Short bench/Walk-ons

[I'maUConnFan]

I'm thinking that the strategy in the tournament will almost certainly be, at least in part, to try to get the starters in foul trouble. The better teams may have (actually, have already had) some success in that. With the bench situation being what it is, I've been wondering about giving the walk-ons more time in the games. (I suppose I'm really referring to Lawlor, since she seems to be the more productive of the two, which is not meant as a knock on Pulido at all.) I'm not second-guessing Geno when I ask this, and I'm not playing Chicken Little. I'm honestly just wondering if it's possible that we could get into a situation where we just don't have the bodies to put in (foul trouble, illness, injury, personal issue, whatever), and one of the walk-ons becomes the only option at that point, and we need someone who can play five-ten minutes rather than two or three. Does not having prepared for that possibility become a risk factor? Do you plan for that contingency, or do you instead simply continue to stress to your scholarship players the importance of not fouling and then pray they listen and that the opposing teams are have no success with the strategy?

Again, I'm not fretting. This is a strategy/preparation question, not a "the sky is falling" question. I know that the team as it is today is still head and shoulders above most of the other teams in the country, and heads above the rest. They've proven they can excel even with only seven active players. But we all know how easily the situation can change with one misplaced foot or one unexpected illness, so I'm interested in hearing how/when coaches decide if it's time to begin to prepare for that.

 

[John Glass]

how often do walk-ons help win a National Championship ? especially guards, I am surprised Geno didn't find a big girl from the volleyball team to give a little depth to the front court. 6-3 Erika Thomas might help more than a 5' 7" guard

 

[watanabe]

What do we really know about the walk ons anyway? I know their names and from watching their limited playing time, I have to agree with you.
What will happen if they have to play 5, 10 or 20 minutes in a crucial game? Would a volleyball player strategy have been better? I'm sure Geno has thought about it more than me, but this thread raises a very interesting question.

 

[JoePgh]

With 20-20 hindsight, wouldn't it have been comforting to have senior Michala Johnson on the bench this year? She said the reason she transferred is that she didn't feel part of the NC's that UConn won while she was here -- as things turned out, she would certainly have been part of this one. But of course she could not have foreseen that.

 

[doggydaddy]

With 20-20 hindsight, wouldn't it have been comforting to have senior Michala Johnson on the bench this year? She said the reason she transferred is that she didn't feel part of the NC's that UConn won while she was here -- as things turned out, she would certainly have been part of this one. But of course she could not have foreseen that.

I never saw that quoted anywhere. Do you have a link?

 

[Bestiarius]

UConn is pretty good at not fouling. I don't think anyone has fouled out this year, right? From the beginning Geno had them prepared for the new rules. UConn's game is good enough that the players don't have to take unnecessary risks to win games. Besides, it seems like the refs have smartened up this year when it comes to the flopping tricks that worked well last year. I think they got a talking to during their evaluation meetings.

 

[rocky rococo]

TLaw played about 7 minutes yesterday.

 

[JoePgh]

I never saw that quoted anywhere. Do you have a link?

I'm too lazy to track down the link, but it was in one of the recent articles about her success and happiness at Wisconsin, and her on-court productivity there. She said something to the effect that she could have stayed at UConn and gotten another National Championship ring, but it wouldn't mean much because she would have had so little to do with it. At Wisconsin, she feels that she is an integral part of whatever success that team achieves.

 

[sarals24]

She never won a National Championship at UConn.

 

[John Glass]

UConn is pretty good at not fouling. I don't think anyone has fouled out this year, right? From the beginning Geno had them prepared for the new rules. UConn's game is good enough that the players don't have to take unnecessary risks to win games. Besides, it seems like the refs have smartened up this year when it comes to the flopping tricks that worked well last year. I think they got a talking to during their evaluation meetings.

on their first possession of the game Sunday Louisville will get the ball to Hammond to attack Dolson and try to draw a foul. I have seen players jump into Dolson all year, and draw fouls. It looks like there are 7 healthy scholarship players now, so drawing fouls could be a good strategic move.

 

[bschwartz]

With 20-20 hindsight, wouldn't it have been comforting to have senior Michala Johnson on the bench this year? She said the reason she transferred is that she didn't feel part of the NC's that UConn won while she was here -- as things turned out, she would certainly have been part of this one. But of course she could not have foreseen that.

Tonight she scored 24 pts, had 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. When the game was on the line with 2 seconds to go in overtime, they passed the ball to her. Seems like she made a good choice for herself.

 

[bschwartz]

Tonight in the NBA, the Lakers, at one point, had only five healthy active players. Then one fouled out. The refs ruled that the player who fouled out could stay in the game but every time he committed a foul, there would be an extra technical foul added to it. Any one know the rule in WBB?

 

[John Glass]

She never won a National Championship at UConn.

that might be a good reason she didn't feel like part of a championship team

 

[Fightin Choke]

I never saw that quoted anywhere. Do you have a link?

Here is a LINK

Johnson joined a UConn program that was coming off back-to-back NCAA championships. During her freshman year the Huskies ran their winning streak to 90 games, beating the NCAA record of 88 set by the UCLA men’s teams of John Wooden.

In her two seasons with the Huskies she saw action in 56 games, averaging 1.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in just over 5 minutes per game. UConn made it to the Final Four in each of those seasons, losing to Big East rival Notre Dame in the semifinals each year.

“It was wonderful being a part of that,” Johnson said. “He’s a tough coach. He recruits the best players, and they all want to work hard. Everybody’s the best on that team. He picks all the top recruits from every school all over the country and tries to get them to go there and come out being the best.

“It was a great experience, all the things I went through with them.”

But one thing was missing — the opportunity to play meaningful minutes.

“I could’ve stayed,” said Johnson, who missed out on the Huskies’ national championship last season. “But do I want to sit on the bench and not play, or do I want to go somewhere I can play? I really just wanted to play.

“I could’ve just ridden it out there, I could’ve had a couple more Final Four rings. But it’s just not the same when you’re not a part of it. I wanted to be a part of it, and that was something I just couldn’t be a part of.”

It's pretty much as JoePgh recalled, except that UConn didn't win any NC's until after Johnson left.

 

[John Glass]

Tonight in the NBA, the Lakers, at one point, had only five healthy active players. Then one fouled out. The refs ruled that the player who fouled out could stay in the game but every time he committed a foul, there would be an extra technical foul added to it. Any one know the rule in WBB?

You cannot be serious ! The NBA is a joke, there is no way a team should have less than 5 players on the bench. They can get D league players in less than 24 hours

 

[sarals24]

They have 12 on the roster. There were four injuries, and then four players fouled out.

 

[doggydaddy]

Here is a LINK



It's pretty much as JoePgh recalled, except that UConn didn't win any NC's until after Johnson left.

Thanks. Never saw that article.

 

[bschwartz]

You cannot be serious ! The NBA is a joke, there is no way a team should have less than 5 players on the bench. They can get D league players in less than 24 hours

I am serious (and the Lakers won too) and don't call me Shirley.

LINK

 

[John Glass]

I am serious (and the Lakers won too) and don't call me Shirley.

LINK

ridiculous rule allowing a player who has fouled out to continue playing

 

[watanabe]

TLaw played about 7 minutes yesterday.

And it was good to see. She needs to feel at home on the court especially if those seven minutes are during the end of a close game.

 

[hjoerring]

We have not answered the question-- why not play the walk-ons. Are they so bad. Worst then the majority of the players we play against in the aac? Is there some agreement bet. scholarship players and coaches where walk-ons only play minimal minutes if scholarship players are available? Is this just another of Geno's religion/know best? We cannot evaluate their talent from where we are sitting, but it is worth asking. We say often that our bech players could be a starting five at most schools- how about the bench (one has a scholarship-- is it only for practice?). Johnson left the team because of playing time-- were she encouraged to go, or stay. Geno expressed frustration once in an interview about players falling behind their class. He obviously knew something about her talent so- was the decision to free her from her scholarship something that has backfired. There is more then just hindsight here. Of course it is highly possible that in Wis. she is clearly within her elements and, were she to return to Conn we would have the same old MJ! Teams can be like the Catholic C/ND- you never fully know what's going on inside.

 

[Icebear]

I'm too lazy to track down the link, but it was in one of the recent articles about her success and happiness at Wisconsin, and her on-court productivity there. She said something to the effect that she could have stayed at UConn and gotten another National Championship ring, but it wouldn't mean much because she would have had so little to do with it. At Wisconsin, she feels that she is an integral part of whatever success that team achieves.

On what team did she win an NC at UCONN? She came in with Bria, Stef, Lauren, Samarie, and Michala. That year was Maya's Sr. year when they were upset by ND in the semis. They did not win an NCAA until last year when Michala was already gone serving her lost year at WI.

 

[John Glass]

We have not answered the question-- why not play the walk-ons. Are they so bad. Worst then the majority of the players we play against in the aac? Is there some agreement bet. scholarship players and coaches where walk-ons only play minimal minutes if scholarship players are available? Is this just another of Geno's religion/know best? We cannot evaluate their talent from where we are sitting, but it is worth asking. We say often that our bech players could be a starting five at most schools- how about the bench (one has a scholarship-- is it only for practice?). Johnson left the team because of playing time-- were she encouraged to go, or stay. Geno expressed frustration once in an interview about players falling behind their class. He obviously knew something about her talent so- was the decision to free her from her scholarship something that has backfired. There is more then just hindsight here. Of course it is highly possible that in Wis. she is clearly within her elements and, were she to return to Conn we would have the same old MJ! Teams can be like the Catholic C/ND- you never fully know what's going on inside.

if walk-ons were good players they would have scholarships--- I am sure if there was a sleeper who had the talent to play, they would. We are talking about the highest level of D1 basketball, not D3, which is were they could probably be stars.

 

[Icebear]

if walk-ons were good players they would have scholarships--- I am sure if there was a sleeper who had the talent to play, they would. We are talking about the highest level of D1 basketball, not D3, which is were they could probably be stars.

Maybe. Some have scholarship offers but turn them down for varying reasons, including not the desired school, different academic goals, location, etc. same as the numerous reasons other scholarships are turned down and people choose to go to different schools. Some families have the money to pay for school and the scholarship value is not critical. Pulido had a track scholarship.

I am impressed, particularly, with TLaw 's movement and competing on the court.

 

[caramel]

Seems to me,that TLaw must be showing something good in practice,since she got 7 minutes.Sure,it was a blowout,but there have been blowouts before,and she only got a minute or two those games. Coach has a game plan,I am sure about fouls.I wouldn't be surprised if more and more we see some zone,and even if Dolson has a problem with Hammond,as talented as Hammond is,I cannot see her getting much of anything against the blockbuster,Stokes.Besides,if she is part of their game plan to aggravate the big people,the guards may sneak in and strip the ball way often. The key again to the game with Louisville,will be to disrupt any rhythm that Shoni wants to get into.If the guards do a job on Shoni,as they did on Sims,then whatever happens in the paint will be minor.Let us not forget,as talented as Louisville is,UConn is talented too,especially the fact that UConn has a number of go to players,all of which are capable of scoring 20-30 points a night,if needed.Louisville will have a hard time and expend plenty of energy on the defensive end.