UConn has too much fire power

[Zarathustra]

It's a bit premature to call Azzi a "generational player" after watching her play in the FIBA U19 games this past summer. I saw all the games. She was the 6th guard behind Paopao, Clark, Citron, Verlquist, & Johnson in that order. Lauren Betts was MVP, altho they gave that award to Clark.
"Bring your game, not your name" is the motto of the iS8 tournament in Queens. Sage advice!

I agree. I watched all the FIBA U19 games also. Lauren Betts was a force!

 

[Skeets]

I think there are too many selfish players on this team and that will be our downfall .. our BIGS will NEVER see the ball unless they get an offensive rebound .. thus, our guards [with their delusions of grandeur] will be our Achilles heel, eh?

You win the thumbs down award. Congratulations.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Every year, we get basically the same post. It is correct that UCONN puts a great team on the floor but yet we are sent packing by teams with less talent. Maybe this coming season will be different. Maybe it won’t. If we win it all, it won’t be because our players are better. They always are. It will be because someone in the locker says…”this ain’t Butler we’re playing, so stop thinking you’re better and go out and prove that you are.”

Well heck, I can probably do that.

 

[DEpup]

It's a bit premature to call Azzi a "generational player" after watching her play in the FIBA U19 games this past summer. I saw all the games. She was the 6th guard behind Paopao, Clark, Citron, Verlquist, & Johnson in that order. Lauren Betts was MVP, altho they gave that award to Clark.
"Bring your game, not your name" is the motto of the iS8 tournament in Queens. Sage advice!

I think you're cherry picking a bit. If you are only using pts as a measure than yes but I was most interested in Azzi's defense after the injury and she was the 1st guard in that category. The guards you listed were just happy to trade baskets in my opinion. Without Azzi guarding the opponent's best scorer, they don't win that tournament.

 

[Reypl21]

I think you're cherry picking a bit. If you are only using pts as a measure than yes but I was most interested in Azzi's defense after the injury and she was the 1st guard in that category. The guards you listed were just happy to trade baskets in my opinion. Without Azzi guarding the opponent's best scorer, they don't win that tournament.

I think they made it a point for Azzi to guard Australia's best guard in the gold medal game. She wasn't guarding the best scorers the whole tournament. They are winning that tournament without her defense. The player with the most impact on the tournament was Lauren Betts.

Melbourne is a good player, but she isn't the caliber of player that the US team had. I agree that Clark, Johnson, and Pao-Pao would be happy to trade basics. I don't think Verhulst or Citron would fall under that, and I think they both have higher ceilings on the defensive end.

 

[oldhusky]

I was a little dissapointed in Azzi's offensive output in that tournament, as she appeared to defer a little too much to others IMO. On the other hand her shooting ability, and scoring ability for that matter, are both considered givens for which there is little doubt. So watching her play for me was more a question of the rest of her game, and from that perspective I was pretty impressed that she will be a well rounded player, not just a shooter scorer.

In particular the ball handling passing was very good, and she looked strong defensively as well. I didn't see much on rebounding but overall the rest of her game impressed me, and also made me feel she could more easily blend in and find a role quickly on this team.

 

[CocoHusky]

It's a bit premature to call Azzi a "generational player" after watching her play in the FIBA U19 games this past summer. I saw all the games. She was the 6th guard behind Paopao, Clark, Citron, Verlquist, & Johnson in that order. Lauren Betts was MVP, altho they gave that award to Clark.
"Bring your game, not your name" is the motto of the iS8 tournament in Queens. Sage advice!

Your bias for bigs as well as your complete lack of BB knowledge is showing again. There is no way Azzi was the 6th best guard on that team. What are you smoking and where can the rest of us get some? Azzi shot 52% from deep and defended the other team's best guard. Can we safely assume that Azzi is to be the new target of your vitriol now that Christyn Williams is about to graduate?

 

[Tonyc]

A couple of thoughts. UConn is an unselfish team and Paige will make her team mates better. Azzi from what I am told is much the same type player. Both Paige and Azzi are assassins'. We need to wait for the season to start and for Azzi to gain experience at UConn and it will not happen in the first couple of games. It will take some time. Understand both Paige and Azzi will get alot of attention because they do they will find and help get their team mates open. I have learned over the years that there are players who see alot more before they reach half court then others see. Paige and Azzi are that type player.

 

[oldude]

A couple of thoughts. UConn is an unselfish team and Paige will make her team mates better. Azzi from what I am told is much the same type player. Both Paige and Azzi are assassins'. We need to wait for the season to start and for Azzi to gain experience at UConn and it will not happen in the first couple of games. It will take some time. Understand both Paige and Azzi will get alot of attention because they do they will find and help get their team mates open. I have learned over the years that there are players who see alot more before they reach half court then others see. Paige and Azzi are that type player.

Your post reminded me of CD’s comment about Paige after the Syracuse game, in an almost supernatural complement, “She sees things.”

 

[craftsman]

Seems like you folks spend the off season laying around spinning pipe dreams of imagined glory. If you played in a Power 5 conference you might be ready for a Final Four win at long last. As it is, you beat up on a bunch of Seaton Halls and enter the Tournament thinking you're as potent as your pumped up stats make you appear. When you play the Gamecocks reality will dawn - and if you had the guts to go to Palo Alto your pipe dreams would evaporate. You're actually pretty good for a mid-major.

 

[Alydar]

So, when will Paige assisted Azzi break Lou's 10/10 from 3? Freshman year? Game 1?

10-10 is a big nut. It will be hard. But she'll break Samuelson's assist and steal freshman marks before New Years. KLS was a designated 3pt shooter as a freshman. Freshman Fudd is so much more than that.

 

[Cornell Lt]

Seems like you folks spend the off season laying around spinning pipe dreams of imagined glory. If you played in a Power 5 conference you might be ready for a Final Four win at long last. As it is, you beat up on a bunch of Seaton Halls and enter the Tournament thinking you're as potent as your pumped up stats make you appear. When you play the Gamecocks reality will dawn - and if you had the guts to go to Palo Alto your pipe dreams would evaporate. You're actually pretty good for a mid-major.

So your point is what ? I find it amusing that when an upstart program starts to have some success, their fans come out of the woodwork to try and diminish what UConn has been able to accomplish. Your Gamecocks have won how many titles ? Your team can't be that good when the "mid-major "continually beats them. Oh and going to Stanford to play, UConn has been there and done that multiple times and I'm sure they will again.

You should enjoy SC's little run of success and be happy for them, no need to come to a UConn message board and try to trash the Huskies, not a good look . Come back and talk your sh#t when SC has won more than 11 national championship's.

 

[Mdoggie]

If you bite, they will come. Moderator activate!!

 

[oldude]

So your point is what ? I find it amusing that when an upstart program starts to have some success, their fans come out of the woodwork to try and diminish what UConn has been able to accomplish. Your Gamecocks have won how many titles ? Your team can't be that good when the "mid-major "continually beats them. Oh and going to Stanford to play, UConn has been there and done that multiple times and I'm sure they will again.

You should enjoy SC's little run of success and be happy for them, no need to come to a UConn message board and try to trash the Huskies, not a good look . Come back and talk your sh#t when SC has won more than 11 national championship's.

Hoping that this newest poster on the BY issued his missive with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek and simply left out the emogee If not, I strongly suggest that none of us provide any oxygen to him by replying to his otherwise silly posts.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Seems like you folks spend the off season laying around spinning pipe dreams of imagined glory. If you played in a Power 5 conference you might be ready for a Final Four win at long last. As it is, you beat up on a bunch of Seaton Halls and enter the Tournament thinking you're as potent as your pumped up stats make you appear. When you play the Gamecocks reality will dawn - and if you had the guts to go to Palo Alto your pipe dreams would evaporate. You're actually pretty good for a mid-major.

Where’s the thumbs down button?

 

[ktuck911]

Chiming in real quick... This about a 3 page thread now, so I hope I'm not touching on something somebody else already said, but the only chink in our armour is Geno's ability to trust a bigger rotation of players... We've got enough for at least a 10 man rotation on this roster... but it needs to be nurtured throughout the season, so, by tourney time, we'll be in a better position as a whole against the stiffer competition. Keeping more players accustomed to the rhythm of live game action will help out tremendously. That way, making it harder for opposing teams (that clearly have less talent) off balance. It'll help wear those other teams down...

We accomplish this, Geno gets another ring .. this time for one of his toes....

 

[Biff]

Where’s the thumbs down button?

If you hover over the blue "like" button (lower right of the comment box) you will see several variations of "like" to choose from which includes a dislike.

 

[UConnCat]

So your point is what ? I find it amusing that when an upstart program starts to have some success, their fans come out of the woodwork to try and diminish what UConn has been able to accomplish. Your Gamecocks have won how many titles ? Your team can't be that good when the "mid-major "continually beats them. Oh and going to Stanford to play, UConn has been there and done that multiple times and I'm sure they will again.

You should enjoy SC's little run of success and be happy for them, no need to come to a UConn message board and try to trash the Huskies, not a good look . Come back and talk your sh#t when SC has won more than 11 national championship's.

I believe this clown is a Stanford fan.

 

[fan4eva]

Theses been alot of posts over the years especially this season on height. There aren't alot of bigs that score alot of points. The presence of bigs intimidates players going to the middle. Depending on a big for points in most cases is not their purpose. Their purpose their purpose is for defense and rebounding. With that said against smaller post players bigs are able to get alot of points but having a good defensive big can negate that.

Uconn this season has alot of really good outside shooters. UConn should be able to put up alot of points in a very short time. We have shooters much like KML was for UConn. Other teams dont have the fire power and depth in fire power that UConn has this season. Defenses will have a problem defending UConn one on one. If one player draws two defenders that will leave somebody else open. If that player is having an off shooting night then we have players who can come off the bench and score. This team is loaded with really good shooters and scorers.

Against teams like SC and Stanford they like UConn have multiple bigs allowing them to play a high low. That could be a factor if defensively they are quick enough to keep up with our speedy guards. That could also put them in foul trouble. UConns ability to score alot of points will most likely result in the game being slowed down. That could work if opponents can keep up with UConns scoring. IMO the only teams that can threaten UConn are SC and Stanford and Stanford is not on UConns schedule. Stanford and UConn are on SC's schedule. Im looking forward to watching those games.

I look back a few years on how dominate UConn was with the 3 some of Stewie Tuck and MoJeff. Well this years team is similar. I expect AE's improvement to put her in position to become a better scorer and that along with are guards and wings will give us a dominate scoring attack that will not be matched by any other team.

Those fans concerned about what happened at the end of last season I believe have nothing to be concerned about this season. We have the depth and experience to handle any threats. We are for the most part a young team that will be dependent on some young players and those young players will be lead by upperclassmen who will complement them on the floor. I dont think many fans understand how good this team is and how much better they will be by the end of the season. In December we have UCLA and LVille then in January we have Oregon and SC. These tests will amplify our weaknesses as well as our ability to play in big games. These games will allow Geno to tweak his team.

Its been a while since Ive been this excited about the up coming season. As crazy as it sounds, I think we can begin to start another win streak much like we did in the past. This is a special group of players with alot of talent and we have more talent coming in next season. Dont be surprised with double digit wins against good teams. The fire power is there and the ability to go on runs and put up alot of points in a very short time is a reality that opponents will have to guard against. As good as SC and Stanford are and they are the cream of the crop this season I dont think they can contain UConns explosive Ariel attack. We're Going to the Top....the Very Top

I agree with you but I'm still not sure of what will happen when the shots are not falling and the rims seem a little tight there are always games like these during the season and my question is who will step and be that guard or wing to attack the rim and draw fouls or put the other teams bigs in foul trouble most teams are taught to close out and contest when playing teams who shoot well from the outside which we will but who will be that guard or wing who can finish thru contact and make the old fashion 3 point play I wanna say CW or EW but they have not shown that so far and PB is too small and loves to pass when she gets in the lane ,will Geno put that pressure on a freshman AZ..but I agree with your overall assessment but I'm weary of that knockdown down gut check game and who will step and more importantly will it be when it's all on the line NCAA championship game?

 

[Stymie]

Chiming in real quick... This about a 3 page thread now, so I hope I'm not touching on something somebody else already said, but the only chink in our armour is Geno's ability to trust a bigger rotation of players... We've got enough for at least a 10 man rotation on this roster... but it needs to be nurtured throughout the season, so, by tourney time, we'll be in a better position as a whole against the stiffer competition. Keeping more players accustomed to the rhythm of live game action will help out tremendously. That way, making it harder for opposing teams (that clearly have less talent) off balance. It'll help wear those other teams down...

We accomplish this, Geno gets another ring .. this time for one of his toes....

I pretty much agree with your observation.
While I cannot state in exact numbers how many members of this time will earn major court time, I agree with certainty that this team is BY FAR the most talented , top to bottom, of any UCONN team I can recall.
I do hope that all of them, regardless of ‘starting’ or ‘subbing’, work hard enough in practice (where playing time is EARNED), to allow coach to substitute liberally and suffocate the opponents with relentless ball pressure and a nonstop motion offense.
(Please note- I have avoided using the word ‘minutes’- I detest the use of this word in any meaningful discussion.)
As always, above JMHO.

 

[meyers7]

You win the thumbs down award. Congratulations.

I think you're cherry picking a bit. If you are only using pts as a measure than yes but I was most interested in Azzi's defense after the injury and she was the 1st guard in that category. The guards you listed were just happy to trade baskets in my opinion. Without Azzi guarding the opponent's best scorer, they don't win that tournament.

Your bias for bigs as well as your complete lack of BB knowledge is showing again. There is no way Azzi was the 6th best guard on that team. What are you smoking and where can the rest of us get some? Azzi shot 52% from deep and defended the other team's best guard. Can we safely assume that Azzi is to be the new target of your vitriol now that Christyn Williams is about to graduate?

You need to remember, @Jingo is not a UCONN fan. He/she is a Griffin and/or Ossining fan. So unless Griffin or some other player from Ossining has a great game/season/career, Jingo is not gonna be happy. He/she will continue to talk up Griffin, complain about her playing time, and take shots at any other UCONN player whom he/she feels threatens Griffin's playing time. Well, until Griffin graduates, then he/she will disappear from the BY. We get these "player fans" every once in awhile. Some learn to like UCONN, but some never get past "their player".

 

[Carnac]

Eric, overall I agree with your comments. But I’m not quite sure I would suggest that SC’s guards & wings are more athletic than ours. Paige, Evina & Christyn are exceptional athletes, and they have a size advantage over SC’s backcourt. SC does have some exceptionally athletic freshmen coming in, but they are just freshmen.

OD, you and Eric make some very salient, real and objective points in your narratives. The thing UConn can’t do is go into the season so confident that they don’t believe they can be beat. While I believe that this is by far the deepest and most talented team Geno has had since the end of the Stewart era,

it must be understood that the only thing that will insure victory night after night is EXECUTION. That simply means putting the ball in the basket, and preventing your opponent from doing the same. Sometimes the best teams don’t win the game. The team that makes the most plays, especially in crunch time, does.

That was illustrated by the way UConn made critical plays at the end of the game versus South Carolina last season. Our ability to execute the game plan from tip to buzzer will determine the level of our success. If UConn wins the NC this season, it will be because of their ability to execute and make plays against other elite top 5 teams that they will have to beat to raise the trophy, not because they have the best players. We had the best players in the losses to Mississippi State and ND.

Sue Bird once pleaded to her teammates as they were taking the floor after a timeout: “if the ball comes your way, make a play.” That can be on either end of the court. Sometimes games are determined by which team make the last play. Yesterday’s WNBA game between Phoenix and Seattle is an excellent example.

 

[Carnac]

I agree! UConn is going to have to prove they can defend and I think that starts with Paige actually followed by Liv and Edwards defending without fouling. Aside from team defense which Paige is pretty good, she's got to get better one on one along with the other guards. I actually was pleasantly surprised by Azzi's work at the U19 in that area. I am hoping E will be healthier and able to degend better and same for Nika to continue her defensive progression. They have got to get back to the old days where the guards could just shut down a team's best scoring guard.

In a word………..execution!!!

 

[Majic Hands]

Where’s the thumbs down button?

Hold down the thumb up, a dialogue box with the thumb down should open.

Personally, posts like that I don't even want to give enough energy to them that's required to do the thumb down.

I like to let em die on the vine by ignoring.

 

[MooseJaw]

I was a little dissapointed in Azzi's offensive output in that tournament, as she appeared to defer a little too much to others IMO. On the other hand her shooting ability, and scoring ability for that matter, are both considered givens for which there is little doubt. So watching her play for me was more a question of the rest of her game, and from that perspective I was pretty impressed that she will be a well rounded player, not just a shooter scorer.

In particular the ball handling passing was very good, and she looked strong defensively as well. I didn't see much on rebounding but overall the rest of her game impressed me, and also made me feel she could more easily blend in and find a role quickly on this team.

Well said, one point and I think a huge point... Did Azzi do her part in the games? I think she did, do we know what the coach asked her to do, I think not. Azzi played 100% team ball, she was solid as always. Jump forward to the next 4 years, do we need Azzi to grab 4-6 rebounds a game for us to win? God help us if we do. I want and hope for the Azzi to be the player she has been for most of her career, a leader, a winner, a team player. I think it's OK for us to analyze her games and discuss them, for some to pick nits before her first game as a Husky, I just don't get it. And I am not referring to you oldhuskie you articulated your disappointment and I get that, I feel that most of us can't wait for the season to get here where we can discuss what happens on the court in games that matter. I don't think Azzi will disappoint.