Jovana Popovic is a Husky! | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Jovana Popovic is a Husky!

ERWUC65 said:
Allie will continue off the bench due to her difficulty with speed of the game. Morgan will play off the bench as she needs a year to regain her fitness. My concern is where will Azzi's points come from?
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I think there’s a pretty decent chance Allie starts next season. Certainly if she doesn’t start she will play a lot off the bench. There is so much talent on this roster! I notice some are penciling in K9 as a starter but I think she will play one more year off the bench and then start when KK graduates. I’m thinking a lot will depend on Jana’s development the rest of this year. (I thought she had really turned a corner before this last injury setback)

There are so many options! Morgan is yet another very talented player Geno will need to find time for. Hard to see Blanca not starting. Just how good is Jovana! Wouldn’t surprise me at all if K9 comes back next season shooting 38% from three. (she’s clearly already improved just since she’s been here)

Yet another thing to ponder is whether our 6’5”-6’6” secret weapon will have become someone who is now able to force Geno to play her. Gandy has been sort of out of mind in terms of actual playing time but I have little doubt that she has been improving daily under CD’s guidance and at some point she will (hopefully) become too big and too skilled to be sitting on the bench! Anyway, I suppose we’ve got way too much left in this season to get sucked into the “ What’s gonna happen next year” quagmire. Sorry!
 
Cuango said:
I think there’s a pretty decent chance Allie starts next season. Certainly if she doesn’t start she will play a lot off the bench. There is so much talent on this roster! I notice some are penciling in K9 as a starter but I think she will play one more year off the bench and then start when KK graduates. I’m thinking a lot will depend on Jana’s development the rest of this year. (I thought she had really turned a corner before this last injury setback)

There are so many options! Morgan is yet another very talented player Geno will need to find time for. Hard to see Blanca not starting. Just how good is Jovana! Wouldn’t surprise me at all if K9 comes back next season shooting 38% from three. (she’s clearly already improved just since she’s been here)

Yet another thing to ponder is whether our 6’5”-6’6” secret weapon will have become someone who is now able to force Geno to play her. Gandy has been sort of out of mind in terms of actual playing time but I have little doubt that she has been improving daily under CD’s guidance and at some point she will (hopefully) become too big and too skilled to be sitting on the bench! Anyway, I suppose we’ve got way too much left in this season to get sucked into the “ What’s gonna happen next year” quagmire. Sorry!
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The good news is that Geno has become a bit more willing to use his bench in order to maintain the press throughout the game........I don't want to speculate on how much playing time Jovana will get, but if she proves she can score within the offensive scheme and plays decent defense, she should get some minutes as a freshman
 
Zarathustra said:
"In Geno, I Trust". Z
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That is a statement with many interpretations.

I think some people see that and think that every player Geno recruits is an all star. But that is not the case. He recruits not just for talent , but chemistry, effort, being a good teammate, etc.

Was Molly Bent a good recruit? I think Geno would say so. I think he knew what he was getting with her and he got that.

Just because Geno recruits someone doesn’t mean they are a top 5 talent. They may have another role to play.

I trust that Geno has found a player to fit what the team needs. Whether that’s another Bent or another Nurse, we shall see.
 
Vowelguy said:
That is a statement with many interpretations.

I think some people see that and think that every player Geno recruits is an all star. But that is not the case. He recruits not just for talent , but chemistry, effort, being a good teammate, etc.

Was Molly Bent a good recruit? I think Geno would say so. I think he knew what he was getting with her and he got that.

Just because Geno recruits someone doesn’t mean they are a top 5 talent. They may have another role to play.

I trust that Geno has found a player to fit what the team needs. Whether that’s another Bent or another Nurse, we shall see.
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Was Molly a recruit at all? I thought she was a walk-on when the team needed bodies, but I concur with the gist of your points.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Bent was a recruit.

Pulido and Lawlor were the emergency walk-ons.
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Oh yeah, I misremember. You are correct. My apology. I swear, I cannot even picture Molly in my head right now.

I looked her up on the Huskies page and remember her baby face now.
 
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Cuango said:
I think there’s a pretty decent chance Allie starts next season. Certainly if she doesn’t start she will play a lot off the bench. There is so much talent on this roster! I notice some are penciling in K9 as a starter but I think she will play one more year off the bench and then start when KK graduates. I’m thinking a lot will depend on Jana’s development the rest of this year. (I thought she had really turned a corner before this last injury setback)
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Everyone will be going through next seasons starting lineup top to bottom after the national championship game. Allie may start because she is a shooter and Azzi will be playing in the WNBA if they get their shit together.

There are three guarantee spots that are not up for grabs. KK will be at the point; Ashlynn will be at the two. Sarah at the three or four. Blanca is 99.9% certain to be the other three or four. I will get heat for this but I don’t think that Jana will be our starting center.

Currently we have room for one more player. I know that we have Olivia as a post player and she will get minutes in the paint. But she also likes to shoot from the outside. Will that last open seat on the bench be filled from someone out of high school, overseas or from the portal?
 
ConnMotors said:
Everyone will be going through next seasons starting lineup top to bottom after the national championship game. Allie may start because she is a shooter and Azzi will be playing in the WNBA if they get their together.

There are three guarantee spots that are not up for grabs. KK will be at the point; Ashlynn will be at the two. Sarah at the three or four. Blanca is 99.9% certain to be the other three or four. I will get heat for this but I don’t think that Jana will be our starting center.

Currently we have room for one more player. I know that we have Olivia as a post player and she will get minutes in the paint. But she also likes to shoot from the outside. Will that last open seat on the bench be filled from someone out of high school, overseas or from the portal?
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I would like to see that open spot be Sara Okeke.
 
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Vowelguy said:
That is a statement with many interpretations.

I think some people see that and think that every player Geno recruits is an all star. But that is not the case. He recruits not just for talent , but chemistry, effort, being a good teammate, etc.

Was Molly Bent a good recruit? I think Geno would say so. I think he knew what he was getting with her and he got that.

Just because Geno recruits someone doesn’t mean they are a top 5 talent. They may have another role to play.

I trust that Geno has found a player to fit what the team needs. Whether that’s another Bent or another Nurse, we shall see.
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Muhl played with an attitude and UConn has missed that. I think Popovic was described somewhere as playing with a little chip on her shoulder. As for her defense, who knows. I'm no judge. But a lot of high school scorers were given easy defensive assignments to save their energy. Bueckers for one. Popovic seems to fit that role. In any case I love how Geno surprises with his Euro's.

I'll join the "trust Geno" group.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Bent was a recruit.

Pulido and Lawlor were the emergency walk-ons.
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Molly Bent was from Cape Cod and eventually finished school
at TABOR ACADEMY where she was a star. I lived on Cape
Cod for years and followed her closely and enjoyed the UCONN
Bench antics when Molly did her "guard action stuff" and some-
times, hit three pointers. After Conn she did some sort of
Christian (Sports?) ministry work? I think that was at the
University of Penn (or maybe it was just in Philly?)? The memory
is foggy on the details.
 
Overtime victory today, 84-83. Today for Jovana --> 41:29 min - 34 pts - 10/30 3pt(3/9) FT 11/14 - ST 8.
Here are her stats since the start of the season, last game not included.
MIN:34.2 FGM-A:101/181(55.8%)
3PM-A:40/80(50.0%) FTM-A:64/77(83.1%) RO:11 RD:71 REB:82(5.47)
AST:81(5.4) ST:54(3.6) PTS:386(25.73)

 
From Canada said:
Overtime victory today, 84-83. Today for Jovana --> 41:29 min - 34 pts - 10/30 3pt(3/9) FT 11/14 - ST 8.
Here are her stats since the start of the season, last game not included.
MIN:34.2 FGM-A:101/181(55.8%)
3PM-A:40/80(50.0%) FTM-A:64/77(83.1%) RO:11 RD:71 REB:82(5.47)
AST:81(5.4) ST:54(3.6) PTS:386(25.73)

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See the video, above thread # 71. It might remind you of Kayleigh Heckel! NICE!
 
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From Canada said:
Overtime victory today, 84-83. Today for Jovana --> 41:29 min - 34 pts - 10/30 3pt(3/9) FT 11/14 - ST 8.
Here are her stats since the start of the season, last game not included.
MIN:34.2 FGM-A:101/181(55.8%)
3PM-A:40/80(50.0%) FTM-A:64/77(83.1%) RO:11 RD:71 REB:82(5.47)
AST:81(5.4) ST:54(3.6) PTS:386(25.73)
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Sluconn Husky said:
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I notice that the statistics are not the same as the ones I found. The first link is to the site where I got my information. As you can see, it clearly states 34 points for Jovana. I decided to dig a little deeper and found a second site, which states 39 points. Which one is correct? On the second link, you can click on her name to see her complete season statistics.
www.flashscore.com

Mega MIS - Vojvodina 021 84:83

SERBIA: 1. ZLS Women - Round 16
www.flashscore.com www.flashscore.com

Eurobasket

www.eurobasket.com www.eurobasket.com
 
Vowelguy said:
That is a statement with many interpretations.

I think some people see that and think that every player Geno recruits is an all star. But that is not the case. He recruits not just for talent , but chemistry, effort, being a good teammate, etc.

Was Molly Bent a good recruit? I think Geno would say so. I think he knew what he was getting with her and he got that.

Just because Geno recruits someone doesn’t mean they are a top 5 talent. They may have another role to play.

I trust that Geno has found a player to fit what the team needs. Whether that’s another Bent or another Nurse, we shall see.
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That was a tough year for UConn recruiting........Geno temporarily lost his touch........besides Crystal, the other two kids were terrific people but pretty average basketball players......
 
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Charliebball said:
That was a tough year for UConn recruiting........Geno temporarily lost his touch........besides Crystal, the other two kids were terrific people but pretty average basketball players......
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Molly and Kyla were not Uconn level recruits, but I wonder if it was just a bad recruiting year and the best he could do, or if it was by design to recruit players not to challenge for significant rotation minutes, but to be good third stringers, hard working, good teammates, practice players etc.

Although it wasn't a problem for the 2016 championship team, they were quite vulnerable to significant injuries if several covered the same period. #11 and #12 on that team were walk-ons, that might have had to play important minutes if we had the kind of bad luck with injuries we did for several years after that.

So I wonder if the mindset wasn't if we can't get someone who has a good chance to crack the rotation of a great team, lets find someone who can be a good third stringer and practice player who won't make waves about playing time and at least will be way better than a walk-on in the event of an emergency.

From that perspective Molly and Kyla might have been good fits, but then because of injuries and other things they wound up having a much more significant role than might have been the game-plan. Since then, Geno has seemingly recruited to fill as much of the 15 player roster as possible, and with top talent even for the last spots, knowing that some will leave if they never make the rotation.

I think Ines was an emergency recruit that was never viewed as a likely rotation player if the team was healthy, but with our injury luck even she had some significant minutes her first year. Only foreign last second options with Visa in hand were options after Paige's injury, and Ines was probably way better than any walk-on options at that point.

I think a case could be made for either way of filling out the last spots on a roster. Go for the most talent all the time even if you think a player has a slim chance of cracking the rotation, and may well leave if that doesn't happen, or take someone who is maybe an average player, that is happy to be part of such a famous program, will stay for four years, be a great practice player and teammate that knows the system and can be a passable option in a time of need.

Maybe Geno recruited Molly and Kyla for far down the roster roles, but with the string of injuries and having to use them more than intended, has fallen back on go for the most talent and a near full roster every year.
 
From Canada said:
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I hate seeing players shoot the 3, then they step back and admire it. Ok if they never miss a shot. I see players on some other teams, and as soon as they shoot, they are heading to the basket for a rebound if the shot misses. They can stay back if their assignment after a shot goes up is to stay back to prevent a fast break the other way. If not, then go for the rebound, do not admire the shot.
 
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BobbyJ said:
Yeah, people that think she's only going to get mop up PT might be in for a surprise. Kids that know how to take care of the ball, see the floor, and make shots find a way to play.
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I'd say point guard play isn't going to be an issue next season.........finding more consistent three-point shooting options to replace Azzi is still a bit of a question mark even with Allie's emergence.......
 
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