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Message: [QUOTE="NycUcWbbFan, post: 5310203, member: 13453"] Geno’s large roster management harkens back to the first three years of TASSK. It [B]predates[/B] Dawn’s. [LIST] [*]For example, the [URL='https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut/women/2001.html']2000-01[/URL] team (derailed by late injuries to Svet and Shea from achieving a repeat) had 14 players; the minutes distribution, as best can be gleaned, seems remarkably managed and bodes well for this coming year. [/LIST] This year’s championship-winning team is very special even among UConn’s special teams: [LIST] [*]There were no championship veterans; [*]There was the biblical injury plague, the paradigm shift of NIL/ portal, and the championship drought that festered speculation that UConn’s dominance was past (even Geno played devil’s advocate with it: [URL='https://youtu.be/s7Z8DZ9-MaU']Bleacher Report @0:15[/URL]); [*]The [U]40-minute top-down quality roster mix-match[/U] took some time (zero to South Carolina, in fact) to reach its promise; [*]In the end, Geno said [U]love is the special sauce[/U] (a la Harry Potter): [URL='https://youtu.be/s7Z8DZ9-MaU']Bleacher Report @2:00[/URL]. [/LIST] Next year’s team will not have same headwinds as this year’s team: The trajectory is reasonably expected to be [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/heckel-to-uconn-merged-threads.207545/post-5284061']faster, steeper and more-targeted[/URL] (with potentially developed new lethal rotations): [LIST] [*]Paige, Kaitlyn and Aubrey helped provide a [B]much-needed living template proof of concept[/B]; [*]We now have championship veterans again — and seven former starters — joined by impact incomers such as Serah, Blanca and Kayleigh; [*]Caroline and Ayanna have their Sue Bird-injury hiatus years, hopefully with similar results; [*]The NIL/ Portal/ SuperTeam era has permissively [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/25-26-rotation.207845/post-5285980']empowered [/URL]Geno and CD to do some [U]holiday shopping[/U] on a full top-down quality roster; [*]Size?, “Athleticism”?, Former Point Guards?, Shooters?, Slashers?, Scorers?, Speedsters? Gamers? Traditional Post-Play? Bruisers? Agents of Chaos?, etc. on a baseline of 100% effort, high-BBIQ versatile CD-type players who value the extra pass leading to a best shot; [*]There will be less weaknesses that Geno will attempt to hide and that opposing coaches will try to exploit; [*]All these attributes are available strategically to Geno and CD, provided the players “love one another” as they did in Paige’s last year. [/LIST] Only around 15% of UConn’s games (6 games) are games that warrant tighter rotations: [LIST] [*]So for most games, [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/25-26-rotation.207845/post-5286092'](5)+6 [/URL][the seven former starters + 3 impact incomers (Serah, Blanca and Kayleigh) + 1 of (Ayanna, Morgan, Allie)] is a feasible [U]minimum[/U] competitive minutes rotation size for farm system development; [*]And the players Geno elects to play for each game will potentially differ from game to game, which is the beauty and innate nature of a mature mix-match — possibly the fullest expression of Geno and CD’s “beautiful basketball”; [*]Geno will tighten the rotation for the tougher 6 games or so, but I can’t imagine it would be any less than (5)+4, consistent with what is needed for a [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/25-26-rotation.207845/post-5286092']self-sustaining large roster strategy[/URL]; [*]The Big East schedule does have its [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/two-new-games-announced-for-next-season.207712/post-5295392']farm system advantages[/URL] for developing end of the roster players who will need to grow through intense quality practices and impactful quality minutes into future key roles. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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