Fudd to the Rescue? Huskies Need Help
The Story: Paige Bueckers‘ looming absence is already forcing Geno Auriemma and the Huskies to consider ways they can overcome the loss of her playmaking, facilitating and scoring as they prepare to enter the season.
WHAT HAPPENED? Nope. We’re not reliving the details. Too painful. Bueckers is out for the year with a torn ACL and we’re moving on, thanks!
OK, SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Yes, that’s a better approach. At this point, we know junior Nika Muhl knows how to run the offense, though that responsibility will increasingly fall upon sophomore Azzi Fudd as well.
• Geno likes his point guards to have a commanding presence and unmatched court vision. Bueckers certainly has that; think about the days of Jennifer Rizzotti and Renee Montgomery. Muhl is certainly an aggressive, physical player, but while she’s a great stopper, her offense wasn’t consistent in her first two seasons.
• Fudd doesn’t seem like the rah-rah type, either, but we can’t blame her. She wasn’t fully healthy when she got to Storrs and then missed 11 games last season with a foot injury, meaning she never had the physical confidence she needed to succeed. Hopefully, she has it entering this season.
• What does Geno like about her leadership? It’s that she’s not afraid of taking a long-range jumper with two defenders in her face — and that she’s capable of knocking it down. You’re not going to believe this, but Fudd’s longtime personal trainer raved about her, too. Go figure.
• The Huskies also added a freshman from Portugal, Ines Bettencourt, who was destined for a Florida junior college before she caught the coaches’ eyes as the fourth-leading scorer in Division B of the FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship. It doesn’t seem like she’s ticketed for many minutes, especially right off the bat.
WHAT DID FUDD SAY? “[Geno’s] just telling me, ‘You’re ready. You know what this season is gonna be. You know what you need to do for us.’ And [I’m] just letting him know that I am ready. I’m a much different player than what I was last year and I’m ready for a bigger role. I’m ready to bring more to the team, bring more to the table.”
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “Azzi is a much better ballhandler than people have seen because she usually catches and shoots it, but in all the things that we’ve done, she’s probably as good as anybody we have at getting to the basket, attacking the defense and getting the ball to where we need to get it, getting the shots she wants to get. I would say based on one week of practice, Azzi’s as good as anybody we’ve had at this point in every area of the game.”
Morning Reads
• The men’s basketball team played a secret scrimmage against Harvard in Cambridge on Saturday and Dan Hurley said Jordan Hawkins and Samson Johnson were the two players who stood out during the game. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
• Donovan Clingan is one of three Connecticut natives who will be playing basketball in the Big East this season, with New Haven’s Desmond Claude at Xavier and Hartford’s Primo Spears at Georgetown joining him in the conference. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
Azzi Fudd shoots during UConn’s “First Night” event at Gampel Pavilion. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
