Carnac
That venerable sage from the west
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There are a lot of questions marks going into next season. For me our freshman class sounds great but we haven't seen them at the college level. I think Dangerfield will see a lot of minutes as she looks like the future point guard but we still need to see how she develops with in Genos system. Irwin and Bent Ive haven't seen either. So until they being practice in the fall we wont know how they will fit in.
Next question is Chong and Butler. Is Chong better? Will she be able to start and be effective or is her leg still prohibiting her from starting? We will have to wait and see. If she is ready to play she has a very good outside shot which will take a lot of pressure off the middle and KLS. She is a terrific slasher and scorer and we need that. Butler if ready to start gives UConn so many options. She can score rebound and is the big presence underneath that will intimidate. Can she stay out of foul trouble? Can she get into position to block the middle? She is a good shooter, a good scorer and a good rebounder. With Butler on the floor it allows KLS to play up top like Stewie and cause shooters to rush shots. I really like having Chong and Butler on the floor because of their experience and what they bring but if theyre not healthy or ready Geno wont start them . I don't think he starts freshman either. Theyre not ready and they don't know the system well enough to play at a high level.
IMO none of the freshman start unless their are injuries. If Saniya is ready to go I think she starts if shes not healthy she doesn't start. We can play small against small teams but I don't think we will fair well against teams with big like ND and Baylor so imo we need Butler developed if we're going to challenge teams like Baylor and ND and if were going to challenge for a NC.
This is a very talented UConn team with a lot of question marks. Dangerfield when ready for the college level could be super and with Collier and Lou gives us 3 really good players. Another big plus would be Gabby gaining a 3 pt shot. If she does this will be a really really good team. However if Saniya doesn't play and Gabby doesn't have an 3 pt shot all we have is Lou from the outside and that could be a problem, especially if Butler doesn't start. In this scenario we have lack of 3 pt shooters and a lack of height.
As I said a lot of question marks and Im sure the coaching staff is working on that. We have a lot of underclassman this season that we are depending on. They still need development. They still need to identify their chemistry. Remember Stewie and Mojeff their first two seasons when neither had much consistency but what they did have is other players to pick them up experienced players to pick them up. This season we don't have that.
We can talk about all the scenarios we want but until the team beings practice we wont know anymore then we do now and all we have is speculation. With that said I will speculate and say Genos starters will come from last seasons roster and no freshman will start unless there are injuries.
Right now, I'd have to agree with you Tonyc. Barring injuries, I don't see any freshmen starting in November. That may change come March, but to begin the season, no. The tea leaves will be easy to read just before the beginning of conference play.