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Message: [QUOTE="hoophuskee, post: 4687150, member: 3535"] Oldddude/Jelly This is how I see minutes will go - if the team is healthy. - I see this as a trickle-down. And I literally mean (a slow) trickle-down. First off say UCONN is up by 20+ points at halftime in no danger of losing. They don’t start the press in 2nd half but work on their halfcourt. They aren't pros they are still college kids. So, they have a slight letdown in addition to they aren't pushing pace as much. The other team can now set their Defense more often so more shots are contested and generally any team doesn’t score as efficient in halfcourt sets vs running fastbreaks of course. And now in halfcourt - some days shots won't fall as much. So, it's a bit tougher and UCONN is a bit off, they only win the quarter by 5 points or so. Still near 25 + to 30-point lead if not at little more - but no danger of losing. Primarily, UCONN would have played their core players 6 up to 8 during this 3rd qtr stretch. But going into the 4th quarter, wouldn’t it be great if [B]Aubrey [/B]stayed in to work on her outside game? She plays with Paige and Azzi which means she is mostly setting them up with picks or she flashes to the hoop (because they would lead the team in scoring as well as Edwards - in other words they get more shots.). But wouldn't it be great if she got extra minutes to work on her outside game? And what if she is 2-3 from 3 on this day or she hit a couple of mid-range shots? Wouldn't it be great to see her get extra minutes to keep it going and see if that shot has improved that Geno and the team overall can feel more confident? The more she hits, the more confident she'll probably get, right? Adn wouldn’t it be amazing to see her get the open locks in the flow of the Offense even without Paige or Azzi in? For those that say she can't hit-- then why would she ever take one 3-point shot as an example? And [B]Nika[/B], wouldn’t it be great to see her shoot more in games already decided to see if her confidence (same as Aubrey) can grow? And suppose Ice beats out Jana and is the PF/C. UCONN would want to give her extra time because she was clearly the best and the more wind she can get along with just more time, would be much needed vs top competition. And wouldn't it be great she gets some extra minutes with players like Paige and Azzi too? And maybe she was in foul trouble in 1st half too. Anyhow, she won the job because she is/was better. If you need her to play more minutes in the real big games and suppose she is doing well in the big games which ofc is the goal why she starts and gets starter minutes anyway, then it won't help her as much if she doesn't practice playing some extra minutes in blowout games. And add in that Caroline hasn't played much basketball the past two years. And frankly Paige and Azzi haven't played much basketball the past two years. They will get trickle-down too. [B]As will Ice especialy if she wins the starting spot (or Jana etc). If they play well in big games they (the statrter) need to be psuhed beyond "20 minutes." [/B] One day 1 player one another etc. Some of the top teams have played together for several years with a specific core. UCONN has not overall. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach