Thoughts from courtside - UCONN vs. UCLA

[JustinesGuy]

Crap - I forgot to add it was great seeing/meeting a bunch of traveling boneyarders - @Phil , @MilfordHusky , @j66kicker , @Plebe , Don from Idaho (forgot his SN), 2 ladies who are also posters (forgot their SN's too). We all sat in different places, but got together before the game and at halftime. Not sure about the attendance, but the entire lower section was close to full. I would say close to 7,000 people. Obviously better attended than the Baylor game, which was on a Saturday. Great atmosphere. Very nice fans who felt admiration for UCONN and our program.

I also forgot to add that they interviewed Close after the game and we could hear it. Not sure if it was on ESPNU, but her comments made it very clear why she's a really good coach. I give her team a TON of credit outplaying us the last 5-6 minutes of Q4...

Regarding Close- one question please.
I'm watching the game really slip away late 3rd quarter and she refused to call a time out. Uconn must've scored three or four straight times and I'm yelling at the tv call timeout?! After that run the game was completely over.

 

[paisan]

The team played very good considering the schedule and the jet lag. Azuras conditioning is not as good as the other four starters and it shows in her shooting accuracy . They must have Lou at full strength to be a great team Her , as did Stewie, presence draws so much attention from the opponents ...it frees up the others. She has been spectacular so far this year.

 

[cbraarj]

I also thought Azura would start. She is off to a slow start. All she did last year was scrimmage on the scout team. Running opponents plays with the practice players or bench players. I watched her for 2 years at Duke and she hit the 3 consistently, took the ball to the basket and block shots. Now Geno has her posting up more and wants her to defend like Stewie, Dolson and Stokes. She should be watching film of these 3 to help herself. If she came straight to Uconn instead of Duke 3 things would have happened last year 1) first team AA, 2) POY, 3) Uconn wins NC and I dont have one doubt about it! I said she was best player on team but I will change that to not yet! More talented with the greatest upside on the team, definately!

 

[Rema64]

Hell of a game. A whole bunch of things stood out to me watching the game live - some stuff you don't get to see on TV, or it's not nearly as noticeable.

UCLA is a tough, physical team. At times they disrupted UCONN's offense to the point where we would go a good 5-6 minutes and score 4-6 points. However, in general, in the first 3 quarters, UCLA kept it close for the first 5-6 minutes of the quarter, then UCONN went on a spurt.

1. UCONN went on a 9-0 run at the end of the 1st quarter (led 12-11 prior)
2. UCLA cut the lead to 5 in Q2 with 4 minutes left, then Walker took over and the lead was up to 11 at half time
3. UCONN's lead was still 11 with 3 minutes left in Q3, then we went on another run of 13-0

UCONN got the lead up to 29 with 6 minutes left in the game but was outplayed by UCLA down the stretch. Geno was NOT happy. But give credit to UCLA for not packing it in. They fought hard and outplayed us at the end, and that was with all our starters in.

The game plan seemed to be 3-fold...

1. Pack it in the paint - we didn't give Drummer, and more importantly Billings, any room to work in the paint
2. Dare UCLA to make outside shots (for the most part they did not)
3. Harrass Canada at every turn. Crystal was more than up for the challenge and the help defense on her was terrific

Collier - terrific all game. Definitely player of the game. 5 steals, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 23 points, played 40 minutes - I think we can safely say whatever was "ailing" her the first few games of the season is completely out of her system. She wasn't great with the high-low game (more on that later), but every time she got the ball in the post, she out-maneuvered her defender for a layup.

Walker - coming out party. Geno was clearly unhappy with Stevens. Put in Walker in the 2nd quarter, and she single handedly put the nail in the coffin. I think she got all of her 13 points over the 4 minute stretch at the end of Q2. Struggled to find the basket in the 2nd half, but no denying her impact on both ends of the floor.

Williams - unfortunately picked up fouls in bunches and had to sit, but boy is she terrific every second she's on the floor

Danger - kept one of the best PG's in the game in check. She was just tremendous. Assist goes to UCONN's help defense, as UCLA would set a lot of screes for Canada to get around, but UCONN was equal to the task.

Nurse - quiet in the first half (so it seemed), but really took over at times in the 2nd half. Such an all around solid game for her. 3 point shot was off. If not for that, she would have been a lot more noticeable

Stevens - It's just one game, but she has a ways to go. People who proclaimed she was the "best player on the team" before the season started were unfortunately wrong. I'd love it if she was an AA, but at this time, she is not. I get that she may make 3 point shots in the practices, but in the games, her shooting beyond the arc is abysmal. And I simply do not understand the high low game where she is on the perimeter lobbing the ball over the defender to a 6'1" Napheesa to try to get a layup. That play almost never worked. It should be the opposite - at 6'6", players should be lobbing the ball to her. I will say she is very mobile and her help defense was solid for the most part. But her weaknesses were on full display and she would have played even less had Gabby not been in foul trouble.

Geno played 6 players. 3 played 40 minutes. Clearly the bench has yet to earn his confidence. We will be fine in big games with KLS - 7 deep is plenty. But I sure hope Camara, Coombs, or E-H can give him a legit 8th player. Camara did participate in the warm up drills, but she has a huge brace on her knee... And she's not 6'2". She's actually a skooch shorter than Collier.

I'm pretty sure Collier is taller then her listed 6'1.

 

[HopJim]

Like Stewie, it takes time to not let the physical hit get to you, yes she is a senior and played at duke, but this is a different world and light years from JPM's coaching. Having said that, my expectation, from the media, By, hype--led me to believe her more polished and high operating scorer---defense, I believed was her one factor missing. But it is still early season.

Agree but still thrilled to have her on team. My biggest surprise is she is not more physical-at times almost a finesse style player. Hopefully, as we have seen with Crystal, once she gets in UConn shape, she will evolve to beast mode.

 

[mhshuskies]

Thanks for the great sideline report, EricLA.

Great to see Collier playing like her old self, I don`t think she will look back. Apparently Geno told her before the game he wanted her to take 25 shots and didn`t care if she missed them all, and it appears the "issue", if it even rose to that level, was confidence and not a physical problem. She did seem to find some space underneath to operate and maybe the addition of Stevens has made that a bit more difficult.

Also great to see Walker nail those three threes in the second quarter. Her outside shooting was a minor struggle in the first few games, but everything else was terrific. Nice to see her make a few against UCLA, and they were important. We should remember that Lou struggled with her three pointer early in her freshman season.

Crystal is stronger, more confident and vastly improved; Gabby and Kia are being themselves, and Gabby looks to be in even better shape if that is possible; Lou was playing great with an expanded game, great defense and inside scoring, prior to injury (I`m betting she will be back for ND on December 3); and Stevens good, but all of your comments about her are all spot on. I would only add that it is nice to have a shotblocker (in addition to Gabby) back there - she got at least one of Billings` shots - and she has gotten quite a few rebounds in traffic so far this year by being longer than anyone else. My guess is she will be much improved come March, especially if she stays inside the three point line.

We did think that going into the season, the increased depth would be a big thing, maybe the biggest thing, therefore players won`t wear down late in the year. But, with Lou out, only six play and three go 40 minutes. We do need Lou back, and somebody else to come out of the pack and be a reliable eighth player. Thought it would be Camara, but concerning that she still hasn`t played a minute. When will she finally get out there?Maybe AEH will be the one - or if both, we could actually use nine! Maybe Coombs. Otherwise, it may start to feel a lot like last year, just more observers on the bench. Not what I was thinking it would look like last summer.

So, I think the big stories last night were Collier, Walker, and use of six players (three for all 40).

I thought this game pointed out the depth that we do have, two of 8 rotation unavailable.

 

[warbler1055]

Miss Danger has played herself into the rotation. It's pretty hard not to start her. And of course it's a matchup issue when Z will play. Z will be fine. Talent is there, it's between the ears what needed to be fixed!!! Bet you Geno knows how and when!!!

 

[Plebe]

Regarding Close- one question please.
I'm watching the game really slip away late 3rd quarter and she refused to call a time out. Uconn must've scored three or four straight times and I'm yelling at the tv call timeout?! After that run the game was completely over.

I was there at the game and I had the same thought. I know she'd already burned one timeout when UConn made its run late in the 2nd quarter, but at some point it's like, What are you saving them for? That 16-0 run in the 3rd quarter just buried UCLA.

 

[Huskee11]

I thought this game pointed out the depth that we do have, two of 8 rotation unavailable.

We are certainly deeper than last year. Just not as deep as I thought we would be, at this point at least.

We have a solid seven, no doubt. And agreed, Camara will likely contribute. But when? Feels like a long way off. When will she be in game shape?

Of the rest, most promise from AEH but the reviews from Geno regarding that group as a whole have not been good and all DNPs the other night.

We assumed that starters` minutes will be down from last year. Will they? Probably, but I`m guessing at this point not by much. Probably looking at seven players in the key games, and rightly or wrongly, that is not what I was expecting at all.

 

[EricLA]

Regarding Close- one question please. I'm watching the game really slip away late 3rd quarter and she refused to call a time out. Uconn must've scored three or four straight times and I'm yelling at the tv call timeout?! After that run the game was completely over.

I can't speak for her and she did not address it in her post game comments. It's possible she wanted to see how her team responded. It's possible she wanted her team to work thru it and figure it out. It's possible it happened so fast that she just didn't call the time out. It's possible she wanted to teach her team a lesson for the lethargy they were showing during that time frame (her team TURNED it on midway thru the 4th quarter to completely outplay out starters during the last 6 minutes or so). Or it's possible it's something completely different...

 

[JustinesGuy]

I can't speak for her and she did not address it in her post game comments. It's possible she wanted to see how her team responded. It's possible she wanted her team to work thru it and figure it out. It's possible it happened so fast that she just didn't call the time out. It's possible she wanted to teach her team a lesson for the lethargy they were showing during that time frame (her team TURNED it on midway thru the 4th quarter to completely outplay out starters during the last 6 minutes or so). Or it's possible it's something completely different...

Yeah. All good possibilities. I think our starters were spent by mid 4th. Clearly Lou will be back and Walker is getting more confidence by the second and that should help. We really need at least one other to contribute solid minutes or we are going to be one tired team come January.

 

[Longtime fan]

Crap - I forgot to add it was great seeing/meeting a bunch of traveling boneyarders - @Phil , @MilfordHusky , @j66kicker , @Plebe , Don from Idaho (forgot his SN), 2 ladies who are also posters (forgot their SN's too). We all sat in different places, but got together before the game and at halftime. Not sure about the attendance, but the entire lower section was close to full. I would say close to 7,000 people. Obviously better attended than the Baylor game, which was on a Saturday. Great atmosphere. Very nice fans who felt admiration for UCONN and our program.

I also forgot to add that they interviewed Close after the game and we could hear it. Not sure if it was on ESPNU, but her comments made it very clear why she's a really good coach. I give her team a TON of credit outplaying us the last 5-6 minutes of Q4...

Final number on attendance was more than 9000. Close to 10,000.

 

[Phil]

Crap - I forgot to add it was great seeing/meeting a bunch of traveling boneyarders - @Phil , @MilfordHusky , @j66kicker , @Plebe , Don from Idaho (forgot his SN), 2 ladies who are also posters (forgot their SN's too).

Don is a longtime UConn fan, but I don't think he is an active poster on the Boneyard, so you can be forgiven for not knowing his screenname. He is now retired, but formerly a work colleage of Southbranch, who is also retired and now living in Kentucky.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I thought this game pointed out the depth that we do have, two of 8 rotation unavailable.

If you are counting Molly --I agree with your 8. If you are counting Touly--I don't. Touly has never had an opportunity to get into the rotation and apparently won't this year--I hope that isn't the case. At his point the rotation is 7---8,9,10 would be great---my May expectations.

 

[j66kicker]

Don is a longtime UConn fan, but I don't think he is an active poster on the Boneyard, so you can be forgiven for not knowing his screenname. He is now retired, but formerly a work colleage of Southbranch, who is also retired and now living in Kentucky.

I wondered where SB was. Retired from the BY too, I guess...

 

[BroadwayVa]

Agree but still thrilled to have her on team. My biggest surprise is she is not more physical-at times almost a finesse style player. Hopefully, as we have seen with Crystal, once she gets in UConn shape, she will evolve to beast mode.

Jim, any guess is as good as mine-but.
People look at long thin bodies and some think: needs to get into shape. All frames are not small all muscles are not short. She runs fast when she thinks she needs to and coast when she doesn't. Body styles sometimes fool us. AS some has said, and in addition to her being in great shape, her issues most likely are not conditioning (she's had 18 months of the UConn conditioning system--if that doesn't do it, nothing will) it is more a mental, pressure, wanting to please issue--super nice woman

 

[VaConnFan11]

The thing I have noticed so far this season is that besides Gabby, no one else on the team can jump! How many times are we going to have the other team block shots?

 

[hoophuskee]

We are certainly deeper than last year. Just not as deep as I thought we would be, at this point at least.

We have a solid seven, no doubt. And agreed, Camara will likely contribute. But when? Feels like a long way off. When will she be in game shape?

Of the rest, most promise from AEH but the reviews from Geno regarding that group as a whole have not been good and all DNPs the other night.

We assumed that starters` minutes will be down from last year. Will they? Probably, but I`m guessing at this point not by much. Probably looking at seven players in the key games, and rightly or wrongly, that is not what I was expecting at all.

The other 3 freshmen they will likely not emerge beyond Meg Walker for this year. The freshmen (not Walker) were not top 5 recruits. Coombs had one or two services high - but if one just one recruit isn't playing well yet does it make things that bad? - so maybe she is a bt This year don't count on it. Meg Walker is probably better long term as frosh than Danger was last year. I expect by the end of the season Camara will be at worst equal to what Nat gave - and now throw in if Lou is healthy - and UCONN has AZ. Last year there was no AZ quality off the bench.

I didn't agree with your high expectations of the freshmen other than Walker (I had Coombs playing about 8 minutes) and if you had any of Molly and Kyla. Now I think you might be going overboard the other way by not expecting Camara to help by the end of the season. Maybe she doesn't. But with AZ and Walker and a healthy Lou, we're stronger bench-wise than we were last year. Geno said for example after Miss State he couldn't trust Danger. Right now it looks like he can easily trust AZ and probably will be able to trust Walker to an extent. Walker was a more highly rated recruit than Danger. And they both produced in big games as frosh early. But Danger was the 1st off the bench last year while Walker will be at more-than-likely 2nd.

I love the freshmen. I think the expectations beyond Meg Walker for these frosh to get into the rotation and also the expectation that these freshmen won't get whipped early into the year especially vs the talented teams UCONN has played against is completely unreasonable. Just because they put on a UCONN jersey doesn't immediately transform the player into Wonder Woman. As freshmen, they are going to get their butts kicked a lot. If a player is 30th ranked as h/s senior, then it means there are an enormous amount of seniors and juniors that are better plus many sophomores. A few weeks of practice isn't going to change that either.

 

[Huskee11]

The other 3 freshmen they will likely not emerge beyond Meg Walker for this year. The freshmen (not Walker) were not top 5 recruits. Coombs had one or two services high - but if one just one recruit isn't playing well yet does it make things that bad? - so maybe she is a bt This year don't count on it. Meg Walker is probably better long term as frosh than Danger was last year. I expect by the end of the season Camara will be at worst equal to what Nat gave - and now throw in if Lou is healthy - and UCONN has AZ. Last year there was no AZ quality off the bench.

I didn't agree with your high expectations of the freshmen other than Walker (I had Coombs playing about 8 minutes) and if you had any of Molly and Kyla. Now I think you might be going overboard the other way by not expecting Camara to help by the end of the season. Maybe she doesn't. But with AZ and Walker and a healthy Lou, we're stronger bench-wise than we were last year. Geno said for example after Miss State he couldn't trust Danger. Right now it looks like he can easily trust AZ and probably will be able to trust Walker to an extent. Walker was a more highly rated recruit than Danger. And they both produced in big games as frosh early. But Danger was the 1st off the bench last year while Walker will be at more-than-likely 2nd.

I love the freshmen. I think the expectations beyond Meg Walker for these frosh to get into the rotation and also the expectation that these freshmen won't get whipped early into the year especially vs the talented teams UCONN has played against is completely unreasonable. Just because they put on a UCONN jersey doesn't immediately transform the player into Wonder Woman. As freshmen, they are going to get their butts kicked a lot. If a player is 30th ranked as h/s senior, then it means there are an enormous amount of seniors and juniors that are better plus many sophomores. A few weeks of practice isn't going to change that either.

Good comments, hoophuskee. I think you feel more comfortable with the current situation than I do. I love that we have Z and Walker this year. I think we will be deep. We just aren`t deep right now, in my opinion. (Presumably we are only talking about "big" games, as Geno can do pretty much whatever he wants against lesser opponents.)

Not sure I had "high expectations" for the freshman other than Walker, but by the same token expecting them to be on the floor to some extent in a meaningful game is hardly "completely unreasonable". You said you had Coombs playing about eight minutes - fine, I`ll take it! AEH played 14 decent minutes versus Maryland, and freshman Horvat of UCLA played 27 respectable minutes against us. (Horvat ranked 15 by ESPN, Coombs 13 and AEH 16.) Don`t need or expect 27 minutes, but would help the cause if Coombs and AEH could consistently combine to provide some minutes.

Also, you said above that I did not expect Camara to help by the end of the season. Actually, I agreed with you and said she will "likely contribute"; I just questioned the timing. Who knows - who wouldn`t question the timing at this point? If we are able to eventually get Butler-type minutes from her (about 16 minutes a game), as you suggest, and taking Z and Walker into account, then suddenly we are deep and we could reduce starters` minutes (about 31 per game last year) more if that was desired. Any additional minutes from the Freshman other than Walker would help, but might not be absolutely essential, "eight is enough" probably applies most nights.

But at this point, some of that is speculation and at this moment we go a solid seven deep - way better than last year, even now, I think everybody agrees on that - but seven deep is not deep enough, especially if one of the seven (Lou) is sitting out and/or the refs start blowing their whistles. Last year, we were about as deep as the Kardashians, so saying we are deeper than last year`s team is not saying much.

 

[BroadwayVa]

People who proclaimed she was the "best player on the team" before the season started were unfortunately wrong.

Is this still a competition as to who was right? You and many others were right. I was wrong (and I'll be wrong about million more times over a short time span) and others who thought AZ would start. Me and some others thought AZ would be better. At least for me- it usually is --> play the better player/ start the better player - especially if she is considered POY. Right now Danger is the better player and it seems Danger has this spot locked up. So the word you use --> "unfortunately," is a weird choice of words. What UCONN fan would honestly say "unfortunately" the way the team is playing? I'm thrilled. You just sticking it to me/us in fun? That's fine. But I'm thrilled. They've ben tremendous and remain awesome to watch.

Further I enjoy guard play and fastbreaking more than post play. Plus - even youtube (below) has a highlight that Nurse was the pg for Team Canada - so I thought she could be. Now I've read on this site that she wasn't the pg in Canada. Don't know who is right and it doesn't matter. I'm thrilled with the team performance and knowing that the team has a huge ceiling. Hopefully no more injuries and everyone gets healthy. Then we can hear some of the media go off on how terrible UCONN is for the game. Their misery would bring me great joy.

wo
Holy smoley--I found a partner on the BY --someone who has been wrong and will be wrong in the future a MILLION TIME. Diogynese (SP) would have stopped looking--he found an honest person.
Just like the person who speaks too often or speaks in a million venues; they shall at some point say the wrong thing, here with posting all these words--I am nearly always saying something wrong ( or in my case spelling something wrong too)

 

[Carnac]

Lots of thoughts, opinions and observations on this game. I read every one. One thing we can all agree on is that this was an entertaining game, especially to those of us that had the good fortune to see it in person. This was a very physical game. I saw a lot of fouls that should have called but weren't.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Want to get my 2 cents (or more) in on the discussion between HoopHuskee and Huskee11.

1. Seven is plenty if you know they are healthy. Megan and Z (with all her flaws) are surely worthy of playing 45 minutes a game between them, at least IMO. To me MW has shown that she is already an elite player, easily in the top 50 in the country. I would have leaned toward that view before the UCLA game but definitely now. If the UCLA game turns out not to be a fluke then top 20. I don't have a lot to add on Z except that she has enough positives that she merits 18 to 20 minutes a game in spite of the negatives. I expect significant improvement over the course of the year. The talent is there it's just a matter of finding her role and getting comfortable. If Z and MW are playing 45 minutes that leaves 31 minutes apiece for the starters, which is fine. And if someone gets into foul trouble, there is enough depth at every position to compensate with one of the other seven without driving minutes too high.

1a. As Bags has pointed out it's not just the # of guys in the rotation--more important is the drop off when a bench player comes in. By that measure our bench is better than ever.

2. Of course, injuries happen, so that's why I would really like to see an eighth player develop. That way if one of top seven are injured we still have a seven person rotation.

3. I expect Touly to be in the rotation in not too long. Possible she won't be, but I don't see why not. I think her role is going to be a lot more straightforward than Z. Rebounding & D with a lot of banging in the process. She wasn't great at Kentucky but she was decent. And my gut tells me Geno wouldn't take a transfer he didn't expect to be in the rotation. I expect BT to work her way into 10 minutes per game. I'd say 70% chance she makes it into the rotation 30% chance she doesn't. That's assuming injury resolves relatively soon.

4. I didn't have high expectations of the freshies coming in but I thought there was a decent chance one might work their way in for a few minutes a game. Thought it would be MC but that looks pretty unlikely. AEH looks like a good possibility. I'd give her a one in 3 shot of working her way in.

5. I don't see MB or KI making it into the rotation. Maybe by senior year.

6. Bottom line I'm pretty optimistic that we get to an eight man rotation when healthy.

7. If we end up with a 7 man rotation and one person gets injured, we're so good that we'd still be overwhelming favorites IMO to win the NC. We would be more vulnerable to further injuries or foul trouble for sure. But still odds on favorites.

 

[Carnac]

In Las Vegas watching UCLA v Kansas State at the South Pointe Shootout. They don't look nearly as inspired today as they did Tuesday.

The Texas Longhorns just walked in. They got next v LSU.

Texas won by 9............... 75-66. Texas missed a lot of shots. They will have to play a lot better if they want to beat UConn.

Note - 6-3 So Joyner Holmes is not active. It's been reported that she is suspended the first half of the season. She is scheduled to become eligible for the 2nd half of the season which includes the UConn game Jan 15.

A better game for UCLA and Texas would have been to play each other. Neither of the teams they played were ranked, or at their level of talent or experience.

 

[ctkaiser]

Hell of a game. A whole bunch of things stood out to me watching the game live - some stuff you don't get to see on TV, or it's not nearly as noticeable.

UCLA is a tough, physical team. At times they disrupted UCONN's offense to the point where we would go a good 5-6 minutes and score 4-6 points. However, in general, in the first 3 quarters, UCLA kept it close for the first 5-6 minutes of the quarter, then UCONN went on a spurt.

1. UCONN went on a 9-0 run at the end of the 1st quarter (led 12-11 prior)
2. UCLA cut the lead to 5 in Q2 with 4 minutes left, then Walker took over and the lead was up to 11 at half time
3. UCONN's lead was still 11 with 3 minutes left in Q3, then we went on another run of 13-0

UCONN got the lead up to 29 with 6 minutes left in the game but was outplayed by UCLA down the stretch. Geno was NOT happy. But give credit to UCLA for not packing it in. They fought hard and outplayed us at the end, and that was with all our starters in.

The game plan seemed to be 3-fold...

1. Pack it in the paint - we didn't give Drummer, and more importantly Billings, any room to work in the paint
2. Dare UCLA to make outside shots (for the most part they did not)
3. Harrass Canada at every turn. Crystal was more than up for the challenge and the help defense on her was terrific

Collier - terrific all game. Definitely player of the game. 5 steals, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 23 points, played 40 minutes - I think we can safely say whatever was "ailing" her the first few games of the season is completely out of her system. She wasn't great with the high-low game (more on that later), but every time she got the ball in the post, she out-maneuvered her defender for a layup.

Walker - coming out party. Geno was clearly unhappy with Stevens. Put in Walker in the 2nd quarter, and she single handedly put the nail in the coffin. I think she got all of her 13 points over the 4 minute stretch at the end of Q2. Struggled to find the basket in the 2nd half, but no denying her impact on both ends of the floor.

Williams - unfortunately picked up fouls in bunches and had to sit, but boy is she terrific every second she's on the floor

Danger - kept one of the best PG's in the game in check. She was just tremendous. Assist goes to UCONN's help defense, as UCLA would set a lot of screes for Canada to get around, but UCONN was equal to the task.

Nurse - quiet in the first half (so it seemed), but really took over at times in the 2nd half. Such an all around solid game for her. 3 point shot was off. If not for that, she would have been a lot more noticeable

Stevens - It's just one game, but she has a ways to go. People who proclaimed she was the "best player on the team" before the season started were unfortunately wrong. I'd love it if she was an AA, but at this time, she is not. I get that she may make 3 point shots in the practices, but in the games, her shooting beyond the arc is abysmal. And I simply do not understand the high low game where she is on the perimeter lobbing the ball over the defender to a 6'1" Napheesa to try to get a layup. That play almost never worked. It should be the opposite - at 6'6", players should be lobbing the ball to her. I will say she is very mobile and her help defense was solid for the most part. But her weaknesses were on full display and she would have played even less had Gabby not been in foul trouble.

Geno played 6 players. 3 played 40 minutes. Clearly the bench has yet to earn his confidence. We will be fine in big games with KLS - 7 deep is plenty. But I sure hope Camara, Coombs, or E-H can give him a legit 8th player. Camara did participate in the warm up drills, but she has a huge brace on her knee... And she's not 6'2". She's actually a skooch shorter than Collier.

Thanks for the info Eric. Neither the Courant or Register writer commented on Camara being in uniform. Despite not being the height claimed on the roster the little bit I saw of her with Kentucky she was a solid, relentless rebounder. With all of us loyal fans anxious for any news on something that would gove the team some bench depth I'm really surprised there were no comments from either writer. I've kind of given up on getting great insight from game announcers although this duo wasn't bad. TV time slot had 15 minutes to fill as game ended early but they got out of that game so quick you would have thought they were breaking an FCC regulation by staying on.

 

[hoophuskee]

Good comments, hoophuskee. I think you feel more comfortable with the current situation than I do. I love that we have Z and Walker this year. I think we will be deep. We just aren`t deep right now, in my opinion. (Presumably we are only talking about "big" games, as Geno can do pretty much whatever he wants against lesser opponents.)

(1) Not sure I had "high expectations" for the freshman other than Walker, but by the same token expecting them to be on the floor to some extent in a meaningful game is hardly "completely unreasonable". You said you had Coombs playing about eight minutes - fine, I`ll take it! AEH played 14 decent minutes versus Maryland, and freshman Horvat of UCLA played 27 respectable minutes against us. (Horvat ranked 15 by ESPN, Coombs 13 and AEH 16.) Don`t need or expect 27 minutes, but would help the cause if Coombs and AEH could consistently combine to provide some minutes.

Also, you said above that I did not expect Camara to help by the end of the season. Actually, I agreed with you and said she will "likely contribute"; I just questioned the timing. Who knows - who wouldn`t question the timing at this point? If we are able to eventually get Butler-type minutes from her (about 16 minutes a game), as you suggest, and taking Z and Walker into account, then suddenly we are deep and we could reduce starters` minutes (about 31 per game last year) more if that was desired. Any additional minutes from the Freshman other than Walker would help, but might not be absolutely essential, "eight is enough" probably applies most nights.

But at this point, some of that is speculation and at this moment we go a solid seven deep - way better than last year, even now, I think everybody agrees on that - but seven deep is not deep enough, especially if one of the seven (Lou) is sitting out and/or the refs start blowing their whistles. Last year, we were about as deep as the Kardashians, so saying we are deeper than last year`s team is not saying much.

Well I agree with your tone. But as for the bench I don't think UCONN needs more than 7. If UCONN gets 7 in big games, imo that is enough. Overall Coombs and AEH I believe were also higher (more like over 20 maybe even 30 or more for AEH) in other services. For example, AEH didn't make the McD A/A game. Suppose they are more correct and actually AEH is more like a 30 recruit? How does she play in big games when you have the quality of 7 players better than her? So you are going to reward her and take minutes for more deserving players such as Walker and give to her?

Why can't Walker play 20-25 minutes in big games instead of giving the minutes to AEH? If Walker is better - why shouldn't Walker be rewarded? That's why I think 7 is fine and 8 is ideal. Those 20-25 minutes Walker can give would be fine for a bench. Walker and AZ get 25, and the starters get 30. During the AAC in which nearly every game is a blowout, you can back off on the starters so they don't get worn down. And we've seen for many years Geno ride his stars in big games for 35 plus minutes.

As for Horvat, there is a reason why the lead was near 30 and UCONN won by comfortably vs UCLA. The other team HAS TO PLAY Horvat those minutes, UCONN doesn't have to play AEH or coombs or Lexi or Kyla or Molly 15 in big games. We've seen UCONN go undefeated with a a 6 player rotation.

Overall when you get a core of 4 players back like UCONN had, and you get an ALL-ACC transfer, and you get the best High School Player, and eventually you are getting a transfer in Camara that was just as high as the freshmen 3 years ago, then how can the other freshmen fit in when some of those like AEH and Lexi are maybe more like 20's or even 30's? The expectation that they will crack in the rotation as freshmen while UCONN had so many players back imo was unrealistic. Possibly Lexi and AEH weren't McD A/A's for a reason. And then they will grow just like Saniya Chong did.

Next year they will be better. Anything we get out of them this year is gravy. When they come uppclassmen, if they can stick, they'll pounce on most of the incoming freshmen.