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Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 5176682, member: 12088"] I’ve been reflecting on this same thing all season. In October, I simply assumed Geno would get Jana as much playing time as possible, with the only limit being her stamina. I also assumed Ice would play next to her at the 4 much of the time. I was really wrong about both assumptions. Now having watched half the season unfold, I think it’s clear that Geno has a different vision of the team than I expected. He wants to play small-ball for significant parts of games and he is busy developing the talent he has on this roster in that direction. This requires playing time. He also is prepared to rely on Sarah much more than I anticipated. She seems to have arrived in Storrs D1-ready and appears to be developing on an All-American trajectory. She seems able to play almost any position on the court, rather like Paige. That sort of versatility seems to catch Geno’s eye and he knows how to use it. And to maximize its value means getting all the rotation players used to playing the game she makes possible, not just the starters. I expect Geno is starting Jana because he also wants to be able to play a more traditional game, with her at the 5 next to Sarah at the 4. With Ice ready to sub for Jana in a similar lineup, the team isn’t as vulnerable to foul trouble. Last season, he was forced to play small-ball most of the time and the team was constantly vulnerable to foul trouble. This current roster gives him an opportunity to address this. In the end, I think Geno wants to develop Jana as much as he can. But he has other things he wants to develop as well, and this leads him to use the available minutes in several ways. A lesser coach might simply develop his best players and shorten the rotation earlier in the season, and hope that’s enough. But Geno seems to recognize both the new level of competition in D1, and the special possibilities this roster gives him. It may be a gamble with a very young team, to try to develop such a long rotation, but it also may be his only path to an NC. [/QUOTE]

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