NC St Postgame Thread

[HuskyNan]

There is no bench at the moment. Patterson plays as though she has been instructed to rebound, pass the ball and avoid fouls in quick succession. Shooting the ball in the direction of the basket appears forbidden. One wonders if she even will remember her offensive skills, once the chains are removed. So she is not expected to score. Amari doesn't play so she can't score. And the same goes for Portugal. There is no bench. So don't be shocked by that statistic.

Yes, you’d think freshmen in their third college game would be scoring in double figures by now.

You know Caroline and Dorka are injured, right?

 

[Notyetready]

Does anyone know if Aubrey is coming back next season?

My thinking is that, should she continue as a major disruptive force all season, she would likely be in the first round on mock drafts. Before the season she was in the high thirties and then dropped to 41 on one mock draft. The next one will be different. If she thinks she will be in the first round...???

She is not loaded with NIL money as yet. The prospect of being a high draft pick this year if she opts for the draft is tepting. But, if she stays, she has the possibility of a national championship. But Paige and Ice and 4 freshmen join the team next year. Who gets the playing time then?

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

There is no bench at the moment. Patterson plays as though she has been instructed to rebound, pass the ball and avoid fouls in quick succession. Shooting the ball in the direction of the basket appears forbidden. One wonders if she even will remember her offensive skills, once the chains are removed. So she is not expected to score. Amari doesn't play so she can't score. And the same goes for Portugal. There is no bench. So don't be shocked by that statistic.

I can only assume that by "Portugal" you meant Ines Bettencourt. She deserves to have her name used not her Country.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Caroline looks like she looked last year before she was given significant playing time. Give her 25 minutes and we probably see something similar to where she was mid season last year.

 

[rubymae4]

Geno

Geno has a lot of admiration for this team. They’re pretty special to him.

I love how he sees the uniqueness of what each player brings to the game.

 

[Notyetready]

Not sure what your definition of "overrated" is but the Big East will be lucky to keep 3 teams in the top 25 all year (I would be ecstatic if that were the case) never mind a 4th team. Their strength of schedule is simply too weak to justify.

• Creighton has Drake and Arkansas left along with their 3 good wins already plus a veteran team that had a great run last year.
• Villanova has a star in Maddie but frankly will need to impress against Iowa State when that game comes up as their OOC is kind of weak. Playing the Philly 5 does not help them anymore and is antiquated (sorry all the nostalgia loving crowd).
• As for Marquette, a win or very good game today and a win over Colorado would aid their situation as well as a strong Big East Season.

But take a look at the rest of the P5, my assessment is maybe the PAC12 or Big10 are having down years, the rest of them all dwarf the Big East contingent.
PAC12 with Stanford, Utah and UCLA as the top 3 but Arizona and Oregon have more talent than all but UConn and Creighton. So 5 teams will be in the Ranking consideration all year.
The Big 10 has tOSU, Indiana, Maryland, Iowa and Nebraska (despite their loss to Creighton) who should be in the Ranking consideration all year and the first 4 easily in the top 16.
Big12 has Iowa State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State and the much-maligned Texas.
ACC is also down this year from an "elite team perspective" but ND (ND could force itself into a top 8 consideration), Louisville, NC, NC State, Duke and VPI are all much stronger than what the Big East can put on floor.
The SEC is stacked as usual with SC, LSU, Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Tennessee and heck even Alabama could make noise.

I am willing to see and read where you think the rest of the P5 is weak when compared to the Big East so please show us.

All of them have each other, plus two games against UConn. If you accept the premise that the power 5 are over-rated, then then the Big East is is going to provide some stiff competition.

 

[Centerstream]

Caroline looks like she looked last year before she was given significant playing time. Give her 25 minutes and we probably see something similar to where she was mid season last year.

It looked to me that Caroline was wearing kinesio tape on the back of her neck yesterday. I am guessing that it might be a few more games before she is able to go 25 minutes. But I also hope that I am wrong...

 

[Bone Dog]

If you accept the premise that the power 5 are over-rated, then then the Big East is is going to provide some stiff competition.

Uh oh! Better make sure to keep them out of the tournament, or at least give them a lame seeding. Otherwise they may knock off one of our clients.

 

[Notyetready]

I think development of players would be an interesting discussion. I'm not quite so enthusiastic as you are. I will be interested to see how Patterson comes along. As the #4 rated player, and #1 wing, with her size and athleticism, she should really be something. UConn has had overall #1s, whose development left me disappointed. I think of Samuelson, KML, and Christyn Williams. They came with certain skills,, and left with them. Gabby's offensive game never changed much, until she went to Europe. Olivia? Azura has shown a game in the WNBA that it didn't seem like UConn coaches wanted to see. Ok, Collier really developed, and continues to. Maya, Breanna, Diana, Tina, and Sue were in another class before they arrived. Maybe it's not only UConn that has underwhelming results with top recruits, and maybe I'm expecting too much. I certainly hope that Dorka learns how to shoot, that Aubrey expands her offensive game, and that Aaliyah stops traveling. Let the "dislikes" begin.

The UConn player alumni tell the media time and again that Geno made them better and that the experience carried over into other aspects of their lives.

 

[Bone Dog]

The UConn player alumni tell the media time and again that Geno made them better and that the experience carried over into other aspects of their lives.

It's also more complicated than just training them in basketball skills. The team culture is about that and so much more. Geno and CD and Jemelle and Morgan are teachers, not just coaches. I say this as a teacher. it's the highest compliment I can pay them.

 

[HuskyNan]

I see we are no longer discussing the game