The last 5

[doggydaddy]

Fun thread about the starting lineup.

Now lets talk about the 5 players on the court for the LAST 5 minutes of games where UConn has a substantial lead.

Geno usually leaves one starter in with the bottom 4 on the bench that only see "garbage" time. This 11 player roster is NOT built that way. So, if I believe that Hartley, Dolson, Doty, Faris and Lewis are the starters and Stewart is the first player off the bench, then the last 5 would be Banks, Stokes, Tuck, Jefferson and Buck.

Hmmm...Banks, Stokes, Tuck, Jefferson and Buck. This puts Tuck at the 3 and Stokes at the 4.

Great team.

Maybe Geno does take one of the first 6 and gives them minutes if one of these 5 have had more than usual minutes already?

Gee...not so easy!

Depth. UConn's best attribute this year.

 

[Shenandoah]

Fun thread about the starting lineup.

Now lets talk about the 5 players on the court for the LAST 5 minutes of games where UConn has a substantial lead.

Geno usually leaves one starter in with the bottom 4 on the bench that only see "garbage" time. This 11 player roster is NOT built that way. So, if I believe that Hartley, Dolson, Doty, Faris and Lewis are the starters and Stewart is the first player off the bench, then the last 5 would be Banks, Stokes, Tuck, Jefferson and Buck.

Hmmm...Banks, Stokes, Tuck, Jefferson and Buck. This puts Tuck at the 3 and Stokes at the 4.

Great team.

Maybe Geno does take one of the first 6 and gives them minutes if one of these 5 have had more than usual minutes already?

Gee...not so easy!

Depth. UConn's best attribute this year.

That "bottom 5" could be the "Top 5" on most WCBB teams!

 

[meyers7]

That "bottom 5" could be the "Top 5" on most WCBB teams!

No 30+ leads shrinking to 20+ wins this year.

 

[Icebear]

No 30+ leads shrinking to 20+ wins this year.

More likely they will be growing to 40.

 

[meyers7]

More likely they will be growing to 40.

But that's not good for WBB.

 

[VAMike23]

-- We may have to go 4-on-5 at garbage time to avoid undue criticism...

 

[Goodgood]

Fun thread about the starting lineup.


Hmmm...Banks, Stokes, Tuck, Jefferson and Buck. This puts Tuck at the 3 and Stokes at the 4.

These 5 five + Stewart would give the starting 5 a run for their money...easily!

 

[alexrgct]

With the departures of Michala and Lauren, there are 11 players left who Geno would use in a number of circumstances, not just in garbage time. Given his high standards, that's saying a lot. I would expect a team like Mo, Banks, Buck, Tuck, and geez, probably some combination of Kelly or Breanna. Doty will not play significant garbage minutes given her knees.

In short, those garbage minutes are going to be played by ridiculously talented players who are going to destroy teams that are already demoralized and exhausted. It will be worse than with some Uconn teams that may have had better starting fives but thinner benches.

I think you have to stay the full 40 minutes for homes games this year. You may miss the highlights of the games otherwise.

 

[UcMiami]

I think this will be an interesting year for Geno in terms of substitution patterns - it has been 11 years since he had quite such a number of talented players on the bench, and that year ended badly when two of the stars got injured late in the year. It would be interesting to look at the 2001 and 2000 sub patterns to see what they were like - I certainly can't remember back that far.

 

[winlots]

DD - good thread idea.

Well known on here is the fact that one of the main shortcomings (and they are few) i see in Coach is that he does not do even a solid job of developing his bench. I don't need to be reminded, but OK if someone must to so, that this is a minority view....though I don't believe I stand entirely alone on this one. It's known that I think we'd have even a few more pennants waving if he had prepared more of his kids for "prime time" when injuries, slumps, off nights, etc presented themselves.

(Another was that his teams seemed to have problems getting the damn ball in from behind their own end line....pretty nicely corrected for the most part....along with improvement in handling a vigorous press, which still needs some work perhaps.)

My hope re the main thrust of the thread is that he will intermingle ALL the kids during PRIME (vs. garbage) time, so that they are used to playing with one another when it matters, and in different combinations. You never know who will encounter those inevitable slumps, off nights and injuries.....nor do you know when. Why not be prepared and get prepared early?? THe importance of practices is obvious.....but there is little substitute for being out there in a GAME situation when performance is at least a bit more serious than it is in garbage time.

 

[winlots]

With the departures of Michala and Lauren, there are 11 players left who Geno would use in a number of circumstances, not just in garbage time. Given his high standards, that's saying a lot. I would expect a team like Mo, Banks, Buck, Tuck, and geez, probably some combination of Kelly or Breanna. Doty will not play significant garbage minutes given her knees.

In short, those garbage minutes are going to be played by ridiculously talented players who are going to destroy teams that are already demoralized and exhausted. It will be worse than with some Uconn teams that may have had better starting fives but thinner benches.

I think you have to stay the full 40 minutes for homes games this year. You may miss the highlights of the games otherwise.

ALEX - good stuff. Want to pick up on your mention of "exhausted." Before I got to the college level, I played on some great teams (was often the worst guy) who were schooled in running and exhausting the opponent.....go all out all the time and don't be afraid to say "I could use a breather"..........and I'm talking about ALL out, ALL the time. (NOT run and gun per se at all, but definitely fast, fast break....and then into your patterns when needed.) Our Girls should be exhausting other teams.

 

[EricLA]

The last 5 in a blowout would be Jefferson, Banks, Tuck, Stokes, and Buck

The last 5 vs. Baylor et al. would probably be Hartley, Faris, KML, Stewart and Dolson...

 

[doggydaddy]

The last 5 in a blowout would be Jefferson, Banks, Tuck, Stokes, and Buck

The last 5 vs. Baylor et al. would probably be Hartley, Faris, KML, Stewart and Dolson...

Short and to the point. A fine post, Eric.

 

[slimmer56]

It really doesn't matter what 5 it is. I just bet that they extend the lead. They should get a lot of minutes at the end of games because they are all good. I just want to see how they jell into a team as the season wears on.

UCONN plays the best TEAM BALL than any other in the country. That is what drew me to them in the first place, and that is why I watch and love them so much today. Geno sells it ! He gets those superstars out of high school to buy into the TEAM UCONN way, and when they are running and gunning, and sharing the bball... oh what a sight to see. I love it !

GO UCONN

 

[johnnyc]

Starting lineup....

Hartley, Doty, Dolson, KML and Faris

Crunch time

Hartley, Lewis, Dolson, Faris and Stewart (I think Banks will prove dependable in this spot also)

Big lead....

Banks, Jefferson, Tuck, Stokes and Buck

 

[rocky rococo]

It would be interesting to look at the 2001 and 2000 sub patterns to see what they were like - I certainly can't remember back that far.

This is an impressionistic memory I have at this point, but my recollection was that Geno developed "packages" of 2 or 3 players that would sub in to strengthen or relieve certain aspects of the game: for size, for speed, for pressing, for shooting, for rebounding. I expect similar types of "packages" to develop over the course of this season as he sees who fits together. In the Olympics we saw him develop the Whalen-Moore-McCoughtry sparkplug package, until Maya was moved into the starting role, and Seimone then joined Team Sparkplug.