The UCONN basketball thread

[Larz]

Where I talk to myself lol.  
 

The men have a PG problem. Against substantially over matched Sacred Heart the PG couldn’t beat his man off the dribble and penetrate and break down the defense. Not once. I noticed it early and decided to chart it. Big 0 burger. The offense was forced to swing it around the perimeter and try to lob it into the post. 
 

no bueno. 
Aidan Mahaney is a Junior.  
 

yikes. 

Curious what happens with big east teams.  
 

The ladies play tonight!

Can’t wait to see Paige and Azzi finally play together 🥰

[Larz]

This years lady Huskies ;

Paige Bueckers : #1 recruit from the ‘20 class

Azzi Fudd : #1 recruit from the ‘21 class

Sarah Strong : #1 recruit from the ‘24 class

Ayanna Patterson : #4 recruit from the ‘22 class 

Caroline Ducharme : #5 recruit from the ‘21 class 

Ice Brady : #5 recruit from the ‘22 class

KK Arnold : #6 recruit from the ‘22 class

Allie Ziebell : # 7 recruit from the’24 class 

Morgan Cheli : #11 recruit from the’24 class 

Ashlynn Shade : #15 recruit from the’23 class 

Aubrey Griffen : #33 recruit from the ‘21 class 

Qadence Samuels : #41 recruit from the ‘23 class 

Kaitlyn Chen : not ranked out of high school, just started 3 years at Princeton and was the player of the year in the Ivy’s last year. 

Jana El Alfy - over seas player , not ranked 

[greenwichjetfan]

6 hours ago, Larz said:

Where I talk to myself lol.  
 

The men have a PG problem. Against substantially over matched Sacred Heart the PG couldn’t beat his man off the dribble and penetrate and break down the defense. Not once. I noticed it early and decided to chart it. Big 0 burger. The offense was forced to swing it around the perimeter and try to lob it into the post. 
 

no bueno. 
Aidan Mahaney is a Junior.  
 

yikes. 

Curious what happens with big east teams.  
 

The ladies play tonight!

Can’t wait to see Paige and Azzi finally play together 🥰

Nowell will be starting at point for us by the time we get to the BE tourney and beyond. 

Great to see that type of game by Karaban. He was already smart and good at making the right play last year - if he can his efficiency from the field up this year, he's a lock for the first round next year. 

Unfortunately I think McNeely will also be a lock for the first round. When was the last time we got to see an offensive player with this much talent as a freshman in a UCONN jersey?

Solo Ball was impressive. Hassan Diarra was unimpressive. Was really excited to see more out of a 5th year guy...hopefully it was just a bad game. 

Reed and Johnson have to stay healthy, out of foul trouble, and somewhat consistent with their output last night. If they do that, we'll be in position to make a real run at the threepeat. 

[greenwichjetfan]

1 hour ago, Larz said:

This years lady Huskies ;

Paige Bueckers : #1 recruit from the ‘20 class

Azzi Fudd : #1 recruit from the ‘21 class

Sarah Strong : #1 recruit from the ‘24 class

Ayanna Patterson : #4 recruit from the ‘22 class 

Caroline Ducharme : #5 recruit from the ‘21 class 

Ice Brady : #5 recruit from the ‘22 class

KK Arnold : #6 recruit from the ‘22 class

Allie Ziebell : # 7 recruit from the’24 class 

Morgan Cheli : #11 recruit from the’24 class 

Ashlynn Shade : #15 recruit from the’23 class 

Aubrey Griffen : #33 recruit from the ‘21 class 

Qadence Samuels : #41 recruit from the ‘23 class 

Kaitlyn Chen : not ranked out of high school, just started 3 years at Princeton and was the player of the year in the Ivy’s last year. 

Jana El Alfy - over seas player , not ranked 

Paige and Azzi together again is going to be fun. Please please please stay healthy this year.

[Larz]

9 minutes ago, greenwichjetfan said:

Nowell will be starting at point for us by the time we get to the BE tourney and beyond. 

Great to see that type of game by Karaban. He was already smart and good at making the right play last year - if he can his efficiency from the field up this year, he's a lock for the first round next year. 

Unfortunately I think McNeely will also be a lock for the first round. When was the last time we got to see an offensive player with this much talent as a freshman in a UCONN jersey?

Solo Ball was impressive. Hassan Diarra was unimpressive. Was really excited to see more out of a 5th year guy...hopefully it was just a bad game. 

Reed and Johnson have to stay healthy, out of foul trouble, and somewhat consistent with their output last night. If they do that, we'll be in position to make a real run at the threepeat. 

Ahhhh.  I was wondering what I was missing. 

[Larz]

So the ladies are lethal outside, they can send waves of guards and wings at you but they are going to only go as far as the post players take them but especially El Alfy. Jana is going to be so key against USC, South Carolina, Notre Dame.  
 

******* Geno. It’s the oldest play in the coaching book but they came out full of nerves and threw up 5 bricks and he goes “**** it, press” and the next thing you know it’s steal…..layup.….steal….layup….steal…..

nerves gone, juices flowing, blowout on 

 

@greenwichjetfan   I saw Azzi in uniform and in the layup line I think she’s close 

[Larz]

Mahoney is poop. Another slow start against a very weak opponent. 
 

I hope Hurley has a plan for PG

[Larz]

The ladies really took a nice step forward. Jana is a good athlete and skilled player. She may struggle a bit with the bigs on the better programs but they just need her to neutralize the opponents bigs. 
 

Sarah Strong. 💪.  Wow. Super impressed. The classic point forward. Reminds me of Anthony Mason in that she is comfortable outside and inside. Great hands. Unselfish. 
 

Ashlynn is low key one of my favorites. 
 

Paige is Paige 🥰

[greenwichjetfan]

On 11/10/2024 at 7:56 AM, Larz said:

Mahoney is poop. Another slow start against a very weak opponent. 
 

I hope Hurley has a plan for PG

We don’t need a traditional 1. I’m ok with a blended 1-2 at both PG and SG. Ross looked like he was shot out of a cannon, and that’s after Hurley hyping him up the last two weeks. I have no issue with Ball/Ross playing 1,2 with each other.

I also think it’s Aidan’s first two games in the system and that he’ll eventually find his way and shots will start falling. Agreed that all 3 of his %s are awful, but he’s proven to be a high volume scorer in the past with games of extreme efficiency.

I’m more concerned about Samson not being able to commit to any type of defense without fouling. 3 fouls before the 10 min mark in the first half is disgusting. We saw it all of last year too…he was supposed to make that jump in understanding where to be aggressive this year. Reed Jr is going to prove to be the most important player on this squad.

[Larz]

Don’t really like the men’s team. A lot of jacking up jumpers and Hurley talking about them like they are Woodens UCLA team is pretty nauseating.  I know that was the Twitter thing last year that UConn fans are super arrogant but this feels like the pride before the fall to me. Can’t evaluate them against a team that was DII 2 years ago. 
 

oh well I still have Paige and Azzi and Ashley 🥰

[greenwichjetfan]

27 minutes ago, Larz said:

Don’t really like the men’s team. A lot of jacking up jumpers and Hurley talking about them like they are Woodens UCLA team is pretty nauseating.  I know that was the Twitter thing last year that UConn fans are super arrogant but this feels like the pride before the fall to me. Can’t evaluate them against a team that was DII 2 years ago. 
 

oh well I still have Paige and Azzi and Ashley 🥰

I'm not saying I like them, because I didn't like either of our last two teams this early on either. I didn't like our '23 squad till we got past arkansas in the elite 8, and I didn't like our '24 squad till the "Husky Run" against Illinois. Ffs, we got obliterated and embarrassed by creighton in the middle of Feb and barely beat an injured Marquette team in the second or third to last game of the regular season.

I'm just saying it's super early. This is a brand new team with only 1 starter from last year. On top of that, it's a super young/inexperienced team. Our average D1 experience is 1.72; the D1 average is 1.75. For reference, the UK team that beat Duke last night is 3.23. The point being, it's going to take time for the team to learn, grow, gel, and become what Hurley expects them to be.

At this point, I have no choice but to trust Hurley - and if you were around the JN NCAA threads in '20, '21, '22 and even most of '23 before the E8, you'd see that I absolutely hated Hurley. So I'm not a Hurley stan by any means. 

[greenwichjetfan]

40 minutes ago, Larz said:

oh well I still have Paige and Azzi and Ashley 🥰

I've loved watching the girls play since I was a little 12 year old kid in the late 90s watching the tassk force and then going into the taurasi years. Went to watch their games and practices throughout my years at UConn, and have rooted for them throughout.

The last two years have been tough. We moved out of CT and simply don't have access to watch the games anymore. It's a real shame because my 3 year old daughter lovessss sitting with me and watching them anytime they're on TV. They're just not on enough where we live.

[Larz]

Talk about your classic dry spell on offense, yeesh. 
 

In the end, Ice, Jana and Sarah got the job done on the boards. That was a concern with this UNC lineup. Encouraging.  Geno’s TO at 4 minutes made a huge impact. 
 

This roster is begging for one more perimeter shooter. Once Azzi gets there look out. 7/29 from deep. Once they get that going against the good teams it’s going to be hard to beat them. 
 

What a weird world for me, going from the Jets to the team with the best coach and player in the sport. Paige is killing it. 
 

******* geno. I love him lol. UNC has the ball down 13, whatever it was, 7 seconds to go. Instead of killing the clock, the guard takes and drains a long open 3.  
 

Game over, Geno just tied the record for most D1 wins all time, before he gets in the handshake line he gestured and yelled at the UConn defender that left her open lololol.  That’s why he’s geno 

[greenwichjetfan]

Last night was amazing. Extremely emotional for those of us who grew up watching Geno every fall. The consistency - year in and year out - knowing that no matter what was going on...parents fighting, bad grades, friends and family growing apart - whatever...we would always have Geno and the girls as an escape. 

The last few days I'd been working on figuring out how to pirate SNY in anticipation of last night. About 10 mins prior to kick off, I was able to get a stream to work and project it to my TV. We missed some of the pregame stuff, but we caught the tip-off and watched the whole game. We let my 5 year old son and newly 4 year old daughter stay up past their bedtimes to watch. We put them to bed right before the final buzzer, and then my wife (not a UConn alumni and nowhere near a basketball fan) went to sleep. I stayed up and watched everything - the ceremony, the speeches, all the former players, the press conferences....all of it.

With this out of the way now, and with Azzi officially back in the fold - the only thing left is to send Geno off with #12. This is the team to do it. Paige and Azzi are finally healthy together after a very tough past 2 years, and Sarah is already a force and is going to get better through the regular season. If she can continue to play big inside and still offer strong outside shooting, we have a real chance. 

[Larz]

Hurley hubris.  He better take the blame. What a shame. McNeely and ball really impressed 

[Larz]

On 11/21/2024 at 3:39 PM, greenwichjetfan said:

Last night was amazing. Extremely emotional for those of us who grew up watching Geno every fall. The consistency - year in and year out - knowing that no matter what was going on...parents fighting, bad grades, friends and family growing apart - whatever...we would always have Geno and the girls as an escape. 

The last few days I'd been working on figuring out how to pirate SNY in anticipation of last night. About 10 mins prior to kick off, I was able to get a stream to work and project it to my TV. We missed some of the pregame stuff, but we caught the tip-off and watched the whole game. We let my 5 year old son and newly 4 year old daughter stay up past their bedtimes to watch. We put them to bed right before the final buzzer, and then my wife (not a UConn alumni and nowhere near a basketball fan) went to sleep. I stayed up and watched everything - the ceremony, the speeches, all the former players, the press conferences....all of it.

With this out of the way now, and with Azzi officially back in the fold - the only thing left is to send Geno off with #12. This is the team to do it. Paige and Azzi are finally healthy together after a very tough past 2 years, and Sarah is already a force and is going to get better through the regular season. If she can continue to play big inside and still offer strong outside shooting, we have a real chance. 

Agree I go back to Lobo and Wolters and Geno is right out of the Lombardi mold. 
1) you are first a teacher. 
2) build relationships. Your job is to get everything you can out of the player and put them in the best position possible.   the most telling quote for me on his coronation was he talked about turning 17 year old kids into the best adult they can be first, then the best basketball player  

3) make practice harder than the game 

4) be hardest on your best player 

 

His numbers are so gaudy but what will probably never be matched is back to back perfect seasons and winning streaks of (I think) 60, 70, and the whopper of 111. 
 

So blessed to be a Geno fan 

[Jetsfan80]

[greenwichjetfan]

4 hours ago, Larz said:

Hurley hubris.  He better take the blame. What a shame. McNeely and ball really impressed 

That tech was the difference down the stretch. I know it was an awful call on mcneely and everyone including the fans and broadcast agreed, but Danny needs to know the situation. Taking a tech there was stupid and cost them the game.

[greenwichjetfan]

2 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

If true, it’s ugly. However I haven’t seen this anywhere else. Probably false. This guy Rob is just looking to make a name for himself. The only other time I’ve heard about this guy is when he “reported” that Andrea Hurley was all in on moving to LA when the lakers were courting Danny, when in reality Andrea was the main reason he decided to stay at UConn. 

[Larz]

On 11/25/2024 at 10:19 PM, greenwichjetfan said:

If true, it’s ugly. However I haven’t seen this anywhere else. Probably false. This guy Rob is just looking to make a name for himself. The only other time I’ve heard about this guy is when he “reported” that Andrea Hurley was all in on moving to LA when the lakers were courting Danny, when in reality Andrea was the main reason he decided to stay at UConn. 

Yeah who knows what he said but I’ve seen a million coaches try to work the refs but he was out of control. 
get the feeling that they treated the Maui trip like a vacation for the conquering heroes and they got smacked in the mouth. 
 

They are looking like a 10 seed right now. Can’t defend the perimeter and rely on jumpers. 

[JustEndTheSuffering]

He’s making an absolute fool out of himself. Dan Hurley is a great coach the collapsing to the floor and the rest of the antics are ridiculous. 

[Larz]

Nervous tonight for Louisville.  The ladies have a tough schedule in December. 
 

Sarah Strong has been terrific. Stat stuffer. Does it all. 
 

if they get buckets and strong going at the same time and Fudd and Shade look out. 

[Larz]

There we go. Starting to cook. 
 

Azzi better be ok or I’m going to effing scream 

[greenwichjetfan]

Phew Azzi only out a week. Need this team to stay healthy. Too many years of this nonsense.

Saturday night is going to be a bigger deal than originally anticipated. Top 15 matchup and one of the only major sporting events on at that time (no NCAAF, NFL, NCAAM, and only 1 NBA game and 1 UFC matchup that night). Going to be a really good test for our young team. I just hope we don't get blown out.