So here we are Paige-less

[Tonyc]

The important thing here is to get healthy. At this point from what we were told Griff should be back playing shortly. Azzi will be re evaluated in two weeks which means December 14th. If shes ready to go thats a big plus however I have a feeling it may be a little bit longer and then we have to hope the rust from not playin wears off quickly. Paige well lets face it we are probably looking at the earliest February 5. If sooner that will be great. We have the talent and the next few games are going to be tuff as we feel are way through them. We should be able to win a with our talent. With that said Louisville will be a very tuff game. We will see what we're made of in that game.

Two things we need is to hit outside shots and we will need patience working the ball. GTech is tall and they dont score alot. Many of their games they score in the 50's which tells me they slow the game down. It also tells me it will be difficult to dribble drive. Moving forward after watching the ND game I expect to see more teams play zone against us. We will have to grind it out. This is no more hoping, and wishing and what could've been's. Now it is time to see what we're made of. Grind it out, compete hard, and learn to play as a team.

We cant be bothered with polls right now. Lets face it we are most likely going to struggle a bit over the next few games. We may have a loss or two. We need to rebuild and grow as a team. We have 3 big time injuries and until those 3 come back, and come back healthy and brush off the rust we are going to stumble forward. Once everybody is back and ready to go we are going to be very tuff to beat. For me at full strength even if we're not a one seed we are good enough to beat anybody.

So we move forward Paige-less. We will see how we respond. Geno is a great great coach and Im sure he has a game plan. For now lets see what happens tomorrow nite.

GO Huskies

 

[veryolddog]

Very optimistic post as usual, Tony. However, we are doomed.
Not really. Most college coaches would love to have the personnel on board that Geno can play as Team. So, UConn Women will compete no matter what. Interesting what the challenges will bring but I would bet that these young women will really find out who they are and what they really can do. As an observer, this will be interesting, exciting, fun to watch.

 

[oldude]

Geno may complain publicly that he doesn’t like his team without Paige on the court, but make no mistake about it, he will have his team ready to compete without her. It might not be as pretty on Thursday night in Atlanta, but I absolutely expect that the team will play with great intensity and effort without their superstar on the court.

 

[BRS24]

Geno may complain publicly that he doesn’t like his team without Paige on the court, but make no mistake about it, he will have his team ready to compete without her. It might not be as pretty on Thursday night in Atlanta, but I absolutely expect that the team will play with great intensity and effort without their superstar on the court.

Imagine practices this week. Geno has the team in the circle and looks them all in the eye and says, ok, now what, who's next? He's been saying that the team relies too much on Paige, perhaps some didn't take it as seriously as they should, so the team now has a problem to solve, and Geno cannot solve it for them.

On edit - in a weird way, it reminds me of the scene in GI Jane where the squad is on a training run, it turns into a real op, and Command Master Chief Urgayle looks at the squad and says "who's not ready". Flip this around and Geno telling them to decide if they are ready.

 

[GoUconn7961]

My two cents? What I think we need the most? Vocal senior leaders who will match the intensity that Paige brings to the game. We get that, I think we're good.

 

[Aluminny69]

Are you saying it's time to "turn the Paige" on this season? ( Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

[my2cents]

My two cents? What I think we need the most? Vocal senior leaders who will match the intensity that Paige brings to the game. We get that, I think we're good.

you rang?

 

[visitingcock]

Are you saying it's time to "turn the Paige" on this season? ( Sorry, couldn't resist.)

YYeah, I was tempted to link Bob Seegar

 

[Carnac]

The important thing here is to get healthy. At this point from what we were told Griff should be back playing shortly. Azzi will be re evaluated in two weeks which means December 14th. If shes ready to go thats a big plus however I have a feeling it may be a little bit longer and then we have to hope the rust from not playin wears off quickly. Paige well lets face it we are probably looking at the earliest February 5. If sooner that will be great. We have the talent and the next few games are going to be tuff as we feel are way through them. We should be able to win a with our talent. With that said Louisville will be a very tuff game. We will see what we're made of in that game.

Two things we need is to hit outside shots and we will need patience working the ball. GTech is tall and they dont score alot. Many of their games they score in the 50's which tells me they slow the game down. It also tells me it will be difficult to dribble drive. Moving forward after watching the ND game I expect to see more teams play zone against us. We will have to grind it out. This is no more hoping, and wishing and what could've been's. Now it is time to see what we're made of. Grind it out, compete hard, and learn to play as a team.

We cant be bothered with polls right now. Lets face it we are most likely going to struggle a bit over the next few games. We may have a loss or two. We need to rebuild and grow as a team. We have 3 big time injuries and until those 3 come back, and come back healthy and brush off the rust we are going to stumble forward. Once everybody is back and ready to go we are going to be very tuff to beat. For me at full strength even if we're not a one seed we are good enough to beat anybody.

So we move forward Paige-less. We will see how we respond. Geno is a great great coach and Im sure he has a game plan. For now lets see what happens tomorrow nite.

GO Huskies

One word Tonyc, “EXECUTE.” If our team individually and collectively can go on the floor and execute Geno’s game plan and in-game instructions, we will be ok. Geno has assembled a team of elite athletes. All they have to do is do what they do. Do what made them a highly ranked prospect in their class.

No one expects any of our women to take the floor in tights and a cape. Just play and do what got you here. Everyone of our women considers herself a basketball player, ok then play!! Play hard, smart, read the floor and execute. I’m not looking past Georgia Tech. Let’s take these games as they come. Adversity either builds character or reveals it. Let’s see what kind of character our team has.

 

[huskeynut]

Geno knows the talent level and experience available. He also knows how to meld this talent together.

The players should know full well the task ahead of them. The senior leadership can get it done. Actually, they have no choice.

There is a big silver lining to all this. If the team can maintain solid performance, winning the games in front of them, they will be better prepared for Paige's return. This will not be an easy task. The team is going to have to work their collective butts off every minute of every day to succeed.

The journey has started.

 

[MD#12Fan]

One word Tonyc, “EXECUTE.” If our team individually and collectively can go on the floor and execute Geno’s game plan and in-game instructions, we will be ok. Geno has assembled a team of elite athletes. All they have to do is do what they do. Do what made them a highly ranked prospect in their class.

No one expects any of our women to take the floor in tights and a cape. Just play and do what got you here. Everyone of our women considers herself a basketball player, ok then play!! Play hard, smart, read the floor and execute. I’m not looking past Georgia Tech. Let’s take these games as they come. Adversity either builds character or reveals it. Let’s see what kind of character our team has.

Well intended post as usual! Excellent!
Devil's Advocate: Play ball! Not execute! Simplify! No one on that roster would wear UConn colors if they can't play. Release your talent! Run, sprint, cut, screen, roll, get in faces, slash, grab the ball, finish. If you are in the wrong place, oh well, do something with conviction, get out of there, screen somebody, get somebody else open, cut through strong. AZ didn't beat us on a chess board, Miss State?, ND- was that execution that got her open in the corner. They all out-physicaled us! Time to turn the tables. Paige comes back, it's all over!!! I'd argue- basketball is meant to be less than pretty!!

 

[ballerfan]

CW’s perspective.

Watching a lot of videos …

 

[Rb335]

Even though this injury is just to one player, it’s really exposed the lack of playing time given to our bench. We came into the season carrying a roster of 14, lost one to transfer, and now have 3 injured. So far, we were able to mask that by playing our top 5/6 a lot of minutes.

But now we are dressing 10 players, including one freshman who hasn’t appeared in a game, and two sophomores who have sniffed a combined 8 minutes through 6 games.

Essentially we are going into these next few games with 7 options, unless Geno is willing to give everyone some playing time. Not to mention CD was struggling to get court time prior to ND.

We’ve been lucky to avoid the injury bug in recent years, but our reliance on a rotation of 6 or 7 for many years was bound to be tested at some point. It’ll be interesting to see how our players respond and if there’s been a diamond in the rough sitting on the bench.

 

[Inthepaint]

Captain Kirk to his young, trainee crew when they have to go into a dangerous, unexpected battle situation in "Wrath of Kahn":
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to grow up in a hurry"
Don't think CW, Liv and "E" need to grow up, but maybe they have to be ready to bring their game to the next level, every time they walk out on the court.
We know Dorka can play this game. Can she go beyond herself and leave it all out on the floor?
For Nika and AE, what happened last year is irrelevant . Time to use your energy and aggressive play to make a difference NOW.
For Mir, Piath and even Amari, times coming to see how ready you are for Division 1 WCBB
This will either make Caroline a true star or break her heart (and ours).
And for Paige, Azzi and Aubrey....we know you will be there to help Geno, CD, Jamelle and Morgan fire up and encourage your mates.
If we can keep it going for the next 2 months, and somehow put all the pieces back together for the Big Dance....it will be a story for the ages.
Even in Storrs.

 

[Zinethar]

It is amazing how poor some of the medias questions are however I was very pleased with what I consider one of the best exchanges I have seen Christyn make. She gave great responses to even the poorest questions. I wish the interviewer hadn't dropped the ball when she asked if he meant "point guard". I would have loved to hear that response.

 

[oldude]

If we can keep it going for the next 2 months, and somehow put all the pieces back together for the Big Dance....it will be a story for the ages.
Even in Storrs.

I have been reluctant to get ahead of the situation, because of all the unknowns, but there is a remarkable story out there if everything falls into place. Fingers crossed.

 

[LoboDays]

I guess I have a different view of things. IMO, at full strength and without Paige, UCONN still has a more talented team than any other team on their schedule with the exception of SC. If Geno does his job and gets his players to play up to their potential, they should not lose another game except one. They will run the table in the BE and be a #1 regional seed in the Tourney. Very few coaches are blessed with such a deep talented roster. The coach that creates the best team wins the ring. That’s not always the team that possesses the best player….as we learned last year. I like our players. I’m optimistic that they will get better as a team and surprise us with a level of play that continues to make them a top contender.

 

[browns]

Although many of you are optimistic and I am looking forward to see how they play but I keep thinking the "offense" really wasn't that great even with Paige,now what? They certainly have the talent to play with anyone,yes including SC,but I doubt they will see any teams play them man to man the rest of the season.Now we can say Azzi and Caroline will shoot 3's so well it will force teams to get out of the zone but except for 1 game each of them have shot well we really haven't seen that.
It's going to be kind of nice to not be concerned what Uconn is ranked or what seed they will be come March.Obviously it looks like they will lose multiple games this year..so what..back to the real word and not the fantasy world Uconn basketball has become.
I'm optimistic because for the most part their defense has been pretty good all year and if it stays that way they can win a lot of games just from that.Offensively we may have a different high scorer every game.I mean most of them are HS AA and know how to put the ball in the basket so it's a matter of playing together..this first game against GT is going to be a pretty good test because they play good D
So begins a quest to keep the final four record going,which with all Uconn's amazing records may just be the most amazing one of all

 

[oldude]

I guess I have a different view of things. IMO, at full strength and without Paige, UCONN still has a more talented team than any other team on their schedule with the exception of SC. If Geno does his job and gets his players to play up to their potential, they should not lose another game except one. They will run the table in the BE and be a #1 regional seed in the Tourney. Very few coaches are blessed with such a deep talented roster. The coach that creates the best team wins the ring. That’s not always the team that possesses the best player….as we learned last year. I like our players. I’m optimistic that they will get better as a team and surprise us with a level of play that continues to make them a top contender.

I tend to agree with one caveat that it may take a few games for players to adjust to their new roles with Paige out. During that adjustment period UConn may be vulnerable to an upset.

 

[D J B]

Imagine practices this week. Geno has the team in the circle and looks them all in the eye and says, ok, now what, who's next? He's been saying that the team relies too much on Paige, perhaps some didn't take it as seriously as they should, so the team now has a problem to solve, and Geno cannot solve it for them.

On edit - in a weird way, it reminds me of the scene in GI Jane where the squad is on a training run, it turns into a real op, and Command Master Chief Urgayle looks at the squad and says "who's not ready". Flip this around and Geno telling them to decide if they are ready.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I guess I have a different view of things. IMO, at full strength and without Paige, UCONN still has a more talented team than any other team on their schedule with the exception of SC. If Geno does his job and gets his players to play up to their potential, they should not lose another game except one. They will run the table in the BE and be a #1 regional seed in the Tourney. Very few coaches are blessed with such a deep talented roster. The coach that creates the best team wins the ring. That’s not always the team that possesses the best player….as we learned last year. I like our players. I’m optimistic that they will get better as a team and surprise us with a level of play that continues to make them a top contender.

Agree. Pretend for 8 weeks that UConn did not land the #1 recruit in the country. Could be a team similar to the team of the shortened season: CW, Meg, Guns. That team had a chance to get to the Final 4 as well!

 

[Carnac]

Geno knows the talent level and experience available. He also knows how to meld this talent together.

The players should know full well the task ahead of them. The senior leadership can get it done. Actually, they have no choice.

There is a big silver lining to all this. If the team can maintain solid performance, winning the games in front of them, they will be better prepared for Paige's return. This will not be an easy task. The team is going to have to work their collective butts off every minute of every day to succeed.

The journey has started.

That’s right huskeynut. Things happen for a reason. Sometimes for reasons we can’t comprehend or appreciate. The team undoubtedly will be It will be interesting to see how many wins UConn can pull off until Paige returns.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I'm from Maryland, "The Old Line State".
We have to hold the line.
Motto comes from the Maryland 400, that held the line at the Battle of Brooklyn. The heroic unit held the line and allowed the Patriot force to retreat and live to fight another day. One of the 1st battles of the Revolutionary War. We might all be taking tea breaks without the MD 400.
Now it's time for these talented young people to hold the line, until reinforcements arrive. Go Huskies!