UConn coaches spoke to media today (Sept 8)

[eebmg]

On Thursday, UConn women’s basketball’s entire coaching staff met with the media. While we often hear from Geno Auriemma, the assistants provided a different perspective than the head coach. Jamelle Elliott focuses on the bigs and Morgan Valley specializes in the guards, meaning they spend more time working with the players on an individual level and might have a different viewpoint on someone than Auriemma.

Collectively, the coaching staff gave the most in-depth preview of the Huskies’ four new players that we’ve received so far.
Valley on Lopez-Senechal: “She's amazing. She's just an awesome kid,” “She's a worker. She's blue collar — doesn't expect anything, doesn't ask for anything. She just puts her head down. We use this system called Catapult, her numbers are off the chain in workouts, the weights, the effort she puts into her workouts, the way she works out — she's here for a reason. It's fun and games, but it's not fun in games for her. She has goals of going to the WNBA and playing in Europe. So she's here for a reason.”

I would love to get a 2 minute report on the progress of the players assigned to each coach once a week. That way we can stay informed and up to date on the progress of each player.

Not surprised by hearing about Lou's work ethic in the weight room. When the team released a clip of their workouts, Lou was pushing herself to her limit

 

[MilfordHusky]

It's September 10, and I'm going out on a limb to make a WNBA Draft prediction: The Washington Mystics will select Lou Lopez Senechal in the 1st or 2nd round. Mike Thibault is a great talent evaluator and finds players in obscure places. In addition, his daughter is the new Head Coach at Fairfield, Lou's alma mater and former team. Lou has the same motivation as Dorka--in addition to winning, this season is an audition for the WNBA. Along with Azzi and Paige, Lou is a Bucket.

 

[Tonyc]

You cant compare players as the womens game is growing in leaps and bounds. They players today are different and have more going for them then those players from past seasons. Diana is an exception. In Baseball Babe Ruth is an exception. Paige imo is the best since Diana. This years roster is terrific. Alot of talent with some great scorers. Caroline has shown she can deliver under pressure as had Azzi. What a combo those two are. Lou is a great scorer and we will see what Geno has in store for her at this level. Remember one thing. We have tremendous talent and much of it is young. Nika needs to be a threat so we arent doubled teamed in other positions. If that happens we are gonna be very difficult to beat. Nika will be the floor General. Everybody else will be able to do their thing as long as defenses are forced to guard Nika .

 

[Alydar]

You cant compare players as the womens game is growing in leaps and bounds. They players today are different and have more going for them then those players from past seasons. Diana is an exception. In Baseball Babe Ruth is an exception. Paige imo is the best since Diana. This years roster is terrific. Alot of talent with some great scorers. Caroline has shown she can deliver under pressure as had Azzi. What a combo those two are. Lou is a great scorer and we will see what Geno has in store for her at this level. Remember one thing. We have tremendous talent and much of it is young. Nika needs to be a threat so we arent doubled teamed in other positions. If that happens we are gonna be very difficult to beat. Nika will be the floor General. Everybody else will be able to do their thing as long as defenses are forced to guard Nika .

Jefferson averaged 10 pts/game her sophomore year. She greatly improved her 3 pt shooting, hitting 42% after 27% as a freshman.
Mühl scored 4/game as a sub forced into a starter's role due to injury. Now again she will likely start after the starting PG was lost. One difference is that she will have had 5 months and twice the experience as she had last year.
So much depends on how everyone else pans out. I would love if a good 3 pt shooter appears beyond Fudd/Ducharme. That would allow Fudd to play some minutes at pg. Mühl is most effective when she opens the throttle to 100% but she can't do that for 30-35 minutes a game. If L-S can shoot like her stats UConn could play 2 wings with Fudd at the 1, all of whom can shoot over most guards. Just a possibility.