UConn PGs -- KK and Kayleigh

[Bone Dog]

Maybe I'm trespassing on @Tonyc's turf here, but I've been thinking about KK and Kayleigh lately. The lesson I think I learned last season was that ensuring we have enough PGs is more important than making sure we have enough post players. Both are important, of course. But the howling that summer when so many folks were hoping to land Beers only to have Geno announce Kaitlyn's arrival really stuck with me. And this season, with the arrival of Kayleigh, who has been criticized more than necessary, also has me thinking about this same thing.

Kayleigh is really important and will only become more important as the season progresses. She may not have perfected her play within the system Geno wants. But she's making the same sort of progress Kaitlyn did on her way to becoming instrumental to last season's NC. I don't mean Kayleigh will knock KK from the starting lineup this year, or even next year. I mean that she will allow wall-to-wall defensive energy from the PG position, just as Kaitlyn and KK did last season.

The telling moment for me was the Providence game right after KK's injury. Geno didn't move Kayleigh into the starting lineup (as I had expected) but started Allie instead. This was not because he thinks Allie is a better PG, though she is surprisingly competent, if perhaps not as quick-footed as one might like to see in a PG. I think it was because he didn't want to disturb his rotation patterns. Others have suggested this too. He likes the rotation pattern he has got in place now and wants to give it as much time as possible to gel into perfection. He also must have known KK wouldn't be out for long. If that were to happen, and KK had to miss several games, we might see Kayleigh start. But as things are, Kayleigh seems locked in as the second PG, the one who comes in midway through the 1st and 3rd quarters to spell KK, plays next to her in stretches, and who mainly runs the offense in the 4th quarter when the game isn't close. In close games, KK comes back in the 4th.

Looking ahead to next season, I expect we will see a similar pattern, assuming Ash continues in the starting lineup, something I suspect is likely. When Azzi moves on to the W along with Serah, I think the starting lineup will be something like

• KK Ash Blanca Sarah and Jana, with Kayleigh Olivia and Allie first off the bench.

This seems to reflect a natural roster progression: 2 proven seniors, two proven juniors and an electrifying sophomore in the starting lineup, and two proven juniors and a promising freshman off the bench. Though it will leave Geno with a larger lineup (6'5" 6'2" 6'2") than he's used in the past few years. Is he still comfortable with such a tall lineup? In Aaliyah's first 3 seasons, he regularly went with Olivia or Dorka next to Aaliyah and there was rarely a game in which he didn't have 6'5" 6'3" on the floor most of the time. This season, we rarely see lineups that tall on the floor.

I only mention this because the availability of tall post players may have an impact on his game-planning. The small lineups he favored last season and seems to be leaning on this season would give Kayleigh more opportunities. But if he goes with larger lineups, I suspect he'd lean toward a more straightforward platoon of KK and Kayleigh at PG. And if Morgan can return to form next fall, that means he can put several versions of a tall lineup on the floor with plenty of ball handlers.

Looking now to the following season, I'd expect Kayleigh to be the starting PG next to Allie, with Kelis and Jovana coming off the bench. This means Kayleigh has this season and next to get ready to take over the show in her senior season. Her post players that season would be Sarah Blanca Morgan Olivia and Gandy. That could be an exciting roster even without any other surprise additions.

 

[Bigboote]

I was on the fence about getting Kayleigh, but I'm tickled to death to have her now. It's a real blessing to have two starter-quality point guards. And Kayleigh and Blanca coming in five minutes into the game is just amazing to watch.

Next year's rotation will depend on how well Morgan recovers, and whether Ice comes back. If Morgan recovers enough to do at least some full-contact practice this year and gets a full summer workout, she'll for sure be in the rotation.

 

[Monte]

I agree: the 2 best point guards are KK and K9.

 

[victor64]

Great post.

My only concern with K9 is that she is not a good foul shooter.

 

[Huskee11]

Over the last two years, Geno will start with a big lineup, and often go to a smaller lineup at some point mid to late first quarter. Lately, Blanca in for Serah.

So your projection for next year is a good one, although Morgan and Ice might beg to differ.

 

[Cuango]

Certainly agree with your projections. I think the recruitng saquence has been about as good as you could get with KK learning from Paige and Kaitlynn, K9 learning from KK, and now Kelis will be learning from KK and K9, while starting next year Jovana will learn the UConn ropes from all three. I was pretty disappointed when Kate Harpring chose NC over us but I think we’re looking pretty good at the point!

 

[Nicvan07]

I think Kayleigh is so talented and will continue to get better as time goes on! Love watching her play!!!

 

[Basingstoke]

I think Kayleigh is so talented and will continue to get better as time goes on! Love watching her play!!!

The same goes for her foul shooting: though it's currently subpar, I'm sure she'll work on it and eventually get into the 75% range.

 

[dcheng021]

Kaitlynn Chen was so good for us last year, I feel her contributions last season went under the radar because of how good Azzi, Paige, and Sarah were.

I was also surprised when we landed Kayleigh but she’s quickly become one of my favorites on the team!

 

[darkstar1]

I’ve said this before, but my observation is still that the team looks best when Biance and K9 sub in for Serah and Ash, especially on defense. This line up makes it so difficult for the other team to move the ball on offense. I’m not saying they should start as Geno seems to have locked in the rotation and it works. If only K9 could cut down on fouls.

 

[Topdawg]

The next evolution of the UConn game could be “the small” lineup with fast and tall players. Forwards will start running the floor like Tina/Stewie and learn to shoot from the outside and also rebound like they do.

 

[oldhusky]

We talk often about small vs. big lineups, but one distinctive trait of Uconn teams the last few years has been incorporating multiple PG's into the same lineup. KK and Kayleigh also play together, when we have two point guards in the game along with a Point Forward in Sarah.

Last year we had Kaitlin as the formal PG, but she was often paired with KK, Sarah, and of course a great natural PG in Paige who played 1-4 for us. We usually had two PG's on the floor and sometimes had three with KK.

The year before obviously Nika ran the show and Paige played more off the ball, but again two PG's were on the floor most of the time, So having more than one in the game has been the norm for us. Passing and player and ball movement has been a priority in Geno's system for a long time, and even the bigs are expected to pass more than they are at many programs.

KK has benefited tremendously this year by finally being able to concentrate on her best position. I believe both KK and Nika are much more one position PG's, whereas Kayleigh and Kaitlin can more easily play the 2 as well, and of course Paige was not just good but great at 1-4. KK had to play significantly out of position by necessity her first two years, and did as well as could have been expected, but now is blossoming at her natural position this year.