Auriemma eyes dominant frontcourt in UConn’s quest for 12th title

[Charliebball]

There is no question that SC has 3 excellent players that can play the post. As Dawn Staley said in an interview: we do not worry about making the first shot because we know that we are going to get the offensive rebound and either make that shot or get fouled.

If UConn is going to contend against SC, they are going to need 3 big "Bulls" to push and shove against those 3 excellent post players on SC. The portal at this point is the place to look for some of them with experience. And, they should act quickly before Dawn adds them to her team.

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a player in the portal that is going to be a major difference maker in combating the South Carolina front three.........an additional shooting guard....... yes.............a 6'2" forward that can rebound well for their size......yes.............a skilled 6'3" plus bruiser.........not that I'm aware of.......

 

[Notyetready]

SC will have a new point guard and that may be the weakness for them. Henderson was very good at controlling the pace and the team. She was a senior and did the job that Harris did before her. We have to disrupt the new point guard. It could be Cooke or maybe Amihere would played it when Henderson was out early in the year.

Q

Let’s be clear about we do have on Amari and what we don’t have. Amari was the #12 rated player in her senior class. She fell 6 spots from her jr year because her senior season in HS was cancelled due to Covid, so we have no meaningful tape of her beating up on HS kids. What we do have is about 30 minutes of film from the U19 World Championships and 83 minutes of play this past season against college competition.

Here’s what I see. Amari has a relatively big body and good hands, a key skill for any Big. She runs the court reasonably well, although I believe she can improve quite a bit with better conditioning. Amari also has the ability to score from a variety of places on the court. She can finish at the rim with either hand and has a really nice bank shot from 5’-10’. Amari’s 3-point shot is the second best looking stroke on the team to Azzi’s. Amari is also a very good passer from the high post.

In the minutes Amari got when everyone was injured, she was more than willing to body up other post players and demonstrated a sound knowledge of defensive positioning (thank you Jamelle). Amari needs work on defensive recognition and providing help defense. I suggested that I want to see more aggression on defense from her, even if she goes through a period where she gets whistled for a bunch of fouls.

Geno has indicated that Amari is one of the most skilled Bigs he’s ever had. That’s very much a legitimate comment. What she lacks at this point in time is better conditioning, experience & confidence.

UConn fans can fantasize about some other Big in the transfer portal that may or may not have the ability to put the Huskies over the top next season. I don’t see that player. Next season, with Dorka & Aaliyah, UConn will have one of the best frontcourt combinations in WBB. I expect to see Ice & Ayanna crack the rotation once they figure things out.

Amari has already committed to the first necessary step by planning to be in Storrs all summer working with Andrea Hudy on her strength & conditioning, while developing her game as well. IMO, Amari is a better option to backup Dorka & Aaliyah than anyone in the portal next season and a much better long term option to be UConn’s starting center in the years beyond.

I agree. I would like to add that, since we can't see practice time, we have to rely on the comments of those who can. Two UConn pactice players said on YouTube that Amari has the best shot, despite her misses in live game, of all the bigs they have ever seen. Add that to the very positive comments from Geno and I remain hopeful of big developments by Amari next year. Also I think she did well dending the 4 in the SC final. She boxed out well and defended against the pass. She was not guarding Boston though.

 

[Gus Mahler]

As a fan base we continue to underestimate Boston's impact on the defensive end of the floor. Time to come to grips that we are not going to beat her with gimmicks. As a freshman there was the though that UCONN should out run her because she was poorly conditioned. As a sophomore there was a though that we could drive right at her and get her in foul trouble. Now we are suggesting drawing her away from the basket. Boston is the National DPOY and deservedly so. Boston's ability to help on the perimeter, recover, block shots, BBIQ, and reflexes are all elite. What is most elite in her tool bag are the reflexes. Boston reaction to the ball and the game situation are Dennis Rodman like. My point is you may be able to fool a player like that for a play or two but you better have a plan B. UCONN hitting some more mid or long range jump shots will certainly help-then what?

This is the salient point re Boston. One place you see this is in the way she runs down long rebounds.

 

[CocoHusky]

You make good points. Dawn, of course did not abandon her style ( after missing the 2021 championship by the roll of the ball) because she has for seven years ( going on 8 ) had the most dominating BIG person in college Basketball. And she builds around that. Who wouldn't? And I will wager she tries to land the next Wilson/Boston as soon as one appears in HS. But it does take a scheme of some sort ( without such a player ) to beat South Carolina with Boston ( and Cardoza who is 6'7" ) at the core. I remember the days when Brittany Griner ( 6'8" ) dominated college ball, but the Aggies beat Baylor didn't they? Geno will find a way. If he can find a Tina Charles, he will always do that, won't he? Or Steph Golsen? That doesn't require a shift in BB that should turn you away. I fear the day when all the guards are of "magic" Johnson size, and everyone dunks.

Actually no. The Aggies beat ND in the championship in 2011. Baylor was beaten by Louisville in a 2013 regional final.

 

[Alydar]

Olivia didnt exactly set the world on fire her freshman year. Amari was more of a Katie Lou type player and just needs to learn the finer points of rebounding, boxing out and put backs. Amari wasnt bad for a freshman who had to find some playing time behind Olivia, Aaliyah and Dorka. Give her some time to get stronger and more aggressive.

Hopefully. But it seems to me that in every one of ONO & Williams' post season interviews through the years they said all the right things about working hard in the off-season. Williams added some things to her offense this season, mostly options on drives. But they were things Bueckers was doing in HS.

Geno needs more players who have not only talent and athleticism but also an obsession with developing it. Screw their size. Boston is big and uses it but watch the first 5 minutes of the last game. Boston is assertive, confident. ONO is trying not to bump into anyone. She hardly even tried to box anyone out.

It's all history now. New year. New leaders on the team. New attitude.

 

[CocoHusky]

I didn't see Fletcher on any lists of AA's . And while plenty on this board had serious doubts about NPOY Bueckers coming back from a relatively minor knee issue, they have no issues with Johnson (great promise) as vying for the starting pg spot. I guess an ACL is much less serious than a bone bruise. Never mind that Johnson has no experience as a college pg. Fudd was a question mark though, right? Some of those same people needed Bueckers to "show them something" before rating her. Frankly I think some of the posters here are Creme surrogates.

Fletcher is going to be a terrific addition for SC. If you want to talk about the guard depth of the two teams then let's talk and not get caught up in these foolish chest thumping feelings. South Carolina is going to go 6 deep at the guard spot next year.
SC has Rivers/Hall/Cooke/ Fletcher/Johnson/Cooper. You point is valid that the player that wins the starting PG battle will be a first year starter for SC. But keep in mind that Dawn's first national Championship had a freshman starter at the PG position in Tyasha Harris. Consider this the bonus in the continued education of @Alydar. With the exception of Fletcher the 5 SC guards were all All McDonalds AA and ranked significantly higher than where Tyasha Harris was ranked coming out of HS. UCONN may very well add more guards from the transfer portal but as things stand right now advantage SC -even with the exceptional Paige and the potential of Azzi.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Yeah, she got a lot of PT. In the season opener she got 7 minutes with no stats at all. And after 1 minute got hurt in the 2nd game. At least do some research before you throw this stuff out as if it's real.

7 minutes in game one is better than Caroline got. She was the number 2 recruit in the country or something like that and she got meaningful minutes as in not mop up. Do you think she will not be the primary Point guard next year? It's a good bet she will be. This is what a good point guard looks like:

 

[Carnac]

We need Amari to make a jump to be our third big in the rotation. She has been here a year and knows the system. She has good form on her outside shot and with our big's playing the elbow she has to learn how to screen and I think she is a good passer already and be able to hit the outside shot if teams play off of her like SC and other do. We will miss Liv on defense but we have Patterson who I think can defend well so we need our two freshman to add to the team the way Azzi and Caroline did for the year's team.

She knows the system, she banged all last year against ONO Edwards and Juhasz in practice. Th coaches and trainers LL know of her conditioning challenges. That should also be addressed this spring and summer.

I’m surprised so many people think she has this amazing skill set. From what little we saw her I don’t know how that evaluation is just. I find it hard to go buy high school videos where she dominates lesser players. I agree that she has promise but again so little playing time somewhat leaves me doubtful. The fact that she’s willing to stay this summer and work on her game is a big plus and I can only hope vast improvement on her part not only for the team but for her as an individual. But if I were the coaches I would not plan on that account on that I would go out and get an experienced Big. having a quality for big rotation with two quality freshmen would clearly give any other team problems. It’s gonna be a long summer of waiting.

Agreed. I felt the same way about Paige until I saw her in that first exhibition game. I need to see what a player (all freshmen) can do against D-1 college level players that are older and more experienced than they are before I pencil them in for active duty. Samantha Brunelle (Notre Dame) was all-everything in high school. She was listed as one of the top players in the country. Once she got to ND however, she barely got off the bench. She's now in the portal. I'm from Missouri. I'll reserve my thoughts on who can help us this coming season until I see them on the court.

 

[CocoHusky]

7 minutes in game one is better than Caroline got. She was the number 2 recruit in the country or something like that and she got meaningful minutes as in not mop up. Do you think she will not be the primary Point guard next year? It's a good bet she will be. This is what a good point guard looks like:

Stop with the backsliding! What you said was Raven was getting "a lot of playing time before she was injured." That is not true and something you should have easily looked up. She played in two games and got 7 minutes. If you had looked it up you would have also found out that those 7 minutes were against NCst. which was ranked 4th In the country at the time and this would have been a much more substantive point. Raven is going to be a very good player for South Carolina -but we already knew that.

 

[donalddoowop]

I disagree with that. Kentucky has Edwards who dropped 27 and 9 and the game winner in the lone Kentucky win vs SC his season. Although she did not play in SC game that Missouri won Blackwell is a special player. Either player is better than anyone UCONN can put on the front line. Ironically both players are in the portal and I wouldn't mind seeing UCONN get either oor both of them.

But the fact is Blackwell did not play, and Mizzou still won. Edwards by herself and Blackwell by herself, are not better than the whole UConn frontline, imo.

 

[CocoHusky]

But the fact is Blackwell did not play, and Mizzou still won. Edwards by herself and Blackwell by herself, are not better than the whole UConn frontline, imo.

That is not what I meant nor is it close. What I meant is that Blackwell & Edwards are better "individual" front court ( SF,PF, C) players than any player currently on the UCONN roster. Do you disagree? If so which UCONN player do you think would keep Blackwell or Edwards from starting should they decide to suit up for UCONN?

 

[Brown Eyed]

Injuries are not an intangible they are a reality of the game. When both teams were at full strength early in the season SC was still the dominat team. SC also beat Stanford earlier this season. There is a significant gap between SC and UCONN. I really don't care about the other teams. Lamenting the injuries UCONN had in this game or on the season does nothing to close the gap. A new/different strategy + improved (new?) players is now a necessity- at least that's what I got out of reading this article.

UCONN was not at full strength the beginning of the season or I n the championship game. Period. period. Period.
B&C

 

[Brown Eyed]

Technically never. It was announced after this game that Azzi was suffering from stress in feet and Aubrey had not been ruled out as of yet. Caroline was a healthy scratch for this game. My main point still stands it is fairly shortsighted to focus on the injuries because the gap between the teams is significantly above what the injuries would account for and the injuries are not predictable. It is really a quick excuse as was put forth last year when UCONN lost to Arizona-Nika was not fully healthy. This year people are pointing to Dorka being missing, Azzi being ill and Evina being nick up during the game. While I believe those fully healthy players certain would have worked in UCONN favor it is not something we should be counting on as the answer to closing this gap. I'll keep it a buck! Dorka did not exactly distinguish herself against the Indiana front line. She showed some early flashes against NCst before being injured. I'm just not sure why there would be hope for Dorka to distinguish herself against the SC front line.

Women's Basketball vs South Carolina on 11/22/2021 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official box score of Women's Basketball vs South Carolina on 11/22/2021

uconnhuskies.com

So if Boston had a pulled groin and Henderson was under the weather HMMMM.

 

[Alydar]

Fletcher is going to be a terrific addition for SC. If you want to talk about the guard depth of the two teams then let's talk and not get caught up in these foolish chest thumping feelings. South Carolina is going to go 6 deep at the guard spot next year.
SC has Rivers/Hall/Cooke/ Fletcher/Johnson/Cooper. You point is valid that the player that wins the starting PG battle will be a first year starter for SC. But keep in mind that Dawn's first national Championship had a freshman starter at the PG position in Tyasha Harris. Consider this the bonus in the continued education of @Alydar. With the exception of Fletcher the 5 SC guards were all All McDonalds AA and ranked significantly higher than where Tyasha Harris was ranked coming out of HS. UCONN may very well add more guards from the transfer portal but as things stand right now advantage SC -even with the exceptional Paige and the potential of Azzi.

Why?
Why is it that UConn incoming players (Brady/Patterson) are question marks until they prove themselves at UConn while you have declared Fletcher an integral part of the 2023 SCar rotation and see no issues in SCar's back court? Johnson is a sure bet to be 100% off her ACL? No hesitation? I admire your blind faith in the SCar medical staff.

You can talk all you want about quickness etc but be honest, if you had all of UConn's guards and SCar's guards and you could pick just two for your team, which would you take? Fletcher and Cooke? Rivers & Johnson?

While I'm at it how did front court UConn beat the tallest team in the country 48 hours before playing SCar? Will Stanford now become a guard-oriented team?

 

[Charliebball]

Fletcher is going to be a terrific addition for SC. If you want to talk about the guard depth of the two teams then let's talk and not get caught up in these foolish chest thumping feelings. South Carolina is going to go 6 deep at the guard spot next year.
SC has Rivers/Hall/Cooke/ Fletcher/Johnson/Cooper. You point is valid that the player that wins the starting PG battle will be a first year starter for SC. But keep in mind that Dawn's first national Championship had a freshman starter at the PG position in Tyasha Harris. Consider this the bonus in the continued education of @Alydar. With the exception of Fletcher the 5 SC guards were all All McDonalds AA and ranked significantly higher than where Tyasha Harris was ranked coming out of HS. UCONN may very well add more guards from the transfer portal but as things stand right now advantage SC -even with the exceptional Paige and the potential of Azzi.

SC may have more guards but luckily they can only play two or three at a time ...........would you trade Fudd for any of those six? I sure wouldn't........

 

[CocoHusky]

Why?
Why is it that UConn incoming players (Brady/Patterson) are question marks until they prove themselves at UConn while you have declared Fletcher an integral part of the 2023 SCar rotation and see no issues in SCar's back court? Johnson is a sure bet to be 100% off her ACL? No hesitation? I admire your blind faith in the SCar medical staff.

You can talk all you want about quickness etc but be honest, if you had all of UConn's guards and SCar's guards and you could pick just two for your team, which would you take? Fletcher and Cooke? Rivers & Johnson?

While I'm at it how did front court UConn beat the tallest team in the country 48 hours before playing SCar? Will Stanford now become a guard-oriented team?

Because....Fletcher has already played 4 years of high level basketball in a P5 conference. The reference regarding quickness was in specifically relating to the ability to trap. Trapping requires quickness and foot speed which UCONN lacks more than SC.
You will not find anything in my prior post relating to UCONN or Stanford becoming a "guard" oriented team. You clearly have me confused with someone else. My position is that UCONN needs to improve defensively at the guard and forward and post position if it is to close the significant gap that exist between SC and UCONN.
You can continue to pound your chest if you must but isn't that what you have done for the past 4 years?

 

[BobbyJ]

7 minutes in game one is better than Caroline got. She was the number 2 recruit in the country or something like that and she got meaningful minutes as in not mop up. Do you think she will not be the primary Point guard next year? It's a good bet she will be. This is what a good point guard looks like:

Nice try. Seven minutes out of 40 in one game is not "a lot of PT". The point is that you make stuff up to support your opinions.

 

[Charliebball]

She knows the system, she banged all last year against ONO Edwards and Juhasz in practice. Th coaches and trainers LL know of her conditioning challenges. That should also be addressed this spring and summer.

Agreed. I felt the same way about Paige until I saw her in that first exhibition game. I need to see what a player (all freshmen) can do against D-1 college level players that are older and more experienced than they are before I pencil them in for active duty. Samantha Brunelle (Notre Dame) was all-everything in high school. She was listed as one of the top players in the country. Once she got to ND however, she barely got off the bench. She's now in the portal. I'm from Missouri. I'll reserve my thoughts on who can help us this coming season until I see them on the court.

wait a second.........I thought you were the one person on the Boneyard that could predict the future!!

 

[Charliebball]

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a player in the portal that is going to be a major difference maker in combating the South Carolina front three.........an additional shooting guard....... yes.............a 6'2" forward that can rebound well for their size......yes.............a skilled 6'3" plus bruiser.........not that I'm aware of.......

I actually want to amend that last statement.............Angel Reese would help UConn's front court against South Carolina, Stanford etc........that said, I find it unlikely she'll end up at UConn.............BTW if she ends up at South Carolina I'm going to call for a Congressional investigation!!

 

[HopJim]

This is an interesting article. It appears that Geno is weighing whether or not to play the hand he has next season as far as frontcourt players are concerned or to dip into the transfer portal for another Big.

Much of UConn’s ability to make it back to the FF next year, and perhaps overcome the enormous challenge posed by SC & Boston, comes down to the development of Amari DeBerry, a 6’5” post. Amari needs to improve her conditioning and agressiveness but she definitely has the skill set to become a dominant post player.

I am heartened to know that Amari plans to stay on campus over the summer to work with Andrea Hudy, as well as the coaches. She is most certainly the X-factor going into next season.

Great to hear that DeBerry and Geno are mutually committed to her success. That being said, Amari is a thin, 3-point shooter who has not proven her ability to rebound or guard bigs. While I expect her to play a major role next year, she is not a defender or rebounder I would count on tilting the scale versus Boston.

 

[Carnac]

wait a second.........I thought you were the one person on the Boneyard that could predict the future!!

Charlie, If I could, I'd be RICH!!! and I would share my wealth with my BY brethren. I think I might start a thread this summer asking "What would you do if you were a billionaire?" What are 3 things that you would do with your wealth? Would you be "Scrooge McDuck, Bill Gates or somewhere in between? I think I'll get some very interesting responses.

 

[Alydar]

Because....Fletcher has already played 4 years of high level basketball in a P5 conference. The reference regarding quickness was in specifically relating to the ability to trap. Trapping requires quickness and foot speed which UCONN lacks more than SC.
You will not find anything in my prior post relating to UCONN or Stanford becoming a "guard" oriented team. You clearly have me confused with someone else. My position is that UCONN needs to improve defensively at the guard and forward and post position if it is to close the significant gap that exist between SC and UCONN.
You can continue to pound your chest if you must but isn't that what you have done for the past 4 years?

ONO just finished 4 years at a higher level school. Do you want her back for another year? I don't. She was the reason we lost more than any other. And she had better stats than Fletcher.

My Stanford comment was an attempt at humor in response to all the talk about UConn needing to change the way they play because Scar beat them. Sorry you didn't see that.

 

[uconnever]

SC will have a new point guard and that may be the weakness for them. Henderson was very good at controlling the pace and the team. She was a senior and did the job that Harris did before her. We have to disrupt the new point guard. It could be Cooke or maybe Amihere would played it when Henderson was out early in the year.

I agree with this. We won’t t stop Boston but with Henderson gone, they have come back to the pack. I fully expect to beat them next. Obviously it won’t be easy.

 

[Stymie]

Nobody knows for sure. If you are a UCONN fan you hope she becomes that players the same way we hoped for 3 years that ONO would as well. The BY would be a boring place if all our hope and expectation was at the same level. I hope you are wrong about Amari.

I am a UCONN fan.
I am pulling hard for Amari.
All I’m saying is SHOW ME.
Does that make me wrong??
Paige—Baller as a freshman.
Azzi—Baller as a freshman.
Ducharme—Baller as a freshman.
DeBerry- Baller as a sophomore?
I’ll take it.
Put in the work.
Next year at this time- her career is half over. Just sayin’.

 

[oldude]

Great to hear that DeBerry and Geno are mutually committed to her success. That being said, Amari is a thin, 3-point shooter who has not proven her ability to rebound or guard bigs. While I expect her to play a major role next year, she is not a defender or rebounder I would count on tilting the scale versus Boston.

I keep hearing that Amari is “thin” or built like Liv. That’s not quite accurate. She may not be built like Steph, but Amari is a big girl, and once Andrea Hudy gets through with her this summer, she’ll be a much stronger girl as well.