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What’s that old expression: You can never be too rich, too thin or have too many bigs.Too many bigs
Last week of summer workouts
- Thread starter Geew1992
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100% agree. Was only giving Ice some praise because I'm pretty sure a few fans were nervouse ws Jana picked up her 2nd foul, instead we kept increasing the lead to be up 20 at halftime.
That 3-second call against Betts in the 1st quarter affected her the rest of the game- Betts was afraid to go inside as much as usual, and often she was wasted setting screens up high. I have watched the game multiple times and feel that 3-second call was a bad one that she didn’t deserve. It looks like Betts was never in for 3 seconds- she would go in the lane but then step out again if no pass was available. I think when it was called that she had one foot outside the lane- doesn’t matter how long one is in the lane so long as one foot is outside.
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I think the rule is -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- one foot outside the lane is not sufficient. What I usually see refs accept is one foot outside the lane and then the player lifts the foot still in the lane off the floor for a moment. Here's a perhaps dated statement on it by some guy: NFHS/NCAA Three-Second Violation Rules.
In any event, that may have been a quick whistle, and the 3-second rule is not one I'm fond of in general. But it also highlights just how limited Lauren's offense still is. She ended up being pushed out just a couple of feet further than she likes -- not just by that call, but also by the strenuous efforts of Jana Ice Sarah and Paige -- and her willingness to shoot diminished noticeably. Of course, the fact that she still scored 26 on 11-18 shooting shows how great her potential is. But the team was out rebounded by the smaller UConn squad and Lauren only had 5 total rebounds. Geno's strategy against her worked admirably. She will be vulnerable to this until she develops a reliable elbow jumper.
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The challenge will be how future recruits view the shared playing time. Will they shy away because they perceive less opportunity?
MooseJaw
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Some maybe, but those players are not really UCONN material, are they. If a player so feels their talent isn't good enough for desired minutes, they aren't the type of player Geno & co. want on the team. Competiton raises the cream to the top, if you shy away from competing for time, please consider one of the also ran teams. "So let it be written, so let it be done." {Thanks Yul}
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That's almost always the situation at a top tier level school. Unless you are a player with enormous BB talents, most incoming freshmen (and portal transfers) realize that nothing is going to be handed to them. They are going to have to work hard (perhaps harder than ever before) and improve on every weakness in their game in order receive acceptable PT. It's likely (unless they possess the talents and capabilities of Sarah Strong as a freshman), they realize they will possibly sit the a couple of seasons. At UConn, with the current 15 woman squad, loaded with talent, I suspect we will lose out of some. But that has always been the case. If they want to be battling for the National Championship, year in and year out, they will come.
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One step at a time
oldude
bamboo lover
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If a recruit doesn’t want to compete for PT, they should never consider coming to UConn.
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So Serah, Azzi, Sarah, and Kayleigh/Ash are not enough offense? If the need for 4 scoring/shooting players like small ball last year is that important than I don't see much room for KK either. We both know that won't happen. You will get a lot of points off your defense this year. You are also getting a lot of points underneath this year. In fact, maybe 30-40%. Geno always coaches the team he has and he has beaucoup size and power this year to go along with speed.
Aubrey was definitely more athletic and a better jumper and rebounder but Morgan is a solid 6'2" and a better offensive player than almost everyone thinks with a better 3 point shot and pull up than Aubrey at this stage. You just never saw it. Sometimes you just want a "glue" player out there. I see her on the floor for a full or half court press as well. We will press and a lot. The sheer numbers and implicit demands for playing time will require it and why wouldn't you with this team?
So start hypothetically KK,Azzi, Caroline , Sarah and Serah. Next subs are K9, Ash, Blanca, Ice and Jana. You still have Gandy, Kelis, Morgan, Allie and Ayanna. You have to find the best 5 at some point but that depends upon who you are playing and what you are running.
I think Geno's job this year is daunting. It's the total opposite of what he usually has. He saw last year though what Tennessee's press can do and with our numbers you can wear anybody down. So I think he plays that hand a lot.
Which fits in perfectly with pressing. We have some excellent transition passers in Sarah, Azzi, Ash, KK, K9, and Caroline. If you press, you will get to score in transition. Tall task? I think so both literally and figuratively. How about impossible task instead?
PacoSwede
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daunting, for Geno? i am not so sure about that. i imagine it will be more daunting for the competing players. geno simply has to sit back and let THEM determine who deserves the playing time. that may be a close, tough decision for him in some cases, but geno is an old hand at it, with a great success rate. i suspect he won't find the task overly daunting. he'll just base it on what he believes is best for the team regardless of the second-guessers.
... some of the players, OTOH, might find it a truly daunting challenge, not previously having been in this situation of extremely stiff completion.
Ok. I just don't think this will be easy. It's not just the best players, it's the best players together at one time with the best chemistry, whether starting or in subs and it is a new experience having 15 players to choose from and 5 post players if you include Sarah. That is also why the Big East is very helpful to us as a training ground. It sure worked last year.
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Bear in mind that the question I was responding to was whether Morgan would get a lot of rotation minutes, like last season. It wasn't about whether 4 scorers was enough or not. Having 3 or 4 scorers on the floor is one of the things that made the small-ball lineup work so well last season. And it also depended on who the scorers were, ie what skills they had. With Paige and Sarah, you had 'ultimate weapons' on the floor together, while Azzi was almost as ultimate. Let's call her 'penultimate.' Put Ash and Kaitlyn or KK -- who were not as good from the perimeter but were excellent defenders and absolute ball hawks -- out there with those three and you had a formidable group that would exhaust whatever bigs were stuck out there trying to defend them. And all 5 were excellent ball handlers, and good to great passers. In effect, Geno forced opponents to go small just to keep up, and this was not something they had designed their rosters to do.
This was the situation in March. Now look further back, to December/January when Morgan was getting a lot of minutes. She was on the floor with the Big Three and either Kaitlyn or KK. If Geno put Ash on the floor instead of KK or Kaitlyn, this meant Paige had to be the PG, and we have all discussed the limitations this puts on Paige's game. She's great at it, but letting her be off the ball opens a lot of things up for her. Here we see the cost of putting Morgan in: she's not quite the offensive force the Big Three + Ash and a PG can be. It's not disastrous, of course, but it does reduce the problem Geno's small-ball offense poses for opponents.
My question was whether this situation, and all the compromises it entailed, could be replicated next season. And don't forget, I think there are other sorts of roles Morgan can play for this team besides being the 'little-big' next to Sarah. Now, without Paige, we may only have 2 'ultimate weapons' -- and I call Azzi ultimate because I think she'll return in November as Sophomore Azzi, who was a clear NPOY candidate until the injury. She will have picked up her drives, her passing, and her rebounding. But even assuming this, we still lack the 3rd weapon, the 'penultimate weapon' that gives Morgan cover when she's on the floor. Could it be Ash? Yes, if her passing improves. Could it be Kayleigh? Yes, if she improves her perimeter game to the level of Kaitlyn's. Same goes for KK, as you already intuited. Could it be Blanca or Caroline? Yes, with similar reservations, though in those cases, it isn't clear that Morgan has a role on that roster that isn't already covered.
So, yes, I think Morgan can make the small-ball roster, but only with a few caveats, and they aren't all about things she needs to improve upon. Others need to up their games to create the right space for her. And she also needs to improve her midrange shooting and finishing at the rim. Whatever happens, I'm sure Geno will give her the chance to prove herself in that lineup -- and I'm sure you will agree. I'm also wondering about other lineups she can contribute in. What about a more traditional big lineup with Serah Sarah and Morgan next to Azzi and KK or Kayleigh. This could work in other ways, and might be pretty amazing. It would have lots of shooters, lots of people who can finish at the rim, and some serious rebounding punch. Geno could position Azzi and Sarah on the perimeter, let Serah and Morgan roam the paint, and have KK or Kayleigh threaten to drive, much the way we saw with Moriah on Stewie's later teams. A squad like this won several NCs in a row, as I seem to recall.