Sedona to Oregon

[Charliebball]

another quality big passes on UConn..............really frustrating......................I guess Cardoso is the last post standing for 2020...................I hear she's interested in either Oregon or Oregon State because she likes to look people straight in the eye when speaking without having to look down...................

 

[jonson]

Totally agree. Graves kind of feels like a more hands-off, West Coast hippie version of Walz - funny and charismatic guy who's a strong tactician but not the world's most determined player development coach, but he attracts enough to talent that that alone is a reason to come, and the talent pushes each other to be better. I suspect that formula works in a world where a lot of recruits come with considerable AAU & Team USA experience and feel they are more fully formed (rightly or wrongly). I guess I kind of feel like if you like the Oregon vibe then Geno is not going to be for you, and vice versa. (You know which style I prefer. )

And man, somehow even with Stanford landing 3 top 5 recruits for 2019-2021 (2019-#1 Jones, 2020-#3 Brink, and 2021-#4 Demetre) plus another couple top 20 forwards (Belibi and Prechtel) and a few top 30-40 guards (Jump and Van Gytenbeek), I still feel like we're barely holding on in the recruiting war against Oregon -- which is insane, because if you took all transfers out of the equation, Stanford has indisputably recruited as strong as any school in the country, and easily the strongest since the Wiggins/Appel/Pedersen/Pohlen/Ogwumike x2 streak.

Those road trips up north are going to be brutal for the foreseeable future...

Although I usually agree with your posts, the "hands-off, West Coast hippie" comment seems to me condescending, as has been the case with a fair number of posts about Graves on this board. Yes, he likes to leave his players alone as much as possible during games, and, yes, he can be a funny guy, but his practices are, by all accounts, not easy, and Oregon didn't lead the nation in assist to turnover ratio with a coach who wasn't demanding or didn't pay attention to detail. (We had one of those right before Graves arrived.) It also seems all too easy to forget his success at Gonzaga, along with (for example) the fact that one of the premier point guards in the WBA played for him (Vandersloot), with another sure to follow. It's also worth noting Maite Cazorla's quiet (as always, in her case) success as an NBA rookie this year (she was ranked 100 on Hoopgurlz and spoke very little English when she arrived in Eugene) or the transformation of a very raw Ruthy Hebard into (according to ESPN) one of the coming season's top seniors. Of course he's not Geno--who is?--but there are good reasons why Geno predicted that Graves would make a final four immediately after he was hired some 5 years ago now.

 

[hoophuskee]

T
And man, somehow even with Stanford landing 3 top 5 recruits for 2019-2021 (2019-#1 Jones, 2020-#3 Brink, and 2021-#4 Demetre) plus another couple top 20 forwards (Belibi and Prechtel) and a few top 30-40 guards (Jump and Van Gytenbeek), I still feel like we're barely holding on in the recruiting war against Oregon -- which is insane, because if you took all transfers out of the equation, Stanford has indisputably recruited as strong as any school in the country, and easily the strongest since the Wiggins/Appel/Pedersen/Pohlen/Ogwumike x2 streak.

Those road trips up north are going to be brutal for the foreseeable future...

Huh?

Most of you are way too infatuated with height. Meg Walker was number 1. CWIll was 1/2 and ONO was 5. In 2020 we have the number 1 player in Paige.

 

[Charliebball]

Although I usually agree with your posts, the "hands-off, West Coast hippie" comment seems to me condescending, as has been the case with a fair number of posts about Graves on this board. Yes, he likes to leave his players alone as much as possible during games, and, yes, he can be a funny guy, but his practices are, by all accounts, not easy, and Oregon didn't lead the nation in assist to turnover ratio with a coach who wasn't demanding or didn't pay attention to detail. (We had one of those right before Graves arrived.) It also seems all too easy to forget his success at Gonzaga, along with (for example) the fact that one of the premier point guards in the WBA played for him (Vandersloot), with another sure to follow. It's also worth noting Maite Cazorla's quiet (as always, in her case) success as an NBA rookie this year (she was ranked 100 on Hoopgurlz and spoke very little English when she arrived in Eugene) or the transformation of a very raw Ruthy Hebard into (according to ESPN) one of the coming season's top seniors. Of course he's not Geno--who is?--but there are good reasons why Geno predicted that Graves would make a final four immediately after he was hired some 5 years ago now.

Oregon's task will be to continue playing the same kind of quality winning basketball without their All American point guard after next season..............recruiting highly ranked players and getting them to play well as a team are two different things...............time will tell..................

 

[Charliebball]

Huh?

Most of you are way too infatuated with height. Meg Walker was number 1. CWIll was 1/2 and ONO was 5. In 2020 we have the number 1 player in Paige.

some are too infatuated with height others are too fatuated with rankings...............they both count to some degree so give me a highly ranked tall player who can really ball and I'll be happy..............

 

[triaddukefan]

Huh?

Most of you are way too infatuated with height. Meg Walker was number 1. CWIll was 1/2 and ONO was 5. In 2020 we have the number 1 player in Paige.

FarmFarm is talking about Stanford not Connecticut.....

 

[hoophuskee]

some are too infatuated with height others are too fatuated with rankings.....they both count to some degree so give me a highly ranked tall player who can really ball and I'll be happy....

so going to final fours EVERY YEAR and losing in the last seconds for 2 straight years and last year the weakest team they've had in years getting to the final four is something to bemoan at such a point to say UCONN "is barely keeping up?" I just want everyone to realize UCONN has gotten to final fours in case anyone has forgotten. People speaking Stanford and Oregon-- what have they done better than UCONN over the past few years?

Give me a healthy Fudd over any big player you want.

 

[UConnCat]

People speaking Stanford and Oregon-- what have they done better than UCONN over the past few years?

Actually it's been 27 years since a PAC (10) 12 team won a national championship in WCBB. That's quite the schnide. Oregon could break it in 2020, or not.

 

[hoophuskee]

FarmFarm is talking about Stanford not Connecticut.....

Oops.

 

[Charliebball]

so going to final fours EVERY YEAR and losing in the last seconds for 2 straight years and last year the weakest team they've had in years getting to the final four is something to bemoan at such a point to say UCONN "is barely keeping up?" I just want everyone to realize UCONN has gotten to final fours in case anyone has forgotten. People speaking Stanford and Oregon-- what have they done better than UCONN over the past few years?

Give me a healthy Fudd over any big player you want.

UConn picked up PB who most likely will become one of the most significant players in WBB but that doesn't negate the fact that recruiting a power forward and or a second post player has recently been problematic......................it's quite a strange phenomenon.......

 

[Ozimoto]

Disappointing, but time to move on. You have to dance with what you have, not with what you don't.

 

[Kaizen]

I don't know why there are so many discussions on Sedona Prince?
In ESPNW ranking she is #8, while our CWIII is #1 and ONO is #5.
If we can get her, great. Otherwise life is still moving forward.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Although I usually agree with your posts, the "hands-off, West Coast hippie" comment seems to me condescending, as has been the case with a fair number of posts about Graves on this board. Yes, he likes to leave his players alone as much as possible during games, and, yes, he can be a funny guy, but his practices are, by all accounts, not easy, and Oregon didn't lead the nation in assist to turnover ratio with a coach who wasn't demanding or didn't pay attention to detail.

To clarify, I didn't mean it pejoratively, and I also didn't mean to suggest he's not an excellent coach. He is, and he's one of my favorites in the country.

However: he lets Sabrina get away with stuff in games that Geno wouldn't, because he's just not as much of a type-a hardass, and he's much more "they will be who they will be" about his players. Remember when Ionescu had her meltdown after fouling out in the loss against UCLA and stormed into the locker room before the game was over? I cannot even imagine the wrath she would have faced if her coach was Geno. Tara also would have read her the riot act. But Graves took it totally in stride. Same when Ionescu was on the bench but took the ball anyway and attempted to shoot a three that resulted in a team technical for Oregon. "That's just Sabrina."

Indeed, Graves has self-described his approach as being, quite frankly, very West Coast hippie-like (and I say this as someone who grew up there, so I know!):

KELLY GRAVES: You saw that little wristband I’ve been wearing. I have the word on there ‘calmness’. I told the team that calmness comes from trusting your team.

Again, I can't fathom a world where Geno wears a "calmness" bracelet. Doesn't mean he doesn't trust his team, and doesn't mean he isn't often calm, but that's just not Geno's style. Nor Tara's, Mulkey's, or Muffet's. NONE of them are wearing calmness bracelets in this life...

And let me clarify one more time: I don't think one kind of approach to coaching is categorically better than the other. They're different, which is why I said I think most recruits will clearly fit much better with one coach or the other, because their styles are so different. But they're both awesome people. If I could take three coaches out to drinks, Graves and Geno would be two of them.

However, I *do* think Geno is the better coach, and I think pretty much everyone who isn't sporting electric yellow and green around here thinks that.

Peace!

 

[hoophuskee]

UConn picked up PB who most likely will become one of the most significant players in WBB but that doesn't negate the fact that recruiting a power forward and or a second post player has recently been problematic.......it's quite a strange phenomenon..

When I replied to the other poster I thought he or she was implying that UCONN wasn't keeping up with the recruiting battles. That wasn't the case. Are you arguing that they haven't? If not we have no disagreement.

Though I don't know what you mean by "problematic." You can't have 5 college all-americans in one year. And every team to a certain degree has issues that can be considered "problematic" - can't they?

 

[Zanzman]

some are too infatuated with height others are too fatuated with rankings.....they both count to some degree so give me a highly ranked tall player who can really ball and I'll be happy....

Some people are infatuated with how many scholarships UConn offers

 

[Carnac]

View attachment 44558
There it is folks!

Not the news I was hoping to see this morning. Many of us were hoping to have Sedona join us for the next few years, and perhaps anchor our offense. It was not meant to be. You don’t lament over something or someone you never had.

I hope Geno had a plan B if Prince chose to go elsewhere. He can now implement that option. The big that is destined for UConn is on her way.

 

[bballnut90]

Big vacancy? Chavez, Winterburn, Shelley, Parrish, PaoPao, and Scherr is not a vacancy.

Clark and Hailey Van Lith are better than any of the players listed above and have a great shot to start from day 1. Graves isnt afraid to put freshmen in big roles.

 

[DaBball]

Clark and Hailey Van Lith are better than any of the players listed above and have a great shot to start from day 1. Graves isnt afraid to put freshmen in big roles.

Not disputing that, but there still isn't a vacancy with six guards, four 5-stars and two internationals.

 

[Charliebball]

Some people are infatuated with how many scholarships UConn offers

up until this past year that was surely an issue for me!!

 

[Charliebball]

Not the news I was hoping to see this morning. Many of us were hoping to have Sedona join us for the next few years, and perhaps anchor our offense. It was not meant to be. You don’t lament over something or someone you never had.

I hope Geno had a plan B if Prince chose to go elsewhere. He can now implement that option. The big that is destined for UConn is on her way.

I think Prince was plan B..........................now we wait and see if plan A works out.........................................

 

[Charliebball]

When I replied to the other poster I thought he or she was implying that UCONN wasn't keeping up with the recruiting battles. That wasn't the case. Are you arguing that they haven't? If not we have no disagreement.

Though I don't know what you mean by "problematic." You can't have 5 college all-americans in one year. And every team to a certain degree has issues that can be considered "problematic" - can't they?

problematic in the sense that UConn has failed to successfully recruit a quality big forward for a while now.............

 

[Floridaduck]

Just read that Sedona Prince is applying for a waiver that would make eligible this year. Don’t know the ins and outs but she says she’s been told there is a good chance.

 

[Carnac]

I think Prince was plan B......now we wait and see if plan A works out...........

When we didn't get Hanna Gusters (Baylor). I know they really wanted Gusters, but couldn't pry her out of Texas. SMH. I'm trying very hard to stay positive (there's got to be a rainbow at the end of this), but................................

How hard is UConn looking at/pursuing 6'6" Kamilla Cardoso (Dowling Catholic H.S. IA) who is yet uncommitted?

 

[Plebe]

problematic in the sense that UConn has failed to successfully recruit a quality big forward for a while now...

So would it be accurate to say "we need bigs!"?

 

[bballnut90]

Not disputing that, but there still isn't a vacancy with six guards, four 5-stars and two internationals.

Big vacancy was in reference to Moore/Ionescu leaving which means ample playing time opportunity for either one, plus they get to play with a stellar frontcourt and should be a strong final four contender for years to come. If either Hailey Van Lith or Clark chooses Oregon, my guess is they start from day 1.