I mean no offense but what are you basing most of this on? Hartford Courant preseason articles? A random Geno off-season quote? HS rankings? Yes Mirs high school competition may have been limited but she went to all the big AAU showcase tourneys like everyone else. Again 2 words why I think she can get time: defense and rebounding!
3 point lead with 45 seconds left who do you think would be a better ‘get one stop’ 1 on 1 defender Makurat or Mir? (Yes I know I’m ignoring a million different factors just a random example). Personally I have no idea but there are a million nuances that just get glossed over when everyone plugs people into lineups.
I think it is possible to largely agree with you both of you here. Like Husky in SC I think Mir has a few players ahead of her for playing time whether you think of her at the 4 (Aaliyah and Aubrey) or as a 3 (Anna and Evina) and yes I know Evina is not just a 3 but may get a-lot of time there. The point is Geno doesn't have to go outside of those four to cover the minutes at the 3 & 4 position if everyone is healthy, and not in foul trouble.
But even if you are number 9 in a largely 8 player rotation, injuries, illness, and foul trouble happens so you get some significant minutes because of that as needed. But Deuce points out scenarios where Mir might be a logical situational substitution, comparing her defense and rebounding to Anna's for example. That makes complete sense too.
If the shot clock is off and Uconn is preparing for the last shot, I probably want Anna on the floor, although you could even make a case for Mir in the Dennis Rodman offensive rebound role. If the role was reversed and the opposition is taking the last shot I would prefer Mir vs Anna as the better defensive/rebounding player.
In some games and matchups Geno might tweak the 8 player rotation beyond just last possession changes, and maybe Mir or Piath gets spot duty because of the matchups. For both of those players if they do very well in situational substitutions and with mop up minutes in blowouts, and approach the level of the rotational players, Geno might consider it advantageous to use 10, try to fast break and press a-lot and wear other teams down. I would personally like to see that, but it requires 9 & 10 to be pretty close to 1-8 or I don't think Geno will do it, and that means Mir and Piath probably have to show more to achieve that.
I really don't question at all Mir's ability to play defense and rebound. I fully expect her to be way above average on both of those traits, and for a player around #9 in potential minutes, she will probably be exceptional on those traits, and even if mediocre on other things, a bench star that on most teams would be a starter, and on most ranked teams even if on the bench would be number 6 or 7, not further down the rotation.
Would she and maybe Piath have gotten significant minutes on last year's team in lieu of Kyla and Molly? Probably, but this is not last year's team. 9 and 10 this year is probably better than 7 and 8 last year but will get less minutes. Next year after adding 3-4 very good pieces if you are not in the rotation whether it be 8 or as much as 10, you will get very few minutes. Being a very good college bench player will not get you many significant minutes on this team, unless you can contribute more than one of the rotational players who all should be very good.
