Walker and UConn.

[CocoHusky]

and it came down to UConn and Notre Dame for Faris

ND & UCONN? Are you trying to get us back on track?

 

[meyers7]

Lol.
Faris, Dolson, and Hayes were top 20 players in HS.

Dolson was ranked #39 Hoopgurlz and #24 Bluestar.

 

[johnnyc]

Gotta agree with Tony. All we can go on is track record so UConn is number one until/if someone beats them and they are champions until/if someone dethrones them. So in that respect it is fair to say if any player wants to win championships they will come to UConn.

Someone else seems to agree with Tonyc.....

More of the same: U.S. women continue dominance

But the last couple of Olympic teams bear an unmistakable resemblance to the juggernaut that resides in Storrs, Conn. The one that has won four straight NCAA national championships, and 11 overall, tying it with the UCLA men's teams heralded by John Wooden for the most Division I college titles in basketball history. The one with six undefeated seasons, including last season's 38-0 mark, and the 40-0 team of 2013-14. The one that has gone 151-5 the last four seasons.

Sure sounds like if you want to win championships you head to Storrs, Conn.

 

[johnnyc]

2) Skylar Diggins: "We overcome the intimidation factor that was UCONN"

You should always finish the whole bottle of medicine or else there is a chance that the illness could return.

No championship for you!

 

[mdakota]

Welcome. About ND beating UCONN 3 times in one year, Stewart was in those games also. BS was great but she was hardly singular. In the 4 years she wore a UCONN uniform she had 5 teammates that were or became All-American players (Dolson, Hartley, Jefferson, Mosqueta-Lewis, & Tuck). BTW BS did not leave the UCONN cupboard bare. So while you would take Boley & Westbeld over Camara & Butler. For this year I would take:
Butler over Thompson or Nelson
Dangerfield over Allen or Patberg
KLS over Boley or Westbeld
Nurse over Obungwale or Mabrey
Chong or Bent over Johnson
Jackie Young has great Potential so I'm rating equal to Collier.
Turner is best PF on either team.
The UCONN wild card will be Gabby Williams.

Other teams have always had blue chips players. The game is not changing beyond the capacity of Geno and his staff to recruit & develop elite players and win championships. Azura Stevens, Kia Nurse and KLS might already be elite players that will only get better @ UCONN. More UCONN players will reach this same status. Other teams have always believed the gap is closing, they have to believe that right? Otherwise why play the season. UCONN believes in pursuing excellence-EVERY YEAR! Parity? That is just something other teams trick themselves into believing just in case the gap hasn't closed as much as they thought. Even if there is parity like you are proposing, the shelf life of said parity is 1 WCBB season.

SNAP!!! You go Coco.. Now drop that Mic

 

[southbendcane]

Welcome. About ND beating UCONN 3 times in one year, Stewart was in those games also. BS was great but she was hardly singular. In the 4 years she wore a UCONN uniform she had 5 teammates that were or became All-American players (Dolson, Hartley, Jefferson, Mosqueta-Lewis, & Tuck). BTW BS did not leave the UCONN cupboard bare. So while you would take Boley & Westbeld over Camara & Butler. For this year I would take:
Butler over Thompson or Nelson
Dangerfield over Allen or Patberg
KLS over Boley or Westbeld
Nurse over Obungwale or Mabrey
Chong or Bent over Johnson
Jackie Young has great Potential so I'm rating equal to Collier.
Turner is best PF on either team.
The UCONN wild card will be Gabby Williams.

Other teams have always had blue chips players. The game is not changing beyond the capacity of Geno and his staff to recruit & develop elite players and win championships. Azura Stevens, Kia Nurse and KLS might already be elite players that will only get better @ UCONN. More UCONN players will reach this same status. Other teams have always believed the gap is closing, they have to believe that right? Otherwise why play the season. UCONN believes in pursuing excellence-EVERY YEAR! Parity? That is just something other teams trick themselves into believing just in case the gap hasn't closed as much as they thought. Even if there is parity like you are proposing, the shelf life of said parity is 1 WCBB season.

 

[southbendcane]

Im not worried at all. More depth and experience. Lots of eggs in Dangerfield being super women as a rookie and KLS being more then a 3 point shooter. Can Collier stay healthy? Will Butler and Chong show up this year ? Will U Conn get any production from their bench? Lots of what ifs. N.D. has depth and experience advantage. Your post shows this. Your saying Nurse over Arike and Marina but not both together. Your saying KLS over Boley and Westbeld but not together. Allen and Patberg vs Dangerfield. See the difference? Plus a All American in Turner. We have solid replacements in every position and you dont. You wont be resting your players after the first quarter this year.Games will be more competitive. Geno and his hard practices and lack of depth will wear U Conn down. By the end of the season they will be on empty. They just dont have the balance they had in the past. And they dont have the height or the bigs that can stretch the floor and hit the outside shot or block shots. N. D. will just throw fresh bodies at them and wear them down. For once im not worried about U Conn. South Carolina and Baylor are better as well. They will still be Elite Eight or Final Four. But this could be the worst team they have had in 20 years. And they might only lose 3 games all year. That shows how great they have been for so long. I give credit to the Huskies and Geno. Just think this year someone else will win it all.You can have the mic back Coco.

 

[CocoHusky]

Im not worried at all. More depth and experience. Lots of eggs in Dangerfield being super women as a rookie and KLS being more then a 3 point shooter. Can Collier stay healthy? Will Butler and Chong show up this year ? Will U Conn get any production from their bench? Lots of what ifs. N.D. has depth and experience advantage. Your post shows this. Your saying Nurse over Arike and Marina but not both together. Your saying KLS over Boley and Westbeld but not together. Allen and Patberg vs Dangerfield. See the difference? Plus a All American in Turner. We have solid replacements in every position and you dont. You wont be resting your players after the first quarter this year.Games will be more competitive. Geno and his hard practices and lack of depth will wear U Conn down. By the end of the season they will be on empty. They just dont have the balance they had in the past. And they dont have the height or the bigs that can stretch the floor and hit the outside shot or block shots. N. D. will just throw fresh bodies at them and wear them down. For once im not worried about U Conn. South Carolina and Baylor are better as well. They will still be Elite Eight or Final Four. But this could be the worst team they have had in 20 years. And they might only lose 3 games all year. That shows how great they have been for so long. I give credit to the Huskies and Geno. Just think this year someone else will win it all. You can have the mic back Coco.

If I am jump on the mic let me quote my man KRS One!

Uhh! They don't wanna battle
They ain't ready for the battle, uh-uh, uh-uh
Listen, listen, listen
Your spirit AIN'T READY
Your church AIN'T READY
Your bishop AIN'T READY
Your deacons AIN'T READY
Your choir AIN'T READY
Your ushers AIN'T READY
At the Temple of UCONN
WE TEACH MANY!

Lesson begins here!
Someone else "might" win this year. Worst UCONN team in 20 years? Still one of the best in the country-I'll take that.
ref: See the Difference? No I'm afraid I don't. These are projected matchups Allen will be your sarting PG and Patberg will back her up. Crystal Dangerfield will "likely" be UCONN's. So Crystal doesn't have to be "super woman" (she graduated from UCONN)- Crystal just has to be better than Allen.

I can see why you admire Geno so much because he had the same development plan for KLS- being more than 3pt shooter. Since Geno is smarter than both of us he already implemented his plan. KLS is more than just a 3 point shooter. Go and check the the box score from her last three games in the NCAA tournament before she got hurt.

Bench players are bench players for a reason. The big difference between ND bench players that you will rely this year and UCONN bench players is that UCONN bench players were on the bench because they were playing behind All Americans. ND players were on the bench playing behind player that did not even make the 1st Team all ACC

About that conditioning thing and UCONN players being worn down-make like Aerosmith and Dream On. Geno has won two national championships with max rotation of 6 & 7 players. Note to self: It would be extremely cruel to remind this pupil that both of those championships were against ND and in both cases it was ND sucking wind not UCONN.

Collier played in all 38 UCONN games last year so I'm not sure what would prompt an injury concern on your part-wishful thinking?

And up next on the mic..........

 

[watanabe]

Woof!

 

[Charliebball]

and now back to our topic........from her own twitter page

Class of 17: No. 7 Monacan (North Chesterfield, Va.) wing Megan Walker

 

[Tonyc]

Im not worried at all. More depth and experience. Lots of eggs in Dangerfield being super women as a rookie and KLS being more then a 3 point shooter. Can Collier stay healthy? Will Butler and Chong show up this year ? Will U Conn get any production from their bench? Lots of what ifs. N.D. has depth and experience advantage. Your post shows this. Your saying Nurse over Arike and Marina but not both together. Your saying KLS over Boley and Westbeld but not together. Allen and Patberg vs Dangerfield. See the difference? Plus a All American in Turner. We have solid replacements in every position and you dont. You wont be resting your players after the first quarter this year.Games will be more competitive. Geno and his hard practices and lack of depth will wear U Conn down. By the end of the season they will be on empty. They just dont have the balance they had in the past. And they dont have the height or the bigs that can stretch the floor and hit the outside shot or block shots. N. D. will just throw fresh bodies at them and wear them down. For once im not worried about U Conn. South Carolina and Baylor are better as well. They will still be Elite Eight or Final Four. But this could be the worst team they have had in 20 years. And they might only lose 3 games all year. That shows how great they have been for so long. I give credit to the Huskies and Geno. Just think this year someone else will win it all.You can have the mic back Coco.

All I can say is that Uconn for the first time in a long time has some question marks because they dont have some dominate experienced upper class-man. ND was a better team last season then this season and didnt make the final 4. With that said alot of the top teams graduated and lost top players. ND and UConn are top 4 teams. Development and team chemistry will be the difference. This is a team game and defense. I will give my analysis before the season starts. Alot of question marks for a lot of the top teams across the nation.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Lesson begins here!
Someone else "might" win this year. Worst UCONN team in 20 years? Still one of the best in the country-I'll take that.
ref: See the Difference? No I'm afraid I don't. These are projected matchups Allen will be your sarting PG and Patberg will back her up. Crystal Dangerfield will "likely" be UCONN's. So Crystal doesn't have to be "super woman" (she graduated from UCONN)- Crystal just has to be better than Allen.

Bench players are bench players for a reason. The big difference between ND bench players that you will rely this year and UCONN bench players is that UCONN bench players were on the bench because they were playing behind All Americans. ND players were on the bench playing behind player that did not even make the 1st Team all ACC

About that conditioning thing and UCONN players being worn down-make like Aerosmith and Dream On. Geno has won two national championships with max rotation of 6 & 7 players. Note to self: It would be extremely cruel to remind this pupil that both of those championships were against ND and in both cases it was ND sucking wind not UCONN.

Collier played in all 38 UCONN games last year so I'm not sure what would prompt an injury concern on your part-wishful thinking?

And up next on the mic.....

Welcome. About ND beating UCONN 3 times in one year, Stewart was in those games also. BS was great but she was hardly singular. In the 4 years she wore a UCONN uniform she had 5 teammates that were or became All-American players (Dolson, Hartley, Jefferson, Mosqueta-Lewis, & Tuck). BTW BS did not leave the UCONN cupboard bare. So while you would take Boley & Westbeld over Camara & Butler. For this year I would take:
Butler over Thompson or Nelson
Dangerfield over Allen or Patberg
KLS over Boley or Westbeld
Nurse over Obungwale or Mabrey
Chong or Bent over Johnson
Jackie Young has great Potential so I'm rating equal to Collier.
Turner is best PF on either team.
The UCONN wild card will be Gabby Williams.

Other teams have always had blue chips players. The game is not changing beyond the capacity of Geno and his staff to recruit & develop elite players and win championships. Azura Stevens, Kia Nurse and KLS might already be elite players that will only get better @ UCONN. More UCONN players will reach this same status. Other teams have always believed the gap is closing, they have to believe that right? Otherwise why play the season. UCONN believes in pursuing excellence-EVERY YEAR! Parity? That is just something other teams trick themselves into believing just in case the gap hasn't closed as much as they thought. Even if there is parity like you are proposing, the shelf life of said parity is 1 WCBB season.

UConn will be very good this year. Of that, I am certain. But Notre Dame should be right there as well. Notre Dame's bench players may sit behind All-Americans this season, we'll see.

You're right about UConn's conditioning. The vast majority of their players could play all 48 minutes if only cardiovascular conditioning was considered. But bench players enter big games for other reasons as well, such as fouls and injury. UConn's starters have been fairly immune to each recently, but that could change.

Collier played injured all season last year. Following the season she had hip surgery to fix a problem that had bothered her since high school. She is expected to be healthy for the start of this season: LINK

I do not agree with some of your matchup conclusions. Some of them seem irrelevant. For example, you compare Butler to Nelson and Thompson. First, I don't see Butler starting or playing much vs. Notre Dame (unless she makes big strides this season). I also do not expect Nelson to play either, and if Thompson sees the floor, then the game is a blowout and thus the outcome is not in doubt. Hence I think the comparison is irrelevant. Would I compare Mychal Johson to Molly Bent or Tierney Lawlor? No, because none of them would play a significant role in a clash between ND and UConn. Usually, only starters see significant minutes.

Center: Huskies will start either Butler (doubtful) or Gabby vs. ND's Brianna Turner. I give ND the nod here.

PF: Huskies start Collier (probably) vs. Westbeld or Boley. UConn wins this one, but ND freshmen sometimes play pretty well in big games. Westbeld is steady but not in Collier's league. Boley may be in the same league as Collier, but she's younger and less experienced.

W: KLS will be matched up against Mabrey. That's a good matchup, and it may depend on which shooter is hotter on that day. Remember that Marina had a great game @Uconn last season and there is no Mo Jeff to shut her down in the second half this season. Notre Dame also has Jackie Young, so she should be an excellent backup that should see meaningful minutes this season.

SG: Nurse vs. Arike. Interesting matchup. Kia was surprisingly good her freshman year and the summer following her freshman season, but she had a somewhat disappointing sophomore year. Arike was raw as a freshman and didn't pass well. On paper, UConn has the edge, especially when one considers defense. But Arike is a very dangerous offensive player because she is a slasher, and UConn has to prove that their interior defense won't suffer too much this season with the graduation of the big 3. UConn wins this one, but let's see the sophomore jump for Arike. If she can make decisions with the ball this season, she could be fantastic. Big if, of course. Young could also see minutes at the 2.

PG: Do you really think that Dangerfield will outplay Lindsay Allen this season? I mean anything is possible, but my money is on a very good senior PG over a freshman who may not even start. Do you remember Mo Jeff's freshman year? I think while your opinion may be common on the BY (although I think many would oppose it), most basketball observers would expect Lindsay to have a considerable edge.

My positional analysis shows a much closer matchup than yours. Seems to me it comes down to coaching and intangibles. It should be an exciting matchup!

 

[Waquoit]

All I can say is beating a team three times then losing the fourth for all the marbles is embarrassing.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

All I can say is beating a team three times then losing the fourth for all the marbles is embarrassing.

I would say frustrating, not embarrassing. Both schools have experienced that.

 

[Vowelguy]

All I can say is beating a team three times then losing the fourth for all the marbles is embarrassing.

Are you talking about Uconn in 2011 or ND in 2013?

 

[Fightin Choke]

Dolson was ranked #39 Hoopgurlz and #24 Bluestar.

And was ranked 12th by ASGR and was a McDonald's AA and was a member of the U18 USA team and was 3rd team AA (USA Today) and 4th team AA (Parade): LINK
Sounds like a top 20 athlete to me!

 

[Fightin Choke]

and now back to our topic...from her own twitter page

Class of 17: No. 7 Monacan (North Chesterfield, Va.) wing Megan Walker

Please! Try to stick to the thread topic, Charliebball!

Oh yeah.

Nevermind.

 

[Fightin Choke]

We did have witch burning. It was the 2013 NC Semi-final game. It didn't get more torturous for ND than than. After all, "ND was not supposed to be intimidated".

I didn't think the Irish were intimidates. I think they were outplayed.

 

[DaddyChoc]

If I am jump on the mic let me quote my man KRS One!

Uhh! They don't wanna battle
They ain't ready for the battle, uh-uh, uh-uh
Listen, listen, listen
Your spirit AIN'T READY
Your church AIN'T READY
Your bishop AIN'T READY
Your deacons AIN'T READY
Your choir AIN'T READY
Your ushers AIN'T READY
At the Temple of UCONN
WE TEACH MANY!
And up next on the mic.....

The TEACHER

 

[Buzzyboy]

Lol.
Faris, Dolson, and Hayes were top 20 players in HS.

Dolson was not a Top 20 player. I think in some services she was a 25 and in others, a higher pick.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Are you talking about Uconn in 2011 or ND in 2013?

Both! Winning the regular season and tournament and then losing in the NCAA's is bad news but they do say that it is very tough to beat anyone four times in a season.

 

[Buzzyboy]

And was ranked 12th by ASGR and was a McDonald's AA and was a member of the U18 USA team and was 3rd team AA (USA Today) and 4th team AA (Parade): LINK
Sounds like a top 20 athlete to me!

Not me. When she came to UConn, there was not a great expectation of her development. She was slow afoot and heavy and no one had any expectation that she would develop like she did. She was not considered a premier high school player by virtually anyone. She evolved into the player we saw in her last couple of years at UConn. Her transition year was her sophomore year and by her junior year, she had become pretty special. There was no recruiting service that had her as an elite player and she had an amazing transformation. There have been so many stories about her development at Storrs and now all of a sudden there is the suggestion that she was an amazing star coming out of high school. I saw her severe limitations when a freshman and her issues with conditioning and though she had a decent skill set, it was nothing like it would become. Let's be real here!

 

[jdubct]

Not me. When she came to UConn, there was not a great expectation of her development. She was slow afoot and heavy and no one had any expectation that she would develop like she did. She was not considered a premier high school player by virtually anyone. She evolved into the player we saw in her last couple of years at UConn. Her transition year was her sophomore year and by her junior year, she had become pretty special. There was no recruiting service that had her as an elite player and she had an amazing transformation. There have been so many stories about her development at Storrs and now all of a sudden there is the suggestion that she was an amazing star coming out of high school. I saw her severe limitations when a freshman and her issues with conditioning and though she had a decent skill set, it was nothing like it would become. Let's be real here!

Well said. In fact, it was noted by the horde, that some coaches had shied off recruiting her because of weight. By her hard work and strength of will, she lost considerable weight year-to-year, becoming an excellent college and wnba player.

 

[SCGamecock]

Im not worried at all. More depth and experience. Lots of eggs in Dangerfield being super women as a rookie and KLS being more then a 3 point shooter. Can Collier stay healthy? Will Butler and Chong show up this year ? Will U Conn get any production from their bench? Lots of what ifs. N.D. has depth and experience advantage. Your post shows this. Your saying Nurse over Arike and Marina but not both together. Your saying KLS over Boley and Westbeld but not together. Allen and Patberg vs Dangerfield. See the difference? Plus a All American in Turner. We have solid replacements in every position and you dont. You wont be resting your players after the first quarter this year.Games will be more competitive. Geno and his hard practices and lack of depth will wear U Conn down. By the end of the season they will be on empty. They just dont have the balance they had in the past. And they dont have the height or the bigs that can stretch the floor and hit the outside shot or block shots. N. D. will just throw fresh bodies at them and wear them down. For once im not worried about U Conn. South Carolina and Baylor are better as well. They will still be Elite Eight or Final Four. But this could be the worst team they have had in 20 years. And they might only lose 3 games all year. That shows how great they have been for so long. I give credit to the Huskies and Geno. Just think this year someone else will win it all.You can have the mic back Coco.

I'm a fan of your boldness. I will say that.

 

[CocoHusky]

UConn will be very good this year. Of that, I am certain. But Notre Dame should be right there as well. Notre Dame's bench players may sit behind All-Americans this season, we'll see.

You're right about UConn's conditioning. The vast majority of their players could play all 48 minutes if only cardiovascular conditioning was considered. But bench players enter big games for other reasons as well, such as fouls and injury. UConn's starters have been fairly immune to each recently, but that could change.

Collier played injured all season last year. Following the season she had hip surgery to fix a problem that had bothered her since high school. She is expected to be healthy for the start of this season: LINK

I do not agree with some of your matchup conclusions. Some of them seem irrelevant. For example, you compare Butler to Nelson and Thompson. First, I don't see Butler starting or playing much vs. Notre Dame (unless she makes big strides this season). I also do not expect Nelson to play either, and if Thompson sees the floor, then the game is a blowout and thus the outcome is not in doubt. Hence I think the comparison is irrelevant. Would I compare Mychal Johson to Molly Bent or Tierney Lawlor? No, because none of them would play a significant role in a clash between ND and UConn. Usually, only starters see significant minutes.

Center: Huskies will start either Butler (doubtful) or Gabby vs. ND's Brianna Turner. I give ND the nod here.

PF: Huskies start Collier (probably) vs. Westbeld or Boley. UConn wins this one, but ND freshmen sometimes play pretty well in big games. Westbeld is steady but not in Collier's league. Boley may be in the same league as Collier, but she's younger and less experienced.

W: KLS will be matched up against Mabrey. That's a good matchup, and it may depend on which shooter is hotter on that day. Remember that Marina had a great game @Uconn last season and there is no Mo Jeff to shut her down in the second half this season. Notre Dame also has Jackie Young, so she should be an excellent backup that should see meaningful minutes this season.

SG: Nurse vs. Arike. Interesting matchup. Kia was surprisingly good her freshman year and the summer following her freshman season, but she had a somewhat disappointing sophomore year. Arike was raw as a freshman and didn't pass well. On paper, UConn has the edge, especially when one considers defense. But Arike is a very dangerous offensive player because she is a slasher, and UConn has to prove that their interior defense won't suffer too much this season with the graduation of the big 3. UConn wins this one, but let's see the sophomore jump for Arike. If she can make decisions with the ball this season, she could be fantastic. Big if, of course. Young could also see minutes at the 2.

PG: Do you really think that Dangerfield will outplay Lindsay Allen this season? I mean anything is possible, but my money is on a very good senior PG over a freshman who may not even start. Do you remember Mo Jeff's freshman year? I think while your opinion may be common on the BY (although I think many would oppose it), most basketball observers would expect Lindsay to have a considerable edge.

My positional analysis shows a much closer matchup than yours. Seems to me it comes down to coaching and intangibles. It should be an exciting matchup!

Don't see KLS guarding Mabrey as perimeter defense is not KLS' strength. Also agree that there is no MoJeff like defender to shut Mabrey down were she to get on a roll. ND graduated 2 players that shot better than 40% from 3 last year in Cable and the Older Mabrey. Last year any one of the three could be fatal, this year there ND has one 3 point threat not 3.
Yes I'm banking (perhaps too much) on Dangerfield being special and better than Allen. Freshmen Nurse was better than Allen and if you recall MoJeff had one of the worst games of her life @ND and UCONN still rolled. I like Allen just don't think she shoots well enough to be special and needs too much help to beat elite teams.
No one ( maybe the UCONN staff) knew that Collier played injured all of last year. She played in all 38 games and started a few games before conference play began. If she was injured all year and played like that Watch Out!