You're absolutely right with the ten players we have. But with, say, 12 players, you can sustain two injuries and still have enough warm bodies to do run-throughs on the road. To me, 12 is optimal, 11 is good.
Don't look for Aubrey to defer from now on either. She ran out of deferral cards. If she sees daylight, she's taking it to the hole, and she'll do it with Geno's blessing.
I predicted all season that Liv would make a junior leap similar to that of Walker, and become the "dominant" player we want and need her to be. I look forward to being surprised!!
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I like Liv a lot. Thought she was often underutilized on the offensive side of things. I Wish she had the presence of another bonafide big. Watching her compete against other bigs this last season and there were unfair advantages. UConn's lack of depth in height, meant she had to play a more careful game. She was often facing two headed monsters in Baylor, SC and Oregon. In the past we could get away with lack of height but this team perimeter defense by far was the worse compared to teams in the past which put Liv in a lot of clean up positions leaving backside open.
I too have been saying Liv's junior year will be her real sophomore leap. I think a big surprise will be with Edwards when Geno tells her the same thing he told AG this year: Just go out, rebound, set screens, make good passes, and run the floor. Your offensive opportunities will then come. People are going to be surprised how good her motor is and how tenacious she'll be on the boards.I predicted all season that Liv would make a junior leap similar to that of Walker, and become the "dominant" player we want and need her to be. I look forward to being surprised!!
If Olivia doesn't make a shot underneath the basket, she should be sent to the line, even against opponents of similar height. Notice the way (and speed) he turns to face the basket. Liv can do this, but it's got to be quick.
I think we are saying the say thing but my hope for ONO is she gets stronger and more confident on defense (i.e. beats offensive player to ball like Gabby could) and learns how to use her strength to push off and get open for the layup or 10 footer.
I was thinking about this earlier today and pondering whether and where to comment about this. It seems to me the NCAA should waive any renouncing of college eligibility in these extraordinary times. Let her come back and be an outstanding college student-athlete. And mind you, I don't say this to be a UConn homer. How could she factored in the effect of a novel virus and a world-wide pandemic? Do the right thing, NCAA.
I forget the exact guidelines, but for the men it has to do with hiring an agent. I'm not sure what the guidelines are for the women, but the draft has not taken place. I would THINK all she would need to do is remove her name from the draft if she wanted to come back for her senior year...
What I want is for her to be in the gym with someone that teaches her how to drop that left leg effectively, how to do a better up and under, how to keep that ball up higher on her layups, and some sort of finger roll or jump hook. She also needs to work on her FT shooting and her 15 footer. Defensively her tutor needs to show her how to box out better, how to read the ball off the rim better in order to get into position sooner, and of course, how to block shots without constantly swatting at the ball. With so much time away from playing all of this is doable.
In your starting 5 with Paige, you don't have someone who can play the 4 position which means that you don't have a strong secondary rebounder. I also think that Evina's natural position is at the point where she averaged 15 ppg and 5.5 assists per game as a sophomore on an average Tennessee team(19-13). She will definitely start and may be the best player on the team if she is healthy. I can see Aubrey starting too and being spelled by Edwards. I think however that as always, Geno will start his 5 best players. I agree 100% about Paige. The first year is very difficult especially at UCONN and she will be 3 years younger than many of the players she will be facing. I also agree completely about Megan's decision especially in light of the health emergency for which there was at least cautionary information. As one BYer expressed, this decision was apparently made a long time ago. I think she got some very bad advice, if any. The "go-to players" at the end of the game next year may be a "go-to committee" of Anna, CW, ONO and Evina but I think we are going to see Evina emerge as the leader. I watched film of her again. She has it all. If there is a backcourt of her and Paige at times, it can be very special.
