Final Grades

[and one]

The term is over for our Huskies and it is time to give out report cards. In grading I try to be fair but firm. Playing at UConn brings certain expectations, such as the ability to learn and improve and to practice and play hard and smart. This is taken into consideration as well as overall performance as viewed through player statistics and value to the team when on the floor. Grading is on a curve in the sense that more is expected of more talented players.



Paige: A There was the temptation to give an A+ as she performed above the already high expectations she came with as a freshman. She plays smart and with energy. Her skill set is outstanding. She is a natural leader. She has attitude and some swagger. She is a great offensive and a good defensive player. She can and does make other players better by putting them in a position to succeed. I’m holding off on giving her an A+ only because she at times defers to teammates too often. She doesn’t have a shoot first mentality, and loves her passing and assists, which is a great thing, but there are times when she should recognize that she needs to assert her scoring ability at crucial times and she doesn’t always seem to recognize when those times occur. Next year will bring Azzi, along with Caroline and Saylor (who was really a high school player on the bench this year) to bring more outside scoring options to the team and Amari to be a threat in the paint; if this holds true then the way Paige plays now will be an A+.



Christyn: A Has there ever been a UConn player that has gone through such hard times and come out smelling like roses to the degree Christyn has? She was clearly the overall second best player on the team by the time the season ended. After long stretches where she struggled to find her shot and place on the team, where the talk about losing her starting role was loud and insistent, she let Paige take the pressure off her shoulders and transformed her game. She was a good on ball defender, could score from the outside, finish the pick and roll, and drive to the rim. She recognized when she needed to take over the scoring burden and didn’t fear taking shots when needed. I started the season dreading too many Christyn threes; by the end of the season I felt she knew she and Paige were the only consistent three point threats, which she could knock them down and reacted accordingly. She was by far the most improved player.



Evina: B+ There were a lot of questions about Evina going into the season. Would she be fully recovered from her injuries? Would she be a go to scorer? Would she fit into the flow of a UConn offense? It turns out she became the great role player every team needs. She could pass, rebound, play defense, and score some. I think she has the game to shoot and make more jump shots, particularly threes, and that is my only complaint. I strongly suspect she’ll be back next year and will do everything she did this year plus be more of a scoring threat.



Nika: B+ Nika’s role as a starter was far from preordained. Aubrey certainly had the edge to be a starter going into the season. Nika is just flat out a tough competitor and defender and she parleyed that into getting into the starting rotation. She needs to get more confident in shooting the ball and that will come. She’ll never be a volume shooter, and come next year that won’t be necessary, but enough made threes and drives to the basket to keep the defense honest. That will come. There will be a lot of competition for playing time for the next few years and Nika is more than capable of making the case that she needs to be on the court. I gave her the + because she has the toughness and desire that resulted in being a starter.



Olivia: C She had some very productive games against lesser competition and some games where she not only didn’t help but missed more than her fair share of easy baskets that hurt the team. She is tall and she has passing skills and is a rebounder when not facing more skilled bigs. Her shot isn’t pretty, whether up close, at the free throw line or from outside the paint. Olivia has improved over three years although not nearly as much as we hoped. She isn’t a back to the basket bruiser, which is ok, but her shooting isn’t good enough for her to thrive away from the basket other than passing and screening. She is a 6’5” tweener that isn’t really good at either the five or four spots.



Aubrey: B- We were excited about the promise Aubrey held as a freshman – long, athletic, a disrupting defender and full of energy. It was hoped she would settle down and harness her game to the point where she could operate within the flow of the game and develop much better shooting skills. Aubrey has done some of those things but still has an unreliable shot. When Anna went down, the fifth starting spot was hers for the having. She wasn’t ready for that and while she got respectable minutes wasn’t starting material. Aubrey still holds tantalizing promise and next year will be make or break, with the incoming freshman adding more competition for minutes. I would love to see her have a breakthrough – her upside is immense. If she can be consistent in making put backs, finishing layups, and shooting a respectable percentage from 15’ out, added to her existing defensive skills, she’ll be tough for opponents to handle.



Anna: B This is a tough grade to assign due to her missing so much time due to injury and not having time to get back into game shape when she returned. Anna was never going to be a star but she is rugged, can pass, has a good feel for the flow of the game and once she got going was a three point threat, something UConn has been short on. She is a bit slow, but not so much that she didn’t start. This year it was hoped she wouldn’t defer to other players so much when it came to shooting but that didn’t happen. Too often she had a three look, hesitated and the moment passed. Her grade for this year could be incomplete but I gave her a grade based on her pre-injury performance.

Mir and Paith: Incomplete Mir was a good prospect coming in last year, quick and a leaper. She wasn’t able to develop enough to get meaningful minutes so the jury is still out. Paith was a project coming in last year and remains so. If she can develop into a better than average center over the next couple of years it will be gravy for the program. Who know, maybe Mir and Paith really improve and be an asset to the team. I hope so.



Summer: not eligible for a grade. She is essentially monitoring this class. Even at that I’ll bet she can beat you at one-on-one.



The team: B+. This is also a hard one. Graded against past UConn teams I’d give it a B, even taking into consideration they have Paige and you don’t, they only lost two games, made the final four and beat two good teams in SC and Baylor. With all that they didn’t have the overwhelming firepower and depth some of the prior teams had. Comparing them to the other teams playing this year I rate them a B+ and will go with that.

---

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Needlessly harsh on Liv, whose final 3 games regressed from how she'd improved over the course of the season. I think she was the most affected by the loss of Nika.

Otherwise, you completely omitted Aaliyah, misspelled Piath, and misnamed Saylor.

These errors take some of the wind out of your sails, though I agree with you and was hugely impressed by how Christyn improved and sustained it. I think she also benefitted from Nika's devopment and role.

 

[cbraarj]

Needlessly harsh on Liv, whose final 3 games regressed from how she'd improved over the course of the season. I think she was the most affected by the loss of Nika.

Otherwise, you completely omitted Aaliyah, misspelled Piath, and misnamed Saylor.

These errors take some of the wind out of your sails, though I agree with you and was hugely impressed by how Christyn improved and sustained it. I think she also benefitted from Nika's devopment and role.

He was dead on with Liv.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He was dead on with Liv.

You agree that it rates a C?

 

[cbraarj]

You agree that it rates a

I wouldn't of given her that. She is vastly overrated.

 

[Bills Fan]

Where is Liya's grade?

 

[Dublin]

Needlessly harsh on Liv, whose final 3 games regressed from how she'd improved over the course of the season. I think she was the most affected by the loss of Nika.

Otherwise, you completely omitted Aaliyah, misspelled Piath, and misnamed Saylor.

These errors take some of the wind out of your sails, though I agree with you and was hugely impressed by how Christyn improved and sustained it. I think she also benefitted from Nika's devopment and role.

Might have misnamed Saylor for our good "Doctor" Autumn. Hope Geno can find a place for her next season. He always needs at least one 4.0 GPA on his squad, maybe to assist the student tutors with her teammates.

 

[Jingo]

The term is over for our Huskies and it is time to give out report cards. In grading I try to be fair but firm. Playing at UConn brings certain expectations, such as the ability to learn and improve and to practice and play hard and smart. This is taken into consideration as well as overall performance as viewed through player statistics and value to the team when on the floor. Grading is on a curve in the sense that more is expected of more talented players.



Paige: A There was the temptation to give an A+ as she performed above the already high expectations she came with as a freshman. She plays smart and with energy. Her skill set is outstanding. She is a natural leader. She has attitude and some swagger. She is a great offensive and a good defensive player. She can and does make other players better by putting them in a position to succeed. I’m holding off on giving her an A+ only because she at times defers to teammates too often. She doesn’t have a shoot first mentality, and loves her passing and assists, which is a great thing, but there are times when she should recognize that she needs to assert her scoring ability at crucial times and she doesn’t always seem to recognize when those times occur. Next year will bring Azzi, along with Caroline and Saylor (who was really a high school player on the bench this year) to bring more outside scoring options to the team and Amari to be a threat in the paint; if this holds true then the way Paige plays now will be an A+.



Christyn: A Has there ever been a UConn player that has gone through such hard times and come out smelling like roses to the degree Christyn has? She was clearly the overall second best player on the team by the time the season ended. After long stretches where she struggled to find her shot and place on the team, where the talk about losing her starting role was loud and insistent, she let Paige take the pressure off her shoulders and transformed her game. She was a good on ball defender, could score from the outside, finish the pick and roll, and drive to the rim. She recognized when she needed to take over the scoring burden and didn’t fear taking shots when needed. I started the season dreading too many Christyn threes; by the end of the season I felt she knew she and Paige were the only consistent three point threats, which she could knock them down and reacted accordingly. She was by far the most improved player.



Evina: B+ There were a lot of questions about Evina going into the season. Would she be fully recovered from her injuries? Would she be a go to scorer? Would she fit into the flow of a UConn offense? It turns out she became the great role player every team needs. She could pass, rebound, play defense, and score some. I think she has the game to shoot and make more jump shots, particularly threes, and that is my only complaint. I strongly suspect she’ll be back next year and will do everything she did this year plus be more of a scoring threat.



Nika: B+ Nika’s role as a starter was far from preordained. Aubrey certainly had the edge to be a starter going into the season. Nika is just flat out a tough competitor and defender and she parleyed that into getting into the starting rotation. She needs to get more confident in shooting the ball and that will come. She’ll never be a volume shooter, and come next year that won’t be necessary, but enough made threes and drives to the basket to keep the defense honest. That will come. There will be a lot of competition for playing time for the next few years and Nika is more than capable of making the case that she needs to be on the court. I gave her the + because she has the toughness and desire that resulted in being a starter.



Olivia: C She had some very productive games against lesser competition and some games where she not only didn’t help but missed more than her fair share of easy baskets that hurt the team. She is tall and she has passing skills and is a rebounder when not facing more skilled bigs. Her shot isn’t pretty, whether up close, at the free throw line or from outside the paint. Olivia has improved over three years although not nearly as much as we hoped. She isn’t a back to the basket bruiser, which is ok, but her shooting isn’t good enough for her to thrive away from the basket other than passing and screening. She is a 6’5” tweener that isn’t really good at either the five or four spots.



Aubrey: B- We were excited about the promise Aubrey held as a freshman – long, athletic, a disrupting defender and full of energy. It was hoped she would settle down and harness her game to the point where she could operate within the flow of the game and develop much better shooting skills. Aubrey has done some of those things but still has an unreliable shot. When Anna went down, the fifth starting spot was hers for the having. She wasn’t ready for that and while she got respectable minutes wasn’t starting material. Aubrey still holds tantalizing promise and next year will be make or break, with the incoming freshman adding more competition for minutes. I would love to see her have a breakthrough – her upside is immense. If she can be consistent in making put backs, finishing layups, and shooting a respectable percentage from 15’ out, added to her existing defensive skills, she’ll be tough for opponents to handle.



Anna: B This is a tough grade to assign due to her missing so much time due to injury and not having time to get back into game shape when she returned. Anna was never going to be a star but she is rugged, can pass, has a good feel for the flow of the game and once she got going was a three point threat, something UConn has been short on. She is a bit slow, but not so much that she didn’t start. This year it was hoped she wouldn’t defer to other players so much when it came to shooting but that didn’t happen. Too often she had a three look, hesitated and the moment passed. Her grade for this year could be incomplete but I gave her a grade based on her pre-injury performance.

Mir and Paith: Incomplete Mir was a good prospect coming in last year, quick and a leaper. She wasn’t able to develop enough to get meaningful minutes so the jury is still out. Paith was a project coming in last year and remains so. If she can develop into a better than average center over the next couple of years it will be gravy for the program. Who know, maybe Mir and Paith really improve and be an asset to the team. I hope so.



Summer: not eligible for a grade. She is essentially monitoring this class. Even at that I’ll bet she can beat you at one-on-one.



The team: B+. This is also a hard one. Graded against past UConn teams I’d give it a B, even taking into consideration they have Paige and you don’t, they only lost two games, made the final four and beat two good teams in SC and Baylor. With all that they didn’t have the overwhelming firepower and depth some of the prior teams had. Comparing them to the other teams playing this year I rate them a B+ and will go with that.

---

You only gave Liv a 'C' and yet you gave CW an 'A'. That tells me there is no need to read further, eh?

 

[bballnut90]

The term is over for our Huskies and it is time to give out report cards. In grading I try to be fair but firm. Playing at UConn brings certain expectations, such as the ability to learn and improve and to practice and play hard and smart. This is taken into consideration as well as overall performance as viewed through player statistics and value to the team when on the floor. Grading is on a curve in the sense that more is expected of more talented players.



Paige: A There was the temptation to give an A+ as she performed above the already high expectations she came with as a freshman. She plays smart and with energy. Her skill set is outstanding. She is a natural leader. She has attitude and some swagger. She is a great offensive and a good defensive player. She can and does make other players better by putting them in a position to succeed. I’m holding off on giving her an A+ only because she at times defers to teammates too often. She doesn’t have a shoot first mentality, and loves her passing and assists, which is a great thing, but there are times when she should recognize that she needs to assert her scoring ability at crucial times and she doesn’t always seem to recognize when those times occur. Next year will bring Azzi, along with Caroline and Saylor (who was really a high school player on the bench this year) to bring more outside scoring options to the team and Amari to be a threat in the paint; if this holds true then the way Paige plays now will be an A+.



Christyn: A Has there ever been a UConn player that has gone through such hard times and come out smelling like roses to the degree Christyn has? She was clearly the overall second best player on the team by the time the season ended. After long stretches where she struggled to find her shot and place on the team, where the talk about losing her starting role was loud and insistent, she let Paige take the pressure off her shoulders and transformed her game. She was a good on ball defender, could score from the outside, finish the pick and roll, and drive to the rim. She recognized when she needed to take over the scoring burden and didn’t fear taking shots when needed. I started the season dreading too many Christyn threes; by the end of the season I felt she knew she and Paige were the only consistent three point threats, which she could knock them down and reacted accordingly. She was by far the most improved player.



Evina: B+ There were a lot of questions about Evina going into the season. Would she be fully recovered from her injuries? Would she be a go to scorer? Would she fit into the flow of a UConn offense? It turns out she became the great role player every team needs. She could pass, rebound, play defense, and score some. I think she has the game to shoot and make more jump shots, particularly threes, and that is my only complaint. I strongly suspect she’ll be back next year and will do everything she did this year plus be more of a scoring threat.



Nika: B+ Nika’s role as a starter was far from preordained. Aubrey certainly had the edge to be a starter going into the season. Nika is just flat out a tough competitor and defender and she parleyed that into getting into the starting rotation. She needs to get more confident in shooting the ball and that will come. She’ll never be a volume shooter, and come next year that won’t be necessary, but enough made threes and drives to the basket to keep the defense honest. That will come. There will be a lot of competition for playing time for the next few years and Nika is more than capable of making the case that she needs to be on the court. I gave her the + because she has the toughness and desire that resulted in being a starter.



Olivia: C She had some very productive games against lesser competition and some games where she not only didn’t help but missed more than her fair share of easy baskets that hurt the team. She is tall and she has passing skills and is a rebounder when not facing more skilled bigs. Her shot isn’t pretty, whether up close, at the free throw line or from outside the paint. Olivia has improved over three years although not nearly as much as we hoped. She isn’t a back to the basket bruiser, which is ok, but her shooting isn’t good enough for her to thrive away from the basket other than passing and screening. She is a 6’5” tweener that isn’t really good at either the five or four spots.



Aubrey: B- We were excited about the promise Aubrey held as a freshman – long, athletic, a disrupting defender and full of energy. It was hoped she would settle down and harness her game to the point where she could operate within the flow of the game and develop much better shooting skills. Aubrey has done some of those things but still has an unreliable shot. When Anna went down, the fifth starting spot was hers for the having. She wasn’t ready for that and while she got respectable minutes wasn’t starting material. Aubrey still holds tantalizing promise and next year will be make or break, with the incoming freshman adding more competition for minutes. I would love to see her have a breakthrough – her upside is immense. If she can be consistent in making put backs, finishing layups, and shooting a respectable percentage from 15’ out, added to her existing defensive skills, she’ll be tough for opponents to handle.



Anna: B This is a tough grade to assign due to her missing so much time due to injury and not having time to get back into game shape when she returned. Anna was never going to be a star but she is rugged, can pass, has a good feel for the flow of the game and once she got going was a three point threat, something UConn has been short on. She is a bit slow, but not so much that she didn’t start. This year it was hoped she wouldn’t defer to other players so much when it came to shooting but that didn’t happen. Too often she had a three look, hesitated and the moment passed. Her grade for this year could be incomplete but I gave her a grade based on her pre-injury performance.

Mir and Paith: Incomplete Mir was a good prospect coming in last year, quick and a leaper. She wasn’t able to develop enough to get meaningful minutes so the jury is still out. Paith was a project coming in last year and remains so. If she can develop into a better than average center over the next couple of years it will be gravy for the program. Who know, maybe Mir and Paith really improve and be an asset to the team. I hope so.



Summer: not eligible for a grade. She is essentially monitoring this class. Even at that I’ll bet she can beat you at one-on-one.



The team: B+. This is also a hard one. Graded against past UConn teams I’d give it a B, even taking into consideration they have Paige and you don’t, they only lost two games, made the final four and beat two good teams in SC and Baylor. With all that they didn’t have the overwhelming firepower and depth some of the prior teams had. Comparing them to the other teams playing this year I rate them a B+ and will go with that.

---

Agree with most of this:

-Edwards gets an A from me. Outstanding freshman campaign.

-Paige gets an A+ even with an earlier than expected exit. She was POY as a freshman, can't ask anything more.

-Williams is more of a B+ IMO. Solid season and an excellent finish but was not able to take it up to an AA level on a consistent basis. Most expected she'd blossom into a go to player or AA, which you could argue happened at the end of the year, but many hoped it'd happen earlier. Didn't see enough leadership from her as an upperclassman and 3rd year starter either. Good season but equating her grade with Paige's of even Edwards' just doesn't seem right to me.

-Westbrook is a B for me. Came in and had some strong games but also disappeared at times. Nice season but too passive IMO considering her skill set.

-Makurat I wouldn't rate at all or would rate lower. She never got into rhythm this year and injuries set her back. She was excellent as a frosh and started the season cold, and barely got playing time by end of season. I understand not wanting to grade her lower for effects from injuries but I'd put it as incomplete since B is usually synonymous with good/above expectations and I dont think she met that this season.

-ONO I'd give C+. She stunk it up last night and continued to struggle against decent teams regardless of height, but her post passing was excellent all year and she's a tremendous shot blocker. I dont think she gets enough credit for those skills since everyone is understandably confused why she can't score in big games.

Team overall I agree with B+. This team reminds me of the 2008 team that lost in the semis to Stanford. Had the talent to win it all but never seemed to fully find their chemistry. Very good season overall but a somewhat lackluster finish with good high moments along the way.

 

[Happydad745]

The term is over for our Huskies and it is time to give out report cards. In grading I try to be fair but firm. Playing at UConn brings certain expectations, such as the ability to learn and improve and to practice and play hard and smart. This is taken into consideration as well as overall performance as viewed through player statistics and value to the team when on the floor. Grading is on a curve in the sense that more is expected of more talented players.



Paige: A There was the temptation to give an A+ as she performed above the already high expectations she came with as a freshman. She plays smart and with energy. Her skill set is outstanding. She is a natural leader. She has attitude and some swagger. She is a great offensive and a good defensive player. She can and does make other players better by putting them in a position to succeed. I’m holding off on giving her an A+ only because she at times defers to teammates too often. She doesn’t have a shoot first mentality, and loves her passing and assists, which is a great thing, but there are times when she should recognize that she needs to assert her scoring ability at crucial times and she doesn’t always seem to recognize when those times occur. Next year will bring Azzi, along with Caroline and Saylor (who was really a high school player on the bench this year) to bring more outside scoring options to the team and Amari to be a threat in the paint; if this holds true then the way Paige plays now will be an A+.



Christyn: A Has there ever been a UConn player that has gone through such hard times and come out smelling like roses to the degree Christyn has? She was clearly the overall second best player on the team by the time the season ended. After long stretches where she struggled to find her shot and place on the team, where the talk about losing her starting role was loud and insistent, she let Paige take the pressure off her shoulders and transformed her game. She was a good on ball defender, could score from the outside, finish the pick and roll, and drive to the rim. She recognized when she needed to take over the scoring burden and didn’t fear taking shots when needed. I started the season dreading too many Christyn threes; by the end of the season I felt she knew she and Paige were the only consistent three point threats, which she could knock them down and reacted accordingly. She was by far the most improved player.



Evina: B+ There were a lot of questions about Evina going into the season. Would she be fully recovered from her injuries? Would she be a go to scorer? Would she fit into the flow of a UConn offense? It turns out she became the great role player every team needs. She could pass, rebound, play defense, and score some. I think she has the game to shoot and make more jump shots, particularly threes, and that is my only complaint. I strongly suspect she’ll be back next year and will do everything she did this year plus be more of a scoring threat.



Nika: B+ Nika’s role as a starter was far from preordained. Aubrey certainly had the edge to be a starter going into the season. Nika is just flat out a tough competitor and defender and she parleyed that into getting into the starting rotation. She needs to get more confident in shooting the ball and that will come. She’ll never be a volume shooter, and come next year that won’t be necessary, but enough made threes and drives to the basket to keep the defense honest. That will come. There will be a lot of competition for playing time for the next few years and Nika is more than capable of making the case that she needs to be on the court. I gave her the + because she has the toughness and desire that resulted in being a starter.



Olivia: C She had some very productive games against lesser competition and some games where she not only didn’t help but missed more than her fair share of easy baskets that hurt the team. She is tall and she has passing skills and is a rebounder when not facing more skilled bigs. Her shot isn’t pretty, whether up close, at the free throw line or from outside the paint. Olivia has improved over three years although not nearly as much as we hoped. She isn’t a back to the basket bruiser, which is ok, but her shooting isn’t good enough for her to thrive away from the basket other than passing and screening. She is a 6’5” tweener that isn’t really good at either the five or four spots.



Aubrey: B- We were excited about the promise Aubrey held as a freshman – long, athletic, a disrupting defender and full of energy. It was hoped she would settle down and harness her game to the point where she could operate within the flow of the game and develop much better shooting skills. Aubrey has done some of those things but still has an unreliable shot. When Anna went down, the fifth starting spot was hers for the having. She wasn’t ready for that and while she got respectable minutes wasn’t starting material. Aubrey still holds tantalizing promise and next year will be make or break, with the incoming freshman adding more competition for minutes. I would love to see her have a breakthrough – her upside is immense. If she can be consistent in making put backs, finishing layups, and shooting a respectable percentage from 15’ out, added to her existing defensive skills, she’ll be tough for opponents to handle.



Anna: B This is a tough grade to assign due to her missing so much time due to injury and not having time to get back into game shape when she returned. Anna was never going to be a star but she is rugged, can pass, has a good feel for the flow of the game and once she got going was a three point threat, something UConn has been short on. She is a bit slow, but not so much that she didn’t start. This year it was hoped she wouldn’t defer to other players so much when it came to shooting but that didn’t happen. Too often she had a three look, hesitated and the moment passed. Her grade for this year could be incomplete but I gave her a grade based on her pre-injury performance.

Mir and Paith: Incomplete Mir was a good prospect coming in last year, quick and a leaper. She wasn’t able to develop enough to get meaningful minutes so the jury is still out. Paith was a project coming in last year and remains so. If she can develop into a better than average center over the next couple of years it will be gravy for the program. Who know, maybe Mir and Paith really improve and be an asset to the team. I hope so.



Summer: not eligible for a grade. She is essentially monitoring this class. Even at that I’ll bet she can beat you at one-on-one.



The team: B+. This is also a hard one. Graded against past UConn teams I’d give it a B, even taking into consideration they have Paige and you don’t, they only lost two games, made the final four and beat two good teams in SC and Baylor. With all that they didn’t have the overwhelming firepower and depth some of the prior teams had. Comparing them to the other teams playing this year I rate them a B+ and will go with that.

---

Paige is an A+, remember she is a freshman, player of the year, all American, etc.
CW is a B. Erratic shooting and not good with assists. Remember, she was the number 1 prospect out of HS.
Olivia is also a B...she had a high shooting percentage, but on offense she is not a great post player.
Evina-another B, but an A in leadership, I keep looking for more fire power.
AE gets a B+, another freshman who excelled on the court.
Nika gets a B, great improvement on defense, but little to no help on offense. Lots of courage.
Aubrey is a B-...kind of reminds me of Morah Jeffersons's excessive speed as a freshman. She goes faster than she can control.
No one else played enough to receive a consistent evaluation.
As a team we did better than we should have...Paige should have been a secondary player for scoring, but our weaknesses keep pushing her to bail us out.

 

[Bald Husky]

He was dead on with Liv.

As the team did, she played against cupcakes all year. She did not perform against the best teams on the schedule. If we played all the OOC games that we missed, it could have been embarrassing for her.

 

[Eagle4]

I think the standard we should use in grading is performance against the top teams in the country since our ultimate goal is national championships rather than BE and cupcake wins. We should not use games against weak teams as the criteria. If we use performance against top teams, Liv unfortunately does not grade well. I would give her a C-, I would also give Edwards a B+. I know Nika is loved by the Huskies faithful and I love her also but she needs to significantly improve her offensive skills to rate more than a B- at this time. This team is in need of a much stronger post presense and much more overall/balanced scoring firepower(again the criteria is performance against top competition) to get to where we want to go. We also need improved defense against quick players who can break down 1 on 1 defenders and get to the basket (i.e. Arizona and Arkansas)

 

[Magruber]

You agree that it rates a C?

C at best.
She's been big disappointment considering her high hs ranking. Hasn't developed.
Biggest player on court and can't consistently hit bunny layups. Free throws aren't too good either.
Doesn't play strong.
We have high standards and expectations and unfortunately she hasn't quite lived up to them yet. Great kid and person.
Rooting for her to go out a champion next year with a string Senior season.

 

[Geew1992]

As the team did, she played against cupcakes all year. She did not perform against the best teams on the schedule. If we played all the OOC games that we missed, it could have been embarrassing for her.

Although her scoring wasn’t there, pretty sure she performed well against the Baylor bigs and the Syracuse big. But what do I know

 

[and one]

Needlessly harsh on Liv, whose final 3 games regressed from how she'd improved over the course of the season. I think she was the most affected by the loss of Nika.

Otherwise, you completely omitted Aaliyah, misspelled Piath, and misnamed Saylor.

These errors take some of the wind out of your sails, though I agree with you and was hugely impressed by how Christyn improved and sustained it. I think she also benefitted from Nika's devopment and role.

Did I miss Aaliyah? Hard to do with those broad shoulders and long Laker's purple and gold extensions. Yes I did. I copy and pasted from Word and missed her. Hold on a sec here while I go into Word...highlight Aailyah...click on copy...back to Boneyard and click paste... Voila!

Aaliyah: A- Aaliyah really had a terrific season and showed every sign of being among the top bigs in UConn history before she graduates. She struggled in a few games and was a force in many more. She is active and intense on the court, can rebound and score down low and just works her tush off. I like everything about Aailyah’s game and can’t wait to see what she develops into. A B+ might have been appropriate but she gets extra credit for being a freshman and for her take no prisoners style of play.

No excuse for the misspelling of Piath.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Did I miss Aaliyah? Hard to do with those broad shoulders, lovely smile and long Laker's purple and gold extensions. Yes I did. I copy and pasted from Word and missed her. Hold on a sec here while I go into Word...highlight Aailyah...click on copy...back to Boneyard and click paste... Voila!

Aaliyah: A- Aaliyah really had a terrific season and showed every sign of being among the top bigs in UConn history before she graduates. She struggled in a few games and was a force in many more. She is active and intense on the court, can rebound and score down low and just works her tush off. I like everything about Aailyah’s game and can’t wait to see what she develops into. A B+ might have been appropriate but she gets extra credit for being a freshman and for her take no prisoners style of play.

No excuse for the misspelling of Piath.

Thanks, solid.
She had freshman tentativeness the other night, but the whole team was thrown off. It was a joy to watch her across the season.

 

[Rb335]

Paige- A - freshman NPOY and carried us. She was huge against both South Carolina, Baylor, and Arkansas. She didn’t play great in the final four but still held her own.

CW- a solid B. She was inconsistent but turned it on in the post season. Next step is to put together a complete season, work on FT and 3 point shooting.

ONO- C - beating up against big east teams doesn’t do it for me. She has the ability and needs to put it together. She’s a great defensive post, so I admire that about her. But she’s looking more like Kiah Stokes the longer she plays.

EW- B- excellent leader, but had a tendency to disappear. With her talent, she could have easily been our second option. I think another year under Geno would serve her well, but would also support her moving on.

NM- B - she exceeded my expectations, but I don’t believe we will ever be a championship team with her as a starter unless she drastically improves her offensive game.

AE- B- she is a strong body, can finish at the rim, and learned how to stay out of foul trouble. I see big things coming her way next season.

AG/AM- C - I give a pass for Anna as she was injured, but neither really improved this year. We could’ve used their sophomore jumps.

The players we bring in look like they have the ability to be very impactful. That’s a really good thing and should push everyone to be playing at their best.

 

[CL82]

The term is over for our Huskies and it is time to give out report cards. In grading I try to be fair but firm. Playing at UConn brings certain expectations, such as the ability to learn and improve and to practice and play hard and smart. This is taken into consideration as well as overall performance as viewed through player statistics and value to the team when on the floor. Grading is on a curve in the sense that more is expected of more talented players.



Paige: A There was the temptation to give an A+ as she performed above the already high expectations she came with as a freshman. She plays smart and with energy. Her skill set is outstanding. She is a natural leader. She has attitude and some swagger. She is a great offensive and a good defensive player. She can and does make other players better by putting them in a position to succeed. I’m holding off on giving her an A+ only because she at times defers to teammates too often. She doesn’t have a shoot first mentality, and loves her passing and assists, which is a great thing, but there are times when she should recognize that she needs to assert her scoring ability at crucial times and she doesn’t always seem to recognize when those times occur. Next year will bring Azzi, along with Caroline and Saylor (who was really a high school player on the bench this year) to bring more outside scoring options to the team and Amari to be a threat in the paint; if this holds true then the way Paige plays now will be an A+.



Christyn: A Has there ever been a UConn player that has gone through such hard times and come out smelling like roses to the degree Christyn has? She was clearly the overall second best player on the team by the time the season ended. After long stretches where she struggled to find her shot and place on the team, where the talk about losing her starting role was loud and insistent, she let Paige take the pressure off her shoulders and transformed her game. She was a good on ball defender, could score from the outside, finish the pick and roll, and drive to the rim. She recognized when she needed to take over the scoring burden and didn’t fear taking shots when needed. I started the season dreading too many Christyn threes; by the end of the season I felt she knew she and Paige were the only consistent three point threats, which she could knock them down and reacted accordingly. She was by far the most improved player.



Evina: B+ There were a lot of questions about Evina going into the season. Would she be fully recovered from her injuries? Would she be a go to scorer? Would she fit into the flow of a UConn offense? It turns out she became the great role player every team needs. She could pass, rebound, play defense, and score some. I think she has the game to shoot and make more jump shots, particularly threes, and that is my only complaint. I strongly suspect she’ll be back next year and will do everything she did this year plus be more of a scoring threat.



Nika: B+ Nika’s role as a starter was far from preordained. Aubrey certainly had the edge to be a starter going into the season. Nika is just flat out a tough competitor and defender and she parleyed that into getting into the starting rotation. She needs to get more confident in shooting the ball and that will come. She’ll never be a volume shooter, and come next year that won’t be necessary, but enough made threes and drives to the basket to keep the defense honest. That will come. There will be a lot of competition for playing time for the next few years and Nika is more than capable of making the case that she needs to be on the court. I gave her the + because she has the toughness and desire that resulted in being a starter.



Olivia: C She had some very productive games against lesser competition and some games where she not only didn’t help but missed more than her fair share of easy baskets that hurt the team. She is tall and she has passing skills and is a rebounder when not facing more skilled bigs. Her shot isn’t pretty, whether up close, at the free throw line or from outside the paint. Olivia has improved over three years although not nearly as much as we hoped. She isn’t a back to the basket bruiser, which is ok, but her shooting isn’t good enough for her to thrive away from the basket other than passing and screening. She is a 6’5” tweener that isn’t really good at either the five or four spots.



Aubrey: B- We were excited about the promise Aubrey held as a freshman – long, athletic, a disrupting defender and full of energy. It was hoped she would settle down and harness her game to the point where she could operate within the flow of the game and develop much better shooting skills. Aubrey has done some of those things but still has an unreliable shot. When Anna went down, the fifth starting spot was hers for the having. She wasn’t ready for that and while she got respectable minutes wasn’t starting material. Aubrey still holds tantalizing promise and next year will be make or break, with the incoming freshman adding more competition for minutes. I would love to see her have a breakthrough – her upside is immense. If she can be consistent in making put backs, finishing layups, and shooting a respectable percentage from 15’ out, added to her existing defensive skills, she’ll be tough for opponents to handle.



Anna: B This is a tough grade to assign due to her missing so much time due to injury and not having time to get back into game shape when she returned. Anna was never going to be a star but she is rugged, can pass, has a good feel for the flow of the game and once she got going was a three point threat, something UConn has been short on. She is a bit slow, but not so much that she didn’t start. This year it was hoped she wouldn’t defer to other players so much when it came to shooting but that didn’t happen. Too often she had a three look, hesitated and the moment passed. Her grade for this year could be incomplete but I gave her a grade based on her pre-injury performance.

Mir and Paith: Incomplete Mir was a good prospect coming in last year, quick and a leaper. She wasn’t able to develop enough to get meaningful minutes so the jury is still out. Paith was a project coming in last year and remains so. If she can develop into a better than average center over the next couple of years it will be gravy for the program. Who know, maybe Mir and Paith really improve and be an asset to the team. I hope so.



Summer: not eligible for a grade. She is essentially monitoring this class. Even at that I’ll bet she can beat you at one-on-one.



The team: B+. This is also a hard one. Graded against past UConn teams I’d give it a B, even taking into consideration they have Paige and you don’t, they only lost two games, made the final four and beat two good teams in SC and Baylor. With all that they didn’t have the overwhelming firepower and depth some of the prior teams had. Comparing them to the other teams playing this year I rate them a B+ and will go with that.

---

Nice analysis. I have a few quibbles:

I think I would drop Chistyn to a B+. When she’s on, she’s a game changer, but her inconsistency this year doesn’t really an A.

I think the B+ for Evina is on. She didn’t take over games on a consistent basis as many had hoped, but she is undeniably the glue of this team and the bridge between our juniors and freshman. She deserves a lot of credit for the season.

Aubrey? I think I would give her a C+. Yeah, she has crazy athleticism and always seems to be on the cusp of establishing herself, but she’s not quite there. I hope next season of the year it all comes together for her on a consistent basis.

I think we have to give Anna and incomplete given how much time she lost. When she came back to stores this year she was super fit and ready to compete. I feel as if the Covid isolation was not a friend to her. Hopefully in a more traditional season next year, she can be more consistently ready to play and avoid injury.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Needlessly harsh on Liv, whose final 3 games regressed from how she'd improved over the course of the season. I think she was the most affected by the loss of Nika.

Otherwise, you completely omitted Aaliyah, misspelled Piath, and misnamed Saylor.

These errors take some of the wind out of your sails, though I agree with you and was hugely impressed by how Christyn improved and sustained it. I think she also benefitted from Nika's devopment and role.

So you both think there is a Summer on the squad?!

 

[chrissaran]

Paige is an A+, remember she is a freshman, player of the year, all American, etc.
CW is a B. Erratic shooting and not good with assists. Remember, she was the number 1 prospect out of HS.
Olivia is also a B...she had a high shooting percentage, but on offense she is not a great post player.
Evina-another B, but an A in leadership, I keep looking for more fire power.
AE gets a B+, another freshman who excelled on the court.
Nika gets a B, great improvement on defense, but little to no help on offense. Lots of courage.
Aubrey is a B-...kind of reminds me of Morah Jeffersons's excessive speed as a freshman. She goes faster than she can control.
No one else played enough to receive a consistent evaluation.
As a team we did better than we should have...Paige should have been a secondary player for scoring, but our weaknesses keep pushing her to bail us out.

Why should Paige be a secondary scorer? She's the best offensive player on the team, no matter she's a freshman.

 

[BfromCT]

We should expect a discussion of this nature after a wonderful, but for many Boneyarders ultimately unrewarding season. I feel particularly qualified to take on this awesome task. Not only have I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on many occasions, but have also at a time long ago faced classrooms of mostly uninterested students. A couple of points at the outset. A grade should consist of both performance during the season and the post-season (final exams). Second when I was spouting pearls of wisdom, grades were both numerical and letter and I was considered a hard grader.

Paige Bueckers - grade 96 or A. The only way anyone can merit an A+ is with a national championship trophy. Nevertheless, Paige surpassed all the magnified expectations of fans on the Boneyard and had a season for the ages, except for the finale when the soprano dies. Her play during both the season and tournament was superb. The only blemish on her record was Arizona. She scored 18 points and played o.k. but lacked her special bounce. I thought that on numerous occasions that she was standing around instead of moving.

Aaliyah Edwards - grade 88 or B+. She also exceeding expectations and was often the second best player on the floor, although her play against both Baylor and Arizona did not match her earlier standard. She is the first big body the team has had since Stephanie Dolson, but lacks her passing ability and shooting touch, although is far more effective around the basket.

Evina Westbrook - grade 88 or B+. Evina is not a big scorer, but her leadership qualities cannot be overestimated. Evina was always effective on the floor, whether scoring, rebounding, or passing. She may well turn pro and, if so, her leadership will be missed next season.

Christyn Willialms - grade 84 or B. Was inconsistent throughout the season and sometimes appeared to disappear, but she improved her grade a great deal by what she did during the tournament. Still, however, she missed two many layups and foul shots to merit a higher grade.

Nika Mühl - grade 82 or B. Her play far exceeded expectations. Boneyarders especially appreciated her toughness and hard play. She was held back by two different ankle injuries and an unwillingness to shoot open 3-pointers. Had, however, she been healthy for the games against both Baylor and Arizona she would have made a significant difference, especially by taking on much of the ball handling responsibilities and pushing the pace.

Aubrey Griffin - grade 72 or C. Griffin had her good moments, but in her second year she still showed both the good and bad points of her play as a freshman. An incredible athlete who has not put her talents together and one wonders if she will be getting much playing time next season.

Anna Makurat - incomplete. She missed too much of the season with a stress fracture to be rated fairly.

Autumn Chasson, Piath Gabriel, Mir McLean. They audited the season.

 

[npignatjr]

Paige- A - freshman NPOY and carried us. She was huge against both South Carolina, Baylor, and Arkansas. She didn’t play great in the final four but still held her own.

CW- a solid B. She was inconsistent but turned it on in the post season. Next step is to put together a complete season, work on FT and 3 point shooting.

ONO- C - beating up against big east teams doesn’t do it for me. She has the ability and needs to put it together. She’s a great defensive post, so I admire that about her. But she’s looking more like Kiah Stokes the longer she plays.

EW- B- excellent leader, but had a tendency to disappear. With her talent, she could have easily been our second option. I think another year under Geno would serve her well, but would also support her moving on.

NM- B - she exceeded my expectations, but I don’t believe we will ever be a championship team with her as a starter unless she drastically improves her offensive game.

AE- B- she is a strong body, can finish at the rim, and learned how to stay out of foul trouble. I see big things coming her way next season.

AG/AM- C - I give a pass for Anna as she was injured, but neither really improved this year. We could’ve used their sophomore jumps.

The players we bring in look like they have the ability to be very impactful. That’s a really good thing and should push everyone to be playing at their best.

Good job, the most accurate. The injury to Nika hurt these last games, especially the last. So a B- was a fair assessment as are the others.

 

[pvdoggy]

I wonder what kind of grades do people here get in school because they sure are tough graders. It looks like the average grade for the team is at best a B, and yet they made the final 4, a huge accomplishment compare to early-season expectation. I would hate to see how you grade other teams that did not make this far.

and this is coming from an exceptional tough grader when I was teaching at the university level before.

 

[jdubct]

Liv failed her final or semifinal exam. She often doesn't show up in the major physical games. So she gets a D for the season. Christyn a B+. Aaliyah B+.

 

[Essexdave]

Aubrey should spend all her free time between now and the fall shooting. Mid range. Threes. Shoot,all day, every day!!

 

[Cuango]

As the team did, she played against cupcakes all year. She did not perform against the best teams on the schedule. If we played all the OOC games that we missed, it could have been embarrassing for her.

Maybe! Who knows? Perhaps those games might have been the catalyst for her to get over her “gunshyness”! This kind of armchair psychoanalysis is so ridiculous.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

So you both think there is a Summer on the squad?!

No, I thought Saylor, rather than Autumn, was being misnamed as Summer. See, we all made (and make) mistakes.

In my observation, more often than not the Boneyard question that starts with, "So, ..." can be answered, "No." Thanks for contributing.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I wouldn't of given her that. She is vastly overrated.

How would you rate "wouldn't of?"

 

[RockyMTblue2]

No, I thought Saylor, rather than Autumn, was being misnamed as Summer. See, we all made (and make) mistakes.

In my observation, more often than not the Boneyard question that starts with, "So, ..." can be answered, "No." Thanks for contributing.

It was a joke. Sheesh!

 

[UcMiami]

Tough crowd.
Everyone seems to forget how much Liv cleaned up other players lapses on the defensive end of the floor. And how well she defended bigs, and what an excellent passer she was this year. Yeah, she laid an egg in the last game, but the whole team did as well. She is a huge part of the 'offensive flow' for the team when they play well. My grade B

Nika Christyn and Evina - B+ I am grading on the last two months as the whole team took a while to find any rhythm in this crazy year.

Paige - A Much more than expected

Aaliyah - B she learned a lot, and has a lot more to learn, but what a future I can see.

Aubrey - C+ she still has trouble integrating within the five on the floor - touches of brilliance and touches of being lost. Think the disjointed summer really hurt her as she needed more structure to really develop and didn't get it.

The others - Incomplete - Anna's injury, and Piath/Mir's typical freshman years didn't rate more than a P/F grading. Saylor's year was just a training camp, and Autumn I hope got what she came to Uconn for - a chance to expand her basketball mind and fulfill a dream.