Mid-July way too early preason predictions | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Mid-July way too early preason predictions

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Not to jinx, but any predictions on losses. I was trying to think of teams that had similar heartbreaking final 4 losses. Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't really need to go back that far. I was almost surprised how little Napheesa and Katie Lou lossed at UConn. I think their last year they were something like 35-3. And 3 is kind of high for Uconn. Nonetheless, I think this team will atleast have 3 losses, just because of their schedule and parity in womens basketball. Also, I do think it will take time for people to find their roles.
 
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Not to jinx, but any predictions on losses. I was trying to think of teams that had similar heartbreaking final 4 losses. Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't really need to go back that far. I was almost surprised how little Napheesa and Katie Lou lossed at UConn. I think their last year they were something like 35-3. And 3 is kind of high for Uconn. Nonetheless, I think this team will atleast have 3 losses, just because of their schedule and parity in womens basketball. Also, I do think it will take time for people to find their roles.

3 is kinda high?? Umm what player/players have less??
 
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3 is kinda high?? Umm what player/players have less??
Perhaps I'm not understanding the question, but in the last 27 years, only 8 UConn teams have had 4 or more losses. 5 teams have had 3. I have no idea how many players that would be.
 
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Not to jinx, but any predictions on losses. I was trying to think of teams that had similar heartbreaking final 4 losses. Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't really need to go back that far. I was almost surprised how little Napheesa and Katie Lou lossed at UConn. I think their last year they were something like 35-3. And 3 is kind of high for Uconn. Nonetheless, I think this team will atleast have 3 losses, just because of their schedule and parity in womens basketball. Also, I do think it will take time for people to find their roles.
No way. This team is on a mission and we have the entire starting team back, more depth, 3 Seniors, plus a for real back up center, and one of the best shooters ever to play high school girls basketball.
 
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Perhaps I'm not understanding the question, but in the last 27 years, only 8 UConn teams have had 4 or more losses. 5 teams have had 3. I have no idea how many players that would be.

I don’t know. @jdote33 said 3 loses is kinda high. Not sure how that’s high, which is why I’m asking
 
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We have heard from Geno and the players enough thIs summer to make some way too early predictions.
  1. Paige will log fewer minutes, average fewer points per game and lead the nation in assists. She will hate the first, could care less about the second, and be proud of the third.
  2. Azzi will be as good as advertised. She will team with Paige to form the nation’s best guard tandem.
  3. Bringing Dorka sent a message to Liv. Geno’s post season conference with Liv probably was not pleasant but she stayed. I would say the starter at 5 is unknown but Dorka came to play and I think she starts.
  4. Evina will emerge as the most valuable (I didn’t say best or most talented) player. Her versatility, clean bill of health and off the chart leadership will be the glue to the team. She may not, however, start but play as close to as many minutes as last year.
  5. Nika will successfully address every weakness that Geno identified at the end of the season , including improving her outside shot. Azzi and Paige will be too good sending Nika to the bench as a valuable early game sub.
  6. Saylor’s back will fully heal. She will end up getting more minutes than Caroline Ducharme. Poffenberger will prove to be a better perimeter defender. She is not the shooter Caroline Ducharme is but is a heck of a lot better than what she showed last winter.
  7. Mir will show the most dramatic sophomore leap. A clarified role and a better understanding of the playbook and expectations will be the contributing factors.
  8. Aubrey’s lack of consistent outside shot finally catch up to her and she gets passed on the depth chart.
  9. Piath not transferring tells me that she is ok for now with the plan that Geno has for her. I hope her medical issues don’t prevent us from seeing what the plan is. I think the weight loss was step one.
  10. I think CW continues to thrive in her found role of defensive stopper and provides the consistent play that boneyarders have been hoping for.
Have at it. What did miss? What did I get wrong?
I'm in total agreement with your position with MIr I'm a big fan and thought she'd be a better version of Aubrey and maybe another Gabby
 

victor64

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I'm in total agreement with your position with MIr I'm a big fan and thought she'd be a better version of Aubrey and maybe another Gabby
IMO, Mir is as athletic as Aubrey. Last year was difficult for her. She looks most comfortable in the low post. There is no spot for her there this season. She is a decent perimeter defender (extremely adept at taking charges). I thought her body language was questionable at times (which is a big deal to Geno and CD). Plus, she seemed to need to be told where to go on most out of bounds plays. Can she rebound, develop a mid range game and be efficient moving the ball on offense? She didn't really play enough for anyone to know the answers. She rarely was trusted to earn extended minutes. I think she held own in one game where she played because Liv was in foul trouble.

As I can say for several kids, she stayed. She could start for most of the other Big East teams. She is that athletic. I am anxious to know what the plan is because it could be fun to watch if it comes to fruition.
 
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For 2 seasons Aubrey has played consistently and Geno trusts her so why all of a sudden would he stop playing her just because we have a couple of unproven freshman? We downplay Aubrey as a factor on this board entirely too often for my liking, we don’t win that Baylor game without her and she’s not in that game unless Geno has trust in her so why don’t the people on this board?
 
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I don’t know. @jdote33 said 3 loses is kinda high. Not sure how that’s high, which is why I’m asking
Thanks @D J B for the statistics regarding the past 27 years. To be clear 3 losses is a great season, I was saying kind of high for Uconn standards and particularly for this team with national championship aspirations. I think only 2 Uconn championship teams had above 3 losses. One had Diana Taurasi on it and the other had Stewy. I guess this one has PB & J so we will see how it all shakes out if they have their struggles in the regular season.
 
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Thanks @D J B for the statistics regarding the past 27 years. To be clear 3 losses is a great season, I was saying kind of high for Uconn standards and particularly for this team with national championship aspirations. I think only 2 Uconn championship teams had above 3 losses. One had Diana Taurasi on it and the other had Stewy. I guess this one has PB & J so we will see how it all shakes out if they have their struggles in the regular season.
You're welcome. I understand what you are saying, but I was confused by the wording of @Geew1992's response questioning the number 3, and then wanting to know how many players had less than 3, which would be almost all of them. I'm pretty sure we're all singing from the same hymnbook, just sitting in different pews.
 
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You're welcome. I understand what you are saying, but I was confused by the wording of @Geew1992's response questioning the number 3, and then wanting to know how many players had less than 3, which would be almost all of them. I'm pretty sure we're all singing from the same hymnbook, just sitting in different pews.

I thought he was talking about for their career. Guess I should have mentioned that. My bad
 
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For 2 seasons Aubrey has played consistently and Geno trusts her so why all of a sudden would he stop playing her just because we have a couple of unproven freshman? We downplay Aubrey as a factor on this board entirely too often for my liking, we don’t win that Baylor game without her and she’s not in that game unless Geno has trust in her so why don’t the people on this board?

I have no idea about minutes. IMO have to see how healthy Azzi is. And have to see the level of effectiveness Dorka will be. And ofc how healthy will Evina be. But UCONN's goal of winning a championship was not achieved. They certainly weren't failures but they didn't reach their goal. Geno's goal for his team is not to make everyone happy but try to achieve a title.

I think what mot people are looking at in terms of Aubrey is that she was 7th on the depth chart and there may very well be Azzi and Dorka who are also going to jump ahead of her. If she winds up 9th, how many minutes do you really think she is going to see? And in terms of Baylor; they won by 1 point. Aubrey definitely made some big/huge/enormous plays but if Geno feels for example 8 players are ahead of Aubrey - then maybe Geno feels that's a better ceiling for UCONN.

On top of it- I'm not so sure Geno trusts Aubrey as much as you imply. She only played 6 minutes vs Arizona. If you feel Geno believed Aubrey was so consistent, then why did Geno only play her 6 minutes in that enormous game after Baylor?

For the record, for me- I am not counting out Aubrey. But I can understand why others are. I have no idea of minutes right now.
 
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I have no idea about minutes. IMO have to see how healthy Azzi is. And have to see the level of effectiveness Dorka will be. And ofc how healthy will Evina be. But UCONN's goal of winning a championship was not achieved. They certainly weren't failures but they didn't reach their goal. Geno's goal for his team is not to make everyone happy but try to achieve a title.

I think what mot people are looking at in terms of Aubrey is that she was 7th on the depth chart and there may very well be Azzi and Dorka who are also going to jump ahead of her. If she winds up 9th, how many minutes do you really think she is going to see? And in terms of Baylor; they won by 1 point. Aubrey definitely made some big/huge/enormous plays but if Geno feels for example 8 players are ahead of Aubrey - then maybe Geno feels that's a better ceiling for UCONN.

On top of it- I'm not so sure Geno trusts Aubrey as much as you imply. She only played 6 minutes vs Arizona. If you feel Geno believed Aubrey was so consistent, then why did Geno only play her 6 minutes in that enormous game after Baylor?

For the record, for me- I am not counting out Aubrey. But I can understand why others are. I have no idea of minutes right now.
I too have no idea in terms of minutes and how that will be distributed but, the question I really pose is why would Geno just stop playing someone who has a little more seniority in his system as opposed to a bunch of newcomers? This is what I mean by counting her out! This board gets very gung-ho about the new pieces we have which I completely understand! I just feel personally those newcomers while they have the potential to be great have NOT played in a Uconn uniform for a second. So I don’t think Aubrey is just going to slip to not playing or not make an impact on this team which was the initial point of the post I responded to.
 
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I too have no idea in terms of minutes and how that will be distributed but, the question I really pose is why would Geno just stop playing someone who has a little more seniority in his system as opposed to a bunch of newcomers? This is what I mean by counting her out! This board gets very gung-ho about the new pieces we have which I completely understand! I just feel personally those newcomers while they have the potential to be great have NOT played in a Uconn uniform for a second. So I don’t think Aubrey is just going to slip to not playing or not make an impact on this team which was the initial point of the post I responded to.
I really do like Aubrey, but if more talented players come in of course they’re going to be played over her. GA said Azzi has footwork you see from a pro who’s been working at it a few years and CD is surprised when she misses a shot. Those are pretty big compliments. I won’t think it’s crazy to see her playing over AG. As for Dorka, she has a good chance of playing over AG because IMO she is what we’re missing. We need another talented big (with the bonus of being a pretty good shooter), who could rotate with Liv/AE. Before Dorka, AG would have been the third backup but Dorka seems much more versatile, bigger and a better shooter. Aubrey is a great player, but she will have had to improve significantly over the summer to not lose any minutes. And I honestly hope she did improve, I’d love to see her carve out a more consistent role.
 

donalddoowop

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I really do like Aubrey, but if more talented players come in of course they’re going to be played over her. GA said Azzi has footwork you see from a pro who’s been working at it a few years and CD is surprised when she misses a shot. Those are pretty big compliments. I won’t think it’s crazy to see her playing over AG. As for Dorka, she has a good chance of playing over AG because IMO she is what we’re missing. We need another talented big (with the bonus of being a pretty good shooter), who could rotate with Liv/AE. Before Dorka, AG would have been the third backup but Dorka seems much more versatile, bigger and a better shooter. Aubrey is a great player, but she will have had to improve significantly over the summer to not lose any minutes. And I honestly hope she did improve, I’d love to see her carve out a more consistent role.
Aubrey is not a great player. If she was a great player there would not be all this doubting her playing time. Aubrey has the talent to be very good and should show much improvement this season. She is a lot better than many on this board believes. She and Fudd play different positions and Fudd's playing should not affect Aubrey's playing time. She has the ability to score and Geno has indicated he wants her to shoot more.
 
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Aubrey is not a great player. If she was a great player there would not be all this doubting her playing time. Aubrey has the talent to be very good and should show much improvement this season. She is a lot better than many on this board believes. She and Fudd play different positions and Fudd's playing should not affect Aubrey's playing time. She has the ability to score and Geno has indicated he wants her to shoot more.
I genuinely believe Aubrey is a great player, she just has much better players before her.
 
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Aubrey is not a great player. If she was a great player there would not be all this doubting her playing time. Aubrey has the talent to be very good and should show much improvement this season. She is a lot better than many on this board believes. She and Fudd play different positions and Fudd's playing should not affect Aubrey's playing time. She has the ability to score and Geno has indicated he wants her to shoot more.
Very surprised that with a NBA coach as a father and two brothers who are elite players, and working with the UConn staff, she hasn’t been able to learn to simply dribble into a jump shot. That’s not quite a great player yet.
 
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Aubrey is not a great player. If she was a great player there would not be all this doubting her playing time. Aubrey has the talent to be very good and should show much improvement this season. She is a lot better than many on this board believes. She and Fudd play different positions and Fudd's playing should not affect Aubrey's playing time. She has the ability to score and Geno has indicated he wants her to shoot more.

I interpreted Geno's comment that "if she didn't shoot she was coming out" as meaning she needs to score more to get more minutes. I recall that in one of her first games the announcers commented that she had the coach's OK to shoot three's and they don't say that to bricklayers.
Except for Fudd who I see as a special case none of the newcomers have proven themselves to be great college scorers. Even Juhasz shot 3's poorly last season. And none of them, including Fudd has been cited as great defenders & rebounders. So while I don't see Griffin as top 6 at this point it's still over 3 months to game 1 and it's up in the air as to what the rotation will be.
 

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