I continue to feel that Aaliyah Edwards can become the PF and soon. If that happens the assumed order of things will be upset. Just using her to give ONO a breather can be done and may need to be done, but her best use is as a PF.
I agree with most of this, and would not be surprised if partway thru this season she wins the starting PF and holds it for the remainder of her Uconn career. Having said that, at least for much of this year I could see her playing almost as much as Liv's backup than at her more natural PF position.
That could be true regardless of whether Edwards or Griffin starts at PF. If Piath is a better option to back up Liv than Edwards or Griffin from the beginning, then fine, both of the PF's can concentrate on their best position.
Most seem to think,however, that it will take more time for Piath to earn regular minutes, since she is not a super highly rated prospect, and often described as having some natural ability but more like a project. If that is the case we need to use either Edwards or Griffin when Liv is out.
If we use a tight three big rotation, then when Liv is on the bench both Edwards and Griffin are in the game. So if one of them has to be the center, isn't Edwards because of her size the best choice between the two? In essence a three big rotation, where Liv gets all of her minutes at C, Griffin gets all of her minutes at PF, and Edwards minutes are split between the two positions. That strategy can be deployed regardless of whether Edwards or Griffin starts at PF.
You do have to substitute a little early in some cases and a little later than ideal in others, to make a rotation of three work for two positions. On the other hand, if the third in the rotation is a star compared to starters of your opponents, and the fourth is a question mark (Piath) it may be worth it and it gets you more significant minutes for the stars of the bench.
This same principle can be applied to the wings, where we have three star candidates for two spots, and a question mark for the fourth contender (Mir). Yes I know Westbrook is also a viable option at PG and Mir at PF, but I prefer to consider them for these roles. In this case, Williams I think of as mostly a one position player (SG), but Westbrook and Makurat are very versatile and could also play point if necessary in addition to SG or SF.
Once again the worst of those three is a star worthy of significant minutes and it appears to be a substantial potential drop-off to the fourth option (Mir), so a three wing rotation could work very well here as well.
Part of this strategy is base on the assumption that Paige is the real deal, and Nika is at worst a way above average backup. I like the more traditional scenario there with Paige and Nika in well defined roles. If they fall well short of expectations, then yes Westbrook and Makurat may get some minutes there, but I hope that also will not be necessary.
In a season with so many new additions, I think it is relatively more important to get players settled into the role they will be playing in the tournament as soon as possible. Some think the natural transition is Westbrook starting at PG then maybe Paige earning the starting spot late in the season. If that is the likely end of season scenario, then do it now.
Get the growing pains out of the way in less important games, let Paige get used to playing with the starters not the bench. Give Edwards regular minutes at both big positions right away so she can get comfortable in that role whether she starts right away or not. I am completely confident Westbrook and Makurat can handle switching between SG and SF with ease.
You have an 8 player rotation where 5 of those can get used to playing mainly just one position. Only Westbrook, Makurat and Edwards are asked to play more, and in their case just two, even though they and others could be used at more than that.
In a shortened season, with practice restrictions, and 7 players that did not play with the team last season, the KISS method (Keep it simple stupid) would seem advantageous this year more than ever. A tight 8 player rotation, getting the freshmen that will ultimately earn minutes playing time now instead of later, and having more limited clearly defined positions and roles, would seem to prepare them best for the tournament to me.
