Seems it's time... Who will start?

[MSGRET]

Paige, Ashlyn, KK, Q, and Ice. The team that played the final four last year.

Actually it was Paige, Nika, Aaliyah, Ashlyn and KK that started, with Ice getting 15 minutes of playing time.

 

[drweo]

Ben

Ben

Ummm....Morgan Valley???

 

[JellyBean]

I am waiting for the status report in September/October before I vote.

 

[PacoSwede]

I am waiting for the status report in September/October before I vote.

interesting thread ... finally got around to reading it all.

lots of good thoughts, but what most intrigued me was the support for jana -- at this point second only to paige! wowsa.

i sure hope this is justified. it would be great if it turns out to be what happens.

but it seems to be largely (entirely?) based on hopes rather than verifiable facts (such as: she is tall and a rah-rah teammate). no BYer has yet to see if she actually can perform at the level they imagine. it's a nice dream, but at this point that's all it is.

 

[EricLA]

interesting thread ... finally got around to reading it all.

lots of good thoughts, but what most intrigued me was the support for jana -- at this point second only to paige! wowsa.

i sure hope this is justified. it would be great if it turns out to be what happens.

but it seems to be largely (entirely?) based on hopes rather than verifiable facts (such as: she is tall and a rah-rah teammate). no BYer has yet to see if she actually can perform at the level they imagine. it's a nice dream, but at this point that's all it is.

Fan's enthusiasm for Jana isn't exactly happening in a vacuum. Geno had tons of praise for her before and after her injury:

“The more we see some of the things she does, the more we miss her because we realize what she could bring to our team,” he said. “I can't wait for people to see her play. She just has a real unique personality that I think people are going to really fall in love with.”

To put it another way: UConn is adding the No. 1 player in the class of 2024 with Sarah Strong, a 6-2 forward. Auriemma believes El Alfy would’ve been the top prospect in the class of 2023 had she hailed from North America instead of Egypt. He pointed to the FIBA U19 World Cup in which she led the entire tournament in scoring at 21.4 points per game — despite not even turning 18 yet — as proof.

“She was the best player out there — by far. By far,” he said. “These are the best [19] and under players in the world — including the US — and every coach that came back said she was the best player there.”

So... for all the hype surrounding Sarah (rightfully so), IF Coach is correct, and Jana is (or has the potential to be) the best player in the class of 2023, that's incredibly high praise considering that class featured Juju Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, Mikayla Williams, and Milaysia Fulwiley.

 

[PacoSwede]

...

So... for all the hype surrounding Sarah (rightfully so), IF Coach is correct, and Jana is (or has the potential to be) the best player in the class of 2023, that's incredibly high praise considering that class featured Juju Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, Mikayla Williams, and Milaysia Fulwiley.

true enough. let's just hope geno's not just blowing smoke (and playing psychological games with his players) as he does frequently.

 

[DEpup]

I doubt CD would have gone all the way to Egypt and rode a camel if she wasn't really really good. I say she is the starting C from day 1.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

Day 1 #1 starting five: Kaitlyn, KK, Paige, Sarah, Jana:

• the starting lineup will have the three-point guard offense with 3 incomers: Sarah, Jana, Kaitlyn (there are five incomers);
• the running game will be available from the jump;
• presses (an Achilles heel) won’t work (see fourth quarter, BET 3/9/2024: Providence);
• the starting lineup matches up better with Notre Dame (Game 7: December 12) and Southern California (Game 8: December 21);
• the starting lineup checks with Geno’s requirements: optimal defense and offense, effective pace, effective motion, efficient possessions;
• further developing KK’s lead point guard skills would be beneficial for next year’s team when Kaitlyn and Paige have moved on to the next level;
• Geno’s (5)+3 would be Kaitlyn, KK, Paige, Sarah, Jana, Ash, Ice and Morgan. But if the running game becomes an effective weapon, Geno will go (5)+5.

Why KK, not Ash?

• Either lineup would suffice for the first 6 games of the tough OOC schedule;
• Ash, while better offensively than KK, would only be the fourth scoring option behind Paige, Sarah and Jana;
• Ash would be the guard scoring threat when there is a need to rest Paige during competitive minutes of games. Of course, Paige and Ash will also play together.

#1 Day 1 Assumptions and Observations

• There are 10 available players: Paige, KK, Ash, Kaitlyn, Sarah, Jana, Ice, Morgan, Qadence, Allie;
• There are 5 available point players in the half-court offense: KK, Kaitlyn, Paige, Morgan, Sarah;
• Theoretically, there are 20 minutes per available player;
• Paige is the best scorer. The 5 best are Paige, Sarah, Jana, Ash, Kaitlyn;
• Preserving Paige for the postseason is paramount and dovetails with the obvious need to spread minutes to develop 5 incomers: Sarah, Morgan, Allie, Jana and Kaitlyn;
• The 3 point guard offense may feature prominently in most possessions because of the many incomers;
• The running game may feature prominently in the early part of the tough out-of-conference schedule;
• The 12-game tough OOC schedule is backloaded with the first major test in North Carolina (#17 on Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2024-25 - ESPN) on the third game and the final 6 games with Louisville (#12), Notre Dame (#4), Iowa State (#10), Southern California (#2), Tennessee and South Carolina (#1).
• The walking wounded (Azzi, Aubrey, Ayanna, Caroline) may be available for the Tennessee (February 6) and South Carolina (February 16) games.

Starting five for South Carolina game: Kaitlyn, Azzi, Paige, Sarah, Jana.

 

[Bone Dog]

the starting lineup checks with Geno’s requirements: optimal defense and offense, effective pace, effective motion, efficient possessions;

I agree with everything in your well-reasoned post except for this one point. On Day 1 (and maybe Day 2), Kaitlyn Sarah and Jana are not optimal defensive choices. I hope they will be before we get to the really challenging opponents, like ND or USC. But to be optimal in a complex defensive scheme requires at least a little bit of game experience. Kaitlyn has a lot of analogous game experience and generally a lot of D1 experience. But none directly with these teammates and Geno's version of the schemes she's seen under Carla. Sarah and Jana have no game experience of either D1 play or of Geno's defensive schemes.

I think there's a case to be made for your reading of the situation, if we take into account the fact that the early games aren't going to be as hard as Geno's OOC often is. Not until the end of November will we see anyone tougher than UNC, though December looks to be very tough. This might mean a non-optimal starting lineup may be useful just to get ready for December. By the way, I don't mean to dismiss UNC, but they don't really compare to the teams we'll see in December. They look to me like an excellent early game to measure the youngsters against. Of course, I thought that about NC St. last season and look where that got us.

But even taking the ease of the first few games into account, I suspect Geno may prefer to have the most experienced players to start just to set an example for the rest of the roster of what the defense is supposed to look like.

 

[PacoSwede]

I agree with everything in your well-reasoned post except for this one point. On Day 1 (and maybe Day 2), Kaitlyn Sarah and Jana are not optimal defensive choices. I hope they will be before we get to the really challenging opponents, like ND or USC. But to be optimal in a complex defensive scheme requires at least a little bit of game experience. Kaitlyn has a lot of analogous game experience and generally a lot of D1 experience. But none directly with these teammates and Geno's version of the schemes she's seen under Carla. Sarah and Jana have no game experience of either D1 play or of Geno's defensive schemes.
....

i was hoping someone would point out that defense is a humongous factor in a team's success; for some weird reason that's overlooked in many BY discussions, which consistently focus on other aspects of the game.

for uconn especially this is fundamental. it's a major reason why it's a consistent winner. and uconn always focuses on TEAM defense, which absolutely requires everyone to be on the same page. individual skills are great -- but they're secondary to the coordination of the whole team. and that requires chemistry and practice, practice, practice. plus smarts. it doesn't come easily and takes a lot of time -- if ever -- to be effective.

it's amazing that geno & company usually pull it off.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Since none of us actually know who will be healthy on day 1, it is actually impossible to answer this question at this point. We can all guess and assume, but that's about it. So assuming for the moment that Azzi, Caroline and Aubrey will not be available on Day 1, the my educated guess at a starting five would be Paige, Ash, Kaitlyn, Ice and Jana. I have left KK and Sarah out of the starting five because we don't need three point guards out there. Ashlynn was the Big East Freshman of the Year. That alone should be worthy of a starting position on Day 1. Neither Sarah or Jana have any experience in a UConn uniform, but Jana has at least been exposed to the program for a year. If Ice (who I wasn't high on) improves over where she left off at the end of last season, she could be hard to get out of the starting five. I expect KK (who I think is terrific and going to an outstanding point guard) to get plenty of minutes spelling whomever needs a break. Sarah, if she's as good as we expect her to be, will get plenty of minutes as well. As for the other freshman, I just don't know enough about them except for high school highlight clips.

Wow! I honesty didn't take the poll until after posting this. Very nice to see that most of you agree with me.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

I think there's a case to be made for your reading of the situation, if we take into account the fact that the early games aren't going to be as hard as Geno's OOC often is. Not until the end of November will we see anyone tougher than UNC, though December looks to be very tough. This might mean a non-optimal starting lineup may be useful just to get ready for December. By the way, I don't mean to dismiss UNC, but they don't really compare to the teams we'll see in December. They look to me like an excellent early game to measure the youngsters against. Of course, I thought that about NC St. last season and look where that got us.

The design of the OOC schedule allows Geno more experimentation time that will ensure the best lineup for Notre Dame and Southern California.

It allows Geno to take the boldest (rather than the safest) guess at his most effective (eventual) starting lineup on Day 1. And test that lineup with repetitions.

In brief, the test for optimality would be how the starting lineup would hypothetically fare against Notre Dame and Southern California — which you surmised.

 

[Dogstar]

was hoping someone would point out that defense is a humongous factor in a team's success; for some weird reason that's overlooked in many BY discussions, which consistently focus on other aspects of the game.

TOTALLY AGREE!!

 

[sun]

Even though I didn't vote for Carol, if she's really ready to go on day 1 then I could see her starting against a lowly opponent.
Who among the healthy vets on the team has as much ecperience as she does?
IMO she could not only add a dimension to the team but could be a dark horse starter.
The fact that she only received 2 votes doesn't mean that she should be totally discounted as a starter, since Geno could choose to reward her for patienty hanging in there for so long & being so tough.
We never did get to see what happened to her when she got whacked in the head in Europe by the errant pass.
She was a victim.

 

[sun]

If Carol can get it all together in the pre-season workouts & practices then I think that Geno would want to lift her spirits & help her get off to a new beginning.
Giving her the start could do wonders for her outlook going into a new season.
Geno probably has some sympathy & a soft spot for her situation.
What better way for a coach to offer her some encouragement & hope if she's raring to play?

 

[Skeets]

was hoping someone would point out that defense is a humongous factor in a team's success; for some weird reason that's overlooked in many BY discussions, which consistently focus on other aspects of the game.

TOTALLY AGREE!!

Nothing makes me crazier than watching a big get burned over and over again by not knowing when to play help defense and when to stay home. It's really easy to look stupid out there unless you know what you are doing.

Help defense is a problem with other positions too, but with a big it usually results in giving the other team a 1 foot chippy.

 

[oldhusky]

interesting thread ... finally got around to reading it all.

lots of good thoughts, but what most intrigued me was the support for jana -- at this point second only to paige! wowsa.

i sure hope this is justified. it would be great if it turns out to be what happens.

but it seems to be largely (entirely?) based on hopes rather than verifiable facts (such as: she is tall and a rah-rah teammate). no BYer has yet to see if she actually can perform at the level they imagine. it's a nice dream, but at this point that's all it is.

I think the support for Jana starting does have a significant hope element to it, but Geno and other players comments have been encouraging, and we have to remember that this question was not who are the 5 best players, but who will start, and that is a very different question.

Jana has just one natural competitor this year and that is Ice. I know there is great debate over two bigs vs. four out, but I haven't heard support for five out yet. Jana is the only player with true C size, Ice is a little short. Both could easily be considered 4/5 type players but on this team we need their minutes to be at the 5.

Ice only had to be better than Amari to get regular minutes last year. This year to start, she needs to be better than Jana, but will likely still get backup minutes there. The competition at 1-3 is incredibly tougher than at the 5. We have many options that are exceptional on the perimeter, but when it comes to the 5, we need Jana and Ice to be both very good and healthy. Frankly we don't have a good plan B at least at that position, if either doesn't meet expectations or gets injured.

My best guess is Jana will be the real deal as a starter, but that Ice might be ok but not really a plus by Uconn standards as the backup, but maybe we get a big sophomore bump.

 

[Bills Fan]

If Carol can get it all together in the pre-season workouts & practices then I think that Geno would want to lift her spirits & help her get off to a new beginning.
Giving her the start could do wonders for her outlook going into a new season.
Geno probably has some sympathy & a soft spot for her situation.
What better way for a coach to offer her some encouragement & hope if she's raring to play?

I think the small, almost non-existent, number of votes for Caroline is indicative of BYers feelings about her playing this year. At this late date she is still absent from team activities. She has been dealt a terrible hand.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

My picks……

Bueckers
Shade
Jana
Sarah
Cheli

KK, Chen, Zeibell, and Ice should see major minutes, maybe more than some of the starters. I’d like to include Ducharme and Azzi in major minutes but until I hear good news from Geno, in my book they’re still question marks. Not sure what Q brings to the table this year maybe a lot and maybe not.

 

[ashfan]

My picks……

Bueckers
Shade
Jana
Sarah
Cheli

KK, Chen, Zeibell, and Ice should see major minutes, maybe more than some of the starters. I’d like to include Ducharme and Azzi in major minutes but until I hear good news from Geno, in my book they’re still question marks. Not sure what Q brings to the table this year maybe a lot and maybe not.

Can we all agree that performance (especially scoring efficiency) and--let's face it--injuries will largely determine who are getting the most playing time?

 

[Alydar]

Here's a video that tells his team that who starts will be determined in September and October.

 

[MSGRET]

If I remember correctly official practice can begin something like 42 days before the first game of the season. If that is the rules then their first official practice is around the 23rd of September, less than a month away.

 

[JoePgh]

Here's a video that tells his team that who starts will be determined in September and October.

"We can't go through another season with 5 guys playing 40 minutes." -- Geno, Autumn 2023

Watching this video (which is obviously from last fall) with the benefit of hindsight is somewhat chilling. I remember him saying in early December or thereabouts that everything that had been planned offensively in October had to be thrown out because of the injuries. But the revival in the spring was all the more remarkable for that reason.

 

[GirlBoo1020]

If I remember correctly official practice can begin something like 42 days before the first game of the season. If that is the rules then their first official practice is around the 23rd of September, less than a month away.

I think most schools have already started unofficial practices which is exciting on its own!

 

[EricLA]

Here's a video that tells his team that who starts will be determined in September and October.

I'm assuming this was from last year? He was instructing Nika at times and I saw Amari in there. Nice video, but not relevant for this season... unless your point was he's not sure who's starting... that does make sense!