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Message: [QUOTE="oldude, post: 2562610, member: 7511"] When UConn’s starting 5 of Kia, Gabby, Lou, Pheesa and Danger are at their best, as they were in the 1st half vs SC on Thursday, it’s both beautiful to watch, and impossible for any other team to overcome. At the same time, throughout the season, Geno has struggled to develop a solid bench to be better able to deal with injuries, foul problems and just provide a few minutes of rest for the starters. Despite her challenges on defense, Z is just too talented not to be the 1st player off the bench. Beyond the 5 starters + Z, it’s still not clear that UConn has anyone else capable of playing prime time minutes in big games. AEH looked good early on, but we all know what happened to her. Molly appears to play too fast and sometimes out of control. Mikayla has been inconsistent at best. Lexi’s not ready yet. Kyla has been the most consistent player, who clearly understands the offense and defense, but she does not appear to have the athleticism to be effective against some of the top teams. That brings us to MW. Megan is certainly not the first #1 recruit to struggle at UConn as a freshman, and she won’t be the last. Stewie and Lou had rough times as freshmen, but they eventually got it and contributed significantly to national championship runs as freshmen. After 3 solid games, it appeared as if MW had turned the corner, firmly establishing herself in the regular rotation. But then MW was largely ineffective vs SC and Cincy and so, once again, Geno is searching for depth on his roster. While it’s possible that MW or another player I previously mentioned could yet establish themselves as a key reserve, I suggest that it may be time to see what Touly can do. After Z, Touly is the most experienced college player on UConn’s bench. At 6’2” She’s big, strong, aggressive and surprisingly quick. Touly became a starter for KY as a freshman. She rebounds well, has a nice shooting touch from 15’ in, and seems to move confidently on the court when she gets an opportunity to play. While I have no idea how bad Touly’s knee injury was or is, it was really nice to see her on the court yesterday without that massive brace on her knee. Assuming Touly’s knee has progressed sufficiently to allow her to practice fully and play significant minutes, now is the time to give her the opportunity to assume the role as a key reserve, since no other Husky after Z seems to be able to secure that role. [/QUOTE]

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