UConn WBB 2017-18: an embarrassment of riches?

[alexrgct]

I could be mistaken in some way, but my belief is that UConn's roster in 2017-18 will look like this:

Kia Nurse
Gabby Williams
Natalie Butler
Katie Lou Samuelson
Napheesa Collier
Molly Bent
Kayla Irwin
Crystal Dangerfield
Andra Espinoza-Hunter
Lexi Gordon
Mikayla Coombs
Megan Walker
Azura Stevens
Batouly Camara

Is this correct? Have I listed someone who will have graduated or omitted someone who should be added?

I ask for one simple reason: this roster for 2017-18 looks like a ridiculously loaded team that should absolutely be in contention yet again for a national championship. Moreover, the team will be deep, experienced, and balanced.

Am I off base here, or should I get excited? Like really excited???

 

[BroadwayVa]

I could be mistaken in some way, but my belief is that UConn's roster in 2017-18 will look like this:

Kia Nurse
Gabby Williams
Natalie Butler
Katie Lou Samuelson
Napheesa Collier
Molly Bent
Kayla Irwin
Crystal Dangerfield
Andra Espinoza-Hunter
Lexi Gordon
Mikayla Coombs
Megan Walker
Azura Stevens
Batouly Camara

Is this correct? Have I listed someone who will have graduated or omitted someone who should be added?

I ask for one simple reason: this roster for 2017-18 looks like a ridiculously loaded team that should absolutely be in contention yet again for a national championship. Moreover, the team will be deep, experienced, and balanced.

Am I off base here, or should I get excited? Like really excited???

Get really really really excited!! Looks like this could be the Sue, Swin, Asia(sp), Tamika, Dt on Steroids--with size!!

 

[TitleTown]

Could be one of the deepest and most talented UConn teams ever!

 

[CocoHusky]

UCONN has nothing to be embarrassed about. The roster that UCONN has assembled has been the result of hard work not luck.

"He (Geno) recruited me the hardest. "
...................................................Megan Walker

" UCONN has been recruiting me since the 8th grade".
........................................................Mikayla Coombs

 

[hussybulldog]

NCAA should allow uconn to send two teams to the championship that year .

 

[Bigpetunia]

In Geno I trust, and yes, this team is going in one season from insufficient depth to another that boasts an insane level of it. But there's one thing that even "The Master" cannot accomplish: He cannot manufacture enough minutes to go around to satisfy this much talent! This is hard enough with traditional twelve-player rosters. I'm not complaining, but there'll be some casualties.

 

[VAMike23]

I could be mistaken in some way, but my belief is that UConn's roster in 2017-18 will look like this:

Kia Nurse
Gabby Williams
Natalie Butler
Katie Lou Samuelson
Napheesa Collier
Molly Bent
Kayla Irwin
Crystal Dangerfield
Andra Espinoza-Hunter
Lexi Gordon
Mikayla Coombs
Megan Walker
Azura Stevens
Batouly Camara

Is this correct? Have I listed someone who will have graduated or omitted someone who should be added?

I ask for one simple reason: this roster for 2017-18 looks like a ridiculously loaded team that should absolutely be in contention yet again for a national championship. Moreover, the team will be deep, experienced, and balanced.

Am I off base here, or should I get excited? Like really excited???

I was saying the same thing to MilfordHusky - by next year, the team will have a TON of very, very good players to go along with a handful of true stars. We phrased it as a bunch of A players to go with a few A+ talents. Not B players, or B+ players, but A players. Really very little fall-off. So deep! It's going to be another year where, at the end of games against woeful AAC squads, it's going to be kind of ridiculous when the end of our bench is in the game. An illustration: Megan Walker could be in those games at the end when the final buzzer sounds, at least early on. Megan Walker!

I know Geno doesn't really like to use the full or 3/4 press all that much (as he doesn't believe you can press good teams late in the tournament anyway), but he does use it. Next year he might use it more than ever. Or at least it would be an option.

It will be very interesting to see what twists or strategies Geno employs next year to adapt to his new roster, in line with the article that was posted yesterday (Geno being adaptive). Much will look the same as it always does, but there will be a few important adjustments as well, I'd bet.

 

[chuck.r]

In Geno I trust, and yes, this team is going in one season from insufficient depth to another that boasts an insane level of it. But there's one thing that even "The Master" cannot accomplish: He cannot manufacture enough minutes to go around to satisfy this much talent! This is hard enough with traditional twelve-player rosters. I'm not complaining, but there'll be some casualties.

Recent history suggests there will be at least one and possibly two transfers from this loaded roster, as the pecking order of who gets regular minutes and who doesn't resolves itself (whether due to talent & leadership, practice habits & performance, school struggles & other distractions, etc.) over the next couple of years. Not the coaches fault, just the nature of young athletes today looking to assert some control over their playing career windows.

 

[UcMiami]

In Geno I trust, and yes, this team is going in one season from insufficient depth to another that boasts an insane level of it. But there's one thing that even "The Master" cannot accomplish: He cannot manufacture enough minutes to go around to satisfy this much talent! This is hard enough with traditional twelve-player rosters. I'm not complaining, but there'll be some casualties.

That is a 'popular' sentiment, but this will also be a very young team with four sophomores (counting Camera) and four freshman who just signed on knowing what that roster looks like. They will be looking at at least two senior starters that will need to be replaced in 2018. If players see a way forward they will stay, if not, then maybe they leave. Uconn has lost on average one player a year for the last decade, but ...

People think 25+ minutes are necessary for player 'happiness', but when you look at successful teams there are usually a number of players who are getting 15+ productive minutes as they develop: Kiah Stokes fr minutes: 13, So: 11, Jr: 19, Sr: 18. Or Gabby Fr: 16 So: 19. Or Napheesa Fr: 17 - anyone really think Gabby or Napheesa thought about leaving because they weren't starting and weren't getting 20 minutes a game?

 

[chuck.r]

That is a 'popular' sentiment, but this will also be a very young team with four sophomores (counting Camera) and four freshman who just signed on knowing what that roster looks like. They will be looking at at least two senior starters that will need to be replaced in 2018. If players see a way forward they will stay, if not, then maybe they leave. Uconn has lost on average one player a year for the last decade, but ...

People think 25+ minutes are necessary for player 'happiness', but when you look at successful teams there are usually a number of players who are getting 15+ productive minutes as they develop: Kiah Stokes fr minutes: 13, So: 11, Jr: 19, Sr: 18. Or Gabby Fr: 16 So: 19. Or Napheesa Fr: 17 - anyone really think Gabby or Napheesa thought about leaving because they weren't starting and weren't getting 20 minutes a game?

I suspect freshmen players at UConn are a bit more patient in this regard, with their plates full learning Auriemma's 'system', getting in condition for the college-level grind, and just going to college away from home. The sophomore year is likely the first season where desire to be a regular contributor (if not a starter) starts to assert itself. Anyway, I hope you are right, and I am excited to see what this recruiting class accomplishes over their careers at UConn.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I know Geno typically doesn't do this and probably won't, but I'd love to see him redshirt Lexi and maybe Kyla next year. Seems to me it would be a good business decision, if the kids would go for it.

 

[drweo]

In Geno I trust, and yes, this team is going in one season from insufficient depth to another that boasts an insane level of it. But there's one thing that even "The Master" cannot accomplish: He cannot manufacture enough minutes to go around to satisfy this much talent! This is hard enough with traditional twelve-player rosters. I'm not complaining, but there'll be some casualties.

Agreed. This likely roster is overflowing with talent. Giving each player her due will be a huge problem, one that could cause friction within the team. But there is a whole season between now and then, so I will concentrate my worries on all this year's "what if's". How 2016-17 works out will have a lot to do with next year's decisions.

 

[Orangutan]

Y'all are up to 14! No more jokes from the BY about how many players Walz recruits.

 

[Bigpetunia]

NCAA should allow uconn to send two teams to the championship that year .

Well, I think that an argument could be made for Geno to create two competing seven-player teams next year, with roughly equal talent assigned to each, having them vie with one another with respect to relative performance...say, a "Blue" team and a "White" team. In that way, he could make massive, whole-squad-on-the-floor substitutions at frequent intervals, and double down on his natural predilection for run, run, run. No one could keep up with them!

 

[huskeynut]

Texas and Baylor aren't doing too bad a job of stockpiling either.

Same concerns about playing time for UConn should also apply to UT and BU.

 

[JordyG]

Y'all are up to 14! No more jokes from the BY about how many players Walz recruits.

FOTFLOL. Now that I'm standing up, I'll stop when 1) He stops stockpiling guards and/or 2) Wins a championship.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I was saying the same thing to MilfordHusky - by next year, the team will have a TON of very, very good players to go along with a handful of true stars. We phrased it as a bunch of A players to go with a few A+ talents. Not B players, or B+ players, but A players. Really very little fall-off. So deep! It's going to be another year where, at the end of games against woeful AAC squads, it's going to be kind of ridiculous when the end of our bench is in the game. An illustration: Megan Walker could be in those games at the end when the final buzzer sounds, at least early on. Megan Walker!

I know Geno doesn't really like to use the full or 3/4 press all that much (as he doesn't believe you can press good teams late in the tournament anyway), but he does use it. Next year he might use it more than ever. Or at least it would be an option.

It will be very interesting to see what twists or strategies Geno employs next year to adapt to his new roster, in line with the article that was posted yesterday (Geno being adaptive). Much will look the same as it always does, but there will be a few important adjustments as well, I'd bet.

Megatron in garbage time is quite a thought. She could put up 20 in the 4th quarter alone.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

... double down on his natural predilection for run, run, run. No one could keep up with them!

I've always wondered if Geno would install The System for a period of time now-and-then. Change of pace to cross-up opponents, and flat wear them out. Teams like South Carolina would be forced to pull their bigs out of the game, taking away their primary offensive targets.

Gabby would have a field day!

 

[MilfordHusky]

That is a 'popular' sentiment, but this will also be a very young team with four sophomores (counting Camera) and four freshman who just signed on knowing what that roster looks like. They will be looking at at least two senior starters that will need to be replaced in 2018. If players see a way forward they will stay, if not, then maybe they leave. Uconn has lost on average one player a year for the last decade, but ...

People think 25+ minutes are necessary for player 'happiness', but when you look at successful teams there are usually a number of players who are getting 15+ productive minutes as they develop: Kiah Stokes fr minutes: 13, So: 11, Jr: 19, Sr: 18. Or Gabby Fr: 16 So: 19. Or Napheesa Fr: 17 - anyone really think Gabby or Napheesa thought about leaving because they weren't starting and weren't getting 20 minutes a game?

Excellent points, my friend. In terms of seniority, we'll have only Kia and Gabby in their 4th year; Nat will be a senior in her 3rd season at UConn. Lou and Pheesa will be juniors, as will transfer Azura. Everyone else--all 8 of them--is an underclassman. And underclassmen need to learn and wait their turn.

Kiah Stokes was pretty much never a starter at UConn. But she was second in WNBA ROY voting and is one of the best defenders in the league. Asjha Jones started pretty much just her senior year and became a WNBA All-Star. Mega talents like Diana, Maya, and Stewie were not starters early on and moved into the starting lineup only after injuries or graduation of others.

I think yesterday's article on Geno adapting is apropos. This year's team is short in stature and short in numbers. Coach will need an approach for that. Next year, we are much bigger, insanely deep, and uber talented. The task will be different.

We need to keep at least 5 things in mind: (1) Some kids are slower to "get it." They won't have much PT until they do. There is no one who is obviously in this category, as far as I can see. (2) Injuries, unfortunately, are part of the game. Having extra bodies--especially talented ones--is a nice insurance policy. I think injuries cost us about 4 NCs. (3) A redshirt (or two) is possible for someone who is a little slow to pick things up or someone with a nagging injury or slow to rehab. (4) Keep in mind that Natalie, Azura, and Batouly could stay for their extra year or not. I hope they all do, but we really don't know. (5) Transfers out happen, for various reasons. I won't speculate as to who might leave, if anyone, but I'll note that Kyla, while perhaps the lowest rated of all 14 players, is the daughter of a coach. Her future is in coaching, not in the WNBA, most likely. I see her sticking around to learn from Geno, irrespective of how much PT she gets.

In some of our most successful seasons, we were not very deep. We played primarily 6 or 7 players. One injury or major foul trouble could have derailed our path to the NC. I prefer having the "problem" of 14 players rather than just 7.

 

[Bigpetunia]

I've always wondered if Geno would install The System for a period of time now-and-then. Change of pace to cross-up opponents, and flat wear them out. Teams like South Carolina would be forced to pull their bigs out of the game, taking away their primary offensive targets.

Gabby would have a field day!

Well, can you imagine how fierce the competition would be? If you were a member of, say, the Blue team, you'd potentially be more embarrassed by being outperformed by the White team than by the Notre Dame team! The kids would work their tails off even more than they otherwise would!!

 

[geneticrex]

Y'all are up to 14! No more jokes from the BY about how many players Walz recruits.

Ok........................deal.

Did I tell ya about the time I was forced to break up with my cross-eyed girlfriend because I found out she was seeing me and another guy at the same time???

 

[DriveLH]

Could be one of the deepest and most talented UConn teams ever!

For a perspective, the 2000 team had Paige Sauer, Stacy Hansmeyer, Shea, Sveta, Sue Bird, Tamika Williams, Swin Cash, Asha Jones, Kelly Schumaker, and Kennitra Johnson.

 

[Charliebball]

Y'all are up to 14! No more jokes from the BY about how many players Walz recruits.

true but in Geno's case almost all of the player's he recruited decided to come to UConn.............Walz recruits virtually the entire top ESPN 75 knowing the he will get just a fraction of LOI's

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Y'all are up to 14! No more jokes from the BY about how many players Walz recruits.

Well, if we got 'em, you don't!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

In Geno I trust, and yes, this team is going in one season from insufficient depth to another that boasts an insane level of it. But there's one thing that even "The Master" cannot accomplish: He cannot manufacture enough minutes to go around to satisfy this much talent! This is hard enough with traditional twelve-player rosters. I'm not complaining, but there'll be some casualties.

There is a solution to your worry. A team that dominates like no other and turns WCBB into performance artistry. Everybody gets a couple of highlight reel plays and minutes that keep them sharp but healthy, while they get training for the next level that is, simply, available no where else. Wanna leave and take your chances? Take a look at how that worked out.