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Post by semper on Jun 29, 2021 19:43:23 GMT -5
When she starts by thinking defense, defense, then she starts having more complete games.
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Post by linkster on Jun 29, 2021 20:42:33 GMT -5
Only the all-seeing Kwisatz Haderach can sort through the endless possibilities. The silver lining of reduced minutes is that the players can now put 40 minutes of energy into 20-25 mins. The bench would start at 95% of D1 teams and they should be chomping for their 5-15 minutes. And Geno has leverage and can drive them because " I have 4 players who want your spot" is tough to respond to. Oh how I wish I could sit on the Werth balcony next Sept when the battle starts. Most summers lately there haven't been enough top level players to scrimmage. UConn players are all hard workers but last year's freshmen were exceptionally competitive and I know that Bueckers & Fudd hate to lose to each other. I think Edwards would send her mother to the floor over a rebound. Next fall's scrimmages should be epic and recorded* for posterity. * no audio so we can all continue to think they don't swear.  |
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Post by semper on Jul 1, 2021 10:44:26 GMT -5
So, to compound the idiocy (sorry DD), if we don't think about starters, can we ponder minutes. There are 200 of them. Let's say that regardless of the combinations, we have a number of players worth at least 20 each:
Paige
Azzi
E
Liv
C
Nika
Aaliyah
Dorka
That's 160 minutes
There are 40 left
So we have the 8 minute guys: and they take 32 minutes
Mir
Aubrey
Amari
Caroline
And then there are 8 minutes left for everyone else
Piath and Saylor
Paige NEVER wants to be taken out of a game, but with this crew, she may have to be. 20 very intense minutes is a great amount of time...and it can be divided up too, depending. Of course, some players will get more and some less in group one, and that too will depend on the nature of the adversary and how certain combos work on the floor and how people have been practicing. But it's workable.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 1, 2021 11:48:42 GMT -5
One of the good problems is that UConn has extraordinary versatility this coming year, and can tailor personnel to game situations better than I can remember in a long, long time. Of course, Geno doesn't do that so much. He likes to have a certain group start every game, and the substitutes be pretty predictable. Where he extemporizes is in specific game situations down the stretch. These depend entirely on the type of team UConn's playing.
However, when the 3 point line was extended in MCBB, it took a couple of years for shooting percentages to return to the previous standard. If that happens in WCBB too, he may want to play his fast bigs (Aaliyah and Dorka) more than he otherwise might as he would be getting less "value" out of his shooting guards.
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Post by semper on Jul 1, 2021 15:09:57 GMT -5
That's very interesting. Cool that we have two fast (and very strong) bigs. Liv is pretty fast too, of course.
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Post by semper on Jul 1, 2021 20:35:26 GMT -5
Geno on the team thus far: “You have to perform at a real high level every day if you want what they all want. They want to have an impact. And I’ve already had a couple of them say to me, ‘Coach, obviously we know that some of us are not going to play the same amount of minutes as we played last year.’ Yeah, because we had guys played 37, 38 minutes last year, so they know that’s not going to happen.”
Sure would be great if Connolly could learn to pronounce Geno's last name.
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Post by linkster on Jul 1, 2021 21:16:21 GMT -5
Who is this Oreema guy he keeps talking about?  |
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Post by justinesguy on Jul 3, 2021 8:10:17 GMT -5
I feel like every year there’s a player that either comes in new or an existing member of the team that has a huge jump that the fan base was not expecting.
In that light, would anyone be surprised if Dorka plays her way into the starting lineup?
As for freshman I have a good feeling about Caroline Ducharme.
Girl can shoot and seems to have killer Instinct.
Any thoughts?
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Post by semper on Jul 3, 2021 8:50:16 GMT -5
Geno seems to agree about Caroline.
It's going to be quite the year!!
My greatest curiosity is about Azzi. How will she fit in, where, when, what will be the dynamic with Paige. I confess to be more intrigued than I have been since EDD (which I will never get over, by the way).
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Post by rvwsleep on Jul 3, 2021 11:03:33 GMT -5
Paige
Williams
Fudd
Edwards
Ono
Start. That leaves
Nika
Evina
Dorka
Aubrey
Caroline
And everyone else coming off the bench.
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Post by justinesguy on Jul 3, 2021 12:36:33 GMT -5
Paige Williams Fudd Edwards Ono Start. That leaves Nika Evina Dorka Aubrey Caroline And everyone else coming off the bench. You rather have Paige at point as opposed to the two? |
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Post by huskymaniac on Jul 4, 2021 15:06:36 GMT -5
I am a big proponent professional starting the older players who will, presumably be getting minutes at some point anyway. Start them and protect team chemistry. So:
1.ONO
2.Westbrook
3.Dangerfield
4.Paige
5.Fudd
Muhl as a starter could be argued but she is only a Soph and Azzi is Azzi. Muhl, Ducharme, Edwards and Griffin should all get minutes. That is 9 deep! If Dorka can earn PT then we will be 10 deep. Everyone else is a year away.
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Post by swash on Jul 4, 2021 15:37:53 GMT -5
I am a big proponent professional starting the older players who will, presumably be getting minutes at some point anyway. Start them and protect team chemistry. So: 1.ONO 2.Westbrook 3.Dangerfield 4.Paige 5.Fudd Muhl as a starter could be argued but she is only a Soph and Azzi is Azzi. Muhl, Ducharme, Edwards and Griffin should all get minutes. That is 9 deep! If Dorka can earn PT then we will be 10 deep. Everyone else is a year away. If we're bring back Crystal, why not Stewie and Phee, too? LOL |
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Post by justinesguy on Jul 4, 2021 15:45:09 GMT -5
I am a big proponent professional starting the older players who will, presumably be getting minutes at some point anyway. Start them and protect team chemistry. So: 1.ONO 2.Westbrook 3.Dangerfield 4.Paige 5.Fudd Muhl as a starter could be argued but she is only a Soph and Azzi is Azzi. Muhl, Ducharme, Edwards and Griffin should all get minutes. That is 9 deep! If Dorka can earn PT then we will be 10 deep. Everyone else is a year away. If we're bring back Crystal, why not Stewie and Phee, too? LOL Crap I’m adding Pam Webber and point and Amy Duran at the 3? Consider my line up revised |
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Post by swash on Jul 4, 2021 16:21:05 GMT -5
If we're bring back Crystal, why not Stewie and Phee, too? LOL Crap I’m adding Pam Webber and point and Amy Duran at the 3? Consider my line up revised That's a small lineup, with E playing Power Forward. She did that a fair bit late in the season when bigs had foul issues or Geno wanted a small lineup. She accorded herself well ... significantly better than expected, but was overmatched against a strong four like Nalyssa Smith from Baylor, or even say Siegrist. I will be surprised if he doesn't have two of these three on the floor a ton early in the season - Liv, Aaliyah, Dorka. The things he's said about Azzi sound like he is expecting her to be leading the sub-rotation if not a starter. I guess it really comes down to how well she plays on D. Ditto Dorka. Liv and Christyn are nearly locks. Paige is a lock. |
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Post by justinesguy on Jul 4, 2021 16:49:47 GMT -5
Crap I’m adding Pam Webber and point and Amy Duran at the 3? Consider my line up revised That's a small lineup, with E playing Power Forward. She did that a fair bit late in the season when bigs had foul issues or Geno wanted a small lineup. She accorded herself well ... significantly better than expected, but was overmatched against a strong four like Nalyssa Smith from Baylor, or even say Siegrist. I will be surprised if he doesn't have two of these three on the floor a ton early in the season - Liv, Aaliyah, Dorka. The things he's said about Azzi sound like he is expecting her to be leading the sub-rotation if not a starter. I guess it really comes down to how well she plays on D. Ditto Dorka. Liv and Christyn are nearly locks. Paige is a lock. I’m revising to : Webber Duran Gardler Lou Schumacher Muhl and Poff off the bench. |
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Post by semper on Jul 4, 2021 20:02:28 GMT -5
Paige
Azzi
C
A
O
They start...but tons of subbing
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Post by huskymaniac on Jul 5, 2021 7:57:16 GMT -5
Getting old. Massive brain cramp. Always loved Dangerfield.
1.ONO
2.Westbrook
3.WILLIAMS
4.Bueckers
5.Fudd
Small, yes, but ONO is in there and that should be enough to start the game. Edwards can come in quickly if we have an issue with size and Muhl can come in quickly if we need more perimeter D. Same with Ducharme if no one can hit a shot or Aubry if we are having a tough time against an athletic player.
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Post by UConnChapette on Jul 5, 2021 9:15:37 GMT -5
There are so many combinations that Geno can use. Some players who would be a no brainer starter on other teams will have to sit and wait to come in off the bench.
Wonder if we might see Geno do a 5 for 5 substitution? I doubt it. The only time he has ever done that is when he was thoroughly disgusted with the five on the court and wanted to send a message. Still, 14 players, all of which are talented enough to start pretty much anywhere else. Maybe there will be 5 different starters in each quarter?
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Post by semper on Jul 5, 2021 10:13:25 GMT -5
Yeah, I suggested this a while back. No one picked up on it. Really...it we might have tag teams.  That could be so cool. |
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Post by justinesguy on Jul 5, 2021 10:17:42 GMT -5
There are so many combinations that Geno can use. Some players who would be a no brainer starter on other teams will have to sit and wait to come in off the bench. Wonder if we might see Geno do a 5 for 5 substitution? I doubt it. The only time he has ever done that is when he was thoroughly disgusted with the five on the court and wanted to send a message. Still, 14 players, all of which are talented enough to start pretty much anywhere else. Maybe there will be 5 different starters in each quarter? This is such a good point. I know Geno has liked a tighter rotation especially come tournament time. One can assume there are players so good(Paige and Possibly Azzi) that will play 95% of the minutes in every game it might be challenging to get meaningful minutes to many past a typical 8 person rotation. As always, this problem sorts itself out, one way or another and thats the fun part I guess. Who is going to demand a starting role, or demand the meaningful minutes. I have a sneaking suspicion its going to be hard to pull Nika or Aaliyah from getting those minutes. I also think Caroline Ducharme is going to be better than we think and earn some good run. It will be interesting indeed. |
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Post by huskymaniac on Jul 7, 2021 19:28:54 GMT -5
There are so many combinations that Geno can use. Some players who would be a no brainer starter on other teams will have to sit and wait to come in off the bench. Wonder if we might see Geno do a 5 for 5 substitution? I doubt it. The only time he has ever done that is when he was thoroughly disgusted with the five on the court and wanted to send a message. Still, 14 players, all of which are talented enough to start pretty much anywhere else. Maybe there will be 5 different starters in each quarter? This is such a good point. I know Geno has liked a tighter rotation especially come tournament time. One can assume there are players so good(Paige and Possibly Azzi) that will play 95% of the minutes in every game it might be challenging to get meaningful minutes to many past a typical 8 person rotation. As always, this problem sorts itself out, one way or another and thats the fun part I guess. Who is going to demand a starting role, or demand the meaningful minutes. I have a sneaking suspicion its going to be hard to pull Nika or Aaliyah from getting those minutes. I also think Caroline Ducharme is going to be better than we think and earn some good run. It will be interesting indeed. Geno is the GOAT and it isn't even close. That said, I really hope he goes deeper on the bench this year. We have a lot of players coming off injuries. A little rest would be wise. And they will be fresher for the dreaded semifinal game. We have 9 really good players that should all get double digit minutes. And we could easily go 10 or 11 deep. |
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That could be so cool.