ESPN's Way Too Early Rankings -- UConn moves up!

[UConnCat]

Really? Oregon State a whole different kettle of fish? Last I checked Oregon State is pretty good too
and they have beaten Ionescu led teams 4 of 6 times.

Yes, really.

 

[newfrontier]

Yes, really.

We shall see in a few months.

 

[WestsideWaltz]

Oregon's chances took a hit with the younger Sabally's injury. Time will also tell if Moore's transfer was a good thing or not.

 

[LoTrader]

I appreciate that the UCONN Faithful are open to reading/hearing what others around the country believe about the next season of NCAA Division 1 WCBB Teams/Players. I mean no disrespect to UCONN fans, team members, etc. I am looking forward to another interesting season, and, wish it was November already.

 

[newfrontier]

Or Oregon State who just was not a very good team last year..."

I hate it when teams that are not very good finish ranked in the top 10 in the Nation. Gets me furious.

 

[DeeHusky]

I don't doubt CW will be an AA, sometime in her career at UCONN. I respectfully disagree with your statement about another guard who played better than CW. Without Mikayla Pivec in post season, OSU would have lost quite a few games in the regular season, as well as in the 1st and 2nd round of the NCAA. CW played well in NCAA tournament, but I don't think she played any better than Pivec, Kianna Williams, & Tiana. I didn't see Maryland or South Carolina games in the NCAA Tournament, but did see some of the Pan American Trials, and Harris & Mikesell were fantastic. CW is solid, but she isn't DT, and she isn't going to carry UCONN on her own to a FF. She is going to need much help from her teammates for UCONN to get to FF.

[ ]. Christyn is better than and played better than all of those you named in the tournament last year. I don’t think any of those girls are equally talented nor athletic as Williams especially Ty Harris and Taylor Mikesell.



There will NEVER, EVER be another DT. She doesn’t need to be DT, she will be herself. Her teammates will help her get to where she needs to go like ALL UConn teams do. Even DT needed help from Jessica Moore, Ashley Battle, Barbara Turner, Ann Stother, Maria Conlon. Dee carried a heavy load, but she did NOT win on her own.


One more thing, there will NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER be another Diana Lorena Taurasi. NEVER!

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Has Geno ever coached a team with a decided lack of height? I think the UConn fans are underestimating the impact their lack of height may have on the season. Especially if Westbrook doesn't get her waiver.

 

[bballnut90]

Has Geno ever coached a team with a decided lack of height? I think the UConn fans are underestimating the impact their lack of height may have on the season. Especially if Westbrook doesn't get her waiver.

2016-17 where their posts were 5-11 Gabby Williams and 6-1 Collier. They went 36-1 and it required a near miracle from Mississippi State to pull off the upset. UCONN this upcoming season will have a frontcourt of 6-4 ONO and 6-1 Megan Walker. They lack depth upfront but they aren't small.

 

[mbr33ct]

This makes no sense to me. UConn lost two players that was drafted high in the first round while Maryland lost one non-drafted player. Maryland had the 3rd best recruiting class with two top 20 players and UConn had one All American. Granted Maryland lost TWO second round home games, one where they were ranked the 3rd best team in the country. The inability to play well in the NCAA is probably do more to poor coaching than actually talent. If Westbrook does not get her waiver, I'm taking Maryland over UConn.

To answer your question, go back one year when UConn "lost" three players to graduation/draft. #4 Gabby Williams, #6 Azura Stevens and #10 Kia Nurse. I'm sure people were saying the same thing as you currently saying before the start of last season...how did UConn do last year?. If Westbrook does not get a waiver, I would like to take that bet.

 

[mbr33ct]

Has Geno ever coached a team with a decided lack of height? I think the UConn fans are underestimating the impact their lack of height may have on the season. Especially if Westbrook doesn't get her waiver.

Reading the UConn side of this forum, all I keep reading about is that UConn needs "bigs". I would have to assume, Geno has been dealing with this "decided lack of height" for years but here they are, year after year always in the top 4 or so. By the way, last I checked Westbrook is not a "big", even if she does get her waiver, Geno will still have to deal with the "lack of height" thing.

 

[oldude]

Has Geno ever coached a team with a decided lack of height? I think the UConn fans are underestimating the impact their lack of height may have on the season. Especially if Westbrook doesn't get her waiver.

Surely this is a rhetorical question? Uhm...2016-17. The Huskies had a 5’11” Center and a 6’1” PF. That team went 36-1 with victories over SC twin towers (Coates & Wilson) as well as a Baylor team with 4 players 6’4” or greater (Brown, Mompremier, Cave & Cox).

 

[Jmsdawg]

I think it comes down to Carter's ability to play in a team setting for TAMU. She has a lot of flaws that I don't see disappearing. If you look at her numbers, she takes 20+ shots per game at a low clip (40.3% from the floor) and had a negative A/TO ratio. In conference play, she still took 20+ shots while shooting 38.9% and had a 45/61 A/TO ratio. They have several other capable offensive options but it can't be the Chennedy show if they want to be a legitimate Final Four contender. Put a good defender on her and you can easily win. Blair has seemingly given her the green light up to this point but she needs to get others involved and make better decisions if they'll be a top 5 team.

You see a different Chennedy than I. I have seen her get hot and nobody can guard her. The major flaw in her game IMO is she gets flustered too easy and when that occurs she is a detriment to the team. However, when she is on, it is pure basketball!

 

[JonathanXIV]

PAC-12 is easily best women’s basketball conference, top to bottom. Second tier teams routinely give conference’s top teams a battle. Last year Colorado, ranked early but dropping out of rankings after being hit with injuries, nearly beat Stanford with CU’s best player out with injury. As great as UConn is, it would probably never go undefeated in conference play if it were in the Pac-12.

Never? Do you recall UConn going undefeated playing in the former Big East, with the likes of ND and Rutgers, not to mention their out of conference schedule including Tennessee (when they were good)?

 

[mbr33ct]

2016-17 where their posts were 5-11 Gabby Williams and 6-1 Collier. They went 36-1 and it required a near miracle from Mississippi State to pull off the upset. UCONN this upcoming season will have a frontcourt of 6-4 ONO and 6-1 Megan Walker. They lack depth upfront but they aren't small.

If I may just add, UConn also has Evelyn Adebayo 6"-1" (Grad transfer), Batouly Camara 6'-2" (I wish for a healthy year), two freshmen guards in Anna Makurat 6'-1" and Aubrey Griffin 6'-1". IMO, I'm not worried as much as others with the lack of bigs on this team.

 

[oldude]

Reading the UConn side of this forum, all I keep reading about is that UConn needs "bigs". I would have to assume, Geno has been dealing with this "decided lack of height" for years but here they are, year after year always in the top 4 or so. By the way, last I checked Westbrook is not a "big", even if she does get her waiver, Geno will still have to deal with the "lack of height" thing.

Other than having one of the most athletic 6’5” players in the country, I guess UConn will have to deal with a “lack of height.”

 

[UConnCat]

Never? Do you recall UConn going undefeated playing in the former Big East, with the likes of ND and Rutgers, not to mention their out of conference schedule including Tennessee (when they were good)?

Back when UConn played in the Big East they won 90 consecutive games. The 90-game winning streak spanned 3 seasons -- 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 -- and UConn did not lose a conference game. For those 3 seasons combined, the Big East sent more teams to the NCAA tournament than any conference in the country. More than the SEC, more than the Big 12, more than the ACC and more than the PAC12. From the 2007-2008 season through the 2010-2011 season, UConn lost one regular season conference game (Rutgers in 2008). Again, during that stretch, the Big East sent more teams to the NCAA tournament than any conference in the country.

 

[oldude]

You see a different Chennedy than I. I have seen her get hot and nobody can guard her. The major flaw in her game IMO is she gets flustered too easy and when that occurs she is a detriment to the team. However, when she is on, it is pure basketball!

There is no doubt that Carter is an exceptional talent who can take over a game. If she gets a little flustered and perhaps starts pressing from time to time, that’s something that Gary Blair seems willing to live with. My concern about Carter is as a teammate. Does she make her teammates better? Do other really good players want to play on the same team with her? On that point, I think the jury is still out.

 

[bballnut90]

You see a different Chennedy than I. I have seen her get hot and nobody can guard her. The major flaw in her game IMO is she gets flustered too easy and when that occurs she is a detriment to the team. However, when she is on, it is pure basketball!

I agree. Problem is, she plays too much one on one style basketball rather than team oriented basketball. She has good teammates but doesn't utilize them enough. No one should average 20+ shots per game, especially in the SEC. Even EDD didn't average 20 shots per game playing for Delaware her senior season.

 

[CBus13]

• NC State up from 25 to 15 (what changed?).

I feel like NC State was ranked low initially, but since the first rankings one of their 2020 recruits, Elle Sutphin, reclassified and joined the currently freshmen class. She was a five star recruit according to ESPN. Not sure she's worthy cause of a ten position jump, but it gives them some more height.

 

[nwhoopfan]

If their highlight was losing by 10 to ND in a preseason tournament,

Their highlight was beating Oregon. Are you trying to be obtuse?

 

[DeeHusky]

Has Geno ever coached a team with a decided lack of height? I think the UConn fans are underestimating the impact their lack of height may have on the season. Especially if Westbrook doesn't get her waiver.

Ever since Stewie graduated til now. Also when Jessica Moore won two championships at 6’2.

 

[bballnut90]

Their highlight was beating Oregon. Are you trying to be obtuse?

No, I'm just responding to a thread where you nitpicked a comment I made and I'm trying to reiterate my point that Oregon State wasn't close to being at the level UCONN was a year ago. Oregon State finished the year playing its worst basketball and despite returning some talented players and having a great coach, I don't see zero argument for Creme to have ranked them ahead of UCONN in the preseason.

 

[LoTrader]

[ ]. Christyn is better than and played better than all of those you named in the tournament last year. I don’t think any of those girls are equally talented nor athletic as Williams especially Ty Harris and Taylor Mikesell.



There will NEVER, EVER be another DT. She doesn’t need to be DT, she will be herself. Her teammates will help her get to where she needs to go like ALL UConn teams do. Even DT needed help from Jessica Moore, Ashley Battle, Barbara Turner, Ann Stother, Maria Conlon. Dee carried a heavy load, but she did NOT win on her own.


One more thing, there will NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER be another Diana Lorena Taurasi. NEVER!

Have you watched Mikayla Pivec play basketball? Name me a better athlete than Mikayla Pivec at the guard position?

 

[LoTrader]

No, I'm just responding to a thread where you nitpicked a comment I made and I'm trying to reiterate my point that Oregon State wasn't close to being at the level UCONN was a year ago. Oregon State finished the year playing its worst basketball and despite returning some talented players and having a great coach, I don't see zero argument for Creme to have ranked them ahead of UCONN in the preseason.

Let's hope we can have OSU-UCONN settle this on the court in the NCAA Playoffs!

 

[DeeHusky]

Have you watched Mikayla Pivec play basketball? Name me a better athlete than Mikayla Pivec at the guard position?

Sabrina Ionescu, Christyn Williams, Crystal Dangerfield, Evina Westbrook, Chennedy Carter, Rhyne Howard...random names I can think of. Pivec is not athletic, she is more skill, toughness, and grit like a Marina Mabrey type player.