Preseason AP Poll

[Just.A.Fan]

Folks, SC added Latson who is a first team AA contender.

Yes they did, but I'll be very surprised if she leads the nation in scoring under coach Staley. Here's a list of the key players So. Carolina has lost from last season:

1. Guard, MiLaysia Fulwiley (transferred to LSU)
2. Guard, Te-Hina Paopao (WNBA)
3. Forward, Sania Feagin (WNBA)
4. Center, Sakima Walker (transferred to Cal)
5. Guard, Bree Hall (WNBA)
6. Forward, Ashlyn Watkins (ACL)
7. and now Forward,Chloe Kitts (ACL).

 

[FanSince17]

Sorry folks, call me mean-spirited, but it is preposterous for anyone to vote SC #1 over UConn. 10 points is a solid win, 15-20 points is a whupping, not even sure what you call a 30 point win. UConn did it twice to SC last year.
What in the world is that based on? Latson is a volume shooter/scorer. Please enlighten me, when was the last time a player like that affected UConn. Even Caitlyn Clark was slowed significantly 2 years ago in the Final Four and UConn had 7 bodies.
If a poll is to have validity, efficacy, valuable information used by people to make decisions it can't be allowed to be stupid.

 

[Vowelguy]

Sorry folks, call me mean-spirited, but it is preposterous for anyone to vote SC #1 over UConn. 10 points is a solid win, 15-20 points is a whupping, not even sure what you call a 30 point win. UConn did it twice to SC last year.
What in the world is that based on? Latson is a volume shooter/scorer. Please enlighten me, when was the last time a player like that affected UConn. Even Caitlyn Clark was slowed significantly 2 years ago in the Final Four and UConn had 7 bodies.
If a poll is to have validity, efficacy, valuable information used by people to make decisions it can't be allowed to be stupid.

You were saying @MooseJaw ?

 

[Vowelguy]

Do we know if these votes were submitted before or after the Kitts news....

I would assume most if not all were submitted before. Given a scheduled release today, AP would have wanted to have the pre-season poll locked down yesterday (or earlier) to make sure they weren't chasing anyone for a vote and they had time to write stories to be released with the poll.

 

[HuskyNan]

Sorry folks, call me mean-spirited, but it is preposterous for anyone to vote SC #1 over UConn. 10 points is a solid win, 15-20 points is a whupping, not even sure what you call a 30 point win. UConn did it twice to SC last year.
What in the world is that based on? Latson is a volume shooter/scorer. Please enlighten me, when was the last time a player like that affected UConn. Even Caitlyn Clark was slowed significantly 2 years ago in the Final Four and UConn had 7 bodies.
If a poll is to have validity, efficacy, valuable information used by people to make decisions it can't be allowed to be stupid.

UConn lost 39.8% of its scoring from last year, 38.8% of its assists, and is now without its most experienced point guard, a position where UConn is very thin.

 

[victor64]

UConn lost 39.8% of its scoring from last year, 38.8% of its assists, and is now without its most experienced point guard, a position where UConn is very thin.

After one exhibition you have determined that UConn is "very thin" at point guard? Maybe give K9 a little more time to get acclimated before making that determination.

 

[oldude]

UConn lost 39.8% of its scoring from last year, 38.8% of its assists, and is now without its most experienced point guard, a position where UConn is very thin.

Thin at pg? Yea, I get that Paige & Kaitlyn are gone. But KK, Kayleigh, Kelis and yes even Azzi can all play pg….. and oh by the way Sarah could play the point forward role, a la Gabby, and run the offense if she had to.

 

[Geew1992]

Thin at pg? Yea, I get that Paige & Kaitlyn are gone. But KK, Kayleigh, Kelis and yes even Azzi can all play pg….. and oh by the way Sarah could play the point forward role, a la Gabby, and run the offense if she had to.

And depending on morgans health, she can play Pg too

 

[FanSince17]

UConn lost 39.8% of its scoring from last year, 38.8% of its assists, and is now without its most experienced point guard, a position where UConn is very thin.

I appreciate you.
Might that be Paige? It would be interesting to look at all the seasons after an iconic player graduates and see how much dropoff there is. Wasn't 2017 the year they continued some 90 game winning streak. IMO When a star graduates there is the huge void of all those things the player does for the team, but after the shock wears off, UConn players are eager to try to fill parts of that void. Wasn't there Monday, but it's got to be a bear to play that many people. And they're all good! This could be his best roster ever. By a lot.

 

[Bone Dog]

I don’t know what to say about UConn’s pg depth, though I’m confident we’re a contender and with my dull eyes I don’t see any other obvious candidates for #1.

On the question of #2, I thought that was clearly SC until Chloe’s injury. There’s a lot of potential in that lineup, but I’ll need to see how Dawn puts it together before I can have much confidence in some of the pieces. Okot may turn out to be great, Makeer and McDowell may crack Dawn’s rotation, Latson may turn out to be able to play good enough defense to satisfy Dawn, and Maryam and Adhel may make significant leaps. What I mainly know is that Joyce is an AA candidate and Raven is an excellent pg, and Tessa is a really good all-around player. After those three, it’s a lot of question marks.

By contrast, UCLA has a solid, really big veteran lineup with fewer question marks around it. Maybe Kneepkens will be able to do for Cori what she did at Utah, maybe Timea will rehab really well, maybe Sienna will fit right in to Cori’s frontcourt, and maybe Dunn and Charlisse will turn out to be effective backups for Kiki. But the veteran core of Lauren, Angela, Gabriela and Kiki is solid as is. As a group they’re easier to forecast for than SC is, even if they don’t address last season’s weaknesses.

All of this says to me, 1. UConn 2. UCLA 3. SC, at least until events prove otherwise.

 

[DefenseBB]

Ok, here is my “how Do I curry favor with my fine Blue Devil
Acolytes”? Yes @triaddukefan and @CamrnCrz1974 this is for You-
I am rooting hard for Kara to prove me wrong that she CAN coach an offense capable of Scoring 70 points against SC and upset them Nov 26 in Vegas Baby to win 71-67 and show they deserve top
5 consideration. Not sure if I am willing to place any ducats/cheddar or moolah on the game but you get my moral support.

 

[PJCLaw]

You must be new here.

The BY is just getting warmed up for a season of complaining about something! 😉

 

[HuskyNan]

Thin at pg? Yea, I get that Paige & Kaitlyn are gone. But KK, Kayleigh, Kelis and yes even Azzi can all play pg….. and oh by the way Sarah could play the point forward role, a la Gabby, and run the offense if she had to.

KK - experienced pg
Kayleigh - new teammates, new offense, more intense defense required. Effectively a freshman
Kelis - was in high school 5 months ago. Doesn’t know the offense and isn’t familiar with her teammates.
Azzi? Really, with Azzi expected to up her game after Paige’s graduation, she’s expected to score AND run the offense? And while she might bring the ball up the court from time to time, she hasn’t played point at all at UConn
Morgan - hasn’t played point since high school, hasn’t even recovered from last season’s injury

We are one twisted KK ankle from relying on an inexperienced pg

 

[LuvBball]

Considering they were in the Final Four, seeing them in the top 4 for a pre-season poll doesn't seem unusual, regardless of the Kitts situation. This is a best guess for everyone until these teams start playing.

Which is why I'm here to grumble about how useless preseason polls are lol There shouldn't be a poll till week 3

 

[Rocket009]

Reading the ESPN poll article it was good to see that UCONN got credit for beating 2 teams in the sweet 16. OK and UNC.

 

[Cuango]

Charlie Creme did a write-up and I don’t think he got our starting 5 right.

Surprise, surprise!

I would assume most if not all were submitted before. Given a scheduled release today, AP would have wanted to have the pre-season poll locked down yesterday (or earlier) to make sure they weren't chasing anyone for a vote and they had time to write stories to be released with the poll.

Surely, if this was Pre Kitts injury the starting lineup would have included Kitts? I can’t imagine that Kitts would not have been a starter if she had not been injured.

 

[Bigboote]

Born and raised in Toronto. Now living in Georgina, Ontario which is along Lake Simcoe. Get the fringe benefits of lakeside living and the city being an hour away. 😁

If I didn't know they originated in Washington state, I'd ask if Simcoe hops were from Ontario. 😜

 

[Vowelguy]

Surprise, surprise!

Surely, if this was Pre Kitts injury the starting lineup would have included Kitts? I can’t imagine that Kitts would not have been a starter if she had not been injured.

Creme works for ESPN not AP. He wrote the story after the poll came out, so of course he could incorporate the new about Kitts injury. But the votes were almost surely completed before the injury news.

 

[MooseJaw]

View attachment 112338

You were saying @MooseJaw ?

I bow.

 

[Skeets]

KK - experienced pg
Kayleigh - new teammates, new offense, more intense defense required. Effectively a freshman
Kelis - was in high school 3 months ago. Doesn’t know the offense and isn’t familiar with her teammates.
Azzi? Really, with Azzi expected to up her game after Paige’s graduation, she’s expected to score AND run the offense? And while she might bring the ball up the court from time to time, she hasn’t played point at all at UConn
Morgan - hasn’t played point since high school, hasn’t even recovered from last season’s injury

We are one twisted KK ankle from relying on an inexperienced pg

While not ideal, Ash under strange circumstances could play PG. Her handle is good enough to bring the ball up court, you know she's not going to do something stupid, and she knows the offense/teammates. On defense Ash often guards the other team's PG. UConn will survive if Ash is forced to play PG.

 

[Dogdude]

KK - experienced pg
Kayleigh - new teammates, new offense, more intense defense required. Effectively a freshman
Kelis - was in high school 3 months ago. Doesn’t know the offense and isn’t familiar with her teammates.
Azzi? Really, with Azzi expected to up her game after Paige’s graduation, she’s expected to score AND run the offense? And while she might bring the ball up the court from time to time, she hasn’t played point at all at UConn
Morgan - hasn’t played point since high school, hasn’t even recovered from last season’s injury

We are one twisted KK ankle from relying on an inexperienced pg

I have to agree, unfortunately. While KK can certainly handle the ball and penetrate, we need her to have that long-distance court vision that we've become accustomed to. Both Nika and Paige had their heads up all the time, looking for that one long pass that results in quick scores. KK can certainly get there, she's got the skills, it's just a habit. And the others need time. I'm sure they'll get there too, but it's the time factor.

 

[oldude]

KK - experienced pg
Kayleigh - new teammates, new offense, more intense defense required. Effectively a freshman
Kelis - was in high school 5 months ago. Doesn’t know the offense and isn’t familiar with her teammates.
Azzi? Really, with Azzi expected to up her game after Paige’s graduation, she’s expected to score AND run the offense? And while she might bring the ball up the court from time to time, she hasn’t played point at all at UConn
Morgan - hasn’t played point since high school, hasn’t even recovered from last season’s injury

We are one twisted KK ankle from relying on an inexperienced pg

I’m a “glass half full” guy, and the Huskies doggy bowl is considerably more than half full when it comes to pg. Just about every other team in the country would love to have all the options to run the point that Geno has at his disposal.

The best coaching staff in WBB will get Kayleigh and Kelis up to speed. As for Azzi, who played pg for the USA world championship U-19 team, asking her to score and run the offense would be asking her to do exactly what Paige did last season.

And don’t forget about Sarah, who has an exceptional basketball IQ, a great handle, sees the entire court with the ability to drop some beautiful dimes to her teammates. Throw in Ash & Allie who also played pg in HS. Then you have Blanca who has a pretty good handle and ability to pass, something they teach you how to do when you play 4 years of basketball in Europe.

Beyond that, UConn’s offense is never about one single player with the ball in their hands initiating the offense all the time. On UConn everbody passes, cuts and screens. The beauty of UConn’s offense is that opponents can’t try to lock down any one player and hope to stop the Huskies.

 

[HuskyNan]

While not ideal, Ash under strange circumstances could play PG. Her handle is good enough to bring the ball up court, you know she's not going to do something stupid, and she knows the offense/teammates. On defense Ash often guards the other team's PG. UConn will survive if Ash is forced to play PG.

I agree any guard - and Sarah - can ably bring the ball up the court. But that’s not all a point guard does

There’s a reason there are separate point guard camps where pgs go in the offseason to improve their skills. A good pg can not only handle the ball she knows which offensive set to begin based on how the opponent is defending her teammates. She sees where to pass the ball, where to go if the defense shifts, and is already thinking of options if teammates have to rebound a missed shot. And that’s my rather simplistic description of how much is involved

A shooting guard, like Ash, is hunting shots rather than setting up the offense for other scorers. That’s her job, so to speak, like Azzi. The skill set might be similar but the mindset is different

Players really aren’t interchangeable. Just because a player is tall doesn’t mean she can play post. Remember when Geno had few post players and 6-3 Ann Strother played in the paint? It did not work . Coach can’t move players around that easily. Turing a SG or wing into a pg won’t work either

 

[oldude]

Creme works for ESPN not AP. He wrote the story after the poll came out, so of course he could incorporate the new about Kitts injury. But the votes were almost surely completed before the injury news.

Also of note is Creme’s UConn lineup which has Kayleigh starting at pg over KK. I suppose that could happen, but it’s highly unlikely.

 

[triaddukefan]

Ok, here is my “how Do I curry favor with my fine Blue Devil
Acolytes”? Yes @triaddukefan and @CamrnCrz1974 this is for You-
I am rooting hard for Kara to prove me wrong that she CAN coach an offense capable of Scoring 70 points against SC and upset them Nov 26 in Vegas Baby to win 71-67 and show they deserve top
5 consideration. Not sure if I am willing to place any ducats/cheddar or moolah on the game but you get my moral support.

Actually we scored 70 in Columbia during our regular season matchup last December. Unfortunately the chickens scored 81.