Starting 5 predictions for 2020 | The Boneyard

Starting 5 predictions for 2020

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I just checked the roster...

My prediction on the starting 5:

G - Bueckers
G - C Williams
G - Westbrook
F - Griffin
F/C - Nelson-Ododa

Sleeper of the bunch: Edwards... If she can play strong in the paint area she's going to get legit minutes. Footwork, touch is already there. Just want to see how strong she can be.


I think this team is dangerous folks... We have no one on this team shorter than 5' 10.. plenty of length... we also have what appears to be a bunch of high IQ players as well, that should blend quite well. Only concern I see is how we rebound in the paint. We got the warrior Griffin at only 6', but she's gonna need adequate support...


My 2 cents....
 

JoePgh

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OK, since full practices have started, I will indulge in this discussion. My first statement, as always at this time of year, is a reminder that neither Geno nor any of the coaches knows what the starting lineup will be, since it depends entirely on how well the players practice. That is really the most important point to make.

But I would say (based on Geno's past practice even with outstanding freshmen such as Maya, KML, KLS, and Napheesa) is that he won't start freshmen when there are capable non-freshmen available at the same position. But those outstanding freshmen (like Paige and Aaliyah) will get plenty of minutes -- near starter-level minutes.

So my starting lineup will be:

Christyn
Evina
Aubrey
Anna
Liv

In other words, all the returning players.

This lineup is a bit small against good teams, which is why I think Aaliyah Edwards will get plenty of minutes in a rotation with Aubrey and Anna. And since Evina's physical conditioning seems to be a work in progress based on Geno's comments at today's press availability, I would expect Paige to get plenty of minutes as the first guard off the bench. The guard trio of Christyn / Evina / Paige will probably get roughly equal minutes.
 
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G - Bueckers. End of list.

Kidding of course.


To start the season:
G - Williams
G - Westbrook
G - Makurat
F - Griffin
C* - Nelson-Ododa

By the end of the season it will be interesting to see who’s starting, but I imagine that these players get the nod initially unless any of the freshman are beyond DT or Maya Moore level (or unless Griffin is needed to be that spark off the bench).

*I’m not sure if she’s listed as F, F/C, or C.
 

Huskee11

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Having the five returning players start has some good things going for it - experience, takes pressure off the Freshmen, and the positions line up well.

However, I am starting to lean towards:

G: Williams
G: Westbrook
G: Bueckers
G/F: Makurat
C/PF: Ododa

It is a smallish lineup, arguably four guards, but it is likely an outstanding passing/shooting/scoring team. I think it is a team that will get out of the gates quickly and push the tempo. And even though it a smallish lineup, it probably matches up at least adequately with almost all of our opponents. Also, Makurat and Williams are both better than average rebounders for their size. And Paige can deal with the pressure of starting, that should be pretty obvious.

Griffin has shown an ability to be instant energy off the bench and I am not sure that she would be as effective as a starter. She might get lost, defer to the other starters, and not generate as much activity as a starter in the first six or seven minutes of the game or the second half. We know she can affect the game off of the bench. And with her and Edwards, another high ceiling player, available off the bench to provide energy and defensive/rebounding help, especially help with a pressure defense, we should be good.

Don`t sleep on Nika either, she won`t start but she will contribute.
 
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eebmg

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Even in the Media availability, evidence is that Geno will not push Paige into the starting lineup. Just learning the system for a PG freshman is a gigantic task and great motivation for players "as competitive as hell" Paige will grow into it soon enough.
 
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What I find interesting in all of our past discussions of lineups, is that while there are many disagreements over the best starting five, there is pretty universal agreement on the 7 players that we expect to get significant minutes, with Nika being the most likely addition if we use 8 in highly contested games.

There is also much agreement that with multiple players that can play more than one position, the first two off the bench will get lots of minutes, and if everyone is healthy, we could get by in most cases with a 7 player rotation with no weak links.

So with that in mind, I think the question is how to deploy those 7 assets, hopefully 8 with Nika in the most effective way. That is not necessarily the same as picking the five best players to start, and involves considering the rotation patterns and having skill sets that compliment each other.

Could you pencil in Evina at PG? of course, but I don't like that option, in spite of feeling confident she could be a good one. Her ball handling and passing I would grade as exceptional for a SF, pretty good for a SG, and closer to average for a point guard. She could play all three positions well, but in my opinion for this team as constructed her best position is SG, followed by SF and then PG.

But beyond that reason we have not one but two incoming pure point guards, for whom passing is there best trait, with both considered to have not good, but exceptional vision, anticipating openings before they happen, and making passes only the gifted can see. If Westbrook starts at PG, yes Paige will have reduced minutes, but Nika's could be virtually eliminated in a rotation of 7. Another reason is many expect Paige to be starting by year end. This year there will be few big out of conference challenges in a shortened season, and she can grow into the position during the conference schedule, with the team used to the rotations to be used in the tournament.

If you consider Evina more as a SG/SF then the battle for playing time there is between her, Williams and Makurat, all of whom can get big minutes if you stick to those three. I would argue that nobody is head and shoulders above the others in that group, and any two starting could work with the other being a super sub.

So who plays off the freshmen point guards the best? What skills are most needed to compliment the rest of the starting lineup? Which two play the best with each other? Williams and Makurat might have an edge there with one year together. It's splitting hairs but I suspect Westbrooks versatility is best used off the bench.
It is also comforting that we should almost always have another ball handler/passer in the game to compliment our freshmen PG's (Westbrook or Makurat).

Another chemistry issue involves PF. Starting center is set and the PF and backup C minutes I believe will be handled by the two challengers at PF, Griffin and Edwards, with Griffin playing more exclusively at PF and Edwards getting about half her time at PF and the other half as backup C. Like the wing scenario it might be close, but whoever the backup is will get significant minutes because of the lack of a proven backup C, and a three big rotation also with no weak links looks very strong. Maybe the logical starter at PF is the one who plays with Liv the best, or the rest of the team. Tough call, but I suspect Edwards might compliment Liv the best with some perimeter skills while Liv is down low. In addition Griffin's exceptional defensive skills might have more value off the bench when the shot blocker Liv is out.

So I would have Westbrook and Griffin as super-subs, and Nika getting the backup PG minutes. Mostly I want to stress the top 7 looks very good with a high degree of certainty, and who starts at the wing and PF may depend more on how players compliment each other, than who is the best player, and whoever comes off the bench as 6th or 7th will be a major contributor. Hopefully Nika earns backup PG minutes, but if she doesn't then Evina could handle some of that too, but I'm rooting for the two new PG's to not need any help.
 
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Have I been blocked from posting? What does the little yellow shield mean?
 

CocoHusky

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Have I been blocked from posting? What does the little yellow shield mean?
CocoHusky?
:D I have no idea.
Have you been taking your vitamins?
Wearing your mask?
It can't be all that serious, if it were they would take away all your BY points.
 
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Is the person who called us stupid the creator or moderator of this site?
 
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OK, since full practices have started, I will indulge in this discussion. My first statement, as always at this time of year, is a reminder that neither Geno nor any of the coaches knows what the starting lineup will be, since it depends entirely on how well the players practice. That is really the most important point to make.

But I would say (based on Geno's past practice even with outstanding freshmen such as Maya, KML, KLS, and Napheesa) is that he won't start freshmen when there are capable non-freshmen available at the same position. But those outstanding freshmen (like Paige and Aaliyah) will get plenty of minutes -- near starter-level minutes.

So my starting lineup will be:

Christyn
Evina
Aubrey
Anna
Liv

In other words, all the returning players.

This lineup is a bit small against good teams, which is why I think Aaliyah Edwards will get plenty of minutes in a rotation with Aubrey and Anna. And since Evina's physical conditioning seems to be a work in progress based on Geno's comments at today's press availability, I would expect Paige to get plenty of minutes as the first guard off the bench. The guard trio of Christyn / Evina / Paige will probably get roughly equal minutes.
thanks for the insight... Anna, at 6'2, with that 3 point shot, is probably a more viable option to start over Griffin; however, I can see Griffin breaking that starting line up... She plays with an energy that the team feeds off of... She's our swiss army knife....
 

HuskyFan1125

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I will play along but I’m always skeptical of these predictions as they are just guesses. I will always keep in mind if the comment GA made that fans always want to put players as starters who never played a college game. Couple that with he doesn’t like putting pressure on freshman i will go with the 5 returning players.

I could see and 8-9 player rotation as the bench is freshman and will have to play but i think Bueckers/Edwards/Muhl are the ones i got my eye on. Lots of folks aren’t talking a lot about Muhl but she can play and defend and has played with older players like Edwards.
It will be an exciting year.
 
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PG - Bueckers
SG - Westbrook
W/SF - Makurat
PF - Edwards
P - Nelson Ododa

yes, I know - we are not supposed to be interested in position nomenclature any more; but I think the past few years have shown UConn needs that spread and combination of height and capability. Looking back, they had it on the four in a row and pretty much all of the championship teams in the past, and often did not have it in the “non” years.

That said, I think the five players listed above are the five best on the team in terms of talent, proven capability(including the two “freshmen” who are already proven international stars), team first attitudes, and game face/desire to win.
 
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Bigboote

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I have no idea about the first game of the season, but I think by mid-season it will be

Bueckers
Williams
Westbrook
Makurat
Nelson-Ododa

Sixth player Griffin

This shows my penchant for favoring a multi-position sixth player (as advocated by Red Auerbach, who's credited with creating the sixth man). As pointed out above, Griffin is also an instant shot in the arm for the team, lest they be lagging at the beginning of a game.

I also agree with several above that even in crunch-time games, the rotation will be eight, with Muhl getting a lot of minutes. She's a pure point guard, but Paige is most definitely a combo guard, and Westbrook and Williams can easily slide into the three. Anna also has the strength and hands to defend inside and play the switching defense that UConn likes.
 

JordyG

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OK, since full practices have started, I will indulge in this discussion. My first statement, as always at this time of year, is a reminder that neither Geno nor any of the coaches knows what the starting lineup will be, since it depends entirely on how well the players practice. That is really the most important point to make.

But I would say (based on Geno's past practice even with outstanding freshmen such as Maya, KML, KLS, and Napheesa) is that he won't start freshmen when there are capable non-freshmen available at the same position. But those outstanding freshmen (like Paige and Aaliyah) will get plenty of minutes -- near starter-level minutes.

So my starting lineup will be:

Christyn
Evina
Aubrey
Anna
Liv

In other words, all the returning players.

This lineup is a bit small against good teams, which is why I think Aaliyah Edwards will get plenty of minutes in a rotation with Aubrey and Anna. And since Evina's physical conditioning seems to be a work in progress based on Geno's comments at today's press availability, I would expect Paige to get plenty of minutes as the first guard off the bench. The guard trio of Christyn / Evina / Paige will probably get roughly equal minutes.
That's how I've seen it, and I've said so before Paige cmmited.
 
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I just checked the roster...

My prediction on the starting 5:

G - Bueckers
G - C Williams
G - Westbrook
F - Griffin
F/C - Nelson-Ododa

Sleeper of the bunch: Edwards... If she can play strong in the paint area she's going to get legit minutes. Footwork, touch is already there. Just want to see how strong she can be.


I think this team is dangerous folks... We have no one on this team shorter than 5' 10.. plenty of length... we also have what appears to be a bunch of high IQ players as well, that should blend quite well. Only concern I see is how we rebound in the paint. We got the warrior Griffin at only 6', but she's gonna need adequate support...


My 2 cents....
I think Christyn Willams is too tentative to last as a starter.
 
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Evina
Chrystin
Anna
Aubrey
Liv

Paige first off the bench unless Liv gets quick fouls and Aaliyah then would come in first.

I think these 7 could average about the same minutes which will be great for us.
 

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