Should UCONN's seniors be concerned?

[asuwish]

Christyn has never sat, never will. She's averaged over 30 minutes in each of her 3 seasons. Too valuable, at both ends of the floor.

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.

 

[wolfe613]

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.

and there lies the problem, the big east games are basically just auditions but they don't get the team ready for the final four. Adding some non conference games vs Sc and Louisville are good, but it's just not up to par when Sc and Stanford and even teams like Maryland get way tougher tests week to week.

 

[veryolddog]

In my opinion, I think that all of the seniors should be concerned because the Team has an unusually large amount of younger talented players. I want the seniors to be concerned. I want them to know that they have a "spider" on their back ready and willing to replace them at any moment in time. Perhaps, we may get the best playing time from them than we have ever seen. If not, one of the younger talented players will step up and earn their playing time.

 

[Charliebball]

Will any UCONN senior average more than 25 minutes per game for the entire season?

Will the UCONN seniors start every game in which they play as they did last season?

Will the young talent push the seniors to reach their potential? Geno says CW is working harder than ever. She sees what could happen. Getting beat out by an undergraduate in your senior year does not bode well for the WNBA draft.

Come January will some the young guns, posts and guards, be better than the seniors? Paige is there now. Heck, she was voted best in the NCAA last season.

Liv will have Dorka, Amari, and Aaliyah pressing for playing time irrespective of position. They are all post players. Perhaps Mir and Aubrey may improve to press for minutes. Piath's health is an unknown at this time.

CW and “E” will face a serious challenge from Nika, Azzi, Caroline, and Paige for playing time. Paige of course is a given assuming no lingering issues with her surgery. Saylor may overcome her health issue and mount a challenge.

This will be very interesting to o

everything comes down to the quality of their play on the court..........if CW builds on the second half of last year she's going to get more than 25 minutes a game.........if ONO doesn't improve on her play of last year she will not get 25 minutes on the court......

 

[Bigboote]

I think 25, more in tighter games, for Christyn and 15-25 for Evina and Olivia. I don’t think they should be worried about it, though. Evina especially will be much better off not having to play 30+ minutes a game.

 

[Eagle4]

Rather than being worried, I would hope that everyone is MOTIVATED. I have a sense that Azzi and Dorka are very talented players who will get major playing time. I love Edwards to also be a key contributer. Paige is a given. The other returnees who played a lot last year all have thier plusses and minuses. At the beginning of the season some of the vets may start but my guess is that they will have to perform better and more consistently or they will be pressed by the talented newcomers. I personally would like to see a running and pressing team that uses fresh legs to wear down opponents. I dont care who starts or who plays the most mintes.

What I am hoping for is improvement over last year. We proved again to not be quite good enough to get what we all want- another Championship (that's been the case over the last 4 painful endings). The competion for the ultimate prize is going to be strong next year and we need to get better, so improvement is what I am looking for- whether it comes from the vets raising their game or the newcomers, what matters is that the TEAM gets better. we need more and better (consistent) weapons on offense, a better inside game, and better defense. It would be great if we get the boost we need from EVERYONE. Time will tell and the players and coaches will sort it out. Everyone seems to be working hard and the internal competition can only serve to raise everyone's game.

 

[Bama fan]

Another unknown...the number of "minutes per game/starting lineup" threads that will be started each day, week and/or month between now and November. Also the variations on each thread title is unknown but could be interesting.

It may as yet be unknown, but it is approaching infinity.

 

[MooseJaw]

NO! The question itself stinks. To be thinking of your minutes at this time is the epitome of selfish basketball and far from the UConn model of a team. This time of year the focus is to get ready to do whatever is required to win games. I don't think there are any idiots on this team and only an idiot would think that the arrival of Dorka and Azzi won't alter the distribution of minutes.

I have been chastised on the BY for being less forward than your post. That said, you only speak common sense, the obvious.

 

[BostonBay]

Seniors will get their minutes. UConn will have plenty of blowouts to ensure that. The key question will be how many minutes will they get against the elite competition and the Elite 8 & Final Four games. That should be based on who gives the team the best chance to win. Its Titles or Bust at UConn...that is the mindset.

 

[Cheddie]

NO! The question itself stinks. To be thinking of your minutes at this time is the epitome of selfish basketball and far from the UConn model of a team. This time of year the focus is to get ready to do whatever is required to win games. I don't think there are any idiots on this team and only an idiot would think that the arrival of Dorka and Azzi won't alter the distribution of minutes.

To phrase this a bit differently - Geno recruits bright young women and from everything I've read for years he never promises playing time. In fact, the seniors know well by now that if they don't perform per his expectations, they will sit - even in "big" games. So everyone - seniors to freshman - should know the score.

I would also guess that the seniors would be thrilled - even with fewer minutes on court - to be cutting down the nets in Minneapolis.

 

[wolfe613]

A bigger intrigue for me is how much is the loss of Shea Ralph gonna have on the guards. I still say not having her in the bubble was a big loss, one of the best communicators with players and I know she will do a fantastic job at Vanderbilt. Was not a fan of her replacement, went 4-30 at Hartford and then just decided to quit on the team and comeback. I realize some hc's are bad hc's and that doesn't mean they can't be good assistants but to me it was not a good look.

 

[jazz]

CW will start. I have never understood this criticism of her.

She was expected to be a game changing dominate first team All-american. She is not even close to that. Quality player but has not come close to becoming the type of player that she once was thought to become. Even GA criticized her this year which he has never done to CW (from what I can remember).

 

[wolfe613]

She was expected to be a game changing dominate first team All-american. She is not even close to that. Quality player but has not come close to becoming the type of player that she once was thought to become. Even GA criticized her this year which he has never done to CW (from what I can remember).

if there's one player I hope doesn't read the forum it's definitely her. The scrutiny she gets is just unreasonable to me, yea she was #1 in her recruiting class but she still contributes to her team. She was the only player who had a good game in the Final 4 and there's reaction like she went 0-10.

 

[Alydar]

and there lies the problem, the big east games are basically just auditions but they don't get the team ready for the final four. Adding some non conference games vs Sc and Louisville are good, but it's just not up to par when Sc and Stanford and even teams like Maryland get way tougher tests week to week.

Maryland will play a lot of B1G teams ranked 14-25 but Brenda doesn't play many top 5 teams. That may partly explain her early exit. The PAC12 has exploded in the last 5 years but for a long time it wasn't a deep conference and yet Tara has a great record in getting to FF's.
The games that help prepare teams for the final four are top 5 games, on national TV in front of a sellout. UConn may not play as many top 25 games but they play as many or more 1-2 games than anyone. Last year they played and beat 2 No 1 teams. I like the BE a lot more than the AAC where physicality replaced a lack of skill.
UConn is going to roll over all but a small handful of teams this season. And that would be true in any conference.

 

[jazz]

1. CW will start the entire year but her minutes will be dramatically reduced as the year goes along, assuming can play defence. In big games in the tournament, I believe will play 30 minutes and CW could go less then 15. I think GA will be more confident in than he will in CW.

2. If Liv does not improve dramatically, I think she is in danger of losing her starting job to Dorka. Liv's best attribute is protecting the rim and some good passes from the high post. In big games in the tournament, I believe she could be down to 15 minutes a game, in particular if AD emerges. I just don't think GA will have the confidence in her game when he has others he can go to.

3. EW's time will go down as well, in particular if CD III (or is it IV) emerges. I think she is the one player who could really take off and do a lot of things on the court that isn't being talked about as much (in light of the talk). She has better size, shooting ability and skills than EW. If CD III can play defense, she will steal a lot of minutes from EW.

By year end and/or big games in the tournament, I think the players in the game at crunch time will be: PB, , CD III, AE and Dorka. That is a formidable 5 there.

 

[HopJim]

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

 

[jazz]

if there's one player I hope doesn't read the forum it's definitely her. The scrutiny she gets is just unreasonable to me, yea she was #1 in her recruiting class but she still contributes to her team. She was the only player who had a good game in the Final 4 and there's reaction like she went 0-10.

That reaction is not from me. She had a solid-good game overall. Not great. She may have been our best player bc the others just were not very good.

She still only shot 7-17, gave up 12 points on defense in the first half, threw up an airball, missed some wide-open threes and missed at the rim multiple times. She did play better defence in the second half and I thought she was good on the boards (might be the first time I've ever said that). She certainly was a lot better than 0-10. I'm not sure I've seen anybody be that critical of her, and if I'm correct, I believe I am the most critical of her.

Good player, not great and not on par with what GA thought she would be as evidenced by his own remarks earlier in the year.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Dorka should start over Liv. Liv disappeared too many times in big games. The other starters should be Paige, E, CW and AE. CW is our best defensive player and can drive to the basket and get her own shot. Now maybe Azzi and E rotate more but E is the heart and soul of this team.

 

[wolfe613]

That reaction is not from me. She had a solid-good game overall. Not great. She may have been our best player bc the others just were not very good.

She still only shot 7-17, gave up 12 points on defense in the first half, threw up an airball, missed some wide-open threes and missed at the rim multiple times. She did player better defence in the second half and I thought she was good on the boards (might be the first time I've ever said that). She certainly was a lot better than 0-10. I'm not sure I've seen anybody be that critical of her, and if I'm correct, I believe I am the most critical of her.

Good player, not great and not on par with what GA thought she would be as evidenced by his own remarks earlier in the year.

she gave up 12 cause she had the tough task on being on Mcdonald that's the knock on Paige as great as a scorer she is, her defense is just not good enough at least not yet. I feel Williams took all the blame and she earned my respect for her press conference basically saying the team didn't take Arizona as serious. She was front and center postgate while the other teammates were just doing skype or zoom interviews.

 

[jazz]

she gave up 12 cause she had the tough task on being on Mcdonald that's the knock on Paige as great as a scorer she is, her defense is just not good enough at least not yet. I feel Williams took all the blame and she earned my respect for her press conference basically saying the team didn't take Arizona as serious. She was front and center postgate while the other teammates were just doing skype or zoom interviews.

CW is the junior. That is life for upper class men.

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.

 

[Alydar]

How do you measure the value of what will be 4 years of practicing together? Or having played a load of "huge games" together? SCar & Baylor had transfers when they won. That mental maturity that comes from experience can be very valuable when the pressure is on.
Geno will showcase his seniors and I think that Bueckers and Fudd won't mind at all as long as they win.

 

[wolfe613]

CW is the junior. That is life for upper class men.

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.

no you ask the national player of the year to do it

 

[jazz]

no you ask the national player of the year to do it

well that is exactly what I think should have been done and I think PB has much better instincts on the perimeter and can use her length to disrupt. CW is tougher once the player gets in the lane. I think GA had a big job in this game and that was to stop McD from getting off to a hot start and I think he chose the wrong player for the job. I would have even preferred AG for the job but then everybody would have blamed her for the offense majorly stalling for most of the game.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I think Liv will have a lot of say in her minutes. If she starts to fall in love with playing outside, like she tended to do at times last year, she will lose minutes. But if she stays down from the top of the key and in (and mostly in) she will see significant minutes. With the potential of Paige, Azzi and Ducharme out on the perimeter (also Muhl, Westbrook, Williams) and Edwards 'hunting' screens, it could really open things up for ONO down low.

The margin of victories will also play a big role when you have a team with depth.

 

[CL82]

I want them to know that they have a "spider" on their back