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So I was texting with Dave from Naples, just checking in with him. He's going great. Lots of changes in his life and all good. I mentioned that I'm struggling to start the blog....again. This would be the 8th season for me writting almost evey day of the season, writting a ton of pre game and post game analysis. It's just a huge commitment. I do through this every season. But David said something that game me a little motivations.

"I keep thinkng how special this team could be"

And he is so right.

So, here is my first blog of the season, one day before the first game of the season against Arkansas. We will see if I can do this every day! One issue. I just noticed that the spellchecker is not working so I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes!

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I couldn't start any blog without an update on my grandkids.

Noa is now 15 and just got her learner's permit.

Mya is almost 13 and getting Bat Mizfah in December

Logan is 6 and in first grade.

And finally Barrett is now 3 years old

They are all doing really well. I'm a lucky guy!!

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I wrote this in April. It still pretty much holds true!!

Lets look at the future. The brightest future of any team in WCBB (Sorry South Carolina and Stanford).

UConn returns their top seven players from this past season. I'm not sure who will fill that final starting postition but you can be sure that Bueckers, Westbrook, Williams and Nelson-Ododa will be four of the starters. Geno just loves both the future sophomores Muhl and Edwards so I'll be damned if I can guess which way he will go. But one of them will join Griffin off the bench. (On edit - Looks like Edwards will be the 5th starter)

The other returning players are McLean, Gabriel, and Poffenbarger.

A final four team that returns all their top rotation players would make them really good next season. But add in three top freshman including a player that is supposed to be as good as Bueckers? Expectations should be off the chart. And they are for me. It was said at the beginning of the 2020-21 season that you better get UConn now because after this season, they will be unbeatable. Well, maybe that is a little hyperbole, but still this is going to be one hell of a team.

If you had to say the missing piece from this years team what would it be? My thought is that UConn needed better three point shooting. In Fudd and Ducharme, UConn is bringing in two of the best three point shooting in the class of 2021. Certainly Fudd will make an immediate impact.

Fudd and Ducharme battle in three point contest

They Huskies also bring in more size with the 6'5" post Amari Deberry. It's always hard to imagine a freshman post make an impact early. But she certainly will learn a lot from Olivia and I'd bet she will see some good minutes on this team.

I'm really really really looking forward to the 2021-22 season. I can't wait to see best buddies Bueckers and Fudd work together.

I'm predicting a National Championship. Get on board the band wagon!!!

Ok, back to the present. Nothing I've seen (preseason game) or heard makes me think any differently. In fact, I'm even more confident. This was written before Dorka Juhasz transfered to UConn. She is the real deal. A two time all Big Ten first team players, she can rebound and play post defense better than anyone on the current roster. And if she can shoot like she did her sophomore year and not like her junior year, she can be a big impact player.

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I really am a lucky guy....well, kinda. My wonderful son in Florida decided to buy my wife and I season tickets to all the XL games. Great right? Well, unfortunately for me the only game we are not in Florida is the first game against Arkansas. Well, at least I get to go to that game, right? Well.....we had plans to visit friends in Vermont for the weekend. I was totally bummed out.

But...!!!!!....our plans changed so we will be here. However!!!>.....I already sold that ticket. Sigh....

My son suggested we trade two games for one and thankfully my friend Dee was amiable with that.

So now I am going to the first game of the season against Arkansas....YIPPIE!!!!!!

Not enough time for a full game report. But I did watch a little of the Arkansas game Friday night.

This version of the Razorbacks is not as explosive as last years team. They lost their top two scorers in Dungee and Slocum at 22.3 and 15 PPG. And Slocum was their leading assister. That is a lot to lose. I'm sure Geno will be happy not to see Dungee on the court.

Arkansas brings in 6 new players including a terrific transfer in Sasha Goforth, a transfer from Oregon State. They best freshman is 6'5" Jersey Wolfenbarger and guard/forward type player. I was hoping to see Wolfenbarger and Poffenbarger on the court at the same time but Saylor is injured.

The Razorback coach Mike Neighbors doesn't change his game plan for the team he is playing. They will still try to play up-tempo. In their two games, Arkansas has shot poorly at 43% and only 31% on threes. Yet they still average over 90 PPG.

UConn's defense will slow them down but Arkansas will struggle to slow down the Huskies. I look for a 15-20 point win for UConn.

GO HUSKIES!!!

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UConn is No. 2 in both polls to start the season. I'll use this space to talk about the other Top 25 Teams. Or at least some of them.

No. 1 South Carolina started the season with a hard fought game against NCST winning 66-57 and then beating up on South Dakota 72-41. A few thoughts:

- Preseason AA Aliyah Boston has not played up to that standard so far. She is only averaging 8.5 PPG and 5.5 RPG. Her 43% shooting percentage is terrible.

- The big "difference maker" 6'7" Kamila Cardoso has not made a big impact to date. 5.5 PPG and 6 RPG - - The BEST freshman class has had injury and performance issues. Sanyia Rivers has not played yet. I heard either a flu bug of a broken nose/concussion issue. Sadly Raven Johnson hurt her leg in her second game. Sania Feigan has not really contributed. Didn't play the first game and only 6 minutes in the second. Bree Hall has had the most impact but that is only 3 PPG in 7 MPG. Somehow I think that Fudd will eclipse all of them and maybe Ducharme as well.

They are good but I didn't see them looking any better. Yet. It's way early.

Well, it's shit show time in Knoxville again. Their fans had their usual preseason head in the sand look at the Lady Vols. They lost their best player in Davis, their backup center in Kishitua, and their expectations are still off the charts. They did add the Sun Belt player of the year, but UConn fans know what transfers from weaker conferences bring to the table. And their freshman class is good but not great. Sadly, they lost their best player in Rae Burrell to a knee injury, but that is no excuse for their last performance. More on that in another section of the blog.

Overtime game with No. 6 Louisville losing to No. 22 Arizona. A low scoring affair 61-59 (54-54 in regulation) and it was hard to be impressed with either team.

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I said I would revisit the Tennessee game and I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a bad game for my first blog of the season.

Tennessee played UCF on the road and they ran into what UConn fans are very familiar with, a team that takes the air out of the game on almost every possesion, and play rough and tumble defense.

So how bad was it?

UCF had 24 turnovers and didn't have the most in the game. Tennessee has 28. Yes, that is 52 turnovers in one game.

Tennessee shot 34% from the field, 26.7% on threes and 56% from the FT line. A wonderful 11/28 assists to turnover ration.

UCF shot 27% from the field, 23% on threes. They had a 5/24 assists to turnover ratio.

49-41 was the final score. It was even uglier than that. Congrats to both teams on earning the first UGGY trophy of the season!!!!

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