Top 3 Things You Want To See Wednesday Night Against Villanova At Gampel. Game is at 7:00 p.m on SNY.

[Basingstoke]

1) 15 healthy and productive minutes for Aubrey
2) Steps forward in the teams offensive efficiency and defensively cohesiveness.
3) The big three to be joined by one more double digit scorer
3a) Some Jana and Ice domination

 

[The deacon]

Unlike many here I think it is time to start preparing for the end season as all players are now likely available (and hopefully will continue to be). This is the halfway mark of the season and the starters now need to get more time together to get ready for the longer stints they will play in the higher quality games.

IMO, with 12 games and a full six weeks before the Big East tournament, there's plenty of time to get the top players geared to tournament conditions. This time in coming weeks would be better spent developing Jana (and Ice), principally, but also letting those you apparently term non-starters (KK, Aubrey, Morgan, Allie) develop their skills, both without the starters on the floor and also integrating them into the flow with Paige & Co.

As a followup, why would you think Geno won't take advantage of this year's depth in post-season as Dawn Staley has been doing with success for several years? That he hasn't in past decades was surely because he didn't have the quality depth he does now. Running teams off the court with the press and utilizing his depth might well be UConn's best chance at a title this season, rather than riding the coattails of several players.

 

[Zinethar]

IMO, with 12 games and a full six weeks before the Big East tournament, there's plenty of time to get the top players geared to tournament conditions. This time in coming weeks would be better spent developing Jana (and Ice), principally, but also letting those you apparently term non-starters (KK, Aubrey, Morgan, Allie) develop their skills, both without the starters on the floor and also integrating them into the flow with Paige & Co.

As a followup, why would you think Geno won't take advantage of this year's depth in post-season as Dawn Staley has been doing with success for several years? That he hasn't in past decades was surely because he didn't have the quality depth he does now. Running teams off the court with the press and utilizing his depth might well be UConn's best chance at a title this season, rather than riding the coattails of several players.

Nowhere in my statement did I say the non starters should not get time. I said the starters needed more together. I stand by that. We can agree to disagree if you think those who Geno had designated as starters (which currently includes Jana btw). The starters are currently playing less then a half as a group. It will be hard to meld without more time. Practice is not game conditions. I certainly want others to get time they also need so they can contribute. 12 games is NOT a lot.

 

[JSB60]

No injuries
A win
Aubrey making a step forward

 

[BBallF]

So, for the 100th time, what solution do you propose? All the people grumbling about the Big East need to start proposing useful solutions instead of complaining time and again

The only solutions they can propose are either to be completely independent in basketball, ala Notre Dame in football, which would be totally unworkable given the number of games played or to join a more competitive conference, presumably the SEC, Big 10 or ACC. Then do you keep the same OOC schedule? Where is the guarantee that doing that makes you better, more likely to win a championship, or just more likely to burn out, get injuries, or get and give more transfers. I don't think the AAC, a clearly weaker conference than the Big East, hurt the development of our teams especially the ones from 2013-2014 through 2016-2017. When we missed the Final Four, would you blame it on the Big East schedule or Paige's absence. Gee...lemme think.

 

[BBallF]

The funny thing is, the complaining about the conference is pointless. It’s right up there with whining about the ‘bigs’. UConn’s first two final fours came out of the old Big East, which was far worse than this rendition, and the non conference schedule wasn’t all that great either.

What prepares the players for big games is practice. They are practicing to meet a standard and measuring themselves against it. I know this because I’ve heard countless players say it over the years. UConn lost to Notre Dame three times during Breanna Stewart’s freshman year, then easily defeated them in the national semifinal. Mostly, it was because Breanna Stewart got better during practices. I do think the non-conference tough games are a nice measuring stick. But they don’t determine the final results.

Since this thread are the three things I want to see:
1. Morgan and Allie continuing to get better, particularly Morgan on defense.
2. KK playing under control and being a terror on defense.
3. Aubrey easing back into the rotation.

I agree with everything you said except this. Morgan right now is a far better defensive player than Allie. Allie is the one who has to improve her defense and that will keep her on the floor. She has proven that she can be an electric scorer but in Geno's world you don't play the D, you don't get QPT.

 

[The deacon]

Nowhere in my statement did I say the non starters should not get time. I said the starters needed more together. I stand by that. We can agree to disagree if you think those who Geno had designated as starters (which currently includes Jana btw). The starters are currently playing less then a half as a group. It will be hard to meld without more time. Practice is not game conditions. I certainly want others to get time they also need so they can contribute. 12 games is NOT a lot.

Agreed... we'll agree to disagree.