Does Uconn have a super team

[baggerbob]

So glad you can read at a 6th-grade level but your basketball knowledge is limited at best my friend Angel is a wing not a big and was the number 2 player in the country behind Paige. She currently plays as a point forward handling the rock as a guard hence the term backcourt. A word of advice as my momma told me "If you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all"..this forum is not graded for how someone writes rather it serves to express one's thoughts and genius people like you who look down on people are a hindrance to those who want to participate but don't want to deal with arrogant snobs.. feel free to give me a grade.

According to your defination of bigs the last 2 years that Uconn won championships they didn't have any bigs.
Stewie and Tuck wouldn't qualify.
Having good players who can defend and play multiple positions is more important.
How many championships has Griner won?.
She won 1 in college and 1 in the WNBA.
It's having a complete team , and not individuals that wins championships.

 

[jdote33]

I think they kind of are Really looking forward to seeing Azzi and Paige play together. They've had a couple games where they both clicked South Florida (Bahamas) NC State (elite 8 game) but even in those two games Nika didn't play big minutes. So against SF I remember Paige kinda making it a point to get Azzi going. So it will be nice to have another facilitator. But I agree, though I think it's wise to kinda temper expectations, but those two really could be top 5 players in the country next year, hitting like 6 3s a game between the two. I think as upperclassmen, and considering all they've been through I'm actually less worried about the mental side. Like if Azzi will defer to Paige too much or if Paige will worry about the rest of the team scoring. I'm only worried about defense next year.

 

[JellyBean]

I agree with @Bone Dog, when has UConn NOT been a Super Team? Since 2000, we have been a "Super Team". Other coaches and media "experts" always whine or complained about how "We are getting these top players" or "How can other programs compete, when UConn has Diana/Sue, Maya/Tina, & Breanna/Mo Jeff/KML/Nurse" on and on it went. We all know & heard about how "Bad is UConn for women's basketball?". UConn was a "Super Team" then and is a "Super Team" now.

We have one of the greatest shooters in women's basketball, that being Azzi. We have a generational talent in Paige. Her ability to lead, play on/off the ball, read plays two & three steps ahead, is off the charts! We have Aaliyah Edwards who stepped up and showcased her talents. We have an amazing player in Aubrey. Caroline should be better and healthy. Plus, a whole host of new talent that, on paper, like other teams, brings so much to the UConn program & some mystery.

WE Are a Super Team.

 

[Galaxyshooter]

According to your defination of bigs the last 2 years that Uconn won championships they didn't have any bigs.
Stewie and Tuck wouldn't qualify.
Having good players who can defend and play multiple positions is more important.
How many championships has Griner won?.
She won 1 in college and 1 in the WNBA.
It's having a complete team , and not individuals that wins championships.

Hence the question "does Uconn have a super team..!! which includes wings bigs and guards the question was about the team not just the positional breakdown.!!

 

[huskeynut]

I don't subscribe to the "super team" stuff. Someone's term to hype a team. In this case LSU.
No problem with LSU being ranked #1. It's meaningless right now. Click bait for Charlie.

As to UConn for 23 - 24, on paper a talented and scary team to face. There is depth.

Reality - we don't know yet how Ice, Jana, Amari, Ayanna will develop. Do I think 3 out of the 4 will come thru, yes. But there are a couple of other questions that must be answered. First, the health of Paige. Two years with serious injuries to the same leg. She's coming off an ACL injury and surgery. No one knows at this point what here recovery level will be. Azzi in the same situation. Has not been healthy for 2 seasons. Can her knee hold up to a full season? Nobody knows. Caroline with the concussions. This is very troubling considering her young age. As far as I know concussions are cumulative in nature. Is she one head shot away from not being able to play? We have many questions that need to be answered. We will not see any real answers until late October, early November.

I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[MooseJaw]

Om paper we are a super team, in reality time will tell. We can beat our gums as much as we want, it won't change the fact that until our team plays this coming season, we are a potential super team in the waiting. Stay healthy ladies, please, please 2 or 3 of you I hope will be wearing knee braces.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I don't even think it's a super team on paper. This was a sweet sixteen team last season that lost two starters, but gains an NPOY caliber player back from major knee injury. Everyone else is in the good to very good or unproven because they've played little to no minutes category.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I don't even think it's a super team on paper. This was a sweet sixteen team last season that lost two starters, but gains an NPOY caliber player back from major knee injury. Everyone else is in the good to very good or unproven because they've played little to no minutes category.

Super Teams aren't based on on the court results. There are 3 players predicted to be picked in the first round draft for next year and 2 players predicted to be picked in the first round of the following years draft. That is a super team.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

What surgery did Azzi have?

She said she was planning on getting surgery on her foot which hasn't healed since her 2021 injury to it.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Super Teams aren't based on on the court results.

Shouldn't on the court results be the only thing that matters? If we're talking about hype, then sure UConn is a super team, but I don't really care about hype or internet fame or how many free pairs of shoes or burritos the super players get.

 

[Bone Dog]

Shouldn't on the court results be the only thing that matters? If we're talking about hype, then sure UConn is a super team, but I don't really care about hype or internet fame or how many free pairs of shoes or burritos the super players get.

I think the point is this term only refers to the fears everyone else has about a particular team before the season starts.

 

[baggerbob]

I don't subscribe to the "super team" stuff. Someone's term to hype a team. In this case LSU.
No problem with LSU being ranked #1. It's meaningless right now. Click bait for Charlie.

As to UConn for 23 - 24, on paper a talented and scary team to face. There is depth.

Reality - we don't know yet how Ice, Jana, Amari, Ayanna will develop. Do I think 3 out of the 4 will come thru, yes. But there are a couple of other questions that must be answered. First, the health of Paige. Two years with serious injuries to the same leg. She's coming off an ACL injury and surgery. No one knows at this point what here recovery level will be. Azzi in the same situation. Has not been healthy for 2 seasons. Can her knee hold up to a full season? Nobody knows. Caroline with the concussions. This is very troubling considering her young age. As far as I know concussions are cumulative in nature. Is she one head shot away from not being able to play? We have many questions that need to be answered. We will not see any real answers until late October, early November.

I am cautiously optimistic.

Multiple concussions can lead to being not cleared to play, and end a career.

 

[Blue Huskie]

I've always thought if Paige and Azzi play up to expectations and stay healthy we have a super team.

 

[Urshurak]

UConns issue isn't LSU. UConns issue is keeping healthy players on the court. If they can finally bake that cake, it will be a happy party indeed.

UConn beats LSU in the Championship if that happens. Watch.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Shouldn't on the court results be the only thing that matters? If we're talking about hype, then sure UConn is a super team, but I don't really care about hype or internet fame or how many free pairs of shoes or burritos the super players get.

No, otherwise UConn would have 11 super teams. The only Super teams UConn had didn’t win championships.

 

[sun]

Beware of the UConn Super Duper team.
Watch how they win in the end.

 

[SCGamecock]

LSU has a super team.
UConn has a super team.

It would be a major disservice if these two teams fail to meet before the tournament. A responsibility of being an elite program is playing marquee games during the regular season. We know UConn will play a marquee schedule. Looking forward to seeing what Kim puts together with the preseason #1 team.

SC is relatively inexperienced and reloading. Playing a reloading SC and comparing the outcome of a common opponent will not suffice. Play one another and leave no doubt who is better.

 

[hoophuskee]

Fudd was a star for those 6 games but the consistency piece hasn’t been there largely due to injuries in her career, so I wouldn’t classify her as a star on Bueckers/Clark’s level, though she had a great showing vs Iowa and has glimpses of brilliance.

Ducharme is another one similar to Fudd in that she’s had stretches of great play but more stretches of being injured or less than 100%. She was stellar in many games as a freshman and seemed comfortable in a big role, but her impact has directly correlated with Fudd being injured and her minutes often are greatly reduced when Fudd can play.
I don’t see an opening for her to get a lot of playing time next year with Fudd/Griffin back, so I think she’ll be in a smaller role though I believe she has the talent to play a bigger role and may slide into that spot her senior year depending on who returns. Also, Ducharme’s injuries are more concerning than anyone’s IMO considering they’re head injuries. Hopefully she’s healthy but being prone to head injuries is a scary thing.

Back to super teams—to me they are when you take a bunch of proven stars or go to players and they join forces to try and win. At LSU that’s clearly the case. At UCONN I think a case could be made with everyone hopefully healthy and if prized recruits Brady/Arnold/Shade are ready to make big contributions. At this point I wouldn’t classify UCONN a “super team” but if everyone is healthy and clicking on all cylinders they could be. Going into next year I’d say they’re one of the favorites to win the title next year along with LSU. I don’t think of a super team as a necessarily great distinction btw— they often have an overload of talent and are prone to chemistry struggles. They often out talent lesser teams but can lose to teams that have better chemistry on/off the court. Managing all of the personalities and talent present unique challenges that can’t always be overcome. Star players have to keep egos in check and be willing to sacrifice shots to set screens and take lesser roles. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

You've mentioned injuries with both players. My point has been "if healthy." You and I were disagreeing with the poster hoopsnloops in that he or she was saying that Paige and Azzi are behind Edwards. Bottomline is the argument for Edwards is "availability." The argument for Paige and Azzi is that if healthy we know what we have seen and it's Azzi and Paige.

While you pointed out that there was specific games Azzi was the higher option, I similarly say in specific games that when Azzi is healthy, she is more than what you give her credit for by calling her just "potentially a star." To further this, you'll mention "consistency," - well that's what the poster hoopsnloops implies when he or she favors Edwards because of Aziz’s injuries she hasn't been as consistent as Edwards.

For this discussion for me I dismiss "consistency" points. We're all just making opinions projecting how a team and players perform. And I know what I saw with Azzi- I saw as you did Azzi was the #1 option and the reason why OI know she was the #1 option is because she is better than Edwards, the 3rd team All-American. There's a reason why Geno did this because as we know Azzi is better.

And therefore, we should have no problem taking the next leap and ask if Azzi is better than Van Lith and Morrow? And imo ofc she is. when healthy,

And a similar story but a level below Edwards is Ducharme. I can't close my eyes (not saying you are. Not one bit - just talking about me.) to what I've seen. And at a lesser level when it comes to Azzi - I can't put my hands over my ears and pretend that I haven't heard the accolades from the coaching staff regarding Azzi. No one else other than Paige gets those accolades to the degree Azzi gets. I can't dismiss that for such an open-ended comment like "She hasn’t been consistent." Because at what game do we make a declaration that a player like Azzi "is consistent?" It's too open-ended and subjective vs what I know what I've seen and the logic of what I've seen backed up by the coaches and past Azzi Fudd history. It all matches that when she is healthy, she is a superstar and she showed in vs some very good competition. her game wasn't "stopped" when she was healthy.

 

[hoophuskee]

Shouldn't on the court results be the only thing that matters? If we're talking about hype, then sure UConn is a super team, but I don't really care about hype or internet fame or how many free pairs of shoes or burritos the super players get.

If that's the case then there is no such thing as a Super Team until the seaosn is over, correct?

SO if what you say it all matters what's performance on the court, LSU has a much different team, so no one can declare them a Super Team either, right?

 

[bballnut90]

You've mentioned injuries with both players. My point has been "if healthy." You and I were disagreeing with the poster hoopsnloops in that he or she was saying that Paige and Azzi are behind Edwards. Bottomline is the argument for Edwards is "availability." The argument for Paige and Azzi is that if healthy we know what we have seen and it's Azzi and Paige.

While you pointed out that there was specific games Azzi was the higher option, I similarly say in specific games that when Azzi is healthy, she is more than what you give her credit for by calling her just "potentially a star." To further this, you'll mention "consistency," - well that's what the poster hoopsnloops implies when he or she favors Edwards because of Aziz’s injuries she hasn't been as consistent as Edwards.

For this discussion for me I dismiss "consistency" points. We're all just making opinions projecting how a team and players perform. And I know what I saw with Azzi- I saw as you did Azzi was the #1 option and the reason why OI know she was the #1 option is because she is better than Edwards, the 3rd team All-American. There's a reason why Geno did this because as we know Azzi is better.

And therefore, we should have no problem taking the next leap and ask if Azzi is better than Van Lith and Morrow? And imo ofc she is. when healthy,

And a similar story but a level below Edwards is Ducharme. I can't close my eyes (not saying you are. Not one bit - just talking about me.) to what I've seen. And at a lesser level when it comes to Azzi - I can't put my hands over my ears and pretend that I haven't heard the accolades from the coaching staff regarding Azzi. No one else other than Paige gets those accolades to the degree Azzi gets. I can't dismiss that for such an open-ended comment like "She hasn’t been consistent." Because at what game do we make a declaration that a player like Azzi "is consistent?" It's too open-ended and subjective vs what I know what I've seen and the logic of what I've seen backed up by the coaches and past Azzi Fudd history. It all matches that when she is healthy, she is a superstar and she showed in vs some very good competition. her game wasn't "stopped" when she was healthy.

Azzi was great in the 6 game stretch when she was healthy last year and was a star. When she hasn't been healthy, her shooting has been quite streaky and she wasn't playing at an All American level. Some games she's on, others she is off and doesn't make as much of an impact--that's inconsistency. Box scores tell the story. It's hard for me to solidify her as a star when we effectively have just a 6 game stretch to go off of and make that conclusion. If she can maintain that level of play through a full season, then yes, she's a bonafide star, but right now I wouldn't make that distinction based off a 6 game stretch. It just isn't a big enough body of work and players can have hot and cold streaks when they play.

She very well may be better than both Van Lith and Morrow, but I think both of those players are more proven commodities based on their play the last 2-3 years. FWIW if I'm drafting a team, I'd take Fudd over either, but Hailey Van Lith/Morrow have proven to be stars at this level where Fudd's body of work isn't there yet.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

You've mentioned injuries with both players. My point has been "if healthy." You and I were disagreeing with the poster hoopsnloops in that he or she was saying that Paige and Azzi are behind Edwards. Bottomline is the argument for Edwards is "availability." The argument for Paige and Azzi is that if healthy we know what we have seen and it's Azzi and Paige.

While you pointed out that there was specific games Azzi was the higher option, I similarly say in specific games that when Azzi is healthy, she is more than what you give her credit for by calling her just "potentially a star." To further this, you'll mention "consistency," - well that's what the poster hoopsnloops implies when he or she favors Edwards because of Aziz’s injuries she hasn't been as consistent as Edwards.

For this discussion for me I dismiss "consistency" points. We're all just making opinions projecting how a team and players perform. And I know what I saw with Azzi- I saw as you did Azzi was the #1 option and the reason why OI know she was the #1 option is because she is better than Edwards, the 3rd team All-American. There's a reason why Geno did this because as we know Azzi is better.

And therefore, we should have no problem taking the next leap and ask if Azzi is better than Van Lith and Morrow? And imo ofc she is. when healthy,

And a similar story but a level below Edwards is Ducharme. I can't close my eyes (not saying you are. Not one bit - just talking about me.) to what I've seen. And at a lesser level when it comes to Azzi - I can't put my hands over my ears and pretend that I haven't heard the accolades from the coaching staff regarding Azzi. No one else other than Paige gets those accolades to the degree Azzi gets. I can't dismiss that for such an open-ended comment like "She hasn’t been consistent." Because at what game do we make a declaration that a player like Azzi "is consistent?" It's too open-ended and subjective vs what I know what I've seen and the logic of what I've seen backed up by the coaches and past Azzi Fudd history. It all matches that when she is healthy, she is a superstar and she showed in vs some very good competition. her game wasn't "stopped" when she was healthy.

Yea I agree with this. You can't put Azzi and Paige above Aaliyah but then say they aren't proven enough commodities to be considered equal or bigger stars than Hailey Van Lith and Morrow.

Azzi was great in the 6 game stretch when she was healthy last year and was a star. When she hasn't been healthy, her shooting has been quite streaky and she wasn't playing at an All American level. Some games she's on, others she is off and doesn't make as much of an impact--that's inconsistency. Box scores tell the story. It's hard for me to solidify her as a star when we effectively have just a 6 game stretch to go off of and make that conclusion. If she can maintain that level of play through a full season, then yes, she's a bonafide star, but right now I wouldn't make that distinction based off a 6 game stretch. It just isn't a big enough body of work and players can have hot and cold streaks when they play.

She very well may be better than both Van Lith and Morrow, but I think both of those players are more proven commodities based on their play the last 2-3 years. FWIW if I'm drafting a team, I'd take Fudd over either, but Hailey Van Lith/Morrow have proven to be stars at this level where Fudd's body of work isn't there yet.

So then you agree, Fudd and Paige are also behind Edwards as Edwards is a much more proven commodity than both of them the last 2 years? You seem to apply different logic to UConn players against each other than UConn players against non-UConn players.

 

[hoophuskee]

Azzi was great in the 6 game stretch when she was healthy last year and was a star. When she hasn't been healthy, her shooting has been quite streaky and she wasn't playing at an All American level. Some games she's on, others she is off and doesn't make as much of an impact--that's inconsistency. Box scores tell the story. It's hard for me to solidify her as a star when we effectively have just a 6 game stretch to go off of and make that conclusion. If she can maintain that level of play through a full season, then yes, she's a bonafide star, but right now I wouldn't make that distinction based off a 6 game stretch. It just isn't a big enough body of work and players can have hot and cold streaks when they play.

She very well may be better than both Van Lith and Morrow, but I think both of those players are more proven commodities based on their play the last 2-3 years. FWIW if I'm drafting a team, I'd take Fudd over either, but Hailey Van Lith/Morrow have proven to be stars at this level where Fudd's body of work isn't there yet.

Read the point hoopsloops just asked you. You're applying one criteria for Azzi as a non-super player. But in the next you aren't doign the same when you compare Azzi to Edawards.

For example, Azzi's shooting si streaky because she has been non-healthy she doens't shoot as well.

 

[cometjo]

To me, part of what is meant by calling LSU a superteam is analogous to a supergroup in music: the members are already famous as solo artists or from other bands. So Cream, Blind Faith, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Whereas Uconn is more like the Beatles or the Stones.

 

[JonathanXIV]

They are both coming off serious injuries. Probably won’t see a fully recovered Paige until the end of the year and Azzi will be coming off surgery. For now I think you have to put them both behind Edwards the most recent AA who hasn’t had any injuries and will only continue to get better.

Paige will be over a year removed from her injury. She won’t need a full season to be back to Paige-level.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Paige will be over a year removed from her injury. She won’t need a full season to be back to Paige-level.

It typically takes two 18-months to two years to get fully back playing wise. Her knee will be fine sure but I don’t think the full player will be back until the end of the year at the earliest.

 

[Bone Dog]

Paige will be over a year removed from her injury. She won’t need a full season to be back to Paige-level.

I’m pretty sure Paige will hit the ground running. We’ll all probably be more worried that she’s playing too hard.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

In an up beat post, you couldn't help but trash Nika, could you?

Eric has been a poster on this board since you were in diapers, he’s a true UConn Womens Basketball fan. What he said about Nika was honest, spot on, and realistic.

 

[oldhusky]

While trying to stay out of the who is better than who, within the team, and compared to other team's players, you could say in the last two years both Paige and Azzi have been healthy for a total of only 6 games each. In both cases that was at the beginning of the season, and in two years together they have never played a game when both were healthy at the same time.

I know some don't like PER (player efficiency rating) numbers but I think they are telling for both players. Paige had a PER of 32 her first year (15 is average). Starting her sophomore season after 6 games she was at 36. Then she came back to play 11 more for a total of 17 games. Her year end PER was 30, so obviously those 11 games after coming back she was way under 30, probably mid 20's to bring her overall average down to 30.

Azzi had a similar story this past season, after the first 6 games she had a PER that I remember was over 30 and there was All American talk. She ended the season in the low 20's, so her numbers after returning twice from injury probably were not much better than average. Her drop-off returning from injury was even bigger than Paige's.

So over the last two years we have 6 games for each that could be indicative of how they could perform if healthy, and those numbers were very good. We also have no track record at all about how they could do together if both were healthy at the same time, and we don't know how close to 100% they could be this year.

Those limited games, however, do give us a clearer view of what the upside or ceiling can be. In addition how much lower their year end numbers were compared to their first 6 games shows that the impact of those injuries went far beyond the number of games missed. They were not the same players for the rest of the year. To think that our two consecutive number 1 recruits would have only 6 healthy games each over their first two seasons together is pretty mind boggling.

Concerns over both players being potentially injury prone are very real, but if we get what we saw in those healthy games from both of them, then super team is very likely.

 

[Bone Dog]

While trying to stay out of the who is better than who, within the team, and compared to other team's players, you could say in the last two years both Paige and Azzi have been healthy for a total of only 6 games each. In both cases that was at the beginning of the season, and in two years together they have never played a game when both were healthy at the same time.

I know some don't like PER (player efficiency rating) numbers but I think they are telling for both players. Paige had a PER of 32 her first year (15 is average). Starting her sophomore season after 6 games she was at 36. Then she came back to play 11 more for a total of 17 games. Her year end PER was 30, so obviously those 11 games after coming back she was way under 30, probably mid 20's to bring her overall average down to 30.

Azzi had a similar story this past season, after the first 6 games she had a PER that I remember was over 30 and there was All American talk. She ended the season in the low 20's, so her numbers after returning twice from injury probably were not much better than average. Her drop-off returning from injury was even bigger than Paige's.

So over the last two years we have 6 games for each that could be indicative of how they could perform if healthy, and those numbers were very good. We also have no track record at all about how they could do together if both were healthy at the same time, and we don't know how close to 100% they could be this year.

Those limited games, however, do give us a clearer view of what the upside or ceiling can be. In addition how much lower their year end numbers were compared to their first 6 games shows that the impact of those injuries went far beyond the number of games missed. They were not the same players for the rest of the year. To think that our two consecutive number 1 recruits would have only 6 healthy games each over their first two seasons together is pretty mind boggling.

Concerns over both players being potentially injury prone are very real, but if we get what we saw in those healthy games from both of them, then super team is very likely.

I dont entirely understand PER. I’m tempted to say a team with two players over 30 is a unicorn. What about Aaliyah? Was her PER near 30 too. I’d expect it was last season. But can you have that many players around 30 on the same team? Or do they force a regression to the mean? Is there a limit to PER across a team’s 200 minutes?

If we have two players (or maybe 3) with a PER around 30, it’s hard to see how we could lose any games.

 

[From France]

The hardest thing will be for Coach to distribute playing time, it's rare that UCONN has a full roster
I would say Paige, Azzi & Aaliyah getting 30
Nika 25
Caroline & Aubrey 20
Then, KK, Ashlynn, Quadence , Amari Ayanna ....