@ Oregon, who starts?

[Wilderness]

Hopefully they can keep the rabid defensive posture up without having Nika officially set the ton for them every evening going forward. Our best team is Liv, Dorka, CW, Evina, Caroline until Paige comes back. They should start, especially against a big Oregon. Put CW on Paopao and pray she can contain her and stop the entry passes to the bigs. Lot of problems against this team. Gotta stop the inside game and the outside game.

Disagree. Nika does so much more than set the tone. She talks the most, she is a furious defender, she creates havoc, no one pursues loose balls harder every time, she forces offensive pace. I'd bet an opponent is more comfortable on offense and in transition when Nika is on the bench. And Coach is clear and consistent in his opinion of her value as a starter.

 

[LoboDays]

Evina will start even though her play and point production has relegated her to the bench. Dorka has not scored much in recent games. NIKA just doesn’t score at all. We just never know which CW and ONO will show up from game to game. In a game like this one, we need points. CD is a must start or it could be catch up from the getgo.

 

[TeamFirst!]

It's amazing how so many people can see the game and come to such different conclusions. It's Geno's job to say good things about all the players. If Geno never says anything good about you it's clearly time to go. If Geno says good things about you only sometimes it's probably time to go. It's his job. What is he supposed to do? Is he supposed to tell the people on the bench. "Hey, you all stink. Why don't you all transfer immediately and if we ever need you due to injury or sickness we will do just fine with 5 players"? No. He needs everyone who is in the rotation to be involved and thinking positive. To be ready if the team needs them. That's why he takes the time to keep motivating Piath and everyone on the bench. He clearly says good things to keep those 6-8 or 9 players at least in the picture and involved. Ideal team management is to have everyone pushing forward together, as a team. Even if it doesn't help the team, isn't it the right thing to do just from a humanity viewpoint. Be positive to a fault. Everyone can contribute at least something. That doesn't mean if Geno says something nice about you, you warrant starting. He can choose to not even start his best 5 if he feels it helps the team overall, which has probably been his approach recently. He is finding ways to maximize the productivity and efficiency of his team. Management 101.

 

[Happydad745]

Caroline Ducharme will probably sit for 5 minutes...

 

[TheObvious]

Whoa, whoa, gang. The last time I looked our objective is to win. And to win you must score. Every game we have to make up 22 points sitting on the sidelines healing.
No way can we not start our current top shooter. In fact if this game is as tough as I think it will be, Caroline may have to play every minute.
Follow tradition and go with Evina (she can hit 3s), then bring in Nika as needed.

 

[Woof 101]

Evina should start so as to get the pre-game intro.

With out a doubt from any teammate or fan.

How do you not start CD the current best player on the team???

That is easy and the players understand it also. Evina has to start and I am sure Geno and the team agree. It is her home coming game and that it's simply the respect to be shown.
No attack or to be insulting but I have never over decades seen a basketball game won or lost in the first four minutes. That or the team that was on the floor to start. My guess is the charm that CD shows has her respecting every minute of the experience along with respect for her teammate. She would approve 100%.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Some of you are talking about starting Nika over Caroline. It makes one question if there is some sort of group hypnosis going on or some sort of hack. No way it makes sense. Evina starts and Caroline starts and Dorka starts. What is the problem? Nika sits for a few minutes.

 

[TeamFirst!]

If anything, Nika should come in and play Paopao after CW starts off with her. Pester her like crazy.

 

[jabstep]

The question is if Oregon goes with just Serbally or with Prince as well. I like Edwards defending wings or guards more than Dorka. That is if Oregon goes 4 guards and Serbally. I would go with Caroline,CW,Evina, Liv, and Nika. Subbing Edwards first if they go 4 and 1. If they play or go 3 and 2 we adjust with Dorka. Go Huskies!!!!

 

[Skeets]

If anything, Nika should come in and play Paopao after CW starts off with her. Pester her like crazy.

Gnat her.

 

[eebmg]

If anything, Nika should come in and play Paopao after CW starts off with her. Pester her like crazy.

Nika's Game plan. Pow Pow.

 

[Stymie]

Just this time-Evina starts over Caroline Ducharme.
Homecoming Tradition is a worthwhile honor to preserve.
Caroline is a class act and will get it.
BTW- subbed out after 5-6 minutes.
JMHO

 

[The deacon]

With out a doubt from any teammate or fan.


That is easy and the players understand it also. Evina has to start and I am sure Geno and the team agree. It is her home coming game and that it's simply the respect to be shown.
No attack or to be insulting but I have never over decades seen a basketball game won or lost in the first four minutes. That or the team that was on the floor to start. My guess is the charm that CD shows has her respecting every minute of the experience along with respect for her teammate. She would approve 100%.

I agree wholeheartedly with your post, Woof 101, except there have been games that have been pretty much decided in the first several minutes.

When UConn hosted Sabrina and Co. at Gampel in 2020, the Ducks shrugged off an early UConn basket to scored 10 straight. The Huskies never got closer than seven again. I think everyone in the gym knew Oregon had control, including the Huskies. I'm sure they'd deny that, but there was never a moment afterward that felt like UConn could come back.

Thus, IMO, it is very important whom Geno chooses to start and it could be important what happens in the opening minutes.

 

[sun]

I agree wholeheartedly with your post, Woof 101, except there have been games that have been pretty much decided in the first several minutes.

When UConn hosted Sabrina and Co. at Gampel in 2020, the Ducks shrugged off an early UConn basket to scored 10 straight. The Huskies never got closer than seven again. I think everyone in the gym knew Oregon had control, including the Huskies. I'm sure they'd deny that, but there was never a moment afterward that felt like UConn could come back.

Thus, IMO, it is very important whom Geno chooses to start and it could be important what happens in the opening minutes.

The box score for that game shows that Megan Walker shot 3 - 16 while playing 39 minutes.
Only 2 Huskies scored double digits.
We should hand them a loss at home as payback.

University of Connecticut Athletics

University of Connecticut Athletics

uconnhuskies.com

 

[pk1234]

I guess Evina should start since it's her homecoming game, but you don't not start your best player in a huge non-conference game on national TV that you traveled cross country for.

Probably Nika comes first off the bench, but I'd have CW come off the bench before CD. CD needs to play as close to 40 minutes as she physically can.

 

[cohenzone]

I'd like to see Evina get the start, perhaps in place of Dorka.

No matter who starts, I'll note that, based on a second watch of the Xavier game and Meg Culmo's comment that Nika fouls on just about every play, I'm concerned if Pac 12 officials call touch fouls on the perimeter they'll have a field day whistling Nika, particularly because she might be tasked with containing the very talented Paopao.

I'd also caution those who celebrate too quickly Liv's eight blocks against the smallish Xavier players that, of those eight, I believe most officials would have whistled Liv for a foul on at least four of them. In spite of what Culmo said, Liv still followed through onto the Xavier player on a bunch of her blocks. Against Sabally, Prince or other Oregon players, that move will have Liv sitting on the bench very quickly, quite possibly next to Nika.

That might smack of 'Debbie Downer' stuff to some, but I just hope Nika and Liv can figure a way to play D without fouling if the officials are in the mood to call fouls.

Dunno. Her wrist flips down and sometimes her arm moves a little forward, but she typically didn’t hit the shooter. Your comment implies you expect the refs to call the motion regardless of contact. Could be. Bad reffing is epidemic.

 

[JellyBean]

Who starts?
Evina
C-Dub
Caroline
Dorka
Liv

Game Plan: Push Tempo first 2-3 minutes. Anyone letting up, got a seat right next to Jamelle or Morgan for ya. Next person in.

 

[cohenzone]

I agree wholeheartedly with your post, Woof 101, except there have been games that have been pretty much decided in the first several minutes.

When UConn hosted Sabrina and Co. at Gampel in 2020, the Ducks shrugged off an early UConn basket to scored 10 straight. The Huskies never got closer than seven again. I think everyone in the gym knew Oregon had control, including the Huskies. I'm sure they'd deny that, but there was never a moment afterward that felt like UConn could come back.

Thus, IMO, it is very important whom Geno chooses to start and it could be important what happens in the opening minutes.

Sort of important, but none of his choices are totally lousy. And Sabrina was merely the best player in the country.

 

[KhoolKidd89]

I like having CD come off the bench first to keep Nika’s defensive prowess on the court. It’s good to set the tone early against these Ducks in my opinion.

 

[Zinethar]

I wonder which team has to be first announcing their starters? If it is the home team (as it should be) I would expect UConn's starters will depend if Oregon goes with a 4 guard offense or uses 2 bigs. if 4 guards UConn counters with Nika, E, CW, Caroline Ducharme, and Liv. If the go big at the start I would expect that Dorka gets the start instead of Nika but with Nika subbing in very quickly unless E hts some big 3s early. I hope (and expect) we get a great game from E that puts her problems to bed for the rest of the season.

 

[The deacon]

Dunno. Her wrist flips down and sometimes her arm moves a little forward, but she typically didn’t hit the shooter. Your comment implies you expect the refs to call the motion regardless of contact. Could be. Bad reffing is epidemic.

We'll agree to disagree about the degree to which Liv's arm swings downward, Cohenzone.

As for refs, officials at every level do and likely will call a defensive foul when they see a player's arm(s) swinging toward the shooter, contact or not. They apparently assume contact. This is an issue we've all been stressed about with Olivia since she first donned a Huskies uniform. She might be better at it than before, but I still believe she sets herself up for foul trouble too often. I suspect a player's foul history might weigh into some officials' calls, too.

 

[The deacon]

Sort of important, but none of his choices are totally lousy. And Sabrina was merely the best player in the country.

Agreed on both points, Cohenzone. I was simply noting that the first several minutes of a game can be decisive, IMO.

 

[cohenzone]

We'll agree to disagree about the degree to which Liv's arm swings downward, Cohenzone.

As for refs, officials at every level do and likely will call a defensive foul when they see a player's arm(s) swinging toward the shooter, contact or not. They apparently assume contact. This is an issue we've all been stressed about with Olivia since she first donned a Huskies uniform. She might be better at it than before, but I still believe she sets herself up for foul trouble too often. I suspect a player's foul history might weigh into some officials' calls, too.

Yes. Sort of a Catch 22. What if a player’s foul history is built on a bunch of assumed but not actual fouls? The other thing is how aware during the flow of a game does a player have to be of a particular refs tendencies. It’s not that easy to change what you normally do. And of course inconsistency of reffing from game to game and within a game is also a problem. The main criticism of Liv is she isn’t always aggressive. Anyway, she’ll be starting today.

 

[#12in21]

I would go with Nika, Caroline, Christyn, Evina and Olivia as starters. The last couple games we have had fast starts on offense and great defensive intensity. I believe we need Nika on the floor to push the intensity and get her teammates rolling. Evina brings the ball up much slower and we won't have that jump to disrupt Oregon on both Offense and Defense if she is running point and Nika is watching from the bench. We want Oregon to be uncomfortable from the get go. Nika is our best player to lead in that. And based on the noted comments by Culmo and one of our posters ( sorry don't recall who mentioned witnessing it live at the last game), Nika is our best communicator, constantly talking on offense and defense.

At the same time, if we want to get a fast start, we need players on the floor that can get shots up quickly before the defense gets set. Caroline is best at that with Evina and Christyn very good as well. If they are all shooting well we should be able to get into our offense quickly make solid passes to find the open player. A key will be following strongly for offensive rebounds to get put backs on misses ( we may really miss Dorka for that if the guys on the floor aren't aggressively following up on misses). On defense I think this unit can also pressure the ball and switch well. If Oregon comes in with two bigs and we are having problems with that we will need to counter quickly by subbing in Dorka or Aaliyah.

If the pace of the game is slow, half court offense primarily we have major problems winning. We need to push pace and maintain the focus and intensity we've shown against the last two, decidedly lesser opponents. IMO our best shot to do that is to come out with this line up and then react to how best to maintain pace and counter any advantages Oregon is showing.

Obviously we will need to play much of the game with two bigs on the court as no matter how well the four guard lineup is playing we have no backups to come in to give players a breather or if someone gets into foul trouble. If we establish the pace of the game to our liking and are hitting on all cylinders we should be able to transition to 3 guards with 2 bigs, rotating in players to keep everybody fresh.

This would be a great game for Aaliyah to explode back to the dominate player we saw that she can be. Piath and Amari contributing would be a huge plus as well. If the refs are calling touch fouls on the outside that could really hurt us this game but if they are allowing some contact and physical play outside we should be okay, conversely if they are allowing the bigs to bounce each other around inside that may cause us some issues unless Aaliyah's beast side is back. All we can hope for is fair handed and consistent reffing and for our players to adjust to however the game is being called.