Is hoping for Megan Walker to come to UConn a lost cause? and other recruiting news

[Buzzyboy]

1. Yes, I think 2016 (minus Xtal) is a weak recruiting year. You will find plenty of denials. Fortunately, Geno can work with weak recruiting better than other coaches.
Some of the on paper weak recruits may turn out to be pretty good with UCONN coaching.

2. Relax. Have faith. The mantra here says that UCONN is not for everyone. That mantra worked brilliantly during the Chong year.

3. Once Taurasi led a UCONN team to an NC that did not have any seniors (not counting red shirts if any). Recruiting after the threepeat continued to suffer. Some recruits appeared to believe that UCONN was not for them and left. Others can enlighten you about the exact reasons. Four lean years passed before we were in Final Four again. A similar patch (hopefully shorter) cannot be ruled out now. Please remember that in 2004, we did not have South Carolina, Louisville, Ohio State and perhaps even Notre Dame seriously contending for the championship. These teams and perhaps others (Kentucky? Maryland? PAC12?) are paying more attention to team building (at least stocking up) . Many have good all round coaches (unlike Pat Summitt and CVS). They certainly will not lack resources (P5). I believe all these have contributed to bigger hurdles in recruiting. Going against them we will need talent (and height). I hope it will start arriving by 2018 if not 2017.

4. To survive, lower you expectations. If (and when) we are in the Final Four, we celebrate again. Geno has worked miracles before. So have faith.

Your point, perhaps even Notre Dame? Almost as if Notre Dame was an afterthought??? Based on what she's done for a very long time, I'd always have Notre Dame over South Carolina and Louisville and Kentucky and Maryland. Their coaches don't even come close to matching up to Muffet. Dawn Staley is an excellent recruiter as is Maryland's coach but they aren't even on the same planet with Muffet when it comes to x & o's in my opinion. Muffets done far more with far less and how many people thought they'd have a huge dropoff in the last few years and yet she's dominating the ACC and outside of UConn losses, her record is amazing! Far, far superior to the others. Ohio State??? Outside of that one spectacular player (whose name escapes me), how good are they? They are a solid team but how could they have lost by something like 50 points earlier in the year to us! South Carolina is losing their star guard and I'm not wishing it but if Aja Wilson got hurt, they would be one of the worst offensive teams in major women's basketball. They have size and some athleticism but no basketball skills.

 

[Bonpland]

IMO it is an absolute stretch to compare the 2 going forward which bonpoland's post was implying. In that he or she further explains how KLS is not "The Big 3" of DT/Maya/Stewie. I know you don't like some putdowns of DT's teams during 02-03 and 03-04 that was NOT my intent. Bonpoland used the words "complimentary like Ann" and it seemed as though as mentioned above that he or she may be suggesting that is what KLS will be going forward. Later in his or her post below mentions KLS will be "on the wall." Which I agree. So no way do I consider "complimentary" as "being on the wall." That's why I said I was "confused" because other posts bonpoland is more into my thinking she wil be an A/A. And now as he or she says which I agree with is that KLS in our opinions will eventually be "on the wall."

As Geno said at the time about Ann Strother to paraphrase "she is the greatest very good player we have ever had." I agreed at the time with this. AS was a very good player. So going forward if KLS is "only" going to be "very good" vs being a great "1st team a/a on the wall" there is a difference between the two. THAT imo is the stretch to compare the two. I expect KLS to be MORE than complimenatray and be "more than very good." If someone were to believe KLS would only be "very good" going forward in a similar path as Ann - I think they would be very wrong.

Hoop, I don't disagree with what you have said and I greatly appreciate your contributions here on the board, but the trouble with my original post on this thread seems to lie in my use of the word "complimentary" (among other things).

The way I meant to use it was to describe Stef, Bria, KML, Kelly F., Tina and others as great players who on their own could not lead us to NC's.

Perhaps a poor choice of words on my part, and my affection for the Ann S., BT class has possibly allowed me to continue to include Ann in a grouping of Husky greats.

UcMiami pointed out that Ann's first year was outstanding and compared favorably with KLS' first, and because there was a need, Ann started right away. As I stated earlier you have to be careful how you phrase things here.

I think that Lou will do great things and my original intent was not to denegrate her abilities but rather to suggest (poorly as it turns out) that she shouldn't be expected to be the next Stewie.

 

[hoophuskee]

What I really like is the midrange game that KLS has started showing. I saw glimmers of it in some youtube videos but she's doing more of it now and at this level. I personally think she is only scratching the surface of how good she will inevitably be. Her demeanor is wonderful and though she doesn't show a lot of emotion, you could see she has a fire in her to be better and better and better. That's one of the reasons she didn't follow her sisters to Stanford. Because she felt she'd be pushed more by Geno though obviously Tara is a marvelous coach. You have to remember that Breanna wasn't Breanna for a major part of her freshman year, flashing signs of greatness very early and then very late but she went through a long streak of mediocrity, at best. Diana was decent but nowhere where she'd inevitably be and only Maya showed any superior consistency in her first year in Storrs. They all ended up having superb careers so don't count her out. Hopefully Morgan decides to return which should help a lot taking some of the heat off of her and that Napheesa will show more of what she could do when in high school and have that big sophomore jump. By the way, who knows what our new Tennessee import, Ms. Dangerfield do. She might take over where Moriah left off though that surely wouldn't be easy. Moriah was (is) magnificent.

I'm with ya on everything you say here. I prefer KLS's three ball but like how she takes jumpers from 2. I agree big time with what you say about KLS. Everything.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

And as stated next year I am much more happy to go against an inexperienced Boley in NCAA's or Westbeld than also having to deal with a plyer that can match Tuck.

I don't believe Tuck is returning but, either way, I think ND is a better team with minutes going to Westbeld, the aforementioned Boley, Mabrey, and Ogunbowale rather than Reimer.

And as far as this year's game I'd be happy to make a friendly wager with you if UCONN is up by 22 points with 9:04 left just like it was last game- you can take Notre Dame and we'll see who has the better chance to win. If you think ND has any chance to win a game down by 22 in the 4th, I'll take that bet.

It was a 4-point game five minutes into the second half. UConn had one great stretch (+18 over the next 6-1/2 minutes). The other 33-1/2 minutes UConn was -8. And they never put in the back of the bench or former walkons. The vast majority of that game was competitive even if UConn wasn't in danger of losing after the big run.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Hoop, I don't disagree with what you have said and I greatly appreciate your contributions here on the board, but the trouble with my original post on this thread seems to lie in my use of the word "complimentary" (among other things).

The way I meant to use it was to describe Stef, Bria, KML, Kelly F., Tina and others as great players who on their own could not lead us to NC's.

Perhaps a poor choice of words on my part, and my affection for the Ann S., BT class has possibly allowed me to continue to include Ann in a grouping of Husky greats.

UcMiami pointed out that Ann's first year was outstanding and compared favorably with KLS' first, and because there was a need, Ann started right away. As I stated earlier you have to be careful how you phrase things here.

I think that Lou will do great things and my original intent was not to denegrate her abilities but rather to suggest (poorly as it turns out) that she shouldn't be expected to be the next Stewie.

Maybe we shouldn't expect her to be the next Stewie but maybe a lot of people didn't expect Stewie to be who she became, meaning someone in the conversation about GOAT, particularly after the mediocrity of most of her freshman season. Who would have thought at the end of the regular season that Stewie would become a dominant player in the NCAA tournament? A player who had a very, very shaky first year in Storrs, Moriah, has turned out to be one of the greatest players to ever don a UConn jersey, hasn't she. Her first year she seemed to be totally out of control almost all the time, her defense was anything but a strong suit and her shooting was pretty poor but my, how things have changed!!!!!! As I've mentioned, I love the stoic nature of KLS and her even keel demeanor. I think one day we'll refer to her as the silent assassin. I'm anxious to see where the next three years takes her and the Huskies.

 

[HoopsFan21]

It seems like a bunch of idle speculation on your part. I don't know think you know any more than I do and I think it's a little frivolous to even bring up that topic. Geno might end up coaching a lot longer than any one of us would have thought. I don't think he's even faintly hinted at what his future plans are and maybe his wife would throw him out if he was doing anything but coaching because that's the only thing that keeps him manageable. I think there'll be a lot more evidence of when he decides to hang things up, not withstanding if health issues of him or a family member dictated a sudden decision. I think he'd have a plan of a potential successor and try and assure continuity in the program as did Jim Calhoun. That time isn't now and that conversation shouldn't be now. JMHO

Of course it's idle speculation. I have no clue when he's retiring, but it's not entirely crazy to think a coach isn't going to go much past 70 based on the tremendously large sample upon which we can make a reasonable guess. Based on how long people live these days and assuming he's healthy he could coach until he's 90, but would you even consider that possibility based on what you know about the coaching profession? I bet if you were honest with yourself you wouldn't even consider him coaching until he's 80, or even 75. I think only one person in this thread got the gist of why considering his retirement is important as it pertains to the overall recruiting theme of this thread. Just because you don't think Geno retires at 70 or before, how do you think that could be presented by his competitors like Walz, Staley, and McGuff who are in their 40s or Mulkey who is a decade younger, and what impact do you think that might have on prospects?

 

[chrissaran]

I don't know how to analyze future classes before they play (as Coco points out). I wasn't impressed with Stef when I first saw her. My take was that she might become a useful backup (I missed that one by a mile).

I worry now that if we don't add Walker or a couple of dynamic bigs that the next few years may resemble the dark ages after D moved on.

Those four years we had players who were of championship caliber (Strother, Turner, Rene,Tina....) but we just didn't have enough to get up and over the teams ahead of us. We were missing the scoring options we needed to become champions again. It wasn't until Maya's second year that we were strong enough to add another ring.

I remember thinking that Charde was going to be like Maya (before we knew what being like Maya really meant), but her game was not as suited to Uconn's as D's, Maya's and Stewie's have been and we suffered through, what for Uconn was, a NC drought.

KLS and Ann are different players with different skill sets, but one thing that they have in common (which I think was true for KML as well) is that they are complimentary players (extraordinary players but not stand alone talents like the Big Three).

I think that we are looking for another scoring talent and I'll admit that I don't know who that will be (Walker, Charlie Collier, the other dozen or so players who draw attention here), but fortunately Geno has done a pretty good job of finding the kind of players that do fit in here, and that have been able to rise to the challenge of competing for the untimate goal.

Like everyone else here on the Board I'll continue to obsess over our potential recruits, but also like everyone else I won't really know what we have until they're on the court dancing to Geno's music.

You have to be kidding that Katie Lou Samuelson is a complimentary player. She's already a better passer than Breanna was her freshman year, she's more willing to take contact than Breanna was her freshman year, and she is and will always be a better 3-point shooter than Breanna is. I'm not sure where you learned about basketball, but you sure don't know much.

 

[masshusk77]

I think in order for Nat to be that key she has a lot of work on her plate. A lot. Hopefully when her thumb completely heals issues like her fumblitus and missing easy layups will disappear. Work on her upper and lower body strength. An effective power dribble. The power dribble that leads to nowhere needs to disappear. Better footwork down low. Better footwork on defense. More work on her short range jumper. Better outlets off the rebound. There are other areas. I see her as a work in progress. Clearly her desire and her effort is there. Perhaps that progress will emerge next year or more likely, the year after.

So basically all aspects of the game...

 

[hoophuskee]

I don't believe Tuck is returning but, either way, I think ND is a better team with minutes going to Westbeld, the aforementioned Boley, Mabrey, and Ogunbowale rather than Reimer.



It was a 4-point game five minutes into the second half. UConn had one great stretch (+18 over the next 6-1/2 minutes). The other 33-1/2 minutes UConn was -8. And they never put in the back of the bench or former walkons. The vast majority of that game was competitive even if UConn wasn't in danger of losing after the big run.

We can agree to disagree. I'm fine with that. IMO everything that you've said on both posts how you are looking at things imo way wrong. But that is okay. However, even of your mention of Tuck retuning I think is irrelevant. The fact Reimer competed so well head-to-head vs Tuck should tell us something.

And regarding the bold. Again how you look at things I COMPLETELY disagree with. Basketball is a 40 minute game. The breakdown you are doing is totally irrelevant. In the last nine minutes of the game the lead was 22. The game was over. The outcome was already decided. Again if you don't think the outcome was decided at that point - next time I'll be happy to make that wager if it were to happen again.

UCONN is very good at making runs. They have done this with many teams, have they not? And in this run - after the run, in your opinion, was the game over? This is similar to run they put on USF in the 2nd meeting in the 3rd quarter. Put the game away.

Games are over in the 2nd half after certain runs like the one you referred to. Games are 40 minutes not 33.5. What happens later is often incidental and more teaching/motivation moments. The ND - UCONN title game in 2015 was close. They made sure UCONN didn't go on that huge run which the lead went to over 20. That game was in doubt late. This one, the game over after the "death run" with 9 minutes left. This ND team/game couldn't play consistently enough to stop it which turned the last nine minutes to irrelevance.

 

[huskyd]

Two points: first, I spelled "augurs" incorrectly in my post. Sorry.
Second, I note that in projecting next year's components, we've omitted Butler. It's difficult to believe that our high hopes for her have been so thoroughly dashed. As a top rebounder in the Big East, she must have at least had good hands, she must have taken advantage of her height. As an adequate scorer, she must have known where she was in relation to the basket. Recently, she's been catching the ball under the basket with a single defender on her, and she's immediately tossing the ball out to the perimeter. The fans see this; you can her them groan because she hasn't taken the shot. What we seem to have gotten is a big who plays small. Tough to understand and harder to swallow.

 

[uconnell]

Who thought Wolters would turn out to be who she was in her senior yeah? Even her father's college wasn't recruiting her.

 

[JordyG]

Excellent analysis, JordyG. I keep thinking back to Geno's initial assessment that her transfer represented "a game changer." He must have seen a lot of her freshmen tapes, and now she has a lot better post coaching and a summer to really bring herself around. Clearly, if she can make the leap, and I believe that Kyla will surprise massively to the upside, we'll have tough, physical play underneath.

I believe also that Kayla will be a big surprise, inside as well as on the perimeter. I think because of her ProspectsNation rating people are sleeping on her. I think Molly will be a surprise as well. Both of them will show talent, grit and leadership. Like DT, Molly played a lot of soccer and this will translate well in her stay at UConn. Molly's going to be a smaller version of Kia, Kyla a larger version.

 

[JordyG]

So basically all aspects of the game...

As do most players.

 

[hoophuskee]

You have to be kidding that Katie Lou Samuelson is a complimentary player. She's already a better passer than Breanna was her freshman year, she's more willing to take contact than Breanna was her freshman year, and she is and will always be a better 3-point shooter than Breanna is. I'm not sure where you learned about basketball, but you sure don't know much.

Whoa---- way way way way way way way way way too harsh. Read other posts on this thread. No way bonpoland meant that. Dial it back.

 

[bags27]

Maybe it's time again for another commitment to staying on topic, which is Megan Walker and another recruits?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

However, even of your mention of Tuck retuning I think is irrelevant. The fact Reimer competed so well head-to-head vs Tuck should tell us something.

Not sure how much head-to-head they played but Tuck dominated the Irish in South Bend last season. Reimer missed this year's game, Tuck missed the title game of two seasons ago. Both struggled from the field in last year's championship game although each had a nice number or two in their lines.

And regarding the bold. Again how you look at things I COMPLETELY disagree with. Basketball is a 40 minute game. The breakdown you are doing is totally irrelevant. In the last nine minutes of the game the lead was 22. The game was over. The outcome was already decided.

The Irish may have had little chance to come back and win but they didn't stop playing and you know the Huskies don't; again, the latter kept the starting unit out there the rest of the game. Unless you think Stewart, Tuck, KLS, Jefferson, and Nurse slacked off, I don't see how the last 9 minutes was irrelevant. In almost all situations that group expands leads.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Ron Jeremy?
Really?

Who...?

 

[rvwsleep]

Who...?

Lol. Google him. You'll come up with an interesting biography.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Lol. Google him. You'll come up with an interesting biography.

ummmm ok

 

[MilfordHusky]

The next Maya, or at least the closest to Maya, is Walker. Build, skills, athletic ability are all Maya like. She is a game changer.

That's what I understand too. But some thought Diamond was in that category. As a sophomore, DD didn't make the all-conference team. As a sophomore, Maya was consensus or perhaps unanimous NPOY.

If Megan chooses UConn, Geno et al. will coach her up. No underachieving for great players.

 

[hoophuskee]

Not sure how much head-to-head they played but Tuck dominated the Irish in South Bend last season. Reimer missed this year's game, Tuck missed the title game of two seasons ago. Both struggled from the field in last year's championship game although each had a nice number or two in their lines.



The Irish may have had little chance to come back and win but they didn't stop playing and you know the Huskies don't; again, the latter kept the starting unit out there the rest of the game. Unless you think Stewart, Tuck, KLS, Jefferson, and Nurse slacked off, I don't see how the last 9 minutes was irrelevant. In almost all situations that group expands leads.

But the 2nd time Reimer and Tuck matched up Reimer held her own. While they both struggled to shoot the basketball Reimer doubled Tuck's rebounding and they both had impressive assist stats with low turnovers in which Reimer was slightly ahead. Tuck should have been a 1st team A/A last year and Reimer competed with that. IMO Remer "learned" in the 2nd matchup. Can Westbeld? Well we don't know but We do KNOW the 2nd time Reimer held her own/competing very well vs a 1st team a/a caliber player. The match up this year here is what Muffett said after the game on Tuck:


http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/120515aae.html

“I think she really hurt us. She was the difference in the game. You expect (Breanna) Stewart to get what she got, but to have Morgan Tuck come in and get eight assists, one turnover and 21 points? She did everything she needed to do. I think she was the x factor for them and I felt like she really played well. I’ve always admired her game.”

Westbeld's stats were anemic. Until she does it - I don't agree you can say she belongs in the Reimer tier. Reimer HAS competed once very well with Tuck. Westbeld hasn't.

And as far as the ND UCONN game this year - I realize they are a proud gritty team that fought their way to not being embarrassed. But that is different than having a chance to win. If ND was as close as you were implying then a one loss team in which their best player was off the court in which they were playing away from home for their only loss of the season would not be lumped "into the field" via Las Vegas odds. Nor would the link you pulled up from "five-thirty-eight" describe UCONN as such a dominant force not seen before vs everyone else (including Notre Dame). If the game was so close and the 33.5 vs the 40 minutes meant so much there wouldn't be this kind of odds and five-thirty-eight would be more cautious imo.

IMO they (Vegas/538) saw what happened. In a 40 minute game of two terrific teams one team (UCONN) put the game out of reach by early 4th quarter. The Notre Dame run was more about pride, heart and grit than having a chance. When they had Reimer - Reimer's 2nd game vs Tuck she didn't allow Tuck to do those things. Westbeld has. Next year who knows what a freshman like Boley will do in NCAA's if they were to meet. And until Westbeld shows you something vs UCONN (who right now is the standard which Reimer competed well with in the Finals) how can we say she is as good as Reimer when we saw Reimer hold her own once out of two times vs Tuck?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Westbeld's stats were anemic. Until she does it - I don't agree you can say she belongs in the Reimer tier. Reimer HAS competed once very well with Tuck. Westbeld hasn't.

To me it's the minutes that would be spread among several players, not just Westbeld. ND has given UConn fits in recent years with smaller, quicker teams. I just think ND is a better team without Reimer, not that Reimer's a bad player.

 

[CocoHusky]

Think you're giving Reimer way too much credit. She's not around now and they look very dangerous with a young roster.

I couldn't resist. I think ND could have used Taya tonight.

 

[hoophuskee]

To me it's the minutes that would be spread among several players, not just Westbeld. ND has given UConn fits in recent years with smaller, quicker teams. I just think ND is a better team without Reimer, not that Reimer's a bad player.

The point is mute right now. But I don't agree for next year. Last year in the Finals Turner (needed a lot of guard help) AND Reimer gave UCONN fits. We won the game more because of MoJeff and KML. Since Stewie's frosh finals, ND only gave UCONN fits once and it was last year with Reimer as an active participant.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

The point is mute right now. But I don't agree for next year. Last year in the Finals Turner (needed a lot of guard help) AND Reimer gave UCONN fits. We won the game more because of MoJeff and KML. Since Stewie's frosh finals, ND only gave UCONN fits once and it was last year with Reimer as an active participant.

ND played a junk zone that gave UConn fits in the final. Don't think it had much to do with Reimer. She had 11 boards but was 3-11 with 6 TO's.