The future is very bright

[Bama fan]

 

[JonathanXIV]

Well, UCONN started their program in 1974, and went 21 years before they won a Championship.

Everyone on the Boneyard who was following UConn WBB in 1974 please raise your hand.

 

[oldhusky]

I think we have to remember that looking forward to next year does not necessarily mean giving up on this year. I suspect many and probably most of our fans know the reality that this team's upside compared to preseason expectations took a major hit with the season ending injuries to Paige and Ice.

Most of the top teams would go from contender to pretender if they lost their best player and a top 5 recruit for the entire year. We can still be contenders, but now a clear notch behind South Carolina and Stanford and mixed in with a bunch of teams in the next tier. Like many of those teams we could win a championship, and if we did it would be an incredible story, and that chance keeps our interest high for this year, along with trying to keep the Final Four streak alive.

You can root for this year's team and look ahead at the same time. Player development is part of that. Azzi was starting to look like the superstar to team with Paige next year, the first when both are potentially at that level. We see if Caroline by the end of the season is performing closer to expectations, and even if this is a down year, we have reason to expect her to bounce back fully next year like Aaliyah did this one. We can watch Ayanna go thru the learning curve and be confident she will be a key player next year, and of course hope to see enough from Amari to believe she could help next year as well.

All of those things have importance this year, plus a strong element of forming our hopes and expectations for next year. The current year may be the most important, but unless I am very wrong, the hard core fans are there in good times and bad, and their interest expands out as far as their vision into the future, including interest in potential 2026 high school prospects, for example.

We are lucky that we usually have at least a punchers chance in a relatively down year due to injuries. Looking forward to a potentially stronger team in the future, where we might be "the" clear favorite instead of one of the possible contenders is not an unforgivable sin, particularly when we are there cheering for them to overcome the obstacles in front of them now. Some looking ahead probably helps us and the team get thru this season easier, striving to be the best this year, but seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel for the future.

 

[Urshurak]

UConn Basketball, Then and Now (Published 2004) Early Women's Basketball

I think the poster was being sarcastic and playing off UConns first Naty.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

I'll just bypass the PB comment and engage in unbridled optimism for 17.5 seconds:

I will do the greatest touchdown dance in history when Nika leads this team to NC #12

There, now I feel better. Heart rate returning to normal, wheezing and coughing beginning to subside.

You (& I) will have to work up to the 17.5 second Touchdown Dance, because Nika IS going to lead this team to NC #12 this year.

I am starting my stretches right now...

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Well said. Uconn's first NC that put Women's basketball on the map.Also thanks to Tennessee who was the No.1 team in the country at that time. Women's basketball was finally noticed as being as good as the men's. The rest is just history. GO HUSKIES!!!

Going back into history, the first three coaches (Sandra Hamm (one year), Wanda Flora (five years), and Jean Balthaser (five years) had one winning season (16-14 in Jean's first year). Whereas, Geno (with CD as the associate Head Coach) had one losing season. The first eleven years under 3 coaches went 92-162, whereas Geno & CD went 92-51 in their first 5 years (same win total, but Geno & CD had two NCAA tourney berths to their ZERO [O 'fer].
The first final four for UCONN was in Geno & CD's sixth year.

Meanwhile, back in the Evil [Orange] Empire, Pat Summit had been the Head Coach for Tennessee since the 1974-75 season (she started at 22 years old and was still playing for the US National team (silver medalist to be in the Montreal 1976 Olympics, etc.)) and compiled a 267-86 record before Geno & CD took over, and was at her [Pat Summitt & UTenn] first Final Four in 1982 when the NCAA finally got around to having its first women's tournament for 32 teams. By the time Geno & CD got to their first Final Four appearance in their sixth year, 1990-91, Pat Summitt earned UTenn their third NCAA National Championship, which was the most for any women's program at the time.

As to relevance in the WBB world, Geno & CD's 1994-95 squad beating UTenn in their first #1 (UTenn) vs. #2 (UCONN) game on national TV (a first for a regular season game) on ESPN on 1/16/1995 with a score of 77-66 could be seen as the beginning of a rivalry. Then to have the rematch in the National Championship game in the same year, and pull out a victory by six [to have the first of six undefeated UCONN women's team (35-0)] really got the rivalry going. UTenn responded with three straight National Championships, and UCONN again stopped UTenn in 2000 to keep Pat Summitt from her 7th National Championship for Geno & CD's 2nd National Championship. From 1987 to 2016, UTenn and UCONN accounted for 19 of the 30 National Championships, and seven of the nine undefeated women's teams since the inception of the women's NCAA tournament in 1982.

So, in a way, the 1994-95 season was historical for WBB, but I view the 1987-88 season as the historical start to UCONN's rise to their continuous run in the NCAA tournament which is now 33 consecutive berths, which is tied with Tara van Derveer's run with Stanford (she had one year off as the US Olympic Coach in 1996). Which brings us to the three winningest coaches in Women's Basketball (and all three are just short of Coach K from Duke): Tara, Geno (with CD), and Pat Summitt - all three had their teams at the 1995 Final Four at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Therefore, Meyers7 just needs three words added to his statement: Women's College Basketball didn't start becoming nationally relevant until 1995.

I was one of those who did not know much about Women's basketball until that cold (cold for Mare Island, CA anway) January day in 1995, when watched the ESPN broadcast, and was happy that the #2 ranked team knocked off the #1 in a battle of unbeatens. Being toward the end of a nuclear refueling overhaul for my submarine in Mare Island California made it difficult to follow UCONN, and I was underway for the Final Four, but my wife (who is from Connecticut) recorded both of the UCONN games for me. So personnally, WBB started for me in 1995, and I have been a fan of the UCONN Huskies this entire time!

 

[Bigboote]

I was just watching the Nika highlights, and I’m amazed at the prospect of Paige, Nika, and Azzi on the floor together for 20+ minutes each game. Not to take anything away from the front court players, but if they’re healthy, that’s one mind-boggling back court.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’d like to see that group on the floor too, and Geno is fond of a 4-out set for parts of games. I think we have better personnel for it now than we did last year.

Heck, we could even have run 5-out with Lou on the floor with them and sitting Aaliyah — Nika would be our muscle on the glass ! Alas, Paige’s injury scotched that for us all.

Still, I expect Dorka will start with Aaliyah and the 4-out set will only be used occasionally. But I’ll be watching for it.