UConn began its quest for a 12th NCAA title against the toughest schedule in the nation and without three of the most decorated players in history. And Geno Auriemma is embracing the challenge
by Dick Weiss
The UConn women's basketball team is the reigning dynasty in college sports.
Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma has won an incredible 11 national championships and taken his program to 17 Final Fours in his 31 years on the bench. The Huskies are ranked No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll, ahead of Notre Dame, South Carolina and Baylor, most likely out of respect of Auriemma's enormous coaching skills.
The only person who isn't sure about a five-peat is Auriemma himself.
The Huskies lost three multi-year All Americans -- point guard Moriah Jefferson and forwards Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart -- from a 35-0 team that helped extend UConn's winning streak to 75 consecutive games entering the 2016-17 season. Stewart, a 2016 Olympian and the future face of the WNBA, was a once-in-a-generation player who won four consecutive Most Outstanding Player awards in the NCAA tournament. The other two stars maximized the Huskies, production, leadership and reliability.
This is just the second time in 10 years, that the Huskies do not have a returning All-American and it may be worth noting the Huskies lost in the national semifinals both during the 2007-08 and 2011-12 seasons.
“We've not been in this situation for a long, long time,” Auriemma said. “Back in 2002, after that championship, we graduated four starters but we had Diana Taurasi coming back and she could help all the younger players so we ended up winning the national championship because we had her.
“Now we're in a situation where finding that person to build around isn't as easy as it was then. So as a group, the four returning players who played the most minutes --Kia Nurse, Gabby Williams, Napheesa Collier and Kate Lou Samuelson -- are going to have to figure out a way to be really good because I don't know that one of them is going to be that big that they can carry everybody else.
“They can all score but it's a lot easier when we knew if we needed a basket, it's a lot easier when you can just throw it to Stewie. They're going to be under different circumstances early on until they get comfortable in their roles.”
The 6-3 Samuelson from Huntington Beach Calif., who was the national high school player of the year in 2015, was a starting forward who averaged 11 points with 78 3-point goals. The 6-0 Nurse, a junior from Hamilton, Ontario, who played for the Canadian Olympic team and was the only team member to start every game for UConn, finished fifth in scoring with a 9.3 points and was one of four Huskies to accumulate more 100 assists. Williams, a 5-11 junior from Sparks, Nev., was the American's Sixth Player of the Year in 2015, averaging 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds. And Collier, a 6-1 sophomore from Incarnate Word High in O'Fallon, Mo., came off the bench to average 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds with 47 blocks in an average of just 17.2 minutes.
Auriemma will consider starting 6-5 junior Natalie Butler, a transfer from Georgetown who was the 2014 Big East Freshman of the Year, along with 6-2 freshman Kyla Irwin of State College, Pa. But he also could go with a small, more athletic front line of Samuelson and Collier.
“We don't have any experience down there so it's going to be a big question mark,” he said. “I think we are all creatures of habit and when there's a lot of uncertainty, it's troubling for coaches I'm 62 years old. I don't need a lot of excitement.”
The lack of a proven rim-protector and shot-blocker in the middle on a national level figures to be his most difficult problem, followed closely by issues with a pass-first point guard.
“We talked about this,” Auriemma said. “If you are going to play really, really big guys, they have to be really, really good and have to protect the basketball, rebound, make sure they keep the offense moving and you can get the offense moving. Otherwise you're better off playing with five guards. That's where the game is going now. The big, dominant post player, they're not as integral parts of successful teams as they used to be.
“Everybody wants to be mobile. Everybody wants to do multiple things on the floor. The game has evolved and I think you can sacrifice things in order to get something at the other end. Scoring points has been way more important than playing great defense. People who used to give up 60 points are willing to give up 65 if they know they are going to score an extra 10 points because they have a different lineup that can score.
“It's kind of like where college football is today. If you're trying to win games 17-10, that's probably not going to get you very far when teams are scoring 40. That's where the game is going. I kind of like it because there just aren't as many players coming out of high school who fit that mold.
“So you end up playing defense a little differently because we never had to double the post. We never had to trap the post player last year. We encouraged teams -- throw that ball in there. We're going to block that shot and go down the other end. And we did the same thing the year before and the year before that.”
Auriemma has options at the point. Senior Saniya Chong could make things easier for talented freshmen Crystal Dangerfield and Molly Bent if she can play a productive 15-to-20 minutes at point guard, much like Caroline Doty did in 2013 when Jefferson was a freshman. Chong is talented enough that she started at the beginning of her sophomore year. Her ability to fill that role would keep the freshmen from feeling the enormous pressure that comes with trying to run the Huskies' efficient offense.
If that's not the case, Nurse may spend more time at point guard which could keep her from looking for her own shot as often as Auriemma would like.
Auriemma is not about to ease into the season. The Huskies will play a brutal non-league schedule that began with a 78-76 win against No. 12 Florida State in Tallahassee. The Huskies also play No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 4 Baylor, No. 5 Maryland, No. 6 Ohio State and Texas and No. 21 DePaul, all before entering league play in January. They also have a date with No. 3 South Carolina in February.
Auriemma doesn't seem to mind. He enjoys the challenge and is preparing for March. Unlike Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, who coached the U.S. men's team in three straight Olympics, Auriemma seems satisfied with two and can throw all his energy into coaching his program.
“I kind of like tinkering with things,” he said. “We did that all the time, even when we had a lot of players coming back. My biggest thing is year is not to get impatient, expecting us to play like it's March right from the opening tap. That can't be the expectation. Yet, at the same thing, they know my patience isn't going to last forever.”