Geno can learn from Tara

[Dokey]

Given his incoming talent, Geno needs to develop a deep bench. Tara often plays ten-eleven players, this able to change temp and keep players fresh. Geno concentrates on six-seven, occasionally eight, even during runaways in Big East. Use bench earlier in those runaways, get them prepared for the Big Dance. He needed to shake things up against Arizona and didn’t.
Speaking of Arizona, all the Boneyarders who put them down are eating crow tonight. Stanford was the winner today but it was the PAC-12 that was the big winner. It will give them a big boost in recruiting as the best conference in women’s basketball. Stanford is loaded and two years down the road 6’ 7” Lauren Betts is heading from the Colorado mountains (well, close) to the Farm.
Parity may be here.

 

[VivaLsVgs]

OK....But this is Tara’s first title in 29 years and Geno has won 11 during that time so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt with bench management.

 

[Blue Huskie]

Given his incoming talent, Geno needs to develop a deep bench. Tara often plays ten-eleven players, this able to change temp and keep players fresh. Geno concentrates on six-seven, occasionally eight, even during runaways in Big East. Use bench earlier in those runaways, get them prepared for the Big Dance. He needed to shake things up against Arizona and didn’t.
Speaking of Arizona, all the Boneyarders who put them down are eating crow tonight. Stanford was the winner today but it was the PAC-12 that was the big winner. It will give them a big boost in recruiting as the best conference in women’s basketball. Stanford is loaded and two years down the road 6’ 7” Lauren Betts is heading from the Colorado mountains (well, close) to the Farm.
Parity may be here.

Well he won 11 NC's with that 6-8 player formula so I don't think that's the problem. He just has to have the right players and enough of them with adequate experience and it will be fine. And how does Stanford and UCONN getting the best players develop parity? AZ getting to the NC game was pretty much a fluke that you probably won't see again for another 10 years.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Well he won 11 NC's with that 6-8 player formula so I don't think that's the problem. He just has to have the right players and enough of them with adequate experience and it will be fine. And how does Stanford and UCONN getting the best players develop parity? AZ getting to the NC game was pretty much a fluke that you probably won't see again for another 10 years.

Why not? Syracuse made it to the final just five years ago. And I think they were a lower seed than Arizona.

 

[wolfe613]

different styles for different coaches but yes I believe in depth that's why I think Baylor will win, their 3 bench players came vs Houston and had 27 pts didn't miss a beat

 

[Blue Huskie]

Why not? Syracuse made it to the final just five years ago. And I think they were a lower seed than Arizona.

Yes they were a 4 seed. OK then I'll revise my estimate to every 5 years but the cinderella won't win. And just because that happens it hardly means parity has arrived. People were probably saying that when Syracuse got there that year. No great parity exists in the women's game. This is probably the most wide open I've seen it as to who could win and still it was a 1 seed.

 

[willtalk]

Geno is a systems coach and it has worked for him through out his career. Every coaches style has its pluses and minuses. It's all a trade off, You gain one thing only to lose something else. The WCBB landscape has been changing and we shall see how much that will affect Geno's system.

 

[DriveLH]

In the '99 - 2000 season, Geno routinely played 10 players. When he has more that he trusts, he plays them. I think next year he may play as many as 11.

 

[bluedevil]

In the '99 - 2000 season, Geno routinely played 10 players. When he has more that he trusts, he plays them. I think next year he may play as many as 11.

Stanford played 11 tonight and I think it may have worked.

 

[LoTrader]

I said earlier this season, that Stanford's 2nd team would have been top 4 in the PAC-12. That bench won Stanford a lot of games this season. Truly a remarkable amount of depth.

 

[DaBball]

UConn did not quite have the depth that Stanford had this season, particularly with Muhl and Makurat's injuries. Next season should be the deepest UConn team in recent memory, so it'll be interesting to see how Geno utilizes that talent as far as lineups go. Also some solid experience with three seniors, one of whom is a fifth-year.

 

[UcMiami]

Geno's philosophy: I'd rather play beautiful basketball with 5 than play crap with 10.
When he can trust players he is happy to play ten - he did it at the turn of the century at Uconn, he did it with the NT in Olympics and WCs, and maybe he will next year if players develop quickly.

The reality is that Tara played 6 players for 177 minutes and because of foul trouble found 23 minutes spaced between 5 bench players. Those 5 players shot 0-3 with two assists and two TO, and grabbed 7 rebounds. In the semis she played 4 of those 5 for 25 minutes when they shot 0-5 from the field and 1-2 from the line, contributing 3 rebounds, 1 assist 1 steal and 1 TO while committing 4 fouls. (They weren't in as much foul trouble in the semis.)

I'm not sure how great Stanford's bench is or how much Tara uses her bench - seems the team is sort of 6/7 players deep.

The 7th player is probably Belibi who in the two games got 14 minutes and scored zero, or Lacie Hull who got 15 and scored the 1 point

 

[Blacketh’D]

we need some kids who don't just expect to win and are hungry. We don't need Geno learning from his peers. He may need to learn, but this is not MJ on the wizards or Roy Williams at UNC. He's got time before we decide he doesn't have it anymore.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Totally sui generis to Stanford and specifically this Stanford team. The only reason Tara can run 10 deep is because players who could easily start at other solid D1 schools are happy to come off the bench in exchange for a Stanford degree (see dunker Fran Belibi, who has her sights set on an MD post-graduation). And even under those conditions, our lineup is probably historically deep. In many years Tara didn't even have 5 starter-caliber players, let alone a hockey line substitution's worth of backups.

 

[msf22b]

Without a doubt, from a perspective of use of her extensive bench,
Tara showed mastery.

In other respects, her team showed just a drop more composure than UConn did.
Not much, they easily could have lost the game in the last 5 minutes.

Two hall of fame coaches, struggling with the machinations of a new mom.

Interesting...

 

[darkstar1]

Stanford played 11 tonight and I think it may have worked.

What worked was bigs making layups.

 

[schmendrick]

Stanford won to be sure, but not exactly in a dominant fashion. The last two could have just as easily gone the other way.

 

[oldhusky]

In the '99 - 2000 season, Geno routinely played 10 players. When he has more that he trusts, he plays them. I think next year he may play as many as 11.

I hope so, but have my doubts. I hope he leaves his comfort zone (7-8) and goes to playing 10 routinely, with specialists or occasional situational substitutions with 11 and 12, whoever that might be. I suspect his second unit (6-10) will be about as good as it ever has been, but I am absolutely sure he has never had a third unit (11-15) like we will have if nobody leaves.

To me that means he should go out of his way to find a way to effectively use as many as possible. Our first unit will be very good relative to other team's starters. I believe the gap between our second unit and our opponents will be even larger, and the gap between our third unit and their players outside the top ten even greater again.

If we press, not occasionally but a lot, we can wear out our opponents starters and force them to reduce their minutes or have them play tired. Our starters get tired too, but we have better options off the bench. If a greater portion of the game is played between both teams benches, that could be a huge advantage for us. We could give the bench more time, and be running up the score at the same time. We can also try to push the pace more on offense. We picked up the pace a little this year, but I don't think we have tried high gear yet. Quite a few of our players have styles compatible with a get up and go system.

 

[bballnut90]

I'm guessing the plan is for Geno to have a deeper rotation going forward considering he has a 15 player roster next year including:
-3 former HS POYS (Bueckers, Fudd, Williams)
-3 other top 5 recruits (ONO, Ducharme, Westbrook)
-4 others with starting experience for UCONN (Griffin, Makurat, Muhl, Edwards)

Plus 3 others who were top 30 recruits. My guess is he goes at least 9 deep since he has 7 rotation players back, Makurat should be healthy, and I think it's safe to assume Fudd earns a spot in the rotation. Not to mention Ducharme is a top 5 kid and Deberry likely gets some rotation minutes too.

 

[Boreifs]

I said earlier this season, that Stanford's 2nd team would have been top 4 in the PAC-12. That bench won Stanford a lot of games this season. Truly a remarkable amount of depth.

Their depth, however, is at the 3-5 positions. It is going to be difficult for them to replace Williams and Wilson and to keep one of their three centers from the portal.

 

[Buzzyboy]

In the '99 - 2000 season, Geno routinely played 10 players. When he has more that he trusts, he plays them. I think next year he may play as many as 11.

I think you're right when you speak of Geno having TRUST .... if he trusts ten, he plays ten, if eleven, he plays eleven, etc. etc.

 

[Dokey]

Well he won 11 NC's with that 6-8 player formula so I don't think that's the problem. He just has to have the right players and enough of them with adequate experience and it will be fine. And how does Stanford and UCONN getting the best players develop parity? AZ getting to the NC game was pretty much a fluke that you probably won't see again for another 10 years.

Then. Now

 

[Dokey]

I'm guessing the plan is for Geno to have a deeper rotation going forward considering he has a 15 player roster next year including:
-3 former HS POYS (Bueckers, Fudd, Williams)
-3 other top 5 recruits (ONO, Ducharme, Westbrook)
-4 others with starting experience for UCONN (Griffin, Makurat, Muhl, Edwards)

Plus 3 others who were top 30 recruits. My guess is he goes at least 9 deep since he has 7 rotation players back, Makurat should be healthy, and I think it's safe to assume Fudd earns a spot in the rotation. Not to mention Ducharme is a top 5 kid and Deberry likely gets some rotation minutes too.

That is what I am Hoping but it will be important to get those 9-10 real minutes in blowouts, not three minutes at end.

 

[CL82]

AZ getting to the NC game was pretty much a fluke that you probably won't see again for another 10 years.

Or the long sought parity in women’s basketball has finally arrived.

 

[Blue Huskie]

Or the long sought parity in women’s basketball has finally arrived.

That is said every time a lower seed advances. Unlike the Men's Tourney they are few and far between. Don't count on parity. All you have to do is look at the programs who are recruiting the top players. Pretty much the same as always.

 

[uconnfan68]

Well he won 11 NC's with that 6-8 player formula so I don't think that's the problem. He just has to have the right players and enough of them with adequate experience and it will be fine. And how does Stanford and UCONN getting the best players develop parity? AZ getting to the NC game was pretty much a fluke that you probably won't see again for another 10 years.

I think he’ll be playing more than 6-8 the next year or three. Too much talent to allow it to waste.

 

[GMP 65]

Given his incoming talent, Geno needs to develop a deep bench. Tara often plays ten-eleven players, this able to change temp and keep players fresh. Geno concentrates on six-seven, occasionally eight, even during runaways in Big East. Use bench earlier in those runaways, get them prepared for the Big Dance. He needed to shake things up against Arizona and didn’t.
Speaking of Arizona, all the Boneyarders who put them down are eating crow tonight. Stanford was the winner today but it was the PAC-12 that was the big winner. It will give them a big boost in recruiting as the best conference in women’s basketball. Stanford is loaded and two years down the road 6’ 7” Lauren Betts is heading from the Colorado mountains (well, close) to the Farm.
Parity may be here.

Most of Uconn players played poorly vs Zona. Most of the starters did not play well nor did the bench. I thought the Stanford coach did a poor job. Way too much dribbling by the guards caused many turnovers. More passing into the post, with their bigs coming out to help the guards would have been a better strategy. But they won, barely.

 

[Blue Huskie]

I think he’ll be playing more than 6-8 the next year or three. Too much talent to allow it to waste.

I would think so. He had a couple of years where he had 2 teams and could swap out all 5. We might see two squads Again.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think I've been seeing projections for increased depth for UConn for about 4 years running. I'm not getting fooled this time. Expect more of the same next year.

 

[uconnfan68]

I think I've been seeing projections for increased depth for UConn for about 4 years running. I'm not getting fooled this time. Expect more of the same next year.

Agree to disagree.