Like many of the insightful posters (I love the BY) I have an uneasy feeling when a team has too many players. (Help me out here-- I think SC is carrying the most players of the top 16 teams.) One could say that there are more players to look after, motivate, develop, counsel, and give playing time. IMHO another of 10 big reasons why Gino is so good is he keeps the team smaller and tighter. A short rotation (last few years it was 6 in crunch time, maybe seven. Why? Team chemistry is stronger, timing is minutely developed, some days some players need court time to settle in, overall flow is kept smooth, and conditioning is honed to a sharp edge by FF time. Gino's goal seems to be -- the 5 starters can go 40 minutes at top speed with maximum efficiency--if necessary. Nurse, as the frosh, was really the only one that came out (tired or Gino wanted the big line-up with Stokes.) Chong or Williams never were really in the mix for the Dayton game on. For SC, I see the deeper bench stifling player development. In addition, I hope Dawn Staley keeps the platoon system because it helps UConn keep the edge as I noted above. Every sub changes the game flow and timing. Look at UConn at the end of games. I know there is a drastic skill drop-off, but it is the flow and timing that is most obvious.
