Sarah strong hype

[JoePgh]

She’s the best freshman Geno has had since Maya Moore. UConn would’ve been tough to beat this upcoming season with the team Geno has put together, without Sarah. With her, it’s lights out.

So, she's better than Stewie, Paige, or Napheesa?

 

[HopJim]

Geno has had some very nice things to say about his star freshmen, to the point where it seems pretty clear that Sarah will be part of the plan for this season. At 6’2” she can bang in the paint , finish with either hand, step out at the arc and drain 3’s, put the ball on the floor and she is an exceptional passer.

The fascination with Sarah involves where exactly does she fit in the Huskies lineup? I think most folks expect a 3 player rotation with Ice, Sarah & Jana at the 4/5 spots, eventually supplemented by Aubrey when healthy. But what about Sarah starting at the wing, in a lineup with, oh, say Jana, Ice, Paige & Kaitlyn?

Just sayin….

Agree with everything said. Would just add one other attribute-when the pressure is on and the Huskies need a big shot, defensive play, or rebound, similar to Paige, Sarah will get it done. Fearless.

 

[Bone Dog]

Agree with everything said. Would just add one other attribute-when the pressure is on and the Huskies need a big shot, defensive play, or rebound, similar to Paige, Sarah will get it done. Fearless.

That's my sense of Sarah, too. Sneaky clever about defense and rebounding. This clip, a shining moment from the darkest day in WBB history, shows just haw sneaky clever Paige can be, and I hope Sarah shows us many such plays in her 4 years:

 

[CONN78SEJ]

So, she's better than Stewie, Paige, or Napheesa?

Are you blind, deaf or what??? As a freshman? Yes definitely. Maya was the best freshman UConn ever had, which was my original statement. She was a game changer and it was apparent immediately when she took the court as a freshman. She put 678 points through the hoop as a frosh, not mention everything else she did to effect the game’s outcome. Collier….258 pts as a freshman, Paige 581 pts as a freshman, Stewie 497 pts as a freshman, also had great freshman years but it’s impossible to argue any of them had better freshman years than Maya did, and I think Sarah has the potential to be just as big a game changer as Maya was.

 

[Dugway]

Are you blind, deaf or what??? As a freshman? Yes definitely. Maya was the best freshman UConn ever had, which was my original statement. She was a game changer and it was apparent immediately when she took the court as a freshman. She put 678 points through the hoop as a frosh, not mention everything else she did to effect the game’s outcome. Collier….258 pts as a freshman, Paige 581 pts as a freshman, Stewie 497 pts as a freshman, also had great freshman years but it’s impossible to argue any of them had better freshman years than Maya did, and I think Sarah has the potential to be just as big a game changer as Maya was.

For the record, I believe that Maya is the best player in UConn Women’s history.

But I will make an argument… Bueckers was the consensus ‘National Player of the Year’ as a Freshman. Maya was not, and you know who else was not? All of Em, Everyone of them were NOT, not one other player EVER was named NPOY as a Freshman! And no one since.

To be named the NPOY, the committee looks at multiple aspects, in fact ALL the aspects, not just points scored. They came to the conclusion that Bueckers was the best player that year in spite of the fact that she was a Freshman. An accomplishment that makes her the best Freshman ever; at least until their is another that would duplicate that honor.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

For the record, I believe that Maya is the best player in UConn Women’s history.

But I will make an argument… Bueckers was the consensus ‘National Player of the Year’ as a Freshman. Maya was not, and you know who else was not? All of Em, Everyone of them were NOT, not one other player EVER was named NPOY as a Freshman! And no one since.

To be named the NPOY, the committee looks at multiple aspects, in fact ALL the aspects, not just points scored. They came to the conclusion that Bueckers was the best player that year in spite of the fact that she was a Freshman. An accomplishment that makes her the best Freshman ever; at least until there is another that would duplicate that honor.

Good point about Paige, but let me say that Maya won NPOY as a sophomore and again as a senior. She also might of won it as a freshman had she not had to go up against Senior Candace Parker in the voting. Maybe the voters felt sorry for Pat Summitt at her loss in the Maya recruiting sweepstakes. Lol

 

[MilfordHusky]

Good point about Paige, but let me say that Maya won NPOY as a sophomore and again as a senior. She also might of won it as a freshman had she not had to go up against Senior Candace Parker in the voting. Maybe the voters felt sorry for Pat Summitt at her loss in the Maya recruiting sweepstakes. Lol

Maya was one of the top 2 freshman I've ever seen. Paige was the other.

 

[Cuango]

Maya and Paige are their own level for sure! However, it would not surprise me if Sarah makes that a threesome!

 

[jabstep]

I agree that Maya was the best freshman and then Paige. Sarah has a great overall game and I think she will start at the 4 because she is comfortable playing high and setting screens rolling off the high screens shooting the 3 from there. Also, her passing is smart because she sees the court so well. She also rebounds well and gets the ball on the break quickly. Geno usually starts a number 1 recruit in the country for most of the season.

 

[HopJim]

I agree that Maya was the best freshman and then Paige. Sarah has a great overall game and I think she will start at the 4 because she is comfortable playing high and setting screens rolling off the high screens shooting the 3 from there. Also, her passing is smart because she sees the court so well. She also rebounds well and gets the ball on the break quickly. Geno usually starts a number 1 recruit in the country for most of the season.

Good call on noting Sarah's value on screens. How would opposing coaches defend her coming off a screen against a smaller guard? Geno would call this play every time down the floor.

 

[oldude]

Good call on noting Sarah's value on screens. How would opposing coaches defend her coming off a screen against a smaller guard? Geno would call this play every time down the floor.

Paige got really comfortable executing the screen and roll with Aaliyah. I suspect that she will get very comfortable with Sarah in short order, not to mention Ice & Jana as well. When you have a player with Paige's ability to read the defense and execute flawlessly, along with several Bigs who can both finish at the rim and step out and bury a jump shot, it is virtually impossible to defend the high screen and roll.

 

[meyers7]

Excellent questions! Very trenchant. Here’s my guesses/predictions.

Ash: 419 points in 38 games and 32 mins/g or 11pts/g

Sarah may not get 31 mins/g initially, but I expect she’ll be there by mid season. But even at 20 mins/g I will not be surprised if she averages 15 pts/g which would amount to ~600 pts.

KK: 123 assists and 90 steals in 39 games or 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Sarah is an excellent defender and passer and I suspect she’ll exceed both numbers, maybe 4 assists and 3 steals per game, or 160 assists and 120 steals.

As for rebounds, I am very confident that Sarah will exceed both Ash and KK combined in rebounds. Together they accounted for 6.6 rebounds /g and I suspect Sarah will average at least 8 rebounds/g or 320 rebounds.

Finally, I expect Sarah will average 2 blocks/g or a total of 80. Last season the team averaged 3.8 blocks/g and I suspect between Sarah, Jana, Ice, Paige and Caroline healthy they’ll average between 6 and 8 blocks.

This means I predict Sarah’s season stat line will be 15 points/g, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks. These are All American numbers. But I doubt she’ll be in the running for NPoY since Paige is likely the front runner for this award.

I think you're way off on some of the numbers here.

For one, 320 rebounds as a FR would put her above Charles, Moore, Dolson, Stewart, Lobo.....by a large margin. If she came in around 250-275, that would be tremendous. (and hopefully we won't need her with more than 6-7 a game....assuming El Alfy and Ice can contribute there)

120 steals? No freaking way. Only 9 times in UCONN history has a player got 100+ steals in a season. Once by a FR (Sales - the UCONN record holder for steals) 50-60 would be tremendous.

160 Assists. Again, no way. Bueckers has the record for a FR at 168. I would expect Bueckers, Chen and Arnold to take a huge portion of the assists (60%?). And then you're dividing up the remainder between Fudd, Shade, Cheli and Strong for the most part (maybe Ziebell picks up 30-40). If Strong were to get 100 that would be tremendous (and a bit worrying as to what was happening/happened with the rest of the players)

Don't think you're gonna get 80 block not playing (hopefully or something's wrong) in the 5 spot.

And 31 minutes a game? Hopefully not. Hopefully we can divide the minutes up between 9-10 players. With #11-12 getting a few themselves (7-10). I don't expect much more than 12 players at any one time. But that would be a nice rotation if you could use 9-10 of them for most the game.

 

[Bone Dog]

I think you're way off on some of the numbers here.

For one, 320 rebounds as a FR would put her above Charles, Moore, Dolson, Stewart, Lobo.....by a large margin. If she came in around 250-275, that would be tremendous. (and hopefully we won't need her with more than 6-7 a game....assuming El Alfy and Ice can contribute there)

120 steals? No freaking way. Only 9 times in UCONN history has a player got 100+ steals in a season. Once by a FR (Sales - the UCONN record holder for steals) 50-60 would be tremendous.

160 Assists. Again, no way. Bueckers has the record for a FR at 168. I would expect Bueckers, Chen and Arnold to take a huge portion of the assists (60%?). And then you're dividing up the remainder between Fudd, Shade, Cheli and Strong for the most part (maybe Ziebell picks up 30-40). If Strong were to get 100 that would be tremendous (and a bit worrying as to what was happening/happened with the rest of the players)

Don't think you're gonna get 80 block not playing (hopefully or something's wrong) in the 5 spot.

And 31 minutes a game? Hopefully not. Hopefully we can divide the minutes up between 9-10 players. With #11-12 getting a few themselves (7-10). I don't expect much more than 12 players at any one time. But that would be a nice rotation if you could use 9-10 of them for most the game.

I know. They're absurdly optimistic numbers. I'm glad someone finally picked up on this. I got them merely by making a guess abut her averages and multiplying by 35 games and then scaling down a little bit. But you're right that she won't have 35 straight games like that, and she won't average 30 mins/g, even though she might get that many in March.

My absurdly optimistic stat line for Sarah is 15 pts, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.

Your more reasonable stat line for her is ? pts, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.7 steals, ? blocks. I've rounded a little, and there's still a couple of blanks. Still, I'm good with this stat line.

I might offer a few quibbles though.

• 2 blocks a game doesn't mean there's something wrong at the 5 spot. I suspect it will mean the exact opposite, namely that opposing players are trying to avoid Jana in the lane and running into Sarah. Also, bear in mind that Paige averaged 1.4 blocks last season. If she can do that next to Aaliyah and Ice, I think Sarah can do just a smidge better next to Jana. Finally, I watched a few of her HS games, and she was a block machine.
• She was also a steal machine, so 1.7 doesn't look out of line and maybe a tiny bit low. Sarah may be able to set a record in this area, or come close to Nykesha's record. A lot will depend on whether Geno uses her in the press. It's also worth noting that Morgan played the tip of the press in HS and got or forced lots of steals that way. If she gets significant minutes, Sarah might have competition.
• I don't know what to expect from assists. I think you're mistaken about Allie getting that many assists from the W or SG spot. Geno will want her to shoot every time she touches the ball, not pass it. Same for Azzi. He isn't looking for passes from them, or even from Ash. One thing a lot of people in the BY have noticed about Sarah is that she's a brilliant passer from the high post. This is a motif Geno likes to use -- Liv averaged 3.5 assists from there 3 years ago and Dorka got 3.2 assists 2 years ago. I don't think it's a stretch to think that Sarah, who is a much better perimeter shooter than either of them, will put up similar or better assist numbers as a result. If opponents have to cover her out there, Jana or Ice will have an easy time in the paint, which means lots of assists for Sarah and the other passers.

The real question mark for me is points. She's a brilliant perimeter shooter, but also has great post moves, and the threat of her passing can work the other way, too, and open up the lane for her drives. If she's nearly as efficient as Paige and shoots ~50/40/90, 15 points/g may be a low estimate. It really depends on whether she passes more than she shoots. If she takes as many shots as Paige, who shot 53/42/83 and took ~20 shots/g [and still got 3,8 assists], we should expect similar numbers, namely ~20 pts/g. But Paige played 32 mins, and if Sarah only gets some fraction of this, then 15 pts looks more realistic. Geno could have a tough decision. He will want to get the most out of Sarah, but he'll also want to create a feasible learning curve for her. 30+ mins is what I expect in the second half of the season, and certainly by tournament time. But in the earlier part of the season, 15-20 mins may be more typical.

 

[meyers7]

[*]2 blocks a game doesn't mean there's something wrong at the 5 spot. I suspect it will mean the exact opposite, namely that opposing players are trying to avoid Jana in the lane and running into Sarah. Also, bear in mind that Paige averaged 1.4 blocks last season. If she can do that next to Aaliyah and Ice, I think Sarah can do just a smidge better next to Jana. Finally, I watched a few of her HS games, and she was a block machine.

Yes, it does mean there's problem. Bueckers last year having to play the 4 was a problem. I don't want her there. I don't want my 6-0 G/PG/W being the team leader in blocks. That means were not getting defensive production from the 5. I want more production from El Alfy and Ice in the post (offensively and defensively). If Strong is having to carry the rebounding and blocks load, that's not good. Just like last year with Bueckers.

[*]She was also a steal machine, so 1.7 doesn't look out of line and maybe a tiny bit low. Sarah may be able to set a record in this area, or come close to Nykesha's record. A lot will depend on whether Geno uses her in the press. It's also worth noting that Morgan played the tip of the press in HS and got or forced lots of steals that way. If she gets significant minutes, Sarah might have competition.

Well hopefully Cheli doesn't get "significant" minutes, or something is wrong again. I don't think Strong will have the minutes (hopefully) to get that up in the Sales air for steals.

I don't know what to expect from assists. I think you're mistaken about Allie getting that many assists from the W or SG spot. Geno will want her to shoot every time she touches the ball, not pass it. Same for Azzi. He isn't looking for passes from them, or even from Ash. One thing a lot of people in the BY have noticed about Sarah is that she's a brilliant passer from the high post. This is a motif Geno likes to use -- Liv averaged 3.5 assists from there 3 years ago and Dorka got 3.2 assists 2 years ago. I don't think it's a stretch to think that Sarah, who is a much better perimeter shooter than either of them, will put up similar or better assist numbers as a result. If opponents have to cover her out there, Jana or Ice will have an easy time in the paint, which means lots of assists for Sarah and the other passers.

If they let Strong play a lot of high post and El Alfy/Ice can do well in the post, then maybe Strong could get to 100, like Gabby did. But I still don't think she'll play that much to rack up huge numbers. Look if she's at 100 that' s awesome. ONO and Juhasz were also playing with a small team. 6-7 players. They played a lot and ranked up a lot of stats. Hopefully, Strong doesn't have to do that.


As for Points. If Strong was 3rd option, I could see that. And I'd be ok with that. If we had 5 (maybe 6) 10+ scorers, that would be great. Bueckers is gonna get hers this year. Hopefully Fudd can too. They should be in the 15-20 range. Then your 3/4 option 13-16, awesome. 5/6 option in around 9-12. We'd be a really good team. IF, IF we still had some players in the 5-8 range.

 

[Bone Dog]

I always enjoy it when people engage, even disagree with my posts. I often learn from disagreement, and I make a point of “liking” their replies. But it surprises me how few others do this. Do they think this is a competition or a battle, or that folks who see things in interestingly different ways are somehow enemies? Is there nothing to learn from hearing other views?

Sigh

 

[DefenseBB]

I always enjoy it when people engage, even disagree with my posts. I often learn from disagreement, and I make a point of “liking” their replies. But it surprises me how few others do this. Do they think this is a competition or a battle, or that folks who see things in interestingly different ways are somehow enemies? Is there nothing to learn from hearing other views?

Sigh

Boy, you MUST LEARN A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT!

 

[Skeets]

I always enjoy it when people engage, even disagree with my posts. I often learn from disagreement, and I make a point of “liking” their replies. But it surprises me how few others do this. Do they think this is a competition or a battle, or that folks who see things in interestingly different ways are somehow enemies? Is there nothing to learn from hearing other views?

Sigh

LOL, fishing for likes? Approaching 38K you're not exactly hurting for likes. My opinion? If strong has 80% of the productivity that Paige had in her freshman year, we will all be in a happy place.

 

[DEpup]

In my opinion, Strong has many great incoming skills. For this particular team, I think she will need to lean into rebounding, setting screens with that frame for our established shooters, and scoring down low to open up space by pulling in the defense again for our established shooters. And taking an open three when it's there.

 

[Rb335]

My hope is that her shooting prowess translates to the college game seamlessly. I believe Paige, Azzi, and potentially Sarah are all players capable of shooting 40% from deep for a full season. That type of shooting really opens the floor. And for the first time in a while we have a true 6-5 center. Depending on how Sarah and Jana transition to college, I won’t be surprised to see them play the 4/5 together, where Sarah plays more offensively as a wing.

We have to wait and see what her impact will be. But preseason, of the unknowns, has the greatest potential in my opinion.

 

[Bone Dog]

Depending on how Sarah and Jana transition to college, I won’t be surprised to see them play the 4/5 together, where Sarah plays more offensively as a wing.

Now that you put it this way, I guess Ice could find herself in an interesting position. She came in as a highly ranked recruit, then suffered a major injury, and has had to rebuild her game. It was still a work in progress last season to get back to where she started. Now an even more highly touted big arrives and she may have to battle for minutes at the 4/5 with Sarah and Jana, and potentially Ayanna, all season long. Practices will demand a lot from her, which could prove to be the best possible challenge. If she succeeds and earns major minutes in the rotation, that would be fantastic for the team and for her own draft stock down the road. Can you imagine getting to hone your skills against that trio? And the following season, she’ll be the seasoned veteran setting the example for Gandy and maybe Lara.

And it may all be due to Sarah. If she hadn’t come, Ice would have had a clear path to be the 4 next to Jana and the occasional 5.

 

[DEpup]

I think there will be plenty of minutes for Ice. Jana like Dolson will be a foul machine in her first year on the court. If Ice is looking good, I could see Ice starting at the 4 and then move to the 5 when Jana gets a foul and then Strong comes in at the 4. I think Ice is the player that is under the radar right now... BE tournament Ice is a starter.... IMO.

 

[Alydar]

So, she's better than Stewie, Paige, or Napheesa?

We can only hope it's true.

 

[darrell]

 

[Cuango]

Now that you put it this way, I guess Ice could find herself in an interesting position. She came in as a highly ranked recruit, then suffered a major injury, and has had to rebuild her game. It was still a work in progress last season to get back to where she started. Now an even more highly touted big arrives and she may have to battle for minutes at the 4/5 with Sarah and Jana, and potentially Ayanna, all season long. Practices will demand a lot from her, which could prove to be the best possible challenge. If she succeeds and earns major minutes in the rotation, that would be fantastic for the team and for her own draft stock down the road. Can you imagine getting to hone your skills against that trio? And the following season, she’ll be the seasoned veteran setting the example for Gandy and maybe Lara.

And it may all be due to Sarah. If she hadn’t come, Ice would have had a clear path to be the 4 next to Jana and the occasional 5.

Ice looks to be in outstanding condition and I believe we’re in for a real treat from her. She looks lean & mean and I think she’s going to remind all of us that she was a #5 recruit and second best post player in her class! What little film I’ve seen of her shows a player (I believe) who is fully (and finally) healthy and raring to go! She, Jana, and Sarah must be having some awesome battles in practice! I love that she’s a lefty too!