So with Jana gone… how does our front court look like? Jana’s injury hurts the depth and size of our front court. Lack of size will be an issue if we don’t get another big for this szn. Ice and Aaliyah will have to be great for us and Amari and Ayanna too.
Front court
- Thread starter Tom677777
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And what is your plan for adding another big for this season? Do you think that they become available at the drop of a hat?
What needs to happen is for Ayanna, and maybe Amari, to step up. If I recall correctly, at the start of last season, Ayanna was playing often and for 10+ minutes. She needs to be better this season.
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I believe she will be. Her and Amari had surgery once the season was over. I'm thinking neither were all that healthy.
This makes replacing Dorka’s productivity from last season that much tougher, but having a Senior Aaliyah Edwards to rely on is a silver-lining (and with Paige back, I’m predicting an ever better season from Aaliyah).
Depth is better compared to last season with Ice getting healthier, but I wish we could have found some size-insurance in the portal.
Depth is better compared to last season with Ice getting healthier, but I wish we could have found some size-insurance in the portal.
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Expect CD to play the 4 more this season. She has the size and skill to play a post game. Of course with her concussion history, that's not ideal.
Or else, you're depending on 3 players (Brady, Amari, Ayanna) who have very little experience, are coming off serious injury, and there are performance issues.
To say this team is lacking depth in the post, is an understatement. We have way too many guards/wings and not enough bigs/posts. Our Title chances took a big hit with Jana's injury.
my guess is Geno will roll the dice and play to our strengths. Play small ball and hope AE can play and be productive with big minutes in the post.
Or else, you're depending on 3 players (Brady, Amari, Ayanna) who have very little experience, are coming off serious injury, and there are performance issues.
To say this team is lacking depth in the post, is an understatement. We have way too many guards/wings and not enough bigs/posts. Our Title chances took a big hit with Jana's injury.
my guess is Geno will roll the dice and play to our strengths. Play small ball and hope AE can play and be productive with big minutes in the post.
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Don't forget about Aubrey
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I'm thinking starting 5 will be Paige, Azzi, Muhl, Griffin, and Edwards
Griffin has the athleticism to "play big" a la Gabby Williams (just not to the same extent).
Ducharme will be first off the bench and can spell either the guards or forwards with her versatility.
Griffin has the athleticism to "play big" a la Gabby Williams (just not to the same extent).
Ducharme will be first off the bench and can spell either the guards or forwards with her versatility.
Charliebball
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It was always my belief that Ice Brady would be a major contributor to the team this year...........without Jana she becomes that much more important.......I also expect Ayanna to make great strides this year and combined with Aaliya I think the frontcourt will still be in very good hands.........anything Amari can contribute will also help to make up for Jana's absence.......I sure hope Paige and Azzi tread lightly before the start of the season..............
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Definitely. I see her getting big minutes at the 3 (maybe even 4, even though she would be undersized against bigger teams). Geno will need her more than ever to help on the offensive/defensive boards. Just hope her body holds up.
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This thread is testimony to how short our collective memory is. Just a few weeks ago, we worried that we had insufficient front court depth, and no one thought Jana was going to be ready to play more than 10 mins/g this year. Now Jana is injured and we’re acting like we lost a 30+ mins/g player.
In fact, I suspected Jana was going to make a huge contribution for us this year. It was going to be another UConn November surprise. I think we’re still among the NC favorites. But it would have been just a little bit sweeter if Jana could have been healthy for this season’s run.
In fact, I suspected Jana was going to make a huge contribution for us this year. It was going to be another UConn November surprise. I think we’re still among the NC favorites. But it would have been just a little bit sweeter if Jana could have been healthy for this season’s run.
I am still hoping we don't have to use AE much at the 5 or CD much at the 4. We really don't have a problem at all at the 4, just the 5. Aaliyah is great as the starting 4, and remember Aubrey was a great 4 backup, a super-sub if you will her first two years. Last year she was needed on the wing and did a good job there, but when Aaliyah got in foul trouble, she resumed her staring backup role at the 4. Ayanna is the third option there and potentially much improved, and spot use of CD is an option as well.
The 5 is the problem. No experienced proven returnees, and now only one talented newcomer not the expected two. I was reasonably confident that both Ice and Jana would be good players in the rotation this year, but of course not as good as they will be in a couple of years. I saw both competing for the starting position, and the one who lost out in the starting battle being the principal backup.
Now Ice needs to be the starter, to a certain extent ready or not, and we have to figure out the backup minutes. Obviously the pressure on Amari to finally step up is huge. She might, but heading into this season, I had her as a distant third behind two promising but unproven newcomers. If Amari is similar to last year we probably resort to using a 4 instead of a 5, with Aubrey, or Ayanna, or even more of a 3 with Caroline and Aaliyah moving to the 5 which is not good for her or the team.
If Ice is as good as hoped, and Amari plays like the 15th best player in her class, and the other bigs stay healthy, the loss of Jana won't be too painful. If a couple of those things don't happen we could be much worse than if she was available. If healthy this team looked loaded at every position except the 5 heading toward this season. Even there we had two good prospects, but nobody experienced or proven. Now we get an important injury at our most vulnerable position. Hopefully this is the last major issue.
The 5 is the problem. No experienced proven returnees, and now only one talented newcomer not the expected two. I was reasonably confident that both Ice and Jana would be good players in the rotation this year, but of course not as good as they will be in a couple of years. I saw both competing for the starting position, and the one who lost out in the starting battle being the principal backup.
Now Ice needs to be the starter, to a certain extent ready or not, and we have to figure out the backup minutes. Obviously the pressure on Amari to finally step up is huge. She might, but heading into this season, I had her as a distant third behind two promising but unproven newcomers. If Amari is similar to last year we probably resort to using a 4 instead of a 5, with Aubrey, or Ayanna, or even more of a 3 with Caroline and Aaliyah moving to the 5 which is not good for her or the team.
If Ice is as good as hoped, and Amari plays like the 15th best player in her class, and the other bigs stay healthy, the loss of Jana won't be too painful. If a couple of those things don't happen we could be much worse than if she was available. If healthy this team looked loaded at every position except the 5 heading toward this season. Even there we had two good prospects, but nobody experienced or proven. Now we get an important injury at our most vulnerable position. Hopefully this is the last major issue.
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IMO Jana's injury could elevate Amari's role more than anyone else since they're both the same height.
Because UConn has plenty of other scorers then Amari would need to concentrate more on rebounding & the rest of her fundamentals.
Most likely Jana wouldn't have played the same role at UConn as she does for Egypt anyway, at least not this year.
Amari is the one that most needs to step up in order to be more of a contributor.
If not Amari then someone else will need to help out more, primarily with rebounding.
Amari should also be expected to have developed better passing skills than freshmen Jana would have even though Jana is the better dribbler.
Amari has showed that she has some of the skills & maybe just needs more PT to increase her confidence.
One big's loss of PT is a gain for another big & in this case I think it's Amari who will gain some PT.
Because UConn has plenty of other scorers then Amari would need to concentrate more on rebounding & the rest of her fundamentals.
Most likely Jana wouldn't have played the same role at UConn as she does for Egypt anyway, at least not this year.
Amari is the one that most needs to step up in order to be more of a contributor.
If not Amari then someone else will need to help out more, primarily with rebounding.
Amari should also be expected to have developed better passing skills than freshmen Jana would have even though Jana is the better dribbler.
Amari has showed that she has some of the skills & maybe just needs more PT to increase her confidence.
One big's loss of PT is a gain for another big & in this case I think it's Amari who will gain some PT.
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Absolutely crushed for Jana and all of UConn Nation! Was so excited to see her this year especially after how great she has been playing in this tournament. When will this serious string of injuries end?
I wonder if Geno can find someone overseas like he did last year bringing in Ines after Paige got hurt. I know we have better depth this year, but wouldn't hurt to find another post in case god forbid we suffer another injury!
I wonder if Geno can find someone overseas like he did last year bringing in Ines after Paige got hurt. I know we have better depth this year, but wouldn't hurt to find another post in case god forbid we suffer another injury!
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Our frontcpurt overall is very good as long as the team experiences no more injuries to both frontcourt and back. Basketball is a fluid sport, and from what we heard last year regarding Ice early, the buzz from what we heard in practices was favorable.
How many teams in the frontcourt have an All-American? And with the games that Dorka was out Aubrey was fine at the pf. And when Dorka or Edwards came out, usually it was Aubrey repalcing them. And Aubrey was the backup PF when UCONN went to Final Four in Paige's frosh yeart and this team is stronger than that team if healthy. And this doesn't even include Caroline, Ayanna, or Amari who were all injured a lot.
Also, if the team is healthy going forward, Ice, Amari and Ayanna do not have to be great. This is college ball not pro ball. Not every player needs to be an all-american. Just be at the end of the day "good enough."
UCONN just has to get healthy. No size from a Portal tranfer is going to cure that. And without health of the team, UCONN is not winning a title. The most important factor for UCONN going forward is health not size. If they are healthy, the perimeter play will enhance the frontocurt capabilties immensely. And as a reminder, the team that scores the most points wins. Not neccessarly the team with the tallest players or best rebounders.
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What's that? We're picking starting lineups already? Oh, goody!
HuskyNan
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Geno has a pretty good small ball team with Nika, Paige, Azzi, KK, Ashlynn, Caroline, Aubrey, Ines, and Qadence. Maybe he’ll go small with certain teams or throw one of Ayanna, Ice, or Amari out there to give Aaliyah a rest.
HuskyNan
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First day on the Boneyard?
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Besides AE, UConn has no experienced real front court players, and that included Jana. They will score, but need rebounding and inside defense. Can't compete with the best without that, and don't know where that will come from.
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Bigboote
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There, I fixed it for you. It has probably been a month; it's time for another of those threads.
Jana going down will hurt as I expected big things from her. But ,Uconn can play 5 starters that can score 100 points as each of them has scored 20 or more points in a game. With Aaliyah,Paige, Azzi, Aubrey and Caroline as the starting 5 and Nika, Ice, KK Arnold, Qadence and Ashlynn off the bench, we should be in good shape. Able to compete with anyone. The dark shadow is no more injuries. Enough is enough. Geno is the master and I will rely on him. GO HUSKIES!!!!
It's there, but you are not seeing it. Geno picked this team to be Huskies because with his BB mind, he saw something in each and every one of them that he believes will be a credit to Uconn. I trust his judgement. GO GENO!! GO HUSKIES!!!!
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Iowa didn't have a lot of size last year and made it all the way to the final. They obviously had great guard play and a solid supporting cast. UConn is better than they were in all areas. I won't wade into the Clark-Bueckers debate, but I'd take this year's roster over Iowa's.
Having said that, I'm hoping Amari can give Geno 15 minutes and 5/5.
Having said that, I'm hoping Amari can give Geno 15 minutes and 5/5.