Stock watch: Who's up and who's down from UConn's summer workouts

[Carnac]

Daniel Connolly 13 hr ago

What we've learned about each (healthy) player on the Huskies' roster so far.​

"On Tuesday, UConn met with the media for the second and final time this summer before everyone heads home to enjoy the final two months before the school year, and preseason, begin. The quietest portion of the offseason will begin shortly.

This year, it’s been tough to get a clear picture of which players have impressed (and which haven’t) over the last few weeks. Geno Auriemma only addressed the public once and it came a little more than a week into the start of workouts. He was supposed to do so again on Tuesday at his annual Fore The Kids Charity Golf Tournament on Tuesday, but wasn’t feeling well and didn’t make it. It also doesn’t help that freshman Ice Brady was away from the team with USA Basketball and a majority of the roster hasn’t participated while recovering from injury.

Still, we heard enough from Auriemma and the players to cobble together our first stock watch of the 2022-23 season. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that most players look good during the summer and if they didn’t, their teammates likely wouldn’t say so publicly."

This body of this article is behind a pay wall for subscribers only, so we can't read its contents or comment on it. I'm hoping that someone in in the yard is a subscriber and can read the article and give us a synopsis of what was reported so that in turn we can comment on it. Since Geno was ill and could not appear at the tournament, it would have been nice if associate head coach Christine Dailey (CD) could have pinch hit for him and brought us up to date on the current state of the team (who is up and who is down).

I'm particularly interested in where Amari is and how our newbies Ayanna Patterson and Lou Lopez-Senechal are doing. It was reported that Patterson suffered a minor elbow injury last week. We know that several players are still rehabbing an injury from last season. What's their status? Will all of them be ready (in shape and cleared for full contact) come mid-October when official practice begins? Perhaps addressing the media during his golf tournament with respect to player status and development is something reserved only for Geno.

I know the title was a tease, but is the title of the article.

​

 

[JordyG]

Daniel Connolly 13 hr ago

What we've learned about each (healthy) player on the Huskies' roster so far.​

"On Tuesday, UConn met with the media for the second and final time this summer before everyone heads home to enjoy the final two months before the school year, and preseason, begin. The quietest portion of the offseason will begin shortly.

This year, it’s been tough to get a clear picture of which players have impressed (and which haven’t) over the last few weeks. Geno Auriemma only addressed the public once and it came a little more than a week into the start of workouts. He was supposed to do so again on Tuesday at his annual Fore The Kids Charity Golf Tournament on Tuesday, but wasn’t feeling well and didn’t make it. It also doesn’t help that freshman Ice Brady was away from the team with USA Basketball and a majority of the roster hasn’t participated while recovering from injury.

Still, we heard enough from Auriemma and the players to cobble together our first stock watch of the 2022-23 season. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that most players look good during the summer and if they didn’t, their teammates likely wouldn’t say so publicly."

This body of this article is behind a pay wall for subscribers only, so we can't read its contents or comment on it. I'm hoping that someone in in the yard is a subscriber and can read the article and give us a synopsis of what was reported so that in turn we can comment on it. Since Geno was ill and could not appear at the tournament, it would have been nice if associate head coach Christine Dailey (CD) could have pinch hit for him and brought us up to date on the current state of the team (who is up and who is down).

I'm particularly interested in where Amari is and how our newbies Ayanna Patterson and Lou Lopez-Senechal are doing. It was reported that Patterson suffered a minor elbow injury last week. We know that several players are still rehabbing an injury from last season. What's their status? Will all of them be ready (in shape and cleared for full contact) come mid-October when official practice begins? Perhaps addressing the media during his golf tournament with respect to player status and development is something reserved only for Geno.

I know the title was a tease, but is the title of the article.

​

You clickbait cad!

 

[Carnac]

You clickbait cad!

Sorry JordyG. They have my email address and send me these “lures” every week. I was hoping someone had subscribed, read it and would share its content. Carnac does not intentionally deceive.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I think there is little chance that a real report card lurks behind that paywall. First, I believe there could be only 8 days with the coaches. Second there have only been 4 1/2 fully go players. Third, this time in the calendar is more about goal setting than accomplishing. Connolly has to report whether it's there to report or not.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I subscribed to the blog last year and it's got some value but mainly it is press conference information we will get anyway.

 

[Huskee11]

On the "stock up" ledger I would start with Dorka, who seems in a great place mentally and ahead of schedule with her wrist.

 

[and one]

The only useful information we'll get between now and November, and yes that is so very far away, is how well the injured are progressing, which can be taken with a grain of salt. The exhibition game will show us something but will have limited value in getting a good handle on what to expect during the regular season. Once the early flurry of OOC games are done we'll finally know just what this team can bring to the table. In the mean time , chill, crank up the grill and enjoy the cold beverage of your choice.

 

[Carnac]

Any news at this point would be welcome. Like TonyC, I’m feeling a bit optimistic right now. Despite the fact that we lost 3 seniors, I’m looking at the near future and the potential of this collection of players. I have a feeling this team is going to do some good things this year. Win some close games against top 5 teams that in the past we lost. I feel real good about this coming season. The players nursing injuries will be ready come November.

I thought our best chance to win a championship was with this past upper classmen laden team. I’m not so sure now. If these 11 players can all play up to their potential, I like our chances against anyone, including Aliyah Boston and South Carolina. Last year we came within 40 minutes of the championship. Baring injury, I think this is our year. We break through and win it all. If not now, when?

 

[diggerfoot]

Any news at this point would be welcome. Like TonyC, I’m feeling a bit optimistic right now. Despite the fact that we lost 3 seniors, I’m looking at the near future and the potential of this collection of players. I have a feeling this team is going to do some good things this year. Win some close games against top 5 teams that in the past we lost. I feel real good about this coming season. The players nursing injuries will be ready come November.

I thought our best chance to win a championship was with this past upper classmen laden team. I’m not so sure now. If these 11 players can all play up to their potential, I like our chances against anyone, including Aliyah Boston and South Carolina. Last year we came within 40 minutes of the championship. Baring injury, I think this is our year. We break through and win it all. If not now, when?

This may not age well, and I certainly will not make one of my pizza bets on this, but I predict we beat SC in the regular season by double digits. If we meet them again in the tournament it will be more of a toss up.

 

[Oldschoolbb]

Despite the fact that we lost 3 seniors,

To be fair, the loss of the 3 seniors might not be so impactful. If the players with injury issues are recovered, I see the returning players as a better team than last season's without any newcomers entering the discussion - and those newcomers could be very good.

 

[Bigboote]

Count me in the optimistic camp.

I’ve said before that I can’t wait to see Ice play for UConn. Seeing the recent games has only cemented that. She’s big and strong, has really good footwork for an incoming player, and she carves out her own space under the basket.

I was excited by Paige’s remark that Ayanna blows everyone away in the weight room.

That would give UConn two players off the bench to compete for rebounds with certain strong-rebounding teams. Ice has some range to her shot, Ayanna has the hops, and both can both handle the ball to give some versatility to the bigs.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Lou, Ayanna and Ice might be exactly what the doctor ordered for this team.

 

[TeamFirst!]

We lost a lot of talent but so did other teams as well.

 

[Bone Dog]

We’re returning so many awesome players, an awesome team. Glass is half full…

 

[Skeets]

Wow, such optimism without a peep from TonyC I'm optimistic too, but let's not over-hype the newbies just yet. We've been there, done that, before (actually every year). If everyone gets healthy and stays that way, it's going to be a very good year. Contributions from the newbies is the icing on the cake.

 

[Bone Dog]

We're returning Paige, Azzi, Caroline, Nika, Dorka and Aaliyah. That squad right there is arguably the best in the land. I'll leave the pessimists to kvetch about the potential for injuries, etc. But we've been down the pessimism route so often, you'd think they'd be weary of it.

 

[Bama fan]

Wow, such optimism without a peep from TonyC I'm optimistic too, but let's not over-hype the newbies just yet. We've been there, done that, before (actually every year). If everyone gets healthy and stays that way, it's going to be a very good year. Contributions from the newbies is the icing on the cake.

Ha! "Icing" ISWYDT.

 

[hoophuskee]

IMO an enormous key is going to be their 4 perimeter players of Paige, Azzi, Ducharme, and Lou. The better they are it makes having Nika in as a big positive as well, and vs some teams they can do 4 guards.

I can't imagine their 4 and 5 spots will be near as good as the 1-3; so the 1-3 is very important. To further that, I think it very unrealistic that between Griffin, Amari, Brady, and Patterson that not one of them will be adequate bench player at either the 4 or 5 spot. To believe they won't -- is like being scared of your own shadow.

With that said, I expect there will be several games the bench at the 4/5 spot doesn’t play well. They aren't pros. That's why the stronger/better the 4 guards are, they could counter the 4/5 spots in many, many, many, many cases. IMO it's very unrealistic to not expect some struggles from the 4/5 spots. Heck we saw Nika Mulhl outrebound Brink. Just think as a flippant comment just fun and nothing more-- for those who speak of minutes—“"Brink even played more minutes than Nika and got "outrebounded"!!”" Just having fun with that comment. Nothing more.

Anyhow, if UCONN has 4 guards performing well- the chance of an overall "Bad night" is very, very, very, very limited to only vs the super elite.

 

[Bone Dog]

Hahaha!!! Nika out-rebounded Brink. That’s such a bizarre stat. Its says a lot, speaks volumes, and is almost preposterous.

 

[hoophuskee]

Hahaha!!! Nika out-rebounded Brink. That’s such a bizarre stat. Its says a lot, speaks volumes, and is almost preposterous.

Yes. – I know your post is fun looking at the incredulity of the situation. Just to add for discussion only --

We've had discussions on here whether the bench should be played more. The point being made by some is if you give "minutes" the player will “perform." Well, Brink got more "minutes" than Nika but Nika still outperformed her. Yet Brink only averaged 22 minutes per game this year.

Or look at Evina Westbrook 3pt shooting vs Stanford. Stanford had 4 - 5 players that shot better than Evina from 3 during the season. On that night Evina shot the ball from 3 better than all of them.

Does this mean that Geno is superior to Tara in using his bench? Because last year wasn't Tara being hailed on here for using the bench? Now all of a sudden she forgot to use it? And by giving Brink 22 minutes, maybe she should have gotten less and Tara should have given the number 19 recruit Kiki Irafen more (don’t we hear similar criticisms from some on here with the number 15 recruit Amari?)? OFC I don’t believe that.

It's just some of these NCAA Tourney games because it's one-and-done – the game itself and certain stats can be such an enormous anomaly. It's why I can't believe that game over game UCONN's bench with 4 of their bigs will magically be decent in every game nor will all 4 be inadequate either. With one game—anything can happen.

 

[Bone Dog]

That's exactly what I was amused by in that stat. It's revealing, but mainly of how risky it is to rely on statistics. Geno knows Evina could hit big shots in high pressure minutes, even though her shooting was only so-so during the year. It's who she is, someone built for the big game. A good coach knows his players. It's not a science, to be sure, and Tara can get it right in some years and not in others. Same with Geno.

When duffers like us who don't know the players want to speculate, all we have is stats and video. We make guesses, dream of victory for our favorites, and our imaginations run away with us sometimes. That's what fans do, not coaches.

 

[Carnac]

IMO an enormous key is going to be their 4 perimeter players of Paige, Azzi, Ducharme, and Lou. The better they are it makes having Nika in as a big positive as well, and vs some teams they can do 4 guards.

I can't imagine their 4 and 5 spots will be near as good as the 1-3; so the 1-3 is very important. To further that, I think it very unrealistic that between Griffin, Amari, Brady, and Patterson that not one of them will be adequate bench player at either the 4 or 5 spot. To believe they won't -- is like being scared of your own shadow.

With that said, I expect there will be several games the bench at the 4/5 spot doesn’t play well. They aren't pros. That's why the stronger/better the 4 guards are, they could counter the 4/5 spots in many, many, many, many cases. IMO it's very unrealistic to not expect some struggles from the 4/5 spots. Heck we saw Nika Mulhl outrebound Brink. Just think as a flippant comment just fun and nothing more-- for those who speak of minutes—“"Brink even played more minutes than Nika and got "outrebounded"!!”" Just having fun with that comment. Nothing more.

Anyhow, if UCONN has 4 guards performing well- the chance of an overall "Bad night" is very, very, very, very limited to only vs the super elite.

I agree. Everyone will not have an “off night” at the same time.

 

[Bone Dog]

I think Paige Azzi Caroline Lou won’t have any off nights. They each have too many weapons in their arsenals. If they’re all on the floor together, they’ll find a way to dominate.

 

[TeamFirst!]

We should expect all the "guards" should improve this year. There will not be enough PT to keep everyone happy. In this situation, though I'd like to see an "everybody eats" approach to keep everyone healthy. We have enough firepower to play any of the top 5 guards. They should be fresh and aggressive when they come in. Even Aliyah Boston averaged 27.5 minutes a game last year. There is no reason why we can't do the same.

 

[Skeets]

I agree. Everyone will not have an “off night” at the same time.

I remember the BE championship game at the RAC many years ago in the DT era. It certainly looked like everyone was having a bad night. Thankfully such nights are very rare.