Maybe Geno hit the panic button when he put her in against UCLA.If she got less than a minute against Ball State, I think it’s safe to say that ship has sailed
It is difficult to argue at this point that UCONN is really in the running for a NC. True, they aren't out of the running. Few teams are. But they do not compare well, at this moment, to at least 10 other teams ( UCONN is ranked 17th after all ). We can, and will, get much better. But so will everyone, unless they have key injuries and we do not ( good luck with that one ). But if we were to play South Carolina or LSU tomorrow, do you really think we would win? We have a chance, of course, but not a realistic one. There is no need to " panic" because it doesn't;t earn us a thing to do so. But at this moment, UCONN has the slimmest chance of becoming NC in 2024. We all know that.If by panic you mean, acknowledge that there are other teams with as good a chance as UConn to win the national championship, I'd say the answer is yes.
If you mean that UConn's out of the running for a natty, nope.
Well go put your money on what you think will happen. You may be right and you may be wrong. I do agree, it is key for UCONN to play really well on Sunday. Better than they have so far.UConn has two challenging games coming up in UNC and Louisville. To me, the UNC game
will be very important for the team's confidence. I believe that if they beat UNC they will beat
Louisville. If they lose to UNC they will lose to Louisville.
When you have an All American, and another All Big East player in Aaliyah, if they stay healthy and Ash develops the way she has been, you are at least a top 20 team and I believe a top 10 team by the end of the year. If we get Caroline and Ay back, even better.I hope i'm wrong but the way this team is playing now they may fall out of the top 25 this year.
Except that Texas is a top 5 team and we have not played well against the top tier teams. However, we crushed Maryland. I am more concerned with playing poorly against the lower tier teams which we should not because of the talent differential. I think the beginning of January may be premature. If this team becomes a contender for a FF or Elte 8 berth it will be because of the "Geno Metamorphosis" that occurs every February. For example, Q has to learn the switching defense and how not to loose her man at the faster pace, with bigger, better players than she saw this time last year. That will come. KK has to learn when not to drive or leave her feet with the ball on a pass. That will come. I think February, not January.Because of the injuries to key players and the reliance on freshmen to put a lineup on the floor, the team is essentially still in pre-season development mode. I don't think you will see the "real" UConn team until January at this point. They are still learning how to play together and the coaches are still figuring out what combinations of players work best for any given opponent. And, there are fundamental shortcoming to the roster based on the available players, with limited resources available for the front court. If the product on the floor is still playing like they played against Texas when we get to January, then it is time to truly be concerned.
While the numerous injuries have weakened the team considerably I think most teams who had a national player of the year a3rd team all American returning 2 four yearI wouldn’t say panic, but surrendering to realty is more like it. Of course , losses to both NC and Louisville could push Husky Nation into full throttle panic. Should it? I guess it depends on your expectations for the team. For this group in this set of circumstances, IMO sweet 16 would be a successful season and Elite 8 would be an overachievement. A FF would be Geno’s greatest coaching accomplishment and would propel this team among the all time greats, given the circumstances.
I think having top 10-15 talent on the countryLots of good points! The one that confuses me is about talent. First you note the high level of talent UConn has (NpoY, AA, two 4 year vets and 4 promising freshmen). Then later you state 10-15 teams have same or better talent than UConn! Which is it? I sure can’t name 10-15 teams that have equal or better talent than UConn. Can you enlighten me?
I wonder if the team has potentially difficult decisions coming up related to Caroline and Ayanna. It is still early, but there is some chance that either player may miss most of the season, but be able to return late in the season and help some but still not be all the way back.
So if they could return with a few games left, should they? Right now if they don't return they can extend their eligibility with a redshirt year. I don't remember for sure the cutoff, someone can help me with that, but I thought it was somewhere around 6 games.
In both cases there could be long term concerns. Both could recover and be fine somewhere down the road, or their issues could be close to career ending. I say that with Ayanna just because whatever they did do doesn't seem to be working, and I believe Geno once made a comparison to Morgan Tuck's knee issues.
With near and long term uncertainty that complicates the situation even more. If I thought Caroline and Ayanna had a good chance to return to what we hoped and expected for them, I might value redshirting and having them available for a full productive year vs. providing a little help for a few games at less than full strength this year. On the other hand those few games at the end might be the most important games of the season, so it could be a tough decision.
I hope for the best for Caroline and Ayanna and this hypothetical scenario certainly may not develop, but if it did I think it would be a tough decision to make.
She has become a "project" and may always have been one, but miracles could happen. If a fire could be lit, and one of the coaches took it upon herself to fan the flames and every day is catching and shooting drills and and bouncing off a large practice player. Amari has added another inch, so let's maximize her potential. At this point, nothin' to lose. We've got the coaching personnel. Whoever takes it on and succeeds is due a big raise.I think you have posted exactly what some of us (well, me) have been wanting to post.
I think she is one of UConn's greatest players, unfortunately only off the court. She seems to be having a good time when sitting on the bench.
In all seriousness… at what point do we really start incorporating both Amari and Ines into the rotation with meaningful minutes. Like why not at this point? What is Geno trying to prove by not doing so?
I’ve been rooting for Amari to succeed since Day 1. So it’s not like I don’t share some of this sentiment. But one reason why — and we all know this — is about morale and discipline. If Geno plays someone who doesn’t work well in practice, he might worry that it will impact the morale of the rest of the team who work really hard in practice. He may well be estimating that the impact on morale is likely to be greater than whatever advantage is gained by playing her.In all seriousness… at what point do we really start incorporating both Amari and Ines into the rotation with meaningful minutes. Like why not at this point? What is Geno trying to prove by not doing so?