Will UCONN go undefeated in 2013-14?

[bballnut90]

Plain and simple, do you think Connecticut will have another undefeated season in 2013-14?


I vote yes....I just don't see any other team matching up with UCONN's talent level at every position, and when UCONN has more talent than anyone else in the nation, they generally don't lose.

 

[sparky]

all things being perfect yes they will go undefeated. That being said, injuries happen, so I think they will win the NC, but not undefeated.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Undefeated? No matter how good we will be, and we will be good, very good, I wouldn't ever predict an undefeated season beforehand..... A lot of things have to go right.....

Look at Baylor last season..... Having said that, if anyone is well coached enough to allow this to happen, it is UCONN!

 

[Wbbfan1]

If the team is going to be undefeated, it will mean that Brianna Banks will be able to play at almost the same level she was playing prior to her injury. I would hope it also means that Kiah improved her performance so that she'll be ready to be the starting center after next year. Then of course there were no significant injuries to the starting five and Morgan.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

As long as there are no more injuries I would say yes

 

[doggydaddy]

Plain and simple, do you think Connecticut will have another undefeated season in 2013-14?


I vote yes....I just don't see any other team matching up with UCONN's talent level at every position, and when UCONN has more talent than anyone else in the nation, they generally don't lose.

Is this your evil plan, as a Tennessee fan, to screw with our MOJO???

Begone, I say!!!!

 

[HGN]

No...........We will not go undefeated. Just trying to be realistic. We will lose 3 or 4 games during the season ; Win the Conference ; Win our Conference Tournament ; Get a 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA ( Just because its the AAC Conference and not the BE) ; And make it to the FF.

Too many things have to go perfectly right for us to go undefeated. We have to be healthy throughout the season. And that doesn't happen too often. We are coming off some injuries to Stef and Banks. There ae some good teams on the schedule and we are short-handed in bodies .

We have excellent talent , and excellent coaching. But its a long season and everything would have to fall into place perfectly to go undefeated.

 

[EricLA]

I voted no. Ultimately no idea, but the Duke game at Durham should be tough, and UCONN could have another game where shots don't fall for anyone and someone springs the upset. I'd also not be surprised to see us dominate like we did during our 90 game win streak. But as others have pointed out, the stars REALLY need to align for that to happen.

 

[Icebear]

Only injuries can derail it.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Only injuries can derail it.

I'm with Icebear.

If healthy, I can only see a handful of competitive games: Maryland, Duke, and one or two NCAA tournament games. And I think we are the heavy favorites in all of those games.

Given that we have eight legitimate starters, even injuries won't necessarily keep us from an undefeated season.

 

[Glenn]

Realistically, after looking at our schedule, I would say yes. Will Duke be 30 points better than last year? I think not. Will Maryland be 25 point better? Will we beat Tenn for the championship? Definitely. The summer results seem to indicate that our freshmen will make normal progress into their sophomore year. Given their progress (over the last season and through the summer), I do not think we need Banks back and we could even handle 1 important injury and still be national champs and undefeated.

Seriously, how many all-americans will we have? KML, Dolson, Stewart, Hartley

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I just keep remembering St. Johns and the 100 times ND beat us (not that many but you get the point) so I am not sure. Even though we aren't playing the Fighting Irish I am just merely stating that "the stars have to aligned" to go undefeated again.

Duke will be a tough game and Maryland will get their guards back.

I do however think we will get #9 in Nashville. Nashville, TENNESSEE that is.

That just sounds so sweet.

 

[doggydaddy]

If you are talking about the team prior to the NCAA tourney and say they lose Faris and only add Chong, I could see how they might lose a game or two.

But if you are talking about the team that beat Vanderbilt, Maryland, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Louisville and beat the heck out of them and tell me they only lose Faris and get the Parade and HSCA POY in Chong and I'd tell you they have a great chance to win them all.

Now add in the performance of the 5 USA representatives and you can be even more confident.

Until I hear differently, any predictions I would make would be based on Dolson and Banks fully recovering and everyone stays healthy. I would do the same for Duke and Gray or any other player coming back.

One more thing. The only teams that beat Uconn lost 4 starters including Griner and lost arguably the best player in their history AND their leader and point guard.

So, put it all together, it's a HELL YEAH....they will win 'em all.

Happy BBallnut? The Summitt will have a field day with all the optimism here.

 

[bballnut90]

Is this your evil plan, as a Tennessee fan, to screw with our MOJO???

Begone, I say!!!!

Haha, I'm no Huskie fan but I honestly cannot see any team coming close to UCONN this season if Stewart plays consistent. Dolson/Stewart/KML are arguably three of the best players in the nation, Hartley could be an All-American candidate as well. Everyone will be a year older and more experienced from a relatively young roster this last season.

More significantly, everyone else (excluding Duke, who lost by 30 to UCONN last year) is losing key players. Baylor will be significantly worse without Griner/all those seniors, Notre Dame is no longer on the schedule, Stanford was mediocre last year (by Stanford standards), Tennessee will be better but still young and unproven...I just don't see any big threats to UCONN next season.

Coming into this season it feels a lot like 2008-09 in that the best teams are losing significant players while UCONN returns multiple All-Americans.

 

[baggerbob]

The only reason I voted no is you didn't have maybe, people get sick odd things happen, the only time they need to go undefeated is for 6 games in the NCAA tournament, all else is just filling. By the end of the season this will be a great team, and that really is all that matters. All we need to do is enjoy the ride, it sets up to be amazing. Compare how Stewie's second time on the under 19 team, and the team dominance, compared to the 1st time. You could say the 1st team should have been more dominate, because of the future All-American's it had. If that happens with her 2nd time on UConn, the rest of WCBB is in for a treat, and fans will be blown away.

 

[VAMike23]

Haha, I'm no Huskie fan but I honestly cannot see any team coming close to UCONN this season if Stewart plays consistent. Dolson/Stewart/KML are arguably three of the best players in the nation, Hartley could be an All-American candidate as well. Everyone will be a year older and more experienced from a relatively young roster this last season.

More significantly, everyone else (excluding Duke, who lost by 30 to UCONN last year) is losing key players. Baylor will be significantly worse without Griner/all those seniors, Notre Dame is no longer on the schedule, Stanford was mediocre last year (by Stanford standards), Tennessee will be better but still young and unproven...I just don't see any big threats to UCONN next season.

Coming into this season it feels a lot like 2008-09 in that the best teams are losing significant players while UCONN returns multiple All-Americans.

Pretty much.....

 

[Dawgs Bite]

No one will "beat" us. We'll have to throw one away (poor shooting, excessive fouls, etc.) to lose.

 

[Kevin G]

I definitely think UCONN can go undefeated.......but it only takes one bad shooting night against a good team.

 

[ctfjr]

I voted no. Ultimately no idea, but the Duke game at Durham should be tough, and UCONN could have another game where shots don't fall for anyone and someone springs the upset. I'd also not be surprised to see us dominate like we did during our 90 game win streak. But as others have pointed out, the stars REALLY need to align for that to happen.

Yes I believe it will be a tough 20 pt win

 

[Zorro]

If you are talking about the team prior to the NCAA tourney and say they lose Faris and only add Chong, I could see how they might lose a game or two.

But if you are talking about the team that beat Vanderbilt, Maryland, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Louisville and beat the heck out of them and tell me they only lose Faris and get the Parade and HSCA POY in Chong and I'd tell you they have a great chance to win them all.

Now add in the performance of the 5 USA representatives and you can be even more confident.

Until I hear differently, any predictions I would make would be based on Dolson and Banks fully recovering and everyone stays healthy. I would do the same for Duke and Gray or any other player coming back.

One more thing. The only teams that beat Uconn lost 4 starters including Griner and lost arguably the best player in their history AND their leader and point guard.

So, put it all together, it's a HELL YEAH....they will win 'em all.

Happy BBallnut? The Summitt will have a field day with all the optimism here.

Whatever became of Budfrog?

 

[FairView]

I voted no, just for the karma of it.

 

[reno tony]

Most that believe UCONN might not go undefeated state they could be done in by a poor shooting performance. They will probably be a top three scoring team, but there offense is not why I don't believe they will be nearly unbeatable. Their defense will be top three as well and while they could possibly have a poor shooting game, it is hard to imagine a team scoring enough points against them to win. I will paraphrase Morgan Tuck... "If they can't score, they can't win."

 

[alexrgct]

I voted yes. When UConn has three WBCA AAs, prospects look promising. Baylor's 1-2 punch was Griner and Sims, alongside solid role-players. UConn, meanwhile, is deeper and better coached. I think the 1-2 punch model of KML and Breanna may be as dominant as Griner and Sims (maybe not defensively, but certainly offensively and no slouches defensively). Add in Stef with the depth of MoJeff, Banks, Sinaya, Morgan (who could be a huge piece in her own right), Bria (ditto), and Kiah (I mean jeez, what happens if she emereges???), and this is one of the most talented UConn teams ever assembled. KML and Breanna may not be Maya and Tina, but the depth of weaponry is absolutely astounding on this team. If TASS+D with little bench to speak of could dominate like they did, I think this UConn team could match that feat.

Since Breanna's verbal commit to UConn, I've been predicting an NC in 2013-14. I stand firmly by that. Undefeated? Well, there can be flukes, but there is not a game entering this season where UConn should be favored. Baylor and Stanford won't have the horses. Duke has nice depth, but the coaching is no comparison. UConn ALWAYS comes out better prepared for battle than does Duke...or at least when the energy surge happens. If the more "middling" (if it's even appropriate to call it that) UConn team squared off with Duke in Durham in 2012 and won easily, 2014 should be uglier. Louisville isn't better than last season, and UConn handled them twice.

My question if you're voting "no" here: if you don't think UConn goes undefeated, what anticipated opponent makes a good case for being able to beat these girls?

 

[Buzzyboy]

Undefeated? No matter how good we will be, and we will be good, very good, I wouldn't ever predict an undefeated season beforehand..... A lot of things have to go right.....

Look at Baylor last season..... Having said that, if anyone is well coached enough to allow this to happen, it is UCONN!

Baylor had two superior players and one was hurt in their first loss to Stanford. In their second loss, Griner played a pretty poor game though Sims almost rescued them. UConn has four superb players at a minimum and there are plenty of players who can contribute at a pretty high level other than those four. It'd be hard for someone to defeat them and with the fact that Geno is the best in the business, there are no weak links. He's a step above (at a minimum) Baylor's coach and I just don't see any comparison. I feel UConn would have beaten Baylor if they had met in the finals but UConn will be infinitely better now despite the loss of Kelly Faris. The comfort level and development of the sophomores alone will alone make UConn better and then when you take into account Stephanie's recovery from injuries along with Bria Hartley not only healthy but with reborn confidence, duh! I also think that Kiah Stokes will finally get her head straight and play with dramatically higher confidence, which is really all that was holding her back. So many weapons. I also think Chong will contribute to this team at a high level, once she gets her legs (adapting to the speed of the college game).

 

[rocky rococo]

My question if you're voting "no" here: if you don't think UConn goes undefeated, what anticipated opponent makes a good case for being able to beat these girls?

I voted "no", here's my reasoning. It's a young and thin team. If everything goes right, there's certainly the talent there to win every game, but much of the leadership and punch is going to need to come from the sophs and juniors. There's an element of unreliability there when you have to count on underclassmen. There's also no room for any major injuries, and there are 4 players coming back from different stages and types of being hurt. They all need to heal well for the team to perform on the level being suggested here--and nobody else can get hurt. I remember Shea and Svet, I remember Mel and KG, there's no way a team with only nine scholarship players could take two season-ending injuries and do anything more than play out the numbers.