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Message: [QUOTE="oldhusky, post: 4998999, member: 9844"] I think the two coaches clearly have a different philosophy on how much they use the bench. Of course Dawn could use the 4 off the bench and against most teams still be expanding the lead because they are so good, and last year was the same. They lose their starters and still are the top team in the country. Geno has always been exceptionally conservative IMO as to when he thinks it is time to play the third string or non rotation players. If you are ahead by 35-40 with 5 minutes left, OK bring them in. The game has usually been decided easily 10-15 minutes before that. He could play the tail end of the bench to start the fourth quarter in many games, but sticks to his norm. Even if the bench starts to lose part of a big lead you could bring the starters back in if needed. My point is he doesn't bring in the bench when the game is decided, he waits until way way after that. I suspect his rationale could be he wants to continue to develop chemistry among the core rotation, and is not that concerned with developing the tail end of the bench in games, but considers practice more important for that. Whether resting your top players more has them fresher for year end tournaments I don't know. Clearly it is an advantage in conference tournaments where you could have games three days in a row, and securing the win early and resting your stars improves your odds in the next game substantially. Uconn has been shorthanded for the last three years, but hopefully this year Geno will at least be able to expand the rotation and even playing time for those outside the rotation, at least if he wants to. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach