u/jpviolette

First, I think this is the 2nd year in a row that this is a valid question.

Second, Hurley joked that he might not have scheduled that out-of-conference schedule if he knew about some of the improvements expected from his in-conference competition.

Third, though there's potentially great reward in playing this tough a schedule, there is also the risk that if the team doesn't come together early, UConn could absorb early losses that greatly hurt their tournament seeding.

Some fun stuff like contemplating UConn vs Pitt, the wisdom of a George Foreman grill for a wife's birthday present, and ranking next season's backcourt.

If she shoots 54% on 3s, Auriemma will find a way to get her in the game. Three-pt shooting is pretty important these days, and 2 potential starters next season (Shade and Arnold) weren't very effective from deep last season.

Having said that, the backcourt is pretty crowded with experienced guards of various sorts, and Popovic's size (or lack thereof) could present some matchup problems defensively. My guess is that she won't crack the rotation next season, but time will tell.

He discussed a lot of stuff:

• He suggested he had 90% of his team back (or something like that). Although he might feel that most of the key pieces are back, graduation/portal losses were 5 players; UConn retained more like 67% of its roster.
• It certainly sounds like he's expecting Quinonez to start next season. This shouldn't be too surprising since Quinonez usually looked better than anyone else on the team not named "Strong" or "Fudd". She did have shoulder problems last season though, and I don't know if it's a condition that'll resolve itself through rest.
• He did sound optimistic that the incoming freshmen would be contributors and joked about getting Cheli back through the "injury portal".
• He alluded to a "leg inflammation" issue that Strong was dealing with late in the season. This wasn't exactly news, since we knew that she missed a game to rest.
• Despite some reluctance, he did talk a little about the SC game. Probably the only new revelation is that they didn't press SC more because they didn't end many of their possessions with a basket/FT that would allow them to set up the press.

Considering UConn didn't land established stars^(1), they seemed to do pretty well for themselves. They've probably filled out a starting lineup with players who might be on the cusp of stardom while adding a backup guard and 5. A backup PG and stretch 4 would be nice, though if the freshman are playable right away, they may already have their top 9.

[1] Hines had good per-minute stats, but his 18 mpg are less than you'd expect from an established star. Machowski was a star at Wofford, but that probably doesn't translate into a star in the Big East.

Lots of mixed feelings about the next stage of Murray's career.

Considering UConn needed to replace 3 starters^(1) plus 3 rotational players, they're not in bad shape. They've arguably filled all of their glaring needs, though they'd probably still like to add some depth in spots.

[1] Admittedly Ross may move up to fill the 3 spot.

Given that UConn prefers to have shooters stretching the defense on the court, I suspect that Giltay will sub at the 5 spot much more than the 4. Still, until we see him play in Hurley's system for a few games, his usage could be surprising.

One concern about Machowski is that he's listed as the exact same size (height and weight) as Mahaney. And while Machowski put up better numbers last season at Wofford, his stats in the Big 12 (UCF) were quite a bit more modest. Machowski is probably a little more athletic, and his rebounding numbers (6.7 per 40 mins) suggests he's a tougher player, we all remember Mahaney being consistently overmatched physically on defense.

Of course, Machowski probably won't be expected to 1) change to a position he couldn't handle, and 2) log starter minutes. And lest we forget, Joey Calcaterra was smaller than either of them and he turned out to be a valuable addition.