Geno Auriemma breaks down UConn’s rotation battle ahead of exhibition game

[Kaizen]

The coached talked about which players are most likely to see important minutes this season.

The ones who held big roles last season — Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Evina Westbrook and Christyn Williams — are going to continue to be central figures for UConn.

“The players that came back from last year are a little bit better and a little bit more experienced,” Auriemma said.

Two other returners — Aubrey Griffin and Nika Mühl — have both been hampered by injuries so far. Griffin hasn’t practiced much due to a high ankle sprain and still has no clear timetable for a recovery while Mühl has been battling through a foot issue.

Speaking of the freshmen, both Fudd and Ducharme have impressed in camp so far. For Fudd, she came in regarded as an elite 3-point shooter and has put that ability on full display so far — including in the scrimmage against Boston College, according to Auriemma. The coach just isn’t sure if the Huskies will take full advantage of that.

“I think because she’s a freshman and because she’s kind of quiet, that she probably hasn’t shown us how aggressive she can be. How many shots she can get,” Auriemma said. “So to me, ‘Is she going to make enough of them?’ is not an issue. It’s ‘Can we get her enough of them?’ And that’s partly on us and partly on her.”

Geno Auriemma breaks down UConn’s rotation battle ahead of exhibition game

The coached talked about which players are most likely to see important minutes this season.

www.theuconnblog.com

 

[eebmg]

I love this quote.

Although Fudd is best known as a shooter, Auriemma also pointed out that the freshman has opened some eyes as a defender this preseason.

“Defensively, I think she’s really impressed everyone because no one’s ever talked about that aspect of her game. It’s always been in her ability to score, her ability to shoot the ball,” Auriemma said. “She was telling me the other day that for the longest time in high school, she liked being on defense better in offense. That was probably until every shot started going in.”

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Geno tinkering with 6-player lineups. That's one way to get everyone PT.


During the media’s glimpse of practice on Thursday, Auriemma tested various lineups in half-court drills: Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook and Olivia Nelson-Ododa; Bueckers, Williams, Fudd, Mühl and Juhász; Bueckers, Williams, Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Juhász and Nelson-Ododa.

...

While the 11-time national champion coach is sure to play around with lineups ahead of every game depending on the opponent and who’s healthy, it’s safe to assume we’ll see Bueckers and Williams in that core group. It’s also expected Fudd will jump in early into the season or perhaps from the start.


As for the remaining spots, Auriemma could go with multiple bigs and add either Juhász, Nelson-Ododa and/or Aaliyah Edwards for length. Or he could choose to go with four guards or wings with one big and use Westbrook, Mühl and/or Ducharme to aide Bueckers, Williams and Fudd.

What UConn’s Geno Auriemma hopes to learn from Sunday’s exhibition game: ‘How we react’

The Huskies open the season at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday in an exhibition game against...

www.greenwichtime.com

 

[SVCBeercats]

Geno tinkering with 6-player lineups. That's one way to get everyone PT.
During the media’s glimpse of practice on Thursday, Auriemma tested various lineups in half-court drills: Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook and Olivia Nelson-Ododa; Bueckers, Williams, Fudd, Mühl and Juhász; Bueckers, Williams, Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Juhász and Nelson-Ododa.

So right now it is a 9 player rotation, not in any particular order: Liv, CW, Evina, Paige, Nika, Aaliyah, Dorka, Caroline, and Azzi. Aubrey's high ankle sprain may take 6 weeks to 3 months to completely heal. Red shirt? So her being in the rotation is very dubious even if it takes 6 weeks to heal she has missed so much practice that she really needed to compete and blend with the other players.

 

[Geew1992]

So right now it is a 9 player rotation, not in any particular order: Liv, CW, Evina, Paige, Nika, Aaliyah, Dorka, Caroline, and Azzi. Aubrey's high ankle sprain may take 6 weeks to 3 months to completely heal. Red shirt? So her being in the rotation is very dubious even if it takes 6 weeks to heal she has missed so much practice that she really needed to compete and blend with the other players.

With the free year, she doesn’t have to redshirt.

 

[SVCBeercats]

With the free year, she doesn’t have to redshirt.

If she is smart she does. It is a free ride to a masters degree. Do you see professional basketball in her future? Star money? She should pursue a masters degree as an insurance policy. Having a side career is a smart move for her. Dorka is smart to purse two graduate degrees, psychology and Geno basketball.

 

[Geew1992]

If she is smart she does. It is a free ride to a masters degree. Do you see professional basketball in her future? Star money? She should pursue a masters degree as an insurance policy. Having a side career is a smart move for her. Dorka is smart to purse two graduate degrees, psychology and Geno basketball.

Yes, she will def play overseas. And if she chooses to use her free year, she can pursue a masters degree.

 

[oldhusky]

Starters and the amount of playing time are obviously up in the air, but if you read between the lines of Geno's comments over the preseason, that debate seems to center on 10 players. By position those are Paige and Nika at PG, Christyn and Azzi at SG, Evina and Caroline at SF, Aaliyah and Aubrey at PF, and Liv and Dorka at C.

Now he may not go with a 10 player rotation, but all of those 10 players except Aubrey due to injuries, have been referred to favorably, and obviously he could still go with a wing and not a true PF at the 4, and several players can play more than one position. Having said that if Aubrey is out for an extended time our extended depth leaves several pretty decent options.

One is use a 9 player rotation and have Dorka backup both Aaliyah and Liv with occasional help from a wing like Evina. Certainly not a bad option. Another would be adding another player to the rotation to be the PF backup. I think the main options there would be Mir who did pretty well as an undersized 4 in limited minutes last year, or Saylor as a bigger and completely different more spot up 3 pt shooting 4. I would be pretty confident in either of those options as well at least for limited minutes.

Even with as much as a 10 player rotation, four talented players appeared to be on the outside of a regular rotation. Presumably (by me) Mir, Saylor, Amari and Piath. I suspect all of those are better than the players who were 7th and 8th in the rotation two years ago (Kyla and Molly). Every injury is a setback for a team, but because of our depth we can compensate for those events way better than most teams, although I find it interesting that the teams expected to be at the very top this year, SC, Stanford, Maryland, NC State etc. also appear to be very deep.

 

[hoophuskee]

The coach just isn’t sure if the Huskies will take full advantage of that.

Geno Auriemma breaks down UConn’s rotation battle ahead of exhibition game

The coached talked about which players are most likely to see important minutes this season.

www.theuconnblog.com

In regards to Fudd, this might mean that she can't get off her own shot that easily (sort of like KML). Then again it might mean nothing other than he wants his team to execute, and for her to hunt for shots more, and the team is too balanced to focus as much on one scorer unlike last year needing Paige as much. Interesting comments.

Didn't know Nika had an injury issue. Very disappointed hearing that. Very disappointed.

And as stated previously by many on here in which Geno clearly points out/ implies - that "there is no elephant in the room."

 

[CL82]

Similarly, Ducharme is best known as a 3-point threat, but has shown to be more that so far. “She’s been a little bit of a surprise in that the game doesn’t seem to too fast. She’s able to use her length to get to the basket a lot,” Auriemma said. “Between her and Christyn, we’ve probably gotten to the basket more times already this year than we did all last year. It’s something that’s been a point of emphasis for us, but she’s really good at it. She doesn’t need a lot of time. The ball doesn’t spend a lot of time in her hands.”

 

[DefenseBB]

I hate to say it but our fine colleague @Kaizen buried Nika in their overview synopsis. Here's Geno speaking rather pointedly about our fine Croatian guard:
“Nika’s got an impact on our team that very few kids have. She’s got a voice on our team that very few kids have,” he said. “I envision her having that impact.”

“She plays harder than everybody else. She competes harder than other players. She may be physically tougher than the other kids,” Auriemma added. “So there’s a lot of things that go into her makeup that separate her from other kids on the team.”

To me, you need these type of "intangible players" whose contributions are not easily defined in the stat sheet but by watching the games and seeing the energy they bring and exert, bringing a different dynamic. Plus, my wife and daughter are simply amazed how shiny her hair ALWAYS is. Nika can often be overlooked by quite a few of our diehard fans on this forum, but to me and apparently Geno, she's a key component to our success.

 

[Kaizen]

I hate to say it but our fine colleague @Kaizen buried Nika in their overview synopsis. Here's Geno speaking rather pointedly about our fine Croatian guard:
“Nika’s got an impact on our team that very few kids have. She’s got a voice on our team that very few kids have,” he said. “I envision her having that impact.”

“She plays harder than everybody else. She competes harder than other players. She may be physically tougher than the other kids,” Auriemma added. “So there’s a lot of things that go into her makeup that separate her from other kids on the team.”

I did not bury Nika in her overview synopsis. I just quoted Geno: Mühl has been battling through a foot issue.

I jus wish Nika is fully recovered and can play as soon as possible. May be Geno talks too much ...

 

[Stymie]

Starters and the amount of playing time are obviously up in the air, but if you read between the lines of Geno's comments over the preseason, that debate seems to center on 10 players. By position those are Paige and Nika at PG, Christyn and Azzi at SG, Evina and Caroline at SF, Aaliyah and Aubrey at PF, and Liv and Dorka at C.

Now he may not go with a 10 player rotation, but all of those 10 players except Aubrey due to injuries, have been referred to favorably, and obviously he could still go with a wing and not a true PF at the 4, and several players can play more than one position. Having said that if Aubrey is out for an extended time our extended depth leaves several pretty decent options.

One is use a 9 player rotation and have Dorka backup both Aaliyah and Liv with occasional help from a wing like Evina. Certainly not a bad option. Another would be adding another player to the rotation to be the PF backup. I think the main options there would be Mir who did pretty well as an undersized 4 in limited minutes last year, or Saylor as a bigger and completely different more spot up 3 pt shooting 4. I would be pretty confident in either of those options as well at least for limited minutes.

Even with as much as a 10 player rotation, four talented players appeared to be on the outside of a regular rotation. Presumably (by me) Mir, Saylor, Amari and Piath. I suspect all of those are better than the players who were 7th and 8th in the rotation two years ago (Kyla and Molly). Every injury is a setback for a team, but because of our depth we can compensate for those events way better than most teams, although I find it interesting that the teams expected to be at the very top this year, SC, Stanford, Maryland, NC State etc. also appear to be very deep.

I’m not seeing Dorka as a backup.
If not initially, somewhere down the line she’s a starter.

 

[veryolddog]

This is a great problem for Geno to have. He is a great tactician and now has so many options at his disposal that he must have a constant smile on his face.