UConn stats.... Are Geno's subs going to be better than his starters?

[DavidinNaples]

To answer my own question, probably not and obviously it depends who starts & who subs in... That said, some of the players coming off the bench are going to be really, really good. It could be a nightmare for opponents. For example, say KK starts and plays most of the 1st quarter at full lightening speed. When Kayleigh Heckel comes in for KK, is the intensity level or skill set dropping off? If Ice starts and then Serah Williams subs for her, is the better player sitting or coming in? Time will tell on all these questions, but Geno is going to have lots of options..!!

The write-ups of the "open to the public" practice are fascinating..!! Team Blue had Azzi, Sarah, Caroline, KK and Ice as starters. If that group started, subs might be Ashlyn, Serah, Jana, Kayleigh and Allie. If I'm a defender guarding the first five, those next five might just give me a heart attack..! What about Blanca..?? She would be an explosive alternative to Caroline's calm, business like play. Is Kelis an even faster version of KK? Yana looks healthy & had some fabulous rebounds..! So many options...

Watching the videos of the Sacred Heart practice makes it hard not to be excited for Monday, October 13th at Uncasville casino..!! Please stay healthy and let's start the season..!
Thoughts?
Go Huskies..!!

 

[EricLA]

Short answer, no.

Longer answer, hell no...

This is not to say we won't have great depth, but in past years, when we've had strong deep teams, people (sort of arrogantly IMHO) would opine that our 2nd 5 would be a top 10 team. Really? I'm thrilled we have so much quality depth, but just noooooo.

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

Unless Azzi and Sarah don't start, the answer is clearly no. And I expect Serah will start over Ice, almost certainly. Though I do love Ice, having met her when she was a sophomore and already committed to UConn.

 

[msf22b]

Great piece David, very much on my mind
For me, Bianca is the wild card...Is she on a true pro level?
If so, watch out.

We’ll be spending a great deal of time in and around Naples
this Fall...
But I suspect Napoli is on the other side of the Atlantic from you.

 

[Bald Husky]

Although I feel good about the talent on this team, I also feel bad for the same reason. Everyone on this team is talented, and because of the numbers game, a few of them will not see a lot of playing time. Just practicing with the team with their great coaches will make the players get better, but they want to play, they want to play in Gampel before sold out crowds, they want to be on the floor when the final buzzer sounds on the last day of college basketball. It has to happen, so again, we will love all the players, but some of these very talented girls will be disappointed, and I am sorry for that.

 

[Crossover]

Unless Azzi and Sarah don't start, the answer is clearly no. And I expect Serah will start over Ice, almost certainly. Though I do love Ice, having met her when she was a sophomore and already committed to UConn.

How soon we forget Jana El-Alfy.

 

[Crossover]

To answer my own question, probably not and obviously it depends who starts. That said, some of the players coming off the bench are going to be really, really good. It would be a nightmare for opponents. For example, say KK starts and plays most of the 1st quarter at full lightening speed. When Kayleigh Heckel comes in for KK, is the intensity level or skill set dropping off? If Ice starts and then Serah Williams subs for her, is the better player sitting or coming in? Time will tell on all these questions, but Geno is going to have lots of options..!!

The write-ups of the "open to the public" practice are fascinating..!! Team Blue had Azzi, Sarah, Caroline, KK and Ice as starters. Subs for those five might be Ashlyn, Serah, Jana, Kayleigh and Allie. If I'm a defender guarding the first five, those next five might just give me a heart attack..! What about Blanca..?? She would be an explosive alternative to Caroline's calm, business like play. Is Kelis an even faster version of KK? Yana had some fabulous rebounds..! So many options...

Watching the videos of the Sacred Heart practice make it hard not to be excited for Monday, October 13th at Uncasville casino..!! Please stay healthy and let's start the season..!
Thoughts?
Go Huskies..!!

There is zero reason to assume that the "blue team" starters at a pre-season scrimmage will be the starters when real games begin. Especially when Ash and Jana were sidelined (along with Blanca and Morgan). Good grief, the squad hasn't even begun official practices yet.

 

[Cuango]

Unless Azzi and Sarah don't start, the answer is clearly no. And I expect Serah will start over Ice, almost certainly. Though I do love Ice, having met her when she was a sophomore and already committed to UConn.

I love Ice as well and though Serah is clearly a very good player who may well start, I am convinced we are going to see a different Ice Brady this season! I won’t say she will start (although that is possible) but I do think she is going to be a force this year.

 

[Cuango]

Great piece David, very much on my mind
For me, Bianca is the wild card...Is she on a true pro level?
If so, watch out.

We’ll be spending a great deal of time in and around Naples
this Fall...
But I suspect Napoli is on the other side of the Atlantic from you.

I too am excited about Blanca but as the reports come in from practice ( a small sample, I guess) I am getting more and more optimistic that my favorite player on this roster (Caroline) could have a big role on this team! I’ll not go so far as to predict a starting role but if things continue (knock wood) as they seem to be going, Caroline may finally get to pick up from where she was just prior to her concussion problems. I can think of few things that would make me happier than to see her get a “Paige” moment at the end of this season.

 

[ec33]

I'm going with the team with Azzi and Sarah.

I will say this (given a starting lineup of Serah, Sarah, Carol, Azzi, and KK): Geno could turn the rest of the team into national title winners by the time the sophomores left (with a little recruiting).

 

[donalddoowop]

How soon we forget Jana El-Alfy.

I believe Jana will have an outstanding, unforgettable season. I truly believe her father worked with her over the Summer on the things she needed to improve.

 

[HuskyNan]

From the Daily Campus:

The “starting” lineups… what to make of them – if anything

The two teams competed against each other for one segment of practice and comprised 10 of the 11 available Huskies. Arnold, Fudd, Sarah Strong, Ducharme and Ice Brady wore blue, while Kelis Fisher, Heckel, Allie Ziebell, Ayanna Patterson and Serah Williams wore white.

I wouldn’t read too far into the assortment. Two factors are confounding here; one lineup appears disproportionally bigger than the other (Strong got Ziebell in the low post) while both played without four impact players. [Shade, Cheli, El Alfy, Quinonez]

Women’s basketball: Takeaways from Sunday’s open practice

The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team hosted an open practice in Fairfield, CT on Sunday.

dailycampus.com

 

[BBallF]

To answer my own question, probably not and obviously it depends who starts. That said, some of the players coming off the bench are going to be really, really good. It would be a nightmare for opponents. For example, say KK starts and plays most of the 1st quarter at full lightening speed. When Kayleigh Heckel comes in for KK, is the intensity level or skill set dropping off? If Ice starts and then Serah Williams subs for her, is the better player sitting or coming in? Time will tell on all these questions, but Geno is going to have lots of options..!!

The write-ups of the "open to the public" practice are fascinating..!! Team Blue had Azzi, Sarah, Caroline, KK and Ice as starters. Subs for those five might be Ashlyn, Serah, Jana, Kayleigh and Allie. If I'm a defender guarding the first five, those next five might just give me a heart attack..! What about Blanca..?? She would be an explosive alternative to Caroline's calm, business like play. Is Kelis an even faster version of KK? Yana had some fabulous rebounds..! So many options...

Watching the videos of the Sacred Heart practice makes it hard not to be excited for Monday, October 13th at Uncasville casino..!! Please stay healthy and let's start the season..!
Thoughts?
Go Huskies..!!

Better no, different yes and that is the true value of this group of non-starters.

You sit KK and you still have speed in Kayleigh but you have added a better shooter, pull up and 3, and a player who can drive both ways and a confident take charge PG. You don't have the same in your pocket defense but Kayleigh is a strong defender nevertheless. The defense has to adjust to the shooting if they were sloughing off KK.

You sit Azzi and you have Ash, instant offense, also a deadly 3 point shooter and a surprising offensive rebounder who also defends well. No other team in the country has that kind of offense from the 2 position.

You sit Serah and you have Jana, or vice versa, but say Jana is the sub. A whole year under her belt, who played her best when needed the most and has the size and power to overwhelm any second string post player in the country and most first string ones. She is also an underrated passer.

You sit Caroline or Blanca, you go from smooth, multifaceted scorer in Caroline who moves great without the ball and can bury 3s, to a Blanca the X factor who slashes, can shoot, is strong underneath and has a good handle left and right. Both have one thing in common, a nose for the basket.

Then Sarah comes out, you put in Ice, or Ayanna, but likely first Ice. You get another shooter, a lefty now to defend, a wide player who take up space and who is also a very smart player. If Ayanna, you have incredible strength.

These possible starters and subs just being used to make a point, don't even take into considerationat Kelis, Allie or Gandy or a healthy Morgan.

In a nutshell, the subs are stronger this year as a group than ever before. Also, the small ball team potential of a mix of starters and subs in rotation is just plain frightening with KK, Kayleigh, Sarah, Blanca, Ash, Azzi, and maybe Kelis. So better, no. Different yes and a tremendous advantage to have with such a strong bench and the ability to rest your starters knowing you have high level players going in that cause their own match up problems that a defender or defending team cannot rest against even for a moment while guarding them.

 

[DefenseBB]

Unless Azzi and Sarah don't start, the answer is clearly no. And I expect Serah will start over Ice, almost certainly. Though I do love Ice, having met her when she was a sophomore and already committed to UConn.

Ice? At the end of the year, Jana was the starting center and Sarah Strong jumped center to start the game. In my view, unless an injury occurs, Ice will not be a starter.

 

[Geew1992]

Unless Azzi and Sarah don't start, the answer is clearly no. And I expect Serah will start over Ice, almost certainly. Though I do love Ice, having met her when she was a sophomore and already committed to UConn.

I know it's only 1 practice but if Sunday's practice is any indication, Ice will be starting. There have been several reports that she was one of the best players on the floor.

 

[AmeriConn]

I remember several years ago many BYers (me included) were super excited about the depth of talent on the bench. Some even suggested we could have 2 complete starting five with that talent. Well, it didn't turn out to be. Some fell short on expectations and of course the injury bug always hits. I know one thing, we have a very very talented team this year and whoever subs in will be fantastic in the lineup. Go Huskies!!

 

[Blond D.]

Last year was Jana's first and it was after her injury. Over the summer she's had a lot of time to practice on the things she needed to learn (like how to jump for the starting tip off. Theres more to than most people think) I imagine shes faster and can jump higher plus knows how to grab the ball at the apex of her jump. I look for ward to her being a stronger force than she was last year.

I also look for KK to be more of a scoring threat and to start most games unless Geno really enjoys unleashing her and Shade onto an unsuspecting opponent off the bench.

 

[Bills Fan]

I believe Jana will have an outstanding, unforgettable season. I truly believe her father worked with her over the Summer on the things she needed to improve.

That could clearly help Jana, but my bigger concern about Jana is the same one I have regarding ICE. As they are now one more year away from their serious injuries. Hopefully both of them will be able to elevate much better this year than last year. I watched so many games from last year, (multiple times) and Jana was constantly out rebounded by much shorter players. I hope that problem is less of an issue this year as she is one more year removed from her serious injury and same with ICE.

 

[Bills Fan]

Last year was Jana's first and it was after her injury. Over the summer she's had a lot of time to practice on the things she needed to learn (like how to jump for the starting tip off. Theres more to than most people think) I imagine shes faster and can jump higher plus knows how to grab the ball at the apex of her jump. I look for ward to her being a stronger force than she was last year.

I also look for KK to be more of a scoring threat and to start most games unless Geno really enjoys unleashing her and Shade onto an unsuspecting opponent off the bench.

I expect you are right that KK will start as the P:G, but watching so many games that I recorded numerous times, one of the highlights was watching how our opponents absolutely fell apart when Geno subbed in KK and Ash at the same time (or w/in a minute of each other,) usually late in the 1st Qtr. Other teams were in shock. KK is a dog on D and deserves the recognition she has earned. Not so much for Ash who is almost as good on D as KK and has the added benefit of fierce rebounding and 3 pt shooting (wasn't she a 40%+, 3 pt shooter last year?)

It's fun watching the 110% aggressive pair on the floor at the same time and I hope Geno finds a way to keep them together for a significant number of minutes

 

[Alydar]

Last year was Jana's first and it was after her injury. Over the summer she's had a lot of time to practice on the things she needed to learn (like how to jump for the starting tip off. Theres more to than most people think) I imagine shes faster and can jump higher plus knows how to grab the ball at the apex of her jump. I look for ward to her being a stronger force than she was last year.

I also look for KK to be more of a scoring threat and to start most games unless Geno really enjoys unleashing her and Shade onto an unsuspecting opponent off the bench.

Your 1st sentence says it all. She was a first year player coming off an achilles tear. She deserves a degree of patience. Her work in the FF is the important thing to focus on. Betts couldn't move Jana.
Height is not what separates centers and power forwards. It's size/strength. There's a difference.
Williams is a senior and El Alfy a sophomore but El Alfy has a "UConn experience" advantage over Williams, who is learning to play with others who are as good or better than her.

The big puzzle the UConn coaches have to solve is who plays best with whom. Some years the answer is obvious but the immense inflow of elite talent to the active roster this season makes this a 1000 piece puzzle consisting of nothing but shades of gray. Ducharme, Williams, Quinonez and Heckel are all proven performers. UConn could win a title as a small & fast team or a huge physical team. Pundits will say that UConn may have too much talent. I say that they also have the best coaching staff in the country.

 

[HopJim]

That could clearly help Jana, but my bigger concern about Jana is the same one I have regarding ICE. As they are now one more year away from their serious injuries. Hopefully both of them will be able to elevate much better this year than last year. I watched so many games from last year, (multiple times) and Jana was constantly out rebounded by much shorter players. I hope that problem is less of an issue this year as she is one more year removed from her serious injury and same with ICE.

Totally agree regarding how long some injuries take to physically and mentally heal. Two other factors will likely play a big role in influencing the "Bigs" playing time:
-UConn did exceptionally well last year with their small lineup. Suspect that this will not measurably change.
-Most of the teams UConn will face this year also play with 3 guards. If we play taller teams like UCLA, UConn is well positioned to respond but you have to wonder if with Jana or Ice (or both) will start.