Jovana Popovic and Nika Muhl
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EricSD
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"And now we have a Serbian kid, which is even worse (than the Croatian kid)" LOL
I'm telling you guys - Popovic is going to be really good. I say she's top 5 in the class, at worst, top 10. I also said Blanca was a top 5 recruit in her class before she got here. Geno is killing it in the international recruiting.
I'm telling you guys - Popovic is going to be really good. I say she's top 5 in the class, at worst, top 10. I also said Blanca was a top 5 recruit in her class before she got here. Geno is killing it in the international recruiting.
victor64
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Just from watching video or something else?
The competition and defense doesn’t look
too strong.
I mean we need her to be good. Azzi is leaving. I am kind of projecting a slightly down year next year. Which just means Texas, USC, and South Carolina are probably better. But UConn would definitely still be like in the top 5.
It is hard to lose Paige and Azzi in back to back years and not have a bit of a drop off from the backcourt.
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Not sure we can count on Jovana to help much next year. It’s very difficult for a Frosh to integrate into UCONNs system, particularly defensively. While Azzis loss will be felt, look at the improvements in the games of K9, Allie and Kk. They ,along with others, will be really good next year. We’ll have the best wing combination in the country in Sarah and Blanca and a Swiss Army knife in Shade. If Jana can make some around the basket improvement and Big O is as advertised ,i wouldn’t bet against an NC.
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We'll have to wait and see Jovana's impact on the team; however, we have had back-to-back years of two Freshmen (Sarah and Blanca) successfully integrating into the UCONN system, and Ash and KK acquitted themselves well when compelled into action as freshmen the year before. I am not suggesting that playing at UCONN is ever easy, but I think the narrative of a freshman not impacting the team is a little outdated. If you can play, you can play.
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That’s the thing with projecting talent, you need to be able to assess the skills and compete level of a kid and envision if they can play against your level of competition. Auriemma has usually done this very well although everybody misses some here and there. The US winter HS competition in many areas is weak for the most talented players. For a couple of examples for current UConn kids go back and look at what KK and Ziebell were playing against in Wisconsin. Very weak but their skills and attitudes were obvious. I believe that Popovic has that combination but isn’t being pushed to her potential but like Auriemma, I see elite ball skills and shooting ability and the potential to handle tough coaching to become really good.
It's tough to gauge the level of the Serbian Pro League but there are several former P4 D1 players in the league and despite being 5-6 years younger Popovic is blowing them out of the water statistically. The most notable player is probably Kiara Smith who was All-SEC as a senior in 2022.
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From Geno's remarks. No amount of watching videos will make me or any other fan into a profound assessor of talent. If Geno thinks she's going to be great, I'll believe him until I have a reason not to.
Exactly. And I'd add that Geno may have missed on a few high school bigs over the last decade or so. But I don't think he's ever misevaluated a guard. I can't think of one.
I wouldn't be so sure about a down year. In addition to Popovic we also have a top 3 in Vukosa coming in next year. The nuclear weapon that is Blanca will probably be a starter. And nobody else will have the best player in America, Sarah Strong. Losing Paige after last year was huge but we still seem to be head and shoulders above everybody else this year. We have the best coaching staff in college basketball. And finally, we struck gold in the transfer portal this year and there may still be future possibilities there, also. I'm not saying you're wrong. You may be right. But I prefer our position over the other big 3 until proven otherwise. We'll see.
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Off the top of my head I’d say there were three in the 2017 class alone. Coombs and Gordon just weren’t UConn level and Espinosa-Hunter was borderline talent wise and kind of a headcase.
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UConn is only head and shoulders over the teams they’ve played so far. There are 4 others out there that they should be very concerned about.
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Fair enough. I don't remember enough of the details about Espinosa-Hunter's recruitment and what Geno may have said about her. But my memory of Mikayla and Lexi does not suggest misevaluation, just filling spots on the roster. I don't remember him talking about them in interviews the way he has about Jovana, or Ash, or KK, or Nika, or Christyn, or Crystal, or Sania, or Kia, etc.
If we're really looking at guard and guard-adjacent players, it might be more to the point to mention Mir and Saylor. Mir's injuries and early departure make it hard to judge her potential in hindsight. But Saylor -- a too big to really be a guard -- turned out to be a substantial talent who was never happy in Storrs (for whatever reason).
I am with you 100%. I don't know much about Jovena, but if Geno likes her , that's good enough for me. As for Olivia, I've watched many of her games on You Tube and she is the real deal, enough to say she might be as good as Sarah is. I don't believe Uconn will have any kind of a drop off in scoring. True ,we lost Paige and Azzi , BUT Uconn restocked very well. In a previous post when it was announced that Olivia signed with Uconn I said with Sarah and our existing players that this has the possibility of another 4-peat ALA Breanna Stewart. As long as the possibility exists, it's possible. GO FUTURE HUSKIES!!!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!!
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Next year, predict top 5. Following year with more experienced Big O and Popovic, coupled with Sarah's senior year, another National Championship.
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1) Over the years Auriemma has told many players and relayed to the media this line. 'If I didn't think you were good, you wouldn't be here'. The most recent being Ziebell the other night. And if you're UConn good you play more than mop up duty. So since those 3 only got mop up duty and bailed for PT elsewhere, I'd call it a misevaluation since it was 75% of his recruiting class and he thought they were UConn good. Plus it was a position of need since he only had two underclass guards in Dangerfield and Bent and he likely already realized that Bent wasn't going to play much and he could only carry so many guards so he wasn't just filling roster spots.
2) Since I knew and said Mir wasn't going to play much before her freshman season started, Auriemma had to know it as well. 5-11 PFs have to be awful good like Gabby W. and Jamelle Eliott to play at UConn and Mir wasn't that good. And substantial talents don't drift from school to school shooting 36/29%, they usually are able to stay in one place and make their mark so I don't consider Poffenbarger to be one.
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RockyMTblue2
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She's going to make a different in the back court more than a few times, but Olivia Vukosa going to mark her territory a little closer to the rim. I'm thinking by midseason she'll be striking terror in the hearts of the enemy. Really looking forward to her arrival. She and Sarah will be great together.
The folks who do the weekly rankings unanimously share the same opinion as me. As do dozens of other experts commenting on the team. When the last game of the season is played, we will see who the best team is. But I'm still comfortable in saying that we seem to be head and shoulders above the rest. Maybe we should ask Tennessee to give us their opinion on the matter.
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I’m not concerned with what so called media experts think, I do my own rankings. And I’m comfortable in believing that Auriemma will be seriously concerned with any of those other 4-5 teams should he meet them in the NC tournament. And why would Tennessee’s opinion matter?
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Asking Tennessee would be interesting; they just got clobbered by South Carolina, too.
Well, now. Since you do your own rankings, do you grade UConn as the number one team in the NCAA WBB just like every one of the experts whose opinions you don't care about? Or perhaps you have some other team graded higher in your personal rankings. Please do tell.
And I'm pretty sure that Geno is "seriously concerned" with every opponent his team faces. That's one of the things that makes him the greatest coach in WCBB, if not all CBB, history. Or, perhaps I have that wrong, too?
And Tennessee, a team that I believe was ranked #15 at the time, lost to UConn by 30 points, which was literally their worst loss ever to UConn in the entire history of their storied rivalry. So, I think that's why mentioning Tennessee is pretty self-explanatory.
I would take the other side here, and offer that we will again be very good in the backcourt and overall next year.
Sarah and Blanca all American candidates.
Backcourt of: KK, Ash, K9, Allie, Morgan, Kelis. No superstar, but all sorts of big game experience in this group.
Often a team like UConn does not 'replace' a star, but rather morphs into something new around talents of returning players.
Fun challenge for next year is teams like Vandy, USC and Michigan will be much better to join with usual suspects of TX and SC as contenders. UCLA will drop off though as they lose their whole team.
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1) I would since they're unbeaten and handled everyone on their schedule so far. But in-season rankings mean nothing to me. My only concern and most likely the team's concern is where they're ranked on April 6th.
2) That's a wise observation on your part. He should be.
3) Mentioning Tennessee? You said we should ask their opinion. I still have no idea why asking Tennessee's opinion would be relevant to where UConn should be ranked. I wouldn't care what their opinion is.
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I think you’re agreeing with me, notwithstanding his offering encouragement to individual players. The point folks have been making is that his remarks about Jovana are more than that generic encouragement.
I don’t really have a profound point here and have posted elsewhere that I doubt Jovana will get much prime playing time her first year and maybe not even her second. That’s less a reflection on her talents than on the depth chart. Next season KK Ash Kayleigh and Allie will likely dominate the guard minutes. And it’s not inconceivable that Morgan may get some guard minutes. The following season, once KK and Ash graduate, I think Jovana will probably get better minutes as the second unit with Kelis backing up Kayleigh and Allie. This assumes normal growth and progression in the system. Could she be delayed if Geno takes in a transfer or two? Sure, but I’m not counting on it.
So far, this is just a reflection on the depth chart. But we can try to go further and see if we can spot what Geno likes about her in the available video evidence. She seems to be a capable scorer and passer, with rather more skills at all three levels than Nika displayed against similar competition. She also seems to be fearless in scoring through contact. What there isn’t much evidence of is defensive tenacity, at least not compared to what we could observe in Nika. I don’t know how reliable the video evidence of her offensive skills really is. But the fearlessness is unmistakable. That’s a quality we know Geno values and I suspect this is mainly what he sees in her.
If he thinks Jovana is able to follow in the footsteps of great PGs of the past, I’m inclined to trust him. But he hasn’t exactly promised this. Right now, he is very supportive of Kayleigh and I think we can all picture how she’ll lead the team after KK and Ash graduate. I’m confident in her too. We don’t know if Jovana will be able to follow in KK and Kayleigh’s footsteps. I’m eager to see how she develops. This is the future Geno has assembled for us.
Not just often, but just about every time a star graduates. And yet the BY will agonize over the loss, i.e. the gnashing of teeth, OMG what are we going to do. Who can replace (pick a name). Remarkable UConn almost always make the FF and have a real shot NCs after losing so many stars.
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JoePgh
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There is a lot of discussion in this thread about guard talent next year and later, but I saw only one quick mention of Morgan and ZERO mentions of Kelis. Morgan is injured this year and Kelis (really through no fault of her own) is at the end of the bench because of the more experienced talent ahead of her, but both have shown enough in their limited minutes to make me believe that they have star potential if they get regular minutes and practice reps, and if they are being relied on to win games.
Also, and equally important, Blanca has enough shooting and ball-handling skills to be a guard if she is needed there, so she also adds to future depth in UConn's backcourt.
I'm glad that Geno recruited Jovana, but I don't think we need to rely on future recruits to solidify the guard positions next year or the year after.
Also, and equally important, Blanca has enough shooting and ball-handling skills to be a guard if she is needed there, so she also adds to future depth in UConn's backcourt.
I'm glad that Geno recruited Jovana, but I don't think we need to rely on future recruits to solidify the guard positions next year or the year after.
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I don’t entirely agree, but I mainly do. I’m one of the folks who wanted to see Morgan at the point last season. But Geno kept her exclusively as a 4 or arguably a 3 in the small lineup. Injury got in the way so we never saw if Geno would experiment with her at the 1 or 2. Next season, I don’t see her breaking into that guard lineup. But the following year, after KK and Ash graduate, she could look like a really interesting option at either 2 or even 1.
My prediction is Kayleigh will start at PG for her entire senior season. Could Kelis be the main backup as a junior, or would it be Morgan? Or could sophomore Jovana take that role. In HS, Kelis was better as a 2 than as a PG, in my humble opinion. She is simply an excellent slasher and might develop the rest of her arsenal in the meantime. But Morgan and Jovana were both primarily PGs. And both were substantial HS talents, Jovana as a scorer and Morgan as a defender.
I’ve expressed this in terms of traditional position designations. But other than PG we all recognize that Geno runs something much more like a positionless offense. I think what this means is that he will maximize the number of good ballhandlers on the floor together whenever he can. This means Morgan will see playing time even if she isn’t nominally in a guard position. You can see this even now when he relies on Sarah Blanca and Azzi to break presses rather than wearing out KK and Kayleigh in this role. Morgan will probably end up in a similar role.
What might that lineup look like in 27-28? Sarah’s Jana’s Allie’s and Kayleigh’s senior year, Blanca’s Gandy’s and Kelis’s junior year, and Jovana’s and Olivia’s sophomore year? And we don’t know who else Geno might have recruited by then. Here’s my guess based on limited information:
- Sarah Olivia Blanca Allie and Kayleigh start
- Jana Morgan Kelis and Jovana make up the rest of the primary rotation.
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One last reflection on Jovana. We know how much emphasis Geno places on character and fitting personalities together into a cohesive team culture. Somehow, he must also be making some sort of assessment of these aspects of Jovana’s game. How will she fit into Husky culture? I have no way of knowing much about this.
I remember how KK and Ash first fit in and what sort of players they were in high school. They were ranked but not very highly recruited, mainly because they committed so early to UConn. Same with Allie. The thing about all of them was that they were used to being the athletic and emotional leaders of their high school teams. This seems to be a trait Geno looks for in recruits. Morgan is another case of this, a team leader willing to become a role player. Is this also who Jovana is? I have no idea. Videos can’t really reveal this. But this is one thing I’d look for clues about when she arrives in Storrs.
When I see Sarah rip down a rebound under the basket make a quick outlet pass to Azzi who takes two dribbles and hits Ash for an easy layup on the break, all within four ticks of the shot clock — that sort of play requires athleticism. But it mainly requires timing, coordination and trust. And all of that is an outgrowth of a cohesive team culture. This is what Jovana has signed up for. I hope she is ready to work super hard on her game, but also opens her heart to her teammates. The team needs both sides of this equation from her.
Geno used to tease Nika that her hands weren’t big enough to palm the ball and that was why she struggled early with drives to the basket. She couldn’t control the ball with one hand for those finger rolls she was attempting. Well, Jovana has big hands. This may be part of why she is so confident going to the rim.
I remember how KK and Ash first fit in and what sort of players they were in high school. They were ranked but not very highly recruited, mainly because they committed so early to UConn. Same with Allie. The thing about all of them was that they were used to being the athletic and emotional leaders of their high school teams. This seems to be a trait Geno looks for in recruits. Morgan is another case of this, a team leader willing to become a role player. Is this also who Jovana is? I have no idea. Videos can’t really reveal this. But this is one thing I’d look for clues about when she arrives in Storrs.
When I see Sarah rip down a rebound under the basket make a quick outlet pass to Azzi who takes two dribbles and hits Ash for an easy layup on the break, all within four ticks of the shot clock — that sort of play requires athleticism. But it mainly requires timing, coordination and trust. And all of that is an outgrowth of a cohesive team culture. This is what Jovana has signed up for. I hope she is ready to work super hard on her game, but also opens her heart to her teammates. The team needs both sides of this equation from her.
Geno used to tease Nika that her hands weren’t big enough to palm the ball and that was why she struggled early with drives to the basket. She couldn’t control the ball with one hand for those finger rolls she was attempting. Well, Jovana has big hands. This may be part of why she is so confident going to the rim.
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