2014-15 Uconn women pre-season preview

As we approach the first preseason game, I thought I would provide some information and opinion on the upcoming season. Coming off an undefeated championship season and consecutive championships expectations are sky high.

Players leaving - Dolson, Hartley, Banks.

Gee, only two AA's and WNBA first round picks. Ain't no biggie....lol. 

Dolson and Hartley were great leaders last year. And they contributed so much offensively and defensively that goes way beyond the numbers. There is no doubt how much they will be missed, not only by their teammates and coaching staff, but also by so many Uconn fans. Sometimes four years is not enough. Uconn also loses Banks. As sometimes happen with players, once injured they just don't get it back the following year. Hopefully a year off will allow her to reach her potential at Penn State.

Players arriving - Ekmark, Williams, Nurse, Edwards.

Uconn has one of the best incoming freshman class in the country. They were ranked #1 by ASGR. Hopefully you read my previous blog entries about these wonderful incoming players. I'm looking forward to see how they fit into Geno's rotation. As we all know, some freshman are ready to contribute right away and some aren't. 

Kia Nurse 6'0" Guard                    
In this group, I think it's clear from watching the videos that Nurse is the more prepared of the freshman. I'd guess that she will be getting double digit minutes once the season starts and will stay in the rotation for the entire season. Her maturity showed in her solid play for the Canadian national team. As pre-season AAC freshman of the year, Nurse is well respected but the coaches in the AAC. And Geno has stated that of all the freshmen she has best shot at being the next All-American. Quite the compliment from the coach.

Gabby Williams 5'11" Guard
I initially thought that Williams would be brought along slowly in her recovery from her knee surgery this spring. But now I'm not so sure. She was back to full practices in mid-October.  After a tough first practice -  "She was good today,” Auriemma said of Williams. “She went through the whole practice. Every time I looked over Rosemary (Ragle, UConn’s athletic trainer) was on her knees with her fingers crossed, holding a lucky rabbit or something but I kept saying ‘what do you think? She is great, she said she feels great.’” I'm confident her talent and incredible athleticism will show as the season progresses.

Courtney Ekmark 6'0" Guard
Ekmark comes in with the reputation of the best 3 point shooter in her class. I always believe that shooter will find a way to get minutes. But with UConn, we will have to see if she can play defense well enough to satisfy Geno to allow her to get minutes in order to show her shooting range.

Sadie Edwards 5'8" Guard
Edwards, if you watched her interview in a previous blog, is a delight. She seems very bright and confident. I wish I had seen more video of her play. I can't wait to see her in the pre-season games to get a better idea of what she will bring to the table.

So, four terrific freshmen to add to the returning players. Geno has to be excited with the addition depth he will have this year.

Returning player - Stewart, KML, Jefferson, Stokes, Tuck, Chong, Lawler and Pudilo.

While losing the firepower and leadership of Dolson and Hartley, there is not a team in the country with nearly as much talent coming back as UConn. Start with three almost certain All Americans in Stewart, KML and Jefferson. Add in a talented defensive center in Stokes. Throw in a healthy Tuck. I don't see any team that comes close to those 5 players in talent and experience. 

Ya gotta love Lawler and Pudilo. Great teammates and their contributions last year in allowing UConn to run full practices on the road with a short roster were well know. And of course the trivia question on who had the highest 3 point shooting percentage on the 2013-14 team is a favorite of many a UConn fan. If her 3 pointer in the First Night scrimmage is an indicator that might just continue this season.

Saniya Chong 5'8" Guard
2013-14 Stats - GP 39, MPG 17.1, FG% 42.0, 3PT% 32.3, PPG 4.7, RPG 1.8, APG 1.5, Steals 24, Blocks 8 

There has been some early positive reports on Saniya Chong and UConn fans should be looking for a big jump in her performance. At the AAC media day, Geno was feeling really good about Chong's preseason play.  Geno said ``She goes hard all the time and every minute she gets better and better and better and better.''
There certainly were games last year where she looked like she could make a regular contributions as part of the rotation, but her confidence waned and her minutes shrunk. “I think I am very much more confident this year,” Chong said. “You come in as a freshman and it’s new and the intensity is different. Even though you think you’re ready and you’re playing for the No. 1 team in the country and for Coach Auriemma, it’s a shock. But I think that since the summer I’ve stepped it up to another level and we’ll see what happens." Yes, we will see what happens. We will know more after the two pre-season games. But I'm convinced she has the skills to step right into Hartley's starting role. She knows it won't be easy.
“Being a sophomore I should be more prepared and I should work harder,” Chong said. “Coach always says the sophomores, juniors, and seniors always should be working the hardest. So coming out here and knowing any of those four freshmen can take my spot makes me work five times harder.”
It looks like the debate on who will start Sunday is settled. Geno said ``Saniya’s going to start (vs. Westchester Sunday) because she’s been unbelievably good.’'  You go Saniya!!!

Morgan Tuck 6'2" Forward
2013-14 Stats - GP  8, MPG 14.5, FG% 49.0, 3PT% 41.2, PPG 7.5, RPG 2.4, APG 1.0, Steals 4, Blocks 1 

Great news on the injury front with Morgan Tuck. She was not limited in any way during the grueling opening practice after knee issues forced her to miss 32 games a season ago and she has been practicing full out all pre-season. “I was really excited when I woke up this morning,” Tuck said. “I was in class ready for practice, it feels really good. I am able to practice so it was a long time coming. “I am trying to give them a full season. I don’t want to sit out of practice. I am feeling really good and my knee doesn’t bother me so it is going well.”  On having the surgery and sitting out the last season - “Now that I look back on it, maybe it was a Godsend,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Maybe it was the best thing that ever happened because she looks great.”  Moriah Jefferson said “Morgan has been killing it since she came back this summer, looking better than I have ever seen her.” UConn will be even harder to beat if  she is better than the player that scored 11 points going 2-4 on 3 pointers against Stanford, or the player that scored 19 points on 8-10 shooting going 3-4 on 3's against Houston.

Kiah Stokes 6'3" Center
2013-14 Stats - GP 39, MPG 18.5, FG% 60.0, 3PT% 00.0,PPG 4.2, RPG 7.1, APG 0.9, Steals 13, Blocks 89 

Ok Kiah. It's your time to shine. No, she won't be taking many three pointers, even if she did go 1-2 in the First Night Scrimmage. But it's easy to see how her shot blocking and rebounding numbers can be off the charts. I have no doubt that that she can average a double double with 3 blocks a game. Some fans have mentioned she is foul prone, but that is not based on facts. She averaged less than 2 fouls per game. Even with additional minutes I don't see that being a problem. Kiah has the mechanics to be effective from the perimeter with her jumper and I'm sure the coaching staff will be encouraging her to take the open shots. Clearly the AAC coaches see the potential when they voted her pre-season all-AAC 2nd team. She is talented enough to make some national AA teams. She will be the anchor in the middle.

Moriah Jefferson 5'7" Guard
2013-14 Stats - GP 40 MPG 29.7, FG% 57.5, 3PT% 41.8, PPG 10.0, RPG 3.4, APG 4.9, Steals 106, Blocks 9 

With the leadership skills of Dolson and Hartley gone UConn will need Jefferson to take another step up in taking the reigns of this years Huskies. Geno thinks she will so just that. “I think part of it is her natural personality and you add the position that she plays, she has the ball in her hands a lot. She gained a lot confidence last year and she is very comfortable with her teammates." 
And there is no doubt that is exactly what she will do.  Last season she led the American Athletic Conference in field-goal percentage, assists, and a-t ratio.  She was named to the all-AAC first team and was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award that goes to the nation’s top point guard. This year she was voted first team all-ACC and that is just the beginning of the honors for Jefferson. All expectations are for her to play like an AA. We all know how quick she is. We saw her improved outside shooting. Her on the ball defense is as good as anyone in the country. And she will only be better this year. “I did a lot of work this summer, like I did last summer, to become a better player,” Jefferson said. “I worked out a lot, even more than last summer. I didn’t want to really tire myself out, but I would head over to 24-Hour Fitness at 5 a.m., go back midday, then head back over late at night. It’s what I like to do and it helps me stay focused.” Focused. I'm sure we will see a lot of that this season from Jefferson along with her trademark intensity.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 5'11" Forward/Guard
2013-14 Stats - GP 28 MPG 29.2, FG% 46.5, 3PT% 41.3, PPG 13.4, RPG 5.4, APG 2.6, Steals 20, Blocks 5

I can still hear the screams. When KML went down last year against Stanford, landing with a horrible thud on her shooting elbow, all of Huskie Nation fell silent and those screams were all you could hear. Many fans felt she was done for the season. It was that ugly. Thankfully, she was able to return after missing 8 games. She missed 4 more games due to a bout with Mono. It was difficult to stay in game condition. Geno made what I think was a decision that helped her be ready for the NCAA's and played her extended minutes every game, using the March contests to improve her conditioning. It certainly worked as she could have easily been voted the MOP of the Final Four with her spectatular performance. And while she never was in peak condition, she showed great lateral quickness whenever UConn put her in the backcourt and she had to guard a quicker player. She was ferocious on the boards and took advantage of her size against smaller defenders. I believe we will see a lot more of that this year. One big improvement we need to see is her ability to get to the foul line. When you shoot 90% from the line you have to get there at least 100 times. I'd also look for her 3 point percentage to rise closer to her outstanding sophomore year of 50%+.
KML is looking at this year like most seniors do - “This is my year, my last chance to make an impact at UConn before I go onto something else exciting,”. And toward that end, Mosqueda-Lewis spent much of her summer with Amanda Kimball, UConn's strength and conditioning coach.
“The focus has been on what I can do to help her. I see her everyday because she needs someone everyday to help keep her going. And she was here every day this summer and able to make some nice gains with her in terms of keeping her strong, working on her lateral quickness and enhancing her endurance.” 
I hope fans understand that it's not how she looks, but how she feels. As Kimball said, can she move and run better, can she move as well as everyone else can. I'm excited to see her play to her full All-American potential.

Breanna Stewart 6'4" Forward
2013-14 Stats - GP 40 MPG 30.5, FG% 49.7, 3PT% 34.3, PPG 19.8, RPG 8.1, APG 3.1, Steals 63, Blocks 110 

What a shock. Stewart is pre-season AAC player of the year. Next will be every pre-season national poll having her as POY. And why not. After an inconsistent freshman season, she used her MOP performance in the NCAA's to catapult herself to the top stop in WCBB. She was by far the best player in the country last year, no insult intended to McBride, Sims and others. And after an off season of playing with the best players in the world, she will only be better. "I’ve learned a lot, just the way that people prepare themselves and the fact these are people I look up to and want to be where they are in their professional careers. I’m just excited to have this opportunity to take this all home." And UConn will be the beneficiary of what she learned.
So, where can Stewart improve? Looking at her stats, her 3 point percentage jumps out at me. While 34% is not bad, it's not great. Her form is a little awkward, so we will see if she changed anthing to improve that aspect of her game. With Dolson gone, Stewart will find herself playing a little more at the top of the key initiating the offense on occasion. I expect her assist numbers to improve again. She took a big jump her freshman to sophomore year in that category. Even if she comes back as the same player as last year, no one will complain. But expect a more physically mature and even more dominant player than last season. And all of WCBB should be shaking in their boots at that prospect.

So, there are the players in a nutshell. A terrific roster that can't be matched at any other school. But talent only goes so far without direction and coaching. And UConn has the best. It's hard to believe but I think Geno just gets better and better at preparing his team for a long season and to peak at the end of the year for the NCAA's. Geno, Chris, Shea and Marisa are the best coaching staff in identifying talent and then putting them in the best position to succeed. They are always looking for new approaches such as workouts with local Marines. The players loved them and the best conditioned team will been in even better condition.

2014-15 Prognosis

I'm sure you can tell by my exuberance about every player that I'm feeling pretty good about UConn this upcoming season. It's hard to contain my enthusiasm, so I'm just giving in. As I mentioning in the beginning of this incredibly long preview, no one brings back the talent that UConn does. While teams like South Carolina, Tennessee, ND and a few others are terrific teams, there appears to be a wide gap between these teams and UConn. Of course I need to mention the obligatory possibility of injuries impacting the team. But I'm not one to think about that. I always assume that players will be healthy besides the little nicks and bruises that come up. It's more fun for me and certainly a more positive way to look at the season.

Starters - Jefferson PG, Chong SG, KML SF, Stewart PF, Stokes C.
First off the bench - Tuck, Nurse.

After that, I really need to see how the other freshman perform. There will be many blowouts (frustrating to many) that will let Geno give plenty of playing time to Edwards, Ekmark and Williams. It will be a lot of fun to see how these young players develop as the season progresses.

While this team has plenty of fire power to score a ton of points, it's the defense that will carry this team to another championship. With Jefferson harassing the opposing teams point guard, Stoke and Stewart protecting the basket I don't see a drop off at all from their incredible defensive performance last year. With the addition of the four freshmen, UConn should be able to pressure the ball more and the players will just be that much fresher.

So, here it is. My season prediction. No surprise here. I believe they will continue their dominance of WCBB with another undefeated season and National Championship.

I'm sure I've left off some stats, insights and possibilities so feel free to comment. I'd love to hear from you all.

GO HUSKIES!!!!