Geno on Next Year's Roster - Interesting Comments RE: Liv | The Boneyard

Geno on Next Year's Roster - Interesting Comments RE: Liv

RPM101370

RPM101370

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Geno on roster

(Apologies if this has already been posted/discussed.)

Notice has been served:

“I think Aaliyah made incredible progress from day one,” Auriemma said. “She’s really physical, she plays hard every possession, she competes for everything, she did a great job finishing around the basket, she offensive rebounded, which was crucial for us, and she defended. I could see her next year getting the bulk of the touches among all of the post players. I have incredibly high expectations for Aaliyah, and for where she's going in the future.

"And Liv is going to be a senior. If Liv stays the same, then it’s obviously going to be a difficult senior year for Liv. If Liv adds some things to her game and makes the adjustments she needs to make, she's going to be a big factor and we're going to be fine.”
 
RPM101370 said:
"And Liv is going to be a senior. If Liv stays the same, then it’s obviously going to be a difficult senior year for Liv. If Liv adds some things to her game and makes the adjustments she needs to make, she's going to be a big factor and we're going to be fine.”
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Any thoughts of whether this conversation has already happened between both of them during an end of season goals setting, and he's just stating that fact publicly?
 
Hadn't seen it before. Good overview and of course he just complicated the picture more by accepting a transfer forward for next year!

And I really like the paragraph about deciding who to play and putting it back on the players - they make those choices, not the coaches.

I remember Gabby's reaction after being glued to the bench in the Stanford loss - she said in paraphrase 'I realized I hadn't given coach a reason to play me, and I never wanted that to be the case again.' She accepted the responsibility for the situation, and vowed to make changes in herself.
 
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Great article indeed. This was a great end to the article:

Auriemma toyed with the idea of extending the Huskies’ style of play during the season, going more full court, but decided against it. Westbrook, who announced after the Final Four that she will return for her final season of eligibility, wasn’t 100 percent for much of the season after missing the summer while recovering from knee surgery. Also, Anna Makurat, the sophomore guard who has announced plans to transfer, missed 13 games with a stress fracture in her leg.

“Next year,” Auriemma said. “I won't have that problem. I hope. We're going to have an opportunity to play differently.”

So he's already planning a more active and intense defense starting when the opponents inbound the ball. That will be so fun to watch.

And in a way, gauntlet thrown for Liv. Add to her game and fix the thing she needs to fix. To me that means a baby hook. and continue to work on getting stronger. Not sure what Geno means, but I have no doubt he discussed it with Liv.

Add in Juhasz as a post player and Liv may well be pushed out. No more missed bunnies and scoring 5 points in a game. Produce, or someone else will replace you. Can Liv do it? Absolutely. Will she? We will see!!
 
I honestly don’t think Liv will lose her starting role (could be wrong), but I do think if she doesn’t fix the things he’s talking about her minutes will be significantly reduced. I think he won’t give her as many chances in game and will just pull her instead.
 
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I think Liv was most productive when she played aggressive for like 19-22 minutes. When she had to bang around in big games for 30+ minutes, the production went down. I think Dorka will allow the post players to be more aggressive in less minutes. Forwards and guards aren't the same. You never want your C to have to play 30+ minutes because that forces them to conserve energy/fouls and not play aggressively. The energy needed to fight for position is just greater than the running around guards do.
 
Waquoit said:
It sounds like as of today, Ono will be coming off the bench.
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I don't necessarily perceive it that way. I think Geno knows Aaliyah is a big part of the future success of the program, and when he has the ability, he prefers to play two bigs. So she is now a starter in my book.

Our backcourt of Bueckers & Williams is a virtual lock. And Evina at the 3 seems like a lock.
I'd expect Aaliyah to be a at the 4, and Geno will likely go with Olivia at the 5. She knows the Uconn system far better than any of the alternatives.

But she will be on a very short leash. He has a talented transfer and a top 5 recruit ready to compete in the post. Also, has the ability to go small with some talented guards (Muhl & Fudd). In the past, he lacked the personnel to sub for players who were under performing. On paper, that shouldn't be an issue next year.
 
Heytherego said:
I honestly don’t think Liv will lose her starting role (could be wrong), but I do think if she doesn’t fix the things he’s talking about her minutes will be significantly reduced. I think he won’t give her as many chances in game and will just pull her instead.
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Liv is a quality player, but I doubt Juhasz chose to come to UCONN to be a reserve. AE has earned her time and Paige is a no brainer. Regardless of who else starts (I imagine CW and either Evina or Nike), I can easily see an 8-9 player rotation of players worthy of starting...and a very strong bench. Good problem to have.
 
darkstar1 said:
Liv is a quality player, but I doubt Juhasz chose to come to UCONN to be a reserve. AE has earned her time and Paige is a no brainer. Regardless of who else starts (I imagine CW and either Evina or Nike), I can easily see an 8-9 player rotation of players worthy of starting...and a very strong bench. Good problem to have.
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As long as Geno can fit an 8 or 9 player rotation into 4 spots. Paige isn’t coming off the floor and if Azzi is as good as advertised she won’t be coming off the floor either. So maybe 3 spot for playing time.
 
UcMiami said:
Hadn't seen it before. Good overview and of course he just complicated the picture more by accepting a transfer forward for next year!

And I really like the paragraph about deciding who to play and putting it back on the players - they make those choices, not the coaches.

I remember Gabby's reaction after being glued to the bench in the Stanford loss - she said in paraphrase 'I realized I hadn't given coach a reason to play me, and I never wanted that to be the case again.' She accepted the responsibility for the situation, and vowed to make changes in herself.
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Agree with your points although I don't believe he complicated the picture, I think he improved it. IMO, a good chunk of ONO's problems both last year and this was the lack of competition for her PT and having nobody else to provide her interior defense.
 
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Everyone wants Olivia to be great. Is Olivia willing to put in the work to be great?
 
BobbyJ said:
Agree with your points although I don't believe he complicated the picture, I think he improved it. IMO, a good chunk of ONO's problems both last year and this was the lack of competition for her PT and having nobody else to provide her interior defense.
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Practice against Aaliyah wasn't challenging? Yes, I know it's practice, AI.
 
chrissaran said:
Practice against Aaliyah wasn't challenging? Yes, I know it's practice, AI.
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Maybe somewhat physically but OTOH not really. Because of AE's inexperience the only challenge to ONO's PT was foul trouble. AE simply couldn't provide the interior defense that ONO could, at least not yet. GA needed more than one freshman forward to push ONO to improve her overall game not just this year but last year as well. And now he has the other experienced big body he's needed for a couple years.
 
BobbyJ said:
That is the enigma wrapped inside the riddle that I've been wondering about for over 2 years now.
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I hate to say it, but this has been a topic now for 3 years, with no substantial improvement in many areas of her game. Yes her footwork has improved, but her 'step back jumper' used to be deadly. Now? Its 50 - 50 or less. IMO she still has weak hands and gets the ball knocked away too much, especially since she continues keeping the ball low! At 6'5" she should not miss bunnies! Keep the ball high and jump! One more thing. Liv does not "run" down the court............she 'jogs' every time. That means you're late getting down court, where you just might get a pass from PB to make a lay up.
 
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HuskylnSC said:
AAAAnd --> After explaining why he didn't play full court, "Next year,” Auriemma said. “I won't have that problem. I hope. We're going to have an opportunity to play differently.”
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This is very very encouraging for the prospect of expanding the rotation and utilizing a great bench.
 
Rblack335 said:
I'd expect Aaliyah to be a at the 4, and Geno will likely go with Olivia at the 5. She knows the Uconn system far better than any of the alternatives.
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If we have an option for Ono that can drain shots, the system will be adjusted.
 
CTBballfan243 said:
As long as Geno can fit an 8 or 9 player rotation into 4 spots. Paige isn’t coming off the floor and if Azzi is as good as advertised she won’t be coming off the floor either. So maybe 3 spot for playing time.
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Mark my words. Paige averaged 38-39 minutes this year, she will be at 28-30 next year. She will have to accept that her best friend Azzi and her best European friend Nika need minutes. Geno's antics at the end of the season about PT laid that ground work.

This is where her maturation will come. She needs to take the game from the tip and realize it is a long season and everyone including her has to be fresh and ready for tourney time.
 
I like the fact that Geno has so many options available. If the players live up to their potential, he could literally have two different teams to put on the floor. And, should their be injuries and I really dislike saying that, he will have other options to round out his roster including that new transfer, Dorka.
 
Did not see much comment on the Paige assessment. On target

“Sometimes the changes a player has to make are huge,” Auriemma said. “Sometimes they're subtle. Paige knows. She's got to become a better defender on the ball. She's a great defender off the ball. She's got to work twice as hard than she ever did to get open. However hard she thinks she was guarded this year, she's going to be guarded even harder next year. Paige is a ‘Wait for the game to come to me’ kind of player, then she'll turn it on. That's all well and good, but I want Paige to be ‘We win the tap and she's in attack mode’ right from the beginning. These are things you learn as you go along. And she's got to get stronger. People were knocking her around, beating her up. Her body took a toll.”
 
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