Poll - Will the talented bench force Geno to give them more PT?

[Blond D.]

don't forget, Geno practices players not till they get it right but until they cant get it wrong. The freshmen might have a bit of trouble getting playing time cuz its HARD to get it Geno's type of right.

 

[Alydar]

With so much talent on the bench, how will Geno be able to ignore them?
There will need to be a much more equal distribution of PT then in the past.
LSU was able to win a NC in part by allowing a phenomenal freshmen to start every game, & LSU has another phenom coming in.
Will Geno be able to break his own mold & reward his most talented freshmen & underclassmen with adequate PT?
Or will we see the same old pattern of Geno playing his favorite core players?
Will Geno focus more on developing his bench players & less on winning by blow outs?

I'm sure Geno has already tossed out the system that won 11 titles and his plan is to emulate Mulkey's style.

 

[Alydar]

The BY is a rough crowd.
I used the word force for a good reason.
It comes from the Idiom to "Force someone's hand."

I could have written, "Will the talented bench force Geno's hand to give them more PT?"

But I shortened it to create a shorter title.
To force someone's hand means, "to make someone do something they do not want to do, or act sooner than they had intended.

A word related to causing somebody to act is IMPEL - to make someone feel that they must do something.

Maybe I should have written, ""Will the talented bench impel Geno to give them more PT?"
Then I wouldn't have used thect word force which some found objectionable.

Now that's enough of me "ramming something down someone's throat," an idiom - to force someone who disagrees with you to listen to your opinions.

Actually, when I read the title I thought the bench you were referring to was the front court players, not the freshmen guards. Geno has three elite guards and two of them are elite shooters. If they rotate throughout the game they get about 26 min each, which would keep them fresh when the NCAA's roll around. I don't see the freshmen getting much more than token minutes. And if Mulkey had Fudd and Bueckers her freshmen wouldn't be playing much either.

 

[Cuango]

The BY is a rough crowd.
I used the word force for a good reason.
It comes from the Idiom to "Force someone's hand."

I could have written, "Will the talented bench force Geno's hand to give them more PT?"

But I shortened it to create a shorter title.
To force someone's hand means, "to make someone do something they do not want to do, or act sooner than they had intended.

A word related to causing somebody to act is IMPEL - to make someone feel that they must do something.

Maybe I should have written, ""Will the talented bench impel Geno to give them more PT?"
Then I wouldn't have used thect word force which some found objectionable.

Now that's enough of me "ramming something down someone's throat," an idiom - to force someone who disagrees with you to listen to your opinions.

I’m afraid someone would have taken offense at “impel” as well! It just seems to be the way it is these days. There’s always a sniper looking for something to be offended by. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve probably done it myself! I like to think, not very often but certainly more than I should!

 

[diggerfoot]

I’ll address the bolded lines in reverse order.
1. You mean something different by rotation player than I do. I mean players who are regularly on the floor when the game is still on the line in the second half of the season.

2. So my answer to your question about Meghan Gardler is yes and no. She was not yet a rotation player her freshman year. In her sophomore year, she averaged 10 mins/g and got significant playing time in the tournament. In other words, she was in the rotation that year. In her junior year she averaged >10 mins though got almost no minutes in close games during the season or in the tournament. She seemed to have fallen out of the rotation. That’s what we all saw too. In her senior year she was again in the rotation, was on the court for important minutes in still close games and in the tournament, though not in the final game against Baylor.

3. Therefore, the dominant seasons don’t count against my qualifier. It’s the very meaning of the qualifier. Yes, of course, Geno will play a deeper lineup in games that aren’t close, especially in the early season when those games tend to happen. That’s how he figures out who the rotation is. In dominant season, the pressure to settle on a rotation is less which means he can go until February with a long lineup, as Gardler’s freshman year amply shows. In her sophomore and senior years, she was in the rotation through March. But in her junior year, she’d fallen out of it by March.

I think you meant to show that generally Geno uses a deep rotation and the 5+2 seasons are exceptions. I think there are definitely exceptions, but I think the pattern goes the other way. He typically settles on a short rotation by February. But this pattern is obscured in a few years in which the team was especially dominant, which allowed the longer early season rotation to last until March.

Excellent breakdown! That’s more work than I would do so I salute you.

We differ in the implied cause and effect. You implied that domination caused a deeper rotation. I imply that a deeper rotation of players Auriemma trusts causes domination.

 

[Mandoo]

Geno has had some great benches in the past and he just doesn't play that many players. Now they were so dominant that all the people on the bench did get to play but they certainly weren't part of a rotation and expect that to never change. Geno has been the most successful coach in WBB history so his style and plan works better than any other so he has NO reason to reinvent the wheel at this point of his career.

What I expect is 8-10 players early that will squeeze down to 8 during the majority of the season. I do think they will be so dominant though that the other players will all get time and experience so when their time comes they will be ready.

Geno is nobody's fool and I am absolutely sure he has to give the benchers some PT and he knows it. He's losing lots of firepower after this coming year and he's got to get his underlings time to develop. I can't think of a year where he's been more concerned about bench PT than he will be this season. 30 point wins with the front liners scoring lots of points makes little sense. Everybody eats-or else.

 

[Bone Dog]

Excellent breakdown! That’s more work than I would do so I salute you.

We differ in the implied cause and effect. You implied that domination caused a deeper rotation. I imply that a deeper rotation of players Auriemma trusts causes domination.

Indeed, that's exactly it. And now that I see it more clearly, you may be right about it all.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

IMHO Geno will trust this team more than the last several years!
He spoke very highly of the hard work and hustleaggression everyone is giving so far in June practices.
He may go 10 or 11 deep in most instances!
Especially if UCONN can remain injury and/or illness free!

 

[itsasport]

Whenever Geno can't be at a game, CD has shown the desire to play the bench more.

 

[Bills Fan]

Geno will force himself to play them if they can make a high percentage of shots when they enter the game cold while the starters have poorer shooting stats & are making costly errors & TO's.
They can force Geno's hand by making good plays, good pressing, good defense.
If the starters ever lose a winnable game then Geno will want to get his revenge!
How many times did he complain that the team was selfish because they wouldn't listen to his advice.
Geno likes playes who are coachable & show him that they can execute.
That's why he said, "Just expletive win!"
It's not an accident that he brought in so many new players.
It includes having an intra-squad competition for PT by pushing each other to play better.

"lose a winnable game" , ain't gonna happen!

 

[Bills Fan]

IMHO Geno will trust this team more than the last several years!
He spoke very highly of the hard work and hustleaggression everyone is giving so far in June practices.
He may go 10 or 11 deep in most instances!
Especially if UCONN can remain injury and/or illness free!

When all 14 are available, I think all 4 of the incoming class will get a reasonable amount of PT, with the last 2 off the bench returning players'

 

[oldhusky]

Excellent breakdown! That’s more work than I would do so I salute you.

We differ in the implied cause and effect. You implied that domination caused a deeper rotation. I imply that a deeper rotation of players Auriemma trusts causes domination.

I think both of you are addressing an interesting issue. In most cases with a big lead, playing the bench more is likened to calling off the dogs. If the difference in bench quality is huge, it could be just the opposite, actually increasing the margin of victory in quite a few cases.

I think we will have a bench that has as much of an edge over opposing benches as our starters do over their starters, probably even more. If that is the case, by playing aggressive pressing defense and breaking on offense as much as possible, you make it a far more exhausting game for players of both sides.

The opposing coach has a difficult choice. When we keep our players fresh, they either reduce their starters minutes significantly from what they normally play, or they are playing with their tongue hanging out against our very talented and fresh bench. If they do substitute more because of the frantic pace, then a higher percentage of the game will be our subs against theirs, which I believe could increase not decrease the margin more often than not, while also developing the second unit more.

The gap between our starters and our opponents might be as high as the difference between the respective benches because of the exceptionalism of Paige and Azzi, but compared to most team's bench players, Aubrey and Caroline or Nika would be superstars as well. The depth at very high talent levels should free Geno to release the dogs on offense and defense.

It also allows him to consider more strategic game related substitutions. The past couple of years there have been quite a few games where his hands were tied due to injuries and a very short rotation. It wasn't game strategy, it was managing minutes carefully, and even having to occasionally call a timeout for the main purpose of giving his core players a rest.

 

[hoophuskee]

I picked "False". For a host of reasons.
1). The coaches control the minutes. Even though coaches give the classic line of "Practice is where you earn your minutes" those of us that have played a sport and put in the work, sweat, and did all of the little things possible in those practice sessions, know that in a game a coach will go with the players that they trust the most. No matter how hard you went in practice or how much you stood out from the pack, it became a "who do I trust more" type of a situation.

2). What is considered more pt? 8 minutes a game? 6 minutes a game? 20 minutes? Alot is going to depend on what is happening on the court and how the coaches feel players are doing out there. We all remember how we were hoping that Caroline, Saylor, or Mir would get minutes during a game. Once they got in, if they got in, one mistake and they were on the bench for the rest of the game. For Caroline, if took some injuries in order for her to get any minutes on the court.

3). Usually, especially towards the end of the season, Coach Auriemma likes to go with 7-8 players. This year, we have a lot of talent, on paper, and we are drooling at what could become of this talented group, but the games are not won on paper. The players will have to show what they can do, if they get on the floor. I just hope that each player has that "Forget About it and Drive On" mindset if they make a mistake.

I love the context - and imo it comes down to with Geno that you have to "break free,:"

You mentioned Caroline. She "broke free" during the ND game. There were just 4 games prior to her freshman year before the ND game. So, you didn't have to wait too long. But the point is, Caroline showed just after 4 games she was ready. She didn't need many minutes.

Bottomline is that nothing needs to be forced. Too many posters get in "desperate mode" and want to force the bench. It doesn't nned to be. Player's like Caroline will eventually shiow themslves.

But that's why this thread creation was incorrectly written or an incorrect conclusion is being made to start the thread. But the correct question should have been "can the young talented players force themslves into the regualr rotation?" Caroline only needed to avaerage 6 minutes but then she showed herself to be terrific. The others can even show a ton in blowouts too even if not in the regualr rotation. Nothing needs to be forced. by the coaching staff.

 

[hoophuskee]

I

The gap between our starters and our opponents might be as high as the difference between the respective benches because of the exceptionalism of Paige and Azzi, but compared to most team's bench players, Aubrey and Caroline or Nika would be superstars as well. The depth at very high talent levels should free Geno to release the dogs on offense and defense.

It also allows him to consider more strategic game related substitutions. The past couple of years there have been quite a few games where his hands were tied due to injuries and a very short rotation. It wasn't game strategy, it was managing minutes carefully, and even having to occasionally call a timeout for the main purpose of giving his core players a rest.

TEh dogs will be released when you have Paige and Azzi and everyonr is healthy. if they are healthy along with Edwards and the team, the clear "dogs" are these 3. You give them free reign. They are the top dogs. Challenge the other team to beat your superstars. Bench palyers are bench players for a reason. They are less consistent.

That's why the larger advantage is that if Paige/Azzi/Edwards cna get to the other team's bench, then the margin becomes astronomical. No way do I feel UCONN should call off these 3 dogs and give the other team a break vs the tough teams.

 

[EasyEd]

I think a more interesting version of this poll would be to guess the number of players averaging 10 or more minutes per game. Another aspect would be how many players average more than 30 minutes per game. The more 30+ minute players, the fewer that will be able to average 10+ I'm hoping that the team is so good that there will be 12 players that average 10+ minutes, but I think a more realistic number is 9 as new players usually take a while to learn the system. There have been very few first year players that have had significant minutes

 

[sun]

There should be a benefit to the bench players to be given a chance to play, especially earlier in the season.
To not play them (or play them often enough) could affect their confidence & their psyche.
And if the starters can't score enough points to allow the bench to get into the game then maybe the question to ask is if it's because the starters aren't executing well enough, or the players getting PT don't play well enough together.
Sometimes the bench players can make things look easy because they don't have the pressure of being starters.
I recall reading that the NET rankings don't reward teams with extra rank points after they win by 10 or 12 points.
So huge blowouts don't really mean anything except for maybe the AP rankings. which doesn't account for much.

 

[Bone Dog]

I think a more interesting version of this poll would be to guess the number of players averaging 10 or more minutes per game. Another aspect would be how many players average more than 30 minutes per game. The more 30+ minute players, the fewer that will be able to average 10+ I'm hoping that the team is so good that there will be 12 players that average 10+ minutes, but I think a more realistic number is 9 as new players usually take a while to learn the system. There have been very few first year players that have had significant minutes

I like the way your mind works. 12 players at 10 mins/g means 7 of them can get 21 mins/g or 6 at 23 mins/g. This is more like what we saw in the super-dominant seasons. 11 players at 10 mins/g would allow for the top 6 to get 25 mins.

 

[wingsfan055]

Geno always gives his players the opportunity, but if you don't perform he will let you know and bench you. Geno benched Stewart for long stretches her freshman year because she didn't perform. It's part of the learning process.

 

[EasyEd]

Geno always gives his players the opportunity, but if you don't perform he will let you know and bench you. Geno benched Stewart for long stretches her freshman year because she didn't perform. It's part of the learning process.

Agree, no one forces Geno to do anything. Hopefully they'll step up so he wants to play them.

 

[Alydar]

I think we will see different players getting minutes from game to game. The theme this year may well be "produce or sit" with those who are producing in any given game getting minutes.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

With so much talent on the bench, how will Geno be able to ignore them?
There will need to be a much more equal distribution of PT then in the past.
LSU was able to win a NC in part by allowing a phenomenal freshmen to start every game, & LSU has another phenom coming in.
Will Geno be able to break his own mold & reward his most talented freshmen & underclassmen with adequate PT?
Or will we see the same old pattern of Geno playing his favorite core players?
Will Geno focus more on developing his bench players & less on winning by blow outs?

Player transfers be damned, Geno’s formula for dealing with a super talented bench has never changed, and that is playing the talented individuals who work hardest in practice.

 

[SJF]

KK will play early and often.

 

[Bone Dog]

KK will play early and often.

Man, I hope so. It would mean great things are happening

 

[oldude]

Geno will play as many players as he trusts to be on the court during “prime time.” That certainly includes: Paige, Azzi, Aaliyah, Nika, Aubrey, Caroline and likely Ayanna. Beyond that, Ice, Jana, KK, Ashlynn & Quadence have yet to play a minute of college basketball and Amari and Ines are both a work in progress.

While we would all like to see Geno employ a deep bench, that plays agressive full court defense and up tempo transition offense, much depends on the individual players ability to step up and assume the responsibility to make it happen.

We’ve heard some very good things about a number of the youngsters. Ice, Jana & KK in particular stand out with their “potential” impact this coming season. In about 5-6 months we should have a pretty good idea of just how many players on UConn’s roster are, in fact, ready for prime time.

 

[DICKG]

With so much talent on the bench, how will Geno be able to ignore them?
There will need to be a much more equal distribution of PT then in the past.
LSU was able to win a NC in part by allowing a phenomenal freshmen to start every game, & LSU has another phenom coming in.
Will Geno be able to break his own mold & reward his most talented freshmen & underclassmen with adequate PT?
Or will we see the same old pattern of Geno playing his favorite core players?
Will Geno focus more on developing his bench players & less on winning by blow outs?

Geno has never been confident with going more than eight deep.

 

[Inthepaint]

With so much talent on the bench, how will Geno be able to ignore them?
There will need to be a much more equal distribution of PT then in the past.
LSU was able to win a NC in part by allowing a phenomenal freshmen to start every game, & LSU has another phenom coming in.
Will Geno be able to break his own mold & reward his most talented freshmen & underclassmen with adequate PT?
Or will we see the same old pattern of Geno playing his favorite core players?
Will Geno focus more on developing his bench players & less on winning by blow outs?

I voted for option # 3
Not that I have no opinion, but it’s impossible to know at this point.
IMHO, Geno will be giving the large majority of minutes to the returning crew
It would take an overwhelming performance by one of the newbies to alter his plans, but I imagine he would be willing to be overwhelmed.
We forget that he was so overwhelmed by hotshot rookie Paige that he started her from the get-go and never looked back.
Of course, that was a special case.
Come November, it’s quite possible that Ice , Jana, or even Amari will get the starting role at the 5 and maybe stay there if good things happen during the first stretch of tough OOC games.
How any of the new guards can break through Paige, Azzi, Nika, Caroline (and don’t forget Ines) and get significant minutes is problematic.
Aubrey & Ayanna can certainly rotate at the 4 and provide an alternative second post player if nobody is getting it done at the 5.
What we for sure don’t want to see is freshmen getting significant minutes due to “health related issues”.
I refuse to use the “I” word.
We’ve had more than enough of that.

 

[Bone Dog]

I hate the I word too. Way overused on the BY

 

[Ozimoto]

No question that Paige is a unique talent and that is a big part of why she played as a freshman. However, it made Geno's decision to play her much easier when you take into consideration that there was a "gap" in the roster progression when three quarters of the Megan Walker class left early.

There is no question that Paige was better than those three and would likely have played significant minutes regardless, but Geno didn't have the cushion of experienced depth at guard when Paige arrived that he does now. I don't think that the kids coming in at the guard and wing positions from this class, even though they are talented, are Paige level talented. Geno has the luxury of time in evaluating this freshman class at the guard and wing positions.

Consequently, I don't see the KK, Ashlyn, and Q playing a lot of minutes in the first half of the season other than during mop up time. After December, that may change depending on how quickly they learn the offensive and defensive schemes. If they do, he will trust them to play more meaningful minutes beyond mop up time.

The front court kids may get more playing time because the perception is that the depth of talent in the front court is not as strong. However, If Amari recovers well from back surgery and Ayanna heals from her knee surgery and has a sophomore leap, the situation in the front court may be similar. We now know both of them were somewhat limited by injury and they have more experience with the offense and defense. Jana and Ice are somewhat unique in that they have been with the program for awhile so they should be ahead of a typical freshman on the development curve. They could get significant playing time if they earn Geno's trust during fall practice.

 

[meyers7]

Geno has never been confident with going more than eight deep.

Will it's been awhile, but back around the turn of the century some of the UCONN teams had 9-11 players with > 10 mpg.

So not "never", but not in awhile.

 

[Waquoit]

Geno has never been confident with going more than eight deep.

But I think that was more a function of not over recruting. The drop off from those getting minutes to those not was usually substantial. When Geno came out with his STFU, I took it to mean no one's minutes are guaranteed.