While waiting for selection Monday, I had a thought.....

[HuskyPup]

There has been much discussion on this board about our "weak", "short" and/ or "ineffective" bench production.
Suppose for the sake of argument Geno drinks too much wine one night and decides for sure that he will start Stokes, Chong and Banks for the NCAA tourney (I know ...why would he do that right? ) but say he does... You can have any 2 of the other 5 scholarship players (Morgan excluded) to fill out the starting 5. You take your pick..Stewie & KML or Stef and Bria or Stewie and MoJeff or Bria and KML...etc ,etc.

IMHO, you take any combination of the other 2 and I think we still beat 90 % of the teams in the tourney with those 5 getting the majority of the minutes. On paper our bench may seem inadequate but because of they way they play "together" we still have a great team regardless of who's on the floor.........any thoughts ?

 

[Phil]

You are probably right, but beating 90% of the teams isn't good enough.

 

[PacoSwede]

There has been much discussion on this board about our "weak", "short" and/ or "ineffective" bench production.
Suppose for the sake of argument Geno drinks too much wine one night and decides for sure that he will start Stokes, Chong and Banks for the NCAA tourney (I know ...why would he do that right? ) but say he does... You can have any 2 of the other 5 scholarship players (Morgan excluded) to fill out the starting 5. You take your pick..Stewie & KML or Stef and Bria or Stewie and MoJeff or Bria and KML...etc ,etc.

IMHO, you take any combination of the other 2 and I think we still beat 90 % of the teams in the tourney with those 5 getting the majority of the minutes. On paper our bench may seem inadequate but because of they way they play "together" we still have a great team regardless of who's on the floor....any thoughts ?

Criticism of the bench is far overblown. Short in numbers, not short in talent.

Kiah has been great, and has been a starter.

Brianna has started too. Lately, she hasn't seen a lot of action, but she has shown she's capable. It seems she may be lacking in confidence (I think understandably, considering how things have gone), but she has tons of talent. She has not looked to score, which probably is a result of being surrounded by better options (it's good to be smart enough to realize that). And in fact she would herself be a decent option herself if her confidence improved.

She fills the role required, and does it well. She has made some great passes, uses her athleticism to her advantage, and can play some good defense (though I'd criticize her for a tendency to unnecessary fouls).

Saniya has been hopelessly erratic, and lately in a bad way. Clearly still a freshman. Too bad. Still, she has the tools to contribute.

The bashing of the bench is simply not warranted. Short though it may be.

 

[HuskyPup]

True that! .. I was just being nice. I think we would have a great shot anyway. Just reminding everyone of our awesome-ness !

 

[DavidK]

Defensively i agree with you 100%, everyone on our team buys in and plays team defense that can single handedly beat anyone even if we dont shoot well from the floor.

Offensively though chong banks and stokes are not there right now. Chong is a freshman and i think this 13 day break between games will give her a chance to clear her head and in the first two rounds might get more minutes due to the quality of teams we face. Banks i like alot, especially her swagger and intensity while playing but haven't really seen her light up the score board. Kiah I defiantly see more confidence and improvement on the offensive side of the floor, but havent seen her put point on the board on a constant basis (even though the main impact she has on the floor is clearly defensively)

It would be nice to see more production from our bench, at the same time the bench points stat is overrated. At the start of the 2007-2008 season our bench stats were off the charts because Maya Moore was lighting it up, but then went down when Kalana Green got hurt and Maya was inserted into the starting lineup.

Point is we can have 4-10 bench points a game and it doesn't matter, because every player in our starting lineup can score 20+ in a hurry

 

[HuskyPup]

Defensively i agree with you 100%, everyone on our team buys in and plays team defense that can single handedly beat anyone even if we dont shoot well from the floor.

Offensively though chong banks and stokes are not there right now. Chong is a freshman and i think this 13 day break between games will give her a chance to clear her head and in the first two rounds might get more minutes due to the quality of teams we face. Banks i like alot, especially her swagger and intensity while playing but haven't really seen her light up the score board. Kiah I defiantly see more confidence and improvement on the offensive side of the floor, but havent seen her put point on the board on a constant basis (even though the main impact she has on the floor is clearly defensively)

It would be nice to see more production from our bench, at the same time the bench points stat is overrated. At the start of the 2007-2008 season our bench stats were off the charts because Maya Moore was lighting it up, but then went down when Kalana Green got hurt and Maya was inserted into the starting lineup.

Point is we can have 4-10 bench points a game and it doesn't matter, because every player in our starting lineup can score 20+ in a hurry

Totally agree, but what most don't realize is that our defense is what makes us a tremendous team. In my original scenario the other 2 players would provide scoring while the Defense would be stifling with any combination of the 5. This is why I said we could beat 90% of the teams ....probably more the way our "D" gets it done.

 

[Kibitzer]

No team in wcbb has a player of Kiah's quality coming off their bench.

No team in wcbb has two players of the quality of Kiah or Brianna coming off their bench.

No team in wcbb has three players of the quality of Kiah, Brianna, and Saniya coming off their bench.

Some teams have more than three players on their bench whom their coach would play in a meaningful game.

The UConn bench production looks questionable only when measured against the production of the starters, all of whom have been, are, or will be AA's.

 

[Shenandoah]

In regards to Banks, I totally agree that she has a ton of talent, and it will shine through before she leaves UConn. I think that her seeming lack of confidence in her shot may be as a result of the fact that she spent a lot of her off season strengthening her knee, rather than working on the individual areas that all players need to work on before their season begins.

 

[JoePgh]

No team in wcbb has a player of Kiah's quality coming off their bench.

No team in wcbb has two players of the quality of Kiah or Brianna coming off their bench.

No team in wcbb has three players of the quality of Kiah, Brianna, and Saniya coming off their bench.

Some teams have more than three players on their bench whom their coach would play in a meaningful game.

The UConn bench production looks questionable only when measured against the production of the starters, all of whom have been, are, or will be AA's.

Reimer / Mabrey / Cable? I think they would be approximately equal to our bench players.

I don't know Tennessee's bench players as well (who are the first 3 off their bench?), but they have some fairly deep talent as well.

 

[easttexastrash]

IMO, UT has the most impactful bench of any team. If a game were called really tightly and starters are on the bench the favor goes to UT.

 

[Kibitzer]

IMO, UT has the most impactful bench of any team. If a game were called really tightly and starters are on the bench the favor goes to UT.

If they are so good, why didn't Holly put them on the court when they were losing to Kentucky? (among other losses)

 

[JonB]

Saniya has been hopelessly erratic, and lately in a bad way. Clearly still a freshman. Too bad. Still, she has the tools to contribute.

Hopelessly? I wouldn't say that. Sure she's erratic. Freshman usually are. They are playing more games than they ever did in high school, at a higher level, while dealing with more challenging academics and usually living away from home for the first time. For them to not be erratic would be nigh on superhuman. Even the sainted MoJeff and Stewie were erratic at times last year. I don't expect Saniya to have the big finish to the season that Stewie had last year -- she's not likely to get the minutes in any case. But as with MoJeff and most other freshmen, the true test is how they improve between their freshman and sophomore years. I have high hopes that Saniya will improve like MoJeff did because she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Meanwhile, if she can contribute 8-10 minutes per game at the 1 and 2, that will do.

As for the 90%... UConn could beat 85% if they started Lawlor and Pulido as long as the other three were Hartley, Stewart and Dolson.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

If they are so good, why didn't Holly put them on the court when they were losing to Kentucky? (among other losses)

She did put them in and one (Reynolds), was the key to us coming back and beating Kentucky..

 

[Suebird10fan]

I would go with TBS for sure and eitherMoJeff or Bria. That starting 5 would be better than anyone else's starting 5 but ND.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

In regards to Banks, I totally agree that she has a ton of talent, and it will shine through before she leaves UConn. I think that her seeming lack of confidence in her shot may be as a result of the fact that she spent a lot of her off season strengthening her knee, rather than working on the individual areas that all freshmen need to work on before their sophomore season begins.

This is banks junior season

 

[hjoerring]

There has been much discussion on this board about our "weak", "short" and/ or "ineffective" bench production.
Suppose for the sake of argument Geno drinks too much wine one night and decides for sure that he will start Stokes, Chong and Banks for the NCAA tourney (I know ...why would he do that right? ) but say he does... You can have any 2 of the other 5 scholarship players (Morgan excluded) to fill out the starting 5. You take your pick..Stewie & KML or Stef and Bria or Stewie and MoJeff or Bria and KML...etc ,etc.

IMHO, you take any combination of the other 2 and I think we still beat 90 % of the teams in the tourney with those 5 getting the majority of the minutes. On paper our bench may seem inadequate but because of they way they play "together" we still have a great team regardless of who's on the floor....any thoughts ?

It must be you and not Geno doing the drinking. There is no doubt that one-half of the teams are of various quality and are there because of the mode of selection. However, when it comes to the 'good' portion of the conference teams we will need our starters. The reality is that Geno has used them less and less even in the AAC and even less against RU + LV. So your question is a trick suggestion. Last year Doty started over Bria- what does that mean? Bria played the most minutes and entered the game quite early. It would be of little significant if we subst. Chong for Doty this time around. In fact, Geno has answered your question many times during the season- concerning the bench production. In a recent comment about Kia's play of late he states that the coaches have been impressed, and that she changes the game when she is in. That is, when he puts her in the game it is for strategic reasons (he wants to change something or produce ...) and not to give a player a breather. I am still positive about Chong (even going into post-season play), but she has not shown that she can play (produce) at this level, as of now. But many (including me) said as much about Stewart last year until she threw her notes out and began writing/playing. Hopefully, Chong and Banks can do the same! (who is our designated scorer off the bench?). The absolute key I think is for KML to regain even 75% of her form and for Bria to be Bria, because teams are going to throw everything they can (box + 1, including punches) to take her out and forced Bria to put up 30-points- the idea here is that they will tire KML out given that she is not 100%.

 

[Shenandoah]

This is banks junior season

Edited my post to reflect that. Wow..time DOES fly by! Thanks

 

[Samanthabrown3]

Okay. I'm picking Stewie and Bria.

 

[HuskyPup]

It must be you and not Geno doing the drinking. There is no doubt that one-half of the teams are of various quality and are there because of the mode of selection. However, when it comes to the 'good' portion of the conference teams we will need our starters. The reality is that Geno has used them less and less even in the AAC and even less against RU + LV. So your question is a trick suggestion. Last year Doty started over Bria- what does that mean? Bria played the most minutes and entered the game quite early. It would be of little significant if we subst. Chong for Doty this time around. In fact, Geno has answered your question many times during the season- concerning the bench production. In a recent comment about Kia's play of late he states that the coaches have been impressed, and that she changes the game when she is in. That is, when he puts her in the game it is for strategic reasons (he wants to change something or produce ...) and not to give a player a breather. I am still positive about Chong (even going into post-season play), but she has not shown that she can play (produce) at this level, as of now. But many (including me) said as much about Stewart last year until she threw her notes out and began writing/playing. Hopefully, Chong and Banks can do the same! (who is our designated scorer off the bench?). The absolute key I think is for KML to regain even 75% of her form and for Bria to be Bria, because teams are going to throw everything they can (box + 1, including punches) to take her out and forced Bria to put up 30-points- the idea here is that they will tire KML out given that she is not 100%.

I do like a nice bottle or two of chardonnay prior to watching the Huskies play. Your comments are spot on except I believe we could beat any team in the AAC with Stokes, Banks, Chong and any 2 of the remaining scholarship players. You're right Geno did use them less in the LV and RU games. I'm not saying the "bench" is better than 3 of the current starting 5. I'm suggesting that if Geno HAD to use Stokes, Banks and Chong we would still win those games. We are that good. As far as scoring off the bench, all of these girls can score. They did in high school and they all have demonstrated at some point in their UConn career that they can do it at the next level. Here's where the difference is...UConn is a different monster. Even our great Stewie showed signs of bewilderment her freshman year. Adjusting to the intensity of the UConn experience is different for everybody. As I mentioned in original post our Defense is spectacular and I feel because of that we could put any combination of the 8 available scholarship players on the floor and be successful....just sayin'