Starting Five...Next year

[JonathanXIV]

IMO, Paige is the only incoming player that will have an impact next year. The 2 other recruits are just too raw & green. Evina is coming off back-to-back knee surgeries (at least the 1st one was major, possibly the 2nd). I would not count on her to play or be the same player she was based on past injury profiles.

Two other recruits? Missing a couple.

 

[meyers7]

i have stated in other posts that my starting five for next year will be Liv, Aubrey, Mir, Aaliyah & Paige with an emphasis on defense, rebounding, hustle and attitude, i.e. Celtics basketball with Liv playing the role of Bill Russell. Lots of scoring in transition via steals and traps. The game plan is to hold the opponent to 40 points while the Huskies score 60, eh?
This lineup renders the opponents 3-point shooting to moot as Aubrey, Mir et al extend our half-court defense out to the arc [and beyond] while Liv protects against layups ... exciting!

Similar to you prediction that Griffin was going to lead the team in scoring (granted she could still do it, if she averages 43 ppg over the next 14 games, she'll need more per game if UCONN doesn't make the NC game ), this one isn't going to be accurate either.

You're not very good at this prediction thing, eh?

 

[meyers7]

Jingo , I know that Janga is legal in some states now for medical purposes, but you should leave it alone if you thinking an AA candidate like Meg will not be in the starting 5. Uconn's returning senior and AA not in Geno's starting 5 ? Though I do believe there could be 2/3 starting positions potentially up for grabs , I don't believe Meg's is one of them.

Janga?

I think you mean Ganja, mon.

 

[DeeHusky]

Why would they request a waiver for EW to play this year if they didn’t believe she was ready to play? Make it make sense

 

[CajunHusky]

Do you have any idea on how long it takes to schedule and coordinate for surgery? You think Westbrook went home, mysteriously gets injured the ONLY time she is NOT competitively playing the sport, flies back to UConn, meets with the appropriate UConn team doctors and ortho staff(during Christmas mind you), and gets scheduled in under 5 days? No, I think I am going to stick with the she decided in November to have the revision this year and the earliest date they had open after Christmas was either 1/30 or 1/31. The news broke on 1/31, she could have had the surgery a couple days earlier for all we know.

The only important facts - none of which appear in your post:

It was announced on Jan 2 (UConn Blog) that EW "underwent left knee surgery on New Year's Eve"

everything else - my statements included - are conjecture.

 

[CocoHusky]

Ok what is so hard to understand?
So, I guess I don't understand how this is "contrary to evidence" or how "Westbrook is 5.5 months behind where we were told"? She could have been ready for the start of the season. but chose to have another surgery.

What so hard to understand is why you keep saying things like she "chose" to have another surgery that she "already planned on getting" and thus minimizing the second surgery as if it were no big deal. There is no evidence of either of those things. The fact is Evina "required" a second surgery. This is not some elective plastic surgery we are talking about. A second surgery means the first one didn't work and as of now we don't know if the 2nd surgery worked either.

 

[ucbart]

Evina
Anna
Christyn
Megan
ONO

 

[EricLA]

Evina
Anna
Christyn
Megan
ONO

Bingo. For those with longer memories, Diana didn't start her freshman year until an injury forced Geno to put her in as a starter. Nykesha Sales didn't start as a freshman. Maya didn't start right away, again, until an injury forced her to start.

You know what freshmen DID start? Stef Dolson. Know why? Tina had just graduated and Geno's only other option for size was Heather Buck.

My point is that Geno has NEVER started a freshman unless he had no other choices. Next year we will have so much talent that he won't NEED to start Paige. He has said it's generally too much pressure on a freshman.

Perhaps I'll be surprised and he will start Paige. She certainly has the right attitude, confidence, moxie, etc. But I just don't think so. Having said that, she may get more minutes than starters.

 

[UConnCat]

From the moment she arrives on campus Bueckers will be the best PG on the team. She needs to be a starter immediately and I think she will be.

 

[Charliebball]

My point is that Geno has NEVER started a freshman unless he had no other choices. Next year we will have so much talent that he won't NEED to start Paige. He has said it's generally too much pressure on a freshman.

I think you may have answered your own question................Westbrook is the only "returning" option at point guard and she is coming off of a significant injury and has actually never run the UConn offense herself. Add to that the fact that she has already proven to not be the most efficient point guard around and that leads me to believe that PB will be Geno's point guard of choice..................oh, that and the fact that PB is one of the most talented point guards to reach Storrs in the school's history...............

 

[SCyankee]

Bingo. For those with longer memories, Diana didn't start her freshman year until an injury forced Geno to put her in as a starter. Nykesha Sales didn't start as a freshman. Maya didn't start right away, again, until an injury forced her to start.

You know what freshmen DID start? Stef Dolson. Know why? Tina had just graduated and Geno's only other option for size was Heather Buck.

My point is that Geno has NEVER started a freshman unless he had no other choices. Next year we will have so much talent that he won't NEED to start Paige. He has said it's generally too much pressure on a freshman.

Perhaps I'll be surprised and he will start Paige. She certainly has the right attitude, confidence, moxie, etc. But I just don't think so. Having said that, she may get more minutes than starters.

I completely agree. If Evina was eligible and healthy this year she would have started, not Anna or Aubrey. Geno would have had the luxury of slowly introducing them to the game. I also believe we would have at least one less loss. Next year like most years the freshman will have to earn playing time and there will be a lot more competition.

 

[ABCDFE]

Bingo. For those with longer memories, Diana didn't start her freshman year until an injury forced Geno to put her in as a starter. Nykesha Sales didn't start as a freshman. Maya didn't start right away, again, until an injury forced her to start.

You know what freshmen DID start? Stef Dolson. Know why? Tina had just graduated and Geno's only other option for size was Heather Buck.

My point is that Geno has NEVER started a freshman unless he had no other choices. Next year we will have so much talent that he won't NEED to start Paige. He has said it's generally too much pressure on a freshman.

Perhaps I'll be surprised and he will start Paige. She certainly has the right attitude, confidence, moxie, etc. But I just don't think so. Having said that, she may get more minutes than starters.

Let’s be careful when you say so much talent for next year . We have to see these newbies play first and how they handle being a freshman at UCONN. Our hope is yes this will be a very deep team with some elite talent. But right now nothing is for certain. Why because we all thought CW would improve greatly and she hasn’t. So until we see that Liv, Meg, CW are better and someone else steps in for crystal and the 5th starting spot is not a rotating door if inconsistency let’s wait before proclamations.

 

[Charliebball]

Let’s be careful when you say so much talent for next year . We have to see these newbies play first and how they handle being a freshman at UCONN. Our hope is yes this will be a very deep team with some elite talent. But right now nothing is for certain. Why because we all thought CW would improve greatly and she hasn’t. So until we see that Liv, Meg, CW are better and someone else steps in for crystal and the 5th starting spot is not a rotating door if inconsistency let’s wait before proclamations.

I'm certainly not predicting an NC....................... I am fairly confident the team will be better in a number of ways as it gets bigger, stronger and more skilled with the addition of Westbrook, Bueckers and the other freshmen..................when Geno looks towards the bench and shakes his head I'm hoping it's because he has so many shiny new toys to use..........

 

[EricLA]

Let’s be careful when you say so much talent for next year . We have to see these newbies play first and how they handle being a freshman at UCONN. Our hope is yes this will be a very deep team with some elite talent. But right now nothing is for certain. Why because we all thought CW would improve greatly and she hasn’t. So until we see that Liv, Meg, CW are better and someone else steps in for crystal and the 5th starting spot is not a rotating door if inconsistency let’s wait before proclamations.

You are right. Nothing is certain. We could walk across the street and be hit with a bus. But one thing is certain... UCONN will have a TON of talent next year. Williams, ONO and Walker are all starters and will start next year. All will have a chance to improve over the summer. Add in Evina - who was the #2 recruit in her class, and we have 4 players who were all top 5 coming out of HS, and hopefully will play up to those rankings.

Liv and Megan both showed big improvements from last year to this year. Any reason to doubt they will be at least as good if not better next season? CW spent the entire summer away from school and didn't work on her game like Liv did. A great experience for her but IMHO at the expense of working on her game. She will have a chance this summer to correct that. Evina has been injured so the question is - how healthy will she be? A healthy Evina was one of the best players on talented Tennessee teams as a freshman and sophomore.

Aubrey and Anna have both had great moments as freshmen. There aren't a lot of freshmen who have played better consistently this season. They will have a chance to work hard over the summer and hopefully have that sophomore leap.

Aaliyah has already played for the Canadian national team and had a chance to play against Team USA where she scored something like 9 points and had 6 or so rebounds. Paige is possibly the most hyped player in the history of UCONN. I don't think it's a stretch to say we are getting 2 terrifically talented players.

Nika and Mir are bigger question marks, but Nika has played on a professional Croatian team and had a chance to work hard overseas. Geno has said she's fearless. Mir is as athletic as any player we've ever gotten. Still, question marks. And I'm not counting on anything from Piath. Raw with upside, but IMHO won't contribute next season...

So I'm pretty confident in saying "we will have a tremendously talented team next season".

 

[Go/huskies]

A revision? done on New Year's eve when every one else was home for the holidays (or just returned). Doesn't seem scheduled to me. More likely she tweaked the knee while she was home.

I believe most of the team was in New York for New Years, I think it was more of a get the Surgery now because we’re gonna need you to be fully healthy next year.

 

[soxfan23]

I believe most of the team was in New York for New Years, I think it was more of a get the Surgery now because we’re gonna need you to be fully healthy next year.

Of course it was!

 

[HopJim]

Bingo. For those with longer memories, Diana didn't start her freshman year until an injury forced Geno to put her in as a starter. Nykesha Sales didn't start as a freshman. Maya didn't start right away, again, until an injury forced her to start.

You know what freshmen DID start? Stef Dolson. Know why? Tina had just graduated and Geno's only other option for size was Heather Buck.

My point is that Geno has NEVER started a freshman unless he had no other choices. Next year we will have so much talent that he won't NEED to start Paige. He has said it's generally too much pressure on a freshman.

Perhaps I'll be surprised and he will start Paige. She certainly has the right attitude, confidence, moxie, etc. But I just don't think so. Having said that, she may get more minutes than starters.

All good points with some additions. Typically frosh don't play strong minutes until their defense and stamina is at UConn level. Love everything I have heard about Paige but its her offense, not defense, that provided all the awards. Still a great player but like all the Huskies you mentioned, she may not start right away.

 

[Alydar]

From the moment she arrives on campus Bueckers will be the best PG on the team. She needs to be a starter immediately and I think she will be.

I agree with your first sentence and will go so far as to say that at some point in the season ESPN will declare her the best pg in wcbb. But starting is far less important than finishing. Bueckers will finish every game UConn plays starting game 1, and by finishing I mean she will be on the court until the outcome is no longer in doubt.

 

[hart2hart]

Totally agree with HopJim. My starting five are:
Anna
Christyn
Evina
Meg
Ono
I think a lot of the other players will get decent minutes or more, just depends on how quickly they adapt to the college level. I can’t wait to see Paige in-person and she may end up eventually starting......you just never know!

 

[GRIFFBIFF20]

My starting 5 at the "Start" of next season would be:

ONO
C. Williams
M. Walker
E. Westbrook
A. Griffin

6th and 7th players would be Paige and Anna. Then Mir McLean as the 8th, Piath Gabriel as the 9th (spelling ONO), the Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edward's battling for time at the 10th and 11th slots

 

[connboy77]

As I stated previously there is noway in hell that Geno is not going to start Paige. She will be the best player on the team from day one. There isn't any player in the the country that can do what she can do. I predict she will be an All-American as a freshman. She is a once in a generation player.

 

[BobbyJ]

All good points with some additions. Typically frosh don't play strong minutes until their defense and stamina is at UConn level. Love everything I have heard about Paige but its her offense, not defense, that provided all the awards. Still a great player but like all the Huskies you mentioned, she may not start right away.

Of course nobody gets awards for defense in HS. I think you're going to be surprised by her defense. Her hands are everywhere and her footwork is very good.

 

[DeeHusky]

As I stated previously there is noway in hell that Geno is not going to start Paige. She will be the best player on the team from day one. There isn't any player in the the country that can do what she can do. I predict she will be an All-American as a freshman. She is a once in a generation player.

She is good, but very rarely do freshmen become all Americans let alone start for UConn.

 

[JonathanXIV]

She is a once in a generation player.

No!!! Not another “generational” player. Not again!

 

[HopJim]

Of course nobody gets awards for defense in HS. I think you're going to be surprised by her defense. Her hands are everywhere and her footwork is very good.

Many players, such as ONO, get kudos for their HS defense but hope you are right in your assessment of Paige's defense. She appears committed to be the best at everything so expect her to excel. Just not frosh year.