The Irony of this latest injury is ...

[PhillyCoach]

Many of us believe that playing the bench is a great tactic at times, and always serves the future development of the players. Not only that, kids want to play!! I know kids who wanted to stay on JV because they wanted to play more. Happier kids on the team, getting to play some (especially having 20+ leads) makes for a more positive atmosphere. Team chemistry is stronger (IMHO.)
Anyway, Geno likes his 7 player rotation and (once in a while) it seems he forgets about the bench (blow-outs too). The man is the Bestest Coach of all time--yes, that is a new word. Some of us would substitute a little different here and there. We all have our own style of coaching.
The Irony is obvious to me. It seems Geno has the forced opportunity to use bench players in the next couple of months. He knows and we know---he has to go deeper into the bench. We get to see Geno use a "lesser experienced" methodology. Geno's method is the one proven 11 times -- the best. It will be fun to watch the subs, the starters, 6th man, and what new combinations will play the 2-man game well enough to carry the team most of the time. My money is on a good run, some very tight games, senior leadership evolving, and opportunities for the bench to strengthen.
Lucky us--we get to watch it all.

 

[sun]

That's all very true, many positives can result.
But some of the negatives shouldn't be ignored either.
There's probably going to be some frustrations along the way.
Hopefully no injuries to players trying to over-achieve, or due to poor match ups, or intentional by the opposition.

 

[BfromCT]

The Huskies have had few practices since the latest injury blows have fallen - the injury to all everything Paige Bueckers and the unavailability of Nika Mühl due to a recurrence of her foot injury. So the team will be playing on the road against a decent Georgia Tech team without the best player in the country, its starting point guard for half of last season, the number 1 recruit of 2021, and its most athletic defender. And, the squad is reduced to just 9 players, 6 forwards and just 3 guards, only one of whom has much experience in bringing the ball up the court (Evina Westbrook).

The shortage of guards raises obvious rotation questions for a team that normally has a three guard lineup. So, will Ducharme start along with Westbrook, Williams, ONO, and Edwards? If so, how many minutes can each be expected to play? Or, will Geno start 3 bigs and 2 guards to allow the guards to get breathers? If three bigs, will the third be Juhász or McLean? Will the coach finally be forced to play DeBerry and Gabriel, particularly if one of the other bigs gets into foul trouble?

The next three games against Georgia Tech, UCLA, and Louisville will provide great challenges both to the coaching staff and the players. Will one or more of the seniors step up to take the leadership and vacated by Bueckers? Can Geno find a player combination that can move the ball and defend?

If the Huskies can score 60 points tonight, that will probably be enough, but more scoring will be needed in the following two games. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that UConn will lose all three games.

We will all be watching with intense interest to see how the shorthanded Huskies react to the injury blows and see if they play with intensity and purpose.

 

[cabbie191]

Anyway, Geno likes his 7 player rotation and (once in a while) it seems he forgets about the bench (blow-outs too). The man is the Bestest Coach of all time--yes, that is a new word.

A bit of an OT response. I like your coach descriptor because “bestest” is the term my wife and I used in our holiday letter when talking about the granddaughters!

 

[boontonbomber]

Many of us believe that playing the bench is a great tactic at times, and always serves the future development of the players. Not only that, kids want to play!! I know kids who wanted to stay on JV because they wanted to play more. Happier kids on the team, getting to play some (especially having 20+ leads) makes for a more positive atmosphere. Team chemistry is stronger (IMHO.)
Anyway, Geno likes his 7 player rotation and (once in a while) it seems he forgets about the bench (blow-outs too). The man is the Bestest Coach of all time--yes, that is a new word. Some of us would substitute a little different here and there. We all have our own style of coaching.
The Irony is obvious to me. It seems Geno has the forced opportunity to use bench players in the next couple of months. He knows and we know---he has to go deeper into the bench. We get to see Geno use a "lesser experienced" methodology. Geno's method is the one proven 11 times -- the best. It will be fun to watch the subs, the starters, 6th man, and what new combinations will play the 2-man game well enough to carry the team most of the time. My money is on a good run, some very tight games, senior leadership evolving, and opportunities for the bench to strengthen.
Lucky us--we get to watch it all.

as uncomfortable as he is with subbing players, he may just play the starters 40 minutes.