Frontcourt Strength

[hoophuskee]

IMO Amarie doesn't really need to dominate, she only needs to be able to contribute & to hold her own.
When she's in the game she has a job to do to help neutralize her opponet so that her + & - column remains relatively equal & enough so that she's not a liability.
She a cog in a machine & can be an important part of the puzzle.
That doesn't mean that she needs to dominate or become a super star or do anything that she's not capable of.
She only needs to complement her teammates with her play on the court.
As long as she can hold her own then she'll be contributing to the team's overall effort.
As long as she can be dominant over some of her teammates by performing some duties better than they can when others need to come out of the game then she'll get some playing time.

The same can be said about her teammates on the behcn getting time over Amari.

 

[sun]

The University of Colorado has 5 players listed at 6'3", 3 G's listed at 6'1" & 2 G's listed at 6"0" out of a total of 16 on the roster.
They're playing against LSU on Nov. 6th in Las Vegas.

 

[Bone Dog]

South Carolina - Dawn lost a lot. Can she regroup and challenge for the top spot? I actually think she can and will.

I like your entire comment. But this item called for a response. Dawn lost her entire starting squad. But she had a really stocked bench last season, too. I think SC was lucky the whole squad opted for the draft. Otherwise they might have lost a lot of that bench to the portal.

We often said that due to injuries last season we had a #1 team sitting on the bench. But that was almost true of SC without the injuries. I think Dawn certainly had a top-10 team on her bench, maybe even a top-5. That’s the team she’s returning this season.

I fully expect SC to go undefeated in the SEC this season.

 

[Cuango]

It's still pre-season. All opinions have some credibility.

So here's some food for thought. LSU - Mulkey uses the portal again. Garners two big names - Van Lith and Morrow. Now can Reese, van Lith and Morrow share the court and play nice? I'm not so sure.

UCLA gets Betts. How good is she? Are we hearing more hype from the "experts?"

South Carolina - Dawn lost a lot. Can she regroup and challenge for the top spot? I actually think she can and will.

Iowa - lost a ton with 2 players graduating. Does Iowa have the post presence to take the heat off of Clark? Does Iowa have another outside shooter to compliment Clark?

Ohio State - can they repeat their run? Will their pressure defense keep them going or will teams be ready and negate it? I think a lot of teams will be ready for them.

Now for UConn. Some may not like what I say. The question looms about Paige and Azzi and Caroline. The word is they are healthy. But 2 years of injuries to all three have to leave questions about their durability. Freshman class, with talent, are still freshman. How will they adapt to the college game? Our front court is being questioned as to whether they can compete with bigger teams.

Every team that is considered a legit contender is a new team. Personnel changes always affect the team chemistry. How does this shake out? Injuries are going to occur.

We will all have a better idea by the end of December.

Did you actually hear something about Caroline? I listened to all the interviews and never heard a word about her!

 

[darrell]

Bueckers' high school coach said she was 6' in her junior year. The listings on college rosters are notoriously wrong. DeBerry was listed as 6'5 and now she is 6'6. She didn't grow an suddenly grow and inch. Arnold is now 5'9 when she was 5'7 on some lists. 6'4 Tina Charles is really 6'3. UConn lines up for the national anthem by height. For there entire UConn careers Gabby Williams was listed as 5'11 while Nurse was 6' but Williams always lined up as being taller than Nurse. Brady lists at 6'3 but I've read 6'4 too.

I’ve seen Qadence listed as 6’2-6’3 prior to arriving on campus, now she’s listed as 6’0. I’m pretty sure she has more than an inch on Nika (who’s listed as 5’11).

 

[Alydar]

The same can be said about her teammates on the behcn getting time over Amari.

Amari is a natural shotblocker. She's the type that can discourage driving guards from even trying. She also has a good 3pt shot. And the rest of the bench has things that make them contributors. Geno said today tha people assume he only uses 6 players and they forget that there were years he used 10. He thinks this could be one of those years. There are no placeholders on UConn, you either do something or you sit. And the freshmen coming in in the last few years seem to accept that.

 

[Skeets]

I’ve seen Qadence listed as 6’2-6’3 prior to arriving on campus, now she’s listed as 6’0. I’m pretty sure she has more than an inch on Nika (who’s listed as 5’11).

A lot depends on the Afro Puffs.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’ve seen Qadence listed as 6’2-6’3 prior to arriving on campus, now she’s listed as 6’0. I’m pretty sure she has more than an inch on Nika (who’s listed as 5’11).

I’ve wondered about this too. She’s at least 6’0”. But is she taller than this? It would be interesting to see her standing next to Aubrey or Caroline or Ayanna.

However tall Qadence actually is, she is quite lanky with long arms. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has the wingspan typical of someone who’s 6’4”. It only remains to see what she does with these physical gifts.

 

[Bigboote]

I’ve seen Qadence listed as 6’2-6’3 prior to arriving on campus, now she’s listed as 6’0. I’m pretty sure she has more than an inch on Nika (who’s listed as 5’11).

Natasha Cloud and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough were both listed as 6-0 from their freshman years in college till maybe two years ago. Now they’re both 5-9, although announcers still talk about Cloud as a “big guard”.

 

[wingsfan055]

It's still pre-season. All opinions have some credibility.

So here's some food for thought. LSU - Mulkey uses the portal again. Garners two big names - Van Lith and Morrow. Now can Reese, van Lith and Morrow share the court and play nice? I'm not so sure.

UCLA gets Betts. How good is she? Are we hearing more hype from the "experts?"

South Carolina - Dawn lost a lot. Can she regroup and challenge for the top spot? I actually think she can and will.

Iowa - lost a ton with 2 players graduating. Does Iowa have the post presence to take the heat off of Clark? Does Iowa have another outside shooter to compliment Clark?

Ohio State - can they repeat their run? Will their pressure defense keep them going or will teams be ready and negate it? I think a lot of teams will be ready for them.

Now for UConn. Some may not like what I say. The question looms about Paige and Azzi and Caroline. The word is they are healthy. But 2 years of injuries to all three have to leave questions about their durability. Freshman class, with talent, are still freshman. How will they adapt to the college game? Our front court is being questioned as to whether they can compete with bigger teams.

Every team that is considered a legit contender is a new team. Personnel changes always affect the team chemistry. How does this shake out? Injuries are going to occur.

We will all have a better idea by the end of December.

Dont forget UConn lost Lou as well. A big loss. Let's face it. She carried the team, with AE, for much of the season. Without her, the team probably loses at least a couple more games. Then her body gave out at the end of the year which clearly impacted her productivity. UConn has a LOT of uncertainty right now (sorry to add some rain to this thread).

 

[Alydar]

Dont forget UConn lost Lou as well. A big loss. Let's face it. She carried the team, with AE, for much of the season. Without her, the team probably loses at least a couple more games. Then her body gave out at the end of the year which clearly impacted her productivity. UConn has a LOT of uncertainty right now (sorry to add some rain to this thread).

Less than most of the other contenders. Senechal was a savior last year. But a healthy Bueckers and Fudd takes care of that loss. UConn is talent-rich at the guard.
SCar lost their entire front line and their frontcourt 6th man. And SCar's offense needs a dominant front line. Where does the offense come from?
I think Dawn will have another great season but there are far more unanswered questions in Columbia than in Storrs, even though ESPN doesn't agree.

 

[hoophuskee]

Amari is a natural shotblocker. She's the type that can discourage driving guards from even trying. She also has a good 3pt shot. And the rest of the bench has things that make them contributors. Geno said today tha people assume he only uses 6 players and they forget that there were years he used 10. He thinks this could be one of those years. There are no placeholders on UConn, you either do something or you sit. And the freshmen coming in in the last few years seem to accept that.

Too many factors this year. Sure, he could have 10. He could also have many blowouts that he normally plays 10 because its rare anyone is close. That's possible. part of his issue o having a short bench the last several years is that he hasn't had several All-American’s that are good enough to know vs 90% of your opponents, you have near nil chance to lose.

This year I could see 10 because he might want to protect Paige, Azzi, and Caroline. But the more healthy they are, the less likely you go 10 in big games that are tight.

UCONN's #1 strength is that they potentially have 2 POY candidates. They have 2 other players (Edwards and Ducharme) that can play at A/A level. Then they have two very elite defenders. It's hard to break in with many other players when you have this much experience and talent - if healthy.

 

[Cuango]

Dont forget UConn lost Lou as well. A big loss. Let's face it. She carried the team, with AE, for much of the season. Without her, the team probably loses at least a couple more games. Then her body gave out at the end of the year which clearly impacted her productivity. UConn has a LOT of uncertainty right now (sorry to add some rain to this thread).

Not sure where you’re seeing all these “ucertainties“? From where I sit, it looks like we have the best available roster in years, with every single player (with the exception of Jana) expected to be fully healthy by November! As for me, that makes it pretty “certain” that we’re ready to kick a** and take names this season.
Every team has the possibility of bad things happening to them. I don’t think we are any more or less likely to experience ill fortune than anyone else. I think we are in a very good place right now and pray that that continues throughout the year.

 

[jdote33]

Does this year's team have a big that will be a defensive anchor/bring toughness. I think Dorka and ONO were unbelievable at this. They blocked shots, talked trash and played hard every game. I could see Amari doing that as well but I don't think she will get an opportunity.

 

[hoophuskee]

Does this year's team have a big that will be a defensive anchor/bring toughness. I think Dorka and ONO were unbelievable at this. They blocked shots, talked trash and played hard every game. I could see Amari doing that as well but I don't think she will get an opportunity.

IMO other than blocking shots, I beleive Edwards is a tremendous defensive anchor.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Less than most of the other contenders. Senechal was a savior last year. But a healthy Bueckers and Fudd takes care of that loss. UConn is talent-rich at the guard.
SCar lost their entire front line and their frontcourt 6th man. And SCar's offense needs a dominant front line. Where does the offense come from?
I think Dawn will have another great season but there are far more unanswered questions in Columbia than in Storrs, even though ESPN doesn't agree.

Alydar- - -If I'm not mistaken SoCar lost their entire starting 5!

 

[Bone Dog]

Dorka and ONO were unbelievable at this. They blocked shots, talked trash and played hard every game.

Dorka and Liv talked trash? I never noticed. It seems so out of character for those two.

 

[MSGRET]

Texas...Texas has 3@6'4", 1@6'5", and 1@6'8".

I believe that we played against those players last year and still won, without both Ice and Paige. I don't think that Texas will be as much as a challenge as they were last year. Looking at the Texas 23-24 roster they have four players at 6'4" and one at 6'9", two of the 6'4" players are Seniors, one is a Sophomore and the other is a Freshman, the 6'9" player is also a Freshman.

The two Seniors scored a total of 10 points and the Sophomore score 4 points. UConn lost both Dorka and Lou who had a total of 18 points, with Dorka playing with a broken thumb. While Texas lost Sonya Morris who accounted for 21 points. I believe that with both Paige and Ice available to play that Texas will not have the guns needed to outscore UConn.

 

[Bigboote]

Does this year's team have a big that will be a defensive anchor/bring toughness. I think Dorka and ONO were unbelievable at this. They blocked shots, talked trash and played hard every game. I could see Amari doing that as well but I don't think she will get an opportunity.

As HoopHuskee said, Edwards is a very good defender and plenty tough. We haven't seen Ice defend against DI competition, but that girl is big, tough, and strong. There are damn few that will get to their blocks or knock her off her block.

 

[Alydar]

Alydar- - -If I'm not mistaken SoCar lost their entire starting 5!

I was calling Raven Johnson a returning starter despite the fact she shared pg with the transfer from GT?. Four or five, it's a lot of loss. Boston, Saxton, Beale and Cooke dominated the big game minutes.

SCar could still end up the best in the SEC though. Dawn is a great coach. LSU? Nope. And there is no one else.

 

[Bone Dog]

SCar could still end up the best in the SEC though.

I fully expect SC to dominate the SEC, and I wouldn't be surprised if Tennessee comes in second. That said, I think SC will pose less of a challenge to us than they did last year. Remember, we played them very close with only Nika Lou and Inês in the backcourt. This year, we won't have Dorka, but we'll have Aaliyah Ice Ayanna and Aubrey (and maybe Amari) together with Paige Azzi Nika Caroline and KK.

It's so tempting to dwell only on losing Dorka and Lou and to forget what we've gained.

 

[sun]

I expect the SEC to be a dogfight that goes down to the wire.
Scar seems to have enough talent on paper but I can't rule out LSU either because team chemistry matters.
I think that they may need to play head to head to see which will prevail as the SEC champ.
It's too early to call because both teams need a chance to gel & to work out all of their kinks.
It'll be a long season before the dust settles.

 

[Gus Mahler]

IMO Amarie doesn't really need to dominate, she only needs to be able to contribute & to hold her own.
When she's in the game she has a job to do to help neutralize her opponet so that her + & - column remains relatively equal & enough so that she's not a liability.
She a cog in a machine & can be an important part of the puzzle.
That doesn't mean that she needs to dominate or become a super star or do anything that she's not capable of.
She only needs to complement her teammates with her play on the court.
As long as she can hold her own then she'll be contributing to the team's overall effort.
As long as she can be dominant over some of her teammates by performing some duties better than they can when others need to come out of the game then she'll get some playing time.

Thank you for using the word "complement" correctly.

 

[JellyBean]

View attachment 91796 View attachment 91797

My girl Amari at 6'6"!! This is going to be her season.

 

[oldhusky]

Less than most of the other contenders. Senechal was a savior last year. But a healthy Bueckers and Fudd takes care of that loss. UConn is talent-rich at the guard.
SCar lost their entire front line and their frontcourt 6th man. And SCar's offense needs a dominant front line. Where does the offense come from?
I think Dawn will have another great season but there are far more unanswered questions in Columbia than in Storrs, even though ESPN doesn't agree.

Agree with your Senechal assessment completely. If reasonably healthy this team should be able to significantly upgrade over Lou's production last year. Paige and Azzi can be as good and probably better at shooting and scoring and are both much better all around players. Lou was incredibly important last year but easy to improve upon this year with more time from 2 All American candidates.

What I think is vastly underrated by some posters here is how much the loss of Dorka could affect us and then Jana's injury as well. In terms of impact on this season Dorka's loss is way way more important than Lou's. Instead of upgrading Lou with more Paige and Azzi, we are looking at replacing Dorka (a first team WNBA rookie team) with a high level recruit, but a first year inexperienced player coming off a serious injury, and/or a third year player that hasn't shown at least yet, that she is playable in contested games.

Now both of those players could meet or exceed expectations, but expecting either to be as good as Dorka last year seems pretty unlikely to me. One way we could be as good or better at the 4 and 5 minutes would be if Ice is the real deal and Aubrey is available for significant minutes at the 4. In that case you could have a potent three big rotation with Aaliyah, Aubrey and Ice.

Last year we were great for starters with Dorka and Aaliyah, and largely used a three big rotation with Ayanna as the third big most of the time and the drop-off when we took a starter out was huge, and of course Ayanna was fighting injury issues too. If Ice is good enough to start, but maybe not as good as Dorka last year we should have a star off the bench in Aubrey, a big upgrade over at least Ayanna's production last year.

Aubrey is a proven star backup at the 4, and is probably available to be used upfront unlike last year. Aailyah can play some at the 5, so if Amari and Ayanna want much playing time they either need to be a better option than Ice or Aubrey, or Geno could use a short three big rotation even if he expands it substantially in the backcourt.

If Ayanna or Amari step up and give us a very good 4th or even 5th big, then Aubrey could back up Aaliyah and still be available to help out on the wing, which is a role I hope she can play this year. Time will tel,l but I hope we can do better than a three big rotation, not having confidence in the bench beyond that, and praying we have no injuries. Both Ayanna and Amari were probably affected by injuries last year and if healthy maybe we see a big bounce from both.