That's scary but how about with this second unit!Next year's starters:
Paige, CW, ONO, Aaliyah and Azzi ....
Paige is 19, I think Nika is 19 or 20, Anna is gonna be 21, Evina is 22, they may be young in terms of college basketball experience, but not necessarily in age.I was feeling my age, though. Every year the kids seem younger, and Chassion & Park-Lane looked like escapees from middle school. And Park-Lane was burning the Huskies.
Autumn looked surprisingly poised for a walk on in her first game at UConn. Doubt she will get much playing time this year but seems like a positive addition to team.That's scary but how about with this second unit!
Nika, Carolyn, Anna, Aubrey, Amari
And this third!
Autumn, ?, Saylor, Mir, Piath
Autumn nailed a jumper that was waved off based on a travel. But we have heard she's a good shooter.Autumn looked surprisingly poised for a walk on in her first game at UConn. Doubt she will get much playing time this year but seems like a positive addition to team.
"Small chick" merits her own thread.That "small chick" from Seton Hall was one of the two best players on the floor tonight. Fortunately we had the other one.
She is out of position at the four. As much as I like her game, she may be more valuable backing up the other three guards, with Alijah starting at the four. She is a total beast! Either Mir or Aubrey are totally serviceable giving sub minutes at the four when Liv or Alijah need a blow. Nika doesn’t look quite ready to play major sub minutes at the one or two, but that could certainly change by the end of the season.Anna has to think less and shoot more. She's an excellent passer, and she can hit the three, but she hesitates too often. Let in fly, Anna. Let it fly.
Heresy never sounded so sweet.As I watched Paige today I had two thoughts. My first thought was that Paige is better than Ionescu was as a freshman. My second thought is that Paige may actually be better than Ionescu was as a senior.
Evina and Anna both have 7 asts. They played well but shooting needs to be better. Yes I am glad Evina's knee is OK.Nobody has really said anything about Evina's game other than her little contretemps. (I'm guessing it was something the "little chick" said, because I didn't see anything physical that would explain it.)
But aside from that, Evina played 31 minutes with no apparent discomfort from her knee. Although she only scored 2 points on 1-for-8 shooting, she grabbed 6 rebounds, and had 7 assists compared to only 1 turnover. (And the rap on her at Tennessee was her excessive turnovers ...??) She was credited with 2 steals, but I think she was part of more Seton Hall turnovers than that. I thought she was a major defensive presence.
Her shooting will come around. The main thing is that she could play that many minutes with no physical issues. (Hopefully she won't wake up lame tomorrow morning!) I think she will remain a starter all season, and her statistics will be comparable to those of the other starters.
Can you image Page and Azzi next year? We will be in heaven next yearPaige is a special..once in a generation kind of player. I started watching UConn Diana sophomore year, but my guess is the muttering Geno started when she threw the ball behind her back and confused her teammate was a very Diana flashback.
I will say - to me..this is cool. As I said, her presence and mentality actually reminds me more of Sue (so far), but seeing a player that so clearly emulated Diana...that’s cool. We’re gonna see that a lot with this generation, and DT might be the first women’s player that is iconic enough where young women have modeled their game after her. Yes, it is just another sign Diana is getting older..but really really cool to see.
Aaliyah is going to be something. Think about the year when Paige and Aaliyah are seniors and Azzi is a junior. Wow. Just wow.
Mir reminds me of Barbara Turner - I love Barbara Turner.
I really like Evina, she’s solid and smooth. She plays smart. She can shoot. She’s a great compliment to Paige.
loved seeing CWill being aggressive. She usually comes up big in big games, and has AA potential herself.
On a side note..I couldn’t help but think that Bria Hartley would have been an amazing backcourt Partner to Paige..given Paige’s ability to run transition.
.I can’t believe that after improving from the first game and getting a double double Liv should lose her starting job to a freshman who has played two games!Fox Sports App was better, but not adequate.
PB doesn't look like a killer, but she is. Quickly becoming her team.
Would like to see AE start in place of ONO. I think she could be more effective offensively than ONO right now.
48 points from freshmen is huge.
It's 2020 and that means $10 for a miss plus it would make them concentrate better lol.You know , I think Paige should start a 'Dime Jar'........Something like a piggy bank.
And charge her teammates ten-cent for every missed or open layup they miss after receiving a good pass (dime) from her. And charge herself five - cent for every turnover or bad pass.
And use the money for team pizza at the end of the season.
Agree with your last sentence. I believe that’s what it looks like to Auriemma also.Coming into this season, I expected Paige to make good reads, find open players, and be a good offensive player. I didn't expect her to be far and away our best offensive option, and as efficient as she is. I know it has only been two games, but if she keeps up these efficiency numbers, there is no way you can keep her out of the AA discussion. Glad she knocked in a few long balls too.
Aaliyah, lets face it, has a higher ceiling than Olivia. She has the athleticism, coordination, instincts, and strength to be very effective. I hope she continues to learn and get better, because she has the ability to elevate this team immensely.
These two players, paired with Azzi, look to me like the foundation of Uconn's next era.
Another way to look at “With Paige or Without Paige” is that with her in the game the score was 83-50 UConn; and with her out of the game the score was 15-9 Seaton Hall. Any questions? Any doubts?It looked like Mir got benched. She showed a lot of frustration with some fouls and thevbody language went bad so she went to the bench and never returned. Teaching moment.
I also liked the teaching moment when Paige wasn't getting the ball in the 2nd so Geno put her on the bench and looked at the rest of them and basically said you think you don't need her... try to keep it together now. She got the ball in the third. Lesson learned.
Depth gives the ability for teaching moments.