Stop second Guessing Geno

[Tonyc]

You know what? A few months ago fans were panicking that Geno was slipping and UConn wasnt getting enough recruits and recruits were verballing to everywhere but UConn. Now look at UConn. We're not in to bad of shape. We are actually in really good shape and depending on the NCAA decisions on Westbrook we may be in really good position to win another NC and a few more after that.

I keep reading alot about bigs. It would be great to get a Tina or Stewie or Lobo or Walters or Steph but guess what there arent any. Yeah some bigs have committed elsewhere. So what we have ONO for a couple of more years. Dont worry I am confident we will get another that will play and not sit the bench.

We are sitting in a great place right now with kids that want to play for UConn. Paige and Saylor are going to be really good teammates because they know how to play a team game. Its all about the team. Just because we dont hear as much as we used to about recruits and who's coming to UConn doesnt mean Geno isnt recruiting like he used to.

Looking back to a couple of months ago when many fans were panicking just look at Paige and Saylor and a couple of others who have committed because they want to play for UConn. They called Geno and thats what you want. You want kids who want to play for you.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Tony come on now. Don't you know it is the Boneyard way.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I figure he's got some arthritis in his neck and can't really look at anyone over 6' 2". Started with Lobo and then her damn shoes! Actually, I'm in awe of what has gone down in Husky Land over the last 3 months. But what we have witnessed as fans in 3 months is pretty darn fantastic. Every time I think we are done another big wave comes crashing in. So, Geno, this one is for you.

 

[jsloanjr]

Geno and his staff had a like drought the past 2 years, but always brought in the best type players that fit the UCONN system. I think Geno took all the criticism to heart and has proven why he is the best recruiter and coach in America if not the world. UCONN will not be stopped...……..LOOKOUT!!!

 

[connboy77]

Actually 2019 has been Geno's best recruiting job since as long as I can remember. I can see UCONN getting at least 2 maybe 3 more 2020 recruits and 2021 has just started with the Saylor verbal.

 

[veryolddog]

Yes, it is a good job of recruiting. Sounds like some really outstanding players that will bring a good 2019 season and a foundation for future years. And he will probably recruit other champions to play as well. To counter the diverse play and the height of other teams, he will recruit height. Height with talent, is the last piece that will give the Team another tool to forge a championship. I still am optimisitc that there is some very tall young women who wants to learn to play basketball, who wants to be taught by the best and win a championship.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Have never questioned Geno's moves.... his record has long spoken for itself....

 

[EricLA]

I love me some @Tonyc , but do have to disagree a bit. I don't think most were second guessing him - we knew we had a great shot at Bueckers, Fudd, and Deberry. Going back even 6 months, we knew we had/have a tremendous core group (Danger, Walker, Williams, and ONO), but before the avalanche of verbals, options for the 5th starter were realistically between Griffin, Camara and Irwin.

Then came Makurat, Adebayo and Westbrook. Suddenly we have options AND depth. We also landed Muhl in there, and then Bueckers, McLean, and now Poffenbarger.

But really, the core question still remains - where are the post players? Honestly, I love adding McLean and Adebayo but one is 5'11 and the the other about 6'. Geno has missed out on every other post player he's gone after, including the recent high profile Prince, who went to an Oregon team loaded in the front court (2 Sabally's (I know one is more a wing), Hebard, Giomi, Gildon, and 6'2" forward Boley (also more a wing I guess)). Honestly, both UCONN and ND had way more room in the post.

At any rate, the post problem still exists. Not sure how great a shot we have with Cardoso. Rumor was she's a package deal with Hunt (no idea if that's true). Who else is out there we are looking at for 2020? I know he's looking overseas too, but the big 6'6"+ post player that was supposed to materialize this year has gone up in a puff of smoke.

I find it completely mystifying that teams like Baylor can land Brown/Mompremier, and more recently a plethora of front court players. Baylor, SC, Stanford, Oregon, OSU, and several other teams seem to be loaded in the posts. UCONN literally has 1 post player over 6'1" and yet can't seem to land anyone else, in spite of the HUGE amount of PT opportunities for that kid who chooses to come.

There have been 2 times in our recent history where we had more than enough - back in 1998+ where we had Hansmeyer, Schuey, Rigby, Jones, Williams and Cash. And then again in 2012 or so when we had Stewie, Dolson, Stokes, and Tuck. Other than that, and now recently, it's back to slim pickings.

Last point - Geno has proven he's not only the best coach ever, but also that he's able to change with the times. Back in the dark years (right after DT when UCONN lost 8 games in 1 season), he was of the mindset that UCONN wouldn't recruit kids till their junior year in HS. Strother, Wolff, Turner, Crocket and Goring was the last class that this worked for. The following year he lost out on all his top choices and had to settle for Sherwood, Robinson and Wright. All transferred. It took a few years to recover from that.

More recently, we've heard most every coach that recruits against UCONN says "don't go there unless you want to sit in the bench". Geno's pretty much proven that by letting bench players sit until the last 4 minutes of games, even in monster blowouts. I have no doubt he's aware of that criticism and as a result, he had to add 1 grad transfer, 2 foreign kids, and 1 regular transfer. I sure hope this season is not a repeat of past low bench minutes because it's pretty clear opposing coaches have used this strategy successfully against UCONN.

That still doesn't explain why we have been unable to land more than just 1 tall post player in the past 6 recruiting cycles (2016-2021 but there's still kids on the board for 2020-2021), but I have no doubt Geno is well aware and I hope he has a strategy.

Our recruiting of wings and guards is off the charts and 2nd to NONE in the entire country. Post players, not so much...

 

[veryolddog]

There is a alot that I agree with respect to Eric LA's post. I would also like to mention that for two years, UConn had 3 1/2 All Americans and could not win a National Championship. (KLS, Kia, Gabby, and Pheesa). What was lacking was the that very tall young person that could literally take over, score and protect the basket. Z maybe but it did not happen. The recruits are great but there still is a missing piece to the equation of winning it all. When that piece is filled, maybe, maybe, the championship will be in hand.

 

[BobbyJ]

I love me some @Tonyc , but do have to disagree a bit. I don't think most were second guessing him - we knew we had a great shot at Bueckers, Fudd, and Deberry. Going back even 6 months, we knew we had/have a tremendous core group (Danger, Walker, Williams, and ONO), but before the avalanche of verbals, options for the 5th starter were realistically between Griffin, Camara and Irwin.

Then came Makurat, Adebayo and Westbrook. Suddenly we have options AND depth. We also landed Muhl in there, and then Bueckers, McLean, and now Poffenbarger.

But really, the core question still remains - where are the post players? Honestly, I love adding McLean and Adebayo but one is 5'11 and the the other about 6'. Geno has missed out on every other post player he's gone after, including the recent high profile Prince, who went to an Oregon team loaded in the front court (2 Sabally's (I know one is more a wing), Hebard, Giomi, Gildon, and 6'2" forward Boley (also more a wing I guess)). Honestly, both UCONN and ND had way more room in the post.

At any rate, the post problem still exists. Not sure how great a shot we have with Cardoso. Rumor was she's a package deal with Hunt (no idea if that's true). Who else is out there we are looking at for 2020? I know he's looking overseas too, but the big 6'6"+ post player that was supposed to materialize this year has gone up in a puff of smoke.

I find it completely mystifying that teams like Baylor can land Brown/Mompremier, and more recently a plethora of front court players. Baylor, SC, Stanford, Oregon, OSU, and several other teams seem to be loaded in the posts. UCONN literally has 1 post player over 6'1" and yet can't seem to land anyone else, in spite of the HUGE amount of PT opportunities for that kid who chooses to come.

There have been 2 times in our recent history where we had more than enough - back in 1998+ where we had Hansmeyer, Schuey, Rigby, Jones, Williams and Cash. And then again in 2012 or so when we had Stewie, Dolson, Stokes, and Tuck. Other than that, and now recently, it's back to slim pickings.

Last point - Geno has proven he's not only the best coach ever, but also that he's able to change with the times. Back in the dark years (right after DT when UCONN lost 8 games in 1 season), he was of the mindset that UCONN wouldn't recruit kids till their junior year in HS. Strother, Wolff, Turner, Crocket and Goring was the last class that this worked for. The following year he lost out on all his top choices and had to settle for Sherwood, Robinson and Wright. All transferred. It took a few years to recover from that.

More recently, we've heard most every coach that recruits against UCONN says "don't go there unless you want to sit in the bench". Geno's pretty much proven that by letting bench players sit until the last 4 minutes of games, even in monster blowouts. I have no doubt he's aware of that criticism and as a result, he had to add 1 grad transfer, 2 foreign kids, and 1 regular transfer. I sure hope this season is not a repeat of past low bench minutes because it's pretty clear opposing coaches have used this strategy successfully against UCONN.

That still doesn't explain why we have been unable to land more than just 1 tall post player in the past 6 recruiting cycles (2016-2021 but there's still kids on the board for 2020-2021), but I have no doubt Geno is well aware and I hope he has a strategy.

Our recruiting of wings and guards is off the charts and 2nd to NONE in the entire country. Post players, not so much...

Good points Eric. I would add though that it’s a tough call for him whether to fill a four year slot with just size and depth or go for the impact player. His read and react offensive system is more sophisticated than most and requires passing and shooting skills that many of these big posts just don’t have yet. So he seems to default to the 6-1 and 6-2 kids he thinks can handle it. IMO, he should continue to look at Europe and Canada for bigger posts because their skill development has caught up rapidly with the US kids. I really like the 6-7 Betts kid from Utah but beyond her I’m just not that impressed with the rest of the big posts in the US pipeline right now.

 

[southofnorth]

You know what? A few months ago fans were panicking that Geno was slipping and UConn wasnt getting enough recruits and recruits were verballing to everywhere but UConn. Now look at UConn. We're not in to bad of shape. We are actually in really good shape and depending on the NCAA decisions on Westbrook we may be in really good position to win another NC and a few more after that.

I keep reading alot about bigs. It would be great to get a Tina or Stewie or Lobo or Walters or Steph but guess what there arent any. Yeah some bigs have committed elsewhere. So what we have ONO for a couple of more years. Dont worry I am confident we will get another that will play and not sit the bench.

We are sitting in a great place right now with kids that want to play for UConn. Paige and Saylor are going to be really good teammates because they know how to play a team game. Its all about the team. Just because we dont hear as much as we used to about recruits and who's coming to UConn doesnt mean Geno isnt recruiting like he used to.

Looking back to a couple of months ago when many fans were panicking just look at Paige and Saylor and a couple of others who have committed because they want to play for UConn. They called Geno and thats what you want. You want kids who want to play for you.

These kinds of posts are becoming almost as prevalent as the “sky is falling” posts. I have to agree with @EricLA on this subject, though. The criticisms haven’t been of recruiting in general, they’ve been about the inability to land a couple of post players. I don’t think every post (or player, for that matter) is UConn material, but there are bound to be a few post players over the last few years that would’ve been a good fit for UConn.

In any case, Geno and co.’s ability to recruit and develop players is unmatched.

 

[Wink96]

Actually 2019 has been Geno's best recruiting job since as long as I can remember. I can see UCONN getting at least 2 maybe 3 more 2020 recruits and 2021 has just started with the Saylor verbal.

Do we have an up to date List of 2019 team?

 

[meyers7]

Do we have an up to date List of 2019 team?

Yea, it's been up for awhile.

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