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Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 5236226, member: 12088"] As in such threads in previous seasons, I think many of us think the "who starts" question is not more important than "who gets the decisive minutes." And there's not as much overlap between these two themes as one might think. If Blanca proves her mettle, she still might not start. But she is likely to be in games when it really matters -- when the big runs are engineered, when the opponent makes a surge, or in the closing minutes of a close game -- whether she starts or not. This is exactly how KK and Ash are used right now, and they are rightly celebrated for it. I think Caroline could well be in a similar position as Blanca next season. The interesting difference could be who defends the bigs. For example, it may not matter that much whether an opposing big scores 20 points in the course of a game, if we are building a big lead. But at the end of a close game, when a few timely buckets might get the other team back in the game, Geno will want to have good post defenders in the game. That will undoubtedly include Sarah, but also whoever else among the bigs has shown how good they are. And that second big doesn't have to have started the game. So, the list of starters could be [B]Azzi KK Ash Sarah Jana,[/B] because they're great, but also because they can set the tone, and they know the system really well. Or it could include [B]Caroline[/B] for the same reason. Or it could even be [B]Morgan[/B] because she's surging and Geno thinks she poses a particular problem for an opponent. Or it could be [B]Blanca[/B], because she turns out to be too good to keep on the bench. But any of them (except for Azzi and Sarah) could also prove to be as useful coming off the bench at key moments. [/QUOTE]

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