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

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

mbr33ct

mbr33ct

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Considering the roster size for this upcoming season and minutes played last year, Dorka's included, a total of 234.7 minutes are in play, 34.7 minutes over the 200 allotted per game.

UConn adds Azzi, Ducharme and DeBerry to roster, now the hard part, what do you believe/think the breakdown in minutes each player will get? I have provided what I believe minutes each player will get (all columns slightly tweaked from each other). Columns are not in any preference, just 5 potential versions with an "Avg" column. I don't know how many have gone through this exercise but I found it to be very difficult. I'll be curious, as well as others, how some will divvy up the minutes.

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I don't see Geno giving more than 10 players meaningful time. It could be 9. Those 10, Paige, Christyn, Evina, Dorka, Olivia, Nika, Aaliyah, Aubrey, Azzi, Caroline. I could see Liv and Dorka splitting time at center, DeBerry is learning. Edwards and Evina splitting time at PF, Christyn and Caroline splitting the wing, then Azzi, Paige and Muhl, splitting time at the two guard positions, for 9. Aubrey trying to bust in to make it 10. I was hoping for Saylor, but her calling card I thought was shooting the 3 and for the time she was here it seemed like she made 1 for America, or 1 for Connecticut, and mostly she only shot when she was wide open, so hard to say good defense bothered her shot. You like to give your bench a few minutes at the end, but when it seems like the top 10 deserve more minutes than they will get, it is hard to take you second team off the floor at the end of the game. I see a lot of your 6 to 8's getting 1 to 2 at best. Some just love the atmosphere, the family, want to win a few NC's. I did not see Evina staying, but maybe after tough years at TN she just loved the change in atmosphere, finally felt like she had family for teammates, put off the grind of professionalism for a year.
 
Appreciate the effort to project minutes and spark discussion. Assuming no additional changes to the roster UCONN is going to have some fierce competition battles next season for starting position and minutes in general. My issue with your proposed distribution ( & not that I have a better one) is that it does not project a clear winner of those position battles which I believe to be a recipe for general unhappiness. For example, do you envision Geno starting 4 guards and 1 post player as he did for this past season? IMO even if Geno starts 1 post player and 4 guards that 1 post player will definitely average more than 25 Minutes per game.
 
Geno has all of his top 6 players back next season, so I expect them to get the most minutes. Then carve out some time for Azzi. Everyone else gets table scraps. With the starting lineup basically set by virtue of everyone being back, I don't think there is going to be a ton of tinkering with the lineups next year like we typically see early on.
 
mbr33ct said:
Considering the roster size for this upcoming season and minutes played last year, Dorka's included, a total of 234.7 minutes are in play, 34.7 minutes over the 200 allotted per game.

UConn adds Azzi, Ducharme and DeBerry to roster, now the hard part, what do you believe/think the breakdown in minutes each player will get? I have provided what I believe minutes each player will get (all columns slightly tweaked from each other). Columns are not in any preference, just 5 potential versions with an "Avg" column. I don't know how many have gone through this exercise but I found it to be very difficult. I'll be curious, as well as others, how some will divvy up the minutes.

View attachment 66948
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Defensive pressure will become big tool next year as UCONN will have enough quality players to play 40 mins of full court pressure!
 
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hoopsfan22 said:
Geno has all of his top 6 players back next season, so I expect them to get the most minutes. Then carve out some time for Azzi. Everyone else gets table scraps. With the starting lineup basically set by virtue of everyone being back, I don't think there is going to be a ton of tinkering with the lineups next year like we typically see early on.
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Geno’s past strategy would confirm your expectation but with this deep roster I’d use the schedule - at least the early part of it - to see who the best 5 playing together really are. If Azzi is the phenom that some think she is, someone needs to sit. If ONO doesn’t bring her game to a new level, another big gets more minutes. Other than wild guesses, it’s impossible to talk about minutes now. There has never a women’s college team with the top to bottom talent like this one. Geno doesn’t even know who will emerge as a legit starter.....other than Paige.
 
Paige 40
CE 40
AE 40
Ono 40
EW 20
20
All set no more need to discuss
 
No idea. First, how fast will the freshmen acclimate? 2nd, and I hate to say it, but we lost 2 starters this season to injuries, Paige missed a game due to injury and wasn't 100% for several others, and I'm sure others were banged up. Was Evina ever 100% this entire season?

On a team of this size, we can almost guarantee that at any given time at least 1 or 2 players will be injured. That will open up playing time and opportunities for others. Look at how Nika absolutely snatched the starting spot after Anna went down, and then went on to play incredibly till her own injury pretty much ended her season.

How fast will the freshmen get up to speed? Saylor came to UCONN late, but really contributed nothing of note, even late in games. We've seen that Caroline is a great shooter, but how is her fitness and strength after her injuries? Will she be able to handle the rigors and physicality of college hoops?

Not sure what to expect from Amari, but similar questions. Azzi is by all accounts just as hard a worker as Paige, and she will need that. No matter how great a shooter she is, she's competing against players who are already established with lots of experience ahead of her. On any other team not named SC, she would easily start, but how will she fare at UCONN?

Mir and Aubrey need to find other ways to score. It's essential they both develop mid range shots. If all they can do is score around the basket, and clog the lane, it won't matter how great they defend - IMHO they will lose PT to more versatile players. Olivia has already been put on notice by Geno - both in conversations (public and private) as well as with the addition of Juhusz. If she continues to play like she did in the last 3 NCAA games, I could see her not only losing her starting spot, but also being pushed down the depth chart.

I know it's fun to play around and see who might get what, but bottom line, all these kids signed up to play at UCONN knowing how deep the depth chart is (save for Christyn, Olivia, Evina and Aubrey). I HOPE that Geno has had conversations not only while recruiting, but with the current players that everyone's PT will be lower this season. In big games, I could see him going only 8 or so deep (if that's all that is ready), but I imagine his comments to the starters went something like this at the end of last season:

"Playing time for everyone will be down next season. None of you have the luxury of "letting the game come to you". I want fast, aggressive starts every game. Do not conserve your energy. Go out and throttle the other team from the first tip because you will waste your playing time if you coast".
 
@mbr33ct buddy, your chart illustrates the war that practice and early games will be. Geno ended up with two freshman starters this past season and I would not be surprised to see another added this fall. Then the bigs are a whole 'nuther battle. But can I slice up the clock now ... nope.
 
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The main point of trying to do this exercise is to show no matter how you do it, this is very very difficult. I tend to hope that we at least get to a 10 player rotation, with more pressing/fast breaks etc. , but even at 10, that means in most games we will have 5 players with DNP coaches decision.

In some ways picking who doesn't play is even harder. Maybe Autumn and Piath come to mind first, but certainly after that is a challenge. Right now I would say the other three are Mir, Amari and Saylor. Before Gorka came on board and Anna left, I probably had Amari in the 10 and Carolyn out, but after those changes I would switch those two.
 
mbr33ct said:
I don't know how many have gone through this exercise but I found it to be very difficult. I'll be curious, as well as others, how some will divvy up the minutes.
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Again Geno's concern is winning #12. He will select 9 players at most to prepare for the NCAA tourney. Come February he will only be concerned with minutes for Liv, CW, E, Paige, Nika, Aaliyah, Dorka, Azzi, and Caroline. So no problem. Use Occam's razor to shave minutes.
 
SVCBeercats said:
Again Geno's concern is winning #12. He will select 9 players at most to prepare for the NCAA tourney. Come February he will only be concerned with minutes for Liv, CW, E, Paige, Nika, Aaliyah, Dorka, Azzi, and Caroline. So no problem. Use Occam's razor to shave minutes.
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So what happens to Piath, Saylor, Autumn, Mir, Aubrey, and Amari?
 
Ralph said:
I don't see Geno giving more than 10 players meaningful time. It could be 9. Those 10, Paige, Christyn, Evina, Dorka, Olivia, Nika, Aaliyah, Aubrey, Azzi, Caroline. I could see Liv and Dorka splitting time at center, DeBerry is learning. Edwards and Evina splitting time at PF, Christyn and Caroline splitting the wing, then Azzi, Paige and Muhl, splitting time at the two guard positions, for 9. Aubrey trying to bust in to make it 10. I was hoping for Saylor, but her calling card I thought was shooting the 3 and for the time she was here it seemed like she made 1 for America, or 1 for Connecticut, and mostly she only shot when she was wide open, so hard to say good defense bothered her shot. You like to give your bench a few minutes at the end, but when it seems like the top 10 deserve more minutes than they will get, it is hard to take you second team off the floor at the end of the game. I see a lot of your 6 to 8's getting 1 to 2 at best. Some of them may see this coming and may t........ I can't say the word. But who knows, some just love the atmosphere, the family, want to win a few NC's. I did not see Evina staying, but maybe after tough years at TN she just loved the change in atmosphere, finally felt like she had family for teammates, put off the grind of professionalism for a year.
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A high school student coming in late in the year, with few minutes, and you're blaming her for not shooting well. Geno knows his players, and with a regular year and practice, all the limited time playing together will vanish, and all the players will benefit.
 
Zanzman said:
Paige 40
CE 40
AE 40
Ono 40
EW 20
20
All set no more need to discuss
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Is CE supposed to be CW? I don't know any CE on the team. Also, you have to be kidding. Not going to happen.
 
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Geno, CD, Jamelle and whoever they add to the coaching staff will figure it out when the season starts. Hope that if 10 players earn minutes, that 10 players will play.
 
The minutiae of divvying up minutes amongst players that haven’t even been in the same room is impossible.
Why not consider the style of play?
We have a pretty good idea, over the decades, of what Geno will do with these moving parts.
I’m more intrigued with the defensive possibilities.
Plenty of size to occupy real estate around the basket.
Two or three solid rotations to press the “heck” out of the ball coming up court.
I really look forward to a stifling press off the charts—pressing/trapping/ relentless pressure on the opponents inbound and advancement of the ball.
The athletes exert this pressure are now in the house.
The firepower for points is not a worry.
The defensive end is what I’m excited about.
 
hoopsfan22 said:
Geno has all of his top 6 players back next season, so I expect them to get the most minutes. Then carve out some time for Azzi. Everyone else gets table scraps. With the starting lineup basically set by virtue of everyone being back, I don't think there is going to be a ton of tinkering with the lineups next year like we typically see early on.
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Next year's starters will not be based on anything "set." We have 2 players coming in who will play a lot, Dorka and Azzi. That means less time for Evina and Nika and probably for Liv. Aaliyah will grow her minutes as a starter; Fudd and Buckets will also be featured. I'm guessing that unless ONO has an epiphany over the summer, Dorka will become a regular as well. As a streak shooter and with Azzi and Paige starting, Christyn's minutes depend upon whether she's "on" and whether her D holds up. It's possible that Geno will sub in the Charmer for Williams. Only 3 players are "set": Fudd, Slim, and Aaliyah, IMHO.
 
bluedevil said:
Lend them to the volleyball team.
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This is just unbelievable! These kids work every day to contribute to our team and you make some flippant dismissive comment like that? Sad!
 
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Drew8 said:
What is the best rotation to go up against South Carolina, Stanford, Baylor and Maryland? I think that is what it will come down to.
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Probably the same as last year. The starting five plus Edwards, Griffin, and Fudd. If there's another team with a top eight better than that, I'd sure like to know who that is. It's also an ideal situation with everyone coming back because Geno can bring Fudd and the other newcomers along slowly instead of throwing them into the fire as freshman out of necessity.
 
If I were guessing, I would only say that Ono and AG will see their minutes go way down. Paige, CW, and Azzi will play minimum of 34 minutes each, Dorka will play 26 minutes, AE 25 minutes, Evina 18 minutes, Nika 15 Ono 8, Caroline 6. The bench will use minutes from last four in blowouts.

In other words, like all of you, I don’t have the slightest idea, though comment on ONO and AG is probable.
 
hoopsfan22 said:
So what happens to Piath, Saylor, Autumn, Mir, Aubrey, and Amari?
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Out of those 6 Amari is the only one with a chance for playing time. If Liv doesn't step up she can be on the outside looking in.
 
I’ve been waiting for someone to post this question! I have also made spreadsheets in my spare time at work (lol). Here’s what I think is most probable in my opinion. This is the average for the whole season. When players don’t get into a game it doesn’t hurt their average (do you know what I mean?). I think there will be a main 7 player rotation with a guard heavy lineup most of the time.

Paige - 33 (Paige is Paige)
Christyn - 26 (if she’s not consistent geno has other options and can pull her. I’d like to see her play a 3.5 position I love watching her drive to the hoop)
Aaliyah - 26 (x factor in my opinion)
Azzi - 25 (I’d like to put her at 30 but who’s minutes do you cut?)
Evina - 23 (loses 7 minutes from previous season, she’s not a standout so I don’t see her playing much more than Azzi/Nika, E is still one of my favorite players though)
Nika - 22 (I’m just a big fan of her, how can you not be?! Don’t necessarily need her to be a scorer, just play her usual D and make smart passes)
ONO - 19 (I really don’t see her as a main focus of the team with Aaliyah now a sophomore, especially if liv plays like she did most of last year - good, solid, but not superb. My guess is her minutes steadily decline as the season progresses)
Dorka - 10 (an unknown but I imagine she’ll grab at least a few quality minutes, given the only bigs ahead of her are AE and ONO)
Aubrey - 5 (unless she has a stellar off season, I don’t see her competing with AA candidates for minutes)
Caroline/Amari - 3 each (freshmen)
Mir/Saylor - 2 each (good players but just not at the level they need to be to get minutes on this team)
Piath/Autum - 0.5 each (garbage minutes)

I think this equals 200
 
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