Newest Husky Ines Bettencourt [Merged thread]

[Bone Dog]

Aren't those three likely to be competing for the "backup point guard" role behind Paige, and to sometimes play with her? You probably meant this year, right?

I meant next year. I know, this would entail prophetic powers of @Carnac - ian proportions, and who can wear that turban? But indulge me: we lose Lou at the end of this season. 1-3 plus the 4 occasionally when we play 4-out. That looks like ~130 mins spread among 6 guards.

Paige Azzi Caroline get most of it, obviously. But we might start with Paige and Azzi at the 2 and 3, and one of Nika Ines KK at the 1. And then the shuttle begins, with Paige shifting over to the 1 and Azzi and Caroline at the 2 and 3. And I’d expect to see Ashlynn subbing in for Azzi occasionally. Oops, did I forget Qadence?!

And I can indulge my perennial fantasy that we keep a deep rotation and press teams for more than a few mins/g. Picture this pressing unit: Nika Azzi Ashlynn Caroline Aaliyah. I know others have indulged my deep rotation fantasy, even though Geno rarely does it. Sigh

 

[and one]

Seeing that Ines is from Sao Miguel, Azores, made me curious as to what that place is like.

Ines, welcome to Husky Nation, and I hope little Storrs isn't too boring for you -- because your home is absolutely breathtaking! Would love to visit sometime!

Link: 18 Amazing Things to Do in São Miguel, The Azores (+Map & Tips)

Practically speaking I haven't been to the Azores but technically I have and it left a nice memory. I flew out of Maguire AFB in a heavy snow storm bound for Rhein-Main AFB in Frankfurt, Germany. A refueling stop in the Azores gave us passengers time to wander outside the terminal into an 80 degree evening. Some hours later we arrived at Rhein-Main during a snow storm.

I'm happy to see Geno snagged some guard help for this year. How much Ines can contribute is a mystery as yet (except perhaps to Carnac) but having her available can't hurt. Hey, she might be a fast learner and be a real contributor - one can only dream. More realistically, if she can hold her own and give the starting backcourt some rest she'll have earned her scholarship.

 

[Alydar]

Add that Natalie Butler was supposed to be a "game changer" in UCONN recruiting.

How could she be a recruiting game-changer as a transfer?

 

[Alydar]

Stop with the soft peddling! You say the problem with Nika isn't scoring and then you go on to point out the need for her to be a scoring threat TWICE.

The problem with Nika is 100% about scoring and Nika is not averaging near 6-8 PPG; she averaged 3.8 PPG last season playing 21.7 MPG. In the history of basketball nobody has been able to score without shooting the basketball. When you shoot the ball the purpose is to score and put points on the board. The many people (including you) that are encouraging Nika to develop a mid-range is also about scoring because the mid range is an easier shot which you can use to score more points. If Nika were averaging 6-8 points per game as you are suggesting I think fewer people would care how she was doing it and this team would be much further along. Nika could easily up her average by getting to the foul line more often but guess what?... unless your team is in bonus situation ( too many fouls) they don't send you to the line to shoot FTs unless...... you were attempting to shoot the ball when you got fouled. Why would you have been attempting to shoot the ball? .......IDK, probably so you can score some points.
These excuse are getting weaker and weaker. yada yada :

A) Nika is surrounded by good scorers/shooters so she doesn't have to think about scoring on this team.
B) She is a pass first PG.
C) She gets to make two people happy with 1 assist.
.....
My replies to these soft balls :
B) I think the defense has also figured that out. Now what? And don't you really mean "pass only PG."
C) She gets to make 12 teammates happy when she scores because that is less points everyone else has to think about putting on the board to beat good teams.

Keep the softball coming.

A) Those that can shoot do. If you can't shoot or you are unwilling to shoot you shouldn't be out there.
Agree 100%. Now I need to see evidence that Mühl either can't or won't shoot.

 

[Bone Dog]

Trying on the turban again for a moment — what’s the roster for ‘23?

Aaliyah
Amari
Aubrey?
Ayanna
Jana el Alfi (lol)
Ice
Azzi
Caroline
Ines
Nika
Paige
Qadence
KK
Ashlynn
Sarah Strong
Delaney Thomas

Is that an awesome team or what?!

 

[Alydar]

As someone pointed out earlier, this gives Geno a 2nd pg to play opposite Nika in practice from now till the end of the season and let all the 2/3's be 2/3's. Geno's comment about her being familiar with Euro styles of play is the clue. She can be the scout team at practice all year because she has experience playing against UConn-style offenses. And be an emergency pg. And if she is good enough she can play, but right now that's unknown. Geno needs help now, not in 2 years. In 2 years UConn will ooze guard talent. That increases the odds that she is good enough to contribute at some point this season.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Will we get to hear accounts of Ines v. Nika at practice, following Euro rules?

 

[TeamFirst!]

Considering her results in the U18 European championships, maybe she's a late find who is really trending up at the end of her high school career. She's out there in the Azores. Could it be that she's just better than some expect? Maybe she was so far out there no one noticed her and that was why the JUCO route. She was the 4th best player in the recent European championships on a team that made the finals. Remember the Giannis Antetokounmpo story where he came out of nowhere to get drafted. It happens still. I'm not projecting her for more than 10-15 minutes PT but isn't that what we need? If KK came on board this year would she be projected for more? Ines is a valuable asset.

UConn rebounds roster after Paige Bueckers' big injury loss

After losing star Paige Bueckers for the upcoming season to an ACL injury earlier this month, the UConn Huskies added another point guard to its roster. | TAG24

www.tag24.com

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

IMO many of you are missing a main point about Ines Bettencourt joining the UCONN Huskies!
If Geno went to Europe to scout for a player or players and saw Miss Bettencourt and liked what he saw and talked to her and her parents about offering her a scholarship to come to CT, he must have seen something important in her game!
He didn't go through all that trouble for Ines to play garbage minutes at the end of the bench.
He intends for her, after she grasps the complex UCONN offense and defense to play some major minutes during this season!
He is not the type to scout inferior talent for his program! He knows what he needs to win now!
So in Geno's mind at least he sees big things for Ines Bettencourt!

 

[stamfordhusky]

IMO many of you are missing a main point about Ines Bettencourt joining the UCONN Huskies!
If Geno went to Europe to scout for a player or players and saw Miss Bettencourt and liked what he saw and talked to her and her parents about offering her a scholarship to come to CT, he must have seen something important in her game!
He didn't go through all that trouble for Ines to play garbage minutes at the end of the bench.
He intends for her, after she grasps the complex UCONN offense and defense to play some major minutes during this season!
He is not the type to scout inferior talent for his program! He knows what he needs to win now!
So in Geno's mind at least he sees big things for Ines Bettencourt!

Geno was in desperate need for a back up point guard. It was tough to find one in such a limited amount of time and he settled on Ines. That does not mean he sees big things for her. It’s likely she will play less than 10 minutes per game.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Considering her results in the U18 European championships, maybe she's a late find who is really trending up at the end of her high school career. She's out there in the Azores. Could it be that she's just better than some expect? Maybe she was so far out there no one noticed her and that was why the JUCO route. She was the 4th best player in the recent European championships on a team that made the finals. Remember the Giannis Antetokounmpo story where he came out of nowhere to get drafted. It happens still. I'm not projecting her for more than 10-15 minutes PT but isn't that what we need? If KK came on board this year would she be projected for more? Ines is a valuable asset.

It’s tough to judge her ability based on anything in the European championships. Portugal played in the B division, which means they did not play any of the top 16 teams in Europe. And she played against very few good players. If one looks at the combined collection of talent, I doubt she was one of the top 20 players.

 

[awhom111]

Ines, in the video posted, played for Sportiva. They are in the top women's league in Portugal, La Liga Femina. She played all last season as a 17 year old, which she still is, until 9/29/04. I would gather she played as a junior, or cadet player, with no pay, but expenses covered.
Her Sportiva team went to the finals last season, but lost.
Her best game was 12 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists, in 38 minutes.

The only question I have is why does what appears to be such a good get, in Ines, why was she going to a Juco in Florida? My only thought is grades, or not having the correct needed classes from Portugal to meet NCAA standards. Moot point now as she is at UConn.

Stats link for her:

Inês Bettencourt | União Sportiva

Saiba tudo sobre este Atleta da Federação Portuguesa de Basquetebol.

www.fpb.pt

She averaged 13 minutes a game in league play and had two big games in the U19 tournament after the season. The team returned Nausia Woolfolk in one of the foreign player slots and she was the clear leader. Kasi Kushkituah and Samantha Mackay also spent time there as foreign players.

It's not really a surprise that she did not have much high-level recruiting interest given how late she started to showcase her abilities. The season before, she averaged 8 minutes a game in league play. For players whose academics are in order, the changes in transfer rules are going to hurt junior colleges long-term as declining a low-major offer to play junior college while waiting for a mid-major or high-major scholarship is less necessary when it is equally easy to transfer from both.

 

[Forego]

I wouldn't write the pronunciation the way the article did, unless Azores Portuguese is absolutely nothing like Continental or Brazilian Portuguese.

Continental: ee-NAYSH bet-en-Coort

I’m waiting for the Andy Landers pronunciation to know for sure.

 

[Forego]

I’m also waiting for a photo of Ines in a number 21 Husky uniform holding a Nike ball. Who’s the official photoshop boneyarder?

 

[Zarathustra]

Stats link for her:

Inês Bettencourt | União Sportiva

Saiba tudo sobre este Atleta da Federação Portuguesa de Basquetebol.

www.fpb.pt

She averaged 13 minutes a game in league play and had two big games in the U19 tournament after the season. The team returned Nausia Woolfolk in one of the foreign player slots and she was the clear leader. Kasi Kushkituah and Samantha Mackay also spent time there as foreign players.

It's not really a surprise that she did not have much high-level recruiting interest given how late she started to showcase her abilities. The season before, she averaged 8 minutes a game in league play. For players whose academics are in order, the changes in transfer rules are going to hurt junior colleges long-term as declining a low-major offer to play junior college while waiting for a mid-major or high-major scholarship is less necessary when it is equally easy to transfer from both.

Thanks for the information and insights. I appreciated the insight (mentionged somewhere above) about Ines " not being in the
top 10 players" ( if that was meant to mean in the combined U 18 "A" and the U 18 "B' tournaments) I think that I'm
correct that INES was the 4th highest overall scorer in the B division, 14.4 ppg ( # 3 among all the guards) and that she was selected to the ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM. INES team being in the finals against Solvenia guarantees at least one Portugal player on the All Tournament Team, and she had the best overall stats for Portugal. I thought Portugal was a clearly a " B" level team but they played as a "team" ( many players played an average number of minute, eg Laura Silva # 11 as the other
PG on the team with 27.0 mpg, Ines with 27.8 mpg). Note well that Ines, besides her # 1 "efficiency" rating ( see the stats for the tournament, I forget if that was overall or just for guards,) she passes with crispness and authority, moves without the ball very well, and in the B stats for guards was #2 in FG % and # 8 in assists. She was too short ( 5'9") to be much help on rebounding ( #26 of all the guards, in the B tournament), and then
she could improve her foul shooting = 72%. Anyhow, I think that GENO sees that INES is on an
upward trajectory.... and I "TRUST IN GENO". P.S. Don't you think that Ines has a slight physical resemblance to one
Caitlin Clark? That is my fantasy !!!

 

[Skeets]

So let's see. By the end of fall practice and before games begin they will know how to swear in English, French, Spanish, Hungarian, Croatian, and Portuguese...

and maybe a little Italian from Geno...

 

[diggerfoot]

Stop with the soft peddling! You say the problem with Nika isn't scoring and then you go on to point out the need for her to be a scoring threat TWICE.

The problem with Nika is 100% about scoring and Nika is not averaging near 6-8 PPG; she averaged 3.8 PPG last season playing 21.7 MPG. In the history of basketball nobody has been able to score without shooting the basketball. When you shoot the ball the purpose is to score and put points on the board. The many people (including you) that are encouraging Nika to develop a mid-range is also about scoring because the mid range is an easier shot which you can use to score more points. If Nika were averaging 6-8 points per game as you are suggesting I think fewer people would care how she was doing it and this team would be much further along. Nika could easily up her average by getting to the foul line more often but guess what?... unless your team is in bonus situation ( too many fouls) they don't send you to the line to shoot FTs unless...... you were attempting to shoot the ball when you got fouled. Why would you have been attempting to shoot the ball? .......IDK, probably so you can score some points.
These excuse are getting weaker and weaker. yada yada :

A) Nika is surrounded by good scorers/shooters so she doesn't have to think about scoring on this team.
B) She is a pass first PG.
C) She gets to make two people happy with 1 assist.
.....
My replies to these soft balls :
A) Those that can shoot do. If you can't shoot or you are unwilling to shoot you shouldn't be out there.
B) I think the defense has also figured that out. Now what? And don't you really mean "pass only PG."
C) She gets to make 12 teammates happy when she scores because that is less points everyone else has to think about putting on the board to beat good teams.

Keep the softball coming.

Um, first of all, 3.8 points over 21.7 minutes is around 6 points over 32 minutes, not an unreasonable mpg for a starting PG, if Muhl were to start as such. Considering the nature of the @Bone Dog critique, if you add in one midrange jumper per game you have about 8 points per game. You provided some evidence in support of his “soft peddling” even as you obviously thought you were ripping it to shreds.

But my issue is with using “soft peddling” as a pejorative for a fan. Aside from the bandwagon variety, soft peddling is in the inherent nature of a fan. We are supposed to believe in and have hope in our team, even against the odds. It is also natural to extend that hope towards the individual players as well as the team as a whole.

I do not fault the content of your critique against Muhl, the past problems she has experienced with scoring, but the harshness and lack of faith, hope, belief in a UConn player. Perhaps you should be reminded that you displayed this very harshness and lack of hope in regards to Muhl’s defense. That was not a good look then and did not age well.

On second thought, maybe you should keep up this harshness for Muhl, it seems to work well for her. Just don’t worry yourself over fans acting like fans, that would not be good for your brain health.

 

[oldhusky]

I meant next year. I know, this would entail prophetic powers of @Carnac - ian proportions, and who can wear that turban? But indulge me: we lose Lou at the end of this season. 1-3 plus the 4 occasionally when we play 4-out. That looks like ~130 mins spread among 6 guards.

Paige Azzi Caroline get most of it, obviously. But we might start with Paige and Azzi at the 2 and 3, and one of Nika Ines KK at the 1. And then the shuttle begins, with Paige shifting over to the 1 and Azzi and Caroline at the 2 and 3. And I’d expect to see Ashlynn subbing in for Azzi occasionally. Oops, did I forget Qadence?!

And I can indulge my perennial fantasy that we keep a deep rotation and press teams for more than a few mins/g. Picture this pressing unit: Nika Azzi Ashlynn Caroline Aaliyah. I know others have indulged my deep rotation fantasy, even though Geno rarely does it. Sigh

I'm with you on deep rotation to enable frequent pressing, and must admit that the idea of starting Paige at the 2 and Azzi at the 3 is one combo I have never really considered. With all the debate regarding the possibility of Nika starting this year at PG vs. Azzi, next year Azzi should never have to play PG, with Paige back, Nika plus the arrival of KK.

If you had Paige and Azzi 2/3, then the clash for the third starting perimeter player might be between Caroline vs. Nika/KK. I'm guessing that it would be hard to keep Caroline out of the starting lineup and we have two good PG's on the bench to start that year. If we don't press with the starters, we could with a smaller second unit that had Nika and KK in at the same time with say Ashlyn at the 3.

 

[Bone Dog]

Don't you think that Ines has a slight physical resemblance to one
Caitlin Clark?

I noticed that too. She also shakes her head when a call doesn’t go her way rather like Caitlin does.

 

[HuskyNan]

Just watched the Portugal-Serbia game. They were down by ~7 most of the game and then made a run (17-4) in the last 5 mins by forcing turnovers and getting paint points. Ines had a hand in a few of the points and forced a couple turnovers, but she didn't dominate. She looks like a solid, unspectacular defender and a reliable scorer when they need her. Neither team looked to have a sophisticated passing game and for long stretches it looked like they were each content to trade 3pt attempts. Ines seemed like the only guard who was willing to drive into the lane.

They’re 16-17 years old. How sophisticated did you expect them to be?

 

[Bone Dog]

They’re 16-17 years old. How sophisticated did you expect them to be?

I expected them to be roughly as sophisticated as they turned out to be.

 

[HuskyNan]

Um, first of all, 3.8 points over 21.7 minutes is around 6 points over 32 minutes, not an unreasonable mpg for a starting PG, if Muhl were to start as such.

When you start your argument with this sentence, you blunt whatever point you’re trying to make. Nika averaged 3.8 points in 21.7 minutes, Caroline averaged 9.8 points in 21.0 minutes and Dorka 7.3 points in 19.8 minutes. Because Caroline and Dorka shot the damn ball. People like to point out Nika’s 3 point FG%,, 34.2%, is higher that Caroline 28.8%. So what? At least Caroline tried to make something good happen for her team - and she was a freshman!

Excusing Nika’s lack of offense by cherry picking stats is a specious argument. She is a fierce defender but is not as aggressive attacking the net. Drive to the basket, get fouled - she doesn’t even have to shoot. But make something happen!

 

[HopJim]

Just watched the Portugal-Serbia game. They were down by ~7 most of the game and then made a run (17-4) in the last 5 mins by forcing turnovers and getting paint points. Ines had a hand in a few of the points and forced a couple turnovers, but she didn't dominate. She looks like a solid, unspectacular defender and a reliable scorer when they need her. Neither team looked to have a sophisticated passing game and for long stretches it looked like they were each content to trade 3pt attempts. Ines seemed like the only guard who was willing to drive into the lane.

"UConn guard drives down the lane." I like the sound of this phrase.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Ines Bettencourt, point guard, joins UCONN to backup Nika.

This is good! The reality will be, Ines getting used to the American college game. Learning the UCONN way. Playing team defense, etc., etc., etc. Only Maya Moore came fully formed as a freshman. Ines' dividends will be forthcoming next year and beyond.

 

[CocoHusky]

How could she be a recruiting game-changer as a transfer?

I don't know Geno said it not me.

Geno Says Natalie Butler Can Be A 'Game-Changer'

Geno Auriemma said there aren't too many 6-5 centers in women's basketball, and new transfer Natalie Butler is one of them. She has the chance to be a game-changer.

www.courant.com