How will the minutes be distributed to all players next season?

[Dokey]

You do know he does that just to elicit a response such as yours. Please do not let old 287U get under your skin. I believe he enjoys it too much.

I would bet a lot of money that Liv gets closer to 20 than eight! You actually believe that she played so poorly as to go from starter to only playing in blowouts? This is a tough crowd! Anybody interested in making a (verifiable) wager that Liv will only play in blowouts next season can just take all my money right now! Furthermore, I would say that, based on our history with transfers, the odds that DJ outplays Liv next season are pretty slim. I’m not smart enough to do all this computer stuff but I have to think that the success rate for transfers into UConn is extremely low. Of course, I hope she’s an All-American, but I just think (in true Boneyard fashion) some posters are letting their imagination run wild!
I desperately hope Liv comes back and plays like Tina next season and really sticks it up some of these ungrateful naysayers noses! (Mangled sentence alert!)

Actually, what I hope is no one gets more than 25 minutes in Big Least games so that we develop what appears to be a very deep team. It will piss Paige but so be it. Ten players averaging 20 minutes a game.

 

[mbr33ct]

Here is the 1999-2000 roster. How would you divide up the playing time?

Stacy Hansmeyer

Paige Sauer

Svetlana Abrosimova

Marci Czel

Shea Ralph

Christine Rigby

Kelly Schumacher

Sue Bird

Swin Cash

Asjha Jones

Keirsten Walters

Tamika Williams

Kennitra Johnson

Luckily they already played the 1999-2000 season, no guessing where the minutes went. With Keirsten Walters not playing, only 12 players but still no player with over 28.4 min/gm. I found the minutes played by Sue, Svetlana and Shea at 28.4 to be, "can these three really have played the same minutes for the season?" I had to go back and recheck, sure enough that's what the media guide has, and provided here as well.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Play the 5 best players 85% of the minutes and then let injuries and fouls determine the remainder of the minutes.

 

[nuna23]

yaw u know that the big east like seton hall st John's Villanova....get some good players it's gonna be some little competition soo u should add that ....I wanna see like more than 6 uconn player in uconn...

 

[Aluminny69]

Luckily they already played the 1999-2000 season, no guessing where the minutes went. With Keirsten Walters not playing, only 12 players but still no player with over 28.4 min/gm. I found the minutes played by Sue, Svetlana and Shea at 28.4 to be, "can these three really have played the same minutes for the season?" I had to go back and recheck, sure enough that's what the media guide has, and provided here as well.

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Thanks so much. I picked this team because they were also loaded with talent. I believe that both Sauer and Hansmeyer, seniors, had their playing time drastically reduced from the previous seasons. So, that's one way to deal with the issue.

 

[Cuango]

What if Geno created a designated “press team” and played them at strategically appropriate times during the game? With the incredible depth of this team it seems to me that having a rotating “press” squad of Aubrey, Mir, Nika, Christyn, and Liv say, that would come in and press full court, balls to the wall for 3 minutes, disrupt the other team completely, then bring the offensive team back in until the next strategic moment and then repeat. The players wouldn’t have to be locked in to those roles, we have enough talent where they could rotate in and out of the press team and assuming they are good enough offensively, they could rotate on the offensive team as well. I’m certainly not saying which players would be best suited for the pressing role or how often to implement it, just that it seems possible that it could be an effective way to utilize all the talent we are going to have over the next three - five years. Thoughts?

 

[DEpup]

Dokey (26 min), Ralph (Min. 20 min), mbr33ct (30.2 min) and huskyd (play a lot) are closest to Dorka playing time come the 2021-22 season. Geno didn't pursue Dorka to sit on the bench. Clearly he is not pleased with Liv's performance. Perhaps with Aaliyah and Dorka squeezing her for playing time, she will apply herself by learning more moves, shots (baby hook), screening, and making layups within the restricted area. After watching OSU games I think Dorka will be on the court for significant minutes (25-32).

In most BE games I think Liv and Dorka will be in the 19-22 minute area. Aaliyah will be in the 22-25 minute area. Aubrey, Amari, Piath, and Mir will fight in practice for the rest.

In big games, add a few more minutes to the big 3 and probably only Aubrey gets 10-12 minutes. The rest get 0 minutes.

This will be a big deal in more challenging games because they'll be able to survive foul trouble and have the energy to hold their ground. In addition, the primary front court players all have a different style and that will cause problems for an opponent to keep up with the changing looks.

 

[DEpup]

Luckily they already played the 1999-2000 season, no guessing where the minutes went. With Keirsten Walters not playing, only 12 players but still no player with over 28.4 min/gm. I found the minutes played by Sue, Svetlana and Shea at 28.4 to be, "can these three really have played the same minutes for the season?" I had to go back and recheck, sure enough that's what the media guide has, and provided here as well.

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I'm ready for an undefeated season with a minute distribution like this!

 

[hoophuskee]

The potential beauty of pressing a great deal, and utilizing the bench is yes you can run up the score by using the bench. You reduce the effective minutes of both teams starters, and both teams play a greater percentage of the game with their bench players. This year the gap between our bench and other team's is probably even bigger than our edge, starters vs starters.

So yes there could be some extreme blowouts, but it is kind of hard to complain that we used our bench "too much". The critique of running up the score by keeping starters in until a couple of minutes left in a 40 point win is a more legitimate complaint, and one Geno is sometimes guilty of. This roster has legitimate very good college players on the third team. How much of the roster we use against everyone, and the best teams, will have a direct relationship on how much of this talent we can keep around.

You can increase the margin of victory, and keep more of the roster happy.

The issues I have is first off you can't press for 40 minutes because it would mean you are completely embarrassing some opponents and that would be quite a few in the Big East and not every ooc game is a good team. We'll see if he does it. But as a fan we dodn't care near as much as the coach and the university and possibly the players of deliberately pushing pace when you are up by 60+ points in the 2nd half. It's easy to say as a fan "The hell with them- keep running it up."

Secondly, I've always disagreed with how much the significance of the philosophy of UCONN's bench being so superior vs. another team's which draws the conclusion then that you must play much of the bench that much more. The problem is that teams aren't going to accommodate you by going deep into their bench.

As a result you're potentially giving some of the other team's starters an opportunity to either rest more on defense or score more efficiently on offense because you have the 9th and 10the best players of UCONN on the floor.

As far as leaving a couple of the starters in when the team is up by 40 imo that is nowhere near what you're suggesting because the 1 or 2 starters he has in are not looking to push pace other than an incidental play. Unless they are struggling and just looking for anything to get them going (which sometimes is an advantage playing in the Big East btw). Slowing down the game and running a halfcourt set is much, much different than continuing to press with the intent to keep scoring as quick as possible by continuing to press.

 

[hoophuskee]

I do agree with many on BY that the minutes will be widely spread for most of BE games but when we play the heavy hitters I doubt Geno will play more than 7-8 players unless we see big offseason improvements with our #8-12 players.

I'm not sure who disagrees with the above other than those that just want to press 40 minutes no matter the opponent.

 

[uconnfan68]

You’re all nutty. The minutes will be doled out just like any other year... minute by minute. Paige absolutely will not get 35 minutes a game. My prediction is no one averages over 30. Most don’t go over 25.

 

[cbraarj]

Luckily they already played the 1999-2000 season, no guessing where the minutes went. With Keirsten Walters not playing, only 12 players but still no player with over 28.4 min/gm. I found the minutes played by Sue, Svetlana and Shea at 28.4 to be, "can these three really have played the same minutes for the season?" I had to go back and recheck, sure enough that's what the media guide has, and provided here as well.

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With that team having 2 previously starters now 9-10 in the rotation shows how much talent they had. Geno told them he had to play the younger players. This years team is not as talented as the 2000 team was. Liv needs to step up or Geno will sit her next year just like Paige and Stacey. This team needs to establish chemistry on the court and make teams have to play there game instead of their opponents game. The players who will get the most minutes will be Christyn, Paige Evina, Liya, Azzi, Dorka, Nika, Deberry, Ducharme and Olivia. The others will be limited.

 

[cbraarj]

What if Geno created a designated “press team” and played them at strategically appropriate times during the game? With the incredible depth of this team it seems to me that having a rotating “press” squad of Aubrey, Mir, Nika, Christyn, and Liv say, that would come in and press full court, balls to the wall for 3 minutes, disrupt the other team completely, then bring the offensive team back in until the next strategic moment and then repeat. The players wouldn’t have to be locked in to those roles, we have enough talent where they could rotate in and out of the press team and assuming they are good enough offensively, they could rotate on the offensive team as well. I’m certainly not saying which players would be best suited for the pressing role or how often to implement it, just that it seems possible that it could be an effective way to utilize all the talent we are going to have over the next three - five years. Thoughts?

That press team only has 1 legitimate scorer and I don't see that happening at all. Mir and Aubrey are going to have a hard time getting in the rotation unless they improve on the offensive end.

 

[Bald Husky]

I think last year Geno got a false sense of security with Livs play against the Big Least, oh my bad, Big Easts schools. In most of those games she did very well, although she did struggle with a few of them. I'm sure after the end of our recent NC quest, he was privately really disappointed with her play, but I think he won't make the same mistake again next year. He knows with the talent he has now, and with another NC slipping away, he has to develop the new talent, and use the opportunity to set the tone for the next 4 years starting now. She may start, but her minutes will be drastically reduced, allowing the other bigs, even Amari, to get quality minutes. He knows that he can't waste a year having Liv as his main "big". The NC goal starts now, and I think he knows what to do.

 

[SVCBeercats]

So what happens to Piath, Saylor, Autumn, Mir, Aubrey, and Amari?

Same thing that happens every year to those who are not included in the trusted 6 to 8 player rotation - cheer squad and supporters. If they are smart and ambitious, they begin to plan their training, practice, and development for the next season in order to be in the trusted rotation. Having said that, my long, l o n g shot bet is on Piath as a surprise breakout player.

 

[uconnfan68]

Same thing that happens every year to those who are not included in the trusted 6 to 8 player rotation - cheer squad and supporters. If they are smart and ambitious, they begin to plan their training, practice, and development for the next season in order to be in the trusted rotation. Having said that, my long, l o n g shot bet is on Piath as a surprise breakout player.

I thought she (Piath) showed a few good moments late last year. I'm hopeful that she develops a good BB-IQ to help her rebounding and shot-blocking.

 

[Dokey]

Play the 5 best players 85% of the minutes and then let injuries and fouls determine the remainder of the minutes.

That is the way to guarantee we fail once again to win NC.

 

[AmeriConn]

Thank you for playing.

Another Happy Customer!

 

[Bigboote]

I think people are selling Saylor short. Anyone who thinks she's primarily a three-point shooter hasn't seen much of her. I would love to see her be Olivia's backup at the high post on offense. She's a crazy good passer, can put the ball on the floor and shoot from just about anywhere -- just the kid of player I'd want there. And she is an able individual defender and a great team defender. Even though she looked lost on the court late this year, those extra three months she'll have over the incoming freshmen will make a difference.

 

[dtbtbtb]

I'll give it a shot:
Paige: 25 min.
CW: 20 min.
AE: 19 min.
ONO: 18 min.
: 18 min.
EW: 18 min.
NM: 18 min.
DJ: 18 min.
AG: 12 min.
Caroline Ducharme: 10 min.
AD: 10 min.
SP: 5 min.
MM: 5 min.
PG: 2 min.
AC: 2 in.
Total: 200 min.
It will make a lot of players not very happy but it is close to impossible to keep so many good players happy with their minutes.

 

[Camiam88]

I'll give it a shot:
Paige: 25 min.
CW: 20 min.
AE: 19 min.
ONO: 18 min.
: 18 min.
EW: 18 min.
NM: 18 min.
DJ: 18 min.
AG: 12 min.
Caroline Ducharme: 10 min.
AD: 10 min.
SP: 5 min.
MM: 5 min.
PG: 2 min.
AC: 2 in.
Total: 200 min.
It will make a lot of players not very happy but it is close to impossible to keep so many good players happy with their minutes.

This feels the most accurate yet to me, give it take a few of the middle crew’s minutes (Nika down to Amari) getting moved up, probably to Paige and Azzi. I do think the odds of Paige playing less than 28-30 mpg are small, and I think Azzi will eventually clock at least 20. So take a minute or two from each of NM-AD and give it to paige/azzi/CW and I think we are in business here.

 

[Stymie]

What if Geno created a designated “press team” and played them at strategically appropriate times during the game? With the incredible depth of this team it seems to me that having a rotating “press” squad of Aubrey, Mir, Nika, Christyn, and Liv say, that would come in and press full court, balls to the wall for 3 minutes, disrupt the other team completely, then bring the offensive team back in until the next strategic moment and then repeat. The players wouldn’t have to be locked in to those roles, we have enough talent where they could rotate in and out of the press team and assuming they are good enough offensively, they could rotate on the offensive team as well. I’m certainly not saying which players would be best suited for the pressing role or how often to implement it, just that it seems possible that it could be an effective way to utilize all the talent we are going to have over the next three - five years. Thoughts?

This is an approach that I somewhat have in mind.

 

[CTBballfan243]

This feels the most accurate yet to me, give it take a few of the middle crew’s minutes (Nika down to Amari) getting moved up, probably to Paige and Azzi. I do think the odds of Paige playing less than 28-30 mpg are small, and I think Azzi will eventually clock at least 20. So take a minute or two from each of NM-AD and give it to paige/azzi/CW and I think we are in business here.

Paige isn’t playing less than 30 minutes a game. Just not happening.

 

[DEpup]

Paige isn’t playing less than 30 minutes a game. Just not happening.

This will be a maturation step for her.... I predict she will be in the 25-28 min range in most BE games. Probably 30-32 in big games.

I think she will be fine when she realizes her friends will get minutes if she sits and takes a breather. If she doesn't and demands to be a ball hog, her friends have to sit the bench. That wouldn't represent leadership, maturity, and professionalism.

With her skill, she should be able to be as much a help to her teammates from the sideline as on the court.

They need to be able to run offense without her.

 

[oldhusky]

Of course no one, including Geno and staff, have any idea about where the minutes will go next year but it sure is fun speculating about it. Last year so much was debated on Paige starting/not starting. There may have been ore or two people out there that made the call that she would lead the team in scoring. But the vast majority of us couldn't envision Paige just taking over the team from Day 1!!

For a moment, let's just imagine that Azzi arrives with guns a blazin' and Geno figures out after about 3 practices (like he confessed he did with Paige) that she is another 'generational' player who needs to be on the floor 35 minutes a game with her bestie Paige. It could happen!! And if it does we are in for a bigger minute squeeze than we thought! I do agree with many on BY that the minutes will be widely spread for most of BE games but when we play the heavy hitters I doubt Geno will play more than 7-8 players unless we see big offseason improvements with our #8-12 players.

Last year was probably my all-time favorite year of spectating UCONN Women's hoops but I have a very strong feeling that with Azzi, Dorka and the rest of the excellent newbies joining the party, 2021-22 will raise the bar again!!! Go Huskies

I guess the part of this I question, is not expecting Geno to go more than 7-8 players in the big games "unless we see big offseason improvements with our #8-12 players." You are completely right that Geno's track record when he doesn't trust all the BE rotation is to shorten it up. But it doesn't even require big offseason improvement because 8-12 last year and 8-12 this year can be completely different. Many of last year's 8-12 are in essence being upgraded and replaced by better incoming players. Piath doesn't have to improve, we have Amari instead. Mir doesn't have to improve, we have Dorka. Anna is gone but she is clearly improved with Azzi. Carolyn might very well be an improvement on Saylor.

It is possible that not one of those 8-12 players last year will be in the top 10 this year. I hope they do improve, but feel if Geno goes more than 7-8 deep against the good teams, it is far more likely it is because the additions were the real deal, than the improvement of Mir, Saylor, Piath or Autumn.