Clearly, we see things differently. In past years, UConn’s starters would play the entire 1st qtr. During the 2nd qtr, Geno might bring in a sub or 2. Absent foul trouble Geno would typically be back with his starters by the end of the 2nd qtr. The starters would begin the 3rd qtr and assuming UConn was pulling away, then and only then, UConn would sub liberally, usually through mop up time.
I think that’s a realistic expectation. If you consider that UConn basically used a 5-guard rotation this past season and 2 of those guards are gone, then the 2 logical replacements for Paige & Kaitlyn are Kayleigh & Allie.
He didn't have the depth he had last year in a decade and he has more this year. The ability to throw different players with different skill sets into a game upon demand is a great luxury. I just remember clearly Geno putting KK in against SC and Kitts having to defend her. Talk about a blow by. That's the great power of a very good and deep bench. This year the options are what the kids call "sick".
Agreed. The last time you can make the case that Geno had an 8+ player rotation was the 2015-16 season: Stewie, Mo, Tuck, Kia, Lou, Gabby, Pheesa, Saniyah and Nat, and the last 2 on that list are borderline. Once UConn got to the Big Dance, the rotation was trimmed to 7, and it went to 6 after Lou was injured in the national semifinal.
He did have 15 players a number of years ago, but I’m not sure all were on scholarship or healthy. At least right now, Geno looks like he will have 15 healthy scholarship players, knock on wood.
Hookshot, that was more or less an assessment of the BIg East teams.
"...and stay happy."
Sorry, but that is not accurate. Yanna missed the whole season, Azzi wasn’t really ready until December, Aubrey didn’t play until February and then only sparingly, Carol played mop up minutes in the Big East tournament and Morgan had a season-ending injury in February. Only nine of the 14 players were available for the whole season; that is not mostly.
I think if Geno had 12 players that were as talented or contributed as much as his top 6 players he would figure out how to play 12. Did Geno narrow his NCAAT teams and top 5 games to a magic number due to a pattern or preselected number? I think not. At a certain point, you have to have a chemistry and familiarity for the players on the floor and that can control your numbers but when players contribute a special attribute you need or want, they usually play. Before the games were effectively over in the FF, Geno was playing 9 players. You had KK with speed and defense, Ash with speed and surprising offensive rebounding and her known shooting, Ice to back up Jana and play underneath and Aubrey for defense, disruption, and her floor game. So take a core of KK, Azzi, Sarah, Ash, and Serah next year. Add the certainty of K9, Jana and Ice playing and you have 8. No Caroline, Blanca, Morgan, in the mix?
I agree 100% with your post. I’ll add one thing (underlined below) that I haven’t read anyone else mention.
This is the question for me: is a 5+5 rotation in March really practical? Morgan fell out of the rotation in February due to injury, and Aubrey’s lingering injury status inhibited kept her from fully entering the late season rotation. This left Geno with a 5+3 rotation bonded in tremendous chemistry in the run-up to the tournament. Was this result merely an accident of those two injuries, or was a contraction to 5+3 inevitable for practical reasons?
All good by me except that The Metamorphosis comes in February/March. It will happen again the same time this year . Geno has to get through all of oldude's 3003 combinations before he will ratchet down the defense, ratchet up the offense and they get the eye of the tiger. They will win a lot of games, and probably big ones, on talent and depth alone but Geno will be looking for those "magic" combos like last year's insane small ball. We are going to be a great pressing team as one option. Don't be surprised to see K9,KK, Ash, Azzi and Sarah out there in full court chaos at the same time. Don't also be surprised to see Serah, Sarah and either Jana or Ice out there at the same time also for a giant underneath team or Blanca and Caroline as the 2 wings, Sarah or Serah underneath, Azzi at the point and Ash at the off guard just for fun inter alia. This could be a Big Blue(or White) Machine out there.
For what follows, it is helpful (at least to me) to think:
One main difference between a good coach and a great one is devising a sustainable practice schedule and getting enough players to buy into its demands. Yes, all of the above is true and more difficult than BB as you have to work with 10 field players. Success, as I was fortunate to have in U12-U23 select was the exceptional player(s). This was years back and many of my conscripts went on to play for US National team as it was at the time. UConn and Geno are back on top due to Paige and Sarah last year and most hopefully, Azzi, Sarah and Serah this year. I applaud the success of women's BB as I mourn the demise of men's soccer.
Thanks for your thoughtful response, @NycUcWbbFan and especially that final remark about what counts as "rotation." I am not wedded to any particular number of minutes, and I agree that playing in "competitive minutes" is what matters. However.......
Accurate, or the lack thereof, would be if I specifically stated a certain number or percentage of players that were healthy. "Mostly" was used as a comparison to the prior seasons. There were 14 players on the roster. One could argue that there were no expectations for Yanna, Carol, or Aubrey to play, so that leaves 11. Azzi missed the first four games of the season (3 being blowouts), then 4 in Dec due to the sprain, playing in 34 games. Morgan played in 24 of the 40 games. For Geno to have 9-11 players available was an improvement from 6-9 (give or take).
