...We Dont Know

[hoophuskee]

I think you are understating Allie’s skill set by quite a lot. I realize you qualified it with “as a freshman” but from what I’ve seen and read about her, she has a midrange shot and is not afraid to drive to the basket as well! I was very impressed with her ability to finish at the basket even while under heavy duress from her defender! Her coach praised her as having improved her defense to the point where she routinely guarded the opponent’s best player. Now, I agree that she will likely be tentative and unsure at first, but she is clearly more than just a three point specialist!

Great! I hope she does. I just believe per bold below that if healthy there are 3-4 elite players. Other than that, I am always skeptical of non-superstar freshmen vs more experienced players that have had past success because in h/s their weaknesses are hidden and their strengths may not come out that much in their frosh year. Its why freshmen usually aren't as good as the more experienced players. I'm just skeptical of her breaking into a core this year vs the many the other more experiened non-superstar players with the little I've seen from her. Though I'd be beyond giddy if she actually did prove to beat out others and become a regular rotation player despite the heavy competition. IMO it would highlight she has shown to have excelllent skills not just good. That would be uncomon but I would love it.

If she wasn’t at UCONN would I expect her to be better this specific year as a frosh without the summer to improve to the degree vs players like KK, Ash, Chen etc from what little I've seen? No. Great if she does.

I can't say in one breath that Paige and Azzi could be incredible as A/A's among the best in wcbb while also ignoring what I saw last year with the three frosh from other teams as a/a caliber while I view Sarah as a beast with a belief she could be near last year’s tier- frosh vs frosh. So, why shouldn’t she get upper tier minutes if she is that good? And with all the hype from Jana, - then why would we not want to play our best, and her, for as long as reasonable if she is that good?

 

[ashfan]

I hadn’t heard that Azzi was expected to be cleared for playing by the first game this fall.

I was under the impression that she should be one of the first back after Jana.

I understood Jana’a comment that she was practicing at 80-90% was simply the process coming back. I thought she was saying that she could go 100% but was resisting the urge just to give her body “time” to get stronger.

Here's my vision for the first part of the season: Azzi subs for Ash, and if Azzi is effective with limited minutes her playing time increases. But Ash12 is Number-One shooting guard after Paige. Ash is the near- and long-term future in the backcourt (as KK is at point guard).

 

[Steelerone]

Not to put a damper on things and correct me if I'm wrong but it appears to me that Paige is the only player who actually was designated for the starting lineup last year. Ash, KK and the rest of the players were in there due to injuries. While they looked great for freshmen the remainder of the roster were in and out and looked like what they were, young players or bench players. We do not have one "big" who has shown they can take over or really change a game. Hopefully, some of the newer players or someone coming back from injury can fill that role but let's not make a silk purse out of a pig's ear yet.

 

[HopJim]

Since she is still listed on the roster, one would have to assume she is rehabbing privately, working up to 'game ready' condition. Unlike all the other injuries, her's is one that would require undergoing actual playing time and physical contact. Not sure why there is a blackout on all this.

Very unusual that player with this number of head injuries comes back this quickly. Suggest we look at Carolyn as "extra credit" and if she comes back any time before mid-season, great, but she could be the x-factor in the playoffs. In any case, would be an extra coach on the bench and the epidemy of what a great job Geno does in preping his players for the future, with or without basketball.

 

[Alydar]

I can't say in one breath that Paige and Azzi could be incredible as A/A's among the best in wcbb while also ignoring what I saw last year with the three frosh from other teams as a/a caliber while I view Sarah as a beast with a belief she could be near last year’s tier- frosh vs frosh. So, why shouldn’t she get upper tier minutes if she is that good? And with all the hype from Jana, - then why would we not want to play our best, and her, for as long as reasonable if she is that good?

Based only on their pre-college play the potential of 1st year players El Alfy, Cheli, Strong & Ziebell is arguably at the top of UConn's all time list of 1st year classes. Did I qualify that enough?
The fact that they may all come off the bench is mostly due to the talent level that is returning and the talent of the players recovering from injury. Of the 7 players who took UConn to the FF last season, 5 are returning. Fudd and Griffin, when healthy, are respectively among the best shooters/scorers and best defenders in the country.

Sure, it's all potential. But all we have right now is speculation and there are too many reasons to be optimistic to worry about what could go wrong.

 

[Charliebball]

Very unusual that player with this number of head injuries comes back this quickly. Suggest we look at Carolyn as "extra credit" and if she comes back any time before mid-season, great, but she could be the x-factor in the playoffs. In any case, would be an extra coach on the bench and the epidemy of what a great job Geno does in preping his players for the future, with or without basketball.

Sadly, any player with a history of multiple concussions can't be relied upon because they are one elbow or one ball off the head away from being out for the year.........I would love to believe that CD will make a wonderful comeback this season, but that sword will be hanging over her head every moment she's on the court.......

 

[Cornell Lt]

One thing that is known about the upcoming season's squad, is that there will be some seriously talented young women on the floor for the Huskies. in 2024/25.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

One thing that is known about the upcoming season's squad, is that there will be some seriously talented young women on the floor for the Huskies. in 2024/25.

I’ll take a stab at it……Paige and Ashlyn at guard, Sarah and Aubrey (if healthy and ready to go) at forward, Jana at center. Azzi and KK first guards off the bench, first forwards off the bench could be Qadence, Morgan, Ayana, or even Ice at forward if Geno wants to go big. How everyone does in practice will determine things for Ziebell, Chen and Ducharme. Injury recovery and rust will also determine things for Ducharme, Ayana, and Azzi.

 

[hoophuskee]

Based only on their pre-college play the potential of 1st year players El Alfy, Cheli, Strong & Ziebell is arguably at the top of UConn's all time list of 1st year classes. Did I qualify that enough?
The fact that they may all come off the bench is mostly due to the talent level that is returning and the talent of the players recovering from injury. Of the 7 players who took UConn to the FF last season, 5 are returning. Fudd and Griffin, when healthy, are respectively among the best shooters/scorers and best defenders in the country.

Sure, it's all potential. But all we have right now is speculation and there are too many reasons to be optimistic to worry about what could go wrong.

Though any talk through the history of this board in regard to preseason minutes and starting 5 is speculation. So what's wrong with speculating?

If there is nothing wrong with speculating then maybe we have a different view on how the team might play out? That's imo fun to talk about. There are those that speculate during the course of the season that if Geno used his bench more UCONN could be more successful. Speculation is done throughout.

I'm speculating that Sarah is going to be better than at least Morgan and Allie. Possibly Jana too. Therfore she will be the starting PF.

The only reason I could see Sarah not starting is if Jana is better than Sarah (not because of height-- but just better). And she's a freshman too. However, if this were to happen, and UConn would be healthy throughout, then there would be so many blowouts even vs very, very good teams that the minute distribution discussion would be moot (not that they aren’t already).

 

[hoophuskee]

I’ll take a stab at it……Paige and Ashlyn at guard, Sarah and Aubrey (if healthy and ready to go) at forward, Jana at center. Azzi and KK first guards off the bench, first forwards off the bench could be Qadence, Morgan, Ayana, or even Ice at forward if Geno wants to go big. How everyone does in practice will determine things for Ziebell, Chen and Ducharme. Injury recovery and rust will also determine things for Ducharme, Ayana, and Azzi.

Azzi is near ready to go now if not already ready. Aubrey won't be ready until at least December - more likely January. Your starting lineup to begin the season is not possible because Aubrey can't/won't be ready.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Azzi is near ready to go now if not already ready. Aubrey won't be ready until at least December - more likely January. Your starting lineup to begin the season is not possible because Aubrey can't/won't be ready.

How do you know all these things??? I mean Azzi is ready now and Aubrey is not.

 

[Boreifs]

What seems obvious is that, with the caveat of health, all 14 players are capable of contributing. Strong and Cheli were both first team All Americans and Ziebell is an elite shooter, which leaves little question about the capabilities of the Freshman class. Jana has already proved her worth in team workouts. I am not sure UConn has ever had such a deep roster in Geno’s tenure as coach. His most difficult job will be managing all that talent.

 

[hoophuskee]

How do you know all these things??? I mean Azzi is ready now and Aubrey is not.

I've heard on here that it takes up to 12 months to recover from her type of knee injury. I can't imagine it taking less than 10 - and with someone that young and with past injuires-- especially from below - teh cummation of all of it-to have her start season -way too much too soon --
I've heard on here or videos that Azzi is shooting a basketball righ now.If her knee injury was earlier, and she is not ready yet, then why should Aubrey be ready?
I have not heard Aubrey is shooting a basketballl right now.
I've heard on here of videos Geno say that players like KK and Ashlynn are going to have ot fight for minutes in which Geno specifically mentioend Azzi as a competitor. .
I can't recall him mentioning Aubrey. He might have but I don't remember.

 

[oldhusky]

Based only on their pre-college play the potential of 1st year players El Alfy, Cheli, Strong & Ziebell is arguably at the top of UConn's all time list of 1st year classes. Did I qualify that enough?
The fact that they may all come off the bench is mostly due to the talent level that is returning and the talent of the players recovering from injury. Of the 7 players who took UConn to the FF last season, 5 are returning. Fudd and Griffin, when healthy, are respectively among the best shooters/scorers and best defenders in the country.

Sure, it's all potential. But all we have right now is speculation and there are too many reasons to be optimistic to worry about what could go wrong.

Agree with most of your post except for "they may all come off the bench". I consider both Sarah and Jana probable starters, Morgan and Allie very unlikely.

I think there is a tendency with the number of quality potential starters we have to sometimes forget that talent is lopsided in positions 1-3. Assuming we don't go 4 out, which could happen, it doesn't matter is Sarah and Jana are better than Ash, KK, Kaitlin, Q, Caroline, Allie or Morgan. All they need to be is better than Ayanna or Ice to start, at least until Aubrey returns.

The main competition is two players that have at least so far, under-performed the expectations based on their HS rankings. If Sarah and Jana are close to expectations they should be better than Ayanna and Ice despite the difference in one year of experience. It is a much lower hurdle to get over for them to start vs. the incredible competition on the perimeter.

In fact I think Sarah and Jana are more likely to start than any of the perimeter players not named Paige or Azzi. If you assume they start and we don't go four out, all of those talented perimeter players are competing for one spot. Even if Paige or someone else does play the four, it is a long list of qualified candidates for two spots.

I know we have many different players that their fans cannot conceive of coming off the bench, but really great teams often have future pros coming off the bench. I am reminded that two of the 10 starters in the gold medal game at the Olympics were bench players on Uconn's 2016 championship team. Pheesa for the US and Gabby for France. They started later in their career but were bench players on the 2016 team. We also had one WNBA vet and champion with the Aces that was never a regular starter in college, namely Kia Stokes. Maybe not upfront, but we could have a couple of players in the backcourt that don't start but ultimately wind up in the W.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I've heard on here that it takes up to 12 months to recover from her type of knee injury. I can't imagine it taking less than 10 - and with someone that young and with past injuires-- especially from below - teh cummation of all of it-to have her start season -way too much too soon --
I've heard on here or videos that Azzi is shooting a basketball righ now.If her knee injury was earlier, and she is not ready yet, then why should Aubrey be ready?
I have not heard Aubrey is shooting a basketballl right now.
I've heard on here of videos Geno say that players like KK and Ashlynn are going to have ot fight for minutes in which Geno specifically mentioend Azzi as a competitor. .
I can't recall him mentioning Aubrey. He might have but I don't remember.

Not good enough, unless you talked to someone close to the team. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how things shake out. Upcoming season is still like 2 or 3 months away.

 

[Bone Dog]

Upcoming season is still like 2 or 3 months away.

Argh!!! 2 or 3 months! I don’t think I can wait that long. Maybe I ought to get started on building that folly in the backyard.

 

[Skeets]

What seems obvious is that, with the caveat of health, all 14 players are capable of contributing. Strong and Cheli were both first team All Americans and Ziebell is an elite shooter, which leaves little question about the capabilities of the Freshman class. Jana has already proved her worth in team workouts. I am not sure UConn has ever had such a deep roster in Geno’s tenure as coach. His most difficult job will be managing all that talent.

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, I love UConn. But with 4 or 5 exceptions (Paige, KK, Ash for sure, and I'll include Ice and Chen as well) the other players either have not played 1 minute of D1 basketball or are coming off of major injuries.

What we are doing here is what we do every summer, wild optimistic speculation. Nothing wrong with that. I'm optimistic myself but tempered with a little bit of "we're doomed".

 

[hoophuskee]

Not good enough, unless you talked to someone close to the team. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how things shake out. Upcoming season is still like 2 or 3 months away.

We're not in law-review. Think what you will. I don't understand why you would think Aubrey would be coming back this early considering the injury she had.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

We're not in law-review. Think what you will. I don't understand why you would think Aubrey would be coming back this early considering the injury she had.

I had the same injury she had 20 years ago and I was back to running after 18 months, she’s at 19 months.

 

[Dugway]

I had the same injury she had 20 years ago and I was back to running after 18 months, she’s at 19 months.

I believe that Aubrey hurt her knee on January 9th, 2024. That is seven months ago, 7 months, not 19 months. Or are you speaking of some other player?

 

[Dugway]

Azzi hurt her knee on November 14, 2023; about two months earlier than Aubrey's.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I believe that Aubrey hurt her knee on January 9th, 2024. That is seven months ago, 7 months, not 19 months. Or are you speaking of some other player?

My error, I was referring to her back surgery 18 months ago. I had the same procedure. She might be able to play this season after the ACL tear last January according to Geno. Probably early 2025. Poor kid can’t catch a break.

 

[Alydar]

Agree with most of your post except for "they may all come off the bench". I consider both Sarah and Jana probable starters, Morgan and Allie very unlikely.

I think there is a tendency with the number of quality potential starters we have to sometimes forget that talent is lopsided in positions 1-3. Assuming we don't go 4 out, which could happen, it doesn't matter is Sarah and Jana are better than Ash, KK, Kaitlin, Q, Caroline, Allie or Morgan. All they need to be is better than Ayanna or Ice to start, at least until Aubrey returns.

The main competition is two players that have at least so far, under-performed the expectations based on their HS rankings. If Sarah and Jana are close to expectations they should be better than Ayanna and Ice despite the difference in one year of experience. It is a much lower hurdle to get over for them to start vs. the incredible competition on the perimeter.

In fact I think Sarah and Jana are more likely to start than any of the perimeter players not named Paige or Azzi. If you assume they start and we don't go four out, all of those talented perimeter players are competing for one spot. Even if Paige or someone else does play the four, it is a long list of qualified candidates for two spots.

I know we have many different players that their fans cannot conceive of coming off the bench, but really great teams often have future pros coming off the bench. I am reminded that two of the 10 starters in the gold medal game at the Olympics were bench players on Uconn's 2016 championship team. Pheesa for the US and Gabby for France. They started later in their career but were bench players on the 2016 team. We also had one WNBA vet and champion with the Aces that was never a regular starter in college, namely Kia Stokes. Maybe not upfront, but we could have a couple of players in the backcourt that don't start but ultimately wind up in the W.

I don't worry too much about who starts this year. Geno will have no problem finding players who love to shoot and do it well. I'll speculate that there will be a lot of games this season where 2 of the 3 game balls will go to non-starters.
The starters will have to be proficient in all of UConn's defensive schemes. Geno will have the manpower to play high intensity defense for 40 minutes. That will require a lot of subs in and out. Some starters may end up with less than 20 minutes if a couple of subs get hot in a game.