When you talk about earning playing time in practice, that is largely true, but Liv makes it a little more complicated. She has been fine dominating smaller and weaker opponents, but now has a well established pattern of being virtually useless at least scoring against quality physical bigs. So what do you do as a coach if she is the best option against Big East opponents, but the wrong one for the big out of conference games, and later in the tournament.
Do you bench a starter for a specific game because of the quality of the opponent? Usually the answer to that question would be no, but in Liv's case it might be strategic. Further you might have to change a game-plan away from what usually works, because you can't count on inside scoring from Liv in those games. Maybe Dorka could be the big game starter even if Liv was a little ahead of her for most game situations.
There is something fundamentally different about practices this year. Liv has not had much top competition in house with players that are tall, strong, and talented. We added size last year with Piath, and at least a physical PF in Aaliyah, but this year bring Dorka and Amari into the equation. The competition among bigs in practice should prepare all of these players better for the games against top opponents who have players at that level. If Liv can't find a way to score against Gorka and Amari, maybe she shouldn't get a chance to start against say Boston or Brink etc.
I wonder if Liv would have been better prepared for the big games if we had signed Collier or Boston like we thought we might, to practice against everyday. Dorka might have chosen here because good competition among centers in practice can make her better too, even if it comes with the possibility of less playing time. The competition will be interesting, but regardless of how the pecking order turns out, Geno will have excellent backups, and a variety of styles and skills that makes his game management even more important.
