Caroline Ducharme making strong first impression | The Boneyard

Caroline Ducharme making strong first impression

A wealth of talent on this roster. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could skip the BE schedule of 20 plus games and just play the top teams around the country? I know..I know…..fantasy. I’m also expecting Penelope Cruz to knock on my door any minute now.
 
LoboDays said:
A wealth of talent on this roster. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could skip the BE schedule of 20 plus games and just play the top teams around the country? I know..I know…..fantasy. I’m also expecting Penelope Cruz to knock on my door any minute now.
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That BE schedule means more minutes for players 6-10 in the rotation. I don’t share your fantasy.
 
The weather here is miserable today so I needed a good reason to smile. Thanks for providing it, UconnCat. The season is going to be awesome.
 
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I know UConn has a lot of talent and I believe the biggest opponent will be South Carolina. Dawn doesn’t develop her talent the way UConn does but she sure can recruit it. As much as we are stacked South Carolina is just as loaded. This is a long wait for games and when will the next recruit commit? Kiki come on down. Dog days of summer
 
Charliebball said:
DuCharme doesn't appear to be particularly athletic ...
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I noticed that too...but was thinking of guards/wings in the NBA (old days) that she reminded me of...Celtics for sure...50's-60's
Couldn't quite put a name to it...but
She does lots of interesting things.
 
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LoboDays said:
It also means 20 plus games where you know the outcome before the opening tip. Close to unwatchable routs. And part of the reason they get knocked off in the Tourney by less talented but battle tested opponents.
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Good grief, UConn has made 13 consecutive Final Fours Of which even the newest darlings of WCBB, SC Gamecocks haven’t been to consecutive Final Fours and they play in the SEC. Your comment is completely ill-informed as regardless of whatever conference this program is in, it would dominate and still have success in the tournament.
Man, I now remember why I try to avoid coming on this forum during the summer months, heat stroke affecting our brethren…:rolleyes:
 
Charliebball said:
DuCharme doesn't appear to be particularly athletic but she's such a skilled shooter and strong competitor that I have little doubt she will be a big part of UConn's future success.......
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She's definitely "long". Hopefully, she's quick with her feet & can defend the opponents 2 or 3 on the perimeter & grab some rebounds - something Anna couldnt do. She can shoot, but if she can also defend the perimeter, that will be HUGE.
 
LoboDays said:
It also means 20 plus games where you know the outcome before the opening tip. Close to unwatchable routs. And part of the reason they get knocked off in the Tourney by less talented but battle tested opponents.
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Exactly! I mean a team like Connecticut should always have one of the highest SOS in the country….

oh wait, they do.


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LoboDays said:
It also means 20 plus games where you know the outcome before the opening tip. Close to unwatchable routs. And part of the reason they get knocked off in the Tourney by less talented but battle tested opponents.
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And how many top 10 games did SCar have in the SEC?

Just about every elite level team plays 20 non-competitive games. SCar just plays slightly better teams but they never seem to get past the 2nd round of the tournament so how tough are they really? Check on UConn's record against P-5 teams over the last 10 years. They won the vast majority of them.

UConn played and beat 2 AP No 1 teams last year. I don't think any team even played 2, never mind winning both.

And in any case, I like watching UConn, regardless of the score. Just like how I enjoy watching Tiger Woods win by 10 shots.
 
I think she is going to be sneaky good real fast. Longer and better shooter than EW and probably a better passer. When everybody is concentrating on PB and , she is will give with corner threes. Nor sure how well she will play defense or rebound, but i think she can be about as good there as EW as well, if not better. That is my hope and I think there is a reasonable chance most of it comes to fruition.
 
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nuna23 said:
I Hope she's gonna improve how good she's ,cause I know she's special ...be confident trust ur self and improve everyone who u are Caroline
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I Assume this post toastie was a parody to improve u r payin attestation. Duh.
 
Alydar said:
And how many top 10 games did SCar have in the SEC?

Just about every elite level team plays 20 non-competitive games. SCar just plays slightly better teams but they never seem to get past the 2nd round of the tournament so how tough are they really? Check on UConn's record against P-5 teams over the last 10 years. They won the vast majority of them.

UConn played and beat 2 AP No 1 teams last year. I don't think any team even played 2, never mind winning both.

And in any case, I like watching UConn, regardless of the score. Just like how I enjoy watching Tiger Woods win by 10 shots.
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Like the 1985 Bears over the Patriots - only complaint is that Sweetness did not get his touchdown. I enjoy the 30 - 50 point MOVs as I will rewatch the turning points in the game. Some do not take long, like when they start the game on a 15-0 run or more....
 
DefenseBB said:
Good grief, UConn has made 13 consecutive Final Fours Of which even the newest darlings of WCBB, SC Gamecocks haven’t been to consecutive Final Fours and they play in the SEC. Your comment is completely ill-informed as regardless of whatever conference this program is in, it would dominate and still have success in the tournament.
Man, I now remember why I try to avoid coming on this forum during the summer months, heat stroke affecting our brethren…:rolleyes:
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I don't think the comment (opinion) was "completely ill-informed". I thought it was rather humorous and it did specifically contain the phrases "fantasy" and "part of the reason" and something about Penelope Cruz knocking at the door which was definitely redundant with the use of fantasy.
In reality (see what I did there) UCONN WBB has no choice about playing a Big East schedule. I don't think it is an ill informed opinion to say that If UCONN WBB were playing in a P5 conference they would be better prepared for the NCAA tournament. Another reality is for the past several seasons Geno and the staff has worked very hard to schedule competitive non-conference games in the latter half of the season including:18-19 Louisville and South Carolina; 19-20 TN and South Carolina and 20-21 South Carolina and Arkansas. Us fanatics also have a tendency to overstate BE conference play which does not translate to good tournament play. Some specific examples: Megan Walker would not have been named AA in 2020 if she were playing in a P5 conference. Many people thought ONO had turned the corner and was on her way to AA status based on her conference play in the second half of her Sophomore season coupled with the arrival of Jamelle. Anna shot close to 40% from deep in the latter half of her Freshman season causing her to be tabbed a "dead eye" shooter for UCONN. UCONN's path to a championship last year would have required them to beat Iowa, Baylor, Arizona and Stanford in consecutive games during March and April. That would have been an extremely tall order considering that UCONN last competitive game prior to that stretch would have been almost 2 full months prior or SC on 2/08/21. UCONN is approaching a decade of being undefeated and unchallenged in conference play. But as Geno once said the program stopped counting conference championships a long time ago.

BTW in the interest of getting back on topic-I'm coming around on Caroline. I think she going to play a lot this year because Saylor is injured, Anna is gone and Aubrey has not generate any Buzz this summer as she did coming into last season when Geno said she was 1000% better. There are minutes to be had at the 3 spot assuming Evina is the starter and Caroline has the skills and size to earn those minutes IMO.
 
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UConnCat said:
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It must have been a good year ago that someone here posted a podcast where Caroline was just talking ball with a couple of guys. Took about two seconds to tell that she was a natural. Then I caught that short tape of game action where she's knocking in 3's from all over. But that was HS. Now against her college peers she opening eyes from the get-go? Looks like they have a another good one. And if she can hit 3's at this level with her size, she will see plenty of court time from the get-go.
 
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CocoHusky said:
I don't think the comment (opinion) was "completely ill-informed". I thought it was rather humorous and it did specifically contain the phrases "fantasy" and "part of the reason" and something about Penelope Cruz knocking at the door which was definitely redundant with the use of fantasy.
In reality (see what I did there) UCONN WBB has no choice about playing a Big East schedule. I don't think it is an ill informed opinion to say that If UCONN WBB were playing in a P5 conference they would be better prepared for the NCAA tournament. Another reality is for the past several season Geno and the staff has worked very hard to schedule competitive non-conference games in the latter half of the season including:18-19 Louisville and South Carolina; 19-20 TN and South Carolina and 20-21 South Carolina and Arkansas. Us fanatics also have a tendency to overstate BE conference play which does not translate to good tournament play. Some specific examples: Megan Walker would not have been named AA in 2020 if she were playing in a P5 conference. Many people thought ONO had turned the corner and was on her way to AA status based on her conference play in the second half of her Sophomore season coupled with the arrival of Jamelle. Anna shot close to 40% from deep in the latter half of her Freshman season causing her to be tabbed a "dead eye" shooter for UCONN. UCONN's path to a championship last year would have required them to beat Iowa, Baylor, Arizona and Stanford in consecutive games during March and April. That would have been an extremely tall order considering that UCONN last competitive game prior to that stretch would have been almost 2 full months prior or SC on 2/08/21. UCONN is approaching a decade of being undefeated and unchallenged in conference play. But as Geno once said the program stopped counting conference championships a long time ago.

BTW in the interest of getting back on topic-I'm coming around on Caroline. I think she going to play a lot this year because Saylor is injured, Anna is gone and Aubrey has not generate any Buzz this summer as she did coming into last season when Geno said she was 1000% better. There are minutes to be had at the 3 spot assuming Evina is the starter and Caroline has the skills and size to earn those minutes IMO.
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Regarding Griffin, I wonder if GA was halfway through a bottle of wine when he came out with that. And regarding Ducharme, I think she’ll be a Swiss Army knife who does a lot that won’t necessarily show up in stats. Except shots. She’s going to make some shots. Oh, btw this Penelope Cruz must be pretty good. Who else is recruiting her?
 
BobbyJ said:
Regarding Griffin, I wonder if GA was halfway through a bottle of wine when he came out with that. And regarding Ducharme, I think she’ll be a Swiss Army knife who does a lot that won’t necessarily show up in stats. Except shots. She’s going to make some shots. Oh, btw this Penelope Cruz must be pretty good. Who else is recruiting her?
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Definitely. I had originally had Saylor pegged for that Swiss army knife role because she had a better defensive took kit. But with Saylor having two major injures (Hip surgery & back fracture) she will need some time to mend. Caroline has a real opportunity here.
 
Waquoit said:
It must have been a good year ago that someone here posted a podcast where Caroline was just talking ball with a couple of guys. Took about two seconds to tell that she was a natural. Then I caught that short tape of game action where she's knocking in 3's from all over. But that was HS. Now against her college peers she opening eyes from the get-go? Looks like they have a another good one. And if she can hit 3's at this level with her size, she will see plenty of court time from the get-go.
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I don't expect Caroline to get much time in big games her frosh year. She has 4 players ahead of her if you consider the 2/3 positions and five players ahead of her if you consider Nika as the PG. The combo of Nika and Paige and Azzi,- or CW and even EW at the 2/3- is probably just better than her in her frosh year. Of course this assumes all 5 are healthy. And if Dorka is very good on the perimeter then with Edwards in- you can have Griffin and/or Mir the capability of filling the 3 okay. Maybe not great offensively but certainly in terms of potential- that defense can possibly compete with anyone.

I just think sometimes there is a push to get a little ahead of ourselves with these freshmen (other than the superstars). Look at Saylor last year; so many thought she was a possible answer. Saylor is a terrific talent but UCONN was an elite top 4 team. The chances of her stepping in on an elite team during the season and becoming an answer wasn't realistic. Not her fault - not one bit. As you mentioned on that other Saylor thread that you didn't realize that it was even "a thing," - I felt the same way. I didn't know there was "a thing" either. How can she be criticized? Heck, even Nika as a frosh bricked everything for quite a while early until she found her rhythm. Walker who turned out to be an A/A and is now in the WNBA bricked many, many, many shots her frosh year.

So unless there are injuries - it's good for Caroline that UCONN is in the Big East to a degree. Paige and CW and Azzi etc won't have to play as much because games will be wipeouts much earlier than last year. That's where I see her time. But hey-- if she beats out some of the names I mentioned - well hey great for UCONN basketball, right? I wouldn't bet on it. Just need patience with these younger players. Geno didn't recruit that well and/or able to keep players prior to last year for 3 years. That's been their biggest Achilles heel. Rushing non-superstar freshmen is not the best answer when trying to win titles.
 
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Waquoit said:
Sounds like you already decided that Caroline is a non-superstar. I bet she gets plenty of time in big games.
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You think she's a superstar? I hope you're right but I think this is the same thing that happened with Saylor last year. I'd bet you but frankly I think we only care that they win.
 
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