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UConn was #11 for much of this year. Now you’re replacing Nika and Aaliyah with Q and Ice and they’re gonna be top 10?
lol, no
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- Thread starter Vowelguy
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lol, no
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Human opinion polls. But the unbiased computers had UConn in the stop 4 all year long,
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I think UConn needs to add an interior player to be a top tier contender.
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Aaliyah and Nika are easily the 2 most overrated players in Husky's history. It aint even close and the team will be better at both postions next year.
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Muhl maybe, Edwards no.
I was just being provocative, given the many possible options next year, but I would be quite high on Q and Ice if they had a long run of being forced to play like the Kk/ash tandem. To me Q can be the next athlete in the line of Gabby & Aubrey and it appears she's still growing. She showed glimpses of everything: defense, rebounding, athleticism finishing, and shooting. Obviously lol she's not reluctant to shoot, but more importantly her form and release are great, and she's not hesitant as a scorer like Nika and Aubrey.
Similarly, Ice had some slow going this year, but she showed me enough that given continued playing time, she will be solid. She has the whole range for a big that Geno likes, good mobility, 3pt ability, and fine around the basket.
If this group ends up sitting behind Paige, Azzi, Aubrey, Sarah, Beers/Jana, that wouldn't surprise me (and it's good news on health for UConn), but it wouldn't change my opinion that they can be really good.
Vegas knew this too, as UConn was favored in every NCAA game except Iowa, where they were 2 pt underdogs.
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The problem with Nika and Aaliyah, this year, imo is they had no chemistry on the court with Paige. Neither could find her when she was open and they all gravitated to the same spots offensively. It’s not surprising to me that once Aaliyah went out in the Big East tournament Paige’s offense took off. In fact I think the USC game is the only game against a top team all season both Paige and Aaliyah had good games. Offensively I don’t think either will be missed that much. Regardless of who UConn picks up (or doesn’t) in the portal defense will be a very big question and one of the reasons I think they will be an impossible team to rank next season.I wouldn’t be able to argue with anyone who left them outside the top 25 nor would I be able to argue with someone ranking them top 10. Really could be anywhere in that range.
We can be good with the players that were available last year having similar roles this year. Normally you see some year to year improvement. But I don't think that comes close to replacing Aaliyah and Nika. I understand how much the fans appreciate what the four freshmen did for us last year.
Next year, however, may depend on how many of those players we can find an upgrade for. Azzi and Caroline were better in their first year than KK and Ashlynn for example. Allie and Morgan could possibly be better than them this year. With Sarah, Jana and say a portal big, there is far more competition for Ice upfront even with Aaliyah's departure.
KK, Ashlynn, Q and Ice will probably all be better, but that could be true, and they still might get significantly less time this year, and a couple of them could fall out of the rotation. What I am saying is that if that happens, we will probably be a truly great team, because somebody better knocked them out of their starting position or role in the rotation, and they become stars off the bench or great injury insurance.
With the current roster at 13, if you try to figure out who is 11, 12, or 13, you still come up with a player who could start at most programs. That could change and if we got say Beers, 11,12 and 13 become 12, 13, and 14. Being a much better team next year depends somewhat on even better options leapfrogging over some of last year's mainstays and moving some of them down the pecking order, so that every player Geno puts on the court against top opponents is very very good, and just pretty good gets you third string. Just the reality of building a great team IMO.
Next year, however, may depend on how many of those players we can find an upgrade for. Azzi and Caroline were better in their first year than KK and Ashlynn for example. Allie and Morgan could possibly be better than them this year. With Sarah, Jana and say a portal big, there is far more competition for Ice upfront even with Aaliyah's departure.
KK, Ashlynn, Q and Ice will probably all be better, but that could be true, and they still might get significantly less time this year, and a couple of them could fall out of the rotation. What I am saying is that if that happens, we will probably be a truly great team, because somebody better knocked them out of their starting position or role in the rotation, and they become stars off the bench or great injury insurance.
With the current roster at 13, if you try to figure out who is 11, 12, or 13, you still come up with a player who could start at most programs. That could change and if we got say Beers, 11,12 and 13 become 12, 13, and 14. Being a much better team next year depends somewhat on even better options leapfrogging over some of last year's mainstays and moving some of them down the pecking order, so that every player Geno puts on the court against top opponents is very very good, and just pretty good gets you third string. Just the reality of building a great team IMO.
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No 11 If you think the AP is the last word on how good a team is. UConn spent most of the second half of the season at No 2 on the NCAA's NET ranks and No 2 on Massey. RPI had UConn No 1 for an extended period this season.
I agree that that post was a little over the top.
undersized
Iowa/Indiana/Big Ten Fan
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A good PG and a good C are really all you need to make some noise, and they have those pieces. They'll be ranked sooner or later.
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Thanks, I needed that laugh. You forgot about "adding" Jana, Griffin, Fudd, Ducharme, Patterson and whomever comes in via the portal, such as Beers.... oh, and 3 top 15 freshmen including the #1 Sarah Strong. They had a Sweet Sixteen team out injured last year and still made it to the Final Four AND were pretty much ranked #2 by NET all season. Q and Ice may not see much court time unless they get ALOT better and FAST.
How quickly people forget how individual performances from players like Hidalgo and Watkins changed the seedings landscape last year! Maybe Sarah could be a generational player! Allie won the girls and overall 3 point shooting contest handily at the McD All American outing recently. Maybe she will add a spark from the outside. Till the season begins, we can have fun speculating...
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No I didn’t “forget.” I was responding to a post that said even without the recruits and the injured players, just replacing Nika and AE with Q and Ice would be a top 10 team.
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Do you not think Paige is better thank Nika? Weird take but ok.