UConn, Geno Auriemma hoping Sarah Strong, Azzi Fudd bring Paige Bueckers support she needs

UConn will be starting the 2024-25 campaign as the No. 2 team in the nation, but they won't be at full force yet with multiple key players injured. Paige Bueckers will continue being the leader of the team, but the biggest question for UConn is what will happen during the minutes Bueckers isn't on the floor. 

Azzi Fudd (torn ACL), Caroline Ducharme (head/neck) and Aubrey Griffin (torn ACL) will not be ready to play at the start of the season, but UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Fudd will likely be the first one to make a comeback. Although the Fudd-Bueckers duo could be a powerful one, UConn has other ways to be successful in the interim. 

Despite a slow start to their exhibition game against Fort Hayes State on Sunday, the Huskies earned a 89-49 victory. Here are some of the things Auriemma has learned from his team ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Kaitlyn Chen will play big role

UConn is not fully healthy and there are a lot of young players on the roster. However, Auriemma said Bueckers and Princeton grad transfer Kaitlyn Chen will bring stability since they "have been in enough different scenarios and can help those younger guys."

Bueckers was in mid-season form on Sunday, registering 27 points on 12 of 14 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Chen contributed 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. 

"The dilemma we are going to have early on is when Paige is not on the floor," Auriemma said. "There is just not an experienced guard other than Kaitlyn, and Kaitlyn is a scoring point guard. She is aggressive with the ball, and I think as she learns how be as much of a distributor as she is a scorer, that will help when Paige is not on the floor."

Sarah Strong will boost UConn's offense

Auriemma said having Strong on the team will give the Huskies a dimension they haven't had in a while. Strong, the top freshman of the class of 2024, recorded 11 points and eight rebounds on Sunday, but went 5 of 13 from the field and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. 

Auriemma said Strong is "a lot better shooter than she showed," and also talked about how having Strong and Bueckers on the roster brings him comfort because the Huskies will "get an open shot no matter what with those too."

The coach discussed how even if their personalities are different, their skills will mesh well because they both see the game the same way and can "anticipate what the other person is thinking."

But what about when neither are on the floor?

"If Paige and Sarah (Strong) are not both on the floor, then it makes it difficult for (other players) to kinda know who do we rely on," Auriemma said. "That's going to take some time."

Auriemma added that he was pleasantly surprised about what he saw from the Huskies' offense when those two were on the bench on Sunday.

"It still looked pretty good," Auriemma said. "Not great, but pretty good."

Without the injured players, younger players such as sophomore Ashlynn Shade are getting more minutes than they normally would, but Auriemma still feels his team is in a good place.

"Obviously, it's going to be difficult in the beginning because we are going to rely so much on those guys for so many things," Auriemma said. "But it's similar to what we have experience in the past. It takes a little bit of time.

"Paige can do a lot to help fix that whenever it goes sideways, especially in the frame of mind that she is in right now, the way she has been at practice all preseason."

What the Bueckers-Fudd duo could look like

While Bueckers missed the entire 2022-23 campaign because of a torn ACL, Fudd looked ike the best player on the court for the Huskies. However, Fudd also faced her fair share of injury woes, and so far the duo has only played 17 games together over three years.

"I've almost forgotten what that could look like, or should look like, or have an imagination of, 'Wow, I've seen them at their best together,' and I'm anxious to see that again," Auriemma said. "It's really an unknown at this point. I can only go by some of the things that I've seen I practice. I do know that having a much more aggressive Azzi would really help that combination work. It's one of the great expectations that exist in our program right now."

The Huskies looked like the top team in the nation during preseason last year,  but then Fudd suffered a season-ending injury during practice in November. Although her return is something everyone surrounding the program is looking forward to, Auriemma is also cautious about expectations because Fudd is now a grad student who has only played 40 games through her college career. He pointed out that when it comes to experience, Fudd has "a lot of catching up to do."

The coaching staff has seen glimpses of what the Bueckers-Fudd duo could look like, but not enough yet.

"We've seen a lot of one or the other, but we have only seen a glimpse of the combined action together," Auriemma said. "Maybe expecting it to be super natural or super worldly is a little bit too much too soon... Watching Azzi in practice, she is more than just, 'Stand there, wait for the ball and be the best shooter in the country' like everybody thinks she is. I'm anxious to see what that looks like."