Gus Mahler
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Yes. One in each class.
Jovana video
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DefenseBB
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Not so sure I agree with this comment. Sarah, Ash, KK are locks, strong lean on Blanca. the question becomes, Jana, Olivia V, Allie, K9.
Add in Morgan and you have a pretty strong defensive team that we know Geno loves. For all this offense we see from her, her quality minutes will be determined by her defense.
oldude
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Agree on the importance of defense and that’s where you need to watch full game footage of Jovanna. She harasses ball handlers, jumps passing lanes and bodies up opponents. While she certainly has some learning to do once she gets to Storrs, I think her learning curve will be short and her impact will be big.
Morgan has been out all year. Assuming she can get herself back healthy, she’s got a lot of rust to shake off. Jovanna will be competing with Kayleigh, Allie and maybe Kelis for Azzi’s spot in the starting lineup. Whoever emerges as the starter will most certainly have earned it.
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EricSD
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I don't see it. KK, Ash, Blanca, Sarah, and a center. Jovana IMHO will be competing for guards coming off the bench replacing the starters.
Don't get me wrong - I think Jovana is a legit top 5 recruit, but we are stacked at the guard spot...
oldude
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I don’t see 3 forwards starting for UConn, even though Sarah & Blanca have exceptional skills as forwards. Replacing Azzi with another forward just doesn’t feel like Geno. I think he’ll take a hard look at Allie, Kayleigh and maybe Morgan, if she’s healthy. Jovana could be in that mix.
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The conspicuous gap in next year's team is the spot vacated by Azzi (and, before her, Paige). The logical question is how many points will Jovana contribute? Her most recent seasonal scoring stat is about 17ppg with 47% from 2 and 34% from 3. Solid. As a shooting guard, her concentration will be putting up numbers; presumably KK will handle the point and do the major distributing. We may see Ash and Jovana flip-flopping as starters. Heckel will reprise her Super Sub role (with some playing time for the Fish). Jana has become more trustworthy as a back-up. Allie can dazzle; Morgan, too?
With the big O, Blanca, and Sarah, the Huskies' starting 5 will be formidable, giving Geno additional motivation to stick around.
Are more championships in the near-term? Wouldn't trade this team for any other.
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Oooh, a “who starts?” discussion. These are always delicious, even if this one’s a little early (We’re doomed!) and we don’t know exactly who’ll be available.
Sarah Blanca KK Ash + Jana (in November) and maybe Olivia in February.
Rotation: Kayleigh Allie Kelis Jovana Morgan[?] Ayanna[?] in roughly that order.
However you slice it, Jovana has a pretty tall hill to climb. Maybe she gets over Ayanna Morgan Kelis and Allie, but Kayleigh looks pretty much immovable. And then she’d have to displace either Ash or KK.
But… if she manages it, that could mean she’s having one of the greatest freshman seasons since… well, since Sarah.
Yo, Jovana: you go, girl! We’ll be rooting for you.
Sarah Blanca KK Ash + Jana (in November) and maybe Olivia in February.
Rotation: Kayleigh Allie Kelis Jovana Morgan[?] Ayanna[?] in roughly that order.
However you slice it, Jovana has a pretty tall hill to climb. Maybe she gets over Ayanna Morgan Kelis and Allie, but Kayleigh looks pretty much immovable. And then she’d have to displace either Ash or KK.
But… if she manages it, that could mean she’s having one of the greatest freshman seasons since… well, since Sarah.
Yo, Jovana: you go, girl! We’ll be rooting for you.
Charliebball
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I know that Geno likes to start his seniors, but it's possible that Blanca and Ash may flip-flop roles next season.........perhaps the Big "O", Sarah, KK and Allie will be the other starters, with Ashlynn and K9 the first off the bench followed by Jovana, Morgan, Jana etc.....i wish we knew whether Ice was going to be available because she would have a role too....
donalddoowop
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I see no way Olivia starts next season, at least not at the beginning of the season. Jovana looks as if she can play a big part next season once she learns the system, another Senechal.
Charliebball
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Hmmm.....a 6'5" multi-positional player with an excellent three-point shot and a sophisticated inside game not starting? Maybe not at the start of the season but I would think she's just too good offensively not to be on the court a whole lot......the only thing that may hold her back is her defense which needs work.....
JoePgh
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I have complained in several threads that people are forgetting about Morgan, and more specifically about the defensive and passing skills that she showed in her freshman year before she got injured. I still think she is being ignored on this forum's discussions about next year, but that doesn't mean that I think she will start.
I agree that Azzi's spot is the one that will be most noticeably vacated next season, and I think Allie is the logical choice to fill that void. She has most of the same skills, including 3-point shooting most obviously. I think she may start at the "3", ahead of Blanca, who will continue to see major minutes off the bench. That would be the "least change" from this year, where the offense is heavily dependent on 3-point threats all over the court.
Geno will have a dilemma at the "3", with Allie / Blanca / Morgan all being plausible candidates who have starter skills and starter-level experience in the system. I wouldn't be surprised to see them splitting minutes until someone clearly claims the job.
That would leave the true backcourt positions as KK and Ashlynn (starting), with K9, Jovana, and Kelis contending for backup minutes to KK and Ash. If more than one of the "3" contenders makes a case that she should have starter minutes, it would come from the backup guards just listed.
I agree that Azzi's spot is the one that will be most noticeably vacated next season, and I think Allie is the logical choice to fill that void. She has most of the same skills, including 3-point shooting most obviously. I think she may start at the "3", ahead of Blanca, who will continue to see major minutes off the bench. That would be the "least change" from this year, where the offense is heavily dependent on 3-point threats all over the court.
Geno will have a dilemma at the "3", with Allie / Blanca / Morgan all being plausible candidates who have starter skills and starter-level experience in the system. I wouldn't be surprised to see them splitting minutes until someone clearly claims the job.
That would leave the true backcourt positions as KK and Ashlynn (starting), with K9, Jovana, and Kelis contending for backup minutes to KK and Ash. If more than one of the "3" contenders makes a case that she should have starter minutes, it would come from the backup guards just listed.
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When I say KK and Ash will start, platooned with Kayleigh and Allie, it’s not because they’re upperclassmen or because Geno is loyal to some players over others. None of that matters. They’ll start because they already understand the defensive schemes and know what sort of intensity is required. Everything is ‘plug-n-play’ around them. Same goes for Jana, more or less.
For Jovana or Olivia to break into the starting lineup, they have to learn a lot really quickly. And they’ll need to find the right level of intensity, namely 110%. I don’t see that happening in November. Maybe by February if they turn out to be prodigies.
Sarah broke into the starting lineup last season in November because 1) she is a prodigy, and 2) there was no natural competitor for that spot. Aaliyah had just graduated, and Ice didn’t have nearly the shooting or passing skills for what Geno had in mind, and looked more like a 5 given her mobility issues.
Ironically, Sarah ended up rewiring Geno’s team concept around her extraordinary combination of skills, and ‘small ball’ was born, or maybe re-born. That’s a form of the game that no one else was suited to anchor the way she did. Since then, Blanca has arrived and may be just as suited to it as Sarah.
Could either Olivia or Jovana force Geno to rethink his team concept around their skills? They both look really good as recruits. But I’m not sure they have that same dynamism and magic about them, at least not yet. Still, I’m hoping to be surprised. Two summer ago I didn’t believe Sarah would start, and look what happened.
For Jovana or Olivia to break into the starting lineup, they have to learn a lot really quickly. And they’ll need to find the right level of intensity, namely 110%. I don’t see that happening in November. Maybe by February if they turn out to be prodigies.
Sarah broke into the starting lineup last season in November because 1) she is a prodigy, and 2) there was no natural competitor for that spot. Aaliyah had just graduated, and Ice didn’t have nearly the shooting or passing skills for what Geno had in mind, and looked more like a 5 given her mobility issues.
Ironically, Sarah ended up rewiring Geno’s team concept around her extraordinary combination of skills, and ‘small ball’ was born, or maybe re-born. That’s a form of the game that no one else was suited to anchor the way she did. Since then, Blanca has arrived and may be just as suited to it as Sarah.
Could either Olivia or Jovana force Geno to rethink his team concept around their skills? They both look really good as recruits. But I’m not sure they have that same dynamism and magic about them, at least not yet. Still, I’m hoping to be surprised. Two summer ago I didn’t believe Sarah would start, and look what happened.
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donalddoowop
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You just confirmed what I said in my post. I read where she is 6'4". You pointed out one of the reasons she probably won't start. If she does start, she is even better then I thought.
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It's been said before, by many others.... BUT... I LOVE watching Jovana
take Sara Okeke to the cleaners! Beyond Jovana's being a scoring threat at
all three levels, watch that ball handling! Look at her ability to use single and double
screens for open outside shots and, on one occasion, to use a double screen to set up a nice dive to the basket for a pretty layup. Jovana displays a talent on entry passes and she can make that long pass on a transition play (again beating a slower defending Okeke). Lastly, in answer to an earlier question of "WHY" Allie would love to play with Jovana, look again at the last play on the video when Jovana drives down the lane, get picked up by THREE opposing players and kicks it out to ......ALLIE (ring the bell)!!! WONDERFUL. Can't wait to see Jovana in Storrs!
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Let's let the new kids at least get here before we start anointing them as the next big thing. They very well may be, but if remember they are actually total newbies to UConn, it might reduce the heartburn when they prove to be what they are, new kids.
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Thanks for posting. Jovana appears fearless.
Charliebball
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Geno is giving Allie a bigger role this season because she is the third best three-point shooting option.......without Azzi next season, she will be the first or second three-point shooting option along with Sarah......
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I really like the way Allie has progressed. Geno has done really well with her. When KK missed a game, he started Allie, not Kayleigh who may not have been ready yet. It’s so easy to miss Allie’s tremendous talent and presence of mind because she doesn’t look like a major athletic talent. But she is one. She knows she doesn’t have great quickness — she’s said as much in interviews — and she thinks her way out of trouble before it gets to her. Geno trusts her to break presses, of all things. I wouldn’t have expected that after last season. But she’s really good at it. The three-ball is just one part of her arsenal. She may never develop a dribble-stop jumper, since that requires real quickness. But her game doesn’t depend on that. And she is a great finisher at the rim with a surprising crossover dribble.
Charliebball
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She's a 42% plus three-point shooter with unlimited range who's also sneaky quick to the basket but like you said, she's got a serious basketball IQ and rarely gets herself into trouble.......I think she takes up some of Azzi's points and becomes a 14-16 point scorer next season....
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I like your optimism. I’m definitely riding that train with you. Go, Allie!!!
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C’mon Debbie Downer…dream a little. Jovana displays a great skill set and has great court awareness that will fit very nicely into UConn team ball.
Very impressive. Did not see pull up jumper though. That will be developed here.
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Based on performance to date and eye test, KK and K9 are clearly in that category. Kelis is fearless, but not there yet. Based on texts, opinions and conjecture, Jovana might fall more into the SG category along with Allie.
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