The Courant's Mike Anthony looks at the Huskies' past, present, and future.

[Sluconn Husky]

My stock response to 75 percent of email and social media analysis I read: Chill out. The Huskies are more than fine, now and into the future. A deeper understanding for how UConn has reached an interesting intersection — kind of a stop-gap and patchwork 2019-20 season — will follow and speak to why.

...


Maybe the 2019-20 season is the season before the season. The Huskies in 2020-21 will welcome the nation’s top recruit in guard Paige Bueckers and Croatian guard Nika Muhl, one of the top young players in Europe. By that time, Walker will be a senior, Williams and Nelson-Ododa juniors. With other pieces added — maybe an experienced transfer — you’re suddenly rolling again, out of this tiny little rut created by consecutive swings and misses on the recruiting trail and the unexpected departure of Azura Stevens.
...

“Some years you get lucky and some you get unlucky,” Auriemma said. “But in recruiting, you can’t miss a year and we missed two. It’s put us in a jam. Azura left early which, OK, you can’t fault the kid, but we made too many plans that involved her and never considered her leaving.”

Mike Anthony: UConn women’s basketball team is at a strange intersection but in a fine spot

Geno Auriemma could have been talking to anyone — just himself, just me, the UConn fan base or the entire college basketball community, for that matter — when he stood up from a chair i…

www.courant.com

 

[Triad]

My stock response to 75 percent of email and social media analysis I read: Chill out. The Huskies are more than fine, now and into the future. A deeper understanding for how UConn has reached an interesting intersection — kind of a stop-gap and patchwork 2019-20 season — will follow and speak to why.

...


Maybe the 2019-20 season is the season before the season. The Huskies in 2020-21 will welcome the nation’s top recruit in guard Paige Bueckers and Croatian guard Nika Muhl, one of the top young players in Europe. By that time, Walker will be a senior, Williams and Nelson-Ododa juniors. With other pieces added — maybe an experienced transfer — you’re suddenly rolling again, out of this tiny little rut created by consecutive swings and misses on the recruiting trail and the unexpected departure of Azura Stevens.

The 2018-19 sophomore class was a failure, misjudged in talent and toughness.

Only Walker, who has developed nicely, stuck. Andra Espinoza-Hunter was shown the door and transferred to Mississippi State, where she has become a solid player (and maybe Auriemma would re-think that decision now, despite being so frustrated with her approach as a freshman). Lexi Gordon transferred to Texas Tech and just last week Mikayla Coombs announced she would transfer, too. Neither were difference makers.

UConn was stuck with a top-heavy team last season, a rotation of just six, with spots 7-10 filled by players who were actually recruited to fill spots 9-12. Then the Huskies failed to land a top target to join McDonald’s All-American Aubrey Griffin in next year’s freshman class.

...

“Some years you get lucky and some you get unlucky,” Auriemma said. “But in recruiting, you can’t miss a year and we missed two. It’s put us in a jam. Azura left early which, OK, you can’t fault the kid, but we made too many plans that involved her and never considered her leaving.”

Mike Anthony: UConn women’s basketball team is at a strange intersection but in a fine spot

Geno Auriemma could have been talking to anyone — just himself, just me, the UConn fan base or the entire college basketball community, for that matter — when he stood up from a chair i…

www.courant.com

An interesting admission on Azura. Her leaving was a surprise! There was so much building required on Stevens to make her an excellent WBB post. ONO came in and Out posted Z, how would that have set with Z?? A reason to leave??
I wonder about the AEH comment and disagree with the Coombs comment. Her fututre in WCBB is still to be written. With so many spot filled that she may have fit into, the choice to leave maybe best for her--I'll follow her where ever she goes.

 

[oldude]

Some really good information in this article. As pointed out, Z leaving was a complete surprise. I like knowing that Liv plans to spend the entire summer in Storrs, mostly working in the weight room. She will be the key to next year's team. The other thing that seems fairly apparent is that Anthony spends time perusing the BY to get a sense of what UConn's fanbase is thinking....God help him....

 

[eebmg]

An interesting admission on Azura. Her leaving was a surprise! There was so much building required on Stevens to make her an excellent WBB post. ONO came in and Out posted Z, how would that have set with Z?? A reason to leave??
I wonder about the AEH comment and disagree with the Coombs comment. Her fututre in WCBB is still to be written. With so many spot filled that she may have fit into, the choice to leave maybe best for her--I'll follow her where ever she goes.

Why would Geno not admit it? It was as clear as day that Azure leaving was completely unexpected in his eyes and I think ONO would not have had an issue coming to UConn and learning behind Azure and practicing against her (which would have been optimal).

The best laid plans .....

But now, we turn the corner and rise again.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Some really good information in this article. As pointed out, Z leaving was a complete surprise. I like knowing that Liv plans to spend the entire summer in Storrs, mostly working in the weight room. She will be the key to next year's team. The other thing that seems fairly apparent is that Anthony spends time perusing the BY to get a sense of what UConn's fanbase is thinking....God help him....

I'm thrilled ONO is working with weights, yes @oldude she IS the key to how far Uconn goes.
If Anthony uses the BY as his finger in the wind, on any given day he can be really right, really wrong, and off to the nut house.
With poster like you, Coco, Scoop, TonyC, Joepgh, and a dozen others that will give him an accurate assessment of how REAL fans feel about Uc chances.
My only issue is Where is Geno going to house all these incoming players? We have lived in a drought, now the flood gates are open--stand back. I like it!!
Geno said NO we won't be BAD. Well, without the injection of talented players the core 4 and Griffin, I BELIEVE would have taken Uconn to the Elite 8 and who knows beyond that. ONO was that key. But the talent of CW, Walker, DANGERFIELD is exceptional. That's a top level team.
REGARDLESS OF HOW THE PUNDITS SPUN THAT. With the influx of a good BIG, a European, and Griffin it is no longer an IF, it is a certainty. 8 and beyond is our new moto.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

This was needed and Mikee and Geno has given us great information and perspective. I'm reading the article and this "little" diddy started running as background music:

 

[oldude]

One other thing I liked about the article is that Crystal, Megan & Christyn are PO'd about Crème picking the Huskies 7th next year and Geno is perfectly happy with that emotion. I love a team that believes it has something to prove.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

To those who were pooh-pooh'ing those of us who were pointing out how precarious our upcoming season(s) were due to meager recruiting, Coach Geno agreed- with us:

"'Some years you get lucky and some you get unlucky,' Auriemma said. 'But in recruiting, you can’t miss a year and we missed two. It’s put us in a jam. Azura left early which, OK, you can’t fault the kid, but we made too many plans that involved her and never considered her leaving.'”

"...you can't miss a year and we missed two. It's put us in a jam." So Coach Geno saw how bad it was, too. And that might have motivated his late-season and early off-season European trips and scholarship offers. But UConn did register big recruiting misses- and for two years running. He was forced to scramble, and came up with some fixes. But for those who claimed that those of us who were pointing this out, and dismissed our Cassandra utterances with repeated and dismissive "We're doomed's!", Coach Geno was worried, too. He saw two years of missed recruiting.

Perhaps the big reveal here was that he'd convinced himself that Stephens would stay around. When the kid had proved everything she needed to prove on the college level, and with real money beckoning Siren-like, I'm surprised that he would not have seen at least the glimmer of the coming departure.

Let's see what Coach Geno's recruiting looks like for the full year, after two years of misses. We're still looking for Bigs. Or will UConn recruits increasingly come from abroad?

 

[marti3td]

I feel like Geno still has one or more trick up his sleeve for next year because he has admitted it has been a bad couple of recruiting years. Stay tuned...

 

[RockyMTblue2]

About the best editorial thing in the article from Mike: "My goodness. There’s no fan base in America like the UConn women’s base. Because many of the fans are fans only of UConn women’s basketball and all they understand is what UConn women’s basketball has built and made look easy. No context, continual and complete overreaction. "

 

[Carnac]

Some really good information in this article. As pointed out, Z leaving was a complete surprise. I like knowing that Liv plans to spend the entire summer in Storrs, mostly working in the weight room. She will be the key to next year's team. The other thing that seems fairly apparent is that Anthony spends time perusing the BY to get a sense of what UConn's fanbase is thinking....God help him....

I commented several times after she left that Stevens leaving disrupted Geno’s plans for the following year. I refused to believe that he agreed to take her for only one year.

If Stevens stays, I believe the outcome that next year would have been different. She was the missing piece to what should have been a championship season.

I’m not going to criticize Geno’s coaching decisions during the semi-final game her junior year. He chose to sit her most of the second half of that game. I share the opinion that others have posted here that if Stevens had played more in the second have, the outcome may have tilted in their favor. Geno must have felt that his team had a better chance of winning that night with Stevens on the bench.

I believe that Stevens was so disillusioned, that she may have surmised that Geno did not trust or value her enough to put her on the floor that night in crunch time, so not wanting to go through that another year, she decided to leave. When she was interviewed prior to her first WNBA game, she was asked if she had any second thoughts about leaving UConn early, she said "no, not at all."

The fact that Geno wanted her to play more of a post position than that of a wing may also have played a part in her leaving. Remember she was a wing at Duke. Elizabeth Williams was their starting post. Stevens was never asked to play the 5 at Duke.

Geno desperately needed a post player and at 6’6”, she fit the bill better than anyone else on the roster at that time. It’s also possible that thinking she was a wing, playing the 5 position another year did not appeal to her and may have felt that doing so would not facilitate her desire to grow or enhance her game for play at the next level, ergo she took her ball and went home.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Like the year before, Geno and especially the fans questioning his substitution decisions. If he leaves Ono in the game, is the outcome different? I think this years experienced ND team was better then this years UConn team, despite the early season win. ND had player(s) that can score points in crunch time. Fans had similar questions on why he didn't play Z more down the stretch the year prior. Both decisions seemed to change the outcome of both games. For last years team, I do believe if Geno plays Z more in the 4th quarter, UConn wins that game and ultimately the National Championship.

 

[eebmg]

Like the year before, Geno and especially the fans questioning his substitution decisions. If he leaves Ono in the game, is the outcome different? I think this years experienced ND team was better then this years UConn team, despite the early season win. ND had player(s) that can score points in crunch time. Fans had similar questions on why he didn't play Z more down the stretch the year prior. Both decisions seemed to change the outcome of both games. For last years team, I do believe if Geno plays Z more in the 4th quarter, UConn wins that game and ultimately the National Championship.

In the article, Geno basically boils it down to what he trusts more defense or offense. In countless quotes, you always hear him say that we know we can score, offense is never the issue. We will get good shots etc while he is always less confident in defensive stops. Espeically on teams without depth where fouls or the fear of fouls limit the way you can play defense

Unless he has Stewie/ MJ type defensive studs, he will always have more confidence in the offense than the defense.

The trick is to get the players to do both at a high level and to get the depth needed to play defense as best as possible.

 

[mbr33ct]

About the best editorial thing in the article from Mike: "My goodness. There’s no fan base in America like the UConn women’s base. Because many of the fans are fans only of UConn women’s basketball and all they understand is what UConn women’s basketball has built and made look easy. No context, continual and complete overreaction. "

Good pickup on this quote, you're on your way to recovery after that debacle thread you started...you know the one I'm talking about.

 

[UConnCat]

About the best editorial thing in the article from Mike: "My goodness. There’s no fan base in America like the UConn women’s base. Because many of the fans are fans only of UConn women’s basketball and all they understand is what UConn women’s basketball has built and made look easy. No context, continual and complete overreaction. "

Mike is right, but he misses some other characteristics of the fans. There's the "won't let go" fans who still rehash the games that got away (because of Geno). Then there's the "pat ourselves on the back" fans who believe they're the only ones who recognized a couple of bad recruiting years.

I hear Geno needs bigs. I wonder if he knows.

 

[HuskyNan]

Mike is right, but he misses some other characteristics of the fans. There's the "won't let go" fans who still rehash the games that got away (because of Geno). Then there's the "pat ourselves on the back" fans who believe they're the only ones who recognized a couple of bad recruiting years.

I hear Geno needs bigs. I wonder if he knows.

Mike is a bit simplistic in his description of the fan base. Huge chunks of it are knowledgeable and follow the sport so they’re fully aware of the realitiesof the Huskies’ situation. The cryers and the blindly loyal are just louder, and more repetitive, than everyone else

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Good pickup on this quote, you're on your way to recovery after that debacle thread you started...you know the one I'm talking about.

My morning chuckle...thanks @mbr33ct

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The cryers and the blindly loyal are just louder, and more repetitive, than everyone else

Amen and amen. Could I have an amen!

 

[Triad]

Geno---NO we are not going to be BAD. With Griffin and the core 4 an elite 8 was in the offing.

 

[diggerfoot]

There are those who recognize there were recruiting misses and there are those who thinks this reveals a fault in recruiting, rather than the variables of an uncertain business that always occur. I don't see where this piece vindicates the latter, but rather condemns them. If you were thinking "Stevens staying only one year and missing out on other bigs hurts us," well, yes, Auriemma and Anthony agrees. This article vindicates you. Pat yourself on the back, though I suspect the great majority of BYers felt this. On the other hand, if you were thinking "Auriemma is flawed in his recruiting approach, the misses are his fault," this does not vindicate you at all. Don't pat yourself on the back.

As for eebmg's point about defense. I hear you and agree that's likely what goes through Auriemma's head. However, a legitimate center provides "defense" without really trying. An excellent thief causes the opposing offense to play better to compensate. An excellent thief is not going to turn the tide against the best offenses. However, an excellent shot-blocker forces the opposing offense to play differently than they would otherwise. I understand what lies behind Auriemma's reluctance in utilizing Stevens or ONO in those last quarter losses to Notre Dame. He could not trust them to play the defense he wanted. Yet I would suggest they still gave us a better defense to disrupt the opponent's offense over having better technical defenders in there. Even though players like G. Williams, Nurse and Collier might be considered the best technical defenders on the team and/or the country, they are not going to change what the opponents wants to do as much as a competent center.

Yet Auriemma has a program to run, pressures to perform and promises to keep for what he tells recruits how they must practice and what will happen if they come here. Most programs would consider losing the battle of a regular season game as acceptable, if it contributes to winning the war of a National Championship. It could be that we are beyond that as a program. Losing occasional championships are acceptable, if it contributes to a dynastic program that always goes to the Final Four and still wins championships when the stars align properly.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Certainly the one "flaw" if you can call it that, in the recruiting approach, is that I think Geno expects these kids to act more or less rationally/dispassionately when making such important decisions. As we saw with both Z and Boston, that doesn't always happen, as per human nature. What can you do?

 

[oldude]

Certainly the one "flaw" if you can call it that, in the recruiting approach, is that I think Geno expects these kids to act more or less rationally/dispassionately when making such important decisions. As we saw with both Z and Boston, that doesn't always happen, as per human nature. What can you do?

While I believe Z and Geno had an understanding that she would play at UConn for 2 years after her redshirt year, it’s hard to say that her decision was not rational. She had earned her degree and was projected as a top 10 draft choice in the W.

As for Boston, that continues to be a head scratcher that I don’t think we will ever completely understand.

 

[BostonCanuck]

While I believe Z and Geno had an understanding that she would play at UConn for 2 years after her redshirt year, it’s hard to say that her decision was not rational. She had earned her degree and was projected as a top 10 draft choice in the W.

As for Boston, that continues to be a head scratcher that I don’t think we will ever completely understand.

I think Z would have been better off in the long run by staying for the near-certain national championship and extra year of development under Geno. But her priorities were elsewhere and as Geno says, you can't really fault the kid. So while in my eyes the decision may have been somewhat suboptimal, I also would not consider it to have been an irrational one on her part..

 

[j66kicker]

Mike Anthony: UConn women’s basketball team is at a strange intersection but in a fine spot

Geno Auriemma could have been talking to anyone — just himself, just me, the UConn fan base or the entire college basketball community, for that matter — when he stood up from a chair i…

www.courant.com

I've not been happy with the Courant's coverage lately, but at least this Courant reporter actually interviewed the coach and has some information for us that we haven't heard before.

Geno Auriemma... said, “I think we’re going to be OK.”... "I don't think we're going to be bad."

“People are already in a panic and my feeling was like, ‘Yo, we have three starters back from a team that won 35 games,” Auriemma said. “They’re not going to be worse. They say, ‘You’re not going to win a national championship.’ Well, we didn’t win one this year, either. So what are you trying to say? Unless we win a national championship we have a dog ass team?”

 

[Carnac]

My stock response to 75 percent of email and social media analysis I read: Chill out. The Huskies are more than fine, now and into the future. A deeper understanding for how UConn has reached an interesting intersection — kind of a stop-gap and patchwork 2019-20 season — will follow and speak to why.

...


Maybe the 2019-20 season is the season before the season. The Huskies in 2020-21 will welcome the nation’s top recruit in guard Paige Bueckers and Croatian guard Nika Muhl, one of the top young players in Europe. By that time, Walker will be a senior, Williams and Nelson-Ododa juniors. With other pieces added — maybe an experienced transfer — you’re suddenly rolling again, out of this tiny little rut created by consecutive swings and misses on the recruiting trail and the unexpected departure of Azura Stevens.
...

“Some years you get lucky and some you get unlucky,” Auriemma said. “But in recruiting, you can’t miss a year and we missed two. It’s put us in a jam. Azura left early which, OK, you can’t fault the kid, but we made too many plans that involved her and never considered her leaving.”

Mike Anthony: UConn women’s basketball team is at a strange intersection but in a fine spot

Geno Auriemma could have been talking to anyone — just himself, just me, the UConn fan base or the entire college basketball community, for that matter — when he stood up from a chair i…

www.courant.com

What a wonderful and insightful article by Mike Anthony. Every visitor to the Boneyard especially the regulars should take a few moments to read this. Thanks much Sluconn. This article puts things in proper perspective going forward.