A New Starting Lineup?

[PvP]

Towards the end of his postgame presser, Geno was asked about KK and Ash's performance, and he discussed how they have been used in the two previous years where they started as Freshmen and then came off the bench as Sophomores. He pointed out that UCONN won the National Championship with them coming off the bench and then stated "I like them (coming off the bench) better.

I think, given Geno's statement, that it is only a matter of time (and likely sooner than later) that he reverts to having KK and Ash come off the bench once again as "super agitators". Which begs the question, what the new starting lineup will be. This will be super controversial to be sure, but I think he will stick with Serah Williams as she has an extremely important role long term and that he simply cannot ignore what Blanca has shown. Sarah and Azzi are givens of course. I would posit that Allie will be the other new starter. I noticed, as I am sure many others here did, that Allie was on the floor at the end of the Michigan game when everything was on the line which tells me, he has great confidence in her when the stress is greatest. Of course, that raises the question as to who will be the PG? Sarah and Azzi have often brought the ball up and could again, but may not be the answer longer term. The alternative would be Heckel of course but she has been shaky of late.

I expect a LOT of differing opinions.

 

[Bone Dog]

I think, given Geno's statement, that it is only a matter of time (and likely sooner than later) that he reverts to having KK and Ash come off the bench once again as "super agitators". Which begs the question, what the new starting lineup will be. This will be super controversial to be sure, but I think he will stick with Serah Williams as she has an extremely important role long term and that he simply cannot ignore what Blanca has shown. Sarah and Azzi are givens of course. I would posit that Allie will be the other new starter. I noticed, as I am sure many others here did, that Allie was on the floor at the end of the Michigan game when everything was on the line which tells me, he has great confidence in her when the stress is greatest. Of course, that raises the question as to who will be the PG? Sarah and Azzi have often brought the ball up and could again, but may not be the answer longer term. The alternative would be Heckel of course but she has been shaky of late.

I expect a LOT of differing opinions.

I more or less agree that we’re likely to see Sarah and Azzi bring the ball up the court in pressure situations. And we’ve already seen Geno have Allie do the same on a few occasions against tOSU, Michigan and Utah. But I don’t think we’ll see her start anytime soon.

I suspect Blanca will replace Ash as a starter eventually, though perhaps not before the end of January. But replacing KK as a starter seems a lot trickier. Kayleigh is not yet a better option, and Azzi is not a better passer than KK. Geno may well prefer the energy KK brings off the bench and still not have a better option for the starting lineup.

 

[Cuango]

Admittedly, Blanca may force a change if she continues her current trajectory. However, I do not think that he will move KK out of her starting position as she, at present anyway, is simply better (substantially better) at running the point than Heckel. You are correct that Sarah could probably get the job done but I doubt seriously we will see that. As for Azzi, I just think that is a bad idea. She is dominating where she is. Why take a chance on messing that up by moving her into a role she is not really suited for? Ash is beginning to return to form so it is equally possible imo, that she retains her starting spot and Geno uses Blanca and hopefully, Allie as the explosive game-changers from the bench. I realize Allie has a ways to go but I like her trajectory as well.

 

[DEpup]

I listened to him and that was more bulletin board material for them than actually going to happen. I'm not sure what the obsession is on this board about the starting line up.... I don't think it will change, barring injury or some sort of slump.

Can this board find something else to obsess about?

 

[Veteran]

Nika Muhl: For some reason this sounds familiar.

 

[johnhelvete]

Towards the end of his postgame presser, Geno was asked about KK and Ash's performance, and he discussed how they have been used in the two previous years where they started as Freshmen and then came off the bench as Sophomores. He pointed out that UCONN won the National Championship with them coming off the bench and then stated "I like them (coming off the bench) better.

I think, given Geno's statement, that it is only a matter of time (and likely sooner than later) that he reverts to having KK and Ash come off the bench once again as "super agitators". Which begs the question, what the new starting lineup will be. This will be super controversial to be sure, but I think he will stick with Serah Williams as she has an extremely important role long term and that he simply cannot ignore what Blanca has shown. Sarah and Azzi are givens of course. I would posit that Allie will be the other new starter. I noticed, as I am sure many others here did, that Allie was on the floor at the end of the Michigan game when everything was on the line which tells me, he has great confidence in her when the stress is greatest. Of course, that raises the question as to who will be the PG? Sarah and Azzi have often brought the ball up and could again, but may not be the answer longer term. The alternative would be Heckel of course but she has been shaky of late.

I expect a LOT of differing opinions.

I wonder if that is as much about Geno sending a message to the current bench players and how they can contribute to this years team than it is an actual preference for both coming off the bench. However, Ash is probably the most vulnerable of the starters to lose the starting spot, (21% from 3) with potentially Blanca or Allie as possible starters. As for KK, a lot of things would have to happen for her to not be a starter IMO.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I wonder if that is as much about Geno sending a message to the current bench players and how they can contribute to this years team than it is an actual preference for both coming off the bench. However, Ash is probably the most vulnerable of the starters to lose the starting spot, (21% from 3) with potentially Blanca or Allie as possible starters. As for KK, a lot of things would have to happen for her to not be a starter IMO.

Shade's in a bit of a shooting slump to start the season, but for her college career which is more than half over, she has been one of the best 3-point shooters on the team. In her freshman season she shot 35.6% good for third best on the team behind Paige and Nika, and last year she shot 41.1% which was better than everyone not named Paige or Azzi.

 

[Tonyc]

UConn is a work in process right now. Some newbies are learning and the chemistry is coming together. We will as the season progresses start clicking and when we do all our worrys will be over. We are watching the tweaking going on and the development beginning to take form. It takes time be patient. Changes in the starting lineup will only hurt our chemistry. We saw what happened in the 3rd qtr when Geno put in a few non starters. It took them time to get going and thats a good think that he put them in they need real game time experience. This is all about the building process

 

[SVCBeercats]

I think, given Geno's statement, that it is only a matter of time (and likely sooner than later) that he reverts to having KK and Ash come off the bench once again as "super agitators".

Right now I believe in games against top 25 teams Geno only trusts Strong, Fudd, Shade and KK. He trusts Williams will eventually blend in and stop trying to break the Tina Charles most missed layups record. Quinonez must show improvement in games against strong opponents. If she does it would be amazing. Heckel must cease being Jeckle. She too wants to be the missed layup queen. She should be nicknamed "Beep Beep." Reminds me of "Hey Buddy how can I get this car out of second gear?" She needs to be the Road Runner, it has its speed under control. Hopefully the Guppy will show promise. Ice is still a hopeful. As of this moment this team isn't as stacked as I thought. Lot's of work is needed as in a bench for meaningful games.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I wonder if that is as much about Geno sending a message to the current bench players and how they can contribute to this years team than it is an actual preference for both coming off the bench. However, Ash is probably the most vulnerable of the starters to lose the starting spot, (21% from 3) with potentially Blanca or Allie as possible starters. As for KK, a lot of things would have to happen for her to not be a starter IMO.

I agree 100% on KK.
I don't want her out of the starting lineup. She is a key part of this team. Especially defensively. An absolute dog

 

[oldude]

There is 0 chance that KK comes off the bench. KK has assumed the largest responsibility of any Husky this year in stepping in to run the offense for both Paige & Kaitlyn. Her tenacious defense has been tremendous, a key component in UConn’s fast starts. On offense she’s orchestrating the show with exceptional efficiency. Currently she has an incredible A/TO ratio of 4.8. Compare that to Paige last season, who had one of the most efficient seasons ever. Paige’s A/TO ratio was 3.5.

Beyond that, KK’s shooting is solid at 49/30/89. Could it be better? Certainly. But any PG putting up those numbers I absolutely want starting the game for Geno. Nika’s numbers were never quite as good as KK, although she did improve her 3-pt shooting her senior year. But Nika absolutely needed to start the game the same as KK.

As for Ash, we’ll see. She brings so much intensity and production to every game. If her shooting settles in, she continues to start. If not Geno can switch to Blanca, Kayleigh or Allie.

 

[broooce]

Towards the end of his postgame presser, Geno was asked about KK and Ash's performance, and he discussed how they have been used in the two previous years where they started as Freshmen and then came off the bench as Sophomores. He pointed out that UCONN won the National Championship with them coming off the bench and then stated "I like them (coming off the bench) better.

I think, given Geno's statement, that it is only a matter of time (and likely sooner than later) that he reverts to having KK and Ash come off the bench once again as "super agitators". Which begs the question, what the new starting lineup will be. This will be super controversial to be sure, but I think he will stick with Serah Williams as she has an extremely important role long term and that he simply cannot ignore what Blanca has shown. Sarah and Azzi are givens of course. I would posit that Allie will be the other new starter. I noticed, as I am sure many others here did, that Allie was on the floor at the end of the Michigan game when everything was on the line which tells me, he has great confidence in her when the stress is greatest. Of course, that raises the question as to who will be the PG? Sarah and Azzi have often brought the ball up and could again, but may not be the answer longer term. The alternative would be Heckel of course but she has been shaky of late.

I expect a LOT of differing opinions.

...and as starters Ash and KK helped lead a short-handed team all the way to the Final Four in Cleveland, playing most of every game that season, and lost in the semifinals on a (questionable) moving screen foul at the end of that game. They've both been great as FRESHMAN starters and last year off the bench, which was necessitated with the return of Azzi and Kaitlyn Chen's transfer in.

They have so much experience that Geno can't lose either way, but I suspect they're in the starting lineup because they both thoroughly know his system and he trusts them implicitly. As Kayleigh and Blanca get a tad more experience as the season goes on then Ash and KK will have to play to keep their starting roles. Geno will continue to experiment with lineups until the entire team meshes as they did last year after the Tennessee game. When that occurs and with this year's depth the team has a chance to be far scarier than last year. As long as they master playing against the zone.

 

[CL82]

Can this board find something else to obsess about?

Can it? Sure. Will it? Undoubtedly. But that doesn't mean we will stop talking about this.

I'll echo some of the voices above that I think it's very unlikely KK won't continue to be the starter. I think she runs the offense better and provides the stability needed at the point in the beginning of games.

I'm less confident about Ashlynn. She plays hard in her presence is felt all over the court often in ways that do not show up in the boxscore. At least through the end of the year, I think she will continue as a starter, but undoubtedly Heckel and Blanca are making cases for themselves particularly with their offense.

If I were to guess I would anticipate both KK and Shade continuing as starters, but their minutes would be reduced in order to make more time for other players. Ultimately, that's probably a good thing as it lets every player give maximum output during their time on the court.

One final thought, which I think is a little counterintuitive, Blanca and Heckel may get some minutes from Williams. While they aren't at the same position, Geno has shown a preference for his small ball lineup. Ultimately there's only 400 minutes to go around. As players such as Blanca and Heckel show they can contribute, minutes will have to be adjusted to get them playing time. But that doesn't need to be a position for a position sub like you would see in football. I like playing the team with less individual minutes as I think it allows the players to stay fresh during the game and hopefully makes them less prone to injury.

(For what it's worth, I like Blanca as a sub for Strong for at least a couple of minutes per half. No one can replace with Sarah can do, but two minutes per half would reduce her to 36 minutes overall, which I think is more manageable and Blanca, though not yet the complete player that Strong is, offers a high octane boost to our offense. Opposing defenders breathing a sigh of relief as Sarah goes to the bench would inwardly groan when they realize they now have to account for Blanca attacking at 100 mph.)

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

The bolded underline text underscores that Geno has no immediate plans to change the starting lineup.

===

The gist of Geno’s answer to a question about KK and Ash (Postgame presser @10:35) is that there is no difference in mindset in terms of what Geno wants from them as starters as he wanted from them as first-off-the-bench players, for which “they had a tremendous impact on the team and we won a national championship.”

“Now they’re going back to we’re starters, little different role, maybe in their minds — I don’t see it different — maybe a little more, you know, in their minds I think I want to do more now that I am a junior I have to do more, I have to be better. That wears on you sometimes. And [to] be honest, I like them coming off the bench better, ‘cause there’s no worry, just go in run around like crazy, shoot, pester the other team and then get a breather. Now I think they feel like that they have to do more, so I have to manage that.”

As a side note, thanks to fast starts, Geno has been trying to develop his bench weapons, such as Kelis. Kayleigh, Kelis and Blanca (for now) could be the terror triplets in KK and Ash’s role last year.

 

[Centerstream]

Doesn't Geno also prefer to use experienced upperclassmen to start the game if they are available? For this reason, I don't see Geno changing the starters until well into conference play, if he does change it.
Note: most highly rated freshmen/sophomores are exempt from this strategy.

 

[CL82]

S

Kayleigh, Kelis and Blanca (for now) could be the terror triplets in KK and Ash’s role last year.

"Terror triplets", I like it!

 

[JoePgh]

I think there is a good reason for Blanca to enter the starting lineup as soon as she is consistently under control (as she was against Utah), and that reason is SIZE. Blanca clearly is a capable rebounder, and I think the Serah/Jana pair (one or both) will become as capable at rebounding as they each were last season. Ashlynn is a good rebounder for her size and position, and she should soon get back to her scoring level from last year, but in the same number of minutes, Blanca will score more and rebound more than Ashlynn will.

Rebounding and defending the paint are likely to UConn's biggest challenges in getting #13. Few other teams will match UConn's shooting or passing, so their strategy will be to pound the ball inside, hit the offensive boards, and not allow UConn any second shots. A front line of Serah/Jana, Sarah, and Jana will make that strategy very difficult to implement.

 

[jabstep]

The current starting lineup is first and foremost great defensively. The offense, when in transition or steals leading to fast breaks is the core of this team. When we can get some transition 3's from Azzi, Ash and now now Blanca we can break the games open rather quickly.
I think if Geno doesnt like what any of his starting 5 are doing he has lots of options at this point, and he is experimenting with his options.

 

[Zinethar]

I noticed a small shift in KK's game after her foul trouble previously. She is still an attacking defender but with a small reduction in aggression that will help keep her on the floor. K9 can then be used for the total aggressive defense when coming off the bench. IMHO Ash's issues are two fold - her shot tend to have a very low ark which hurts her average as it tends to bounce rapidly away from the rim making it harder to rebound and harder to get a favorable bounce to go in. Second she plays with so much intensity that she at times loses her composure. That was obvious in the Michigan game where they did a close up on her after what she thought was a bad call and she was obviously having anger issues which impacted her game for a while. I'm a bit puzzled by Serah's issues. She is being very tentative. I don't know if it is lack of confidence, an injury, or if it is just still overthinking in a new system. I expect whatever the issue is will go away over time based on her past performances.

Blanca is becoming one of my favorites - tough, FAST, and impactful. When she fully learns the system and the game slows down for her I believe she will be a monster!

I'm glad Allie is coming into her own out there. The game appears to be slowing for her as she get more experience which will help her shot get more predictable. She is a capable sub for Azzi, not a replacement for sure, but steady and a good foul shooter for the endgame.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Towards the end of his postgame presser, Geno was asked about KK and Ash's performance, and he discussed how they have been used in the two previous years where they started as Freshmen and then came off the bench as Sophomores. He pointed out that UCONN won the National Championship with them coming off the bench and then stated "I like them (coming off the bench) better.

I think, given Geno's statement, that it is only a matter of time (and likely sooner than later) that he reverts to having KK and Ash come off the bench once again as "super agitators". Which begs the question, what the new starting lineup will be. This will be super controversial to be sure, but I think he will stick with Serah Williams as she has an extremely important role long term and that he simply cannot ignore what Blanca has shown. Sarah and Azzi are givens of course. I would posit that Allie will be the other new starter. I noticed, as I am sure many others here did, that Allie was on the floor at the end of the Michigan game when everything was on the line which tells me, he has great confidence in her when the stress is greatest. Of course, that raises the question as to who will be the PG? Sarah and Azzi have often brought the ball up and could again, but may not be the answer longer term. The alternative would be Heckel of course but she has been shaky of late.

I expect a LOT of differing opinions.

Currently, I have not seen anyone better than KK or Ash that can be inserted into the starting lineup. Maybe if and when Cheli comes back.

 

[Ozimoto]

Based on the fast starts for the team through the first six games, I do not expect that the starting lineup will change anytime soon.

 

[Bone Dog]

It’s interesting how the small ball lineups seem to have changed. Last year, it was Paige Azzi Sarah and a pair of guards. That is, only one player >6’. The speed of this group was simply too much for more traditional lineups, and it didn’t hurt that they played defense like a single piece of steel. No cracks, no loose welds. Just crisp ferocity.

This season, Geno can certainly do something similar with his guards and have a really small lineup. But he can also use Blanca next to Sarah in a ‘small’ ball lineup and not sacrifice anything in speed or ferocity. If only Morgan were healthy, I could see an even bigger ‘small’ ball lineup. But that may have to wait until next season, I fear.

In any event, KK and Kayleigh may eventually become interchangeable. But Kayleigh is still a little bit away from that possibility. Looking forward to next season, I half expect to see a true KK-Kayleigh platoon, a sort of masterclass for Kelis and Jovana to learn from.

 

[freshler40]

I agree 100% on KK.
I don't want her out of the starting lineup. She is a key part of this team. Especially defensively. An absolute dog

Also agree about KK but hope she can dribble penetrate early on some offensive positions, finish or dish off. This would provide more for the team than just half court glue. This added dimension would made us impossible to defend.

 

[WiseWillie]

Shade's in a bit of a shooting slump to start the season, but for her college career which is more than half over, she has been one of the best 3-point shooters on the team. In her freshman season she shot 35.6% good for third best on the team behind Paige and Nika, and last year she shot 41.1% which was better than everyone not named Paige or Azzi.

Good points on Shade's 3-pt %. Plus she brings defensive ntensity that the other possible alternatives mentioned haven't achieved -yet- and since defense is what Geno has traditionally stressed gets things going early for our offense, she will remain a starter unless something (won't say it) or someone can match her defense and, when out of the shooting slump, her scoring.

 

[DemonDeac22]

I’m less worried about who starts at this time of the year - they will figure these spots out based on in-season performance by the time they get to the conference tournament. KK and Ash have earned their starting spots for now based on their body of work and contributions in the prior two seasons.