Caroline Still Not Her Old Self | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Caroline Still Not Her Old Self

Closest today since last year. The kid had a concussion, a hip condition, and a neck sprain. Baby steps. Even if she only plays like this for the rest of the year with no more improvement we get between 25-30 points a game and 10-15 rebounds a game from our 3 position including Aubrey. Who else has that?
 
Caroline had a good showing against Seton Hall. She was playing faster and making good decisions. Hope she keeps improving. She has a lot of upside and will be invaluable as the season progresses.
 
Coming off hip surgery, a neck injury and a series of concussion-like incidents, I'm just happy she's playing. She did not have any pressure last year because everyone thought when Paige and Azzi went out that this team would tank. This year, Coaches add her to the pre-game discussion.

She will get better, she looked better today and once she goes back into not thinking (which led to her success and honestly Aaliyah's this whole season) she will go back to the Kawhi kind of player we say last year. Get ball, shoot ball, drive ball, pass.
 
HopJim said:
Of the past 5 games, 2 were good, 1 average, 1 below average, and today's performance outstanding. In each game, Caroline played solid defense, rebounded well, and was one of the few Huskies moving without the ball. Her ability each game to cut opens the middle up for Edwards and others. If you watch the little things she does, you will have a better understanding of the value she brings even when not scoring (which she is beginning to do very well).
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Totally agree with your analysis and think the heading for this post does not apply anymore. Today she turned in a game that 99% of all players would love to have. The best part is Caroline is going to get better and better as the games are played. Caroline has always been my favorite player since I saw a lot of her high school videos and was amazed at her range in shooting. I said before, she's too good a basketball player to not be outstanding.; GO CAROLINE!!! GO HUSKIES!!!
 
Next 12 said:
Totally agree with your analysis and think the heading for this post does not apply anymore. Today she turned in a game that 99% of all players would love to have. The best part is Caroline is going to get better and better as the games are played. Caroline has always been my favorite player since I saw a lot of her high school videos and was amazed at her range in shooting. I said before, she's too good a basketball player to not be outstanding.; GO CAROLINE!!! GO HUSKIES!!!
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And like CD said in her SHU post game presser, Caroline does plenty of things on offense that won't show up in the points column. And we sometimes forget that she is only a sophomore!
 
Caroline had a really good game today. I really think with her off season surgery that she is still playing her way back in shape. She will get there for sure.
 
I'm a broken record: HOOPHALLAWARDS = vote for Caroline on
the online link. Also, Azzi, Aaliyah, and Dorka. VOTE EARLY; VOTE
OFTEN = I already voted today, 12/22/2022 = at 6 AM!
 
Majic Hands said:
:cool: 30+ years as a practicing Massage Therapist I've not expected anything from Caroline until "Maybe", MAYBE, the end of the season. Don't know the scope of the surgery, not my business.

Think about it. . . Surgery, somewhere in the hip. Stationary for a long period of time. No basketball practice until the season starts. Being expected to execute moves at the highest level of D1 basketball. Really? Her muscle coordination is out of whack. Her Ballance is off. What she expects to happen whenever she does X doesn't happen. Hells bells her stiff neck issues could simply be that she is standing in a different position since hip surgery.

In the last game "I" saw what appeared to be a full stride going up court for the first time this year. Actually, I can't pull up a memory of Caroline running at full stride. My memories are more of a smooth shuffle. But I'm dyslected, so what do I really remember?

I will be ecstatic if Caroline comes in next year like Aubrey came in this year. You know, a year of recovery and then putting their game together without "pain".

Personally I will be dancing if Caroline comes anywhere near what she did last year. :)
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I think the things you mention could certainly be true, and perhaps completely resetting expectations for some of us is needed here. As I recall it, however, there was no indication at the time of the surgery that this would hold her back for this season at all. I might have been at an unrealistic extreme, but based on what little information was out there, I fully expected Caroline to be substantially better this season, not much worse.

The reason for that opinion was it was not portrayed as that serious a surgery, and at least early on the impression was that she would be ready to go at near full strength by the first game. I'm not saying that it was described that way, but rather that the lack of concerned feedback led me and potentially others to conclude she would be fine.

I thought she would be much better this year largely because she would be healthier after surgery, than she was playing with a problem last year. Obviously that opinion has been completely reversed. It is frustrating to many fans who would like to know more about the details of her health situation, just an honest assessment of the surgery, anticipated timeline for recovery to close to 100%, was the surgery a success or is this turning out worse than expected? etc.

The team rarely provides any more information on health issues than they have to. As much as I and others might find that frustrating, that is their right, and of course the player's privacy is a big issue there as well. They might not have known, but if the coaches and Caroline knew this was going to be a long process to recovery, setting realistic expectations early on would have been much better for all involved IMO, rather than keeping the public in the dark.
 
Loved her game against Seton Hall- along with last game, things are looking really promising. One thing I noticed today is that she had much quicker movement especially getting to an opponent to cover on defense. If she is moving faster, then she is getting better physically.
 
I liked the way Caroline moved on the court yesterday. Her stride was longer, she seemed much more limber, and her neck even seemed looser. I think it showed in all dimensions of her game.

At one point, the camera followed her running back on D, and she turned in mid stride from running forwards to backpedaling. She wasn’t doing that two weeks ago. I let out a “whoop” and my wife looked over at me as if to say, “What’s wrong with you, old man? Nothing happened.” But to my eyes, something momentous had happened!

She’s never going to be the speediest player, but she doesn’t need to be. That’s not her game. She’s all about positioning and savvy, always has been. She always seems to know where to be on O and D. I love her game!

Who will we see next week against Creighton? I hope she doesn’t stiffen up from the layoff and we see her even more limber and energetic on the court. This could be how it begins for Caroline! January could well be her second breakout.
 
Last edited:
Zarathustra said:
I'm a broken record: HOOPHALLAWARDS = vote for Caroline on
the online link. Also, Azzi, Aaliyah, and Dorka. VOTE EARLY; VOTE
OFTEN = I already voted today, 12/22/2022 = at 6 AM!
Expand ...
I am getting that thing where hoophall says I already voted, so I haven’t been voting the last week or so. However, a new voter, “Ida Wannasay”, has been consistently voting for UConn players in my absence.
 
From Caroline:

Caroline Ducharme admits she wasn’t happy w/ how she started the season.
In UConn’s past two games, she’s shown she’s getting back on track.
“I know I need to be better. I know the team needs me to be better, coaches do. So that's just on me to perform”
I think the last two games have helped," she said on Wednesday after UConn’s win over Seton Hall.
"I think I'm still kind of not where I want to be. I still feel like I have a long way to go. But I think it's definitely a step in the right direction."
Maggie Vanoni
1f3c0.png
 
Majic Hands said:
:cool: 30+ years as a practicing Massage Therapist I've not expected anything from Caroline until "Maybe", MAYBE, the end of the season. Don't know the scope of the surgery, not my business.

Think about it. . . Surgery, somewhere in the hip. Stationary for a long period of time. No basketball practice until the season starts. Being expected to execute moves at the highest level of D1 basketball. Really? Her muscle coordination is out of whack. Her Ballance is off. What she expects to happen whenever she does X doesn't happen. Hells bells her stiff neck issues could simply be that she is standing in a different position since hip surgery.

In the last game "I" saw what appeared to be a full stride going up court for the first time this year. Actually, I can't pull up a memory of Caroline running at full stride. My memories are more of a smooth shuffle. But I'm dyslected, so what do I really remember?

I will be ecstatic if Caroline comes in next year like Aubrey came in this year. You know, a year of recovery and then putting their game together without "pain".

Personally I will be dancing if Caroline comes anywhere near what she did last year. :)
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She had been living with the hip problem for years so it's likely it caused changes in her shooting form that now have to be dealt with. Yesterday was cause for optimism.
 
I was happy that Caroline had a decent game against Seton Hall. Something for her to build on going forward.
 
CL82 said:
I am getting that thing where hoophall says I already voted, so I haven’t been voting the last week or so. However, a new voter, “Ida Wannasay”, has been consistently voting for UConn players in my absence.
Expand ...
Well done! Every vote counts. Aaliyah is a "cinch" for the next round (the
HOOPHALLAWARDS list will shrink sometime in late January from 20
candidates to ten, I believe). Later the number goes down to 5 finalists.
Azzi needs to get enough playing time and good games to move on (she should!),
and Caroline and Dorka could do it also with the upward trajectory of their
games. Vote Early, Vote Often! GO HUSKIES!
 
Caroline ran the floor yesterday on one break, dribbling the whole way -- like she did against DePaul last year -- and scored the layup! I imagine the sole defender who tracked her was thinking "She's so big. How am I supposed to stop her?"
 

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