Playing time this year

[HuskylnSC]

It looks as if we are going to have a compressed season of 28 or 29 games (barring the unforeseen). Has the schedule been released yet and am I right that we will be playing games with a greater frequency. Because if it is compressed doesn't it make sense to have a bigger rotation to keep everyone fresh. Fewer minutes speeds up recovery time and also prevents injuries. I think Geno will try to minimize some players minutes in the regular season to maximize their effectiveness come tournament time.

 

[Huskee11]

The schedule is partially completed and is up on the team webpage. Back to back right away but that is the nature of the tournament.

I don’t think Geno is going to change his approach to playing time for anything. Playing time will be earned in practice. At this point it feels like a rotation of eight but in truth we know very little. The team is probably deeper than in recent years but that depends upon how quickly the young players catch on and how healthy Evina is.

Providing rest is likely less of a priority than developing experience and chemistry for a lot of new faces. Geno will also, of course, do what it takes to win. I am sure he would like to play more players, it allows him more flexibility defensively, but it is up to the players to earn their way out there by performing in practice.

 

[#12in21]

Here's my pipedream. Let's lobby the NCAA to, rather than give an additional year of eligibility, to add a mandatory additional over time period to all games. We need that extra period of playing time each game to get all the talent we have this season and next out on the court! I know UCONN wcbb fans will gladly sit in front of our tv's every second our women are on the floor. Maybe the rest of wcbb would complain that they don't have the depth or stamina , but we want our women to all get out on the court enough time to work up a sweat - and, hey, we are already 'bad for basketball'. Can't wait 'till the 28th.

 

[oldude]

Here's my pipedream. Let's lobby the NCAA to, rather than give an additional year of eligibility, to add a mandatory additional over time period to all games. We need that extra period of playing time each game to get all the talent we have this season and next out on the court! I know UCONN wcbb fans will gladly sit in front of our tv's every second our women are on the floor. Maybe the rest of wcbb would complain that they don't have the depth or stamina , but we want our women to all get out on the court enough time to work up a sweat - and, hey, we are already 'bad for basketball'. Can't wait 'till the 28th.

Interesting idea. Although it might be a little embarrassing if UConn beats a NBE bottom-dweller like Xavier 150-34.....

 

[mbr33ct]

Here's my pipedream. Let's lobby the NCAA to, rather than give an additional year of eligibility, to add a mandatory additional over time period to all games. We need that extra period of playing time each game to get all the talent we have this season and next out on the court! I know UCONN wcbb fans will gladly sit in front of our tv's every second our women are on the floor. Maybe the rest of wcbb would complain that they don't have the depth or stamina , but we want our women to all get out on the court enough time to work up a sweat - and, hey, we are already 'bad for basketball'. Can't wait 'till the 28th.

...and considering the class coming in next year, with technically no Seniors this year, do we "lobby the NCAA" next year for two overtime periods to all games? How about playing double headers conference games?

 

[oldhusky]

Several thoughts. Clearly if faced with a choice between a very good player that may be overworked vs. a fresh sub that is significantly worse, Geno goes with the relatively gassed star. Last year is exhibit A for that. Three of our four main players were around 35 minutes a game. That is 87.5% of the game, and the equivalent percentage of an NBA game would be 42 minutes.

Are Uconn athletes better conditioned? Yes, but this is still pushing it. In addition those 35 minutes included blowouts, where those players were not in for the last few minutes, so it games that counted it was an even heavier role.

Last year the trade-off was stark. We were really only 6 deep, but had to use 8. I'm sure Geno had no trouble using Aubrey, she was a star off the bench, but the heavy minutes were to minimize how much he had to use Kyla and Molly.

I think CW can be a much better player this year on a per minute basis if she is closer to 30 minutes a game. In fact no player on this team is expected to be so head and shoulders above say our first 8, that they need to play tired.

In addition the strategic options are really opened up. Can you press if you are burning out your starters with heavy minutes? Of course not if you don't trust your bench. Players can be more aggressive defensively and rebounding because of not being as scared of getting in foul trouble. Having a bench you can count on doesn't just make the bench better, it also allows the starters to be better, and gives the coach more strategy tools to use.

This year I feel pretty confident he will have confidence in 8. Mir has a decent chance of making that 9. Nobody has to play 35 minutes anymore. Maybe a solid 8 even allows you on a spot basis to press every once in awhile. Next year if he wanted to Geno could press for most of the game, even with the starters and reduce their minutes to the mid twenties if desired.

I am hoping for that kind of evolution over the next couple of years. It also might be necessary if we hope to retain most of these new recruits. That will not happen with a 7 or 8 player rotation.

 

[mbr33ct]

Several thoughts. Clearly if faced with a choice between a very good player that may be overworked vs. a fresh sub that is significantly worse, Geno goes with the relatively gassed star. Last year is exhibit A for that. Three of our four main players were around 35 minutes a game. That is 87.5% of the game, and the equivalent percentage of an NBA game would be 42 minutes.

Are Uconn athletes better conditioned? Yes, but this is still pushing it. In addition those 35 minutes included blowouts, where those players were not in for the last few minutes, so it games that counted it was an even heavier role.

Last year the trade-off was stark. We were really only 6 deep, but had to use 8. I'm sure Geno had no trouble using Aubrey, she was a star off the bench, but the heavy minutes were to minimize how much he had to use Kyla and Molly.

I think CW can be a much better player this year on a per minute basis if she is closer to 30 minutes a game. In fact no player on this team is expected to be so head and shoulders above say our first 8, that they need to play tired.

In addition the strategic options are really opened up. Can you press if you are burning out your starters with heavy minutes? Of course not if you don't trust your bench. Players can be more aggressive defensively and rebounding because of not being as scared of getting in foul trouble. Having a bench you can count on doesn't just make the bench better, it also allows the starters to be better, and gives the coach more strategy tools to use.

This year I feel pretty confident he will have confidence in 8. Mir has a decent chance of making that 9. Nobody has to play 35 minutes anymore. Maybe a solid 8 even allows you on a spot basis to press every once in awhile. Next year if he wanted to Geno could press for most of the game, even with the starters and reduce their minutes to the mid twenties if desired.

I am hoping for that kind of evolution over the next couple of years. It also might be necessary if we hope to retain most of these new recruits. That will not happen with a 7 or 8 player rotation.

I like to look at it this way, the three players you talk about have played 52.5% of minutes per game played (105 min/gm of the 200 min). As far as your " four main players" you speak of, Makurat in not one of them? Anna actually played 26.5min/gm over ONO's 26.4min/gm.

 

[oldhusky]

I like to look at it this way, the three players you talk about have played 52.5% of minutes per game played (105 min/gm of the 200 min). As far as your " four main players" you speak of, Makurat in not one of them? Anna actually played 26.5min/gm over ONO's 26.4min/gm.

Yes by a hair Makurat played more than Liv, but her starting position was more contested (Aubrey) and Liv's minutes were more crucial because we didn't have a legitimate backup. I don't know from a conditioning standpoint how many minutes Liv could play effectively if she wasn't in foul trouble, probably less than the other 3. Regardless she was not able to approach that level because of foul trouble. So while Geno had every reason to try to maximize Liv's minutes as well, since the alternative was weak, he frequently wasn't able to.

In Anna's case Geno did not try to maximize her minutes. The gap to the alternative was not nearly as great (Aubrey) and in fact represented a completely different set of skills. Those minutes were distributed more based on if he wanted shooting/passing (Anna) or rebounding/defense (Aubrey) but Anna was rarely in foul trouble. If Anna was head and shoulders above the alternative I think she would have been 30 plus as well. For example if Aubrey wasn't here and Anna's sub would have been limited to Kyla or Molly.

 

[HopJim]

The schedule is partially completed and is up on the team webpage. Back to back right away but that is the nature of the tournament.

I don’t think Geno is going to change his approach to playing time for anything. Playing time will be earned in practice. At this point it feels like a rotation of eight but in truth we know very little. The team is probably deeper than in recent years but that depends upon how quickly the young players catch on and how healthy Evina is.

Providing rest is likely less of a priority than developing experience and chemistry for a lot of new faces. Geno will also, of course, do what it takes to win. I am sure he would like to play more players, it allows him more flexibility defensively, but it is up to the players to earn their way out there by performing in practice.

Good assessment. Geno always has a goal in mind relative to the minutes each player earns. Sometimes its to work on a new skill, get comfortable with different lineups, practice a new offense/defense, etc. but its rarely to give rest.

 

[psconn]

It looks as if we are going to have a compressed season of 28 or 29 games (barring the unforeseen). Has the schedule been released yet and am I right that we will be playing games with a greater frequency. Because if it is compressed doesn't it make sense to have a bigger rotation to keep everyone fresh. Fewer minutes speeds up recovery time and also prevents injuries. I think Geno will try to minimize some players minutes in the regular season to maximize their effectiveness come tournament time.

I agree with Huskee11. Geno will not change the way playing time is allotted to "keep everyone fresh". You earn every minute in practice. Considering the talent level and reported (through Geno) competitiveness of the group in practice, his real challenge might be to give his starters enough minutes through a weak conference schedule without embarrassing his old Big East buddies. I expect the 5 returners to start and get heavy contributions from Paige, Aaliyah and Nika. Starters may change as the season progresses (but I doubt it). Paige and Aaliyah would be the possible Frosh to start at some point. An 8 player rotation is super-deep for Geno.

These things I state with the utmost certainty and hardly any real facts. Welcome to the Boneyard.

 

[Golden Husky]

Here's my pipedream. Let's lobby the NCAA to, rather than give an additional year of eligibility, to add a mandatory additional over time period to all games. We need that extra period of playing time each game to get all the talent we have this season and next out on the court! I know UCONN wcbb fans will gladly sit in front of our tv's every second our women are on the floor. Maybe the rest of wcbb would complain that they don't have the depth or stamina , but we want our women to all get out on the court enough time to work up a sweat - and, hey, we are already 'bad for basketball'. Can't wait 'till the 28th.

Ernie Banks had the solution: "Let's play two."

 

[Bigboote]

It looks as if we are going to have a compressed season of 28 or 29 games (barring the unforeseen). Has the schedule been released yet and am I right that we will be playing games with a greater frequency. Because if it is compressed doesn't it make sense to have a bigger rotation to keep everyone fresh. Fewer minutes speeds up recovery time and also prevents injuries. I think Geno will try to minimize some players minutes in the regular season to maximize their effectiveness come tournament time.

It makes sense to have a bigger rotation because there are more good players.

I can't see Geno ever training players for big games by playing them less. On the other hand, I could see him playing different players or lineups in different situations or vs. different types of opponents.

 

[veryolddog]

I have to chuckle at this thread. The season has not even started yet and we are sorting out minutes to play. Certainly, this is a difficult job to administer, but that is why Geno is there who observes both the game and the players.

 

[Tonyc]

Folks Geno hasnt changed his coaching philosophy much since he came to UConn. You earn your playtime by how you play in practice. We have a young team and in a short season we will need to get those kids up and going because next season we have another fantastic class coming in that will need time to develop and will have to be developed quickly too. I would think that the top recruits came here thinking they were coming to play not sit. Some of the other top recruits understand they may sit a little their first season and play more their sophomore year. The same thing for next years class. With that said Paige and Azzi didnt come to sit. WIth that said I expect to see UConn to go 9 deep and in big games 7-8 deep. An ole saying I like is " either you get your players going or you get your players going"

 

[veryolddog]

I just want to see these young talented people play. I don't want to analyze anything, just watch, enjoy, and see outstanding basketball. It has been a crappy year and I want to be entertained with something good, happy, and exciting.

 

[Boreifs]

Several thoughts. Clearly if faced with a choice between a very good player that may be overworked vs. a fresh sub that is significantly worse, Geno goes with the relatively gassed star. Last year is exhibit A for that. Three of our four main players were around 35 minutes a game. That is 87.5% of the game, and the equivalent percentage of an NBA game would be 42 minutes.

Are Uconn athletes better conditioned? Yes, but this is still pushing it. In addition those 35 minutes included blowouts, where those players were not in for the last few minutes, so it games that counted it was an even heavier role.

Last year the trade-off was stark. We were really only 6 deep, but had to use 8. I'm sure Geno had no trouble using Aubrey, she was a star off the bench, but the heavy minutes were to minimize how much he had to use Kyla and Molly.

I think CW can be a much better player this year on a per minute basis if she is closer to 30 minutes a game. In fact no player on this team is expected to be so head and shoulders above say our first 8, that they need to play tired.

In addition the strategic options are really opened up. Can you press if you are burning out your starters with heavy minutes? Of course not if you don't trust your bench. Players can be more aggressive defensively and rebounding because of not being as scared of getting in foul trouble. Having a bench you can count on doesn't just make the bench better, it also allows the starters to be better, and gives the coach more strategy tools to use.

This year I feel pretty confident he will have confidence in 8. Mir has a decent chance of making that 9. Nobody has to play 35 minutes anymore. Maybe a solid 8 even allows you on a spot basis to press every once in awhile. Next year if he wanted to Geno could press for most of the game, even with the starters and reduce their minutes to the mid twenties if desired.

I am hoping for that kind of evolution over the next couple of years. It also might be necessary if we hope to retain most of these new recruits. That will not happen with a 7 or 8 player rotation.

Another thought. A team that gets to the foul line frequently has less of a problem, while conversely a deep team can afford to strategically foul more frequently.

 

[hoophuskee]

I have to chuckle at this thread. The season has not even started yet and we are sorting out minutes to play. Certainly, this is a difficult job to administer, but that is why Geno is there who observes both the game and the players.

Without seeing so many of them - we're just whistling in the wind.

 

[Argonaut]

Let's dig a little into the early 2000s archives and examine DT's four years...

For the sake of fairness, I'm going to exclude anyone who played in fewer than 25 games because, likely, someone else's MPG increased greatly because of their injury. Here is everyone, by year, who averaged more then 10MPG.

2000/2001	MPG		2001/2002	MPG
Sue Bird	27.7​		Sue Bird	29.9​
Diana Taurasi	24​		Diana Taurasi	29​
Swin Cash	23.8​		Swin Cash	27.8​
Shea Ralph	23.7​		Asjha Jones	24.6​
Tamika Williams	19.9​		Tamika Williams	21.9​
Asjha Jones	19.5​		Jessica Moore	18.4​
Kennitra Johnson	17.9​		Maria Conlon	17.7​
Kelly Shumacher	16.9​		Ashley Battle	16.7​
Morgan Valley	10.3​		Morgan Valley	12.9​
2002/2003	MPG		2003/2004	MPG
Diana Taurasi	31.9​		Diana Taurasi	31.9​
Ann Strother	31.5​		Ann Strother	29.1​
Maria Conlon	29.7​		Maria Conlon	28.2​
Jessica Moore	25.8​		Barbara Turner	26.7​
Ashley Battle	22.4​		Jessica Moore	25.2​
Barbara Turner	20.9​		Ashley Battle	19.3​
Willnett Crockett	15.8​		Willnett Crockett	13.7​
Morgan Valley	11.4​		Morgan Valley	11.7​

We have a nine players rotation in the first two years (you could argue 10 in 2000/2001, but Sveta only played 19 games) and eight in the second two. Notice that no one was averaging 35 MPG (like we've seen the last couple of years). Geno is willing to dole out the playing time... the players just have to earn it.

With that being said... I AM DYING FOR THE 28TH.

 

[Tonyc]

IMO playtime will be based on who is ready and who is needed. ONO needs a back up and I would think that Edwards will need to get ready quickly to fill that spot. Aubrey will be used to rebound. Paige Nika will be at the guard along with Evina and CW. These freshman will earn playtime when they earn playtime however imo Edwards is a top priority right now because right now UConn cant afford for ONO to get into foul trouble or on the bench. Miss St will be a good test as will LVille. We dont have alot of games to get ready for them and they dont have alot of games to get ready for UConn . Uconn is gonna need CW Evina and Anna to step up big time to replace Walker and Dangerfield. With that said you most likely will see Paige start or get alot of playtime. This is going to be a team effort for the first few weeks of the season.

 

[JoePgh]

Let's dig a little into the early 2000s archives and examine DT's four years...

For the sake of fairness, I'm going to exclude anyone who played in fewer than 25 games because, likely, someone else's MPG increased greatly because of their injury. Here is everyone, by year, who averaged more then 10MPG.

2000/2001	MPG		2001/2002	MPG
Sue Bird	27.7​		Sue Bird	29.9​
Diana Taurasi	24​		Diana Taurasi	29​
Swin Cash	23.8​		Swin Cash	27.8​
Shea Ralph	23.7​		Asjha Jones	24.6​
Tamika Williams	19.9​		Tamika Williams	21.9​
Asjha Jones	19.5​		Jessica Moore	18.4​
Kennitra Johnson	17.9​		Maria Conlon	17.7​
Kelly Shumacher	16.9​		Ashley Battle	16.7​
Morgan Valley	10.3​		Morgan Valley	12.9​
2002/2003	MPG		2003/2004	MPG
Diana Taurasi	31.9​		Diana Taurasi	31.9​
Ann Strother	31.5​		Ann Strother	29.1​
Maria Conlon	29.7​		Maria Conlon	28.2​
Jessica Moore	25.8​		Barbara Turner	26.7​
Ashley Battle	22.4​		Jessica Moore	25.2​
Barbara Turner	20.9​		Ashley Battle	19.3​
Willnett Crockett	15.8​		Willnett Crockett	13.7​
Morgan Valley	11.4​		Morgan Valley	11.7​

We have a nine players rotation in the first two years (you could argue 10 in 2000/2001, but Sveta only played 19 games) and eight in the second two. Notice that no one was averaging 35 MPG (like we've seen the last couple of years). Geno is willing to dole out the playing time... the players just have to earn it.

With that being said... I AM DYING FOR THE 28TH.

This is valuable information to refute the many people who say, "Geno always shortens his bench ...", etc.

However, I think there is something fishy about your numbers for 2000-01. Sveta is missing from your list. Did you average in 0 minutes for the games where she was injured to come up with a season average of less than 10 minutes per game for her? What were her average minutes in the games that she did play? It must be in the twenties at least. Also, I wonder about Kelly Schumacher only averaging 17 minutes in her senior year after blocking all those shots in the last game of her junior year. She was also the only serious height on the team that year (you could say she was the ONO of that team). I wonder if your numbers for her are correct.

 

[Argonaut]

This is valuable information to refute the many people who say, "Geno always shortens his bench ...", etc.

However, I think there is something fishy about your numbers for 2000-01. Sveta is missing from your list. Did you average in 0 minutes for the games where she was injured to come up with a season average of less than 10 minutes per game for her? What were her average minutes in the games that she did play? It must be in the twenties at least. Also, I wonder about Kelly Schumacher only averaging 17 minutes in her senior year after blocking all those shots in the last game of her junior year. She was also the only serious height on the team that year (you could say she was the ONO of that team). I wonder if your numbers for her are correct.

Like I said in my post, I only included people who appeared in 25 or more games because their absence likely inflated someone else's stats. Sveta played in 19 games, which was under that threshold. And, yes, if you take what she played and averaged it out through the rest of the year, she would have still "played" 13.3 MPG.

And all numbers were taken right from the UConn website. See 2000/2001 below.

 

[Cuango]

Wow! I guess I never realized what a good 3 pt shooter Svet was!

 

[hoophuskee]

This is valuable information to refute the many people who say, "Geno always shortens his bench ...", etc.

However, I think there is something fishy about your numbers for 2000-01. Sveta is missing from your list. Did you average in 0 minutes for the games where she was injured to come up with a season average of less than 10 minutes per game for her? What were her average minutes in the games that she did play? It must be in the twenties at least. Also, I wonder about Kelly Schumacher only averaging 17 minutes in her senior year after blocking all those shots in the last game of her junior year. She was also the only serious height on the team that year (you could say she was the ONO of that team). I wonder if your numbers for her are correct.

IMO Arg's post didn't refute anything. How many big minutes in big games did Morgan Valley play in?
Tamika Williams was the 6th pick overall in the WNBA draft. Yet her top minutes were 21.9. There was a reason for that-- she had injury issues. OFC Geno is going to use his bench so some of his players with injury issues don't get further hurt.

In addition I don't think anybody said that its normal for his teams to average 35 minutes. Nearly all posts have said at least 7 players (if not 9 or 10) this year in big games. Averaging 35 is a rarity.

 

[Argonaut]

IMO Arg's post didn't refute anything. How many big minutes in big games did Morgan Valley play in?
Tamika Williams was the 6th pick overall in the WNBA draft. Yet her top minutes were 21.9. There was a reason for that-- she had injury issues. OFC Geno is going to use his bench so some of his players with injury issues don't get further hurt.

In addition I don't think anybody said that its normal for his teams to average 35 minutes. Nearly all posts have said at least 7 players (if not 9 or 10) this year in big games. Averaging 35 is a rarity.

But as we could see from players like KLS, sometimes you try to power through that injury (even when it might not be the best idea) because there isn’t a good option coming off the bench.

Last year Christyn and Crystal averaged over 35mpg. Megan averaged 34. The year before Crystal averaged 34.9 with KLS and Phee averaging over 33. The year before that, Kia averaged 33. Ideally, I don’t think you should want anyone to average over 30.

Many have insinuated that there is no way to keep the freshmen happy (and especially next year’s freshmen...) because there aren’t enough minutes to go around. My point was that when there are people on the bench who have earned the time and the trust, Geno will give them time to show what they can do.

Now, being happy with their performance during those minutes so you keep going and come in meaningful moments is another story. That’s on the player’s shoulders — not on Geno’s. If you lay an egg against teams like Xavier and Georgetown, you’re not getting in against South Carolina unless there isn’t another option.

 

[Alydar]

I agree with Huskee11. Geno will not change the way playing time is allotted to "keep everyone fresh". You earn every minute in practice. Considering the talent level and reported (through Geno) competitiveness of the group in practice, his real challenge might be to give his starters enough minutes through a weak conference schedule without embarrassing his old Big East buddies. I expect the 5 returners to start and get heavy contributions from Paige, Aaliyah and Nika. Starters may change as the season progresses (but I doubt it). Paige and Aaliyah would be the possible Frosh to start at some point. An 8 player rotation is super-deep for Geno.

These things I state with the utmost certainty and hardly any real facts. Welcome to the Boneyard.

I agree about how Geno allots minutes. Merit and the needs of the team. If 3 freshmen are ready to play then minutes will get spread around. There are a multitude of combinations for Geno to look at. I suspect that's what is going on in practice, seeing who works well with whom.

As for keeping fresh, that would be true if there weren't 3 or 4 deserving freshmen in that rotation. I expect to see more pressure defense. Not pressing but denial/in your face defense. Especially I want to see aggressive defense from the freshmen. Dogs attack best in packs.