Next season | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Next season

Skeets said:
The Nika "dislikers" (I'll try to stay away from the word "haters") are coming out of the woodwork again. Nika is leading the nation in assists (and will probably set the UConn record), on the list for the nation's best PG (although a long shot), she will once again be considered for the BE DPOY, she should be in the discussion for one of the AA teams, and Geno really likes her and says the team plays better with Nika on the floor. Did I miss anything? So of course, she should not start next year. I don't get it.
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I’ve about had a bellyful of the “if you say anything but”, “Nika is a basketball goddess that should always start”, you are a hater! Once again, slowly, having an opinion about the relative skills and/or use of a player vs another player does not qualify as hate or dislike! It simply means one person disagrees with another person. I have followed this debate pretty closely and have never seen any instance of hate for Nika on this board. I have seen many posts wishing/hoping for her offense to improve (which it has) and others contending that she will revert to a backup when Paige, Azzi, and Caroline are fully healthy. None of those are hate! (Or dislike) To the contrary, I would guess every one of those posters is very glad she is a Husky and fully appreciates her value to this team! Disagreement/criticism does not equal hate, or dislike, or disrespect…!
The material question is, are (healthy) Paige, Azzi, Lou (now)/Caroline (next year), Aubrey, and Aaliyah better than Nika, Azzi, Paige, Aubrey, and Aaliyah? I happen to think they are, though I will admit that Nika’s improved scoring (should she become a consistent 10-15 point scorer) could change that assessment. Finally, I suppose it’s possible I have missed some truly hateful post. If so, I’m happy to acknowledge that particular post’s issues. I’m pretty sure, however, that any hate towards any player would be immediately deleted by the moderators.
I love Nika! Imo, she is our clear MVP this season but I still don’t think she’s a better point guard than Paige and Paige’s play at the point imo, results in an overall upgrade in the starting five. I realize others may disagree. That’s fine, I don’t think you are a hater for disagreeing with me. Go Huskies!
 
Really need an impactful big …. Any 6’5” + in the portal / graduate year… ?… Wishful thinking
 
Carnac said:
Ya think? :eek: I think 3 words can describe next year for us............................"it's our year." ;) Geno will have a full roster (14 or 15 players depending on if Aubrey Griffin comes back. She's eligible for the draft. Her HS class graduates college in May) complete with uber talented players from top to bottom. I fully expect Ayanna and Amari to improve their game over the summer and hit their stride next year and become part of the regular 8-9 player rotation.
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I dread to be so hopeful that we can actually have a healthy year, with all our players in fine shape to compete. I used to take it for granted. Now I take the opposite for granted. Send gummies.
 
jonack said:
Really need an impactful big …. Any 6’5” + in the portal / graduate year… ?… Wishful thinking
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Are you assuming Ice Brady will be injured again, and that the player from Egypt will succumb to injury as well? Ice is the person you are seeking. No one has a clue about the talent we have in the Egyptian. I don't disagree with you, however,. A team can never have enough quality Bigs.
 
Longtime fan said:
Are you assuming Ice Brady will be injured again, and that the player from Egypt will succumb to injury as well? Ice is the person you are seeking. No one has a clue about the talent we have in the Egyptian. I don't disagree with you, however,. A team can never have enough quality Bigs.
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The question is whether or not Ice or Jana will be ready to contribute significant minutes in their first season playing at the college level. Unfortunately, our recent experience has shown that bigs can have difficulty making the leap to D1 play early in their careers. I hope that being with the team this season (even though they aren’t playing) will give each of them a leg up for next year, and I hope that AP and Amari will each improve enough that they can be counted on in important minutes. Without any of them, there are 6 players who could be likely starters with Paige, Azzi & Aaliyah being locks, and Nika, CD & Aubrey splitting starter and 6th woman duties. If one of the bigs has the skills to play a lot of minutes she could get into the starting lineup at some point during the season. Geno has shown a preference for experienced players, but he also likes playing 2 bigs. Next year he may have to choose between the two. But these are good problems to have if everyone can stay healthy!
 
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Baby steps
 
CTinLA said:
The question is whether or not Ice or Jana will be ready to contribute significant minutes in their first season playing at the college level. Unfortunately, our recent experience has shown that bigs can have difficulty making the leap to D1 play early in their careers. I hope that being with the team this season (even though they aren’t playing) will give each of them a leg up for next year, and I hope that AP and Amari will each improve enough that they can be counted on in important minutes.
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Jana's early arrival has a number of benefits that incoming freshmen don't get. First, she's slowly getting acclimated to the team's process and rhythm. Yes, she missed the summer bonding, which is probably more relaxed than jumping in at 2nd semester, however I'll bet that this team is doing a phenomenal job of making sure she feels like she's been with the team all year. As she's practicing, the coaching staff can work on fundamentals with her now, break down parts, improve on others, and give her a head start on what would be the normal freshmen crash course of the UConn way in the summer/preseason. There are no guarantees on where she will be skill wise this fall, but I'll take that chance, as there's probably a pretty good reason why Geno and staff (and yes, I'm betting that it was a group decision) let Jana come to UConn early.
 
BRS24 said:
Jana's early arrival has a number of benefits that incoming freshmen don't get. First, she's slowly getting acclimated to the team's process and rhythm. Yes, she missed the summer bonding, which is probably more relaxed than jumping in at 2nd semester, however I'll bet that this team is doing a phenomenal job of making sure she feels like she's been with the team all year. As she's practicing, the coaching staff can work on fundamentals with her now, break down parts, improve on others, and give her a head start on what would be the normal freshmen crash course of the UConn way in the summer/preseason. There are no guarantees on where she will be skill wise this fall, but I'll take that chance, as there's probably a pretty good reason why Geno and staff (and yes, I'm betting that it was a group decision) let Jana come to UConn early.
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The debate over who will be ready among our C prospects, the possible need for a grad transfer big, and the potential use of Aubrey and Caroline at the 4 is a good one, but I tend to look at it from the standpoint of what I think would be best for the team, and then the other options in descending order, but the worst option is still pretty good.

We will have 4 exceptional starters if healthy, and a super team is quite likely, but the main question mark is how that fifth starter plays out. At the 5 position there is plenty of potential talent in Ice and Jana, and maybe Amari. I know they could also be considered as 4's, but the team need is far more at the 5.

For me the best case scenario is both Ice and Janna are ready to be good 5's in their first season. Would it be better if they were more advanced players as juniors or seniors? Sure but I think they could be pretty good as freshmen, and if so, between them they could handle almost all the minutes at the 5, Aaliyah can spend the whole year at her natural position, and Aubrey and Caroline could help at the 4 some, but could spend most of their time being super subs for the backcourt.

If you assume that neither Ice nor Janna is ready for primetime minutes, then gameplan B can still be pretty good. Aaliyah play a great deal at the 5, which I think is worse for her and the team, but we still have the 4 covered with some combination of Ayanna, Aubrey and Caroline. Ayanna is a 4 but her development has been slower than anticipated. She might be ready for big minutes, but if not we could go small ball with Aubrey or Caroline. Aubrey as more of a 3/4 is a better fit in my opinion than Caroline, who is more of a natural 3, but since their skills are so different there is a great deal of flexibility there, depending on what the matchup calls for.

That is a plan B that is pretty darn good even if Ice, Janna, and Ayanna are not coming along fast enough. If they all do, however, and if we are healthy, both Aubrey and Caroline can consume just about all the backup small minutes. That could be a 5 small rotation where Paige and Azzi get the largest minutes, and the worst Uconn guard the opponent will get to face, is either Nika, Aubrey or Caroline, or in other words no weak links. Between passing, defense, rebounding, slashing, and perimeter shooting the two probable All Americans can be complimented by whatever traits Geno think are most needed at that time in a very good player.

That potential rotation is spectacular in every way if healthy. If not healthy there are two top guard recruits in KK and Ashlynn that can be much better emergency use players than Ines has been this year, but of course she should be better too.

So if someone comes thru at the 5, great talent and depth is everywhere else, so I hope to see Ice or Jana in the starting lineup next year because that is like the final piece in a great puzzle. But if that doesn't happen plan B or C is one most every other team in the country would love to have.
 
Ayanna is such an interesting case. On many other teams, she’d have started or at least gotten a lot more rotation minutes. But at UConn she struggled to find her sea legs and to break into the main rotation.

This says a lot about the program Geno is trying to instill in his players. It’s hard to learn you can’t get away with a bit of bluster and some showboating. You have to play intricate team defense. You have to get to your spots on time. A lot of self-discipline is essential. You can see right away how important CD is to this effort, too. She’s the disciplinarian.

It says a lot about who he recruits. Not every talented player has the patience or the humility, or the will power, to make themselves into something more than they already were in high school. Can you picture Rickea or Angel fitting in at Storrs? Ayanna chose this. So did Paige and Azzi. So did Aaliyah and Aubrey. And NIKA!!! And Lou. They all met Geno and heard him say “you won’t play until you earn the minutes in practice.” I think Amari heard it too.

You know who else chose it after hearing this pitch? KK. Ashlynn. Q. Jana. Allie.
 
Please stop talking about next season. That's what you said last year and look what happened. Two players out for the year and 2 others have only played in 12 and 7 games. Please!
 
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The Big East Tournament is two weeks away. Isn't it time that we acknowledge the reality that neither Azzi or Caroline, if either plays, will be a determinative factor in a run for the national championship? If that is so (and it has been a long time since either competed at full speed), then perhaps these young women should pack it in for this season and look to next season. Given the covid year, such a move could have a major impact on their future eligibility.
 
Buckaroobanzai said:
The Big East Tournament is two weeks away. Isn't it time that we acknowledge the reality that neither Azzi or Caroline, if either plays, will be a determinative factor in a run for the national championship? If that is so (and it has been a long time since either competed at full speed), then perhaps these young women should pack it in for this season and look to next season. Given the covid year, such a move could have a major impact on their future eligibility.
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Neither get the Covid year. And they can’t redshirt so nope… if they can play they will
 
Buckaroobanzai said:
The Big East Tournament is two weeks away. Isn't it time that we acknowledge the reality that neither Azzi or Caroline, if either plays, will be a determinative factor in a run for the national championship? If that is so (and it has been a long time since either competed at full speed), then perhaps these young women should pack it in for this season and look to next season. Given the covid year, such a move could have a major impact on their future eligibility.
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I'm a tad bit more optimistic. Paige came back around this time last year and she was a determining factor. It sounds like Caroline is really close as well. assuming she is, that's around 8 games (hopefully) between the end of the regular season and the big east tournament. We had a scare last year in the 2nd round but that would be 10 games and a approximately a month and a half until the sweet 16, which I do think will be a bit more challenging this year.

But I get ur concern. I do worry about Azzi having confidence in her body. When Paige came back last year it was pretty clear that she was 100 percent ready from the docs perspective and though there would be rust, she couldn't really reinjure herself. Atleast that's how I thought of it. With Azzi, I'm sure UConn staff and everyone will look out for her best interest, but I do worry about her confidence in her body and if she's cleared to come back whether or not there will be concerns about reinjury.
 
Buckaroobanzai said:
The Big East Tournament is two weeks away. Isn't it time that we acknowledge the reality that neither Azzi or Caroline, if either plays, will be a determinative factor in a run for the national championship? If that is so (and it has been a long time since either competed at full speed), then perhaps these young women should pack it in for this season and look to next season. Given the covid year, such a move could have a major impact on their future eligibility.
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The reality is no one who posts on this board knows if Azzi and/or Caroline will be back and if they are whether they will be a determinative factor or not. That may be your belief but I bet not many others share that same sentiment.
 
Did I miss something? Didn't someone post a rule that we are not allowed to post names about transfers in or out? Yet earlier in this thread someone posted about Maddy coming over from Villanova.
 
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Buckaroobanzai said:
The Big East Tournament is two weeks away. Isn't it time that we acknowledge the reality that neither Azzi or Caroline, if either plays, will be a determinative factor in a run for the national championship? If that is so (and it has been a long time since either competed at full speed), then perhaps these young women should pack it in for this season and look to next season. Given the covid year, such a move could have a major impact on their future eligibility.
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I feel the opposite. How would two scorers off the bench not be determinative factors in an NCAA run? Neither of them get a covid year, they both would lose out on eligibility.

We also have 5 starters who are all battling injurires, even a Caroline or Azzi at 10% would help give them a breather. Or if one of the starters gets injured we will need more bodies in general. Unless you pack everyone in for the rest of the season, no reason to pack them away.
 
tower1 said:
We need bigs or this lineup will not go too far against the top teams with height. Uconn needs to step up their recruiting of bigs. It seems that our recruiting has dropped off some since Shea left the program.
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I believe since we got Paige and Azzi our recruiting has gotten much better.
 
Carnac said:
Ya think? :eek: I think 3 words can describe next year for us............................"it's our year." ;) Geno will have a full roster (14 or 15 players depending on if Aubrey Griffin comes back. She's eligible for the draft. Her HS class graduates college in May) complete with uber talented players from top to bottom. I fully expect Ayanna and Amari to improve their game over the summer and hit their stride next year and become part of the regular 8-9 player rotation.
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Only weak area is center. Someone from Amari, Ice, Jana or someone else coming in will have to provide quality minutes here. I don't think Ayanna is tall enough. Could have Aaliyah too at the center spot but that isn't ideal.
 
Buckaroobanzai said:
Would you be kind enough to explain the basis for your opinions?
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The Covid year is for anyone playing in 2020z both Azzi and Caroline were still in high school. They aren’t eligible to red shirt because they’ve played too many games.
 
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Bone Dog said:
I was glad you had my back last summer. If Paige hadn’t gotten injured we might not have seen just how great a pg Nika would become. And now that we have, Paige will return to a different team, an even better one.


Exactly. This is our small lineup. And our big lineup will be awesome too. As I’ve suggested, a lineup of Nika Paige Azzi Caroline/Aubrey will be formidable. It’s a transition lineup, a hustle lineup, a shoot the lights out lineup. A minor adjustment — bring Ice or Ayanna in for Nika and it’s a big lineup. Bring in Amari and you have Paige Azzi Ayanna Aaliyah Amari and we’re bigger than any team we’ll face, but still unpressable.

The core lineup — the small one — is the key. The others are just variations on it. We could run it for 20 mins/game and not have to give any ground to anyone.
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Unless either Ayanna or Amari makes a big leap, it limits offense too much to have both playing together at same time.
 
browns said:
As long as Geno coaches Nika will be the point guard ..Speculating on next years team is foolish because you don't know who will be healthy..Paige had a fantastic freshman year and then missed half her games last year and all of this year..who knows if she'll be the same player as she was next year as she was 3 years before or if she can even stay healthy..Azzi hasn't been healthy since she arrived except for the first 6 games of this year..who knows how she will hold up..Caroline carried the team for 6 games last year and except for one good shooting game hasn't even come close to being that player again..will she ever be..so after todays game let's just enjoy this team and see if they can make another FF
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Well said. I am not going to debate with anyone on whether Paige or Nika should start at the point - but if we do not get the 23 TO in check we will never win the NC next year
If we are healthy - we should be the favorite.
Aubrey may just get better and better if she stays healthy.
Let’s not forget that a healthy Paige is an amazing distributor of the BB and limits careless mistakes
A really good problem to have. ( talent and potential scoring 9/10 deep )
If Jana is the next Brianna Stewart the whole discussion changes. ( of course we do not know her talent level )
 
Conndog said:
Only weak area is center. Someone from Amari, Ice, Jana or someone else coming in will have to provide quality minutes here. I don't think Ayanna is tall enough. Could have Aaliyah too at the center spot but that isn't ideal.
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I agree. I’m not sure Geno would recruit (from the portal) on top of Ice, Amari and Jana. I’m assuming these willbe our 3 post players next year. One of them should earn a starting position. Finding a servicable post player in the portal is difficult, as they are usually the first to be taken. He needs to make that decision in early April.
 
Ralph said:
Did I miss something? Didn't someone post a rule that we are not allowed to post names about transfers in or out? Yet earlier in this thread someone posted about Maddy coming over from Villanova.
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Boneyarders may not speculate on transfers out. They may not say, “I think she should consider transferring” or “If Geno doesn’t play her, she’ll probably transfer” or similar. We allowed it years ago and the thread always had to be locked, if not deleted

Discussion of a transfer out that’s been announced via a credible source (not your niece’s AAU coach or student gossip for example) is ok.

Discussion or speculation on transfers in is ok. The transfer portal and avail players was a huge topic last year.
 
HuskyNan said:
Boneyarders may not speculate on transfers out. They may not say, “I think she should consider transferring” or “If Geno doesn’t play her, she’ll probably transfer” or similar. We allowed it years ago and the thread always had to be locked, if not deleted

Discussion of a transfer out that’s been announced via a credible source (not your niece’s AAU coach or student gossip for example) is ok.

Discussion or speculation on transfers in is ok. The transfer portal and avail players was a huge topic last year.
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I thought we were at risk of being called boosters or insiders and saying some should transfer in to us could be considered tampering. I know Geno and the coaches and players cannot do it, boosters can't, can season ticket holders or rabid (rancid?) fans be tainted? I thought we were only supposed to mention someone after they signed up for the portal. But what do I know? Not much.
 
Based on the returnees and recruits next year I see the greatest need as a post that can rebound, pass,
play some defense and score a few.
What do you think ?
 
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