Cupcakes or Top 25

[Bald Husky]

This has been a really messed up year, one that we would like to forget, at least to this point. But the good part was finding great contributors from Azzi and Caroline. The question asked is, what if we had zero injuries, would Caroline be playing so much, would she even have had a chance to show her talents? If Saylor stayed, with our injuries, she probably would have received a lot of playing time. We really don't know how good she could be.

One question is, did Geno learn something from this, will he let the freshmen play in the early games, especially since most of our recruits lately have been top 5. UConn always plays the best OOC schedule in the country (along with Stanford and SC), so in these hard-fought games Geno uses his veterans, kids that he knows will show up for a big game. He is not going to insert freshmen in a game, with no experience, and not enough time on the floor, to justify their inclusion. This is precisely, IMO, why we need to play a couple of less than great teams to get these kids some PT, and evaluate from there if he can trust them in a game. If not, then riding the bench will be their future, unless, God forbid, more injuries occur. So the big question is, which way should we go? A couple of cupcakes, or all Top 25 teams for their entire OOC schedule? What is your opinion.

 

[HopJim]

Great points you are making but any of us that have watched Geno coach for many years know the answer the question you seem to be asking, "Will Geno change his coaching style." Short answer 'No."

 

[eebmg]

This has been a really messed up year, one that we would like to forget, at least to this point. But the good part was finding great contributors from Azzi and Caroline. The question asked is, what if we had zero injuries, would Caroline be playing so much, would she even have had a chance to show her talents? If Saylor stayed, with our injuries, she probably would have received a lot of playing time. We really don't know how good she could be.

One question is, did Geno learn something from this, will he let the freshmen play in the early games, especially since most of our recruits lately have been top 5. UConn always plays the best OOC schedule in the country (along with Stanford and SC), so in these hard-fought games Geno uses his veterans, kids that he knows will show up for a big game. He is not going to insert freshmen in a game, with no experience, and not enough time on the floor, to justify their inclusion. This is precisely, IMO, why we need to play a couple of less than great teams to get these kids some PT, and evaluate from there if he can trust them in a game. If not, then riding the bench will be their future, unless, God forbid, more injuries occur. So the big question is, which way should we go? A couple of cupcakes, or all Top 25 teams for their entire OOC schedule? What is your opinion.

Don't we have enough cupcakes in the Big East? We need the OOC to get our resume up for a 1 seed. Sweeping the Big East will not do it

Regarding some other points,

I firmly believe Caroline would be a solid player in our main rotation coming off the bench even if Azzi and Paige were healthy. Geno said he saw alot of good things from her in practice and summer session and then the 4th Q of ND before Paige got injured. Tough players who are clutch, move the best without the ball and is one of the teams best drive finishers, can hit the 3, and are not tentative tend to get noticed

I have no idea if Saylor would have gotten in with all the injuries, Mir did not. If you dont have Geno's trust and don't understand what he wants out of you on the court, you will sit. He will play with 6 players if he thinks those are the ones deserving and can help.

 

[Zanzman]

Saylor was also injured so she wouldn’t be playing.
Amari barely plays so not understanding you asking the question the answer is already there

 

[Stymie]

Several thoughts.
No, Geno will stick with his mantra of sitting freshmen unless injuries force him to play them. I strongly disagree with this approach.
He obtains oodles of elite players.
He should figure out how to integrate them into team play earlier.
Other coaches do.
WBB landscape is changing.
Please don’t tout recent records against the anemic AAC, the slowly improving Big East or recent appearances in the Final Fours.
This year’s freshman class is the reason UCONN Wins the BE and will get a high seeding in the Tourney. The were the difference in several very narrow BE wins.
As far as easing up on out of conference scheduling- negatory.
As I’ve previously suggested ( to a landslide of negativity), I’d rather schedule ooc schedule for maximum difficulty, risk several losses, and expose the newbies to the level of competition in their “new” basketball world. Let them see what it takes to compete at this level.

 

[Stymie]

Don't we have enough cupcakes in the Big East? We need the OOC to get our resume up for a 1 seed. Sweeping the Big East will not do it

Regarding some other points,

I firmly believe Caroline would be a solid player in our main rotation coming off the bench even if Azzi and Paige were healthy. Geno said he saw alot of good things from her in practice and summer session and then the 4th Q of ND before Paige got injured. Tough players who are clutch, move the best without the ball and is one of the teams best drive finishers, can hit the 3, and are not tentative tend to get noticed

I have no idea if Saylor would have gotten in with all the injuries, Mir did not. If you dont have Geno's trust and don't understand what he wants out of you on the court, you will sit. He will play with 6 players if he thinks those are the ones deserving and can help.

Please define ‘deserving’.

 

[eebmg]

Please define ‘deserving’.

Plays hard and well in practice. Seems to absorb what the game plan is. Won't look lost.

 

[and one]

Playing freshman: Did Paige play as a freshman? Azzi? Caroline? Nika? Geno puts players into the main rotation when he feels they are ready. That philosophy can be debated until the cows come home but that is how it will be as long as he is head coach. So far it has worked out pretty well.

Playing the best out of conference teams that can be scheduled: I don't for one second believe Geno gives any thought to how it affects seedings by doing it. He recruits good players and wants them to play against the best. He relishes playing good teams even if occasionally his team is an underdog. How often do opposing coaches of teams who have no realistic chance to beat UConn say they still like to.play us because it helps make them better in the long run and we applaud them for playing as well as they can even if down 40? Cuts both way folks.

 

[Tonyc]

The development of players is an individual test. Its like a farmer planting seeds. Some grow fast, some grow a little slower and some dont grow at all. Players work similarly. Coming out of HS for most recruits and then throwing them into a big game against experienced college players is a difficult adjustment. It is something theyre not ready for yet. There are exceptions like Paige Azzi and Caroline. I think Geno has learned alot over the past few months with this team and what they have gone through. Looking at Caroline and now Amari I think he realizes theyre really good and shouldve gotten more time however how good were they back in October??? We dont know because we werent at practices. We now know how good theyve become.

The freshman in many instances havent earned a thing. Playtime is earned and it comes from proving yourself in practice. The kids who were on the roster the prior year have paid that price. The freshman havent. Now with that said there are some exceptions relating to circumstances.

When coming up with an early season schedule, scheduling cupcakes to get the freshman playtime is deserved not earned. It gives them and their coaches a chance to see where they are in their development in a real game. Early this season Mir and Amari wouldve benefited from that and perhaps Mir may have stayed. We dont know what was going on with the team and Mir has done really well at Va. Saylor was injured.

When you are ranked in the top 20 coming our of HS and coming to a UConn program with so many top 5 ranked players the chances of getting alot of minutes as a freshman is small. Other schools will welcome you because they dont have UConns talent. As a player, you have to do whats best for you. Looking at UConn now you can understand why Geno doesnt have 14 players on the roster. There arent enough minutes. Understand when your recruiting the top 5 players in the country they are not going to go to a school to sit because they can go anywhere and play and in some cases start. But then again look at where those teams are and look at UConn.

When you wanna question what Geno does just look at what he's accomplished. He has set so many records and you have to wonder if we didnt have all those injuries and gone what we have gone through this season if those record would still be running. I think they would. Geno knows how to space his recruiting to allow incoming kids to get playtime and be developed. IMO if you want to be developed and become great and play for NCs you come to UConn and pay the price. UConn is not for everybody but for those special kids who want it all UConn gives you that chance.

I have an ole saying that I was once told by a former PGA tour professional. If you wanna be great your gonna pay a huge price, your gonna pay it in advance, and there are no guarantees.

 

[Plebe]

A couple of cupcakes, or all Top 25 teams for their entire OOC schedule? What is your opinion.

As it is, our OOC schedule is far from consisting of "all Top 25 teams". Minnesota, UCLA, South Florida and Arkansas are not top 25 teams.

And besides, you're not really asking if UConn needs an easier OOC schedule. You're asking if Geno needs to change his ways as a coach.

You also state that Geno won't play freshmen against top teams. This is simply false. See Bueckers and Edwards and Muhl. See Christyn and ONO. See Kia Nurse. See Lou and Napheesa. Many, many more example can be cited.

 

[sun]

Looking at UConn now you can understand why Geno doesnt have 14 players on the roster. There arent enough minutes. Understand when your recruiting the top 5 players in the country they are not going to go to a school to sit because they can go anywhere and play and in some cases start. But then again look at where those teams are and look at UConn.

I don't understand why UConn doesn't have a full roster of players like most other Div. 1 schools.
Title IX was intended in part to provide both athletic and scholarship opportunities for women athletes so that they could attend college and obtain a degree while playing sports.
This was intended to create parity with opportunities for men.
And UConn is not fulfilling those opportunities by withholding the maximum number of BB scholarships for Div. 1 schools which is set at 15.
In addition, UConn has not had a player from a CT high school on its roster since 2016-2017.
Geno has had at least as many as 14 players at some times in the past. but not in many years.
In this covid era and now with the transfer portal, UConn should consider filling more of a complete roster as has been afforded to it by the NCAA rules.
UConn is a state school and it reflects poorly on the university when they don't offer enough scholarships to deserving women athletes, and couldn't even field a team due to covid and injuries, in part due to the small roster.
The empty roster spots of the past can't be compensated for, but a better effort can be made in the future to give more women athletes a chance to compete and to receive the benefit of a free education for their effort.

 

[PJCLaw]

I don't understand why UConn doesn't have a full roster of players like most other Div. 1 schools.
Title IX was intended in part to provide both athletic and scholarship opportunities for women athletes so that they could attend college and obtain a degree while playing sports.
This was intended to create parity with opportunities for men.
And UConn is not fulfilling those opportunities by withholding the maximum number of BB scholarships for Div. 1 schools which is set at 15.
In addition, UConn has not had a player from a CT high school on its roster since 2016-2017.
Geno has had at least as many as 14 players at some times in the past. but not in many years.
In this covid era and now with the transfer portal, UConn should consider filling more of a complete roster as has been afforded to it by the NCAA rules.
UConn is a state school and it reflects poorly on the university when they don't offer enough scholarships to deserving women athletes, and couldn't even field a team due to covid and injuries, in part due to the small roster.
The empty roster spots of the past can't be compensated for, but a better effort can be made in the future to give more women athletes a chance to compete and to receive the benefit of a free education for their effort.

So, in other words, you want Geno to have more people on the bench who will not play during most games. It's not about filling the roster to scholarship capacity, it's about getting the right players who can contribute to winning. Even with that, Geno is NOT going to play 15 players on a regular basis, if ever. IMO, the sweet spot for Geno is 12 players, 8 or 9 of whom will be rotational players, with the other 3-4 players getting most of their minutes in BE conference games.

 

[chrissaran]

There were people on this board complaining about how Nika was playing earlier in the year. How about now?

 

[sun]

So, in other words, you want Geno to have more people on the bench who will not play during most games. It's not about filling the roster to scholarship capacity, it's about getting the right players who can contribute to winning. Even with that, Geno is NOT going to play 15 players on a regular basis, if ever. IMO, the sweet spot for Geno is 12 players, 8 or 9 of whom will be rotational players, with the other 3-4 players getting most of their minutes in BE conference games.

Stanford lists 17 players on its roster (1 is a redshirt) and South Carolina lists 16 players.
That reflects the fact that other schools are providing the maximum number of scholarship opportunities for women BB athletes allowed by the NCAA.

Why aren't there any CT HS players currently receiving a UConn basketball scholarship or allowed to be a walk-on?
Walk-ons don't count against the number of scholarship players.
Aren't there any eligible CT players that can play BB as good as Autumn Chassion from last year?

UConn has a multi-million Dollar program yet its ability to function can change in a heartbeat based on the emotions of young players, their medical condition, an illness or even an accident on or off the court.
It's not unreasonable to recruit enough players to meet contingencies.
If the players don't want to stay on the team under the agreed terms then they're free to leave.

This year Geno said that some players that he recruits do not meet his expectations, and do not develop to be as good as he thought they would be.
The only way to combat that from happening is to recruit additional players as insurance, so as to not be stuck with not having enough players & talent in reserve.
Apparently other top BB schools believe that having additional players is a blessing and not a curse.

2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster - Stanford University Athletics

The official 2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster for the Stanford University Cardinal

gostanford.com

women's basketball

Content filed under the women's basketball taxonomy.

gamecocksonline.com

 

[DefenseBB]

I don't understand why UConn doesn't have a full roster of players like most other Div. 1 schools.
Title IX was intended in part to provide both athletic and scholarship opportunities for women athletes so that they could attend college and obtain a degree while playing sports.
This was intended to create parity with opportunities for men.
And UConn is not fulfilling those opportunities by withholding the maximum number of BB scholarships for Div. 1 schools which is set at 15.
In addition, UConn has not had a player from a CT high school on its roster since 2016-2017.
Geno has had at least as many as 14 players at some times in the past. but not in many years.
In this covid era and now with the transfer portal, UConn should consider filling more of a complete roster as has been afforded to it by the NCAA rules.
UConn is a state school and it reflects poorly on the university when they don't offer enough scholarships to deserving women athletes, and couldn't even field a team due to covid and injuries, in part due to the small roster.
The empty roster spots of the past can't be compensated for, but a better effort can be made in the future to give more women athletes a chance to compete and to receive the benefit of a free education for their effort.

Wait, what? Rosters start at beginning of each academic year and at the start of the 2021-22 Season
4 Seniors-Liv, Evina, Chrystin, Dorka
1 Junior-Aubrey
5 Sophomores-Paige, Nika, Aaliyah, Mir, Piath
4 Freshman-Saylor, Azzi, Caroline, Amari

That's 14 players which is the full roster compliment. Unlike other programs who then had numerous players do a post grad year as they weren't good enough to go pro, UConn players have not hung around with maybe the exception of Evina this year and hopefully, Dorka next year.

For next year, we already lost 2 (Saylor/Mir) and we can expect to lose Liv, CW and Evina. That leaves 9. Add in Isunah Brady and Ayanna Patterson equals 11. I would expect Geno to add another 2 Guard/Wing and get the roster to 13.

 

[Topdawg]

In the game against Oregon State, Stanford gave 15 players time on the court! Three of them, including Prechtel, had 0 points. Wonder why 2 of 17 did not get on court!

 

[Stymie]

I don't understand why UConn doesn't have a full roster of players like most other Div. 1 schools.
Title IX was intended in part to provide both athletic and scholarship opportunities for women athletes so that they could attend college and obtain a degree while playing sports.
This was intended to create parity with opportunities for men.
And UConn is not fulfilling those opportunities by withholding the maximum number of BB scholarships for Div. 1 schools which is set at 15.
In addition, UConn has not had a player from a CT high school on its roster since 2016-2017.
Geno has had at least as many as 14 players at some times in the past. but not in many years.
In this covid era and now with the transfer portal, UConn should consider filling more of a complete roster as has been afforded to it by the NCAA rules.
UConn is a state school and it reflects poorly on the university when they don't offer enough scholarships to deserving women athletes, and couldn't even field a team due to covid and injuries, in part due to the small roster.
The empty roster spots of the past can't be compensated for, but a better effort can be made in the future to give more women athletes a chance to compete and to receive the benefit of a free education for their effort.

I tend to agree with you.
UCONN was flirting with being down to 5 players plus Piath and Deberry- whom I consider players also- but many here do not.
If it takes a freshman 1-1 1/2 Years to learn the system and ‘earn’ playing time, the margin of error is very slim.
1 or 2 don’t get it, 1 or 2 injuries, throw in a transfer (new paradigm) and you find yourself up the creek.
Not sure if Saylor would have made it here- I didn’t see enough.
Mir doing well in VA.
The transfer portal could create real roster problems.
Syracuse last year case in point.

 

[Carnac]

This has been a really messed up year, one that we would like to forget, at least to this point. But the good part was finding great contributors from Azzi and Caroline. The question asked is, what if we had zero injuries, would Caroline be playing so much, would she even have had a chance to show her talents? If Saylor stayed, with our injuries, she probably would have received a lot of playing time. We really don't know how good she could be.

One question is, did Geno learn something from this, will he let the freshmen play in the early games, especially since most of our recruits lately have been top 5. UConn always plays the best OOC schedule in the country (along with Stanford and SC), so in these hard-fought games Geno uses his veterans, kids that he knows will show up for a big game. He is not going to insert freshmen in a game, with no experience, and not enough time on the floor, to justify their inclusion. This is precisely, IMO, why we need to play a couple of less than great teams to get these kids some PT, and evaluate from there if he can trust them in a game. If not, then riding the bench will be their future, unless, God forbid, more injuries occur. So the big question is, which way should we go? A couple of cupcakes, or all Top 25 teams for their entire OOC schedule? What is your opinion.

UConn has had one heck of a crazy season. So many players being injured. We lost our best player for the majority of the year. Looking back at the games we lost, how many of those would we have lost if Paige had not gone down? Paige went down on Dec 5, AFTER the loss to South Carolina. Do we lose the games to Georgia Tech, Louisville, Oregon and Villanova too? We may have lost one, but not all 4.

 

[Woof 101]

I don't understand why UConn doesn't have a full roster of players like most other Div. 1 schools.

This is not an attack but do understand UConn has 11 National Championships unlike most other Div 1 schools.

Why aren't there any CT HS players currently receiving a UConn basketball scholarship or allowed to be a walk-on?

Good question are there any available? All players can tryout to be a walk-on. Having said that most prefer to go to a lower level school where they are able to compete for playing time. UConn started the season with 14 scholarship players. Both Mir and Saylor were well ranked players that saw the writing on the wall. Does one think others do not? No attack just fact.

Aren't there any eligible CT players that can play BB as good as Autumn Chassion from last year?

Again no attack just conversation, there may be but they most likely realize where Autumn is now. She fought hard to come to UConn but only managed to get 15 minutes in 8 games. (1.9 per game) The level of play at D1 upper crust is beyond what many, actually most any walk on could handle or be prepared for. The program is simply above what most local talent can provide.

 

[mbr33ct]

Several thoughts.
No, Geno will stick with his mantra of sitting freshmen unless injuries force him to play them. I strongly disagree with this approach.
He obtains oodles of elite players.
He should figure out how to integrate them into team play earlier.
Other coaches do.
WBB landscape is changing.
Please don’t tout recent records against the anemic AAC, the slowly improving Big East or recent appearances in the Final Fours.
This year’s freshman class is the reason UCONN Wins the BE and will get a high seeding in the Tourney. The were the difference in several very narrow BE wins.
As far as easing up on out of conference scheduling- negatory.
As I’ve previously suggested ( to a landslide of negativity), I’d rather schedule ooc schedule for maximum difficulty, risk several losses, and expose the newbies to the level of competition in their “new” basketball world. Let them see what it takes to compete at this level.

I never get why one/some feel the need to pit freshman vs veterans on same team to justify a point being made, "UConn Wins the BE and will get a high seeding in the Tourney?" ...really?

Maybe you can shed some light on which BE narrow wins you talking about where the freshman were the difference in? Could the veteran players also have made the difference in those arrow BE wins...otherwise the game would have been lost.

Who do we put the blame on the loss to Villanova...freshman or veterans?

 

[HuskyNan]

Stanford lists 17 players on its roster (1 is a redshirt) and South Carolina lists 16 players.
That reflects the fact that other schools are providing the maximum number of scholarship opportunities for women BB athletes allowed by the NCAA.

Why aren't there any CT HS players currently receiving a UConn basketball scholarship or allowed to be a walk-on?
Walk-ons don't count against the number of scholarship players.
Aren't there any eligible CT players that can play BB as good as Autumn Chassion from last year?

UConn has a multi-million Dollar program yet its ability to function can change in a heartbeat based on the emotions of young players, their medical condition, an illness or even an accident on or off the court.
It's not unreasonable to recruit enough players to meet contingencies.
If the players don't want to stay on the team under the agreed terms then they're free to leave.

This year Geno said that some players that he recruits do not meet his expectations, and do not develop to be as good as he thought they would be.
The only way to combat that from happening is to recruit additional players as insurance, so as to not be stuck with not having enough players & talent in reserve.
Apparently other top BB schools believe that having additional players is a blessing and not a curse.

2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster - Stanford University Athletics

The official 2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster for the Stanford University Cardinal

gostanford.com

women's basketball

Content filed under the women's basketball taxonomy.

gamecocksonline.com

Oh, @Vowelguy , got another one for you

 

[Inthepaint]

Who do we put the blame on the loss to Villanova...freshman or veterans?

I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Villanova players who were just plain better and hungrier on the day of the game.

 

[Tonyc]

I don't understand why UConn doesn't have a full roster of players like most other Div. 1 schools.
Title IX was intended in part to provide both athletic and scholarship opportunities for women athletes so that they could attend college and obtain a degree while playing sports.
This was intended to create parity with opportunities for men.
And UConn is not fulfilling those opportunities by withholding the maximum number of BB scholarships for Div. 1 schools which is set at 15.
In addition, UConn has not had a player from a CT high school on its roster since 2016-2017.
Geno has had at least as many as 14 players at some times in the past. but not in many years.
In this covid era and now with the transfer portal, UConn should consider filling more of a complete roster as has been afforded to it by the NCAA rules.
UConn is a state school and it reflects poorly on the university when they don't offer enough scholarships to deserving women athletes, and couldn't even field a team due to covid and injuries, in part due to the small roster.
The empty roster spots of the past can't be compensated for, but a better effort can be made in the future to give more women athletes a chance to compete and to receive the benefit of a free education for their effort.

I see your points. My thought was for girls coming to UConn to play BB many would not see much if any playtime and if thats what theyre coming to UConn and with UConns roster they wont see time and may not see much time in practice.

 

[Urshurak]

At the risk of repeating what others have already said, it is a misconception that “Geno doesn’t play freshman.” He plays players when he feels they’re ready to play UConn basketball. That’s it. Paige, yup. Azzi, yup. CD, yup. Mir, nope.