UCONN Starters for 2016-17 Season are...... | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UCONN Starters for 2016-17 Season are......

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Geno-ista said:
Vowel guy- did you start martinis early today??? You lucky dog! If you think Napheesa Collier won't start and play a minimum of 38-40 minutes per game, like Nurse, Gabby and KLS - you've lost it!!!! There isn't even a qst as to the starting 4 of the 5- there is one spot left. And I think by Feb it will be CD. She has to mature quickly for us to have a shot the following season!!!!
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I got a lot of grief for saying this last month, but what the heck, any excuse for a martini:
Barring injury, Napheesa will start every game for the next 3 years.
 
Geno-ista said:
Vowel guy- did you start martinis early today??? You lucky dog! If you think Napheesa Collier won't start and play a minimum of 38-40 minutes per game, like Nurse, Gabby and KLS - you've lost it!!!! There isn't even a qst as to the starting 4 of the 5- there is one spot left. And I think by Feb it will be CD. She has to mature quickly for us to have a shot the following season!!!!
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Collier may be my favorite player on the team so there's no disrespect in my statement. Nor is starting perfectly correlated with playing time.
Was just a guess, and wanted to go slightly against the grain.
My thought was that Geno might want to try Butler in a Dolson-type role. If that works, then he can bring Pheesa off the bench for a burst of energy.

Collier will get her minutes either way.
 
bags27 said:
I got a lot of grief for saying this last month, but what the heck, any excuse for a martini:
Barring injury, Napheesa will start every game for the next 3 years.
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Not sure how anyone could not see the talent, instinct, determination and athleticism in that young lady. She is prolific! Next year she'll be stronger and with even more confidence!!!! Boom chuka Lukah!!!!
 
vowelguy said:
Collier may be my favorite player on the team so there's no disrespect in my statement. Nor is starting perfectly correlated with playing time.
Was just a guess, and wanted to go slightly against the grain.
My thought was that Geno might want to try Butler in a Dolson-type role. If that works, then he can bring Pheesa off the bench for a burst of energy.

Collier will get her minutes either way.
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You may be right. And I know Geno likes a burst off the bench. But these are desperate times- which call for desperate measures. He'll have to play his best athletes and we don't have the luxury of having a Gabby or Napheesa off the bench next year. So to your point- Butler or Saniya prob start the season- with Danger being the spark off the bench. :) it's going to be a hoot! Actually Martinis may be just the thing before many of our games next year!!!!!
 
It's April. First real game is 190+ days away. At summer gets underway, I can with confidence name five people who don't yet know who will be on the court for that very first game tip-off: Geno, CD, Marisa, Shea, and Kibitzer.;)
 
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[QUOT
E="nd2tty, post: 1670909, member: 6035"]Assuming Geno goes with 3 guards, which he likes to do:

PG Crystal Dangerfield
G Kia Nurse
G Katie Lou Samuelson
F Gabby Williams
F Napheesa Collier

First off bench: Natalie Butler
Major minutes: Saniya Chong, Kyla Irwin

I like your end of the year team unless they are playing against big front courts like Baylor and SC. Frankly I'm not sure how well Kia as the point guard will work out.....same goes fore Saniya..........really hoping Crystal makes an early breakthrough..........
 
Who starts Nov 1 versus who starts in March is 2 different questions. What I am more interested in is who is in at the end of the game. That is crunch time for all teams except our team the last 2 years. Butler will play if she can defend well, rebound and move the ball on offense or finish consistently. Otherwise, it will be KLS, Nurse, Collier, Gabby and Saniya / Dangerfield
 
CocoHusky said:
Now that tax day has come and gone, we can officially start the debate regarding next Season's Starters.
The usual caveats apply such as baring injury and to be clear we are talking about the 1st regular season game only.
Starters:
G Kia Nurse
G Katie Lou Samuelson
F Napheesa Collier
F Gabby Williams
C Natalie Butler
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Looks about right, with Gabby and KLS doing the occassional flip clop.
 
j66kicker said:
That's my starting lineup too. Except for the dilemma of when/if Dangerfield can no longer be kept on the bench, who does she replace in the starting lineup?
If it's Butler, then you have to change the whole offense. I don't see her replacing any of the others. If freshman Dangerfield is strictly a sub at PG, then I don't see Nurse ever sitting long enough for her to get many minutes. I guess subbing for both Nurse at PG and KLS (with Nurse sliding over to the 2) could give her a few minutes at PG. There are no seniors in this scheme, so same issue the following year. So maybe Butler never starts?

An interesting observation Kicker. It does provide some food for thought. :rolleyes:
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vowelguy said:
November
Nurse, Chong, KLS, Gabby, Butler
w/ Collier & CD
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Wait a sec...CD has eligibility left?!?!?

We'll need to figure out something better than that. We just got over having multiple "Bri"-s on the team (Banks, Hartley, Stewart, Pulido; we can't have two CDs.
 
The discussion on these two points is futile:
  • There is no requirement for G-G-F-F-C, or any such designations. Geno doesn't work that way. Paraphrasing him, if a kid is a 3, and he needs a 4 in the game and sees her on the bench, she doesn't play. It just doesn't work in his system.
  • KLS is a guard. Height is immaterial; Magic was one of the best PGs in history at 6'9". She has a guard's game.
My ideas, all things remaining equal:

First game:
  • Tommy
  • Nurse
  • KLS
  • Gabbulous
  • Pheese
Situationally off the bench: Butler or Dangerfield
6th man: Irwin

Last game:
  • Tommy/Dangerfield (Situational Platoon)
  • Nurse
  • KLS
  • Gabbulous
  • Pheese/Butler (Situational Platoon)
Situationally off the bench: Tommy/Dangerfield, Pheese/Butler
6th man: Irwin

Very little change. Geno likes a Senior lead guard, so barring Dangerfield becoming the Next Coming of Cousey during the season, the job is Tommy's to lose. I don't see Butler totally displacing Pheese (or visa-versa), but there will be situations where the bigger body will be needed more, and Pheese will platoon with Gabby or give Butler a breather.

There aren't many lineups in WCBB that are better than this one. Every player could start for every other team, and be a superstar on 99% of them. I don't get the doom-and-gloom; we will be VERY competitive next season.
 
CocoHusky said:
Now that tax day has come and gone, we can officially start the debate regarding next Season's Starters.
The usual caveats apply such as baring injury and to be clear we are talking about the 1st regular season game only.
Starte
G Kia Nurse
G Katie Lou Samuelson
F Napheesa Collier
F Gabby Williams
C Natalie Butler
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The big question, in my mind, is how well Butler performs as a center rather than a face-up big 4, including whether she can play sizeable minutes at that position without fouling. I think Coach A would prefer to start her, but not if the overall effectiveness of the team is impaired (plus it's hard to get minutes if you're fouled out). If she can she will start and play a lot of minutes: if she can't we will be forced to go small. If we can't go with your lineup (which I would prefer), I think the starting lineup will be:
PG Nurse
OG Chong
F Collier
F Williams
G/W Samuelson
Whatever the outcome, it's going to be an interesting year.
 
HardHatGuy#2 said:
The discussion on these two points is futile:
  • There is no requirement for G-G-F-F-C, or any such designations. Geno doesn't work that way. Paraphrasing him, if a kid is a 3, and he needs a 4 in the game and sees her on the bench, she doesn't play. It just doesn't work in his system.
  • KLS is a guard. Height is immaterial; Magic was one of the best PGs in history at 6'9". She has a guard's game.
My ideas, all things remaining equal:

First game:
  • Tommy
  • Nurse
  • KLS
  • Gabbulous
  • Pheese
Situationally off the bench: Butler or Dangerfield
6th man: Irwin

Last game:
  • Tommy/Dangerfield (Situational Platoon)
  • Nurse
  • KLS
  • Gabbulous
  • Pheese/Butler (Situational Platoon)
Situationally off the bench: Tommy/Dangerfield, Pheese/Butler
6th man: Irwin

Very little change. Geno likes a Senior lead guard, so barring Dangerfield becoming the Next Coming of Cousey during the season, the job is Tommy's to lose. I don't see Butler totally displacing Pheese (or visa-versa), but there will be situations where the bigger body will be needed more, and Pheese will platoon with Gabby or give Butler a breather.

There aren't many lineups in WCBB that are better than this one. Every player could start for every other team, and be a superstar on 99% of them. I don't get the doom-and-gloom; we will be VERY competitive next season.
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Who is Tommy?
 
CocoHusky said:
Who is Tommy?
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If that is a straight-forward question, I'll give what I think is as straight an answer as I can give you, given the person in question.

Me thinks Tommy on UConn Bball is Saniya Chong, but the Tommy being cross-referenced is none other than
Tommy Chong, of "Cheech and Chong," who just passed away in December. If we've forgotten the man and/or his act, here are some highlights from their "Up in Smoke" feature, which followed "Reefer Madness"in a double bill at the Engineering Auditorium at Notre Dame in winter of 1974 (I think :) )


BTW, I agree with your initial starting lineup and also agree with the point that Butler's biggest challenge will be to stay out of foul trouble, an issue we have with Coco Nelson when she comes into spell Brianna Turner.
 
HardHatGuy#2 said:
The discussion on these two points is futile:
  • There is no requirement for G-G-F-F-C, or any such designations. Geno doesn't work that way. Paraphrasing him, if a kid is a 3, and he needs a 4 in the game and sees her on the bench, she doesn't play. It just doesn't work in his system.
  • KLS is a guard. Height is immaterial; Magic was one of the best PGs in history at 6'9". She has a guard's game.
My ideas, all things remaining equal:

First game:
  • Tommy
  • Nurse
  • KLS
  • Gabbulous
  • Pheese
Situationally off the bench: Butler or Dangerfield
6th man: Irwin

Last game:
  • Tommy/Dangerfield (Situational Platoon)
  • Nurse
  • KLS
  • Gabbulous
  • Pheese/Butler (Situational Platoon)
Situationally off the bench: Tommy/Dangerfield, Pheese/Butler
6th man: Irwin

Very little change. Geno likes a Senior lead guard, so barring Dangerfield becoming the Next Coming of Cousey during the season, the job is Tommy's to lose. I don't see Butler totally displacing Pheese (or visa-versa), but there will be situations where the bigger body will be needed more, and Pheese will platoon with Gabby or give Butler a breather.

There aren't many lineups in WCBB that are better than this one. Every player could start for every other team, and be a superstar on 99% of them. I don't get the doom-and-gloom; we will be VERY competitive next season.
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No way is KLS a natural guard. And playing her as one of two guards will hurt us. We need post presence ala Stewie and rebounding ability from her next year.
 
.-.
JoePgh said:
Well, of course, it all depends on: (a) injuries; (b) what the freshmen show in practice; (c) what the veterans show in practice.

But my guess with all of those caveats is that Natalie will NOT start, and that one of the triumvirate of [Saniya / Crystal / Molly] will. Most likely that would be Saniya. In other words, Geno will decide to go smaller and faster, somewhat like the Georgetown team of a few years ago that made it to the Sweet 16 (where they lost a very close game to UConn who had Stef and Maya). That Georgetown team didn't have a player over 6-0, but Geno only won the game when he took Stef out and put in Lorin Dixon to have a team that could match Georgetown's pace.

And yes, that does mean that Lou and Napheesa would be playing in the paint on defense next year.

In the year just ended, South Florida had quite a successful season without any post player nearly as effective as either Lou or Napheesa would be in that role.
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I totally agree that, unless Butler has a complete transformation, she will not start. Maybe against the nothing teams, but not against the good ones. She is not as good as as Heather Buck, and Heather was a "garbage minutes " player. Though a delightful human being, deserving of all our respect.
 
Dillon77 said:
If that is a straight-forward question, I'll give what I think is as straight an answer as I can give you, given the person in question.

Me thinks Tommy on UConn Bball is Saniya Chong, but the Tommy being cross-referenced is none other than
Tommy Chong, of "Cheech and Chong," who just passed away in December. If we've forgotten the man and/or his act, here are some highlights from their "Up in Smoke" feature, which followed "Reefer Madness"in a double bill at the Engineering Auditorium at Notre Dame in winter of 1974 (I think :) )


BTW, I agree with your initial starting lineup and also agree with the point that Butler's biggest challenge will be to stay out of foul trouble, an issue we have with Coco Nelson when she comes into spell Brianna Turner.
Expand ...


Dave's not here.
 
bags27 said:
Some think that; some think she starts the season as the 2 guard, with Kia playing point. Then Crystal works her way in and things shift around. Of course, that keeps Saniya on the bench, and she certainly has her fans. I guess it comes down to how well Lou can help Kia break a potential press in the very hard early season.

And not only does Geno refer to Lou as a guard; she is called a guard/forward on the UConn website.

I think some of you think Napheesa is better coming off the bench, and that as this thing shifts around she will be the first in. Maybe, but I'm (maybe too) optimistic she comes back awesome and unstoppable, and unbenchable.
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My point was supposed to be that when there are already two guards on the floor, she's playing as a forward.
 
Dillon77 said:
If that is a straight-forward question, I'll give what I think is as straight an answer as I can give you, given the person in question.

Me thinks Tommy on UConn Bball is Saniya Chong, but the Tommy being cross-referenced is none other than
Tommy Chong, of "Cheech and Chong," who just passed away in December. If we've forgotten the man and/or his act, here are some highlights from their "Up in Smoke" feature, which followed "Reefer Madness"in a double bill at the Engineering Auditorium at Notre Dame in winter of 1974 (I think :) )


BTW, I agree with your initial starting lineup and also agree with the point that Butler's biggest challenge will be to stay out of foul trouble, an issue we have with Coco Nelson when she comes into spell Brianna Turner.
Expand ...

A couple of things, 1) Tommy's not dead. 2) nice of people to remember this duo on 4/20. :cool:
 
KLS is a classic 3 or a point forward but what she is not and I don't see her becoming is a post. She happens to be 6'3 but that does not and will not make her to a post.
Anyhow, my starting 5 to start the season are:
PG Chong
SG Nurse
SF KLS
F Gabby
F Phee
Rotation Players: Butler, Crystal Dangerfield
Unless Bent and Irwin are a major surprise I don't see them getting significant minutes and while I like EK fight and basketball iq, I don't see her getting major minutes in big games.
It is possible that by the mid-season Butler (if she improved a lot from last season) will be part of the starting 5 (instead of Chong or Gabby) and/or that Crystal Dangerfield will become part of the stating 5 (if she out performs Chong).
 
.-.
KLS is a classic 3 or a point forward but what she is not and I don't see her becoming is a post. She happens to be 6'3 but that does not and will not make her to a post.
Anyhow, my starting 5 to start the season are:
PG Chong
SG Nurse
SF KLS
F Gabby
F Phee
Rotation Players: Butler, Crystal Dangerfield
Unless Bent and Irwin are a major surprise I don't see them getting significant minutes and while I like EK fight and basketball iq, I don't see her getting major minutes in big games.
It is possible that by the mid-season Butler (if she improved a lot from last season) will be part of the starting 5 (instead of Chong or Gabby) and/or that Crystal Dangerfield will become part of the stating 5 (if she out performs Chong).
 
What I'm hoping is that next fall in practice, that Natalie Butler is playing well enough that Geno will be forced to put her in the Starting Lineup. Would like to see Natalie play like Stef Dolson did at the end of her Sophomore year. If that happens the rest of the starters will fall into place and UConn may surprise many other teams fans/experts on how good they'll be.
 
dtbtbtb said:
KLS is a classic 3 or a point forward but what she is not and I don't see her becoming is a post. She happens to be 6'3 but that does not and will not make her to a post.
Anyhow, my starting 5 to start the season are:
PG Chong
SG Nurse
SF KLS
F Gabby
F Phee
Rotation Players: Butler, Crystal Dangerfield
Unless Bent and Irwin are a major surprise I don't see them getting significant minutes and while I like EK fight and basketball iq, I don't see her getting major minutes in big games.
It is possible that by the mid-season Butler (if she improved a lot from last season) will be part of the starting 5 (instead of Chong or Gabby) and/or that Crystal Dangerfield will become part of the stating 5 (if she out performs Chong).
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I am actually glad you double posted because these part of your message have not been sinking in too well around here:
  • KLS is a classic 3 or a point forward but what she is not and I don't see her becoming is a post.
  • She (KLS) happens to be 6'3 but that does not and will not make her to a post.
 
This next year is going to be a lot of fun because of all the unknowns and the uncertainty of how it all ends (unlike this year and last and the year before that when we all kind of had an idea of how it would end). I know its stupid early, but next year, the team only loses Chong. The following year, UConn will again be picked to go number 1, wire to wire (injuries excepted). If Geno and company can make it happen this year next year coming up, the program is in for a really long stretch of championships (beyond the really long stretch going on right now).
 
Coco...thanks for posting this as it is most helpful in thinking through the issues for next year. First, I think this team will be surprisingly good next year. The four locks to start are KLS, NC, Gabby and Kia. They are likely to be in the discussion of the top 4 starters on any team. The other three candidates are Saniya, Butler and Crystal Dangerfield. Candidly, I have no opinion on which of the three starts at the beginning of next year and I'm not sure it makes a difference as they all should see 20+ minutes a game. Crystal Dangerfield's playing time probably increases as the year goes on at the expense of Saniya and I wouldn't be surprised to see her start by season end. . Butlers playing time will grow next year for two reasons. First, other than Butler, Gabby and NC were the two most foul prone per 40 on the team. Given how thin we are up front( i see KLS as an average rebounder and not in the 4 or 5)) we will need quality and quality minutes from the three. Gabby and NC were two of our top rebounders per 40 last year but not sure that will be enough against some of the larger teams. I do believe that for UCONN to go deep in the NCAA's then Butler will have to show materially and consistently more than she showed us this year and will be rewarded with minutes if she does so.
 
meyers7 said:
A couple of things, 1) Tommy's not dead. 2) nice of people to remember this duo on 4/20. :cool:
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I stand pleasantly corrected (yay, Tommy) and will say a few mea culpas to Sister Mary Elephant.
 
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