Natalie Butler in uniform tonight. | The Boneyard

Natalie Butler in uniform tonight.

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What will be will be. I wouldn't choose this game to have Natalie make her debut. But, that's why my butt is in the stands.
 
Kaizen said:
That is great. Thank you.....Can't wait to see them.
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That doesn't necessarily mean they are going to play. They might just be dressed as emergency bodies in case of foul trouble or injury.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
What will be will be. I wouldn't choose this game to have Natalie make her debut. But, that's why my butt is in the stands.
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Yeah I always thought easing her in during the conference schedule was the better way to go. Why put her into a high stress situation in her debut? Let her come in during the 2nd quarter or 2nd half against Cinci when we're up 30 and she can just play without having to worry about making plays.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
What will be will be. I wouldn't choose this game to have Natalie make her debut. But, that's why my butt is in the stands.
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I would start her tonight. Give a her a taste of real top level D1 competition under the bright lights and see how she responds, give the team a chance to work with that 'big man' setup in a serious game. I bet that's what she would choose too if it were up to her. But my butt isn't even in the stands, so what do I know?
 
TitleTown said:
That doesn't necessarily mean they are going to play. They might just be dressed as emergency bodies in case of foul trouble or injury.
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One way to look at it is that Maryland has not been able to prepare for Butler. I know practice is not game but UConn does have an idea how Butler fits into the system. Of course that is if she plays at all.
 
I am hoping she plays....Please! Would love to see her get going before the tournament.
 
j66kicker said:
I would start her tonight. Give a her a taste of real top level D1 competition under the bright lights and see how she responds, give the team a chance to work with that 'big man' setup in a serious game. I bet that's what she would choose too if it were up to her. But my butt isn't even in the stands, so what do I know?
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:eek::confused::confused::confused::)
No spitting match kicker and to be fair this is being posted at half time in a close game. Having said that going against a legit top 10 team knowing they also like to get up and down the floor (fast) who would you have taken out of the starting line up for Butler? It could have been a recipe for the ruin of a potential star. Geno is the head chef, in Geno we trust, he will add the ingredients to the Stewie at the proper time. Pun intended...:D
 
Woof 101 said:
:eek::confused::confused::confused::)
No spitting match kicker and to be fair this is being posted at half time in a close game. Having said that going against a legit top 10 team knowing they also like to get up and down the floor (fast) who would you have taken out of the starting line up for Butler? It could have been a recipe for the ruin of a potential star. Geno is the head chef, in Geno we trust, he will add the ingredients to the Stewie at the proper time. Pun intended...:D
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If that's all it takes to 'ruin a potential star', then she's probably too delicate to play at UCONN. I'm guessing that's not the case here.
 
JavaMan said:
Natalie's hand and thumb were bandaged tonight. That's not a good sign. :(
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I'll take a little differently. I think that she will be taped for a while as her ligaments continue to recover and gain strenght. I believe the reason she was taped tonight was that there actually was a possibility that she might play. Unfortunately, as this game played out, she wasn't going to get tossed into that hot mess.
 
Biff said:
I'll take a little differently. I think that she will be taped for a while as her ligaments continue to recover and gain strenght. I believe the reason she was taped tonight was that there actually was a possibility that she might play...
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I like that scenario! I'm adaptable. :)
 
topogigio said:
Butler would have made a huge difference in there tonight, keeping Jones from dominating the post. I'm expecting big things from Natalie.
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Would you have taken Stewie or Morgan out to play Natalie?

So the choices were:

1. Pull a senior forward with a proven record of scoring for a sophomore that hasn't played since March 2014, or

2. Pull a guard and try to handle the inevitable press with only two ball handlers AND guard the perimeter with only two players.

I think Geno was wise not to throw Natalie into the fire with no kind of appaent payoff evident.
 
HuskyNan said:
Would you have taken Stewie or Morgan out to play Natalie?

So the choices were:

1. Pull a senior forward with a proven record of scoring for a sophomore that hasn't played since March 2014, or

2. Pull a guard and try to handle the inevitable press with only two ball handlers AND guard the perimeter with only two players.

I think Geno was wise not to throw Natalie into the fire with no kind of apparent payoff evident.
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That's much too logical, Nan!
 
Aluminny69 said:
That's much too logical, Nan!
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Umm, there were plenty of games last season where GA put Kiah in alongside both Stewie and Morgan. Yes you give up some flexibility on the perimeter that way. But if in coach's judgment the thing that's hurting us NOW is the opponent's inside game and their hustle under the glass, he goes big. Then you see if the adjustment outweighs the risk. Often, this would so 'break' the other team and turn the momentum that it paid off easily despite the drawbacks. After which Geno would sometimes feel free to sub Kiah out and go back to a smaller lineup. It's all about having the flexibility to do it if the situation and the flow of play called for it. I'm not saying NB would be equivalent to Kiah especially for her first time out, as has been pointed out numerous times in this thread, but I still think it's a perfectly reasonable hypothetical to talk about, just as Nan's hypothetical about why she would not do so was reasonable. NB is no true freshman and if the axiom that UCONN practices are tougher than games has any validity, she will be worth something in her first appearance, whenever that comes.

In addition I don't recall the last time Geno had much if any concern about the opponent's press no matter how many bigs we had on the floor.
 
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HuskyNan said:
Would you have taken Stewie or Morgan out to play Natalie?

So the choices were:

1. Pull a senior forward with a proven record of scoring for a sophomore that hasn't played since March 2014, or

2. Pull a guard and try to handle the inevitable press with only two ball handlers AND guard the perimeter with only two players.
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Tuck played 32 minutes; she was taken out even without Butler available as sub. If I remember correctly, it was one of these benched periods that led to poor Gabby having to defend Jones directly under the hoop.

Some of those eight minutes might conceivably have gone to Butler if she had been ready to play. 8 minutes or fewer sounds about right for a player coming back from a long absence.

Note that Maryland scored 13 points on 2nd chance opportunities. The UConn stats for the year are incomplete at their website, but so far as I can tell, that's the most a team has scored against them so far. If we are looking for specific matchup-related things that work in Natalie's favor based on her one year of college ball, it is rebounding. Since basketball is a game of matchups, we don't have to say that Butler is a better player than Tuck to say that a healthy Butler might have been of some use in the game.
 
HuskyNan said:
Would you have taken Stewie or Morgan out to play Natalie?

So the choices were:

1. Pull a senior forward with a proven record of scoring for a sophomore that hasn't played since March 2014, or

2. Pull a guard and try to handle the inevitable press with only two ball handlers AND guard the perimeter with only two players.

I think Geno was wise not to throw Natalie into the fire with no kind of appaent payoff evident.
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Thank you :D...
 
VAMike23 said:
Umm, there were plenty of games last season where GA put Kiah in alongside both Stewie and Morgan. Yes you give up some flexibility on the perimeter that way. But if in coach's judgment the thing that's hurting us NOW is the opponent's inside game and their hustle under the glass, he goes big. Then you see if the adjustment outweighs the risk. Often, this would so 'break' the other team and turn the momentum that it paid off easily despite the drawbacks. After which Geno would sometimes feel free to sub Kiah out and go back to a smaller lineup. It's all about having the flexibility to do it if the situation and the flow of play called for it. I'm not saying NB would be equivalent to Kiah especially for her first time out, as has been pointed out numerous times in this thread, but I still think it's a perfectly reasonable hypothetical to talk about, just as Nan's hypothetical about why she would not do so was reasonable. NB is no true freshman and if the axiom that UCONN practices are tougher than games has any validity, she will be worth something in her first appearance, whenever that comes.

In addition I don't recall the last time Geno had much if any concern about the opponent's press no matter how many bigs we had on the floor.
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Last year - Kiah was a senior and Morgan and Stewie were juniors. And, they'd played all season together so they knew how to switch, etc on defense and how to find one another on offense. That's why they worked together so well. In addition, UConn was starting to wear Maryland down and the last thing Geno wanted to do was foul them, slow down the game, and give them a couple of free points. I don't have confidence that Natalie would have been a seasoned enough defender to avoid fouling a team as quick as Maryland.
 
I figure we are going to need Natalie...we got bullied a bit by the Maryland bigs and it may happen down the road too. Stewie is a magnificent defender but I don't want her matched up against reasonably skilled big bodies. Let her be a help-defender on those kids...not as likely to get in foul trouble. Our other bigs are too small. Natalie can bully back.

Can't say I was ever downright 'worried' last night but was 'concerned' till The Ossining Assasin put their lights out.
Couldn't be happier for Saniya.
 
Butler is just an inch taller than Stewie and has considerably less experience in guarding big time college basketball players than does Stewie. Stewie is our best option guarding the opponents' big kids since there isn't a Kiah or Stef to do it.
 
"Butler would have made a huge difference in there tonight, keeping Jones from dominating the post."

That is a huge assumption. Jones is a very skilled post player and Butler has yet to play a minute in a UConn uniform.
 
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