Who will be the primary backup center for Jana?

[sun]

Most everyone agrees that Jana should be the starting center, but who will be the primary backup center when she's not available?
Who will jump for the tip off if Jana can't?

 

[Alydar]

UConn doesn't have another center. They have several 4's that can post up and defend against other centers but there really aren't many centers around D1. Lots of power forwards.
If El Alfy is 75% of what I've read and seen it's the other teams who are going to have trouble.

 

[hoophuskee]

The backup Center would be Ice Brady in this scenario.

Irrelevant who does tip offs. That doesn't matter.

 

[Conndog]

I’d love to see Ayanna if she is healthy enough. Ice is taller but seems best situated to play the 4- but if Ayanna can’t go, then Ice it is. Sarah is a 4 too but can play the 3 too.

 

[Majic Hands]

Selected committee even though my first thought was Ice.

If healthy I would hope that Ayanna would be playing quality minutes at the 4 & 5.

I’m choosing to think Ayanna coming in to give the primary a break could be giving the opponent a different set of challenges throwing them off just like Aubrey coming in always caused problems for the opponent.

I do like the question, “who’s going to backup Jana at Center.” In my mind I can see coach asking who wants to take Jana’s place on the floor and seeing everyone looking everywhere except at him.

 

[Dublin]

There is NO way that Geno would move Caroline to. center, That would be risking a career-ending injury when a taller opposing center simply "taps" her on the head.

 

[JellyBean]

I picked Ice. I got this feeling that she is going to play a huge role in the success of the program this season.

 

[Bone Dog]

Paige, obviously! Plus, she already jumped the opening tip once, against Marquette last season… and won it.

 

[PacoSwede]

i will not concede that jana will be the starting center. this is way premature.

we shall see in time.

 

[PhillyCoach]

i will not concede that jana will be the starting center. this is way premature.

we shall see in time.

Of course we don't know the future. However, there are educated guesses and there are wild guesses. An educated guess would be -- there really are only two choices--Jana or Ice!
IMHO Ice would only start for 2 possible reasons. Ice knows the offensive system better (through playing last year) and she can flow with the team structure. We have to assume that she has become a better scoring/rebounding threat because she was marginal last year. Second, she knows the defensive system better and can be a stopper and rebounder. Again, last year was not very productive as a whole.
Now looking at Jana you get 2-3 inches and 20 pounds to bang around the post. Ice did not bang much last year. You get a more aggressive player. You get more leadership--vocally and action. You get a higher motor. You get a 3 layer offensive player. You get a big with a good handle.
I'll take an educated guess and say Jan will start!

 

[sun]

I chose Sarah because she's strong, so very strong in so many ways.
I think that she can bang the best, step out and make shots which will help to open up the lane, and I believe that she has the abilty to make the tough bunnies better than anyone else including Ice.
If playing the inside is about footwork she's got all of the tools.
She somewhat reminds me of Jamelle , and Jamelle was a good player down low.
I think that unless Ice has improved since last year, she has a ways to go to match Sarah's inside skillset.
Oh, and I forgot to mention Sarah's superior passing ability & BB IQ,

 

[DEpup]

I am hoping that a year out from injury that Ice will have full confidence to bang down low. Also, I am hoping that we see the Ice who played when Aaliyah was hurt. It would be great if she could mature and fight for that starting position. The team will be better for it.

 

[Blond D.]

Im gonna wait and give the #2 center spot to Sarah until after she proves she can do the job against college players. Ice seems to be the obvious choice but if Ayanna is 100% she might get the job.
She is as tall and can jump higher than most girls on the team. I think we forget her skills since we didnt get to see them last year.
I think Strong will be more of a 3 than a 4 or 5.
Morgan is in the same boat as Sarah in that shes a freshman and has a lot to prove plus she will be another 3 rather than a 4 or 5.

 

[Dogstar]

Most everyone agrees that Jana should be the starting center, but who will be the primary backup center when she's not available?
Who will jump for the tip off if Jana can't?

Why does it really matter being there's only one per game..

 

[oldude]

Don’t forget about Aubrey if she’s healthy. Aubrey has played surprisingly well head to head against Bigs in the past. Her defense against 6’5” Key at TN stands out. Aubrey is long, athletic and strong.

 

[hoophuskee]

Of course we don't know the future. However, there are educated guesses and there are wild guesses. An educated guess would be -- there really are only two choices--Jana or Ice!
IMHO Ice would only start for 2 possible reasons. Ice knows the offensive system better (through playing last year) and she can flow with the team structure. We have to assume that she has become a better scoring/rebounding threat because she was marginal last year. Second, she knows the defensive system better and can be a stopper and rebounder. Again, last year was not very productive as a whole.
Now looking at Jana you get 2-3 inches and 20 pounds to bang around the post. Ice did not bang much last year. You get a more aggressive player. You get more leadership--vocally and action. You get a higher motor. You get a 3 layer offensive player. You get a big with a good handle.
I'll take an educated guess and say Jan will start!

i was initially more cautious than you with Jana but someone provided me with a quote Geno made last year which I was shocked to hear. So then I went back and re-watched more of her highlights then reading other comments from excellent posters from posters such as you and others on here in which I can picture the strengths of Jana taht have ben stated - I really beleive that she is real real good. So, while I'm not a big fan of starting two freshmen 4/5's between her and Sarah, I just lean toward both are better than any alternative.

 

[DEpup]

I'd like to see a Strong, Aubrey, and Yanna rotation at the 4 with Jana, Ice, and Yanna rotating at the 5.

 

[hoophuskee]

Why does it really matter being there's only one per game..

The OP is infatuated with height. One or two years ago he or she found an article that stats show that a team should try to employ a big player to win the opening tip so they can gain one extra possession or something like that. The OP seeks anything that he or she can find that will highlight bigs. He's in contrast to Geno's style of small-ball which is why he or she also blames him in some high qty manner for many of his losses. He or she is well-intentioned but can get easily duped because of his or her infatuation with Bigs.

The article is about as relevant as someone doing research looking up statistics on Briana Pulido and noticing her record when she is put in the game is extraordinarily high therefore the conclusion must be to play her more. In this manner I can also call myself an analyst because I did the research that confirms this. Then publish the article and pretend like it has meaning. Put Briana in and you will win 98% of the time. LOL.

 

[Skeets]

IMO Ice the obvious choice. But let's face it, in a perfect world we would only need a sub for Jana for 3 or 4 minutes, 3 or 4 times per game. If not Ice, there's a couple of players who could be pressed to provide those minutes. None, other than Ice, are optimum choices at this time... Strong is a big, strong (yes, a pun) body, but 1 or 2 inches short and unproven. I'd like to see her have a stress-free freshman year doing what she does best.

Also, IMO definitely not Caroline. I don't want to see her banging with anyone. Better she stays out on the arc and fire 3's as the opportunity arise (and stays healthy).

 

[Huskee11]

One reason to have Ice coming off of the bench as a 4/5 backup is that she is foul prone. To her credit, she improved at the end of the season especially in the Big East Tournament when we needed her to play 40.

There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the 2024-2025 season but one of those reasons is that almost everyone on the roster is a legit three point shooter. That definitely includes Jana, who I project as a starter. It also includes Ice.

We will see some posting up inside especially against the smaller Big East teams but this team will be able to spread the floor and open up things as well or better than any UConn team since the Brianna Stewart era.

 

[sun]

Ice is 1" taller but if Sarah's arms are longer and she has larger hands then Ice's height advanatge might be a wash.
Plus Strong may indeed may be able to jump higher if she has stronger legs than Ice.
Plus Strong didn't have the serious knee injury that Ice had that could fiurther affect her jumping & ability to be a banger.
In short, if Sarah does have stronger legs, then that's just another reason why I would choose her over Ice.
That's despite the ffact that Ice is 1" taller.
So this is not about superbigs, this is about who could play the center position better.
If I'm not mistaken, Ice had trouble making some of her bunnies last year.
I see Sarah having more attributes of a center than Ice because she may have more stability and possibility also more durabilty & stamina in the low post.
Strong looks to be quite strong in many aspects.

 

[Alydar]

Of course we don't know the future. However, there are educated guesses and there are wild guesses. An educated guess would be -- there really are only two choices--Jana or Ice!
IMHO Ice would only start for 2 possible reasons. Ice knows the offensive system better (through playing last year) and she can flow with the team structure. We have to assume that she has become a better scoring/rebounding threat because she was marginal last year. Second, she knows the defensive system better and can be a stopper and rebounder. Again, last year was not very productive as a whole.
Now looking at Jana you get 2-3 inches and 20 pounds to bang around the post. Ice did not bang much last year. You get a more aggressive player. You get more leadership--vocally and action. You get a higher motor. You get a 3 layer offensive player. You get a big with a good handle.
I'll take an educated guess and say Jan will start!

Brady is being judged on her entire season which was admittedly a mixed performance but I judge her on the 8 playoff games and she was much much better than marginal in those.
I expected Brady to play better last Nov. and I think she needed time to regain trust in her knee. She should have a lot more self-confidence and be much more familiar with the UConn system.

El Alfy may be all you say but she hasn't done it in a UConn uniform and hasn't played much at all against elite players. What El Alfy has going for her is size more typical of a center.

If Chen and Strong start then starting El Alfy would put three 1st year players in the starting lineup.