Now that Serah is on Board. What is the starting 5 for next year? | Page 4 | The Boneyard
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Now that Serah is on Board. What is the starting 5 for next year?

Starters:

Jana/Serah as Tony da Homie says. . . Don’t care.
Jana practicing against Serah, Sarah, ice, Ayanna this summer into next season “should“ result in a couple Bigs that can dominate the paint going into postseason. We have Jana for 3 years!

KK/whoever . . . Don’t care. If I remember correctly KK started this year running into the paint and turned it over just like her freshman year. Until just a bit before post season.

Ash/whoever . . . Don’t care. Ash is a Machine. Improved over her freshman year and will be better this season. Before post season look for her to be on the floor in the last 4 minutes if the game is close. Rember. This is a kid that more than likely walked away from repeating as State Champion in order to acclimate to being away from home in preparing for her UConn career.

Azzi/whoever . . . Don’t care. Azzi starts if she can walk.

Sarah/whoever . . . Don’t care. Sarah starts whether is at the 1, 2, 3, or 4. And will be on the floor during the last 4 minutes in a close game.

Everyone else for me are unknowns. A lot more so than the players I’ve covered above.

My hope is that everyone pushes everyone to be better.

Someone comes up with a limp coach just reload while they recover avoiding long term injury. No one is going to need to play while nursing a small injury.

I’m looking forward to a season that resembles last season when everyone got a lot of minutes until post season.

I’m excited to watch the new kids develop and grow alongside the kids that have proven themselves.
 
Cuango said:
I’ve gotta say I’m shocked at how many people are putting Blanca up as a starter. It’s difficult for me to imagine that she will be better than Ash, Morgan, Caroline (if healthy) or possibly even Allie. All of those are not only talented players but they have anywhere from 1-3 years of experience in Geno’s system! I hope she is a great player who can force herself into a starting position but I think it’s pretty unlikely. She may well be a great player for us but I’m guessing she will need some time before she starts.

Serah
Sarah
Ash/Morgan/Caroline
Azzi
KK
Expand ...

Cuango said:
Alternate

Jana
Serah
Sarah
Azzi
KK
Expand ...
i will
be surprised pleasantly if the is a starter but
will be very surprised if she is not in the top 7-8

more questions with players u mentioned other than AS than a player of her ability
 
jabstep said:
Point Guard- KK
Shooting guard- Azzi
Small forward- Bianca
Power Forward- Sarah
Center- Serah
first off the bench- Ash
2nd off the bench- Jana
3rd off the bench- Allie
Expand ...
Love your optimism, but assuming that Blanca will start is an over reach at this moment.
 
Although it has not been frequent in years past, I believe this will be the year that the starting line-up changes based on the opponents weaknesses, and not changed only because of injury/illness.

Primarily, starters will be based on ferocity of defensive pressure. My primary set of starters:
Azzi, Ash, KK, Sarah, Serah;

Second, go BIG:
Azzi, KK, Sarah, Serah, Jana

Third, Go Fast:
Azzi, Ash, KK, Morgan (Blanca, Kelis, Allie - whomever proved themselves in practice in the last week), Sarah.

Lots of options that Geno, CD & Company will surely sort through, but don't call me Shirley:



Go Huskies!!!
 
Longtime fan said:
Love your optimism, but assuming that Blanca will start is an over reach at this moment.
Expand ...
The Big Three (SS/Serah Williams/) and the other two best shooting guards (as determined by pre-season practices).

Super surprised by some of the lofty expectations being placed on Blanca Q. but if she can really shoot well from outside and place good disciplined defense then the sky is the limit (even though I don't think of her as part of a guard rotation).
 
Skeets said:
Interesting thread. There are no wrong posts. Here's my opinion: if someone kicks Ash out of the starting lineup, they have to be better than pretty darn good because Ash is pretty darn good. Plus, Geno likes the kid. He appreciates her tough old-school approach to the game. If someone is better than Ash, wow, I'd be OK with that because it would be great for UConn.
Expand ...
Just realized what I typed. Absolutely no pun or play on words intended.
 
cgshuskie said:
Blanca may be the brightest star on the team next year. She may even outshine Paige B. A predicted Tamika Cathings?
Expand ...
I really hope you are just trolling the group to get reactions. Of course, I may be abducted by aliens tonight, so it's not entirely impossible.

Serah 80% she starts if healthy - but she might have trouble acclimating to the UConn system so there's a small chance Jana starts
Sarah 100%
Ash 80% - only reason she doesn't is Geno values her energy and scoring off the bench.
Azzi 100%
KK 100%
 
Now that I've read a bunch of posts, 86 to be precise, maybe my thinking has evolved on this point. I notice that pretty much everyone thinks Sarah, Serah, Azzi and KK will start. This means the primary 'bone' of contention (and maybe the only spot really up for grabs) is that wing position.

The primary candidates for the wing are Ash Blanca Morgan and Allie. Any one of them could also play at SG, though Ash is probably the one most suited for that spot and least suited for the wing. I'd also observe that Allie is probably in the least competitive position to get minutes at the wing merely because her defense seemed to be a weak spot this season. Also, I'm mainly thinking of who will start at some point in January, once all the experimentation has sorted things out.

My best, very uneducated guess for the starting lineup is
  • Sarah Azzi Serah KK Blanca.
I have settled on Blanca because even though she is new to the system and is not a great perimeter shooter (yet), she exhibits good defensive intensity in her Campobasso games. Also, because Morgan may still have residual effects of her injury, which may slow her down initially, she seems unlikely to start. And though Allie has the potential to be the best of the perimeter shooters after Azzi and Ash (and Sarah :D), the question mark about her defensive intensity and quickness is likely to limit her for the time being. Finally, though I expect Ash to get a lot of minutes, because she is likely to be Azzi's backup at SG, I think she'll also be Blanca's backup at the wing.

I also wonder about the depth of the rotation next season, since the roster is still large and more of the players could be healthy. Last season, by February the rotation was essentially 8 deep. There have been deeper and shallower rotations over the years, but 8 is pretty typical for Geno. I can imagine all sorts of configurations for a 10 deep rotation at that point, but that's pretty hard distribution of playing time to sustain. My guess is that by next February, the rotation will be 9 deep since Morgan was on track for the rotation before her injury. And by rotation I mean players regularly playing 10+ mins. My very uneducated guess for the 4 rotation players by February is
  • Ash Jana Ice Morgan
It's a tossup in my mind with Caroline and Ayanna for the last spot. It depends on how well everyone's rehab goes. But I suspect, all things being equal, Geno would prefer a 6th ball handler over a rebounder. And clearly, there could well be individual games in which rebounding might be prioritized. And for the record, I'm counting Azzi KK Ash Sarah Blanca and Morgan as ball handlers.

And if Kayleigh opts for Storrs, I think either the rotation expands to 10 or she get the final spot in the 9 deep rotation.
 
After reading all the posts, I have not changed my mind on who will start for the Huskies next year because of defense. Everyone pretty much has KK, Azzi and Sarah as starters. The two-time best defensive player in the old Big Ten would be a bonus to our defense that being Serah. She also averaged 19 points a game, which will help with the loss of Paige's scoring and Geno can move Sarah away from the basket to a high-low combo with Serah and take advantage of Sarah's ability to shoot 3 pointers, her passing ability and her ability to drive to the hoop as well.
Blanca, my fifth starter has been criticized because she didn't play high school basketball in the USA. She played Pro ball against bigger, stronger, quicker players. Her defense looks great, and her athleticism would be a bonus to our team speed and defensive pressure.
Time will tell, but I think if we can stay away from the injury bug we will dominate WCBB again next year and for years to come!!!!!!!
 
cgshuskie said:
My message to Longtime fan and others, " Check out the videos on Blanca". Her speed and defense alone will make her a starter!!!!!
Expand ...
Speed kills and Blanca definitely plays at another gear. The only player currently on the roster who is similar is KK, although I think Kelis also looks like she will be able to play really fast once she gets used to the college game.
 
‘This isn’t the end of my story’: How UConn’s Caroline Ducharme made it back on the court
By Dom Amore | damore@courant.com | Hartford Courant
PUBLISHED: May 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM EDT

For 2 1/2 years, Caroline Ducharme was lost. Separated from basketball, though not her UConn teammates, feeling healthy and fit for one day, or part of a day, and then terrible in the next moment.

“I would have a good day, a good game, a good stretch,” Ducharme said. “And I would have this newfound hope that it’s over, I’m back, I’m feeling like myself again. But then something would happen. So I would often find myself not even able to enjoy when I was feeling good, or playing good, because I was just waiting for the next shoe to fall. ‘This is going to last until I get hit again or have my next migraine.'”

www.courant.com

‘This isn’t the end of my story’: How UConn’s Caroline Ducharme made it back on the court

Caroline Ducharme suffered the effects of concussions for two years, but with UConn’s support and a clinic in Florida, she’s making it back.
www.courant.com www.courant.com
 
God bless her! There are few things I’ve ever wanted more in sports than for Caroline to be able to play again as she used to. She is in my prayers and I am hoping for a fully recovered Caroline playing real, contributing minutes next season! Furthermore, aside from the human, compassionate side of things, let’s not forget she could be a big time addition to this roster if she can get back to 95-100% of what she was before all the concussions.
 
Ready hard to project at this time because of summer developments and Kayleigh. As of right now though it's KK, Azzi, Serah, Sarah and either Blanca or Ash. You need at least 3 serious threats from beyond the arc at all times or you allow for doubling on Azzi which creates a serious scoring concern. KK was not that shooter last year. I am not that concerned with rebounding with both Serah and Sarah on the floor so I don't see that much of a detriment in starting Ash. You are giving up size but gaining speed and scoring. If we play a very big team you can always have Jana or Ice in there also. As for Jana/Ice and Serah and Sarah out there together, it becomes a "pound it in" offense which can also work at times but Geno loves to press and have depth doing it and it was so successful last year.
 
jeff30189 said:
I really hope you are just trolling the group to get reactions. Of course, I may be abducted by aliens tonight, so it's not entirely impossible.

Serah 80% she starts if healthy - but she might have trouble acclimating to the UConn system so there's a small chance Jana starts
Sarah 100%
Ash 80% - only reason she doesn't is Geno values her energy and scoring off the bench.
Azzi 100%
KK 100%
Expand ...
Agree with probabilities but wouldn't it be great if some other guard(s) clearly outperformed KK and/or Ash in preseason. One of the UConn guards is probably going to be semi-ignored due to Big Three and how wonderful to have a consistent three point shooter to crush the opponents soul when that happens (i.e., the role that was envisioned for Allie).
 
jabstep said:
After reading all the posts, I have not changed my mind on who will start for the Huskies next year because of defense. Everyone pretty much has KK, Azzi and Sarah as starters. The two-time best defensive player in the old Big Ten would be a bonus to our defense that being Serah. She also averaged 19 points a game, which will help with the loss of Paige's scoring and Geno can move Sarah away from the basket to a high-low combo with Serah and take advantage of Sarah's ability to shoot 3 pointers, her passing ability and her ability to drive to the hoop as well.
Blanca, my fifth starter has been criticized because she didn't play high school basketball in the USA. She played Pro ball against bigger, stronger, quicker players. Her defense looks great, and her athleticism would be a bonus to our team speed and defensive pressure.
Time will tell, but I think if we can stay away from the injury bug we will dominate WCBB again next year and for years to come!!!!!!!
Expand ...
We need to exploit the Sarah Strong era. I truly thinks she's the best all-around player in the country. Three more consecutive titles.

Then Geno will retire when she graduates.
 
cgshuskie said:
My message to Longtime fan and others, " Check out the videos on Blanca". Her speed and defense alone will make her a starter!!!!!
Expand ...
Not convinced that speed is super high differentiator on the evaluation checklist for BB players? A nice-to-have for occasional fast break situations? If she is a great three point shooter then the sky is the limit.

PS -- I suspect everyone on this forum has watched pretty much every video available out there and is also hoping the UConn staff can corral her athleticism and help her develop into the best Blanca she can be (which is likely nothing like PB).
 
The starting five will be whoever Geno decides. I think that Serah will start due to her size. After that the only player you can pencil in for every start is Sarah. KK now has the experience and brings the energy needed. After that it's going to be some really hard choices for Geno.
 
I'm sold on Blanca. I don't think she will be a Paige as far as long range shooting (i.e. shooting threes) goes but she will make up for it in speed and attacking at the rim (slashing). She is faster than Paige and may be a better slasher. Hope runs eternal...
 

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