Unbelievable depth

[TeamFirst!]

Depth is a great thing to have when you are in a tournament like this. And it's important to use it, especially in the beginning of the tournament and when you can later on. I would contend that even in the FF weekend it's good to give player's 8 and 9 a few minutes potentially, if they are as good as our situation. If you do, the team will be more rested for the 4th quarter and perform better as a result. Geno will also get a feel for who is having a good day and who isn't, and cull out the players who are not at their best in the second half, at least some. We can have increased defensive intensity...etc. All those things are huge.

All that said there is one clear move that any good coach would make when we play top competition. Paige led the team in steals last year if I remember correctly, and was even better the first 6 games of this year. Giving Paige most of Nika's minutes really shouldn't hurt team defense overall and look at the difference offensively. Better assist / turnover ratio. Much better shooting efficiency. Much better scoring volume. Look what Paige did today, in some 18 minutes. 4 assists and 16 points shooting .666 percent including four 3 pointers. Extend that over 36 minutes. It's game changing. And compare it to even Nika's best numbers.

I love Nika but she's not the college POY. Thank god we have her and it's great she's already gotten super recognition as defensive POY. Going forward in the NCAA at least, she must understand that she happens to play behind one of the top 2-3 players in the college game. There is no shame in that.

 

[TeamFirst!]

You never know who will be available later on. We need every bit of the depth that we have now.

 

[schmendrick]

Our opponents

Can you name a signature win? Tennessee? They were on a downward slide. UConn wins have been impressive, but against relatively weak competition. I'll reserve judgement until they play a stronger team. What did Allan Greenspan call it? "Irrational exhuberance."

irrational exuberance perhaps; relatively weak competition, maybe. But no doubt WE are on an upward trajectory.

UConn against Providence: 69-61 (1/30) vs. 69-38 (2/23)
UConn against DePaul: 80-78 (1/20) vs. 84-60 (2/11)
UConn against Creighton: 63-55 (1/9) vs. 76-56 (2/2)
UConn against Marquette: 72-58 (2/13) vs. 69-38 (2/23)
UConn against Georgetown: 90-49 (2/20) vs. 84-38 (3/5)

 

[Majic Hands]

Reading along. Making sense, and then, they can't help themselves!

Slipped in why Nika should be the ONE "1" single player who should lose minutes to make room for Paige.

Obviously, some BYers don't listen to the "Coaches" interviews.

Everyone's "minutes" will be affected when adding one of the best players in WBB into the lineup.

 

[BRS24]

Since the Villanova game, we've used 3 lineups (2 main, 1 SR nite). Avg ppg since then is 83.6, avg pts against is 43.3, avg score differential is 40. Trending for ppg, oppg, and differential are all moving in the direction you'd want to see at this point in the season. I get argument of quality of opponents, however at this point in the season things should be improving, even at an incremental level.