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Message: [QUOTE="Sluconn Husky, post: 4087693, member: 5089"] This will probably get its own thread I assume. Creme and Vopel on the biggest questions for the coming year. [HEADING=1][SIZE=5]How will all the talent also coexist at UConn? Which players will be in the Huskies' starting lineup?[/SIZE][/HEADING] [I] [B]Creme:[/B] UConn coach Geno Auriemma has already said he's not sure how he's going to distribute playing time to all his players' satisfaction. Depending on the development of the freshmen -- a class rated second only to South Carolina's -- UConn could go 11 or 12 players deep. Still, only eight or nine will factor into the regular rotation, and managing any potential discontent might be the biggest challenge to the Huskies' coaching staff this season. I expect the starting lineup at the beginning of this season to mirror the Huskies' starting five to end last season: [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4433730/paige-bueckers']Paige Bueckers[/URL], [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4398965/christyn-williams']Christyn Williams[/URL], [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4280890/evina-westbrook']Evina Westbrook[/URL], [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4433408/aaliyah-edwards']Aaliyah Edwards[/URL] and [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4398966/olivia-nelson-ododa']Olivia Nelson-Ododa[/URL]. Bueckers was the consensus best player in the country last year as a freshman. Williams, Westbrook and Nelson-Ododa are veterans that should understand exactly what Auriemma wants. Edwards was one of the country's most improved players as her freshman season came to a close. This is also the lineup that causes the least possible disruption. [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4433790/azzi-fudd']Azzi Fudd[/URL], the fourth No. 1 recruit in the last five years to choose UConn, seems too good to come off the bench, but that might be where she starts the season. [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4398938/dorka-juhasz']Dorka Juhasz[/URL], an [URL='https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/team/_/id/194/ohio-state-buckeyes']Ohio State[/URL] transfer who started all but two games in her three years with the Buckeyes, might also begin the season on the bench, but could get starts ahead of Edwards. We'll know more when UConn plays its first exhibition on Sunday; the Huskies open the season Nov. 14 against Arkansas. Figuring out the starting lineup and even the distribution of minutes really isn't the question for UConn -- it's which player Auriemma trusts the most in big moments? Who is finishing close games? It's going to take some time before those answers evolve, but an early indicator of how Auriemma views his roster could come as early as the week before Thanksgiving. The Huskies could face South Carolina in the finals of the eight-team Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 22. If that matchup doesn't happen, the two meet in a nonconference game Jan. 27 in Columbia.[/I] [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/32538057/the-biggest-questions-women-college-basketball-entering-2021-22-season[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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