The Jumbo Lineup | The Boneyard

The Jumbo Lineup

HuskyNan

HuskyNan

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Today against Butler Geno had K9, Azzi, Allie, Serah, and Jana. In another game he had Azzi, Blanca, Sarah, Serah, and Jana. I love the big lineups - anyone else? Not for long stretches, of course, but if an opponent gets into an offensive groove, the jumbo lineup might intimidate the heck out of the other team and disrupt their flow. The smaller lineup can press and trap, the big lineups can put up a big wall.

Thoughts?
 
HuskyNan said:
Today against Butler Geno had K9, Azzi, Allie, Serah, and Jana. In another game he had Azzi, Blanca, Sarah, Serah, and Jana. I love the big lineups - anyone else? Not for long stretches, of course, but if an opponent gets into an offensive groove, the jumbo lineup might intimidate the heck out of the other team and disrupt their flow. The smaller lineup can press and trap, the big lineups can put up a big wall.

Thoughts?
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I only like if Sarah and Blanca are also in the game because, as we saw today, Serah and Jana together without them can be a bit offensively challenged, though great on the defensive side (especially with Jana's rebounding prowess).
 
I like the jumbo lineup a lot but also on offense. I just wish that they could be a lot more successful using the high low game. If Sarah is on the floor, it works ok but not so much when it is just Serah and Jana. I think our opponents are not very concerned about either of them being a threat shooting from the high post so they just collapse on the low post with two or three extra defenders. Neither Serah nor Jana has had much success in this scenario.
I do love love Jana’s effort when she is on the floor but she doesn't seem to be as enthusiastic this season. So much potential...
I would really enjoy seeing the jumbo lineup more and hopefully a very successful trio, both offensively and defensively.

Edit: when I was typing my post, for some reason I thought that Serah and Jana were on the floor together for quite a few minutes today. After looking at the Rotation thread for the game, they were not. Hmm.
 
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Seems to me that it's the guards who cause the most disruption. The bigs may be decorative but aren't especially effective. Sarah out rebounds them all.
Luckily, we have a profusion of almost every type of player, so if Geno wants to give everyone a work-out, why not? Who's in in crunch time counts.
 
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WBBZen said:
The only big line up I want to see is Serah/Jana, Sarah and Blanca. Serah and Jana shouldn't be on the floor together in serious situations.
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Who said anything about "serious situations"? Some lineups would be plain fun to watch for a few minutes, and UConn has the luxury to put them out there. We don't have to win every game by 60 points. Sheesh.
 
Crossover said:
Who said anything about "serious situations"? Some lineups would be plain fun to watch for a few minutes, and UConn has the luxury to put them out there. We don't have to win every game by 60 points. Sheesh.
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I immediately noticed when Serah and Jana were both in the game. This is fun stuff for a game that was made for it. Yes we do, speak for yourself. Oops you did 😊
 
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darkstar1 said:
I prefer the smaller lineup. Better defense. Better offensive movement. More aggressive. Faster. Just looks more like UConn basketball.
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If the team could only play one style, I too prefer a smaller lineup, if that means fast-paced offense, trapping defense, shooters at every position, and lots of player and ball movement. However, the current team has the personnel to play several styles without compromising it's chances of winning, and I enjoy the variety. Re what "looks like UConn basketball", I happen to think that the 1995 team that featured 6'4" Rebecca Lobo and 6'7" Kara Walters, surrounded by 6' Nykesha Sales and 5' 11" Jamellle Elliot (plus Jen Rizzotti) played pretty good UConn basketball. Same for the teams that featured Stef Dolson her junior and senior years.
 
Right before she was injured Jana suddenly started playing her best ball of the season. (by far) She seemed to have (to me) refocused herself and was not only playing much better, but seemed enthusiastic and happy about it. Then, of course, she was injured and it clearly set her back. What really troubles me is, that even though she is clearly beginning to play well again, she does not seem very happy or enthusiastic about it. I love Jana! She is one of my favorite Huskies and I hope and pray that she can get that spark back and be the effervescent player we all know and love. Of course, I realize it could be any number of things, including my imagination, but I do hope that she is OK and happy.
 
I generally prefer a more standard lineup, with a 4 and 5 that are more naturals at those positions, not a 4 playing the 5 or a guard at the 4. Part of that is the desire to be very good across many key statistical metrics, beating teams because you shoot better, and get more possessions, both from steals and rebounds. Small ball is far more dependent on getting more steals and creating more turnovers to get more possessions at the expense of achieving that margin with rebounding.

The ability to put a very goo d big or small lineup on the floor is a huge strategic advantage giving Geno many ways to win depending on the specific match-up. The small lineup has proven itself against most opponents, while the big combinations seem to still be a work in progress IMO.

Going into the season I had hoped that we could have 40 very good minutes at the 4 and 5 without having to go small, but still having that as an option. Obviously Sarah would cover a huge part at the 4, but injuries and perhaps less than expected performance to that point left the backup role more of a question mark. At the 5, I expected Serah to immediately be very good, and Jana to make a major leap, so i was feeling very good about that position.

I even thought if Jana made the leap I anticipated. a three big rotation might be great with Serah swinging to the 4 when teamed with Jana.
That would solve a potential problem at backup 4. But of course that didn't happen. Both Serah and Jana play fewer minutes at the 5 than I anticipated, and we don't really use a true backup 4 at all, so it's been small ball all the way.

Maybe the big option can show more in the remaining schedule, but while this team is so good in so many ways, I think the biggest relative weakness and only against a few of the very best teams, is that we can't count on more possessions against the very best teams and may be dependent on having to out shoot them. The very best teams can and probably will out rebound us, and may have good enough guard play to handle our press and limit their turnovers.

Small ball is working and rebounding is not an issue against Big East competition, but Texas, South Carolina, UCLA, LSU and a few others have rebounders and ballhandlers, so I hope our big options show some significant improvement down the stretch.
 
PJCLaw said:
I only like if Sarah and Blanca are also in the game because, as we saw today, Serah and Jana together without them can be a bit offensively challenged, though great on the defensive side (especially with Jana's rebounding prowess).
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With all respect to our 6'5" bigs, did not see much of an advantage to this 2 big lineup. Slowed offense and allowed other teams more pick and roll generated 3 point shots. Not a big deal against Butler but against a top 20 team this would not be a tactics Geno is likely to try.
 
IMG_1419.jpeg
 
Crossover said:
If the team could only play one style, I too prefer a smaller lineup, if that means fast-paced offense, trapping defense, shooters at every position, and lots of player and ball movement. However, the current team has the personnel to play several styles without compromising it's chances of winning, and I enjoy the variety. Re what "looks like UConn basketball", I happen to think that the 1995 team that featured 6'4" Rebecca Lobo and 6'7" Kara Walters, surrounded by 6' Nykesha Sales and 5' 11" Jamellle Elliot (plus Jen Rizzotti) played pretty good UConn basketball. Same for the teams that featured Stef Dolson her junior and senior years.
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Totally agree. I was only referring to the team as presently constituted. Of course the team is so deep they can win with many combinations, depending on who they play, but I enjoy the fluidity of offensive movement and tenacious defensive of the small lineup.
 
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I've been surprised even since last year that we seldom used a big+ lineup, especially in some BigEast games just to try it out.

With tall players like Sarah, Blanca, Allie, Caroline, (Morgan) all capable of playing the 1-3, we could run out a giant line up of Jana, Serah, and say Sarah, Blanca and Allie.

Having watched Geno, he seems less interested in this than me. 😁

He seems to really only want to play line ups he wants for the tourney even in BigEast games. (Late Q4 with emptied bench the exception).

His preferred strategy to deal with opposing star bigs is the small ball unit. Playing Blanca at 4 and Sarah at 5 forces the opposing bigs to have to guard the whole floor. As long as UConn does not get killed on the boards, this route creates a real mismatch, often forcing opponent to put their star center on the bench.

This grouping offers 5 shooters, full switch defense, and all ball handlers/passers.
 
Cuango said:
Right before she was injured Jana suddenly started playing her best ball of the season. (by far) She seemed to have (to me) refocused herself and was not only playing much better, but seemed enthusiastic and happy about it. Then, of course, she was injured and it clearly set her back. What really troubles me is, that even though she is clearly beginning to play well again, she does not seem very happy or enthusiastic about it. I love Jana! She is one of my favorite Huskies and I hope and pray that she can get that spark back and be the effervescent player we all know and love. Of course, I realize it could be any number of things, including my imagination, but I do hope that she is OK and happy.
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Yana might be adjusting to not having Paige as her roommate, they were like sisters and she misses her. As for the playing well she has only played one season and it takes time for some people, especially bigs to get used to Geno's system, Stef had some challenges her first couple of years at UConn.
 
packwrap said:
I've been surprised even since last year that we seldom used a big+ lineup, especially in some BigEast games just to try it out.

With tall players like Sarah, Blanca, Allie, Caroline, (Morgan) all capable of playing the 1-3, we could run out a giant line up of Jana, Serah, and say Sarah, Blanca and Allie.

Having watched Geno, he seems less interested in this than me. 😁

He seems to really only want to play line ups he wants for the tourney even in BigEast games. (Late Q4 with emptied bench the exception).

His preferred strategy to deal with opposing star bigs is the small ball unit. Playing Blanca at 4 and Sarah at 5 forces the opposing bigs to have to guard the whole floor. As long as UConn does not get killed on the boards, this route creates a real mismatch, often forcing opponent to put their star center on the bench.

This grouping offers 5 shooters, full switch defense, and all ball handlers/passers.
Expand ...
Yes, and a wise decision and approach imo. Unlike a lot of fans, he knows what he's looking at and sees the total game. Why would he waste time experimenting with something he knows wouldn't be preparing them for the NCT? He's doubtless tried all combinations in practice and knows he doesn't have the personnel to execute in games for any length of time. Offensively in his read and react system, his current bigs are slow to read and and many times aren't capable of reacting correctly to the defense. At this time he probably realizes that their best use is as depth (and 10 fouls) to use against the big frontcourts of Texas, SC, and UCLA while forcing them to adjust to his 5 out lineup like in last year's FF.
 
MSGRET said:
Yana might be adjusting to not having Paige as her roommate, they were like sisters and she misses her. As for the playing well she has only played one season and it takes time for some people, especially bigs to get used to Geno's system, Stef had some challenges her first couple of years at UConn.
Expand ...
Do you mean Jana?
 
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