posters like veryolddog.
2. On social media, it’s not considered appropriate to call out someone for misspelling a word or name. Nobody is writing a term paper here.

Oldude, can I add a 3rd thing?

3. Consider who might be in the audience, the kid, her parents, etc. before posting. The "smiley" helps people to understand that the post is intended to be humor, sarcasm, or whatever, but if you have to add a "smiley" maybe the post should be reconsidered, especially if it's about a player.

 

[CocoHusky]

It's mid August what is getting someone at this point gonna accomplish? People just look at this as a basketball decision it's not, that means they possibly have to move states and transfer to new school and if their major fits Uconn. People make it seem like it's so easy.

The right player will add guard depth which was/is needed. Paige's injury was early August. UCONN is not were just now "starting" to think replacement. Getting a replacement at this point is a longshot but definitely worthwhile exploring.

 

[oldhusky]

The right player will add needed guard depth which was/is needed. Paige's injury was early August. UCONN is not were just now starting" to think replacement. Getting a replacement at this point is a longshot but definitely worthwhile exploring.

Agree completely, and going further it is a basketball decision born out of necessity, not easy at all, and from the potential recruit's standpoint probably very stressful. It could be a foreign player who never thought about leaving her country to go to school and play in the states, faced with needing to make a life changing decision in a few days because of the school year starting soon.

It's just the reality. 2022 recruits have committed, as have the portal prospects that could make a difference. Paige's injury happened after that, leaving the only available option for an emergency fit being a 2022 foreign player who had not committed to playing in the US, with the clock ticking on the decision.

I feel for how difficult this is for both team and recruits, but agree with Coco that it is definitely worthwhile pursuing.

 

[oldude]

Oldude, can I add a 3rd thing?

3. Consider who might be in the audience, the kid, her parents, etc. before posting. The "smiley" helps people to understand that the post is intended to be humor, sarcasm, or whatever, but if you have to add a "smiley" maybe the post should be reconsidered, especially if it's about a player.

While I absolutely agree that all of us should consider the possibility that players, their family and their friends might read our posts, considering how such posts are received before we hit send, this is not such a case imo. Not only did the poster attach a humorous emoji, but he also made a farcical trade proposal that was clearly intended to be humorous.

Lets not overly analyze one humorous post, that was taken out of context by one BY’er. This thread is about adding another replacement guard to the roster for the upcoming season, something that’s not going to happen anyways. Time to move on to other subjects. How about another GOAT debate?

 

[ucbart]

I haven't read this thread at all, but can you believe that we had the player(Anna Makurat) that we needed the most the last year and this coming year, but she decided to turn pro because she didn't think she'd get any PT? She would be a senior and probably vastly improved in all areas.

Anna, come back!! LOL

 

[Bald Husky]

Although Geno didn't think he would be looking for a walk-on, I think the possibility of trying one out is now on the table. As I said in an earlier post, all we need is a good ball handler to give depth to our guard corp. There are a lot of pretty good players that just aren't good enough for a scholarship coming out of high school, but there can always be that diamond in the rough that can fill the need we have. If Geno can't find someone willing to come here, this may be his only option.

 

[Zarathustra]

Wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying for a happy resolution to the both the UCONN team and
the BY team! Go Huskies! Go Boneyarders!
P.S. Did someone mention that the Spanish Guard (U18), Elena Buenavide Esteves (sp), had 36 points in
a losing effort to Lithuania on Sunday?? Juste Jocycte, 16 yoa player for Lithuania, had 28 points and was
MVP in the FIBA European Championship. 78 - 75.

 

[AmeriConn]

Although Geno didn't think he would be looking for a walk-on, I think the possibility of trying one out is now on the table. As I said in an earlier post, all we need is a good ball handler to give depth to our guard corp. There are a lot of pretty good players that just aren't good enough for a scholarship coming out of high school, but there can always be that diamond in the rough that can fill the need we have. If Geno can't find someone willing to come here, this may be his only option.

Geno recently stated neither option would be likely. He didn’t feel there were any good players left in the portal to fill a need for UConn and a walk on probably wouldn’t help. I think it’s too late in the game to convince a foreign player to come on board. Hoping for a miracle, but not likely.

 

[CocoHusky]

Wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying for a happy resolution to the both the UCONN team and
the BY team! Go Huskies! Go Boneyarders!
P.S. Did someone mention that the Spanish Guard (U18), Elena Buenavide Esteves (sp), had 36 points in
a losing effort to Lithuania on Sunday?? Juste Jocycte, 16 yoa player for Lithuania, had 28 points and was
MVP in the FIBA European Championship. 78 - 75.

 

[CL82]

While I absolutely agree that all of us should consider the possibility that players, their family and their friends might read our posts, considering how such posts are received before we hit send, this is not such a case imo. Not only did the poster attach a humorous emoji, but he also made a farcical trade proposal that was clearly intended to be humorous.

Lets not overly analyze one humorous post, that was taken out of context by one BY’er. This thread is about adding another replacement guard to the roster for the upcoming season, something that’s not going to happen anyways. Time to move on to other subjects. How about another GOAT debate?

I don’t know if it’s wise to extend this discussion by adding my own commentary to it, but I will say that, whether sarcasm or not, @veryolddog’s comment treads a little close on The Boneyard‘s transfer speculation prohibition. He is a good poster, and I’m sure it wasn’t intended as anything other than humor, but it seemed imbued with commentary, albeit unintended, about Amari‘s value to the team.

I do think that the poster who commented on his post was needlessly reactionary and inflammatory, regardless.

JMO

 

[Zarathustra]

This is an excellent highlight reel! Juste seems to hang back on defense.... I guess
she and her coaches know that she is essential in the fourth quarter. I really,
really like Elena B E. Look for that " euro" step, the steals, the defense. The
offense and defense of Spain reminds me of UCONN. Spain took down the
high scoring French with ease, and were within one point of Lithuania with less
than 30 seconds to go! One sloppy stretch in the fourth quarter and some
bad ball rolls cost Spain the championship. Lithuania could say like UCONN
would say: " We have Juste!" Next up, KK in the 3X3 in Hungry next week1

 

[Longtime fan]

With the devastating news on Paige, what are the remaining options? Last year we had 6 guards and that was not enough. We had several games where we had no backup guards. That kind of a rash of injuries at the same time is of course very unusual, but going into this season it looked like we had 5 good ones, and now we are down to 4. An injury to just one of those and we once again have no guard backups. That is eased somewhat by having Aubrey back, who I consider mostly a 4, but who for sure could handle the defensive and rebounding obligations at the 3.

So what are our chances of getting some help there at this late stage? The 2022 class has committed, and anyone entering the transfer portal now would have to wait a year. Are there any uncommitted players of value that entered the portal before the deadline to be eligible this year? I suspect very few, but maybe some of our star posters know of someone. It seems like the best of limited options is a foreign player. I think we should be pursuing the best of the eligible guards there aggressively, but also realize it complicates the role for future recruits and already committed ones.

What we really need most is the "rental player" concept, or a one year fix. A point guard or swing 1/2 type might be ideal for this year but how do you recruit a foreign PG for this year, if they know next year Paige and KK are coming not to mention the return of Nika. Maybe there is a grad transfer with a year of eligibility left who was leaning towards just pursuing a graduate degree, and not using that eligibility. The opportunity to spend a year in the Uconn program could be attractive to someone in that position.

If nothing happens on those fronts, I guess Geno should consider the best of the potential walk-ons, but if that happens, I suspect Geno would use three bigs in the lineup instead of a walk-on. The Paige news was a terrible blow, and the options for adding a guard at this stage are very limited, but I am still hoping for some good news in the near future. Going into a season with four guards is very scary. I'm curious what the troops think should be done and what our chances are of getting some help?

Sorry to tell you; the team is what you see. Geno and his coaches will figure out the best way to use the players he has. There will be no mystery signing, and there is no UCONN freshman who was 5 star rated from HS basketball who will, luckily, decide to walk-on and play.

 

[SoCalCanine]

Please don't confuse SoCals!!!! This SoCalCanine tries to avoid all arguments!

 

[ucbart]

Although Geno didn't think he would be looking for a walk-on, I think the possibility of trying one out is now on the table. As I said in an earlier post, all we need is a good ball handler to give depth to our guard corp. There are a lot of pretty good players that just aren't good enough for a scholarship coming out of high school, but there can always be that diamond in the rough that can fill the need we have. If Geno can't find someone willing to come here, this may be his only option.

I agree, we need a walk on-even if just for end of game blowouts to give the 3 guards we have a breather.

I don't particularly want Nika/Azzi out on the floor with 2 minutes left in a 40 point win over Providence.

 

[jchusky]

I don’t know if it’s wise to extend this discussion by adding my own commentary to it, but I will say that, whether sarcasm or not, @veryolddog’s comment treads a little close on The Boneyard‘s transfer speculation prohibition. He is a good poster, and I’m sure it wasn’t intended as anything other than humor, but it seemed imbued with commentary, albeit unintended, about Amari‘s value to the team.

I do think that the poster who commented on his post was needlessly reactionary and inflammatory, regardless.

JMO

agreed, that was my 1st thought too when reading. As long as a player has stated she is leaving, no need to even bring up scenarios like that. I admit maybe I'm hard on Deberry, but I know she's got real good potential. Just when you hear stuff like "effort" being the reason she is not getting playing time is discouraging.

 

[ctkaiser]

Wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying for a happy resolution to the both the UCONN team and
the BY team! Go Huskies! Go Boneyarders!
P.S. Did someone mention that the Spanish Guard (U18), Elena Buenavide Esteves (sp), had 36 points in
a losing effort to Lithuania on Sunday?? Juste Jocycte, 16 yoa player for Lithuania, had 28 points and was
MVP in the FIBA European Championship. 78 - 75.

I always liked that song!

 

[ctkaiser]

Sorry to tell you; the team is what you see. Geno and his coaches will figure out the best way to use the players he has. There will be no mystery signing, and there is no UCONN freshman who was 5 star rated from HS basketball who will, luckily, decide to walk-on and play.

You're probably right about no 5 star players and we all have a pretty good feeling that this coaching staff knows how to get things done.