[The A Dime Back staff works to provide you with timely content. For the last 11 months we have been working on this preseason roundtable. While the season has since been completed, and a new season nears, we will continue to think about completing this one. In the meantime…]
The people have spoken and they want more roundtables (but no podcasts). Democracy works.
Check out our past WBB roundtables from 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. You can also read our men’s basketball roundtable here.
[Ed. Note: Russ is busy again so Tyler has written answers on his behalf.]
Record Prediction
Meghan: Look, is there a chance that this UConn team loses some games? Of course. Am I going to put on the internet, where Geno Auriemma can see it, that I think they will lose some games? Absolutely not.
Russ: 31-0. It’s hard to see any team in the country able to match UConn’s talent level. I was in a cannon once in 2012. It was fine.
Tyler: 26-5 I guess. Rollercoaster season incoming.
Kevin: xxx
Peter: My prediction is Pain.
Best Quality
Kevin: xxx
Tyler: I’m feeling good about the team defense. Playing against Nika Mühl should require a special insurance policy.
Russ: The team has arguably the best backcourt in the country with the scoring of Azzi Fudd, the defense of Muhl and the overall excellence of Paige Bueckers. Opposing teams will have a hard time dealing with that trio on both ends of the court.
Meghan: Coaching. This is a very different team than we’ve seen in recent years, with vets Christyn Wiliiams, ONO, and Evina Westbrook graduated and Paige Bueckers injured, so they’re working with a brand new bag. Luckily, they are coached by Geno Auriemma and CD and Jamelle Elliott and Morgan Valley, and, as we saw last year, they can coach whatever roster happens to show up on any given day. They’ve brought in some new talent, and I expect big things from the returning players, but my faith is in the coaches to work whatever magic they have to turn them into world beaters, as they always do.
Peter: Hopefully it’s NPOY Azzi Fudd.
Worst Quality
Peter: General durability.
Meghan: Not having Paige Bueckers. Yeah, this one really sucks. After missing most of last season and coming back from injury to lead her team to the national championship game, Paige was supposedly healthy and ready to destroy everything in her path, but as knees are just absolutely trash body parts, we are without Paige for the season. Coach P will make her presence felt from the bench, but this is a game changer.
Tyler: The inherent fragility of the human body.
Kevin: xxx
Russ: Points might be hard to come by in games where Paige and Azzi aren’t hitting outside shots.
Team MVP
Kevin: xxx
Peter: Hopefully the trainer.
Tyler: Obviously Fudd.
Russ: Obviously Paige.
Meghan: Azzi Fudd. She’s got the sweetest jump shot since Jesus Shuttlesworth and I for one am looking forward to her letting everyone know exactly how good she is. They are not ready.
X Factor
Tyler: Aaliyah Edwards has the talent to be one of the best bigs in the country. She took a step backwards last year after the Canadian national team broke her, an unforgivable breach of diplomatic protocol. If she gets back on her post-freshman year trajectory, that would solve a few problems.
Meghan: Nika Mühl. She’s going to have to pick up a ton of slack due to the aforementioned Paige injury. She is the returning Big East Defensive Player of the Year, so it’s not all bad news. Nika is an incredibly tough defender and gets her team extra possessions every game. She’s an elite passer, and with as many targets as she has, her drive and kick game will be strong. She also brings great energy and intensity to the floor. However. She needs to stay on the floor, which means not getting into foul trouble, which has been a thing due to the weak and pathetic reffing/anti-Croatian discrimination Nika faces (Nika has never fouled).
Kevin: xxx
Russ: Paige Bueckers. She is the best player in America and the Huskies will go as far as she can lead them.
Peter: Will we have any players remaining at season’s end.
Breakout Player
Russ: Paige Bueckers will make the leap from Great Player to Superstar.
Meghan: Ayanna Patterson. She’s an incredible athlete, and after one (1) exhibition game, I am over-the-moon excited to see what she does next.
Kevin: xxx
Peter: Patterson, hopefully. She’s enormously talented, and it would be great if she could just blow up and be one of the best players in the country, please.
Tyler: I think Dorka is going to thrive in her second year at UConn. She came into a new program with an… interesting… collection of seniors. She’ll benefit from more opportunities on offense and seems capable of stepping into that leadership role.
Leader in Scoring, Rebounding, Assists
Peter: Azzi Fudd, Aaliyah Edwards, Nika Muhl
Kevin: xxx
Meghan: Azzi, Aaliyah, Nika
Russ: Paige, Edwards, Paige
Tyler: Fudd, Dorka, Nika
Regular Season Losses
Russ: None. Paige cannot lose.
Meghan: I plead the fifth.
Kevin: xxx.
Tyler: Man, I don’t know. South Carolina probably, and then a smattering of these tough early season matchups. They just have to win that Tennessee game for shit-talking purposes.
Peter: You better not.
National Championship or Nah?
Meghan: Always yes.
Kevin: sss
Tyler: Probably not. But maybe.
Peter: Fuck it, let’s roll.
Russ: Absolutely. Always bet on the team with the best player, and that’s Paige Bueckers.
Great and/or Crazy Thing Geno Says Before the Tournament
Peter: This.
Meghan: “Look, am I the greatest coach of all time? Maybe, who knows? Am I the best coach here this weekend? Well, I’ve got 11 rings. You do the math.”
Kevin: xxx
Russ: “We have Paige Bueckers and they don’t.”
Tyler: [when asked for a response to Kim Mulkey being sentenced for her actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection] “I will never take Russ on a waterslide. I have been on many waterslides — Russ has not — but I will simply not go on one if Russ is there. Honestly, I’d just go home instead.”
Wild Card
Meghan: This is it. This is the year we get a dunk. Ayanna will come through.
Peter: Paige comes back early from injury and then steps onto the floor and spontaneously combusts.
Kevin: xxx
Tyler: Fudd will make 11 threes in a game for the first time in program history.
Russ: Paige Bueckers will dunk during a game.
