UConn will be fine

[Carnac]

Cam Young is killing it Tony.

This was a Final Four team with Paige. Maybe they still are but many of the posts on this board are asking players to step up……be better than they ever have been before. The jury is out. This is still a very good team. For me, the chance of going to the Championship game doesn’t depend on current players playing better than they have before ( that’s a hope). It depends on the two incoming freshman making major contributions to the teams success. The team without those players will struggle to make the FF.

I too agree, and have been suggesting as much since Paige went down. I would add Lou Lopez-Senechal to this group. A graduate player with 4 years of D-1 experience has to be able to contribute something meaningful on a nightly basis, even if it's only 10-15 "quality" minutes. There will be nights when she will be called on to play 2-25 minutes. I think she'll be ready.

Three players out, three players in. Everybody eats, everybody contributes. No cheerleaders this term. EVERY PLAYER brings something to the table. What ever it is, they must bring it every night be it rebounding, shooting, playing defense, etc. Every game will require something different at various times during the game. Geno know who to plug in at the proper time.

 

[msf22b]

Prior to Paige's injury, we had a very strong sense of what this season would be like (not that that means anything or is true) and now the the BY is scrambling as is the staff to create a coherent team.

With Paige, top-5 or better is likely, without her?

We know that last season Caroline stepped up, that after a difficult start, Aaliyah was herself in the stretch...
That Nika is a baller, that Dorka can dominate and that Ezzi is Ezzi....other than that...we don't know much...

Like: who's going to distribute? Nika and Ezzi...could be ok...do the kids really help the bigs this season? Do Amari and Aubrey contribute.

For the answers to these and other questions you may have, I suggest that you watch this space and the up-coming season...

I expect it to be fascinating, expect good things...But will not be broken up if other excellent teams prevail

 

[Notyetready]

It is not only that UConn has to fill Paige's shoes at the 1 and 2 spots. Realistically, Geno will need to shunt one or two of his six forwards to the 3 spot, leaving four guards for the 1 and 2 spots-- at least some of the time. He did use a three-big line-up a few times last year and I'm guessing that is what he plans on for this year. I remember one time when the third big was Amari who spent all her offensive time on the 3 pt arc of the left wing. Who can effectively play the three from the list of forwards? Ice and Amari are probably the best 3 pt. shooters but Ayanna is the best perimeter defender (she was effective against Ashlynn Shade when their teams met). Lots of pre season training camp to work on perimeter skills. Will be fun to watch.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Geno has got to be thinking about a 3 big lineup for sure. Is the 3rd big Ayanna, Aubrey, Amari or Ice?

I think Aubrey gets a lot of that 3rd big PT but Ayanna might be our best option there. Ayanna is going to have to keep her turnovers low and that 3rd big can probably set picks down low to open up each other. We don't see it much but SC did it very well.

 

[Bone Dog]

I disagree with last few posts. I suspect Geno will try to play 4-out for at least part of the time. This is a significant strength given our personnel. But it depends on having an active big, and as it turns out we have a few of those. Picture a group like this: Nika, Azzi, Caroline, Lou and Aaliyah. That’s some serious firepower, on the perimeter, which means Aaliyah will be playing one-on-one with no double teams in the paint. Very few teams can match up with that. And I’m pretty sure Ice and Ayanna can sub in for her in this group.

Yes, we’ll also probably play a 3-2 with Aubrey and Ayanna occasionally playing the 3. That will also be a formidable lineup.

 

[hoophuskee]

This offseason it looked like we would head into this season with five guards, hardly excessive, but at least it meant if one was injured we could use a carefully structured substitution pattern and milk the minutes at the 1-3 between mostly the four remaining players, with maybe just a few spot minutes by someone who was not a guard. We had a cushion for one injury, but that is gone with Paige's injury.

The big problem is the super-quality of the player that's been lost. Because of losing the super-superstar, the thought that this team could have a deep bench at the pg/sg positions is pretty laughable. Unless the intent would be to start not going after pg/sg type of number 1 ranked recruits- especially considering they are talked about as being "generational."

Why would other top pg/sg recruits do it? Answer is they don't. They will sit 2 years max and at the 2 year mark they had better see an opportunity to play otherwise they are gone. Guards are generally in better shape than posts, so they want to play. A healthy Paige and Azzi are "preventers" for getting big minutes by others. As well as the past 2 years you had CWill and Evina. So, overall, the number 1 ranked recruits are going to get minutes, and if they don't, the next generation number 1 recruit at guard will most likely pass on coming to play in Non-P5 Storrs, Ct unless they bleed 100% Husky Blue.

 

[TCC Kid]

That’s fair. By replaceable I meant someone would take her place. And this will happen soon. We definitely lose something. But we still have a lot. Azzi can do a lot of what Paige can do, and some of it even better, like 3 pt shooting. She hasn’t shown quite the heart Paige has. But she can be bold when she has to be, like in the first Villanova game, or the first Marquette game.

Caroline can do things Paige can’t, like block shots with aplomb. She also knows how to carry a team that has lost its way. She showed us that last year.

So, Paige will be replaced by Azzi and Caroline. It comes at a cost. But they will be fierce and the team will rally around them.

Bone Dog. I understand the --no one is irreplaceable. I typically believe that fully. When I was a new engineer, and old timer took to a bucket of water and turned the water with his hand--he said: The time it takes that bucket to calm again, is how long you'll be missed when you are gone. The world will miss us all that long. Sad but true.

 

[TCC Kid]

Come March, everyone should have found have found their "niche", and settled in their comfort zone. You don't have to be great all year, just the last 6 games. Any of the top 15 teams is capable of doing it. That's one of the things that make following the tournament so much fun. Watching the elite teams in WCBB fight for survival and advance to the next round. Watching a wild card dark horse team emerge and muck things up the the real contenders. Remember Oregon and Washington with Chantel Osahor several years ago? I love it.

Geno's mantra repeated it many years. 6 games. However, teams don't get to play 6 games (only 2 out of hundreds of team) without being better or luckier than those other hundreds. At that moment ---6 games to win is the goal. Other coaches break the season in sections--win this, then this, then this then 6 game.
In your comment or Geno's approach I'd be a fool to take another view. Have you notices the number of years out of nearly 40 years Geno has been one of your 15?
One odd thing, Geno won so many NC-s I, and others, believed he could not lose an NC--amazing.

 

[TCC Kid]

We need BOTH of them to find their "sea legs" within the first 5-6 games. They need to forget they are freshmen, and play like experienced sophomores. It CAN be done. Both of them have greatness within them. I just hope they can bring that greatness to the surface sooner rather than later........like in the first quarter of the Kutztown State game.......and keep it going. I still think Geno is going to add a player prior to classes resuming on a little more than 2 weeks. #NODAYSOFF.

I played the game, I coached a tiny bit, I believe players that have decent competition for 4 or more years --can play at the college level, some at the Pro level, because they understand those little things that become big in tight games. I.e. Basketball players can play. All that leads up to --your comment above on the Newbies not playing like Freshman. The other half of the coin is the confidence the coach shows in them. CAROLINE, DT, MAYA, RENE all had that confidencek