Question: Who Is Our SECOND Best Player?

[NormanDale]

Williams is the second best player on the team! She has been struggling lately and has had consistency issues, but she will be a huge part to UConn's success in the tournament. Williams struggled during the middle part of last season as well, only to regain her confidence and play some of her best basketball down the stretch. I think the Georgetown game was the start of the turnaround for Williams and expect her to be a vital part of the Huskies come tournament time. Coach Auriemma is a master of a lot of different aspects in coaching, but one in which he excels the most is by instilling confidence and having his teams peak at the right time. Make no mistake, Williams is going to have a damn good remainder to the year, and some of you who have written her off are going to have a buffet of crow to munch on!

 

[Happydad745]

This question sums up UConn's ability to win a championship this year.

 

[Jingo]

As of today, it's CW. But, she's also the most inconsistent. She doesnt play to her strengths, which is a slasher type of scorer & mid-range shooter. That's the problem - the gap between Paige & everyone else is too big. If Paige has an off-game or is shut-down, what do we have??

Well, without Paige, we beat Georgetown by 30 points; Liv had 19 points and 9 boards in only 24 minutes.
We could have won by 40+ if CW hadn't [as usual] shot so poorly - 2/12 [on treys] in 40 minutes.
The team is better with CW not starting and playing too many minutes.

 

[Jingo]

To me it's not 2nd best, it's next most indispensable after Bueckers. People can bitch all they want about ONO but without her there is almost no interior defense and IMO there will be no FF or NC.

I like your use of the word 'indispensable', a good description of Liv, not only on defense, but on offense as well, Liv facilitates the offense from the high post, and sets most of the screens for Paige's pullup jumpers inside the arc.

 

[AmeriConn]

Jamelle Elliott

 

[Dokey]

I’m having a hard time with this one, which could be a problem come tournament time. (It wouldn’t be a problem if the question was hard because there were SO MANY good choices.)

CW should be the obvious choice, but her lack of consistency and confidence have been well chronicled here on the BY.

Evina might have been my choice 4 or 5 games ago, but her production has tumbled off a cliff lately. Hopefully, she can regain her form.

ONO is a possibility. She’s at least tall... lol. Her defense has been just okay, IMO. She’s still prone to fouling and bringing the ball down low where anyone can swipe at it. Her 15 ft shots seem to be improving, but I can do without her launching from 3 pt land.

The final starter recently is Nika… she plays hard, for sure, and her defense is good. Shot is still inconsistent, but better than it was. I’d have a hard time saying she’s our second best player, though… and if she is, I think we are in real trouble.

Aubrey and Aliya don’t get enough minutes to qualify, I don’t think. Both bring energy, toughness and rebounding. Maybe if we combine them into one, they could be our second best?

If Anna ever returns and can find the form she had at the end of last season, it’s very possible she could be our second best. I consider that possibility a long shot.

So, do we even have a second best player… and what is all this going to mean at the Big Dance?

Haters stay in your corners, please. Everyone else, I’m interested in your opinions.

Anna might be the second most valuable, if not second best, but I am not optimistic for her return.

 

[hoophuskee]

IMO Westbrook- but game to game it changes.

 

[cohenzone]

With all due respect to all the rabid fans here, the obsession with individual rankings and comparisons for a program built on a total team game is ironic to me, essentially being a non-rabid fan from afar for a good while and relatively new to this board.

While team is certainly the UConn personality, the OP question is a good one. If some team figures out how to at least minimize Paige, there are no other players easily identified to be reliable to fill the gap. On the other hand, there is more than one who might fill the bill. We are talking about against the top competition. If Paige is quieted, possibly the entire team effort would be enough.

 

[browns]

EW is the 2nd best..the last few games I think her knee was bothering her..The 2nd most important is Liv..she doesn't put up big numbers but the knock on her is she doesn't play well in big games..That was not the case against SC..she held her own against Boston and when AE was covering Boston Liv completly shut down Amihere.She also led the team with 7 rebounds and 6 assists with only 1 turnover..without her Uconn doesn't make it to the Elite 8

 

[MD#12Fan]

I choose the glass half full approach here.
The answer is, we do not have one 2nd best player. We have about 10 2nd best players. Maybe it's a good problem to have. What I want to see is all of these solid players learn, accept, embrace, and excel in their roles.
Then we can't be beat. It can be a different player every night.

 

[Jingo]

EW is the 2nd best..the last few games I think her knee was bothering her..The 2nd most important is Liv..she doesn't put up big numbers but the knock on her is she doesn't play well in big games..That was not the case against SC..she held her own against Boston and when AE was covering Boston Liv completly shut down Amihere.She also led the team with 7 rebounds and 6 assists with only 1 turnover..without her Uconn doesn't make it to the Elite 8

I don't agree the EW is 2nd best, not after her total disappearance against South Carolina - zero points, zero assists, one rebound. It's easy to spot the five best players [who hold up under pressure]: 1) Paige, 2) Liv, 3) Aaliyah, 4) Nika, 5) Evina.
Our two best defensive players [besides Liv] are Aubrey and Mir and should [both] be given "spot" minutes as often as possible. They also improve team rebounding and turnovers dramatically, eh?

 

[Go/huskies]

Is there another player on the roster who would be voted 1st team All Big East right now? If there is it would Liv, so I would say she’s our 2nd best player.

 

[Jingo]

Is there another player on the roster who would be voted 1st team All Big East right now? If there is it would Liv, so I would say she’s our 2nd best player.

Yes I agree!

 

[HuskylnSC]

I like a lot of these posts specially the ones that focus on the positives. I think @hoophuskee made the important point with, "... but game to game it changes." We've kind of hemmed and hawed our way through this to make the point that several players bring important aspects to the team. While they don't fit the typical definition of role players each and everyone brings a different skillset into the game. And it seems like every game someone uses their skillset to have a positive impact on the game. And I think that is fantastic. The epitome of great coaching is being able to put your players in a position where they can succeed. We have seen that several times throughout this season. So while Paige is the point of the spear, the team fills out the head, and the strength and stability come from the staff. And that's why we are UConn.

 

[Happydad745]

Anna might be the second most valuable, if not second best, but I am not optimistic for her return.

I never learn what her injury was specifically...do you know?

 

[eebmg]

Geno. 😂

 

[Littlemin]

While team is certainly the UConn personality, the OP question is a good one. If some team figures out how to at least minimize Paige, there are no other players easily identified to be reliable to fill the gap. On the other hand, there is more than one who might fill the bill. We are talking about against the top competition. If Paige is quieted, possibly the entire team effort would be enough.

What does a naming of a 2nd best player on a message board have to do with anything concerning a real game situation? Bueckers was quiet points wise against Tennessee but Williams and Westbrook filled the scoring void, that’s what a good TEAM does. Basketball Is a team game and the ranking of players on a team is meaningless to me; others may disagree, differences of opinion are a good thing.

 

[jazz]

Not sure what you mean by Liv "isn't as good as hoped" .. I think you should heed the sage advice of Bette Davis who said, "Let's not ask for the moon, for we have the stars!"

I was hoping for a more consistent 12 and 10 player against top competition and better than that against lower level. She still struggles to finish and doesn't hit the jumper with consistency. There were some times against Boston that she looked intimidated to me. She still is pretty good as I said.

 

[jazz]

EW is the 2nd best..the last few games I think her knee was bothering her..The 2nd most important is Liv..she doesn't put up big numbers but the knock on her is she doesn't play well in big games..That was not the case against SC..she held her own against Boston and when AE was covering Boston Liv completly shut down Amihere.She also led the team with 7 rebounds and 6 assists with only 1 turnover..without her Uconn doesn't make it to the Elite 8

Agreed. EW may be the 2nd best BB player (still debatable) but she is not the second most important player. Liv is the second most important player we have and I don't think it is even close. We cannot replace her size and length.

I do not think Liv held her own against Boston. However, GA found out for the second time this year that going long stretches without Liv is not a winning formula. The small line-up has a short shelf life. I think it was poor coaching by Ark and SC to not be more aggressive as soon as Liv left the game. They finally got around to it and shortly thereafter GA went back to Liv. Amihere is a one dimensional player and Liv should be able to shut her down.

On the other hand, Liv did a nice job exploiting the fact that Boston refused to guard her from the outside, but not by her shooting. Instead, Liv was wide open to pass the ball to cutters and to her credit, she made those passes and some were made in really tight spacing and timing. She also made some nice picks (that is nothing to take for granted) that freed PB for several short jumpers. Because Boston was camping in the lane, there was no help on the screen. Great piece of coaching and recognition by GA!

On another note, Dawn is not match for GA as far as coaching is concerned. To allow Boston to take only 2-3 shots in the first half is negligent at best and even criminal! Not many post ups by Boston either. Also DS must have told her kids to go at NM and she is the one who really held up. She played quite well. It seemed like every possession, SC guards thought they could just take NM to the rim and they found out they could not. They had minimal success throughout the game with this strategy, neglecting Boston in the process.

 

[LCConnFan]

What does a naming of a 2nd best player on a message board have to do with anything concerning a real game situation? Bueckers was quiet points wise against Tennessee but Williams and Westbrook filled the scoring void, that’s what a good TEAM does. Basketball Is a team game and the ranking of players on a team is meaningless to me; others may disagree, differences of opinion are a good thing.

IMO, when you see topics where we stray a little bit, it's usually 'boredom' between games.

 

[cohenzone]

What does a naming of a 2nd best player on a message board have to do with anything concerning a real game situation? Bueckers was quiet points wise against Tennessee but Williams and Westbrook filled the scoring void, that’s what a good TEAM does. Basketball Is a team game and the ranking of players on a team is meaningless to me; others may disagree, differences of opinion are a good thing.

You miss the point.

 

[Skeets]

No clear choice. It can vary from game to game. Maybe that isn't a bad thing.

Actually, having 3 or 4 players tied (more or less) for "second best" could be a good thing.

 

[oldhusky]

The fact that we don't yet have an obvious second true star is a weak point. The fact that we have so many players that are part of the discussion for second best is a strong point.

Maybe there are more teams that have a better number 2 player than we do, but if you keep going comparing team's third, fourth, fifth best players etc. we look pretty good, and of course we have Paige and they don't.

 

[Waquoit]

But no one except maybe Aaliyah (and Autumn ) is really consistent enough.

Yet!

 

[RedStickHusky]

I was watching some old tourney games ('03/04/10) over this break and I saw an interview with a player (Swin, I think) saying "Coach wants to convince us through February that we are the worst team in the country but when March gets here he has us feeling invincible". Geno's old tricks seem to still work on boneyarders, I've got a feeling they'll work on his team too. I mean it comes down now to two games against top 10 opponents. I like our chances as well as anyone's.

 

[Waquoit]

Geno's old tricks seem to still work on boneyarders, I've got a feeling they'll work on his team too.

What trick? They are being carried by a freshman right now. And Geno foresaw that from the start, that's why he didn't do the "break 'em down to build 'em" routine with Paige. She didn't need it so he didn't bother, it's been all "build her up" because he knows she's her own worst critic. Every team is different.

 

[Jingo]

Williams is the second best player on the team! She has been struggling lately and has had consistency issues, but she will be a huge part to UConn's success in the tournament. Williams struggled during the middle part of last season as well, only to regain her confidence and play some of her best basketball down the stretch. I think the Georgetown game was the start of the turnaround for Williams and expect her to be a vital part of the Huskies come tournament time. Coach Auriemma is a master of a lot of different aspects in coaching, but one in which he excels the most is by instilling confidence and having his teams peak at the right time. Make no mistake, Williams is going to have a damn good remainder to the year, and some of you who have written her off are going to have a buffet of crow to munch on!

CW has had enough chances this season and hasn't delivered .. it's time for someone else to get a shot [no pun intended] Let's give some of our other high school All-American(s) a chance to deliver, eh?

 

[NormanDale]

CW has had enough chances this season and hasn't delivered .. it's time for someone else to get a shot [no pun intended] Let's give some of our other high school All-American(s) a chance to deliver, eh?

Who is it that you don't think has had a chance?

 

[Jingo]

Who is it that you don't think has had a chance?

I would give most of CW's minutes to Aaliyah and start Aaliyah over CW. With ONO & AE in the game together, running the high-low, we should be able to get a lot more scoring from our inside game. Giving more minutes to Aubrey and Mir should also provide more inside scoring, a big improvement - in terms of FG% - over CW's ill-advised long-range bombs!
Finally, I would give as many of CW's minutes as possible to Saylor as our next shooting guard. Saylor has greater upside than CW in terms of 3-point shooting [quick release, greater range], rebounding and [supposed] defense, eh?

 

[Urshurak]

I think UConn’s second best player revolves from
game to game. CW, Liv, EW, etc.