Rich: Doty to see more minutes

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Great news! Caroline is a great leader for this team.

 

[pppggg]

It's crunch time and Geno knows waht he needs to do to win.

 

[alexrgct]

OK, I'll be the to say it: this doesn't make any sense.

First of all, the reasoning provided is, “I’m going to try to get her a lot more opportunities on the floor because I think she does have a great awareness of where the ball’s supposed to go and it frees up some of the other guys to concentrate more on scoring.’’ Huh? If Doty's getting more minutes, doesn't someone else have to get less? And who would that be other than some of the kids who Geno wants to concentrate on scoring? What are we going to do? Have a ball distribution specialist, a defensive specialist, post players who need the ball to be effective and aren't getting it consistently, and what- two kids on the floor on any time who can really focus on scoring?

If the goal is to beat ND and Baylor, how does giving more minutes to someone who was basically ineffective against both of those teams make us better? Look, I love Caroline just like everyone else does; her struggle has been both heartbreaking and inspirational. But at some point, don't you have to play the kids who are going to give you the best chance to win, both now and in the future?

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Well, let's see what happens Alex. You and Geno seem to differ here.

 

[alexrgct]

Well, let's see what happens Alex. You and Geno seem to differ here.

And between my opinion and Geno's, I'll bet on Geno's every time obviously. But this one is a head scratcher to me.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Same here, to be frank. I was thinking she would get fewer minutes today, resting her knee for ND.

 

[Sonny44]

I think the real reason is that he is disgusted with turnovers and he thinks CD is much less apt to throw the ball away.

 

[pap49cba]

Alex - Are you saying CD should get fewer minutes rather than more? Just asking.

 

[meyers7]

I think the real reason is that he is disgusted with turnovers and he thinks CD is much less apt to throw the ball away.

Bingo.

 

[Icebear]

I think the real reason is that he is disgusted with turnovers and he thinks CD is much less apt to throw the ball away.

Bingo. Caroline takes care of the ball.

 

[alexrgct]

Alex - Are you saying CD should get fewer minutes rather than more? Just asking.

I think she plays a good amount of minutes now. Just don't see her playing more as making UConn better.

 

[alexrgct]

Well, Caroline's ATO ratio is basically the same as Bria's and below Kelly's, so unless you're giving Kaleena fewer minutes in favor of Caroline, you're not improving that stat on a team level. And I'd say KML's performances against Stanford, Baylor, and ND were overall much more impressive than Caroline's.

 

[UConnCat]

Geno obviously thinks that certain things will get done with Caroline on the court that aren't getting done with Caroline on the bench. His statement tells us that one of those things is "free[ing] up other guys to concentrate more on scoring." By "other guys" I'm sure Geno is talking mostly about Bria, but perhaps Tiffany as well as she has taken on some point responsibilities of late. Bria has been struggling with her shot and a top priority must be to help Bria regain her shooting stroke. This team isn't going to beat ND (or any other elite team) if Bria continues to struggle. I can't imagine Geno wants to reduce KML's minutes so perhaps he's thinking of having KML grab some of Kelly's minutes rather Caroline's. Also, if Geno thinks that the offense becomes stagnant because of a lack of ball movement or not getting the ball to the right player at the right spot, it sounds like he believes Caroline will help in that regard.

 

[Jonathan Husky]

I love Caroline but it is hard to make a case for her to play more than before. She is not playing at a high level because of her recovery from ACL surgery. This is most notable against good teams with fast guards. Caroline doesn't match up
well against Novosel and Diggins. Also a lot of minutes put a strain on the knee which is not at full strength.

 

[Icebear]

Well, Caroline's ATO ratio is basically the same as Bria's and below Kelly's, so unless you're giving Kaleena fewer minutes in favor of Caroline, you're not improving that stat on a team level. And I'd say KML's performances against Stanford, Baylor, and ND were overall much more impressive than Caroline's.

My expectation is that Geno is going by what he is seeing in practice.

 

[blackbird]

Perhaps he wants to lighten the load on Bria. He knows Bria's going to have to score a ton against ND in order for us to win, and asking her to be the PG for a majority of the game is going to be hard.

It hasn't been talked about too much, but Bria's been in a huge shooting slump for a while. Perhaps Geno thinks he's making her do too much and Caroline lightens the load on Bria.