UConn women’s basketball: Five storylines to watch (merged, was Lila Article)

[MilfordHusky]

5 points: Who steps up, who leads, how do the newcomers do, what's the rotation, what's Aubrey's role?

 

[MilfordHusky]

She says starters include Azzi, Nika, and Dorka. The other 2 slots go to Liya, Caroline, or Lou.

 

[#12in21]

Forgive my ignorance but who is Lila Bromberg? Before edit periods ran out googled her and found she is (guessing the most recent) a Harford Currant writer covering Uconn WCBB and the Suns. What's she have to say, article behind paywall.

 

[eebmg]

Forgive my ignorance but who is Lila Bromberg? Before edit periods ran out googled her and found she is (guessing the most recent) a Harford Currant writer covering Uconn WCBB and the Suns. What's she have to say, article behind paywall.

The new Beat writer who took over for Alexa Philippou who moved to ESPN. Not the article to break a paywall on. Nothing in the article is new.

This just reminds me how little information about our team (on or off the court) is being gathered. Is it so hard to try to initiate some phone / email interviews or some video clips. Heck, I will even take some 10 question segments.

 

[BBallF]

In direct answer to the questions raised, Aaliyah definitely starts. She did last year and had a summer of practice at UCONN and not with the Olympic team. That means working on specific skills, strength, endurance and moves. I think Caroline starts too. She is a perfect 3 and gives you several skills, good size, is a difficult match up and moves as well without the ball as any player here in recent memory. Plus she is a cold blooded assassin out there.

I think Nika and Dorka lead and reinforce each other. However, both Azzi and Caroline are going to have a lot to say. While I don't see Liya as a leader, I see her as our most improved player with Nika a close second and Amari third. We have all said that once Liya's skills and basketball acumen catch up to her athleticism, there is no ceiling for her.

Lou Two definitely steps up. She is a scorer and knock down shooter. now playing on the big stage. I think Amari does too and by mid season or even earlier either Ayanna or Ice or both do also. Do not count Ines out. The kid is a player.

Whoever doesn't start, CD or Lou, and I think it will be Lou, is the first guard in but I also see Caroline moving to the 4 on rare occasion if the other team plays small ball. If she has a smaller defender on her back she is deadly. I see Amari in first for a big, probably Dorka because of the skill similarity in outside shooting and passing. Amari will find Caroline on her back doors and inside cuts and also Dorka or Lisa on low post ups.. I also think we see Aubrey set up to spell CD at the 3 but also play some 4 as well and I do see her as part of the regular rotation at least by mid- December. Hey, this team is made to press. You could see three of the guards (Nika, Azzi, Lou, Ines and/or CD) pressing with Aubrey playing the point on the press and a big back under the basket. That will suit Aubs fine. She gets more deflections than a political press conference.

 

[CL82]

The article was mostly questions with very little speculation as to the answers, some of which was questionable, in my opinion. For example, the writer does not envision Aaliyah to be a sure starter. Personally, I think it’s pretty likely.

 

[Bone Dog]

I'll be exceedingly surprised if the starters in November aren't Azzi Caroline Nika Aaliyah Dorka. These are the core veterans, the kids who know the program and will set the tone for the others. This doesn't really seem to be a serious question.

 

[MilfordHusky]

With all those questions, the article could have been written by Charlie Creme!

I agree--not much in the way of answers, but Lila is asking pretty much the same questions that we are asking. Over the course of the season, she should be a major source of info. Look for intel from the Horde on Friday/Saturday, based on First Night.

This may have been discussed before, but I think the Courant offers a bargain intro on-line subscription ($1 for 6 months, I think).

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'll be exceedingly surprised if the starters in November aren't Azzi Caroline Nika Aaliyah Dorka. These are the core veterans, the kids who know the program and will set the tone for the others. This doesn't really seem to be a serious question.

I think we need to keep an open mind. I agree with 4 of yours and lean toward Caroline over Lou, but Caroline might be the 6th woman to inject a change of pace. Over the course of the season, I could see Lou, Aubrey, or even Ice starting at least 1 game.

 

[Bone Dog]

Over the course of the season, I could see Lou, Aubrey, or even Ice starting at least 1 game.

Agreed. Over the course of the season, I expect to see lots of changes, experiments, developments, etc. But in November, before anyone has had a chance to prove themselves, I find it hard to believe the starters will not be the core veterans.

 

[Charliebball]

I assume that UConn WBB writers have visited this fine forum from time to time to get a fan's perspective of the team.................it would be interesting if Lila Bromberg was willing to come on the Boneyard to discuss the state of the program and ask true UConn fans the kind of questions they want answered...........Certainly couldn't hurt the paper's circulation.........

 

[CocoHusky]

I assume that UConn WBB writers have visited this fine forum from time to time to get a fan's perspective of the team.................it would be interesting if Lila Bromberg was willing to come on the Boneyard to discuss the state of the program and ask true UConn fans the kind of questions they want answered...........Certainly couldn't hurt the paper's circulation.........

You want a professional journalist to come to the BY to chop it up with BY posters?
Maybe the UCONN medical staff should also check in for advice on the next WBB injury as well?

 

[eebmg]

I think some writers ( I know they do that at the Athletic) at times have "mailbag' articles where they solicit questions. But I think they filter the questions alot so only more or less non-controversial questions are asked.

 

[Carnac]

5 points: Who steps up, who leads, how do the newcomers do, what's the rotation, what's Aubrey's role?

Our first 6 games (including the exhibition) are: Nov 6 Kutztown St (XL Center), Nov 10 Northeastern (Gampel), Nov 14 Texas (Gampel), Nov 20 NC State (XL Center), Nov 25 Duke (Phil Knight Legacy Classic, Portland, Oregon), Nov 27 Iowa/Oregon St (Phil Knight Legacy Classic, Portland, Oregon). The first two games are "warmups." Those last 4 will be a good test for us. Al of the questions we have about who is going to start, what will the rotation be, who's going to step up, will Lou and the freshmen step up early and be able to help us? ALL of those questions will be answered AFTER that Iowa/Oregon State game on the 27th. We'll lots to talk about after that game.

 

[WFFL]

Here im thinking another foreign transfer was added to the roster ....face palm overall congrats Lila !!!! Welcome aboard

 

[DEpup]

She says starters include Azzi, Nika, and Dorka. The other 2 slots go to Liya, Caroline, or Lou.

Insane. Without Paige, there really is no drama. It's Azzi, Nika, Caroline, Aliya, and Dorka to start the year. Lou probably becomes first off the bench and takes over the Evina role when Nika gets her first foul of the game... Azzi becomes PG and Lou slides into the SG role.

 

[oldhusky]

The article was mostly questions with very little speculation as to the answers, some of which was questionable, in my opinion. For example, the writer does not envision Aaliyah to be a sure starter. Personally, I think it’s pretty likely.

Also surprising is the way it is written, Aaliyah's competition for a starting position is from two wings, Caroline and Lou, and not from three strong candidates for the PF position in Ice, Ayanna and Aubrey. This assumes four smalls is pretty likely. I predict that there will be more time with natural 4's playing the 3, than 3's playing the 4 this year, partly because of the depth at the 4 vs. positions 1-3.

 

[sun]

For the sake of a fantasy discussion, when playing against a lower performing Big East opponent, UConn has enough depth to field 2 complete teams.
With a large enough lead, Geno could change the entire line up all at once by bringing in a wave of 5 fresh players as substitutes to get them all some experience, and to save them from some wear & tear and risk of injury.
And then somewhere toward the end of the half or of the game, he could send in Ines for 2-3 minutes.
It would sure make substituting players easier for Geno for that type of a Big East opponent.

A UConn player or two could learn to play as a guard and become more versatile.
So what if UConn only wins by 20 points instead of 30 or 40.
I doubt that such a lower scoring win would make very much difference in the final NCAA rankings.

 

[Bone Dog]

Our first 6 games (including the exhibition) are: Nov 6 Kutztown St (XL Center), Nov 10 Northeastern (Gampel), Nov 14 Texas (Gampel), Nov 20 NC State (XL Center), Nov 25 Duke (Phil Knight Legacy Classic, Portland, Oregon), Nov 27 Iowa/Oregon St (Phil Knight Legacy Classic, Portland, Oregon). The first two games are "warmups." Those last 4 will be a good test for us. Al of the questions we have about who is going to start, what will the rotation be, who's going to step up, will Lou and the freshmen step up early and be able to help us? ALL of those questions will be answered AFTER that Iowa/Oregon State game on the 27th. We'll lots to talk about after that game.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ll be making premature judgments after the Texas game.

 

[CL82]

You want a professional journalist to come to the BY to chop it up with BY posters?
Maybe the UCONN medical staff should also check in for advice on the next WBB injury as well?

Well, maybe they could just discuss the players healths assuming they got hippa releases of course. Funny dear Coco get on it!

(For what it’s worth, those of us who have been around long enough remember a video session in which two journalist talked with Boneyard posters. )

 

[Huskee11]

I concur with the consensus on starters, Azzi, Nika, Caroline, Aaliyah and Dorka.

Lou seems primed to provide the Frank Ramsey-type instant offense off the bench. (I know I am dating myself with that reference.)

After that it gets very interesting with four players - Amari, Ice, Aubrey and Ayanna - any one (or more) of whom could really break out of the group and make an impact. Not ignoring Ines either, maybe she can work her way onto the floor as well.

Not discussed in the article but what has me intrigued as I sit here in mid-October is what will this team "look like" on the floor - team personality - what will the overriding characteristic(s) be.

There have been many talent-laden UConn teams that have just looked as smooth as silk and would appear to score almost effortlessly, poetry in motion. With all the firepower an offensive UConn has, especially Azzi, Caroline, and Lou, will it look like that? Certainly at times it will.

Or will it be more often like what developed over time last season, a gritty, gutsy, defensive-minded team that was often short on style points but long on intensity and effort? There are many returnees who know how to play like that, we all remember who they are and how hard they fought especially down the stretch of the season.

Of course it will have to end up being a combination of the two. I can see nights when the offense is flowing, the assists piling up and the threes are raining down. But I think that the defensive intensity and physical nature of the women`s game has increased in recent years, with the tacit approval of the referees, and there will be games where UConn has to win ugly if they are going to win at all. Texas will be an early test in that regard. Gotta lace 'em up.

It is in those grind-it-out games that I think our bench - with size, strength and quickness - has the potential to be a huge factor. I think some combination of them will deliver, likely different ones on different nights. That depth will also give Geno more leeway and flexibility in pressing defensively all over the court and speeding up the tempo of the game.

Hopefully in those kind of contests we will be reminded of just how good Aubrey can be on the defensive end and how much we missed her last season.

 

[Jackalope]

The new Beat writer who took over for Alexa Philippou who moved to ESPN. Not the article to break a paywall on. Nothing in the article is new.

This just reminds me how little information about our team (on or off the court) is being gathered. Is it so hard to try to initiate some phone / email interviews or some video clips. Heck, I will even take some 10 question segments.

You don't need a paywall to read Courant articles. Do a search for UCONN Women's Basketball on msn.com or bing.com within news and you can see non-paywall articles labeled "Hartford Courant on MSN" here is the article using this method. No paywall!

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[HuskyNan]

The new Beat writer who took over for Alexa Philippou who moved to ESPN. Not the article to break a paywall on. Nothing in the article is new.

This just reminds me how little information about our team (on or off the court) is being gathered. Is it so hard to try to initiate some phone / email interviews or some video clips. Heck, I will even take some 10 question segments.

Why pay a reporter to write an article when the readers go around the paywall instead of paying for a subscription?

 

[Conndog]

Insane. Without Paige, there really is no drama. It's Azzi, Nika, Caroline, Aliya, and Dorka to start the year. Lou probably becomes first off the bench and takes over the Evina role when Nika gets her first foul of the game... Azzi becomes PG and Lou slides into the SG role.

Still have question about substitutions- not so much who is first sub (Lou? Amari? Aubrey?), but would two subs come in at once, say Lou at the 3 and Amari at the 5? Is that too much change in a lineup all at once? Is this more possible later in the season, or would it just never happen?

 

[Charliebball]

You want a professional journalist to come to the BY to chop it up with BY posters?
Maybe the UCONN medical staff should also check in for advice on the next WBB injury as well?

I thought that it's been established that UConn beat writers have often viewed the Boneyard in the past...........when you have a dying industry like newspaper journalism why not try to develop interest with those that often cite articles from the very same newspapers? It's not like we're talking about the NYTimes foreign desk here........gotta think outside the box!