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Post by semper on Sept 28, 2021 9:44:33 GMT -5
So glad we have some bigs to mess with, esp. those foul worries with Liv. It made her into a tentative player sometimes. This year, no problemo.
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Post by vtcwbuff on Sept 28, 2021 9:53:38 GMT -5
All this talk of bigs and no mention of Gabriel. She was a project at the start of season last year but I thought that she had made a lot of progress. I'm hoping that will continue thois year and that she can become an impact player.
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Post by swash on Sept 28, 2021 11:04:22 GMT -5
All this talk of bigs and no mention of Gabriel. She was a project at the start of season last year but I thought that she had made a lot of progress. I'm hoping that will continue thois year and that she can become an impact player. It'll be great if that happens, but I'm thinking at least another year before she levels up enough to get onto the floor when the game is still undecided. She did show some good progress last season and there is reason for optimism ... pretty good passer, strong, unexpectedly nimble for someone her size. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2021 11:17:10 GMT -5
All this talk of bigs and no mention of Gabriel. She was a project at the start of season last year but I thought that she had made a lot of progress. I'm hoping that will continue thois year and that she can become an impact player. Yes, and she had some type of surgery earlier this summer from which I hope she's fully recovered!! In a perfect world, she'd be needed for our game against South Carolina due to too many fouls by our other BIGS ! UConn is up 70 - 69 with about 5 seconds left in the game and Piath 2 - handed blocks the last second shot of one of Dawn's ELITE scorers!! UConn wins, Piath is a hero and Dawn Staley blames it on Gabriel's new Nike Bueckers Bounce shoes with the patented vertical lift assist technology!  Of course, I wouldn't mind it if Piath slam dunked over Boston and that other SC Heightful Tower for the win!!  |
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Post by UConnChapette on Sept 28, 2021 11:28:51 GMT -5
Maybe against the less talented teams we can lend some of our players to the other team so 10 UConn players can start the game.
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Post by linkster on Sept 28, 2021 14:51:12 GMT -5
I don't get the enthusiasm for Aubrey. She's an awesome athlete but to date has been a less than mediocre scorer. Good for rebounds but if anyone is going to get plenty of time they should be a scorer. Griffin is an outstanding defender. I see her role as a "cooler"*. She has the quickness and athleticism to guard perimeter players and the size to defend players like Haley Jones. Watching last year's games again she was outstanding at rebounding Bueckers misses. Most of Bueckers' missed shots hit the rim softly and since there are often 3 defenders rushing to help guard her I often saw Griffin slide to the hoop and get easy putbacks. I don't think she will ever be a volume shooter, considering who her team mates are but garbage points are very valuable, especially to demoralize an opponent. Watch almost any game and when she comes in she almost immediately makes plays, steals, offensive rebounds, blocks. She is a spark! UConn has an abundance of scorers. Griffin does all the dirty work. Does anyone remember Kelly Faris? * as in the movie Roadhouse |
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Post by linkster on Sept 28, 2021 14:54:24 GMT -5
All this talk of bigs and no mention of Gabriel. She was a project at the start of season last year but I thought that she had made a lot of progress. I'm hoping that will continue thois year and that she can become an impact player. It'll be great if that happens, but I'm thinking at least another year before she levels up enough to get onto the floor when the game is still undecided. She did show some good progress last season and there is reason for optimism ... pretty good passer, strong, unexpectedly nimble for someone her size. Whatever surgery she had resulted in a considerable loss of weight according to Geno and she never looked overweight, just large. It may take her time to regain her strength and she was considered a 2 year project when she arrived. |
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Post by rockymtblue2 on Sept 28, 2021 15:33:31 GMT -5
I don't get the enthusiasm for Aubrey. She's an awesome athlete but to date has been a less than mediocre scorer. Good for rebounds but if anyone is going to get plenty of time they should be a scorer. Not only an inconsistent scorer, Geno gets frustrated with her for playing out of control sometimes. It's possible that, given her extraordinary physical gifts, basketball might not be her natural game. Something more structured, like volleyball, perhaps. But sometimes an athlete has an "aha" moment, when everything clicks into place and the game suddenly slows down for them. Hoping that comes to Aubrey this year. I recall that at the start of overtime in the South Carolina game she flashed to the basket and elevated with the ball to the rim - her palm was right there - and missed. That was out of control. Her move was breathtaking but wild. |
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Post by rockymtblue2 on Sept 28, 2021 15:42:08 GMT -5
I don't get the enthusiasm for Aubrey. She's an awesome athlete but to date has been a less than mediocre scorer. Good for rebounds but if anyone is going to get plenty of time they should be a scorer. Griffin is an outstanding defender. I see her role as a "cooler"*. She has the quickness and athleticism to guard perimeter players and the size to defend players like Haley Jones. Watching last year's games again she was outstanding at rebounding Bueckers misses. Most of Bueckers' missed shots hit the rim softly and since there are often 3 defenders rushing to help guard her I often saw Griffin slide to the hoop and get easy putbacks. I don't think she will ever be a volume shooter, considering who her team mates are but garbage points are very valuable, especially to demoralize an opponent. Watch almost any game and when she comes in she almost immediately makes plays, steals, offensive rebounds, blocks. She is a spark! UConn has an abundance of scorers. Griffin does all the dirty work. Does anyone remember Kelly Faris? * as in the movie Roadhouse I remember Kelly in an interview saying she regretted waiting until the middle of her senior year to actually employ her shot and start dropping 3s. I think her reluctance in scoring came from her father's ass hat basketball philosophy being drilled into her. I'm not trying to bury Aubrey and Geno will make his decisions. I just think it would be preferable to bring along a more well rounded played at that position and that is why I don't favor seeing her minutes go up. |
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Post by linkster on Sept 28, 2021 16:30:13 GMT -5
Griffin is an outstanding defender. I see her role as a "cooler"*. She has the quickness and athleticism to guard perimeter players and the size to defend players like Haley Jones. Watching last year's games again she was outstanding at rebounding Bueckers misses. Most of Bueckers' missed shots hit the rim softly and since there are often 3 defenders rushing to help guard her I often saw Griffin slide to the hoop and get easy putbacks. I don't think she will ever be a volume shooter, considering who her team mates are but garbage points are very valuable, especially to demoralize an opponent. Watch almost any game and when she comes in she almost immediately makes plays, steals, offensive rebounds, blocks. She is a spark! UConn has an abundance of scorers. Griffin does all the dirty work. Does anyone remember Kelly Faris? * as in the movie Roadhouse I remember Kelly in an interview saying she regretted waiting until the middle of her senior year to actually employ her shot and start dropping 3s. I think her reluctance in scoring came from her father's ass hat basketball philosophy being drilled into her. I'm not trying to bury Aubrey and Geno will make his decisions. I just think it would be preferable bring along a more well rounded played at that position and that is why I don't favor seeing her minutes go up. Geno & Chris had given her the green light to shoot 3's as a freshman so she was knocking them down in practice. I said back in May that with her height and elevation she needed to shoot and make more mid-rangers. Stokes rarely took a shot and got the same comments from posters along with doubts about her WNBA potential. Nobody has anything but praise now for her UConn career especially her last 2 years. There's a ton of value in her game beyond being a shooter/scorer. |
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Post by linkster on Sept 28, 2021 16:44:08 GMT -5
Last season UConn averaged 69 shots a game. I expect that Geno will want Bueckers & Fudd to take 30 between them. So there are only 40 shots to divide between the rest. If the 3 seniors each get 8 (a low number) that leaves 15 for Edwards/Griffin/ Ducharme et al. And I think that Edwards will shoot more than ONO.
There are a lot of skilled shooters already. What UConn needs are great defenders/rebounders and Griffin fits both those needs.
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Post by bulkey on Sept 28, 2021 18:02:30 GMT -5
Last season UConn averaged 69 shots a game. I expect that Geno will want Bueckers & Fudd to take 30 between them. So there are only 40 shots to divide between the rest. If the 3 seniors each get 8 (a low number) that leaves 15 for Edwards/Griffin/ Ducharme et al. And I think that Edwards will shoot more than ONO. There are a lot of skilled shooters already. What UConn needs are great defenders/rebounders and Griffin fits both those needs. That's an interesting way to think about it. I'm not sure we can give Azzi a specific share until we have to see how she plays defense and how fast she figures out the offense. Three seniors? Liv, Christyn, and Evina. So where does Dorka fit? I just don't think we can determine the offense by this metric at this point. But it's a really interesting way to think about it. |
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Post by huskymaniac on Sept 29, 2021 7:50:03 GMT -5
I hope they're all fantastic this season and they make it very tough to handle the lineups because every combo crushes the opponents in every way. Dorka is very interesting. In the clips, she passes well and runs the floor. Shoots for a good percentage based on last season's stats, and did we mention that she is 6'4" (maybe even taller says Geno). Also had a good quantity of rebounds and especially Offensive rebounds if I recall. Put those together with D1 experience and a supposedly eager-to-learn attitude, and it really comes down to how well she defends and lives up to her abilities. Maybe you'll turn out to be correct, of course - but this is an interesting player who could be sneaky-great. +1. Judging from the end of last year, UConn doesn't need better guard play. It needs better "big" play. Aaliyah had a super freshman year. But she didn't have a fabulous summer tournament, and from the brief clips I saw of practice, I worry she might not yet be basketball fit. But in any case, they will need either Dorka (6'5" almost certainly) or even Amari (though a freshman) to help out significantly, for their very best play against South Carolina and, if they meet them in the tournament, Stanford. I hate to hear that a player came back out of shape. That doesn't usually translate into a good season. Ask Christyn about her sophomore year. |
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Post by semper on Sept 29, 2021 8:00:09 GMT -5
Why did Aaliyah get out of shape? That doesn't sound like her, what with that amazing work ethic.
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Post by bulkey on Sept 29, 2021 8:15:48 GMT -5
Why did Aaliyah get out of shape? That doesn't sound like her, what with that amazing work ethic. I only saw brief snippets of her. I think I said something like she didn't quite seem basketball fit. She looked like she was carrying a couple of extra pounds. But that could have been the camera angle or my aging eyes. And even if true, that weight gets shed quickly. I guess behind that observation was the concern about sophomore slump. I think she played a lot better in the middle of last year than at the very end. We can't count on that super high level that she had at one point. |
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Post by swash on Sept 29, 2021 8:43:53 GMT -5
+1. Judging from the end of last year, UConn doesn't need better guard play. It needs better "big" play. Aaliyah had a super freshman year. But she didn't have a fabulous summer tournament, and from the brief clips I saw of practice, I worry she might not yet be basketball fit. But in any case, they will need either Dorka (6'5" almost certainly) or even Amari (though a freshman) to help out significantly, for their very best play against South Carolina and, if they meet them in the tournament, Stanford. I hate to hear that a player came back out of shape. That doesn't usually translate into a good season. Ask Christyn about her sophomore year. But Aaliyah trained with the Canadian Olympic team, and then played in that tourney. Hard to imagine she lost that much ground. They'll all need to round out their UCONN level conditioning. I'm not worried about Edwards strength or stamina being at least up to where she was last season. |
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Post by bulkey on Sept 29, 2021 9:02:25 GMT -5
I hate to hear that a player came back out of shape. That doesn't usually translate into a good season. Ask Christyn about her sophomore year. But Aaliyah trained with the Canadian Olympic team, and then played in that tourney. Hard to imagine she lost that much ground. They'll all need to round out their UCONN level conditioning. I'm not worried about Edwards strength or stamina being at least up to where she was last season.Thanks, swash. I didn't mean to start a rumor/discussion based solely on watching her for a few seconds (a couple of times). Could have been the camera. But even if not, no biggie. |
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Post by linkster on Sept 30, 2021 16:18:24 GMT -5
I hate to hear that a player came back out of shape. That doesn't usually translate into a good season. Ask Christyn about her sophomore year. But Aaliyah trained with the Canadian Olympic team, and then played in that tourney. Hard to imagine she lost that much ground. They'll all need to round out their UCONN level conditioning. I'm not worried about Edwards strength or stamina being at least up to where she was last season. I agree. She played more as a wing on the Canadian Senior National Team and as a 4/5 at UConn. I think that was calculated. Probably the best thing about her summer was practicing/playing with physically tough and experienced teammates. Geno has hinted that he likes players to be able to play multiple positions. For Fudd that means rebounding and for Edwards it's developing a perimeter game. There are but 200 minutes and if you are fixed at one position your share of the 200 is limited, especially this coming season. The fan discussions are going to be wild once the season starts. |
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Post by chicagogg on Oct 1, 2021 8:26:08 GMT -5
Our discussions will amp up the wildness if we EVER GET THE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE!!!!
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Post by vtcwbuff on Oct 1, 2021 10:02:53 GMT -5
It's hard judge player's fitness based on brief clips.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2021 10:22:37 GMT -5
It's hard judge player's fitness based on brief clips. Only Coach Jumper and the amazing Carnac have such prescient abilities.......... |
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Post by swash on Nov 1, 2021 17:31:40 GMT -5
Last chance to get our thoughts on starters.
Here's my thoughts in order of most likely, and listed by position:
1. Paige, Christyn, Azzi, Evina, Liv
2. Paige , Christyn, Evina, Dorka, Liv
3. Nika, Christyn, Paige, Evina, Liv
So, Paige, Christyn, Evina, and Liv with ... someone. I have Azzi and Dorka ahead of Nika or Aaliyah, but not by much. I see no way those nine aren't in the regular rotation in the first half. Aubrey and Caroline will get at least audition minutes before the game gets out of hand. That leaves Piath, Saylor, Amari, and Mir (probably with Nika) at the end of games to get onto the floor and prove something.
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Post by bulkey on Nov 1, 2021 17:58:56 GMT -5
Thanks for renewing this swash!
Okay, for the first game (I'm assuming we're talking about that only), it's the same starters as last year.
After that, Geno will let the team itself see, both in games and in practice, what the best starting line-up will be. So, it'll happen more "naturally."
I'm as confident about my prediction for the starting line-up as I was last year when I predicted Paige wouldn't start the first several games.
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Post by swash on Nov 1, 2021 20:10:06 GMT -5
Thanks for renewing this swash! Okay, for the first game (I'm assuming we're talking about that only), it's the same starters as last year. After that, Geno will let the team itself see, both in games and in practice, what the best starting line-up will be. So, it'll happen more "naturally." I'm as confident about my prediction for the starting line-up as I was last year when I predicted Paige wouldn't start the first several games. Does that mean that you're down for my option number three? Because Anna started in game one. Aliyah and Aubrey also had some starts last season. |
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Post by bulkey on Nov 1, 2021 22:09:11 GMT -5
Thanks for renewing this swash! Okay, for the first game (I'm assuming we're talking about that only), it's the same starters as last year. After that, Geno will let the team itself see, both in games and in practice, what the best starting line-up will be. So, it'll happen more "naturally." I'm as confident about my prediction for the starting line-up as I was last year when I predicted Paige wouldn't start the first several games. Does that mean that you're down for my option number three? Because Anna started in game one. Aliyah and Aubrey also had some starts last season. "down" meaning agree with? if so, yes! But never bet on me! :-) |
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