Most of the bandwagons are born and die on this board. The recent history of UConn freshmen has been exceptionally productive. The media will repeatedly start games with telling how UConn had 3 seniors graduate and then lost Bueckers. It does sound as if they are behind the 8-ball. But other than all their experience there is nothing the seniors did that hasn't or can't be exceeded by the younger players. At the end of the Stanford game I was so pleased every time Fudd got fouled and so stressed when Williams went to the line. (I was also beyond happy for her when she made both). UConn has signed three straight outstanding classes. Two of those have produced 5 players who were major contributors as freshmen. I see the incoming class + Lou as doing the same and as of now the 23 class is also damn good. There is so much talent in the 24 class that everyone is going to eat.
By November most fans will have adjusted to the roster and will realize that UConn is still a powerhouse. Not as entertaining maybe but still formidable.
Has NIL altered the development schedule in girls' BB? I'm just a casual observer of recruiting but there seems to have been a surge of HS players with college-ready skills. At least offensively. Riding on the Bueckers tailwind?
Adding on to your theme about too much concern over graduating seniors. We lost three seniors who were very good players, but by Uconn standards they were pretty middle of the pack. They are all possible but far from a lock at a long WNBA career. We frequently send players to the league drafted much higher.
You mentioned your greater confidence in freshmen Azzi on the line instead of Christyn. It is more than just that trait, if you look at their PER stats Azzi and Caroline were better than both Christyn and Evina last year. It wasn't by a big margin but by that standard the freshmen replacements were better than the graduating seniors already. Dorka was very good but below Liv's numbers, but another year in the program and being used more exclusively at her natural position should make that closer to a wash.
The main thing to remember though, is in most years the incoming freshmen don't have to be as good in their first year as the graduating seniors for the team to be as good. The reason of course is you have sophomores, juniors, and seniors returning all of which should be a little better with another year of experience and their offseason work.
The reason I say in most years, is because last year we were a stark exception to that rule. Looking at PER stats again and comparing players to their prior year, we had one of our returnees improve (NIka) and in her case it was not by much. Liv, Aaliyah, Dorka, Evina, Christyn and Paige were worse. It would not be unusual for a player or two from that many falling off a little, but that was shocking, and in Aaliyah's case she was way down from the prior year. Before the injury Paige was better too but her 11 games after coming back pulled her numbers for the season below her freshmen year.
I'm sure some of that was because we had players gassed from playing too many minutes, or out of position due to injuries, and we didn't have time to get comfortable with a set lineup. This year I think it is more likely we have a more normal transition and improvement from returning players. Azzi and Caroline make a typical frosh to sophomore jump, Aaliyah a major one just to get back to freshmen form, hopefully better than that, Dorka gets more opportunities at her natural C position etc.
Good post!!
