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Message: [QUOTE="NycUcWbbFan, post: 5112563, member: 13453"] Disagree. Although, I can see your point that your lineup (or one with Aubrey replacing Ash) is a higher gear lineup. [LIST] [*]But [U]higher gear lineups are perhaps better utilized in really competitive minutes[/U], with really competitive teams, as Geno did with Paige as lead point guard in last year’s USC game. [*]Btw, my eventual starting lineup is Kaitlyn, Azzi, Paige, Sarah and Jana. Kaitlyn and KK will normally equally share point guard duties. [/LIST] But there is no need to start with the higher gear lineup when another one would suffice especially as Geno has multiple mini-objectives on the way to building to the post-season. What are the mini-objectives? (constraints in a constrained optimization) [LIST] [*]Paige is a very valuable resource. Geno wants her to be the most impactful in her minutes. Geno also wants her to be rested for the postseason. Geno might resort to his [URL='https://the-boneyard.com/threads/pg-for-this-season-paige-azzi-kk-kaitlyn-morgan.202465/post-5082780']Diana approach[/URL]. [*]Kaitlyn is Carla’s special mentee, with 1 year of eligibility left, and has hopes for the next level. Geno’s calculus in bringing in Kaitlyn, provided she proved to be the player he saw and competed against, is [U]already baked-in when he pulled the trigger on the transfer[/U]. And Geno has praised Kaitlyn so far. [*]Part of Geno’s Kaitlyn calculus is a deducible conclusion that Geno feels that KK is not yet ready to be lead point guard. But Geno needs KK to develop this year into next year’s lead point guard (learned from Nika, Kaitlyn and Paige), if Paige and Azzi do move on. [U]Having both Kaitlyn and KK as non-starters is counter to this mini-objective[/U]. [*]This is a deep lineup. Apportioning minutes is already a challenge. No need to make it more challenging by front-loading rotations with the best players all season. [*]The beauty of a deep bench is when the bench is developed and clobbers the other team’s bench. Ash and Aubrey can be the head of the spear of the bench wave. [*]UConn’s team (positionless) offense and defense are predicated on interchangeable players. Starting out with the highest gear lineup may not be the best way to develop 10 effective freshmen and sophomores. [/LIST] UConn program excellence is not just about 100% winning now. As Darko Muhl remarked, at UConn, “everything was done the right way”. [/QUOTE]

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