UConn's Toughest Regular Season Opponent

[AgStatesman]

Sounds like an irrational post from the BY’s most rational poster!‍♂️‍♂️

No, my thesis is quite rational. It takes me back to the times when we would have win streaks of 200, 300 and even 400 games in a row.

 

[Next 12]

No, my thesis is quite rational. It takes me back to the times when we would have win streaks of 200, 300 and even 400 games in a row.

Now, that is funny!! I loved it. GO HUSKIES111

 

[jdote33]

Just for fun/best guess, as we are still around 2.5 months away: potential starting lineups of uconn (not trying to be controversial jk) + each of most of the teams in the poll

	Uconn	@Texas	@South Carolina	Notre Dame	UNC (Mohegan)	@UMD	@NC State	UCLA(potential opp/ Caymand Islands)
HC/ESPN Too Early Top 25 #	Geno/1	Vic Schaefer/20	Dawn Staley/ 8	Niele Ivy/10	Courtney Banghart/19	Brenda Frese/17	Wes Moore/NR	Cori Close/2
Center	AE	Taylor Jones	Kamila Cardoso	Kylee Watson	Maria Gakdeng	Allie Kubek	River Baldwin	Lauren Betts
PF	Aubrey	Deyona Gaston	Sania Feagin	Maddy Westbeld	Teonni Key	Faith Masonius	Mimi Collins	Emily Bessoir
SF	Paige	Shay Holle	Bre Hall	Cassandre Prosper	Alyssa Utsby	Lavander Briggs	Madison Hayes	Camryn Brown
SG	Azzi	Shaylee Gonzalez	Te'Hina Papao	Sonia Citron	Lexi Donarski	Jakia Brown Turner	Sania Rivers	Charisma Osborne
PG	Nika	Rori Harmon	Raven Johnson	Olivia Miles	Deja Kelly	Shyanne Sellers	Zoe Brooks	Kiki Rice
6th Woman	Caroline	Madison Booker	Chloe Kitts	H.Hidalgo	Paulina Paris	Brinae Alexander	Aziah James	Londynn Jones

Some notes:
*Since the game vs ND is later in the season, I think (crossing fingers) Olivia Miles should be healthy by that time.
*Conversely, against Texas, I probably would've put Aliyah Moore in the starting lineup but not sure if she will be 100 percent by that time. She suffered a torn ACL on December 11th last year. I think she will probably play but not sure if she'll be herself until hopefully February or March. Nevertheless, Texas was kinda hard to gauge. I think Shaylee, Rori and Gaston will definitely start. Last year Faye started more than Jones, but Jones dealt with quite a bit of injuries which has been somewhat of an unfortunate reoccurence in her career. I think Booker is super talented and should start day 1, but Holle is a senior, who plays super hard, so I could see Vic going with her.
*Similar to last year, I have no idea what Maryland is going to do with their starting lineup. They have a ton of wings, but really no bigs or point guards. I'm hoping Kubek, comes back string after getting hurt last year.
*I'm worried about NC State. They've been a perennial top 20 team. They were down a bit last year, and I think their roster got worse. But they do have some incoming freshman that I had no idea how to slot, but seem to be pretty highly touted.

Per the Cayman Island release of schedule, looks like they'll be playing two good teams (shame on the defending chamo lsu playing virginia and Niagara. But I guess it worked last year). First UCLA, then Kansas who returns a lot of starters and won the NIT. Tried to update the chart above.

 

[ucbart]

Just for fun/best guess, as we are still around 2.5 months away: potential starting lineups of uconn (not trying to be controversial jk) + each of most of the teams in the poll

	Uconn	@Texas	@South Carolina	Notre Dame	UNC (Mohegan)	@UMD	@NC State	LSU(potential opp/ Caymand Islands)
HC/ESPN Too Early Top 25 #	Geno/1	Vic Schaefer/20	Dawn Staley/ 8	Niele Ivy/10	Courtney Banghart/19	Brenda Frese/17	Wes Moore/NR	Kim Mulkey/2
Center	AE	Taylor Jones	Kamila Cardoso	Kylee Watson	Maria Gakdeng	Allie Kubek	River Baldwin	Angel Reese
PF	Aubrey	Deyona Gaston	Sania Feagin	Maddy Westbeld	Teonni Key	Faith Masonius	Mimi Collins	Aneesa Morrow
SF	Paige	Shay Holle	Bre Hall	Cassandre Prosper	Alyssa Utsby	Lavander Briggs	Madison Hayes	Mikaylah Williams
SG	Azzi	Shaylee Gonzalez	Te'Hina Papao	Sonia Citron	Lexi Donarski	Jakia Brown Turner	Sania Rivers	Flau'jae Johnson
PG	Nika	Rori Harmon	Raven Johnson	Olivia Miles	Deja Kelly	Shyanne Sellers	Zoe Brooks	Hailey Van Lith
6th Woman	Caroline	Madison Booker	Chloe Kitts	H.Hidalgo	Paulina Paris	Brinae Alexander	Aziah James	Kateri Poole

Some notes:
*Since the game vs ND is later in the season, I think (crossing fingers) Olivia Miles should be healthy by that time.
*Conversely, against Texas, I probably would've put Aliyah Moore in the starting lineup but not sure if she will be 100 percent by that time. She suffered a torn ACL on December 11th last year. I think she will probably play but not sure if she'll be herself until hopefully February or March. Nevertheless, Texas was kinda hard to gauge. I think Shaylee, Rori and Gaston will definitely start. Last year Faye started more than Jones, but Jones dealt with quite a bit of injuries which has been somewhat of an unfortunate reoccurence in her career. I think Booker is super talented and should start day 1, but Holle is a senior, who plays super hard, so I could see Vic going with her.
*Similar to last year, I have no idea what Maryland is going to do with their starting lineup. They have a ton of wings, but really no bigs or point guards. I'm hoping Kubek, comes back string after getting hurt last year.
*I'm worried about NC State. They've been a perennial top 20 team. They were down a bit last year, and I think their roster got worse. But they do have some incoming freshman that I had no idea how to slot, but seem to be pretty highly touted.

This chart right here is why I think SC or Tennessee, frankly, could win the SEC. LSU, for all that talent, don't have a PG and Hailey Van Lith is a streaky shooter. So, no PG and suspect outside shooting could be troublesome, especially since Morrow and Reese are the same player.

 

[Geew1992]

My best guess at our 13 healthy players potential scoring averages for the 2023-2024 season.
It will vary game-to-game according to minutes played. I may be undercutting some players!
KK Arnold 8
Aaliyah Edwards 20 (will average a double/double with rebounds)
Qadence Samuels 8
Paige Bueckers 24
Nika Muhl 6
Ashlynn Shade 8
Ines Bettencourt 6
Ice Brady 6
Caroline Ducharme 10
Ayanna Patterson 4
Azzi Fudd 25
Amari DeBerry 3
Audrey Griffin 14

Total: 142 potential points but obviously each game will dictate the points scored!
Jana El Alfy would have gone for about 10 points per game with about 8 rebounds per game.
Just my opinion! Don't shoot the messenger!

Wait......... I'm confused. You're saying Nika and Ines will have the same amount of minutes? I can't stand behind this at all

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Wait......... I'm confused. You're saying Nika and Ines will have the same amount of minutes? I can't stand behind this at all

Geew1992- - - No I'm predicting each players potential average points per game!
And how powerful UCONN will be this year!
I said, "My best guess at our 13 healthy players potential SCORING AVERAGES for the 2023-2024 season"!

 

[Bigboote]

I just changed my vote to other. I'm thinking UCLA now.

Looking forward to seeing sophomore Lauren Betts, who will likely be much improved and getting more playing time.

 

[Geew1992]

Geew1992- - - No I'm predicting each players potential average points per game!
And how powerful UCONN will be this year!
I said, "My best guess at our 13 healthy players potential SCORING AVERAGES for the 2023-2024 season"!

Okay. I was about to say. Thanks for the clarification

 

[sun]

I just changed my vote to other. I'm thinking UCLA now.

Looking forward to seeing sophomore Lauren Betts, who will likely be much improved and getting more playing time.

That could be Amari's chance to shine.

 

[Fowlball]

Can uconn defend ucla guards? will uconn double team betts?

 

[Zarathustra]

Maybe we should re-do this question with the Cayman Island addition of
UCLA / Laurne Betts. I chose "other" , not because I see UCLA as equal to
some of these teams, but the "unequal" variable of 6' 7 " is a real issue!

 

[Zarathustra]

Can uconn defend ucla guards? will uconn double team betts?

This is a real question for many future BONEYARD threads!

 

[Cuango]

Maybe we should re-do this question with the Cayman Island addition of
UCLA / Laurne Betts. I chose "other" , not because I see UCLA as equal to
some of these teams, but the "unequal" variable of 6' 7 " is a real issue!

I’ll call your Lauren Betts and raise you one Geno Auriemma! Sure, she’s 6’7” but Geno will have something for Miss Betts.

 

[Bigboote]

Can uconn defend ucla guards? will uconn double team betts?

The converse is an issue, too. I'd take Paige, Nika, Azzi, KK, Ashlynn, and Ines over Rice, Osborne, and Jones.

 

[Fowlball]

The converse is an issue, too. I'd take Paige, Nika, Azzi, KK, Ashlynn, and Ines over Rice, Osborne, and Jones.

We shall see if they can defend those shifty guards of ucla

 

[uconnfan68]

But lsu isn’t on the schedule.

Tournament.

 

[Alydar]

Front line depth and physical play is a major concern. The script since the last time UConn won a Title is to force us to be a jump shooting team by being physical. That's how you beat UConn. Unfortunately, I don't think that' dynamic has changed. Losing Jana was a major blow to inside depth. AE is the only proven post player right now.

No one is going to pack the paint with Bueckers & Fudd. UConn has a wealth of 3pt shooters. Brady will give UConn their best paint presence since Stokes left.

Over the years the successful opponents have taken away UConn's passing lanes, disrupting the motion offense. With both Bueckers and Fudd UConn has players who can not only create their own shots but make them at a very high %.

 

[Fowlball]

No one is going to pack the paint with Bueckers & Fudd. UConn has a wealth of 3pt shooters. Brady will give UConn their best paint presence since Stokes left.

Over the years the successful opponents have taken away UConn's passing lanes, disrupting the motion offense. With both Bueckers and Fudd UConn has players who can not only create their own shots but make them at a very high %.

Will Brady a freshman be ready as a freshman?

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

We shall see if they can defend those shifty guards of ucla

Fowlball- - - UCONN will have no problem with UCLA!
UCONN has too many weapons for UCLA to shut down!
Very few opponents will be able to contain the UCONN offense and their defense will be among the top 2 or 3 in the nation!

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Will Brady a freshman be ready as a freshman?

Fowlball- - Aaliyah will have Brady's back down low!
UCONN's guards will disrupt opponents offenses enough to help out their bigs!
Geno will make sure the post will be covered!

 

[Fowlball]

Fowlball- - Aaliyah will have Brady's back down low!
UCONN's guards will disrupt opponents offenses enough to help out their bigs!
Geno will make sure the post will be covered!

 

[Alydar]

We shall see if they can defend those shifty guards of ucl

Will Brady a freshman be ready as a freshman?

That will be seen but she isn't a freshman. Look at her like Raven Johnson. She missed her freshman season with an injury and yet no one doubted her contributing when she came back last year. And no one called her a freshman last season either.
Brady went into UConn's off-season program in June of 2022 and got hurt in late October. Those five months of training and playing with the team mean little to fans because we never see all that. So she will have had a lot of time in by November. She may or may not start but she will be a regular part of the rotation.
Last pre-season Geno was raving about how well Brady melded into the rest of the rotation. He sees her playing a lot of high post. She's also the only UConn big who admits to enjoying the contact inside.
Frankly I always have had her playing a lot and I can't understand how fans could even consider that El Alfy would be ahead of Brady.

 

[Cuango]

I don’t know much about Jones, but Osborne is very inconsistent, shoots very poorly, and though she occasionally has big games, she has to take an awful lot of shots to get there. Rice too, though lionized by ESPN, seems to have trouble making the ball go through the hoop, especially from behind the line, though in fairnes, she shoots a higher percentage from two than Osborne. We’ll see, but IMO UCLA is way overrated and while they have some nice pieces, I am skeptical as to Close’s ability to successfully step up in class! I do think Betts could be a big star in the making but am unconvinced that Close will be able to fully develop what appears to be a real talent, to it’s fullest potential!

 

[Fowlball]

I don’t know much about Jones, but Osborne is very inconsistent, shoots very poorly, and though she occasionally has big games, she has to take an awful lot of shots to get there. Rice too, though lionized by ESPN, seems to have trouble making the ball go through the hoop, especially from behind the line, though in fairnes, she shoots a higher percentage from two than Osborne. We’ll see, but IMO UCLA is way overrated and while they have some nice pieces, I am skeptical as to Close’s ability to successfully step up in class! I do think Betts could be a big star in the making but am unconvinced that Close will be able to fully develop what appears to be a real talent, to it’s fullest potential!

Interesting you think ucla is overrated I believe they will be one uconn biggest challenges along with sc because of they massive post players that demand double teams.
Ucla stretch post emily bessoir will be critical in this match-up because of her ability to shoot 3 pointers and will pull one you your post players away from the paint. I'm excited for this match-up!

 

[UTHornsFan]

I think folks are really underestimating Texas

I'm really looking forward to that matchup. As a Texas fan I hope we continue to play UConn every year in non-conference. The Huskies will always let you know whether you've got a squad or not. Much respect for Geno, his staff, and the program they've built over the past three decades. In my mind they are STILL the gold standard that everyone want to meet. Good luck to you guys this coming season!