Frontcourt Strength

[hoopsnloops32]

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.

I think the reason Dorka's loss isn't talked about as much is our best stretch of games last season was when Dorka was out with her broken thumb. Obviously he absence isn't WHY it was our best stretch but we know we can still play well without Dorka. If our new front court steps up its a bonus.

 

[Bone Dog]

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.

Excellent analysis. The other possibility is that Aaliyah simply steps up her game a notch -- who knew there were any more notches? -- and does for the front court what Paige is likely to do for the backcourt. Aaliyah is strong enough to play 35 mins/g at full power. We don't need her to be a shot blocker. But if she makes herself unstoppable on offense, and Ice Aubrey Ayanna Amari rotate through the 4-5 to help her with defense, we'll be fine. This is what I suspect is the likeliest scenario.

 

[Geew1992]

Thank go Geno's the coach

 

[hoopsnloops32]

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.

I don't see that. A&M, Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU should all be significantly better than last year. South Carolina might win the SEC this year but I don't see them dominating with how much better the competitions should be compared to last year.

 

[boscolino]

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.

IMHO no way that Amari will become a solid contributor. Hope I am wrong.....

 

[Bone Dog]

I don't see that. A&M, Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU should all be significantly better than last year. South Carolina might win the SEC this year but I don't see them dominating with how much better the competitions should be compared to last year.

They all will be better than last season, except maybe LSU. But none of them were competitive with SC last season, and they aren't better enough to be competitive this season either. I think the situation wrt LSU is especially illustrative.

Dawn lost the 'freshies' but she already had a top-5 ready team waiting on the bench. And she added Paopao, a genuine perimeter shooting threat -- the one thing she lacked last season. Her starting 5 (imho) could be Paopao, Raven, Kamila, Watkins, Hall, with Kitts, Feagin and Walker coming off the bench. By contrast, Kim lost her perimeter shooting and hasn't replaced it. Compared to SC, LSU will be undersized and slow. If I forecast Kim's starting 5 it is likely to be Angel, Hailey, Aneesah, Poole and Flaujae, with Poa, Williams and Smith coming off the bench. They'll give up a few inches at almost every position and the very same situation that doomed them against SC will still hold true.

Here's an LSU-SC snapshot from last season that is likely to be repeated: in 34 mins, Angel scored 16 on 5-15 shooting and had 4 rebounds. Kamila scored 18 on 7-9 shooting and had 14 rebounds in only 21 mins. The only sort of bright spot was Morris who scored 23 on 11-29 shooting but had zero assists. In fact, LSU as a team only had 5 total assists.

The matchup against Tennessee will be a little different -- more height in the post, but they'll lose every other matchup. It will be even worse for Ole Miss and A&M. They just won't have the backcourt or the bench to support the stars they have. Barker Rodgers and Coulibaly are for real, and Ware can give good rotation minutes as long as she doesn't foul out. But this will not be enough against SC.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

They all will be better than last season, except maybe LSU. But none of them were competitive with SC last season, and they aren't better enough to be competitive this season either. I think the situation wrt LSU is especially illustrative.

Dawn lost the 'freshies' but she already had a top-5 ready team waiting on the bench. And she added Paopao, a genuine perimeter shooting threat -- the one thing she lacked last season. Her starting 5 (imho) could be Paopao, Raven, Kamila, Watkins, Hall, with Kitts, Feagin and Walker coming off the bench. By contrast, Kim lost her perimeter shooting and hasn't replaced it. Compared to SC, LSU will be undersized and slow. If I forecast Kim's starting 5 it is likely to be Angel, Hailey, Aneesah, Poole and Flaujae, with Poa, Williams and Smith coming off the bench. They'll give up a few inches at almost every position and the very same situation that doomed them against SC will still hold true.

Here's an LSU-SC snapshot from last season that is likely to be repeated: in 34 mins, Angel scored 16 on 5-15 shooting and had 4 rebounds. Kamila scored 18 on 7-9 shooting and had 14 rebounds in only 21 mins. The only sort of bright spot was Morris who scored 23 on 11-29 shooting but had zero assists. In fact, LSU as a team only had 5 total assists.

The matchup against Tennessee will be a little different -- more height in the post, but they'll lose every other matchup. It will be even worse for Ole Miss and A&M. They just won't have the backcourt or the bench to support the stars they have. Barker Rodgers and Coulibaly are for real, and Ware can give good rotation minutes as long as she doesn't foul out. But this will not be enough against SC.

Honestly not impressed with that starting 5 based on what I’ve seen from them in college. I don’t buy that they had a top 5 team sitting in bench last year either, personally. It’s all based on recruiting and not actual game play, where a lot of those players haven’t wowed. Cardosa is the only one that is a proven commodity, Pao Pao was good at Oregon but can be streaky and inconsistent. I think it’s a bit delusional to think South Carolina isn’t going to take a big step back from where they were last year. That step back might still make them the best team in the SEC but the margin will be far slimmer.

Also not sure you can think Kim hasn’t replaced her perimeter shooting when they add Williams. I would say Hailey Van Lith for Morris and a pretty even trade. I’d expect them to be about the same offensively as last year, maybe slightly better depending on how things shake out.

I think you are severely underestimating how great Boston was defensively for them last year and overeating their bench form last season.

 

[RedStickHusky]

They won because Jasmine Carson had the shooting night of her career.

This! Not even the "best shooting night", more like the only shooting night. I saw their second rounder against Michigan and she barely saw the floor. To LSU's credit though, they came into that Iowa game saying they were gonna shoot the lights out.

 

[Skeets]

IMHO no way that Amari will become a solid contributor. Hope I am wrong.....

I sincerely hope you are wrong too, but there is zero, nada, zilch historical evidence to support that hope. Please, please let us be wrong.

 

[Reypl21]

They all will be better than last season, except maybe LSU. But none of them were competitive with SC last season, and they aren't better enough to be competitive this season either. I think the situation wrt LSU is especially illustrative.

Dawn lost the 'freshies' but she already had a top-5 ready team waiting on the bench. And she added Paopao, a genuine perimeter shooting threat -- the one thing she lacked last season. Her starting 5 (imho) could be Paopao, Raven, Kamila, Watkins, Hall, with Kitts, Feagin and Walker coming off the bench. By contrast, Kim lost her perimeter shooting and hasn't replaced it. Compared to SC, LSU will be undersized and slow. If I forecast Kim's starting 5 it is likely to be Angel, Hailey, Aneesah, Poole and Flaujae, with Poa, Williams and Smith coming off the bench. They'll give up a few inches at almost every position and the very same situation that doomed them against SC will still hold true.

Here's an LSU-SC snapshot from last season that is likely to be repeated: in 34 mins, Angel scored 16 on 5-15 shooting and had 4 rebounds. Kamila scored 18 on 7-9 shooting and had 14 rebounds in only 21 mins. The only sort of bright spot was Morris who scored 23 on 11-29 shooting but had zero assists. In fact, LSU as a team only had 5 total assists.

The matchup against Tennessee will be a little different -- more height in the post, but they'll lose every other matchup. It will be even worse for Ole Miss and A&M. They just won't have the backcourt or the bench to support the stars they have. Barker Rodgers and Coulibaly are for real, and Ware can give good rotation minutes as long as she doesn't foul out. But this will not be enough against SC.

Wasn't Feagin the number 4 player in the 2021 class? She has stuck longer than most top 5 kids would on the bench, if she doesn't have a breakout season then I think the season is a disappointment. She is more of a natural 4 than Watkins, so I think Feagin will start. Watkins will replace Cardoso when she graduates.

Cardoso is a beast, Pao Pao is streaky at best, and the other 3 starters are unproven commodities. It will be interesting to watch them matchup with the top teams (thanks Dawn for the tough schedule).

 

[The CDR-Ret]

No question Betts changes UCLA’ chances in a huge way but I’ll have to see it to believe it when it comes to them (UCLA) being one of the elite teams. Yes, she elevates their front court into the lead in the Pac 12 but they still imo have to show they can take full advantage of that.
Their back court, though highly rated with Rice and Osborne, don’t shoot all that well (Osborne, their star fifth year senior doesn’t even shoot 40% overall and only shot 29% from three last season while Rice, though admittedly a star recruit, shoots 41% & 22%) and I would never think of Close in a discussion of the best coaches in the country. Perhaps those two will suddenly become Paige and Azzi and Close will finally come into her own, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

As long as UCLA beats Stanford two or three times this year, but has a difficult time on 11/24/23 in the Cayman Islands, and is on the opposite side of the NCAA bracket (to take out some talented teams (a.k.a. LSU and Texas), I'm good with the Betts transfer to UCLA...

Go Huskies!!!

 

[Alydar]

I don't see that. A&M, Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU should all be significantly better than last year. South Carolina might win the SEC this year but I don't see them dominating with how much better the competitions should be compared to last year.

Even though SCar dominated the SEC standings they had a lot of close SEC games last year. Teams learned that if you pack the paint and get back on defense you stay close because SCar didn't score too well in the half court. Boston Saxon and Beale played together for 4 years. There are talented players replacing them but the experience, which is most important in big games, can't be replaced.
SCar needs to improve their offense to compensate for the turnover. What's left of the 2021 freshman class needs to step up. I think they will but it might take a while.

 

[Bone Dog]

As long as UCLA beats Stanford two or three times this year, but has a difficult time on 11/24/23 in the Cayman Islands, and is on the opposite side of the NCAA bracket (to take out some talented teams (a.k.a. LSU and Texas), I'm good with the Betts transfer to UCLA...

Go Huskies!!!

Yup, the better UCLA does this year, the better it is for UConn. We’ll beat them early because their backcourt won’t be ready to handle us. But come March they’ll intimidate a lot of rivals, like LSU Tennessee Utah Colorado ND Texas Indiana tOSU Iowa. And if we see them in the NC game, we’ll beat them again.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

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.

I am just think back to last year about this time when we already knew that Paige and ICE were out, and Lou was "untested" verses tough competition, Dorka's wrist was not fully healed, people were questioning AE as a "double-double machine", and many were bashing Nika as starting point guard.

I am much more hopeful that this really IS the season that #12 NC for the women will be achieved, and a possible fourth time that BOTH Men & Women pull off the double in NCAA Basketball Championships, whereas no other University has done it once!

Go Huskies!

 

[Alydar]

Yup, the better UCLA does this year, the better it is for UConn. We’ll beat them early because their backcourt won’t be ready to handle us. But come March they’ll intimidate a lot of rivals, like LSU Tennessee Utah Colorado ND Texas Indiana tOSU Iowa. And if we see them in the NC game, we’ll beat them again.

UConn usually does well in the Caribbean because they have to to be good early in the season. Most P-5 teams use Nov/Dec as a sort of pre-season to their conference games.
Plus UCLA will have the reverse jet lag against them.
All we need is for UCLA to win the PAC12 season & Tour. titles. The PAC12 schedule will take care of their NET. (But I'll wager that Creme will downgrade a UConn win in the Caymen's.)

All UConn has to do is win games. No need to look over their shoulder at the rest.

 

[Steelerone]

I don't agree with your context at all. The teams 01-02 through 03-04 were not tall. Why include Lobo but exclude DT lead teams?

The main takeaway from your point imo is having a superstar or many all-Americans. Lobo and Stweart were superstars. UCONN had none last year (Fudd was not the same).

The prior year the number 1 player for UCONN was Paige (hurt most of the year) but didn't have a Rizzotti type for example (I didn't follow Lobo team much that year but her 2nd player was Rizzotti. I love CWill but imo a big difference between the 2 though I admit I saw very little of the games. Though the games I saw UCONN was wrecking ball and ofc the Finals. I find it hard to believe CWill comparatively was Rizzotti). Stewart always had All-American surrounding her. Paige did not have that her 1st two years.

So the players you reference - there has to be context. included.

.

So you are saying that when Rebecca Lobo played that the opponents she faced were of the same height or even taller. The game has changed and Geno realizes he has to change with it and that means recruiting some bigs and I don't mean 6'3" bigs. Pay attention to the height that LSU, Sanford and South Carolina have been bringing in.

 

[Steelerone]

I don't agree with your context at all. The teams 01-02 through 03-04 were not tall. Why include Lobo but exclude DT lead teams?

The main takeaway from your point imo is having a superstar or many all-Americans. Lobo and Stweart were superstars. UCONN had none last year (Fudd was not the same).

The prior year the number 1 player for UCONN was Paige (hurt most of the year) but didn't have a Rizzotti type for example (I didn't follow Lobo team much that year but her 2nd player was Rizzotti. I love CWill but imo a big difference between the 2 though I admit I saw very little of the games. Though the games I saw UCONN was wrecking ball and ofc the Finals. I find it hard to believe CWill comparatively was Rizzotti). Stewart always had All-American surrounding her. Paige did not have that her 1st two years.

So the players you reference - there has to be context. included.

.

01-04??? That was twenty years ago. And do you really think that Uconn would have won those championship games without Stewart? How quickly we forget her greatness.

 

[hoophuskee]

So you are saying that when Rebecca Lobo played that the opponents she faced were of the same height or even taller. The game has changed and Geno realizes he has to change with it and that means recruiting some bigs and I don't mean 6'3" bigs. Pay attention to the height that LSU, Sanford and South Carolina have been bringing in.

No I was saying you didn't mention DT's title teams and they were not big teams. The game hasn't changed. IMO you couldn't be more wrong. Balance is key.

Pay attention they had balance.

 

[hoophuskee]

01-04??? That was twenty years ago. And do you really think that Uconn would have won those championship games without Stewart? How quickly we forget her greatness.

You realize you refernced Lobo, right? And you realize Lobo was before DT, right? So, you can reference Lobo (before DT) but then get sarcastic that I mention DT?

Also-- can you tell me again who Stewie said should have been Final Best Player in her junior year FF? And can you explain who the 2nd best player on the team was that Stewie said should have been Final Four MVP?

As I said . . . balance.

 

[Steelerone]

You realize you refernced Lobo, right? And you realize Lobo was before DT, right? So, you can reference Lobo (before DT) but then get sarcastic that I mention DT?

Also-- can you tell me again who Stewie said should have been Final Best Player in her junior year FF? And can you explain who the 2nd best player on the team was that Stewie said should have been Final Four MVP?

As I said . . . balance.

I re-read my post and did not feel that any part of it was sarcastic. As for Rebecca Lobo, I watched every game she played on tv, saw her play in person and had the pleasure of meeting her personally. I can only attest to her greatness but the fact that she played prior to Breanna does not make her a better player. Statistics do not lie and if you don't want to accept them that is your privilege.

 

[Tonyc]

Reading all the posts it comes down to IF UConn is healthy look out. Amari in HS played against a very weak conference. She should be ready this season and maybe not in November but at some point she will be ready and that will be exactly what we need to get over the top.

 

[Bone Dog]

The game has changed and Geno realizes he has to change with it and that means recruiting some bigs and I don't mean 6'3" bigs. Pay attention to the height that LSU, Sanford and South Carolina have been bringing in

I’m intrigued, though I don’t know who you’re replying to. 2 questions:

1. Has the game changed? Rebecca played next to Kara in a twin towers set. That’s 6’4” and 6’7” in the mid-90s. Stanford also put twin towers on the floor in those days. I remember Jane Apelt.

2. Exactly what height is LSU bringing in? Surely you don’t mean Del Rosario. A slow-footed freshman with no shooting touch. How does she compare to Amari? I think I’d take Amari over her any day. A better shooter, a good rebounder, and excellent rim protector. It’s also worth pointing out that last year, on the FIBA USA team, Ice overshadowed Rosario. I’d put Aaliyah and Ice up against Reese and Rosario without hesitation. And that’s not even counting what Ayanna Aubrey and Amari bring.

SC isn’t bringing in anyone new, are they? I like Cardozo’s skill set and think she’ll shine this year. But beyond her, they’re just a bunch of strong 6’1” or 6’2” kids. I think SC will be formidable, because of their athleticism. But it’s worth remembering that Aaliyah Dorka and Aubrey played Boston Saxton and Cardozo pretty much even up.

UCLA will be interesting to watch. Can Betts find her dominant game with the help of Osborne and Rice? This is what she lacked at Stanford. Though she was also rightly overshadowed by Brink, who set a very high standard.

I’ve said many times that height isn’t enough by itself. Strength and footwork matter more. This is what the current crop of great post players all have — our Aaliyah, Brink, Reese, Holmes just to name a few. The downside of really tall players is that they can be slow-footed. Betts suffers from this, as does Rosario. But Cardozo does not.

 

[Jim R]

I’m intrigued, though I don’t know who you’re replying to. 2 questions:

1. Has the game changed? Rebecca played next to Kara in a twin towers set. That’s 6’4” and 6’7” in the mid-90s. Stanford also put twin towers on the floor in those days. I remember Jane Apelt.

2. Exactly what height is LSU bringing in? Surely you don’t mean Del Rosario. A slow-footed freshman with no shooting touch. How does she compare to Amari? I think I’d take Amari over her any day. A better shooter, a good rebounder, and excellent rim protector. It’s also worth pointing out that last year, on the FIBA USA team, Ice overshadowed Rosario. I’d put Aaliyah and Ice up against Reese and Rosario without hesitation. And that’s not even counting what Ayanna Aubrey and Amari bring.

SC isn’t bringing in anyone new, are they? I like Cardozo’s skill set and think she’ll shine this year. But beyond her, they’re just a bunch of strong 6’1” or 6’2” kids. I think SC will be formidable, because of their athleticism. But it’s worth remembering that Aaliyah Dorka and Aubrey played Boston Saxton and Cardozo pretty much even up.

UCLA will be interesting to watch. Can Betts find her dominant game with the help of Osborne and Rice? This is what she lacked at Stanford. Though she was also rightly overshadowed by Brink, who set a very high standard.

I’ve said many times that height isn’t enough by itself. Strength and footwork matter more. This is what the current crop of great post players all have — our Aaliyah, Brink, Reese, Holmes just to name a few. The downside of really tall players is that they can be slow-footed. Betts suffers from this, as does Rosario. But Cardozo does not.

Good overview.....except SC ...from the portal Staley snagged junior college player of the year, 6'5" Sakima Walker. The difference is, Geno's gameplan/strategy, doesn't depend on bigs win games, Staley's does.

 

[Alydar]

01-04??? That was twenty years ago. And do you really think that Uconn would have won those championship games without Stewart? How quickly we forget her greatness.

Stewart played form 2012-2016.


I keep reading how El Alfy was going to be a rotation player. She looked good in a FIBA Euro tournament for pre-college age players. The competition may not have even been as good as UConn faced in their Euro exhibitions. How can anyone think that she was going to fit right into the rotation?

UConn has size. Brady at 6'3 is more of a 5 than either El Alfy (6'5) or DeBerry(6'6). Inches is not the same as size.

Someone also stated that UConn needs an inside monster scorer. Edwards has been around a 60% shooter for three years.

Another poster said that Geno needs to recruit some 6'5 players. First, being 6'5+ and having the skills and talent to play at UConn makes for a very short list. Geno got 6'5 Butler to transfer from GTwn and while she was good enough to lead the country in rebounding her hands weren't good enough (or strong enough) to successfully play UConn's style.

I think Brady and Patterson will quiet most of the "not big enough" posters.