JoePgh
Cranky pants and wise acre
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The Hartford Courant had a long article by Paul Doyle entitled "Auriemma Digging For Depth" on this very subject today. I would link it but it seems that most of you can't use Courant links anyway. Anyway, here are some key quotes from Geno:
"You're not going to play here at Connecticut until you prove to me that you're ready and that we can trust you. And if you can't, then you're not going to play. I don't care what your reputation is coming out of high school." (Listening, Crystal?). "I don't care if you're a nice kid, a great kid, you're an A student; it doesn't matter." (That would be you, Kyla and Molly.). "You come here and you're ready and you're ready to play and everyday in practice you earn it, like Kia Nurse did as a freshman or a lot of these other guys did as freshmen, then you're going to play a lot."
Also: "There's a reason why our fourth quarters are so bad. Either we're getting tired or we have people on the floor that can't score. There's a reason why in the first and third quarters, we blow everybody out. We almost never win the fourth quarter. Either we have to slow it down because we're exhausted or we've subbed and we can't put points on the board."
I think there are a few conclusions to be drawn here that seem to differ from the Boneyard consensus: (A) He is not wedded to a short bench -- he will play as many people as, in his estimation, earn the right to play. (B) He recognizes that the shortness of the current bench is a problem that needs to be fixed. (C) Apparently the key problem with the current bench players is their offense, not their defense.
I adhere to my view that the players in question (including Crystal and Natalie as well as Kyla and Molly) will get increased minutes during the AAC schedule, and that by tournament time, they will get more minutes per game than they got during November and December.
The article also mentioned that Geno had recently pointed out to the freshmen that Gabby Williams didn't play much as a freshman during the final three games of the NCAA tournament. That was obviously not due to a shortage of talent; it was a shortage of focus and understanding of the offense and defense -- a defect which was always curable and has now been cured.
"You're not going to play here at Connecticut until you prove to me that you're ready and that we can trust you. And if you can't, then you're not going to play. I don't care what your reputation is coming out of high school." (Listening, Crystal?). "I don't care if you're a nice kid, a great kid, you're an A student; it doesn't matter." (That would be you, Kyla and Molly.). "You come here and you're ready and you're ready to play and everyday in practice you earn it, like Kia Nurse did as a freshman or a lot of these other guys did as freshmen, then you're going to play a lot."
Also: "There's a reason why our fourth quarters are so bad. Either we're getting tired or we have people on the floor that can't score. There's a reason why in the first and third quarters, we blow everybody out. We almost never win the fourth quarter. Either we have to slow it down because we're exhausted or we've subbed and we can't put points on the board."
I think there are a few conclusions to be drawn here that seem to differ from the Boneyard consensus: (A) He is not wedded to a short bench -- he will play as many people as, in his estimation, earn the right to play. (B) He recognizes that the shortness of the current bench is a problem that needs to be fixed. (C) Apparently the key problem with the current bench players is their offense, not their defense.
I adhere to my view that the players in question (including Crystal and Natalie as well as Kyla and Molly) will get increased minutes during the AAC schedule, and that by tournament time, they will get more minutes per game than they got during November and December.
The article also mentioned that Geno had recently pointed out to the freshmen that Gabby Williams didn't play much as a freshman during the final three games of the NCAA tournament. That was obviously not due to a shortage of talent; it was a shortage of focus and understanding of the offense and defense -- a defect which was always curable and has now been cured.