Geno played these freshmen - Seasons 2000 thru 2020

[SVCBeercats]

Saw yet another article saying Geno rarely plays freshmen. So I looked up the freshmen who averaged 12 or more minutes per game. (Yeah, I butchered Nicole Wolff's last name.)

 

[diggerfoot]

? I did not recall Faris starting her freshman year. I looked her info on wikipedia and it stated she was not a starter and averaged 19 minutes a game, which is more in line with my recollection.

 

[meyers7]

? I did not recall Faris starting her freshman year. I looked her info on wikipedia and it stated she was not a starter and averaged 19 minutes a game, which is more in line with my recollection.

Agree, not sure where @SVCBeercats got that information, but the UCONN Media Guide has Faris' Freshman year as 39 GP - 0 GS, 738 min/18.9 mpg

 

[SVCBeercats]

This is ther second time I have been snookered by looking up Kelly Faris' stats. I should have remembered. I went to UCONN archives for the 2009-10 stats which links to trash. So I used the Media Center for 2009-10 stats link not noticing this linked me to 2010-11 stats. I'll correct with the 2010-11 Media Guide's review of the 2009-10 season.

? I did not recall Faris starting her freshman year. I looked her info on wikipedia and it stated she was not a starter and averaged 19 minutes a game, which is more in line with my recollection.

Agree, not sure where @SVCBeercats got that information, but the UCONN Media Guide has Faris' Freshman year as 39 GP - 0 GS, 738 min/18.9 mpg

 

[EricLA]

This is great stuff. Thanks for posting it @SVCBeercats . Often it's a thankless job when you post a bunch of statistics, and the BY detectives point out where you went wrong. Kudos to UCONN fans for being so knowledgeable, but like I said, sometimes a thankless job... So... Thank you!!

The thing that stood out to me is that not only is Geno NOT opposed to playing freshmen TONS of minutes, he's not opposed to starting them. IIRC, it's very rare for an uber freshman to come in and REPLACE a kid coming back who was a starter the previous season, but injuries do happen. Dee didn't start till midway thru her freshman year until an injury opened the door for her.

But for players like Strother, Hartley and Dolson, due to transfers or just not that much talent on the roster, all of them started most every game their freshman years. Even Maya only started 30/38 games...

KML on the other hand, only started 1 game her freshman year, but IIRC was one of the leading scorers on the team averaging about 15 PPG. Due to her lackluster pro career, people often forget just how great she was in college.

 

[Rb335]

Ann Strother really was a perfect complimentary piece to Taurasi. She gave those teams extra length and another option to spread the floor. She really deserves more credit than she receives for the 2003 & 2004 championships. Such a solid performing freshman.

 

[diggerfoot]

This is ther second time I have been snookered by looking up Kelly Faris' stats. I should have remembered. I went to UCONN archives for the 2009-10 stats which links to trash. So I used the Media Center for 2009-10 stats link not noticing this linked me to 2010-11 stats. I'll correct with the 2010-11 Media Guide's review of the 2009-10 season.

I should have added my thanks as well to your work and useful info.

 

[enigmatic]

I'll save my analysis of this year's freshman class until after the season ends but the 2003 season in my opinion were the best group of freshmen. Strother, Turner, and Crockett did an excellent job in their roles and were such complimentary pieces to Taurasi on their magnificent run to the NC

 

[UcMiami]

How Geno uses freshman depends both on the freshman themselves and the team he has coming back. I think there is little question that the 1998-9 freshman class (TASSK) was the best freshman class ever, but they came into a pretty stacked team and except for a PG didn't really need starters, and then Sue went down.

The 2012-3 freshman were probably the next best group but came into a team with starters of 5th year Doty, senior Faris, juniors Dolson and Hartley, and sophomore KML.

The 2002-3 team had just lost 4 first round draft choice starters and needed a strong freshman presence to make up for the graduates - and Wolff was actually the most important one as the new PG until she went down and unfortunately was never the same player when she recovered.

With how important PG is, it is pretty interesting to note that Geno has turn the job over to a freshman so consistently - Sue in 1998-9, Wolff in 2002-3, Montgomery in 2005-6, Doty in 2008-9 (shared), Hartley in 2010-11. I don't think that is really from choice but more necessity. When Jefferson and Dangerfield arrived he had upperclass options and they had a season to mature.

 

[King Kong]

Saw yet another article saying Geno rarely plays freshmen. So I looked up the freshmen who averaged 12 or more minutes per game. (Yeah, I butchered Nicole Wolff's last name.)
View attachment 64961

Taken from your stats, Paige could be about 8th in freshman minutes.

1. Christyn Williams 1217 minutes 2019 year
2. Bria Hartley 1209 2011
3. Ann Strother 1196 2003
4. Maya Moore 1121 2008
5. Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis 1073 2012
6. Renee Montgomery 1035 2006
7. Tiffany Hayes 1002 2009

In addition, Kia Nurse had 976 freshman minutes in 2015, Breanna Stewart had 854 minutes in 2013, & Diana Taurasi had 791 minutes in 2001.
Paige had 650 minutes in 18 games (through Xavier 2-20). If Paige averaged 30 minutes in the next 12 games (through NCAA finals), she would be 7th in minutes played, as a freshman, at 1010.

 

[MilfordHusky]

At least Maya and Kaleena led the team in scoring as freshmen. Paige is poised to achieve that too.

 

[chrissaran]

? I did not recall Faris starting her freshman year. I looked her info on wikipedia and it stated she was not a starter and averaged 19 minutes a game, which is more in line with my recollection

The post doesn't say started, it says played.

 

[chrissaran]

Ann Strother really was a perfect complimentary piece to Taurasi. She gave those teams extra length and another option to spread the floor. She really deserves more credit than she receives for the 2003 & 2004 championships. Such a solid performing freshman.

Rblack335: I've sung Ann's praises before. Can't agree with you more.

 

[diggerfoot]

The post doesn't say started, it says played.

He corrected his post after I pointed out the error.

 

[HuskylnSC]

My simple opinion - Never in the history have 3 freshmen played such important roles or come through so dramatically as Paige, Aaliyah, and Nika. And I feel the team will all PAN gold at the end of the year. So don't worry, it will all PAN out.