Geno speaking with media today

[BRS24]

Some tidbits on Paige (out all summer doing rehab), Dorka (reminds him of Ann Strother), Piath (non-basketball related surgery, out all summer) and a few other comments. If you follow Daniel Connolly or Alexa Philippou on Twitter, they're both posting a commentary of the event.

"Geno said Piath Gabriel's surgery is non-basketball related, "something she needed to take care of". He said it's been an issue since high school and would've needed to have surgery on it eventually." {IMHO, this might be an opportunity for her to red-shirt this season, given the roster size, but who knows?}

"Geno added that he felt Piath took "a big step forward and she really improved even though a lot of people didn't get a chance to see it."

"Geno said that Shea Ralph was in the mix for the Vanderbilt job back in 2016. The Commodores ended up hiring Stephanie White."

 

[eebmg]

Some tidbits on Paige (out all summer doing rehab), Dorka (reminds him of Ann Strother), Piath (non-basketball related surgery, out all summer) and a few other comments. If you follow Daniel Connolly or Alexa Philippou on Twitter, they're both posting a commentary of the event.

"Geno said Piath Gabriel's surgery is non-basketball related, "something she needed to take care of". He said it's been an issue since high school and would've needed to have surgery on it eventually." {IMHO, this might be an opportunity for her to red-shirt this season, given the roster size, but who knows?}

"Geno added that he felt Piath took "a big step forward and she really improved even though a lot of people didn't get a chance to see it."

"Geno said that Shea Ralph was in the mix for the Vanderbilt job back in 2016. The Commodores ended up hiring Stephanie White."

It seems he is comparing Strother to Caroline

 

[eebmg]

 

[eebmg]

 

[BRS24]

It seems he is comparing Strother to Caroline

Sigh - copy pasta too quick ... you are right! Dorka's quote was along the lines of knowing how to do things that are important to the UCWBB program.

 

[BostonBay]

Ouch. The unexpected Piath surgery could be very bad news if she misses the season. The clear weakness of this team (inside size & presence) may have just gotten a lot bigger.

 

[CL82]

UConn's Geno Auriemma on NCAA transfer portal: 'It's a mess'​

Typical Auriemma candor.

 

[EricLA]

Ouch. The unexpected Piath surgery could be very bad news if she misses the season. The clear weakness of this team (inside size & presence) may have just gotten a lot bigger.

Bad news for Piath, but not for UCONN. We have plenty of size. Goodness, this is the biggest team probably in the history of UCONN, and will be one of our greatest strengths next season. Amari, Dorka, Liya and Olivia are all over 6'3", and Liya's wing span makes her more like 6'5". Saylor and Caroline are both legit 6'2". Mir and Aubrey both rebound taller than their 5'11" and 6'1" heights, even if they are undersized for the post.

I think it would be a great season for Piath to redshirt and take a year off to get stronger, fitter, work on skills, and become better acclimated to the college game (speed, physicality, etc.). She would literally get zero PT in any meaningful game, and no more than 4 minutes in blowouts. She's 4th on the depth chart for the 5-position, or 7th if you count 4's and 5's.

Think about the depth this season - I get most all our kids can play 2-4 positions (positionless basketball) but...

1 - Paige, Nika
2 - Christyn, Azzi
3 - Evina, Caroline, Saylor
4 - Aaliyah, Aubrey, Mir
5 - Olivia, Dorka, Amari

 

[Rings R Us]

Here's the video from Geno's media session.

 

[UConnCat]

• Auriemma on adding Ohio State grad transfer Dorka Juhász: “Dorka’s a good fit because she’s a skilled player. She does the things that good basketball players do. We like multi-dimensional players, so you get a 6-3, 6-4 kid that can pass that can get to the basket, that can make shots, knows how to play. You’re getting a versatile player who was First Team All-Big Ten. So it’s not like you’re getting someone who’s untested and unproven.”
• When asked about Caroline Ducharme, Auriemma said she reminds him of a shorter Ann Strother: “She has a lot of the characteristics that Ann had: Being able to play a lot of different positions, being able to score a lot of different ways and picking things up really quickly.”
• Shea Ralph apparently almost became the head coach at Vanderbilt back half a decade earlier. According to Auriemma, she was “in the mix” for the Commodores’ job back in 2016 before they eventually hired Stephanie White.

UConn women’s basketball set to begin summer workouts with multiple players unavailable

The team will return to campus this weekend for the start of the first summer session.

www.theuconnblog.com

 

[AmeriConn]

Ouch. The unexpected Piath surgery could be very bad news if she misses the season. The clear weakness of this team (inside size & presence) may have just gotten a lot bigger.

I believe the word was she will only be out the summer.

 

[huskeynut]

Ouch. The unexpected Piath surgery could be very bad news if she misses the season. The clear weakness of this team (inside size & presence) may have just gotten a lot bigger.

I disagree. 6' 5" Nelson-Ododa, 6' 4" Jurhasz, 6' 5" Debarry, 6' 5" Gabriel, 6' 3" Edwards, 6' 1" Griffin is a good front line. A lot of talent there. Paith will be out for the summer session.

Maybe not the front line you want especially since Cardoso went to SC. No bruiser to pounded in down low. Geno made it clear when he talked about the portal and players available. He's looking for skill sets and players who can pass the ball. I don't think Cardoso fit the mold for Geno. And her going to SC doesn't guarantee anything for them.

 

[Drew8]

I think it will be a good opportunity for a lot of players with Paige, Aaliyah and Piath out to get reps in with the upperclassmen. Should give them a grasp of the offense which seemed to get out of sorts at times last year.

 

[UConnCat]

Here's the video from Geno's media session.

Thanks for posting. Great listen.

Geno talks about Shea and Vandy at the end. Says Shea had been getting feelers throughout the season and the Vandy job opened up at the 11th hour and came as a surprise. (Perhaps White was expected to get one more year. So no, Shea missing the Final Four had nothing to do with the Vanderbilt job.) Not surprising that Shea became involved as she was when White was hired.

 

[Drew8]

I agree that Cardoso has potential, and has probably going to scare a lot of teams. But we have a lot of bigs who are better athletes with a multi-talented players. They have already gone up against Cardoso's team and Liv went 7-11, Lee went 5-5 for 19pts, and Aubrey went 4-4.

I think Dawn Staley will find a role that suits the coach for her at South Carolina.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Let not breeze past the comment about how there are 200 folks in the portal that haven’t been contacted. I think it’s too late for them to go back to their schools. Could be some folks on the outside looking this upcoming season. Or dropping down to D2/3 or JUCO route. Will be interesting to see this fall.

 

[BobbyJ]

Ouch. The unexpected Piath surgery could be very bad news if she misses the season. The clear weakness of this team (inside size & presence) may have just gotten a lot bigger.

Gabriel isn’t going to a factor for inside presence this coming season no matter what she does this summer, so no worries. That’s why GA grabbed Juhasz when he had the chance.

 

[Tank]

UConn's Geno Auriemma on NCAA transfer portal: 'It's a mess'​

Typical Auriemma candor.

Two words: Westbrook, Dorka

 

[Drew8]

Hmmm. the whole mess over minutes distribution seems to be from the transfer portal. Not sure if the team is that much better for it.

 

[Zanzman]

Two words: Westbrook, Dorka

So you don’t think it’s a mess.

 

[CL82]

So you don’t think it’s a mess.

No, no he just knows two words... well players' names actually.