Bria and Stef aren't worried about UConn next year (merged thread)

[HuskyNan]

“I didn’t play with any of them (other than Saniya Chong), but I watched them and you can see their games are improving throughout the season,” Hartley said. “They might struggle with some leadership and somebody is going to have to step up into that role. They are going to have some growing pains, but you have seen it at UConn in year’s past. Players step up and players mature, players step into that leadership role and they are able to figure it out.”

UConn lost in the national semifinals when Dolson and Hartley were freshmen and sophomores, but those lessons proved beneficial later in the duo’s time with the Huskies. That could also happen with the returning UConn stars.

“I think it will be fun,” Dolson said. “I know Coach Auriemma will be excited, people are going to challenge him because they think the team is going to drop and that just gives him more ammo to make them great.”

Hartley, Dolson know what awaits next year’s UConn team

 

[MilfordHusky]

I agree with Big Mama Stef and Big Game Bria.

 

[Kaizen]

I agree with Big Mama Stef and Big Game Bria.

Me too ..........

 

[Zorro]

Me three!

 

[DaddyChoc]

Me Four...

Big Shot Bria knows her stuff

 

[EricLA]

Pretty cool article. Quotes from both Hartley and Dolson as they talk about losing legends (Maya after their freshman year)...

Hartley, Dolson know...

“ I didn’t play with any of them (other than Saniya Chong), but I watched them and you can see their games are improving throughout the season,” Hartley said. “They might struggle with some leadership and somebody is going to have to step up into that role. They are going to have some growing pains, but you have seen it at UConn in year’s past. Players step up and players mature, players step into that leadership role and they are able to figure it out.”

“I think it will be fun,” Dolson said. “I know Coach Auriemma will be excited, people are going to challenge him because they think the team is going to drop and that just gives him more ammo to make them great.”

It's really a great article by Jim. Worth a read IMHO...

 

[PalPa]

It will be a fun season. I think that by tournament time they will be a very good team. Napheesa, Gabby, Kia, and LouConn should be good all year. It will be hard playing with a freshman point guard for awhile but that should be less of a problem as the season progresses. Kia seems to have the mental toughness to become the leader. Maybe Courtney's shooting touch will return and she becomes a real three point threat. A lot of possibilities, but whatever else happens watching Gabby play will be a real treat.

 

[Carnac]

I'm already on record (a previous post) saying that with the expected growth and development by the current freshmen and sophomore class, and the potential leadership from the junior class, UConn has the potential to be better than most folks think. No one in the program is conceding anything., especially the players. They will make the national tournament. How far they go will remain to be seen. Anything can happen during the tournament. Just ask Baylor, South Carolina or Notre Dame. They can give you chapter and verse.

Will UConn go undefeated next year, no. Running the table is very hard to do. UConn has done it 6 times, but (to my knowledge) no other women's program has done it more than once. It's a good bet that no team will go undefeated next season. You can lose to a team that on paper, is not as good as you are. It happened several times in the recent tournament.

Because of their defense, UConn will again be hard to beat. I doubt there will be many (any) 40+ point victories next year. As Steph and Bria said, someone WILL step up, they always do. Don't be surprised to see Gabby Williams & Kia Nurse stepping into team leadership roles next season. They both appear to have the personality, demeanor and the respect of the team to be good team leaders.