Will the freshman hit a wall?

[BRS24]

The dorms are closed, the apartments are not. If a freshman was living in a dorm, they moved into the apartment during the break and then back into the dorm when classes start. My daughter says the team have all been staying in apartments. I think the last players to live in the dorm were Aubrey and Anna and after that they all lived in apartments together (up the hill from Werth/Gampel).

Gotcha. Appreciate the info, as I had no idea what they are doing now.

 

[IndyLives]

Shade is your typical "gym rat". She seems to want to play BB in her spare time. KK is all-energy, all-the-time. I dont see those two getting fatigued.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I wonder if Ines will see more minutes against the Big East teams to spell Nika, Paige, KK, and Ash. At one point last night, the 4 freshmen and Ines were in against the Creighto starters and they held their own.

I hope so, thinking Amari might need to be brought in earlier as well in games that aren't close. There is so little front court depth and she already seems a head of Ines on the depth chart, if only by a few minutes.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

If Geno (and Coach P) can get this team to a Final Four after all this, some sort of parade is in order!

When I'm feeling extra optimistic, I think Q will soon get to the point that her perimeter shooting becomes diabolically consistent, and her defense becomes reliably consistent. Can she give Geno at least a few minutes of Aubrey-level disruption at the top of the key, and the rest of the time poaching rebounds and contesting corner 3s? If she can do that, the fall off when she comes in for Ash or Paige or Nika or KK won't be worrisome.

Second thought that happens when I'm thinking: could Q even end up challenging one of them for a starting spot. Or will she become the proverbial 6th woman? Next year, this may be exactly the role that fits sophomore Q, if Jana and Ice start with KK Ash and Morgan -- that's one way the high energy game could be initiated, with Q and Allie rotating in as needed. Or maybe Jana rotates in with Allie while Ice KK Ash Q and Morgan are the starters. Note the recurring theme, that Morgan is a starter, in my view, if Geno wants to play the way they've been going the last couple games. Morgan KK and Ash are hi-octane players.

Your starting line-up has a Fudd sized hole in it sir.

 

[Bone Dog]

Your starting line-up has a Fudd sized hole in it sir.

It does indeed. Thank you for noticing. And a Paige sized hole, too. I was working on the worst case assumption. But if we really do have Azzi and Paige next season, and still want to run this defense, our depth will be stunning. And if Aaliyah plugs another hole, then I think we're definitely at the top of the NC conversation..

 

[Stinger92860]

I'm legit curious what fans think. We've seen it with many freshmen in the past - humming along playing well, and then sometime mid-Janyary'ish... BAM. The freshman wall. I have a feeling we won't see that with these kids, but that's just IMHO.

This year it’s not allowed for all the wrong reasons. Just one reason for breaking them in slowly.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

IMHO I won't count the UCONN WBB team out until there are no more games they can play!
A couple years ago ND had a rash of injuries and in the talking suits minds were given NO CHANCE to go far in the NCAA Tournament, but somehow they managed to pull it out and won the Championship!
Wouldn't it be special if THIS group of players said screw it we're not giving up and did amazing things!
I admit it's going to be rough, but boy wouldn't it be neat!

 

[hoopsnloops32]

It does indeed. Thank you for noticing. And a Paige sized hole, too. I was working on the worst case assumption. But if we really do have Azzi and Paige next season, and still want to run this defense, our depth will be stunning. And if Aaliyah plugs another hole, then I think we're definitely at the top of the NC conversation..

I'm assuming this is Paige's last season for my own mental health but it feels disrespectful to Azzi and her recovery to count her out when she has said shes coming back and is working so hard in rehab. No reason to include Jana and not Azzi (or Yanna for the matter) when an achilles is a much harder injury to fully recover from than an ACL.

I do think Nika is likely to return but we'll see, I understand keeping all the academic seniors out of next years projections but injured players feels icky to me.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

IMHO I won't count the UCONN WBB team out until there are no more games they can play!
A couple years ago ND had a rash of injuries and in the talking suits minds were given NO CHANCE to go far in the NCAA Tournament, but somehow they managed to pull it out and won the Championship!
Wouldn't it be special if THIS group of players said screw it we're not giving up and did amazing things!
I admit it's going to be rough, but boy wouldn't it be neat!

This is the attitude the fans and the teams need at this point imo.

 

[Kat]

I'm legit curious...

Classic BY post! You kind of gave it away with that opening...

 

[Woof 101]

I'm legit curious what fans think. We've seen it with many freshmen in the past - humming along playing well, and then sometime mid-Janyary'ish... BAM. The freshman wall. I have a feeling we won't see that with these kids, but that's just IMHO.

Agree with this but also think to go deep we need Amari to break through a wall and give the team another down low option. At 6'6" she is very much needed for more minutes to play along with or spell Aaliyah. This in the games vs the you know who's.

I agree with you. I really respect EricLA's posts 99% of the time,BUT, these are the kind of posts that should be kept off the board as not being helpful in the present.

No attack but does one think this forum has an actual affect on UConn women's basketball? Maybe the old magic 8 ball would have an answer. That or the ever popular Ouija board. JHMO absolutely nothing here has a impact on the coaching staff or the team.
If The Boneyard is an influence in any way shape or form our team is in deep doggie poop.

 

[Cuango]

I agree with you. I really respect EricLA's posts 99% of the time,BUT, these are the kind of posts that should be kept off the board as not being helpful in the present. Why put negative thoughts in any ones mind that does not have to do with now's games. This kind of post should be when and if they hit a wall and discussed then.. My opinion. GO FRESHMEN!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!!

?

 

[Cuango]

Like all players they are going to have an occasional bad game. However, I don't see Ash, KK or Q hitting a "wall" per se. I mention Q because in my opinion she is playing great defense and shooting well. I hope she gets more minutes soon.

I’m pretty sure you are going to get what you are hoping for.

 

[Cuango]

The season thus far could be looked at as three mini-seasons of 4, 5, and 5 games. Pre-Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving to early December, mid-December until now. Somewhat arbitrary, but it has a method to it.

You see ebbs and flows within each mini season and across all of them. There was much handwringing and negative thinking during the second one although there was more than a glimmer of hope at the end of it (North Carolina) and full blown dominance through the third mini-season, marred of course by the injury to Aubrey. Like others I am devastated for her and her family and hoping for the best.

I look at UConn`s next 5 games as the fourth mini-season:

1/7 at GTown

1/10 Providence

1/13 at St. John`s

1/17 at Seton Hall

1/20 DePaul

Although three of them are on the road, these are all games that UConn will be favored to win comfortably. UConn will need to get Ines and Amari on the floor for good portions of the games to keep the minutes down for others. It is a legitimate concern that the Freshman could hit the wall but also other players as well, remember last season when Nika et al were simply playing too many minutes.

Also, to give those two experience in case we need them in important spots down the road.

I could see Geno pressuring hard for the entire first half of these games and, assuming a decent lead is developed, using the end of his bench and playing a "sluff-off" man to man or a zone for much of the second half. The big lead thing may not pan out in every game but it should in three or four based upon our quality of play at this point.

I look on the next five games as a period of building upon what has been developed, shoring up some weak spots, experimenting with some new things, and ideally storing some energy for the daunting "fifth mini-season" to follow which includes road games against Marquette, Villanova and South Carolina, and a home game with Notre Dame.

I’m hoping Geno spends the next few weeks putting Q through a crash course in “Aubrey play”. I realize she can’t be expected to replace Aubrey but I do feel she is the most Aubrey like, and the player most likely to be able to fill in some of the areas where Aubrey excelled.

 

[oldhusky]

It does indeed. Thank you for noticing. And a Paige sized hole, too. I was working on the worst case assumption. But if we really do have Azzi and Paige next season, and still want to run this defense, our depth will be stunning. And if Aaliyah plugs another hole, then I think we're definitely at the top of the NC conversation..

And those potential additions to your worst case scenario are not all of them. We also have some chance Caroline might be a factor. I am not counting on it, but it is not zero either. Sarah is still out there, along with Rodriquez, and of course the portal, and even Aubrey is technically a very longshot possibility.

Between the extra Covid year, possible career ending injuries, a key recruit waiting past the signing period, greater portal activity due to not having to wait a year, and more and more foreign recruits that often make later decisions, planning for the next year has never had more uncertainty.

There are so many permutations and combinations that the worst case scenario you have done a good job of outlining, the best case, and even the most probable case, would all be drastically different. A great deal will clear up after the season ends and most portal decisions have been made.

I feel for how the uncertainty affects players, coaches, and potential recruits. High movement in the portal is probably the new norm, due to not having to wait a year, but at least the extra Covid year option disappears after this year.

 

[BBallF]

To answer the question directly posed by EricLA, I don't expect anything other than biorhythms walls, and then only briefly. The reasons are twofold. First, they have Paige leading and pushing with both Nika and Liyah joining in. When you have a player like Paige on offense and defense, you don't let up. Secondly, they won't hit a wall because they can't hit a wall. Neither expected to be starting most of freshman year and this has been a gift outright in certain respects for Ash and KK and they know it. The only issue as I have said is being drained but they are both supremely "in shape" so I have confidence that they will actually crash through the wall.

 

[HopJim]

Last year, I saw most members of the team relax when the player shortage made it obvious they would not be taken out for making in game mistakes. Dorka in particular had a smile most of the game and upgraded her performance versus being in and out the previous year. These frosh have minimal pressure on them and seem to be enjoying the game.

 

[Bone Dog]

Neither expected to be starting most of freshman year and this has been a gift outright in certain respects for Ash and KK and they know it.

Yup. When the brass ring was dangling in front of them, KK and Ash grabbed it. This is the very thing that ought to motivate Q and Ice beyond just team spirit. A dazzling opportunity beckons and they don’t want to miss out on it.

Plus, these girls long dreamt of playing D1 basketball at the highest level and UConn was the goal for most of them. And the dream enticed even though it meant riding the bench and working hard to break into a loaded lineup after a year or two. Now here it is right in front of them. Carpe diem!

That “Ice to Paige to Ash” clip @Plebe posted captures a moment that ought to motivate as well. Talk about living the dream! An exuberant mid game celebration with a pair of AAs, what ambitious HS player wouldn’t want to be part of that?

And one thing that might also speak to them, but probably doesn’t, is the peculiar luck of Saylor, who left to find PT (and some success) at a lesser program just as destiny was about to hand her an opening on an NC game bound team.