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Message: [QUOTE="oldhusky, post: 5317179, member: 9844"] Many very good points there. The good news for Ice is she will be able to focus on her best position this year (the 4), the bad news is there are no entitlement minutes this year. Because of injuries and a relative lack of competition Ice was pretty much assured significant minutes the last two years. The bar for playing time could be much higher this year. As Bone Dog points out with both Jana and Gandy as backups behind Serah, she might not be needed at the 5, and at the 4 she faces significant competition from three different fronts for what could be limited backup minutes behind Sarah anyway. Ayanna is back and a considerable threat, with both players probably being best at the 4. If Ayanna turns out to be the better of the two, Ice could be out of the rotation. But both Ice and Ayanna face another threat, namely if Uconn goes small or big. Geno doesn't have to use the next best natural 4 after Sarah at all if he doesn't want to. Ice and Ayanna have to beat out each other to get regular minutes, but also be a better option than Caroline or Morgan if they go small, or Jana if they go big. If Jana has a breakout season or improves dramatically, Geno might find her more time by moving Serah to the 4 and Sarah to the 3 for part of the time. As Bone Dog mentions that could free up some time for bigs, but mostly because Sarah might not be playing at the 4 all the time. About the only possibility I see that Bone Dog didn't mention, is a three big rotation with Sarah, Serah and Jana, where Sarah plays all of her minutes at the 4, Jana's minutes are at the 5, and Serah splits her minutes between the 4 and 5. Similar to a few years ago when Geno used a three big rotation with Liv at the 5, Aaliyah at the 4, and Dorka splitting time between both. The big option pretty much depends on Jana. We know Sarah can play the 3, and Serah the 4. The question is if Jana could separate herself from other options like Ice, Ayanna, Caroline, Morgan to make a three big rotation strategic. In some ways I view Ice at roughly last year's level as the floor performance for our backup 4 minutes this year. She could be better, but some of the many other options might be better than that. It is much more than just Ice vs. Ayanna. I did not include Blanca as a potential threat at the 4, but perhaps I should have. My reason is I consider her likely to get many of the minutes at the 3. If Ash winds up starting at the 3, then Blanca might be more of a threat for some minutes at the 4 as well. [/QUOTE]

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