How confident are you at this time of year versus previous years | Page 2 | The Boneyard

How confident are you at this time of year versus previous years

How does your mood compare most closely to August 27 in previous years?

  • As confident as August 27 2003/2009/2013

    Votes: 53 64.6%

  • As cautiously optimistic as August 27, 1994/2001/2012

    Votes: 23 28.0%

  • Hopeful but fearing for the worst, as with August 27 2002

    Votes: 4 4.9%

  • As pessimistic as you were on August 27 2004

    Votes: 1 1.2%
  • Total voters
    82
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I will be stunned if UCONN does not roll to an undefeated season next year. Barring a serious injury to Jefferson/Stewart, I just don't see anybody being close to UCONN's level. Last year UCONN was 20-25 points better than just about everybody in the nation. Despite losing Dolson/Hartley, UCONN still has significantly more talent than anyone else returning. I'm more confident that UCONN will win a championship this season than I've been any season prior.
 
Bottom line, whether it was August 27 1994, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, or 2013, you might have had- with good reason- the gamut of thoughts/feelings in anticipation of the season...and whatever you thought/felt and why, you were about to experience a national championship season for UConn WBB.

Pretty cool, huh?
 
IMHO we will be a better team this year than last. The question is how would you prove it if we go 40 and 0. Perhaps one way to measure is our performance against Top 10 teams( one could argue that stats against other teams are meaningless). We averaged 18.1 margin of victory against top 10s last year and i suspect that number will be higher this year.
 
I like our chances, too, but the glass generally is half empty fr me, so I was not completely confident. Besides, I think we should beware the mojo.
 
Just a tad less confident than last year at this time, but if Tuck and Williams are healthy (especially Tuck) and the injury bug gets sprayed with a can of Raid........it is over for the rest of hopefuls.
 
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WesternPaFan- - - The difference between Baylor's meltdown with L'ville and something similar happening to UCONN this season or ever with UCONN is Geno Auriemma! He will not let the players or the coaching staff look beyond the next game or practice! Kim Mulkey had already made the Final 4 in her mind and was planning for who Baylor would face in the FF! She did not consider L'ville a threat, so she didn't prepare her players as usual, the results were being humilated by Walz and L'ville and not even making the FF!
You will never see that happen to UCONN under Geno! He is scared to death of how the next play will be run let alone thinking 2 or 3 steps down the road! He always says he is afraid all this success is a dream and he'll wake up and it'll be gone!
 
RSHERMVIKES said:
WesternPaFan- - - The difference between Baylor's meltdown with L'ville and something similar happening to UCONN this season or ever with UCONN is Geno Auriemma! He will not let the players or the coaching staff look beyond the next game or practice! Kim Mulkey had already made the Final 4 in her mind and was planning for who Baylor would face in the FF! She did not consider L'ville a threat, so she didn't prepare her players as usual, the results were being humilated by Walz and L'ville and not even making the FF!
You will never see that happen to UCONN under Geno! He is scared to death of how the next play will be run let alone thinking 2 or 3 steps down the road! He always says he is afraid all this success is a dream and he'll wake up and it'll be gone!
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I do think Geno is a better coach than Mulkey, and that Baylor didn't give Louisville much respect/attention which is why they didn't finish the game....but Louisville also played freakishly well. For a team that shot 32% from 3pt land on the season to nail 16/25 three pointers is ridiculous. I'd imagine that any team (including UCONN) would have a difficult time overcoming such an unusually great shooting display.
 
RSHERMVIKES said:
WesternPaFan- - - The difference between Baylor's meltdown with L'ville and something similar happening to UCONN this season or ever with UCONN is Geno Auriemma! He will not let the players or the coaching staff look beyond the next game or practice! Kim Mulkey had already made the Final 4 in her mind and was planning for who Baylor would face in the FF! She did not consider L'ville a threat, so she didn't prepare her players as usual, the results were being humilated by Walz and L'ville and not even making the FF!
You will never see that happen to UCONN under Geno! He is scared to death of how the next play will be run let alone thinking 2 or 3 steps down the road! He always says he is afraid all this success is a dream and he'll wake up and it'll be gone!
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You conveniently forgot that Duke game! The one that Foley won with a buzzer-beater! Cuz Geno didn't call a time out from the bench after Diana nailed what should hve been the game winner!

Or the more recent game lost to St. John's!

And there are others! Especially in recent years vs. Notre Dame! And that doesn't even include the game when a great team (Sue, Swin, etc.) blew a big lead while Diana fired blanks!

--it happens!

And, just for good measure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Last season we have Tuck and KML go down at the tuffest part of our schedule. We won every game and most of them on the road. That turned all the doubters into believers. UConn is for real. This season many of the to top teams have lost key players and ar rebuilding, UConn continues to reload. I dont see any real competition for UConn this season. If we a somebody out for a couple of games I am still confident. If we have key players out for the season it will be a little tuffer. Dont forget we averaged beating everybody by double digets and they have to overcome that this season without key players. South Carolina may be the second best team in WCBB and I dont see them coming close to UConn. The FF will be UConn and everybody else.
 
trisailin said:
I'm extremely concerned and here's why:
Every summer the Boneyard has had bunches of proclamations about how such and such a freshman was going to be starting and and and. Well we only have 4 freshmen this year and that doesn't make a full team. How can we possibly succeed?
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I understand your concern. I also understand what that says about me. And I'm ok with that. :cool:
 
bballnut90 said:
I will be stunned if UCONN does not roll to an undefeated season next year. Barring a serious injury to Jefferson/Stewart, I just don't see anybody being close to UCONN's level. Last year UCONN was 20-25 points better than just about everybody in the nation. Despite losing Dolson/Hartley, UCONN still has significantly more talent than anyone else returning. I'm more confident that UCONN will win a championship this season than I've been any season prior.
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I know you are just trying to pull the old anti-mojo thing here (won't work though). BUT, even though I'm one of the most negative people I know (I'm not a glass half full or glass half empty guy, I'm more a glass lying shattered on the floor guy), this (above) is pretty much how I feel this year.

I would be stunned if UCONN didn't win a NC this year. I'd be surprised if they didn't go undefeated. Granted there could always be injuries that could derail, but they would probably have to be in the season ending variety for Stewart, KML or Jefferson. And even then we might be able to pull off a NC if it happened to only one of them. If those 3 are healthy and playing well, it won't really matter who else is on the floor with them. They'll win.

The year after, UCONN will probably be even better. However, 2015-2016, the competition will be better too. This year, not so much.
 
.-.
This year's team has a ton of talent and with a healthy Tuck has the chance to be great. My question, not a concern yet, is how the team chemistry evolves. Last year's team had great chemistry and a very calming influence by Stef. Her happy go lucky demeanor helped keep everyone's nerves under control, especially in big games. That leadership allowed Stewie and Mo Jeff not worry about having to carry the team.
 
Bgillon said:
This year's team has a ton of talent and with a healthy Tuck has the chance to be great. My question, not a concern yet, is how the team chemistry evolves. Last year's team had great chemistry and a very calming influence by Stef. Her happy go lucky demeanor helped keep everyone's nerves under control, especially in big games. That leadership allowed Stewie and Mo Jeff not worry about having to carry the team.
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Chemistry is always a question mark, but one thing I was very impressed about when I found out a few years back is what Geno does with recruits before they are offered.

They come to campus and hang out with the team. After several days and their visit is complete, he talks with the team and asks them for their opinion before offering the player. I'm sure it doesn't always happen that way, but my understanding is that there have been times in the past where the current players have vetoed a recruit after meeting them. My brother and I found this out when we got a chance to meet Geno years ago during his recruitment of Charde Houston.
 
meyers7- - Welcome to the club, I don't even own a glass to be 1/2 empty/full.

kibitzer- - - No I haven't forgotten about Duke, or St. John's, Geno is on target 95% of the time! And the FF loss to ND, but that was because of Svet & Shea (2 AA's) being hurt and the team now had to start and depend on DT for mucho points, where with the 2 injured girls DT comes off the bench!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BACK AT YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bballnut90- - - Yes L'ville shot insane, but Geno usually takes away the best scorer, and their defense is so much better than Baylor's that I don't think L'ville would have ever got off the snide from the opening whistle!

The key for each season is UCONN's defense. No-one sells out on D as UCONN does for the full 40 minutes! They may have comparable players but the D swings the games UCONN's way eventually!

If UCONN stays injury/illness free no-one will be close to 20-25 points! And this is from someone that searches for negatives to every event!
 
All of this optimism is only making me more nervous.
 
Beemer said:
I'm confident as long as everyone stays healthy. I know the four freshmen [didn't there used to be a musical group by that name???] are excellent but they are still freshmen. Experience matters come tournament time.
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Not better offensively, you have the 2 best offensive players in college basketball in KML, and Stewie. You add in a healthy Morgan Tuck, a healthy KML, improving Stewie, and Moriah, the offense will be better higher percentage shots.
 
.-.
I have felt this confident five times, 01, 02, 09, 10 and 13. Four times out of five we went undefeated. The other time injuries and Ruth Riley intervened. If you want to extrapolate an 80% chance of going undefeated, that's not crazy, maybe more like 70%. Odds of a NC have to be more like 85% or so.
 
I could care less of circumstances with Baylor...But point was made....Any team is beatable....just as any player is beatable....you hope for the best always,but you never never ever know 100%...some day a bubble will burst..you only hope later rather than sooner....I am for UCONN but I also understand what can go wrong and I never know. I realize,that in sports as in life the unpredictable can happen and at times will happen.
 
Thanks to Dawgs Bite, I watched last season's early Stanford game.
It was a most informative experience in many ways and may relate to this year's prospects.

Stewie wasn't the same Stewie then that she is now; hanging around on the outside, taking and missing some long-range shots,
committed some early fouls and sat more than she played. She is so more effective now getting a ton of easy buckets inside.

Moriah, likewise had a difficult night.
This was the game that Stanford didn't guard her and she freaked.
And Stef wasn't much of a force, offensively and of course there was KML's injury in a game
where she also hadn't figured out how effective she could be, close to the basket.

So how did UConn win by almost 20?
WIth the score 2-2 for an eternity; Saniya hit a couple.
Made some neat passes too.
Bria took over
Kiah came in, blocked, rebounded, and scored
and Morgan also was tough on both ends, especially in the 2nd half.

And Stanford had no answers

looking at our prospects now, Moriah is unlikely to have many such games
Stewie certainly won't, she has figured out the path to lots of easy buckets.
KML will be KML.
Kiah will have many such games. And Morgan if healthy will as well.

That leaves the 4 frosh + Saniya to equal last season's Bria + Saniya
Verdict: Almost.

And since everyone else is weakened; we should be in fine shape to roll.

But: I expect Stanford to be actually better w/o Ogumike.
More of their dead-eye shooters forced to step up.
They will compete vigorously…but to no avail.
As will they all.
 
Folks who constantly bring up the absence of Shea and Sveta as an excuse for the 2001
semifinal loss to Notre Dame perhaps have forgotten that UConn, with Shea and Sveta
both healthy and playing, received a 16 point thrashing at South Bend earlier in the year
during the regular season.

UConn lost that semifinal game because the team (not just Diana) went into a horrific
shooting slump that turned a double digit halftime lead into a double digit loss.

How does something like that happen? What happens when the best hitter on your team
goes into a three week hitting slump . . . or the ace of your pitching staff suddenly can't find
the strike zone?

If I had the answer to those questions . . . .
 
At this time one year ago, I thought that UCONN had the number one team in the country and that Notre Dame had the number two. I feel the same way this year.
 
.-.
ed4ourgirls said:
Folks who constantly bring up the absence of Shea and Sveta as an excuse for the 2001
semifinal loss to Notre Dame perhaps have forgotten that UConn, with Shea and Sveta
both healthy and playing, received a 16 point thrashing at South Bend earlier in the year
during the regular season.

UConn lost that semifinal game because the team (not just Diana) went into a horrific
shooting slump that turned a double digit halftime lead into a double digit loss.

How does something like that happen? What happens when the best hitter on your team
goes into a three week hitting slump . . . or the ace of your pitching staff suddenly can't find
the strike zone?

If I had the answer to those questions . . . .
Expand ...

Thank you for your accurate recollection. As difficult as it may be to recall those stunning losses, it sets the record straight and should silence those with selective amnesia.

Yet another reminder that games (and matches) must be played and victory earned was the astonishing defeat today of Venus Williams to a younger Italian player she had beaten like a drum many times before. But not today, even with a 5-3 lead in what should have been a "serve-out" final set. Nobody is invincible.
 
ed4ourgirls- -
Folks who constantly bring up the absence of Shea and Sveta as an excuse for the 2001
semifinal loss to Notre Dame perhaps have forgotten that UConn, with Shea and Sveta
both healthy and playing, received a 16 point thrashing at South Bend earlier in the year
during the regular season.

UConn lost that semifinal game because the team (not just Diana) went into a horrific
shooting slump that turned a double digit halftime lead into a double digit loss.

How does something like that happen? What happens when the best hitter on your team
goes into a three week hitting slump . . . or the ace of your pitching staff suddenly can't find
the strike zone?

If I had the answer to those questions . . . .

ed- - On a GENO's LEGACY show on SNY this past season, Sue Bird was the guest and about 1/2 way through the show Geno asks Sue if she still was mad at him for his temper tantrum over a 3point shot by Alicia Ratay right at the buzzer taking an 18 point lead to 15 at 1/2 time of the 2001 FF semi-final game vs ND. He went on to say he entered the locker room and threw a chair across the room and went nuts for the whole 1/2 time, and the team came out shell-shocked and preceded to blow the lead and lost to ND! He said it was his worst moment in coaching! She said no, They'd seen him act stupid before and that as bad as that was the team still should have played better than they did! Both were visibly shaken by the discussion!
I don't think too many people know of that incident!
 
Though UCONN lost earlier in the season to ND by 16 or so points WITH Svet & Shea I don't think UCONN in the FF was going to lose to them again! Different mind-set. See my post above for little known incident that may have turned the game as well as Shea & Svet's injuries!
 
meyers7 said:
Well, except Vince Papale.
Expand ...
I think Geno is a lot like Vince ..................................................................................................................................................................Lombardi.
 
.-.
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