The November 1 Depth Chart (More or Less) Revealed

[JoePgh]

I was at the game tonight, and I thought that Geno's substitution patterns gave a fairly clear indication of what his depth chart is at this moment, based on the practices thus far:

• It appears that Crystal has won the 5th starting position over Azura. So the Top 5 are Napheesa, Gabby, Lou, Kia, and Crystal. Kia was clearly the best shooter tonight, but I thought that Napheesa was the best player. Lou didn't shoot well, but I was impressed with how she handled the ball in traffic. Either I had forgotten or not noticed how good she is at that, or she worked hard on it over the summer. She also (drum roll) got an offensive rebound and putback in tonight's game, the first I can recall in her UConn career.
• Azura is quite definitely the first off the bench. She was the only bench player tonight to do a significant amount of scoring. She was the "roll" on the pick and roll, and she executed it perfectly quite a few times. She is an excellent rebounder and an eager defender (though obviously still learning that skill), but she can't be ignored. It was pretty clear that when she does enter the game, it will be for one of the forwards, not for Crystal. Her outside shooting tonight was bad, but I attribute that to chance and/or first-game jitters.
• Next in line is Megan Walker. She wasn't too conspicuous tonight, but clearly she can move quickly around the court. Her athleticism is evident, and she (like Mikayla) needs no extra motivation on defense. Both Megan and Mikayla are clearly and fully committed to very aggressive defense.
• After that come the (other) sophomores, Kyla first and Molly following. It was obvious to me that Geno considers both of them as being more ready to play than any of the freshmen except Walker. I thought they both played about as you would expect based on what we saw last year.
• The order for the remaining freshmen was Mikayla, followed by AEH, followed by Lexi (who didn't get into the game until only 4:30 was left in the 4th quarter). AEH played most of the second half and took 1 or 2 shots but did not score. Neither she nor Lexi looked out of place, and in fact Lexi scored near the end of the game on a nice drive to the hoop from the corner through a zone defense.

This team has a lot of players in the 5-11 to 6-1 height range, small for forwards but very big for guards. They can get hands on enough of the opponent's passes to make it very difficult for the opponent to execute any organized offense. I think that will be a theme for the whole year.

 

[Rickel]

I was at the game tonight, and I thought that Geno's substitution patterns gave a fairly clear indication of what his depth chart is at this moment, based on the practices thus far:

• It appears that Crystal has won the 5th starting position over Azura. So the Top 5 are Napheesa, Gabby, Lou, Kia, and Crystal. Kia was clearly the best shooter tonight, but I thought that Napheesa was the best player. Lou didn't shoot well, but I was impressed with how she handled the ball in traffic. Either I had forgotten or not noticed how good she is at that, or she worked hard on it over the summer. She also (drum roll) got an offensive rebound and putback in tonight's game, the first I can recall in her UConn career.
• Azura is quite definitely the first off the bench. She was the only bench player tonight to do a significant amount of scoring. She was the "roll" on the pick and roll, and she executed it perfectly quite a few times. She is an excellent rebounder and an eager defender (though obviously still learning that skill), but she can't be ignored. It was pretty clear that when she does enter the game, it will be for one of the forwards, not for Crystal. Her outside shooting tonight was bad, but I attribute that to chance and/or first-game jitters.
• Next in line is Megan Walker. She wasn't too conspicuous tonight, but clearly she can move quickly around the court. Her athleticism is evident, and she (like Mikayla) needs no extra motivation on defense. Both Megan and Mikayla are clearly and fully committed to very aggressive defense.
• After that come the (other) sophomores, Kyla first and Molly following. It was obvious to me that Geno considers both of them as being more ready to play than any of the freshmen except Walker. I thought they both played about as you would expect based on what we saw last year.
• The order for the remaining freshmen was Mikayla, followed by AEH, followed by Lexi (who didn't get into the game until only 4:30 was left in the 4th quarter). AEH played most of the second half and took 1 or 2 shots but did not score. Neither she nor Lexi looked out of place, and in fact Lexi scored near the end of the game on a nice drive to the hoop from the corner through a zone defense.

This team has a lot of players in the 5-11 to 6-1 height range, small for forwards but very big for guards. They can get hands on enough of the opponent's passes to make it very difficult for the opponent to execute any organized offense. I think that will be a theme for the whole year.

 

[CocoHusky]

I was at the game tonight, and I thought that Geno's substitution patterns gave a fairly clear indication of what his depth chart is at this moment, based on the practices thus far:

• It appears that Crystal has won the 5th starting position over Azura. So the Top 5 are Napheesa, Gabby, Lou, Kia, and Crystal. Kia was clearly the best shooter tonight, but I thought that Napheesa was the best player. Lou didn't shoot well, but I was impressed with how she handled the ball in traffic. Either I had forgotten or not noticed how good she is at that, or she worked hard on it over the summer. She also (drum roll) got an offensive rebound and putback in tonight's game, the first I can recall in her UConn career.
• Azura is quite definitely the first off the bench. She was the only bench player tonight to do a significant amount of scoring. She was the "roll" on the pick and roll, and she executed it perfectly quite a few times. She is an excellent rebounder and an eager defender (though obviously still learning that skill), but she can't be ignored. It was pretty clear that when she does enter the game, it will be for one of the forwards, not for Crystal. Her outside shooting tonight was bad, but I attribute that to chance and/or first-game jitters.
• Next in line is Megan Walker. She wasn't too conspicuous tonight, but clearly she can move quickly around the court. Her athleticism is evident, and she (like Mikayla) needs no extra motivation on defense. Both Megan and Mikayla are clearly and fully committed to very aggressive defense.
• After that come the (other) sophomores, Kyla first and Molly following. It was obvious to me that Geno considers both of them as being more ready to play than any of the freshmen except Walker. I thought they both played about as you would expect based on what we saw last year.
• The order for the remaining freshmen was Mikayla, followed by AEH, followed by Lexi (who didn't get into the game until only 4:30 was left in the 4th quarter). AEH played most of the second half and took 1 or 2 shots but did not score. Neither she nor Lexi looked out of place, and in fact Lexi scored near the end of the game on a nice drive to the hoop from the corner through a zone defense.

This team has a lot of players in the 5-11 to 6-1 height range, small for forwards but very big for guards. They can get hands on enough of the opponent's passes to make it very difficult for the opponent to execute any organized offense. I think that will be a theme for the whole year.

Agree and this is similar to what I predicted a week ago. Don't expect Kyla to be ahead of a healthy Batouly in the rotation. In crunch time games also don't expect the rotation to go beyond Azura and Walker. Azura is a surprisingly great passer. Azura second touch was an elbo catch, drive left, kick to Kia for a three ball and she had a spectacular bounce pass to Napheesa on a base line seal. That is a very hard pass to teach many guards to make and most coaches don't even bother teaching it to their bigs.

 

[mdakota]

I was at the game tonight, and I thought that Geno's substitution patterns gave a fairly clear indication of what his depth chart is at this moment, based on the practices thus far:

• It appears that Crystal has won the 5th starting position over Azura. So the Top 5 are Napheesa, Gabby, Lou, Kia, and Crystal. Kia was clearly the best shooter tonight, but I thought that Napheesa was the best player. Lou didn't shoot well, but I was impressed with how she handled the ball in traffic. Either I had forgotten or not noticed how good she is at that, or she worked hard on it over the summer. She also (drum roll) got an offensive rebound and putback in tonight's game, the first I can recall in her UConn career.
• Azura is quite definitely the first off the bench. She was the only bench player tonight to do a significant amount of scoring. She was the "roll" on the pick and roll, and she executed it perfectly quite a few times. She is an excellent rebounder and an eager defender (though obviously still learning that skill), but she can't be ignored. It was pretty clear that when she does enter the game, it will be for one of the forwards, not for Crystal. Her outside shooting tonight was bad, but I attribute that to chance and/or first-game jitters.
• Next in line is Megan Walker. She wasn't too conspicuous tonight, but clearly she can move quickly around the court. Her athleticism is evident, and she (like Mikayla) needs no extra motivation on defense. Both Megan and Mikayla are clearly and fully committed to very aggressive defense.
• After that come the (other) sophomores, Kyla first and Molly following. It was obvious to me that Geno considers both of them as being more ready to play than any of the freshmen except Walker. I thought they both played about as you would expect based on what we saw last year.
• The order for the remaining freshmen was Mikayla, followed by AEH, followed by Lexi (who didn't get into the game until only 4:30 was left in the 4th quarter). AEH played most of the second half and took 1 or 2 shots but did not score. Neither she nor Lexi looked out of place, and in fact Lexi scored near the end of the game on a nice drive to the hoop from the corner through a zone defense.

This team has a lot of players in the 5-11 to 6-1 height range, small for forwards but very big for guards. They can get hands on enough of the opponent's passes to make it very difficult for the opponent to execute any organized offense. I think that will be a theme for the whole year.

KLS had an offensive rebound and put back when they played in the National Semi's when she was a freshman. They showed that clip a few times, as that's when they thought she hurt her foot.

 

[mdakota]

I think that Molly will get good minutes this year. She was assertive and more confident than last year. She was able to keep the offense flowing. Nice to see her put in the work.

 

[meyers7]

I was at the game tonight, and I thought that Geno's substitution patterns gave a fairly clear indication of what his depth chart is at this moment, based on the practices thus far:

• It appears that Crystal has won the 5th starting position over Azura. So the Top 5 are Napheesa, Gabby, Lou, Kia, and Crystal. Kia was clearly the best shooter tonight, but I thought that Napheesa was the best player. Lou didn't shoot well, but I was impressed with how she handled the ball in traffic. Either I had forgotten or not noticed how good she is at that, or she worked hard on it over the summer. She also (drum roll) got an offensive rebound and putback in tonight's game, the first I can recall in her UConn career.
• Azura is quite definitely the first off the bench. She was the only bench player tonight to do a significant amount of scoring. She was the "roll" on the pick and roll, and she executed it perfectly quite a few times. She is an excellent rebounder and an eager defender (though obviously still learning that skill), but she can't be ignored. It was pretty clear that when she does enter the game, it will be for one of the forwards, not for Crystal. Her outside shooting tonight was bad, but I attribute that to chance and/or first-game jitters.
• Next in line is Megan Walker. She wasn't too conspicuous tonight, but clearly she can move quickly around the court. Her athleticism is evident, and she (like Mikayla) needs no extra motivation on defense. Both Megan and Mikayla are clearly and fully committed to very aggressive defense.
• After that come the (other) sophomores, Kyla first and Molly following. It was obvious to me that Geno considers both of them as being more ready to play than any of the freshmen except Walker. I thought they both played about as you would expect based on what we saw last year.
• The order for the remaining freshmen was Mikayla, followed by AEH, followed by Lexi (who didn't get into the game until only 4:30 was left in the 4th quarter). AEH played most of the second half and took 1 or 2 shots but did not score. Neither she nor Lexi looked out of place, and in fact Lexi scored near the end of the game on a nice drive to the hoop from the corner through a zone defense.

This team has a lot of players in the 5-11 to 6-1 height range, small for forwards but very big for guards. They can get hands on enough of the opponent's passes to make it very difficult for the opponent to execute any organized offense. I think that will be a theme for the whole year.

You were at the game and didn't stop by and say hi??

I agree with most of what you posted. However the substitutions were different in the second half than the first. I think the depth chart will change for Coombs, Bent, Irwin, AEH and Gordon as time goes on.

I thought Walker looked really good tonight. Brought a lot of energy, yet was very smooth.

A lot of first game jitters last night. I expect to see quite an improvement for their next exhibition.

 

[MilfordHusky]

KLS had an offensive rebound and put back when they played in the National Semi's when she was a freshman. They showed that clip a few times, as that's when they thought she hurt her foot.

Damn! Every time Lou gets an offensive rebound and putback, she gets injured.

 

[mdakota]

Damn! Every time Lou gets an offensive rebound and putback, she gets injured.

oh yeah... I didn't think about that lol.

 

[pacific 44]

Hopefully Geno will tell her,"No more offensive rebounds or putbacks because you might get injured." mmm hmmm.

 

[bizarro aj]

What a joke, that game meant nothing to the line up or the depth chart. Geno uses practices to determine the depht chart.

 

[TWG236]

Also at the game. I was extremely impressed with Katie Lou on defense. She appeared to be much more active then last year and scoring wise she appears to be more aggressive in the high low game. Z is going to be fantastic and it doesn't matter who starts, it's who will play when the game is close and we need offense scoring and defensive stops. I believe Z will be playing in both of those situations. Having Crystal playing with Kia really opens Kia up for additional shots and it obvious that Crystal's game has moved up to another level. Gabby was Gabby and I believe both Kia and her will have really strong senior seasons. Napheesa may be the most important player on the team. Very consistent game in both scoring and rebounding. I also thought both Meghan and AEH showed a lot of poise while playing. Both really hustled on defense and although neither scored a lot of points, I don't think that will be a decisive issue on this year's squad. Folks I think is going to be another great season to be a UCONN fan.

 

[ktuck911]

I'd be shocked if we lose a game this year... One thing we were lacking in at by the time the Final 4 came around was bench depth... we had none. Same 7 played nearly the entire season.
New season, way more depth = running the table... my two cents

 

[oldude]

I'd be shocked if we lose a game this year... One thing we were lacking in at by the time the Final 4 came around was bench depth... we had none. Same 7 played nearly the entire season.
New season, way more depth = running the table... my two cents

It was closer to 6 in the NCAA tournament. Nat only came in during mop up time.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I think that Molly will get good minutes this year. She was assertive and more confident than last year. She was able to keep the offense flowing. Nice to see her put in the work.

The difference between Kyla and Molly, except size, is: Molly won't shoot / passes first/ is that confidence or acquiescence? I have been a fan for Molly but reality is reality. As others have seen Walker even as a Frosh plays decent defense and has offensive and rebounding skills all of which spell more down time for the duo.
Crunch time --as some has said means the fab six--however; poor Geno saddled with talent--could mean adjustment depending on whom is creating the crunch. Luxury in living style and number of players is living the good life.

I'd be shocked if we lose a game this year... One thing we were lacking in at by the time the Final 4 came around was bench depth... we had none. Same 7 played nearly the entire season.
My paranoia inner's say never say never and expect the unexpected--as long as a loss stays away from the FF --my psyche shall live wide and hi.

 

[Charliebball]

I'm not sure you can make a final judgement about the rotation from one exhibition game.........however, if in fact CD does end up a starter, I'd like to crow a bit for the fearless few who said that very thing might happen in this very forum some months ago......as I remember, proponents of CD as a starter took a lot of heat from many here who said it was a crazy notion not to start AZ........

 

[Tonyc]

This was the first game, exhibition game. First time under game conditions. It is a time to see how the team and players play in game conditions. It didnt look great and it shouldnt as there is alot of experimentation going on by Geno. He gets to see where everybody is and although its not where they will be because its only the first time playing under game conditions. We know the players and what they can do. The transfers need time to catch up with the UConn starters. The freshman need time to catch up to the college game. We've got some really big names, highly ranked players. We have imo 4+ AA's and at least 4 looking at POY and one at FOY. Just think when CW commits how that will work?????? Alot of AA's means NC's. Let me say this. With bigs or without bigs we have over the next 4 years a nucleus of players to build around and attract other top players. I really like this roster alot. We will see Sunday how much this team has grown. We will also see a week from Sunday when we play a very well coached Stanford team where this team is. We can out talent alot of teams but thats not what Geno wants and thats not who UConn is. We have the ingredients for a NC team for the next few years and no other team is even close. It will take a fluke for this team, which is light years ahead of last years team to lose. Uconn can only beat themselves, no team has the talent, confidence, or chemistry to beat UConn.

 

[EricLA]

I'm not sure you can make a final judgement about the rotation from one exhibition game....however, if in fact CD does end up a starter, I'd like to crow a bit for the fearless few who said that very thing might happen in this very forum some months ago.as I remember, proponents of CD as a starter took a lot of heat from many here who said it was a crazy notion not to start AZ...

Milford and I were first, and possibly last, in that particular line.

I'm hopeful that she is the starter all year not because I wanted to be right, but because of what Geno said about the other quartet (Kia, Lou, Gabby, Pheesa) NOT needing to adjust anything with how they play. If you take out Crystal and put in Azura, suddenly everyone is needing to play differently starting with moving Kia to the 1 and Lou to the 2...

 

[mntncougar]

I have a feeling about Lou. Last year I think she felt a ton of pressure to be the go-to scorer and a team leader. And I think it showed frequently near the end of the season.
But now, with Z in the line-up and the rest of the returnees a year better that pressure is lifted from her to some extent. Of course I could only listen last night, and not see facial expressions, body language, etc., but it sounded like she played a pretty complete game even though her shot was off a little. Especially, it sounded like she did a great job feeding Z and her other teammates.
This year her point totals may actually drop off a little for numerous reasons, but she sounds like she's already a better player, and by mid-season and beyond I think she will really shine, as many of our players have before. It's probably going to take some mental adjustment for her, but I don't doubt that will happen and when it does, I think she's going to be one of the best we ever had.
I wonder, by the way, if others had the same impression from her post-game interview that she may once again be fighting through a cold.

 

[msf22b]

I'd be shocked if we lose a game this year... One thing we were lacking in at by the time the Final 4 came around was bench depth... we had none. Same 7 played nearly the entire season.
New season, way more depth = running the table... my two cents

The first game against Stanford might well be their biggest chance for a loss.
Considering the disparity in athletic ability, our guys didn't look all that great last night (see Tony above).
Against a real team, they might well have struggled.
Of course (speaking against my position above), it seems that Geno positions the
practices and personnel combinations to get a scratchy first expo game...as he got.
He promised (affirmed) that Sunday would be better...I'm sure it will be.
But don't underestimate Stanford's will to play giant killer (as they have done in the past).

 

[TWG236]

MSF22B, if we were playing Stamford or another top rated team for real, be assured that Geno would have shortened the bench and kept the rotation down to 7 or 8 players. It is hard to play so many players and keep both the offense and defense flowing. Last night only proved that we play two exhibition games for a reason. MNTNCOUGAR I believe that your assessment of KLS is dead on. She really drove to the basket or played down low quite a bit. A lot different then her freshman year of hanging out at the 3 point line. Her and Azura's games are similar and it will be fun watching teams try to match up with them. Also she is really becoming a team leader, both vocally and by her actions. Next year both she and Napheesa will be great captains.

 

[DefenseBB]

“In crunch time games ,,,,,.”

LOL!!! “Crunch time”? Only if your definition of this is less than 25 points for this team. You kill me with your humor.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I was surprised that Crystal Dangerfield started over Azura. She played really good, but I thought Geno likes a game or pace changer coming off the bench which Crystal Dangerfield would be a perfect fit! As stated above this team has it's numbers in big girls not G's, so if Crystal Dangerfield starts the G's off the bench right now are slim, maybe Molly?

 

[hoophuskee]

Milford and I were first, and possibly last, in that particular line.

I'm hopeful that she is the starter all year not because I wanted to be right, but because of what Geno said about the other quartet (Kia, Lou, Gabby, Pheesa) NOT needing to adjust anything with how they play. If you take out Crystal and put in Azura, suddenly everyone is needing to play differently starting with moving Kia to the 1 and Lou to the 2...

Lou as a 2 or 3 very little difference.

The opponent has a quick, very good athletic scoring guard. Who do you put on her to start the game? Do you think it best she gets in a groove then try to wear her down or is it better to put your best on her to start the game to try to prevent her from getting into the groove?

 

[MilfordHusky]

I was surprised that Crystal Dangerfield started over Azura. She played really good, but I thought Geno likes a game or pace changer coming off the bench which Crystal Dangerfield would be a perfect fit! As stated above this team has it's numbers in big girls not G's, so if Crystal Dangerfield starts the G's off the bench right now are slim, maybe Molly?

Z can certainly change things when she comes into the game.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Lou as a 2 or 3 very little difference.

The opponent has a quick, very good athletic scoring guard. Who do you put on her to start the game? Do you think it best she gets in a groove then try to wear her down or is it better to put your best on her to start the game to try to prevent her from getting into the groove?

Depends on how quick and how big, but I'd think it would be among Kia, Crystal, and Gabby.

I think the question about Z vs. Crystal would be based on opposing a big post, not a scoring guard.