Losing A'ja Good for UConn & Sport

[Wbbfan1]

http://courantblogs.com/dan-haar/uconn-recruiting-loss-is-good-for-the-sport-and-for-uconn/

Obviously not a UConn WBB fan or probably WBB in General. I watched all of the games to the end, even the blowouts. Losing A'ja was good for the Sport, but don't agree it was good for UConn.

 

[HoopsFan21]

It's fine. Let A'ja and Diamond and whoever else go to other schools so we can stop hearing about UConn having a monopoly on all the good players as the reason they win all the time. UConn will be fine. Say it with me: UConn will be fine. Exhale. UConn will be fine. Inhale. Everything's going to be OOOOOOKKKKK.

 

[Tonyc]

Until other coaches coach at Geno's level and can compete with UConn it doesnt matter who gets who because they still will be looking up at UConn on top. The only thing that matters is who UConn gets. Our roster is the best in the nation next season and the following season. With this years class we have some terrific guards. Next freshman class could be anther explosive class with Durr the best guard in the country, Collier Boykin and Samuelson. ND has already proven you can go undefeated with a 6'2 post player. We have players taller then that. Also remember KML and Stewart were number 1 coming out of HS. Mojeff and Tuck were by some polls ranked number 1. Tuck until she got hurt. Chong was a prolific scorer in HS and will be this coming season. We are in great shape at UConn. UConn has a great team attitude and theyre all on the same page. The last thing UConn needs is a kid who doesnt want to be here. Be happy with who we get because for the most part they want to be part of Geno's team.

 

[magic]

So, Huskies win because they get all the great players ? All I've heard was that the competition is " SCARED OF THE UCONN LOGO " ! Now , perhaps the new tactic will be to pull a miami heat move, by watching players build their own team, by transferring ! Of course hard work, dedication, and great coaching have had nothing to do with Husky dominance. So, you want wccb to be like the new NFL, which is mediocre parity ?

 

[HoopsFan21]

Until other coaches coach at Geno's level and can compete with UConn it doesnt matter who gets who because they still will be looking up at UConn on top. The only thing that matters is who UConn gets. Our roster is the best in the nation next season and the following season. With this years class we have some terrific guards. Next freshman class could be anther explosive class with Durr the best guard in the country, Collier Boykin and Samuelson. ND has already proven you can go undefeated with a 6'2 post player. We have players taller then that. Also remember KML and Stewart were number 1 coming out of HS. Mojeff and Tuck were by some polls ranked number 1. Tuck until she got hurt. Chong was a prolific scorer in HS and will be this coming season. We are in great shape at UConn. UConn has a great team attitude and theyre all on the same page. The last thing UConn needs is a kid who doesnt want to be here. Be happy with who we get because for the most part they want to be part of Geno's team.

You cannot stress this enough. Even Dolson admitted to considering leaving early in her freshman year after a few rough practices. UConn is not for every one. It's an opportunity that only a select few can handle. I think kids up and leaving a program is only going to increase as everyone wants their five minutes of fame these days, and if they don't get it they transfer. If you're Geno and Co., you really have to pick the right kids, and the other qualities of a recruit are becoming just as important as the raw basketball/athletic talent.

 

[DavidK]

First off I live in Stamford and we don't have a competitive team, Stanford does.

Second I wouldn't compare women's college basketball to the NFL or MLB, but instead Mens College Basketball or College Football

In Mens Basketball you can see there is Parody, and it's working well. There is always Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Uconn, Syracuse and others in the mix while unknown teams like Witchita State, Butler come out of no where to make the final four. Parody is defiantly good working there.

For college football there is Parody also but when Alabama was wining all these national championships recently i didn't hear anyone ask of it was bad for the game.

A'ja staying home is good for Womens basketball as a whole but as a Uconn fan I can't say the same thing. I am happy with who we have next year but can't honestly say I didn't want Wilson. South Carolina will be a contender with her.

Overall I would say Parody is growing in the game. Teams like LSU, Rutgurs and Georgia are not as good as they were in years past but teams such as Notre Dame, Louisville, Maryland, Stanford and Baylor are playing at a high level, but all graduated tremendous talent. South Carolina should join that group and will be interesting to see of those teams who falls off.

 

[intlzncster]

It's definitely good for WCBB. UCONN needs competitive rivals. The day of UCONN/TN featured some of the best, most competitive games I've seen. Passion was through the roof.

Great players going elsewhere doesn't matter so much for UCONN itself.

 

[intlzncster]

You cannot stress this enough. Even Dolson admitted to considering leaving early in her freshman year after a few rough practices. UConn is not for every one. It's an opportunity that only a select few can handle. I think kids up and leaving a program is only going to increase as everyone wants their five minutes of fame these days, and if they don't get it they transfer. If you're Geno and Co., you really have to pick the right kids, and the other qualities of a recruit are becoming just as important as the raw basketball/athletic talent.

I think there are more players that can handle it than the Boneyard gives credit for. Some kids just want to go to other schools. Shocking I know. Reasoning: Stanford and Duke for better academic name recognition; To stay in the the South or out West; Feel more at home with other programs; Want to play for a female HC; All sorts of reasons.

Side note: am I specifically on mod approval status? If it pertains to the DD thread, pretty sure I was one of the few defending DD, and calling out people for being sanctimonious.

EDIT: OK, only some of my posts are "awaiting mod approval"? Don't understand it.

 

[HuskyPup]

I watched all of the games to the end, even the blowouts. Losing A'ja was good for the Sport, but don't agree it was good for UConn.

I'm not sure losing A'ja was good for women's college basketball or UConn but I'm sure it was good for Kiah Stokes. IMO, Kiah played exceptionally well when the team "needed" her. Had A'ja come to Storrs, it's feasible that Kiah would not have had the same feeling of importance to the team. Now we all know that Kiah is important to our success regardless of who we have on our roster. I just hope she realizes this next year. I predict she will have a monster year. Of course there will always be doubters.....but I for one can't wait to see how she helps us win NC #10 !

 

[60'sfan]

I hate to admit this because I love the Uconn women's BB program and coach Geno but I fell asleep during at least three Uconn women's games. The only ones that were really exciting were the Baylor game and the championship game against Notre Dame. And the Notre Dame turned into a rout eventually. A'ja going to South Carolina is great for them but will not have much of an impact on Uconn. I still think we win two more NC's while Stewie is here and we could go undefeated again next year.

 

[HuskyNan]

EDIT: OK, only some of my posts are "awaiting mod approval"? Don't understand it.

Women's board posts?

 

[intlzncster]

Women's board posts?

Yes, it was the first one of them above in this thread. I mentioned TN? It started with "It's definitely good for WCBB."

It now seems to be approved. Perhaps it was a glitch of some sort.

 

[baggerbob]

One player doesn't make you a championship team, not even a great player, you still need coaching, and other players that fit into the team. Staley showed she knows how to coach a team how to lose, before their seeding, and didn't do a good job down the end of the season. She might end up being a great coach, but right now she is far from it.

 

[HuskyNan]

One player doesn't make you a championship team, not even a great player, you still need coaching, and other players that fit into the team. Staley showed she knows how to coach a team how to lose, before their seeding, and didn't do a good job down the end of the season. She might end up being a great coach, but right now she is far from it.

South Carolina had 8 freshmen and sophomores and 3 juniors (only 2 of which saw much playing time), with no seniors on the roster. It's hard for a young team to keep focus for an entire season. Look who led UConn in the post-season, seniors Stef and Bria with strong performances from juniors Kaleena and Kiah.

 

[Aluminny69]

If EDD had stayed at UConn, stayed healthy, and developed to her potential, we might very well be looking at six consecutive UConn championships. Would that have been good for WCBB?

 

[uconnfan68]

First off I live in Stamford and we don't have a competitive team, Stanford does.

Second I wouldn't compare women's college basketball to the NFL or MLB, but instead Mens College Basketball or College Football

In Mens Basketball you can see there is Parody parity, and it's working well. There is always Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Uconn, Syracuse and others in the mix while unknown teams like Witchita State, Butler come out of no where to make the final four. Parody is defiantly good working there.

For college football there is Parody parity also but when Alabama was wining all these national championships recently i didn't hear anyone ask of it was bad for the game.

A'ja staying home is good for Womens basketball as a whole but as a Uconn fan I can't say the same thing. I am happy with who we have next year but can't honestly say I didn't want Wilson. South Carolina will be a contender with her.

Overall I would say Parody parity is growing in the game. Teams like LSU, Rutgurs and Georgia are not as good as they were in years past but teams such as Notre Dame, Louisville, Maryland, Stanford and Baylor are playing at a high level, but all graduated tremendous talent. South Carolina should join that group and will be interesting to see of those teams who falls off.

Don't usually like to act like a grammar cop, but I just had to fix those words. ;^)

 

[uconnfan68]

If EDD had stayed at UConn, stayed healthy, and developed to her potential, we might very well be looking at six consecutive UConn championships. Would that have been good for WCBB?

A resounding YES!

 

[hoophuskee]

I don't agree with many that speak of parity and believe parody in-of-itself is good for the game. I became less of a men's fan because overall quality of the men's game isn't very good. In a mens game you can never watch team greatness (quality greatness I'm talking of here). Individual greatness sure. But not team greatness. It's not anyone's fault. The kids should have a right to leave early and they do. This lowers the quality though. This move with A'ja genreally isn't going to get any more men involved watching the sport whether A'ja went to SC, UNC or UCONN. Until the quality improves - the rest is just noise from people like that blogger.

For me - one of the greatest mcbb games I saw - excluding UCONN championships (What can I say - I am a UCONN fan)- was Phi Slamma Jamma Houston Cougars vs. Jim Valvano's NC State Wolfpack. This game is a pipedream now for men. Drexler stayed 3 years. Nowadays he is gone in 1 year. Houston eventually had 4 other players that went into NBA, three of the four were 1st round picks. I believe NC State only had 1 - Thurl Bailey. He would have left the year earlier probably. You'll never see that type of game in men's college basketball. With the women, we saw something special/similar with Louisville- Baylor last year, didn't we? It was a terrific quality game, wasn't it? Some people imo confuse "quality" with "a close game."

So Stanford women's team losing in the 1st round, was that as exciting as Louisville-Baylor? Why wasn't it? Because of the "quality of play." Unless my team is playing, if the game is a crappy game, I have better things to do than watch poor quality. So parody in-of-itself be dammed. You need quality unless it's my team. Othwerwise I'm not watching. And I don't think you're going to get a lot of men other than me watching as well- watching a poor quality wcbb game just because the game happens to be close. The women don't "wow" a lot of men with their athleticism. Some don't care about it- but if we're talking about "growth" - many do. You have to grow the game from both men and women, right? You aren't growing it with poor quality.

 

[intlzncster]

Don't usually like to act like a grammar cop, but I just had to fix those words. ;^)

I don't agree with many that speak of parody and believe parody in-of-itself is good for the game. I became less of a men's fan because overall quality of the men's game isn't very good. In a mens game you can never watch team greatness (quality greatness I'm talking of here).

uconnfan68, where you at?

 

[intlzncster]

I don't agree with many that speak of parody and believe parody in-of-itself is good for the game. I became less of a men's fan because overall quality of the men's game isn't very good. In a mens game you can never watch team greatness (quality greatness I'm talking of here). Individual greatness sure. But not team greatness. It's not anyone's fault. The kids should have a right to leave early and they do. This lowers the quality though. This move with A'ja genreally isn't going to get any more men involved watching the sport whether A'ja went to SC, UNC or UCONN. Until the quality improves - the rest is just noise from people like that blogger.

Were you watching UCONN's defense throughout the tournament this year?

 

[60'sfan]

Were you watching UCONN's defense throughout the tournament this year?

Hoophuskee was talking about parody not parity unless she/he was a victim of auto-correct.

 

[hoophuskee]

Were you watching UCONN's defense throughout the tournament this year?

Really? So you think our post players and Giffey for example were great defenders? Did you watch basketball in early 80's? Do you realize Houston had a front line of Olajuwon (freshman but impact player), Lary Micheauux (senior and first round draft pick) and Clyde Drexler (junior)? What team had this qulaity? The Kentucky "FRESHMEN?" I hope you aren't saying that.

Our post players and Giffey were NOT great players. They played great relative to their compettion. I spoke of "team" earlier. Houston had Drexler leading them. Look how good Young was as a freshman for Kentucky in that game and think about how great Drexler was as a junior. It's not comparable the quality.

 

[hoophuskee]

Hoophuskee was talking about parody not parity unless she/he was a victim of auto-correct.

OOPS. Meant parity.

 

[hoophuskee]

uconnfan68, where you at?

OOPS - don't I feel like an idiot.

 

[HoopsFan21]

If EDD had stayed at UConn, stayed healthy, and developed to her potential, we might very well be looking at six consecutive UConn championships. Would that have been good for WCBB?

You can't really look at it like that because recruiting after EDD would have been impacted. If EDD stays, the players Geno recruits after her recruitment likely changes and thus the space-time continuum is destroyed.