POLL: VOTE for starters this coming season | Page 2 | The Boneyard

POLL: VOTE for starters this coming season

Who will start - vote for up to 5

  • Evina Westbrook

  • Christyn Williams

  • Olivia Nelson-Ododa

  • Anna Makurat

  • Aubrey Griffin

  • Paige Bueckers

  • Aaliyah Edwards

  • Nike Muhl

  • Mir Mclean

  • Piath Gabriel

  • Autumn Chassion

  • Other

Results are only viewable after voting.
Here is my new most favorite prediction. I posted it elsewhere but I like it so much I'm going to say it again. Autumn Chaisson will be the highest scoring walkon in the nation! Attributed to her own abilities and teh fact that there will be plenty of minutes for a walkon to play.
 
Well that was fun. 135 people voted. Looks like a slight but definitive majority feel that Griffin will be the 5th starter over Bueckers. Maybe I will post a poll again when we get closer to the start of the season. I'm sure Geno will have more comments as practices progress, but he probably won't tip his hand. His usual comment is "we just don't know yet"...
 
I think the first 5 will be the starters at the beginning, until someone plays their way into, or someone plays their way out of, the starting 5.
 
Here’s another question I’d like to pose to my boneyard brethren. We’re all excited about this year’s team because of the enormous potential.

I think this team has the potential to run the table IF...........everyone including Paige reaches their potential, and the team stays injury free.

I think the the general consensus here in the yard is that UConn should dominate the BIG East in the same fashion it did the American. So running the table boils down to beating the elite teams they schedule in the preseason, and the ones they’ll see late in the tournament. I’m not anticipating much resistance in league play.

Who are the 1-2 players you‘re most interested in watching this season. Who do you think will have the best year in terms of performance?

For me, it’s Aubrey Griffin. She showed glimpses of her latent potential last year. When Geno said that she is now one hundred times better than she was last year. If someone can improve THAT much, I want to see that for myself. :eek:

The player I think can have the best year in terms of performance is Paige, if she is as good as she is touted to be. We know what she did against her peers in high school. I want to see if she can do the same thing, and have the same degree success at THIS level. The reports I read and hear from posters, players and Geno all say the same thing, that she’s the real deal.

A quote from today's Hartford Courant: "As for Bueckers, the No. 1 overall player of the 2020 class and one of the most hyped recruits since Breanna Stewart? "She’s already really good. She sees the floor really well," Williams said. “Her passes are amazing, and she’s a very consistent shooter. So she’s special.” I certainly hope so.

Until I read this article today, I was not aware that Westbrook still has challenges with her knee from day to day. If she can’t answer the bell on the day of their first game, then Bueckers is the obvious choice at the point. She’s got about 50 days to get ready. We’ll see.
 
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Carnac said:
Here’s another question I’ like to pose to my boneyard brethren. We’re all excited about this year’s team because of the enormous potential.

I think this team has the potential to run the table IF...........everyone including Paige reaches their potential. Who is the 1-2 players you are most interested in watching this season. Who do you think will have the best year in terms of performance?

For me, it’s Aubrey. She showed glimpses of her latent potential last year. When Geno said that she is now one hundred times better than she was last year, I want to see that for myself.

The player I think can have the best year in terms of performance is Paige, if she is as good as she is touted to be. The reports I read and hear from players and Geno all day the same thing. That she’s the real deal. We’ll see.
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Truth be told, and I'm being completely honest, there is not one individual, or even 2, player(s) I'm most excited to watch. This year, more than many in the past, has more questions than normal due to the sheer number of "new faces" that have never played a game in a UCONN uniform before (7).
  • For Evina, "it's about time!!". Looking forward to seeing just how good she is/can be, and how she does after all her surgeries. I also want to see her leadership and toughness on display consistently.
  • For Christyn and Olivia, I expect a major jump (esp. for Christyn) in everything they do compared to last year. For Olivia, being stronger and keeping the ball up high. For Christyn, just about everything. Christyn said last season was her worst season of basketball in her life (more or less), so I expect her to be VERY focused and VERY good.
  • For Aubrey and Anna, what sort of sophomore leap will we see? I have a feeling it will be VERY noticeable for both of them. We ready some impressive things about Anna over the summer (fitness, diet, and playing with the Polish team), and Aubrey - playing against her brothers all summer.
  • And for the freshmen, just how good can/will they be? Obviously all eyes will be on Paige, and to a lesser extend Aaliyah, but I'm very hopeful that not only will Mir and Nika get PT, but also contribute in solid ways.
  • Piath is a big question mark - but I'm excited to see if she can show progress and ability to not only play at the D1 level, but at the UCONN level, or if she will be completely overwhelmed by the pace and strength required.
  • For Aubrey, word is she's a lights out shooter, so like ALL walk ons, I'm sure the fans will go ballistic whenever she makes a bucket.
I could have gone on and on, but feel like this post is long enough! I'm just flat out excited!! :)

One last thing - I am very nervous about injuries, especially for Evina given her surgeries, and really am rooting for a "safe" Covid-free year for our team, and all teams.
 
.-.
Geno may actually have to change from his philosophy of only playing 6 or 7 players the bulk of the minutes. He may have some success with hockey style "line changes". Top to bottom, this is one of the most talented groups of players he's had in a long time.
 
Shenandoah said:
Geno may actually have to change from his philosophy of only playing 6 or 7 players the bulk of the minutes. He may have some success with hockey style "line changes". Top to bottom, this is one of the most talented groups of players he's had in a long time.
Expand ...
Very true and next season we dont loose anybody and look at whats coming in. UConn will be back at the "VERY TOP" again.
 
Shenandoah said:
Geno may actually have to change from his philosophy of only playing 6 or 7 players the bulk of the minutes.
Expand ...
Geez!???! It stuns me that this MYTH continues to be repeated as if it were gospel. Go back and re-watch the games from 2001 or 2002, and you will see that he has no such fixed philosophy. He will play as many (or as few) as can earn their minutes.

Playing only six or seven in recent years (since the Walker class came in) was due to the deficiencies in those classes, to some degree in talent but mostly in effort, fitness, and absorption of the system. During the Stewie years, there were six or seven players whose ability was head-and-shoulders above the others on the team, so they got the minutes in competitive games. But when he has had teams where the talent level of the 8th, 9th, or even 10th player was in the same ballpark as that of the 4th or 5th player, he has given minutes to everyone who earned them. Another example would be his handling of his Olympic teams, which were similar to the early 2000-era UConn teams in their talent level.

I do agree that 2020-21 will probably be one of the years in which he has at least a 9-player rotation. Everyone but Piath and Autumn, most likely, will get more than token minutes even in competitive games.
 
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Evina 1. PG/SG
Christyn 2. SG
Anna 3. PG/SF
Aaliyah 4. PF
Olivia 5. C

Like others, I base my starting 5 on positions. I believe Evina and Anna will handle the point during the course of the game with Christyn the shooter/slasher guard. After watching Aaliyah’s fearless play and athleticism with the Canadian national team and some preliminary team reviews, she’s my pick a power forward. She will also take some rebounding pressure off of Liv. Olivia of course at the center spot.
My 6th and 7th players would be Paige and Aubrey with Nika, Mir, Autumn and Piath leading the charge off the bench. This team sounds like it will be so much fun to watch. Can’t wait. UCONN HUSKIES.....WOOOF !
 
eebmg said:
She wears it as a tribute to the Lakers and Kobe . Big No problem.
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Actually she is captured in a YouTube video saying she wears those colors as a tribute to her older brother who was a big Lakers fan. I'm guessing he passed away. I would have no problem with her keeping that look.

Here it is:



The same video has a voice over with someone saying she was called up to Team Canada for the first time at 14! I assume that was their U16 program.
 
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I would say that Paige wouldn't start at the beginning of the season, because not even DT and Maya started at the beginning of their freshman years. I believe Stewie did start, though she hit a freshman wall later.
 
As mentioned above, the newspaper article released today gave us more information about the status of Evina's knee; specifically it still talks to her and some days she has to listen to it. Couple that with the references to her having quite a bit of work to get game ready and we have an issue about her getting to ready and staying there. I'm crossing my fingers and wishing her tremendous good luck on that score.
 
Aubrey was great off the bench; however, if her shooting hasn't improved, Paige will be starting.
 
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EricLA said:
Truth be told, and I'm being completely honest, there is not one individual, or even 2, player(s) I'm most excited to watch. This year, more than many in the past, has more questions than normal due to the sheer number of "new faces" that have never played a game in a UCONN uniform before (7).
  • For Evina, "it's about time!!". Looking forward to seeing just how good she is/can be, and how she does after all her surgeries. I also want to see her leadership and toughness on display consistently.
  • For Christyn and Olivia, I expect a major jump (esp. for Christyn) in everything they do compared to last year. For Olivia, being stronger and keeping the ball up high. For Christyn, just about everything. Christyn said last season was her worst season of basketball in her life (more or less), so I expect her to be VERY focused and VERY good.
  • For Aubrey and Anna, what sort of sophomore leap will we see? I have a feeling it will be VERY noticeable for both of them. We ready some impressive things about Anna over the summer (fitness, diet, and playing with the Polish team), and Aubrey - playing against her brothers all summer.
  • And for the freshmen, just how good can/will they be? Obviously all eyes will be on Paige, and to a lesser extend Aaliyah, but I'm very hopeful that not only will Mir and Nika get PT, but also contribute in solid ways.
  • Piath is a big question mark - but I'm excited to see if she can show progress and ability to not only play at the D1 level, but at the UCONN level, or if she will be completely overwhelmed by the pace and strength required.
  • For Aubrey, word is she's a lights out shooter, so like ALL walk ons, I'm sure the fans will go ballistic whenever she makes a bucket.
I could have gone on and on, but feel like this post is long enough! I'm just flat out excited!! :)

One last thing - I am very nervous about injuries, especially for Evina given her surgeries, and really am rooting for a "safe" Covid-free year for our team, and all teams.
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Just curious. Heard numerous posts regarding Anna's investment in getting in premo physical shape, how she worked on her game, etc. Heard nothing about Griffin. Love them both - wonder what changes we can expect from Griffin based on local knowledge, not expectations and guesses.
 
HopJim said:
Just curious. Heard numerous posts regarding Anna's investment in getting in premo physical shape, how she worked on her game, etc. Heard nothing about Griffin. Love them both - wonder what changes we can expect from Griffin based on local knowledge, not expectations and guesses.
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What we did hear from Griffin (this is going from memory) is that she spent the summer playing against her brothers, and they did not go easy on her.

Side note - one of her brothers is an uber-elite recruit and has committed to Duke, so if she even came close to ever holding her own against him, that says a lot. Regardless, I'm sure it helped a ton going against a bigger, stronger, more talented sibling.
 
Thought this would be a good time to revisit the thread - It was evenly split between Griffin and Bueckers. I'm not surprised Paige is the starter - but I'm sure some fans are.
 
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