Should UCONN's seniors be concerned?

[jazz]

CW, EW and Ono have two distinct advantages. They are both incumbent starters and seniors. Those factors mean a challenger, of whom there are several, probably has to clearly beat them out to start. Having said that, I believe one returning player (Aaliyah) is probable to be a better player than all three this year, another (Azzi) could very well be better her first year, and depending on how you look at it, both Nika and Aaliyah are returning starters.

From that perspective we have 6 returning players that could consider themselves returning starters, one of which has to sit, before even considering challenges from Azzi or Dorka. A player doesn't have to lose a starting position, sometimes they could even improve a little and still be replaced if a star comes along. But clearly the burden is on the challengers to make the decision a clear cut one before changes are likely.

Azzi and Aaliyah could be substantially better than a returning senior, and Dorka is possible but not as likely in my opinion. To me the only returning starter that is a lock is Paige and only Paige.

No doubt CW, EW and Liv have the experience advantage. But at minimum, by year end, this advantage will be all but completely eroded and the better players will play in big games in crunch time: , CD III and Dorka. I think you will see a changing of the guard as the year goes on.

 

[boontonbomber]

If CW ONLY averages 30 or slightly less per game that could allow her to be fresher at the end. In the AZ game she guarded there best player using a lot of energy chasing her around and also got in foul trouble. Players like Nika Aubrey and Mir even Evina should use all there energy and fouls hounding the other teams best guard. In reality for UConn they play a 30+ game pre season to get ready for a 6 game tournament. You want all hands on deck mentally physically, and cohesively ready for those 6 games.

I absolutely agree with what you say. I've felt for awhile now that UConn's starters play too many minutes. I sit and watch, and try to figure out what the point is in playing them so many minutes . And in games where they have huge leads! Is he working on new stuff? What's going on? Why not be rotating players more? You would think that the very capable assistants would be in his ear. Maybe this season, with the plethora of players they have. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Stymie]

I absolutely agree with what you say. I've felt for awhile now that UConn's starters play too many minutes. I sit and watch, and try to figure out what the point is in playing them so many minutes . And in games where they have huge leads! Is he working on new stuff? What's going on? Why not be rotating players more? You would think that the very capable assistants would be in his ear. Maybe this season, with the plethora of players they have. But I'm not holding my breath.

I agree boonton.
Have never been able to understand risking injury to a starter when up 64-38 in the middle of the 3rd quarter, unless EVERYONE else on the roster isn’t pushing it in practice (which I do not believe is the case).
Will be interesting (impossible?) to see that happen this coming year.

 

[MSGRET]

No doubt CW, EW and Liv have the experience advantage. But at minimum, by year end, this advantage will be all but completely eroded and the better players will play in big games in crunch time: , CD III and Dorka. I think you will see a changing of the guard as the year goes on.

I believe that Crystal Dangerfield does not have any eligibility left to play this year. Now if you mean Caroline Ducharme she would be Caroline Ducharme or CD IV. Coach Dailey is CD, Caroline Doty is CD2, Dangerfield is Crystal Dangerfield, and Caroline Ducharme is Caroline Ducharme.

 

[jazz]

I believe that Crystal Dangerfield does not have any eligibility left to play this year. Now if you mean Caroline Ducharme she would be Caroline Ducharme or CD IV. Coach Dailey is CD, Caroline Doty is CD2, Dangerfield is Crystal Dangerfield, and Caroline Ducharme is Caroline Ducharme.

Funny you mention that. I had a feeling it was CG4. I was just adding them up and previously forgot about CD2. thanks for setting me straight!

 

[PvP]

Another "who will start, who will play more minutes," post. Yawn!

Minutes, or said another way "playing time" may be a yawn to you but it is where the rubber meets the road in basketball. You may not find the actual allocation of playing time of interest, but the very fact that so many here revert back to "minutes" suggests that there is great interest in who plays and who doesn't and that is, thankfully, measurable by how many minutes of playing time players at UCONN get from Geno. So maybe you are on the wrong site?

 

[PvP]

I like Liv. She is personable and intelligent. At the same time, I can't understand why she is being anointed an opening game starter by so many. She is known over her career at UConn to simply disappear in high pressure games. Some suggest that while this is true, her performance against weaker teams is often so good that such disappearances can be tolerated. That might be true if there were, as in recent years, no viable alternatives.

But this year there may be several but let's just focus on one. While to my knowledge, ONO has not found a place on any first team conference selections even when UConn was playing in the AAC which was hardly a Power 5 conference. On the other hand Dorka has been a first team selection in the Big 10 not once but twice. She is big and according to Geno "skilled." To me, if there is to be a clear choice as the starter at 5 this November it isn't Liv.

 

[CL82]

I agree boonton.
Have never been able to understand risking injury to a starter when up 64-38 in the middle of the 3rd quarter, unless EVERYONE else on the roster isn’t pushing it in practice (which I do not believe is the case).
Will be interesting (impossible?) to see that happen this coming year.

I know. I don’t think we should even play the starters against teams in the lower half of the big east. They should sit in the locker room wrapped in bubble wrap.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

No doubt CW, EW and Liv have the experience advantage. But at minimum, by year end, this advantage will be all but completely eroded and the better players will play in big games in crunch time: , CD III and Dorka. I think you will see a changing of the guard as the year goes on.

Sometimes a good to great "practice" player does not translate into a good to great "prime time" player vs. the TOP five teams, and fair to good "practice" player turns out to be great to amesome at "crunch time" vs. the TOP five teams. I believe the starting lineup for most of the Big East confernece matchups will be determined in the Louisville game (4th of the year?!? after three in "Atlantis" - we will see). I am hoping that Geno will be able to trust a 10 - 11 player rotation in most games, with a 7 - 8 player rotation in the TOP five matachups, and inbetween those numbers for the 6 - 25 ranked matchups. UCONN will be #1 or #2 for most of the year, but hold onto #1 after defeating SC at SC in February, 2022.

 

[jazz]

Sometimes a good to great "practice" player does not translate into a good to great "prime time" player vs. the TOP five teams, and fair to good "practice" player turns out to be great to amesome at "crunch time" vs. the TOP five teams. I believe the starting lineup for most of the Big East confernece matchups will be determined in the Louisville game (4th of the year?!? after three in "Atlantis" - we will see). I am hoping that Geno will be able to trust a 10 - 11 player rotation in most games, with a 7 - 8 player rotation in the TOP five matachups, and inbetween those numbers for the 6 - 25 ranked matchups. UCONN will be #1 or #2 for most of the year, but hold onto #1 after defeating SC at SC in February, 2022.

SC game will be tough. We will need some good outside shooting in that game to win and with PB, and CD IV on the floor, we have a chance. SC bigs will have to guard Dorka from 3 as well which could wear them down and create fouls since those 2 bigs are not used to playing defense so far from the cup.

 

[mudcat]

I for one, think PB is a better defender than CW. CW is really good in stretches and then tends to fall asleep sometimes and doesn't fight through screens enough. She has been torched during the year. Stopping McD was a tough match-up for her but she needed to rise to the occasion. There were times where she didn't get out on her quickly enough on the three and times she didn't show a sense of urgency fighting through screens. One time, GA about lost his mind. As I said, she was better in the second half.

PB robably has the best anticipation defensively of any college player currently playing. That said, she is not even close to CW as a one on one defender. She would have been torched by McD as she doesn't have the stance, much less the quickness to cope with that type of guard. McD would have scored even more points, or PB would have fouled out.

 

[CL82]

PB robably has the best anticipation defensively of any college player currently playing. That said, she is not even close to CW as a one on one defender. She would have been torched by McD as she doesn't have the stance, much less the quickness to cope with that type of guard. McD would have scored even more points, or PB would have fouled out.

Christyn has decided to make her defense a point of emphasis lay season. She's very good at it.

 

[jazz]

PB robably has the best anticipation defensively of any college player currently playing. That said, she is not even close to CW as a one on one defender. She would have been torched by McD as she doesn't have the stance, much less the quickness to cope with that type of guard. McD would have scored even more points, or PB would have fouled out.

well we certainly can't disagree any more than that one. I was much more worried about McD on the perimeter shootig threes and I think PB is much better than CW out there with her length and anticipation. I didn't care if McD got past anybody since we had some bigs waiting on her. I just don't think CW is a very good defender as she looses concentration too often. As a result, PB would have been the better option, would not have given up the multiple early threes that got us behind and I don't think she would have fouled out.

As I said, we could not disagree any more. But that is ok!

 

[jazz]

Sometimes a good to great "practice" player does not translate into a good to great "prime time" player vs. the TOP five teams, and fair to good "practice" player turns out to be great to amesome at "crunch time" vs. the TOP five teams. I believe the starting lineup for most of the Big East confernece matchups will be determined in the Louisville game (4th of the year?!? after three in "Atlantis" - we will see). I am hoping that Geno will be able to trust a 10 - 11 player rotation in most games, with a 7 - 8 player rotation in the TOP five matachups, and inbetween those numbers for the 6 - 25 ranked matchups. UCONN will be #1 or #2 for most of the year, but hold onto #1 after defeating SC at SC in February, 2022.

Sometimes may be true, but the inverse of that is most of the times it is true. I think the SC game may be the game were GA decides he will go with the young ones over the more experience ones in crunch time. If he decides in the game, then maybe we win. But if he doesn't decide to go young in crunch time of the SC game and those three don't carry the load, then he leans more on the young guys after that. Of course this is all IMHO.

 

[Buzzyboy]

someone will have to explain to me why Williams is always the one that is considered to lose playing time when she has done absolutely nothing to lose her starting job, yet I never hear anything about Westbrook who's an incosistent player.

I think that's totally out of wack! Williams has been one of the most inconsistent players that I've seen on the Huskies in recent memory .... there was many occasions where she shot horribly and was totally ineffective on defense though I do concede that in the last half of last season, she finally started playing the type of ball that people have expected her to be from day one. My expectations of Westbrook leading into last season were quite low and yet her performance and her impact on her teammates was incredible ... a complete surprise .... I do hope that Williams will continue to build on the player she was at the end of last season because when she plays like that, she's a big asset but conversely prior to that, she was anything but a big asset .....

 

[Rudy1927]

This group of seniors haven’t won anything. You throw the best five out there. Forget about age. Again nothing is owed to this group.

 

[jazz]

I think that's totally out of wack! Williams has been one of the most inconsistent players that I've seen on the Huskies in recent memory .... there was many occasions where she shot horribly and was totally ineffective on defense though I do concede that in the last half of last season, she finally started playing the type of ball that people have expected her to be from day one. My expectations of Westbrook leading into last season were quite low and yet her performance and her impact on her teammates was incredible ... a complete surprise .... I do hope that Williams will continue to build on the player she was at the end of last season because when she plays like that, she's a big asset but conversely prior to that, she was anything but a big asset .....

to be fair both are inconsistent and seem to be over-rated as well on the offensive end. Neither do much on the defensive end and just a bit on the boards. EW is a decent passer but takes too many chances that lead to turnovers. CW has no real vision for passing but she doesn't take chances either.

 

[JoePgh]

This group of seniors haven’t won anything. You throw the best five out there. Forget about age. Again nothing is owed to this group.

So you are saying that because these seniors have not won a National Championship yet, they are owed nothing for the hours and effort that they have put in, not to mention their three conference championships and three Final Fours? But if they had won one NC, then they would be owed a starting slot? Really??

I don't think they are owed a starting slot if a newcomer or a returning bench player clearly outperforms them. But that has nothing to do with what they have won or not won in prior years.

 

[Stymie]

So you are saying that because these seniors have not won a National Championship yet, they are owed nothing for the hours and effort that they have put in, not to mention their three conference championships and three Final Fours? But if they had won one NC, then they would be owed a starting slot? Really??

I don't think they are owed a starting slot if a newcomer or a returning bench player clearly outperforms them. But that has nothing to do with what they have won or not won in prior years.

Uh.....,they are receiving a top shelf 4 year college education, probably some Grad School reimbursement plus a ton of professional contacts and a huge Uconn Alumni network.
Sounds like a fair arrangement to me.
If the NCAA allows them even more, I’m OK with that.
Just, please keep your priorities inline:
Classroom.
Personal/spiritual development.
Hoops.
Residual.
That’s my order, but who am I to judge.