Westbrook

[oldude]

Nah, she had no chance at starting next year with or without Westbrook. I think Mikayla saw the writing on the wall in terms of playing time going forth.

Tell me who you think would have started ahead of Mikayla absent any additional player? You have 4 options: Batouly (chronically bad knees), Kyla & Molly (wonderful young ladies who Geno never plays against top competition in prime time) and Aubrey (freshman with a very steep learning curve ahead of her)

 

[CocoHusky]

Tell me who you think would have started ahead of Mikayla absent any additional player?

Maybe you are forgetting that Mikayla is a guard.
But to answer your question:
Aubrey Griffin
Molly Bent
Kyla Erwin
or Batouly Camara
Mikayla will depart UCONN a 28% shooter, She would have to be the National Defense Player of the year to be a starter at UCONN. Molly bent has a superior season when compared to Mikayla last year.

 

[oldude]

Maybe you are forgetting that Mikayla is a guard.
But to answer your question:
Aubrey Griffin
Molly Bent
Kyla Erwin
or Batouly Camara
Mikayla will depart UCONN a 28% shooter, She would have to be the National Defense Player of the year to be a starter at UCONN. Molly bent has a superior season when compared to Mikayla last year.

I respectfully disagree. Liv and Megan are your 2 front court players. Mikayla essentially fills Lou's spot. Mikayla was the second player off the bench late in the season. She is an outstanding athlete, the team's best defender, has a good handle and can rebound exceptionally well for a guard. Her shooting is not good, but each of the other players has a significant limitation as follows:

• I've seen Aubrey play 4 times and she has a tremendous upside, but anyone who thinks she will show up in the fall and step into a starting position is kidding themselves. She's not Christyn Williams. Aubrey's head will be spinning when she gets to Storrs and she has several bad habits that Geno and his staff will have to change before they trust her sufficiently to give her meaningful minutes.
• Molly & Kyla are wonderful young ladies and great teammates, but Geno doesn't play them against top tier opponents in key situations for a reason. They just don't match up well athletically.
• Batouly would be my first choice as the 5th starter if she were healthy, but she hasn't been healthy for 2 years. Her chronically injured knees limit her ability to play and practice. Absent some type of medical miracle, I don't see Batouly as the 5th starter.

So that's the way I look at it. But I am anxious to hear which of the 4 you feel has the best chance to start over Mikayla and why?

 

[stick]

Tell me who you think would have started ahead of Mikayla absent any additional player? You have 4 options: Batouly (chronically bad knees), Kyla & Molly (wonderful young ladies who Geno never plays against top competition in prime time) and Aubrey (freshman with a very steep learning curve ahead of her)

Mikayla shot less than 25% for the year and had plenty of open shots. I don't recall her making a shot outside 10 feet all year. No way she was going to start making it so much tougher for the other starters. I would venture to say that she was able to play 11 minutes a game ONLY because UConn had an automatic 40 pts from Lou & Phee. Next year UConn won't have that luxury and scoring is going to even more of a premium than usual.

 

[oldude]

Mikayla shot less than 25% for the year and had plenty of open shots. I don't recall her making a shot outside 10 feet all year. No way she was going to start making it so much tougher for the other starters. I would venture to say that she was able to play 11 minutes a game ONLY because UConn had an automatic 40 pts from Lou & Phee. Next year UConn won't have that luxury and scoring is going to even more of a premium than usual.

You didn't answer my question. Tell me who you would start ahead of Mikayla from the 4 other returning players?

 

[pvdoggy]

You didn't answer my question. Tell me who you would start ahead of Mikayla from the 4 other returning players?

Kyla and Molly would give up more points on the defensive end than they could ever make up on the offensive end compared to Coombs. No way Camera can play for any length of time on the court the way her knees seem to be. No idea what to expect from Griffin.

 

[CocoHusky]

So that's the way I look at it. But I am anxious to hear which of the 4 you feel has the best chance to start over Mikayla and why?

A healthy Batouly Camara has the best chance to be the UCONN starter next season assuming no more addition to the roster because UCONN's greatest need will be rebounding and post defense.

 

[asuwish]

Last I heard a source on the Oregon State board said a credible source said she is going to choose between Oregon or UCONN. Just don’t know when that will be... but that’s just insight on a credible source but who knows... she can’t go wrong with either program.. Oregon is her home state tons of talent , are the favorites to win it all next year.. UCONN best coach of all time also playing with talented players including her good friend Megan... and UCONN is lacking depth more then Oregon but Westbrook is talented and will be starting for both teams so it’s anyones guess. Coming out of high school Oregon State was on her final list... Oregon was never on her list so who really knows. I’m sure we will all find out soon enough ...

Who says she starts anywhere she goes. Assuming she can play now and not sit a year You may have heard of Oregon's PG and they have tons of depth. Uconn has a ok pg and a pretty ok 2 guard from Arkansas. Westbrook is a little sloppy and nobody knows how she will fit in with the way these 2 teams plays vs how TN plays. She has talent but not better then either pg. She goes to either place to learn the position then hopefully understand how to be a great pg and then has 2 years to get ready to the pros.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Precious, oh wait wrong board

 

[oldude]

A healthy Batouly Camara has the best chance to be the UCONN starter next season assuming no more addition to the roster because UCONN's greatest need will be rebounding and post defense.

If Batouly is healthy, I absolutely agree with you. But I certainly don't think Geno is banking on that right now, which takes me back to my original point, that if Geno didn't have someone else coming in next year, Mikayla would have been the most likely returning player to be his 5th starter.

 

[uconnfan68]

You didn't answer my question. Tell me who you would start ahead of Mikayla from the 4 other returning players?

I thought she had a chance, but I think we would be too small and offensively challenged with her. I was expecting a new body to fill that spot... just didn’t know who... was going with Griffin as she is the only choice right now.

 

[uconnfan68]

A healthy Batouly Camara has the best chance to be the UCONN starter next season assuming no more addition to the roster because UCONN's greatest need will be rebounding and post defense.

We can all wish for that. Just wouldn’t plan for it.

 

[CocoHusky]

Mikayla essentially fills Lou's spot. Mikayla was the second player off the bench late in the season. She is an outstanding athlete, the team's best defender, has a good handle and can rebound exceptionally well for a guard.

Kyla and Molly would give up more points on the defensive end than they could ever make up on the offensive end compared to Coombs. No way Camera can play for any length of time on the court the way her knees seem to be. No idea what to expect from Griffin.

It's a good thing the games are on replay and the stats are complied because the bolded statements are not correct. The teams best defender was the one that won the conference DPOY. Of the returning players the teams best defender was ONO by a long shot. Molly had a better defensive season than Mikayla did. Since there are two ends of the court I'll just say it one last time Molly had a superior season when compared to Mikayla.

 

[CocoHusky]

If Batouly is healthy, I absolutely agree with you. But I certainly don't think Geno is banking on that right now, which takes me back to my original point, that if Geno didn't have someone else coming in next year, Mikayla would have been the most likely returning player to be his 5th starter.

Well he's surely not banking on Mikayla either.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Why is there so much discussion here of things not "Westbrook" related? Go to the other threads to talk about Coombs and stuff like that.

 

[pvdoggy]

It's a good thing the games are on replay and the stats are complied because the bolded statements are not correct. The teams best defender was ONO by a long shot and Molly had a better defensive season than Mikayla did. Since there are two ends of the court I'll just say it one last time Molly had a superior season when compared to Mikayla.

for the season, probably because Coombs was really a no-show (was she injured?) earlier in the season, but in the later part of the season it seems to me like Coombs was much better than Bent.

 

[Hayven]

You didn't answer my question. Tell me who you would start ahead of Mikayla from the 4 other returning players?

I would say Kayla would probably start over Mikayla. Mikayla is one dimensional, driving the ball. The defense would lay off her and focus on ONO, or Megan down low.
At least with Kayla you get some rebounding and somewhat of an outside shooter

 

[oldude]

I would say Kayla would probably start over Mikayla. Mikayla is one dimensional, driving the ball. The defense would lay off her and focus on ONO, or Megan down low.
At least with Kayla you get some rebounding and somewhat of an outside shooter

How about Kyla vs Mikayla on defense?

 

[oldude]

Well he's surely not banking on Mikayla either.

The truth is there’s no really good option, which is why we’re all hoping that Geno has one or two players up his sleeve for next year.

 

[stick]

You didn't answer my question. Tell me who you would start ahead of Mikayla from the 4 other returning players?

We don't know yet if anyone else is joining the team at this point. But there was no way that Geno was starting Coombs next year when scoring became much more of an issue with the graduation of Lou & Phee. A guard that can't shoot might have been disguised for a period of time with the greatest scoring duo in NCAA history, but not with the cast going forward.

 

[CocoHusky]

The truth is there’s no really good option, which is why we’re all hoping that Geno has one or two players up his sleeve for next year.

To get this thread back on topic. Westbrook will also help.

 

[CocoHusky]

for the season, probably because Coombs was really a no-show (was she injured?) earlier in the season, but in the later part of the season it seems to me like Coombs was much better than Bent.

Mikayla was not injured at the start of 2018-19 season. You may be thinking back to the end of the 2017-18 season were she was shut down late in the season including the NCAA tournament.

 

[oldude]

It's a good thing the games are on replay and the stats are complied because the bolded statements are not correct. The teams best defender was the one that won the conference DPOY. Of the returning players the teams best defender was ONO by a long shot. Molly had a better defensive season than Mikayla did. Since there are two ends of the court I'll just say it one last time Molly had a superior season when compared to Mikayla.

Everyone had a better season than Mikayla on the offensive end. Most of Molly’s points came during mop up time. Geno seldom if ever played Molly against top competition in prime time. Mikayla played real minutes against good teams. So in Geno’s mind, he had more confidence in Mikayla. As for Liv, she’ll be a great defender, but not until she can match up with another top post without fouling out of the game, hopefully this coming season.

 

[oldude]

We don't know yet if anyone else is joining the team at this point. But there was no way that Geno was starting Coombs next year when scoring became much more of an issue with the graduation of Lou & Phee. A guard that can't shoot might have been disguised for a period of time with the greatest scoring duo in NCAA history, but not with the cast going forward.

Ok so let me try this one more time and then I give up. My original point was that unless Geno has somebody else coming in Mikayla was the best option of his returning players to start. You disagreed. I asked you which returning player would start twice and you danced around the question.

So if you are now saying that someone else may be joining the team who could be the 5th starter, that was precisely my original point. Time to mercifully end this back and forth with a good stiff drink.

 

[stick]

Ok so let me try this one more time and then I give up. My original point was that unless Geno has somebody else coming in Mikayla was the best option of his returning players to start. You disagreed. I asked you which returning player would start twice and you danced around the question.

So if you are now saying that someone else may be joining the team who could be the 5th starter, that was precisely my original point. Time to mercifully end this back and forth with a good stiff drink.

To answer your question, if the options are only the current players we know of (I don't know why we have to assume this as there's no way UConn is adding players when even warm bodies are needed to fill the bench). I would say Griffin, Irwin and Camara would start over Coombs based on the current construction of the team.