Geno Comes Clean: We Have Needs Everywhere

[ctkaiser]

Hogwash. Dangerfield is a Junior. And by all accounts Bent and Irwin are hard workers and great teammates. Come off the ledge.

I forgot Crystal was a junior.

 

[DEpup]

The ideal situation for UConn would be to have both ONO and Boston on the court at the same time. To some degree they could be used interchangeably, playing off each other in the high and low posts. While traditional posts are becoming a thing of the past, I see ONO primarily as a 4 and Boston as a 5.

As far as defense and rebounding go, ONO and Boston would be an intimidating combination for opposing teams to deal with. Add in Horston and UConn would have a fearsome group of shutdown defenders for years to come.

I completely agree with you. I think UConn can be unbeatable if they can get a few bigs so they can maintain the press by giving eachbother breaks and switch between big and small line ups whenever they want. I remember when they would put Stewie, Stokes, and KML on the floor together and they were lethal.

 

[Alydar]

Did you watch her run the floor though? If she gets to the other end and gets position before the other lumbering big then she's got two points or maybe a block or charge on defense. I think she may end up being a lot like Turner at ND minus the injuries hopefully. Not the biggest 5 but really effective.

Her ability to dunk (real dunks) says she is able to get rebounds above the rim, a place very few women can get to. That's nice because there have been 6'5" players who couldn't (Russell being one) and a lot of "big" players who have a vertical in single digits, like Dolson, Brown, Shepard, et al. What ONO needs are big strong hands so she can keep a hold on those boards when she descends to earth. I thought Butler's biggest flaw was her inability to hold on to her rebounds.

I really want Boston to sign. She has the body to take the punishment inside. That would allow ONO to concentrate on rebounding and rejecting shots.

I was browsing in the USA site and looked at the U17 stats from July. I'd be real happy with the top 5 scorers. Boston, Bueckers, Horston, Jones & Fudd. I'd take that for 19/20/21 and let the rest go where they want. I'd see 3 titles for that group (2 with Fudd).

 

[Scrutineer]

I just think it’s crazy that getting the #1 and #5 player in one recruiting class is considered a poor recruiting year... I mean, sheesh.. did you want #2-4 and #6-10 as well?

If there is one thing UConn fans never need to stress over while Geno is there it is recruiting. He has proven time and time again that more often than not he gets who he wants. For you guys, it’s not a matter of “will we get somebody”.. it’s more like “who will we get”.. that is not the case for most other programs. Geno has his pick of elite players every year, this year won’t be any different. Sandbagging indeed.

The only problem with your argument is he hasn't been able to recruit a great "big" since Tina Charles. None of us will probably ever know why, but look at the size Baylor, Texas and others have and many of those recruits were on UConn's radar.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

If Geno had not lost

I suspect it was far from your intent, the notion Geno somehow made her turn a two playing years commitment into 1. As discussed here there are a lot of factors which may have gone into her decision. It's fun to guess and discuss, but I wouldn't put it on Geno. Duke used her, didn't develope her. She ran to UConn because she wanted to stretch and grow her game, be the best she could be, yadda yadda (short of joining the Marines) and Geno gave her as much as she could handle.

Had she stayed this year may have been something pretty terrific and different. Would have loved to see Ollie and Z making people's heads spin, with Phee pushing the insiders for the other team into madness.

 

[Charliebball]

The only problem with your argument is he hasn't been able to recruit a great "big" since Tina Charles. None of us will probably ever know why, but look at the size Baylor, Texas and others have and many of those recruits were on UConn's radar.

I'd consider ONO a big.........she has proven she can rebound and she will block shots with the best of them..........she simply is not an "aircraft carrier" post like Boston

 

[SCGamecock]

The only problem with your argument is he hasn't been able to recruit a great "big" since Tina Charles. None of us will probably ever know why, but look at the size Baylor, Texas and others have and many of those recruits were on UConn's radar.

A lot of that is just geographic proximity. UConn may still be winning at the same clip as when Charles was on campus, but they are not recruiting in that same world. There are more good programs in WCBB now, and it’s giving recruits a lot more to think about.

UConn will still get their talent, but I think the days of them just coming into other people’s backyard and stealing their best talent without any questions being asked are gone. Nowadays, questions are being asked... and most importantly, answered. Schools are beginning to catch up to the Huskies in recruiting.

 

[Charliebball]

A lot of that is just geographic proximity. UConn may still be winning at the same clip as when Charles was on campus, but they are not recruiting in that same world. There are more good programs in WCBB now, and it’s giving recruits a lot more to think about.

UConn will still get their talent, but I think the days of them just coming into other people’s backyard and stealing their best talent without any questions being asked are gone. Nowadays, questions are being asked... and most importantly, answered. Schools are beginning to catch up to the Huskies in recruiting.

true but think of all those great players that don't get a chance to learn under the master's tutelage..............kind of sad really............

 

[MilfordHusky]

The “bigs” that Geno went after and missed on decided to stay home. Wilson played for SC, 10 miles down the road. Cox and Collier both decided to stay in Texas. I don’t think there is anything inherently weak in Geno’s recruiting of post players.

 

[Charliebball]

The “bigs” that Geno went after and missed on decided to stay home. Wilson played for SC, 10 miles down the road. Cox and Collier both decided to stay in Texas. I don’t think there is anything inherently weak in Geno’s recruiting of post players.

I don't think there have been that many really skilled post players out there so Geno hasn't had much to choose from that meet his criteria............that said, if UConn wiffs on securing Boston with it's geographic and playing time advantages that's not a very good sign

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don't think there have been that many really skilled post players out there so Geno hasn't had much to choose from that meet his criteria..that said, if UConn wiffs on securing Boston with it's geographic and playing time advantages that's not a very good sign

I agree, but I think he makes solid contact.

 

[Charliebball]

I agree, but I think he makes solid contact.

better be over the fence...............this is not the time to be a singles hitter!!!

 

[Charliebball]

BTW according to our friend Dillon, Boston is visiting Ohio State this weekend..................it's a shame she couldn't have met up with Horston and Griffin this weekend in Storrs

 

[Florida Fan]

A lot of us felt that urge as to Megan. One very encouraging game on the west coast and then wandering in the desert in a way. Tantalizing abilities sporatically on display. But on playing more, I don't know if that would have increased her shakiness and destroyed shaky court confidence. No one, even Geno and Megan, knows and it's water under the bridge now. She better come out roaring this fall for her sake and for ours. Geno's remark last spring about "it's ending" may well be true and history certainly bears him out; however, I'm not ready to see it.

Recruiting classes don't always deliver but looking at the Uconn grads among the WNBA winners and the FIBA team, (Mr. and Mrs. Auriemma in the stands), has to deliver the message that there are long term benefits to playing in Storrs. Granted, Notre Dame has loaded up, but you don't have to look far beyond (sorry) Jaime Nared and the other Oregon center to realize having an orange jersey is no guarantee of future success. When Stewie's heroic team graduated, we were all worrying how a relatively short group would survive among the trees at Baylor, ND and Texas. So we were blown away by the brilliance of those replacements.
This year will be another character builder.

 

[LasVegasYank]

Ideally, two top 10 recruits per year (in positions of need) would do the trick. After four years, you'd have eight top ten players on your roster which would, hopefully, continue unabated for years.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Recruiting classes don't always deliver but looking at the Uconn grads among the WNBA winners and the FIBA team, (Mr. and Mrs. Auriemma in the stands), has to deliver the message that there are long term benefits to playing in Storrs. Granted, Notre Dame has loaded up, but you don't have to look far beyond (sorry) Jaime Nared and the other Oregon center to realize having an orange jersey is no guarantee of future success. When Stewie's heroic team graduated, we were all worrying how a relatively short group would survive among the trees at Baylor, ND and Texas. So we were blown away by the brilliance of those replacements.
This year will be another character builder.

Very enigmatic, almost seer-like post:

 

[MilfordHusky]

I know this is redundant but ...

Look at the following:

The most (14) alums in the WNBA.

3 of 5 First-Team All-WNBA, plus 1 Second-Team

5 All-Stars (not counting Tiff)

All-Star Game MVP

Regular-Season MVP

WNBA Finals MVP

World Cup MOP

Olympics MOP

World Cup 2014 MOP

UConn dominates the awards. And the league.