2024-25 Starting Lineup

[PvP]

Granted that Geno will have to experiment early on with this cornucopia of riches, and the aftermath of earlier injuries will still restrict Azzi and Aubrey at the beginning of the season but let's look ahead to what settled lineups might look like when everyone is (hopefully) healthy and available.

My expectation for the starters:

1 - Paige
2 - Azzi
3 - Allie
4 - Sarah
5 - Jana

Second starting 5:

1 - KK
2 - Ash
3 - Morgan
4 - Aubrey
5 - Ice

End of the Bench:

1 - Ines
2 - Caroline
3 - Q
4 - Yanna
5 - Amari

It's very hard to think that Q will likely be hard pressed to find minutes but Allie and Morgan were starters in the McDonald's All-American game (as was Sarah giving UCONN 30% of the MCD starters!). She may show up her need to play while Aubrey remains on the mend.

Over all, barring injuries I think this team could be not only number 12, but one of the strongest of Geno's many juggernauts!

 

[AzzisBraids]

Paige, Azzi, Ice, KK and Ashlynn will start until someone does something otherwise. Griffin will come off the bench and Strong will sub for Ice.

Geno puts acpremium on experience and the knowns so he's not starting anyone unknown until they prove in practice and games they should be.

 

[FairView]

I'm surprised it took so long for this conversation to start.

 

[ec33]

It would be nice if Geno had the best point guard in a very long time playing point guard next year. We will see. He has more titles than I do.

 

[Centerstream]

Paige, Azzi, Ice, KK and Ashlynn will start until someone does something otherwise. Griffin will come off the bench and Strong will sub for Ice.

Geno puts a premium on experience and the knowns so he's not starting anyone unknown until they prove in practice and games they should be.

If "freshman" Caroline is 100% back, she will have Ashlynn's spot.

And I think Jana might go in when Aubrey is still recovering (November, December and early January?).

 

[oldhusky]

Granted that Geno will have to experiment early on with this cornucopia of riches, and the aftermath of earlier injuries will still restrict Azzi and Aubrey at the beginning of the season but let's look ahead to what settled lineups might look like when everyone is (hopefully) healthy and available.

My expectation for the starters:

1 - Paige
2 - Azzi
3 - Allie
4 - Sarah
5 - Jana

Second starting 5:

1 - KK
2 - Ash
3 - Morgan
4 - Aubrey
5 - Ice

End of the Bench:

1 - Ines
2 - Caroline
3 - Q
4 - Yanna
5 - Amari

It's very hard to think that Q will likely be hard pressed to find minutes but Allie and Morgan were starters in the McDonald's All-American game (as was Sarah giving UCONN 30% of the MCD starters!). She may show up her need to play while Aubrey remains on the mend.

Over all, barring injuries I think this team could be not only number 12, but one of the strongest of Geno's many juggernauts!

Think this is pretty good. Allie's spot could be one of many, but she could certainly be in the mix, and I am onboard with the other 4 and your second 5. I don't know which height is accurate, but I believe i saw Allie listed as 6-1 on Prospect Nation. If so thinking of her as a potential 3 makes a lot more sense.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Paige, Shade and KK are not coming out of the starting lineup. Everyone else is will need to earn it.

 

[Maleficent9]

im a little concerned with our lack of experience. only paige and aubrey are kind of experienced. we'll miss nika's leadership on the court, and aaliyah's too now that we have a very young front court. i hope ice can build on this year, and the rest of our posts too after either injuries or being freshmen.

interested to see how we will look with both those potential hurdles and also the insane amount of talent we have looking at these lineups. should be yet another great season of learning, growth, fun, and hopefully lots of winning!

 

[Bone Dog]

Jana will be awesome. You heard it here first!

She is a big strong kid with long arms, a true rim protector, plus she’s fierce. She will start sooner or later. The competition will be for the 4 not the 5, and it will be awesome to watch. Jana will come out when Geno runs a small set, 4-out or 5-out. We totally have the shooters to make those sets work really well. I expect to see Jana get 20-25 minutes initially.

At the 4 we have several candidates. If we want a pure high post passer and shooter, Sarah has the edge. Ice is good at the high post too. If it’s a low post partner for Jana, then Ayanna has the edge. If it’s the combination of perimeter shooting and post moves, it’s Caroline Morgan and Sarah. If it’s slashing to the rim and playing high post defense, it’s Aubrey Morgan and Sarah.

What I can’t get over is how many possibilities there are now with this mix-n-match front court. How will opposing teams prepare for this? And with great perimeter shooting, Jana & Co will have their way with defenders in the lane. Picture the interior passing game they’ll be able to develop.

Just for the sake of speed, I’d say we always want 1-3 to look like shooters and slashers: Paige Azzi KK, for example, or Azzi Allie Aubrey, or Paige Morgan Q (picture how great that much size with quickness will be!), or Ash Morgan Allie.

I could go on, but you can see how much power there is on this bench, and how much all 5 will complement each other. It could be reminiscent of the great Gabby KLS Phee teams with overwhelming defensive intensity and lightning quick passing. So many great passers in Paige Sarah KK Morgan Azzi Caroline…

And I haven’t even begun to think about the defense. Picture a full court press spearheaded by KK Morgan and Paige, or Aubrey Azzi and Sarah, or Ash Allie and Caroline. Get past any of them and Jana and Ayanna await at the far end.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I think Geno will go: Paige, Azzi, Sarah, Ice, Jana to start the season. Everyone in their natural position with energy and scoring coming of the bench with KK, Ash, Aubrey (when ready), Ayanna, Q, Morgan

 

[Boreifs]

I think Geno will go: Paige, Azzi, Sarah, Ice, Jana to start the season. Everyone in their natural position with energy and scoring coming of the bench with KK, Ash, Aubrey (when ready), Ayanna, Q, Morgan

Azzi will not be ready at the start of the season. Protocol for ACL is at least 12 months. There is a reason why Paige didn’t play on the European tour. Audrey is at least January if that Protocol is followed.

 

[Cuango]

Paige will finally play point, Azzi shooting guard, (this will depend on health) Caroline, if 100%, otherwise, Ash, Allie, or Morgan, Strong (no way she doesn’t start), & Ice/Jana. It’s impossible to narrow it down to one for each position as we just don’t know when everyone will be 100%. I’m assuming Aubrey for sure will not be ready in November. I think Paige, Azzi,& Strong are absolute locks to start. Caroline, if 100% is next likeliest, and my guess is that Ice will likely start in November but Jana will move into the center spot by January. I think once the smoke settles and everyone is healthy, we are likely to see Paige, Azzi, Strong, Ice, and Jana as our “big unit” and KK, Ash, Azzi, Paige, and Aubrey as our “small unit”!
The bench is really going to be something special! The truth is, it’s really impossible to say with any certainty what the starting unit will be. I’ve never seen a roster this talented in all the time I’ve watched women’s (or men’s) basketball! I would bet my house that Paige will start but there is so much talent that everyone else is “likely”! I can’t wait!

 

[CTBballfan243]

I think Geno will go: Paige, Azzi, Sarah, Ice, Jana to start the season. Everyone in their natural position with energy and scoring coming of the bench with KK, Ash, Aubrey (when ready), Ayanna, Q, Morgan

The only players that have earned starting spots are Paige, KK, and Shade. I would be shocked if Geno gave starting spots to players who haven’t earn it.

 

[GenoWept]

In a perfect world, if everyone was completely healthy by the start of next season, I think the starting lineup would be: Paige, Azzi, Jana, Sarah, and KK.

I don’t think Azzi will be fully ready at the start of the season, so I don’t think she’ll be a starter at first. In that case, I think Ashlynn takes her spot. Obviously we don’t know a whole lot about Sarah, Allie, or Morgan but I don’t think Allie or Morgan will get the start initially. I’m hoping the freshman can make an immediate impact though. I love having so many options!!

 

[hoopsnloops32]

The only players that have earned starting spots are Paige, KK, and Shade. I would be shocked if Geno gave starting spots to players who haven’t earn it.

The season hasn’t started yet. No one has earned a starting spot yet. The whole thread is speculation about who will earn it next year.

Personally I hope Geno moves away from two starting point guards. I would love to let Paige dominate the ball again with Nika gone and with enough healthy players to not have to have her fill in for another position.

Kk would be great energy and scoring coming off the bench.

 

[HGN]

Who starts , when you have that much (healthy) talent , is going to be a nice problem for Geno to finally have. He will be smiling all the way to the Final Four Championship.

GO HUSKIES.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Azzi will not be ready at the start of the season. Protocol for ACL is at least 12 months. There is a reason why Paige didn’t play on the European tour. Audrey is at least January if that Protocol is followed.

Protocol for ACL is around 9 months. Could be shorter could be longer. Paige could have played in Europe if she had wanted to be ready for it. 12 months is on the long end of “normal”.

 

[CTBballfan243]

The season hasn’t started yet. No one has earned a starting spot yet. The whole thread is speculation about who will earn it next year.

Personally I hope Geno moves away from two starting point guards. I would love to let Paige dominate the ball again with Nika gone and with enough healthy players to not have to have her fill in for another position.

Kk would be great energy and scoring coming off the bench.

Geno likes having Paige play off the ball. KK will run the point. I expect that KK will really work on her mid range and 3 point shooting in the off season

 

[Vowelguy]

1st: KK Paige Azzi Ice Jana
2nd: Shade Zeibel Cheli Ducharme Strong

Hoping im wrong, but not expecting Aubrey to be ready to go early in the season.

 

[Boreifs]

Protocol for ACL is around 9 months. Could be shorter could be longer. Paige could have played in Europe if she had wanted to be ready for it. 12 months is on the long end of “normal”.

Not any more. Further research has determined that 12 months offers a statistically better rate of recovery. There was a thread about this several months ago.

 

[jdote33]

Protocol for ACL is around 9 months. Could be shorter could be longer. Paige could have played in Europe if she had wanted to be ready for it. 12 months is on the long end of “normal”.

Yeah, I remember Faith Masonius from Maryland (now in the transfer portal) got hurt in Jan of 22, and played in the beginning the next season in November. She played a bunch of minutes in a National TV game vs South Carolina the second or third game of the season. So it was about ten months for her. I also know Aaliyah Moore of Texas got hurt in Dec of 22, and played games in Nov of 23, so 11 months. Everyone is different I guess, and the tricky part with Azzi, is her injury history, and I believe she tore both her acl and mcl.

In any event, my starting lineup would include KK, PB, Azzi (as soon as she's ready), Strong, and Jana.

 

[oldhusky]

Paige, Shade and KK are not coming out of the starting lineup. Everyone else is will need to earn it.

I agree that incumbent starters get the benefit of the doubt, but that's it. If say Azzi and Sarah were clearly better than Shade and KK in practice then they can start. Shade and KK are pretty good players now, and could get better, but Azzi and Sarah could be great players, maybe even Jana too. If they perform as expected they probably will be better than Shade and KK. IMO.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Yeah, I remember Faith Masonius from Maryland (now in the transfer portal) got hurt in Jan of 22, and played in the beginning the next season in November. She played a bunch of minutes in a National TV game vs South Carolina the second or third game of the season. So it was about ten months for her. I also know Aaliyah Moore of Texas got hurt in Dec of 22, and played games in Nov of 23, so 11 months. Everyone is different I guess, and the tricky part with Azzi, is her injury history, and I believe she tore both her acl and mcl.

In any event, my starting lineup would include KK, PB, Azzi (as soon as she's ready), Strong, and Jana.

Exactly. I mean I’m sure she’d be on a minutes restriction but I’d expect her in uniform and getting a few minutes in November, especially given it seems she’s working with specialists of some sort.

 

[Bone Dog]

November: Paige KK Ash ice Jana. This is my guess about who’ll be ready. There’s a bit of experience with Geno’s schemes in this group and they’re most likely to be healthy. And Jana has spent a year and a half practicing, watching, learning in Storrs.

December: Paige KK Azzi Ayanna Jana. If Azzi and Ayanna are healthy this will be the most experienced unit. After Paige, Azzi is the most proven player.

January: this is harder to see but my guess is Paige Azzi Ash Sarah Jana. Once Azzi has played enough games, I think we’ll see her start to share the point with Paige and Ash will take KK’s starting spot. This is the beginning of the Paige & Azzi Show after all.

February: Paige Azzi Morgan Sarah Jana. As the conference season gets in full swing, and especially as the mid-season OOC games come up, Geno may want to experiment more with his “big” lineup. I guess Morgan over Caroline just for the speed differential.

March: as the conference season closes and the tournaments come around, I think we’ll see the final permutation take shape, Paige Azzi Allie Sarah Jana. I substitute Allie for Morgan or Caroline just because he’ll want maximum shooting to start games. Sink 6-7 threes in the first quarter as part of the shock and awe campaign. Then the rotation will twist opponents into various contortions. Paige and Sarah may play 25+ mins each, but most players will get 15-20.

April: if we make the last two rounds, when the play gets harder and the competition is fiercest, I think we’ll see the toughest team featured: Paige Azzi KK Sarah and Jana. The rotation will probably have shortened by this point to feature mainly Ayanna Ash Caroline and Aubrey.

When I think of recent years, before injuries had a chance to disrupt the rotation, it seemed to me that Geno focused on a core group of 8 or 9 players in the first few games, perhaps to let the new kids see what the offense and defense look like. Then the rotation expanded to see who could find their way best in live action. If he’s going to run a 12+ rotation, it will be in late December and January. By the end of January, we’ll have a good idea who among the new kids will have earned substantial playing time. By the end of February, we’ll know who the 5+3 or 4 are, that is, who’s getting double figure minutes. But even the ones who don’t see that much playing time may still see action in full court press interludes.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Geno likes having Paige play off the ball. KK will run the point. I expect that KK will really work on her mid range and 3 point shooting in the off season

Geno had no choice but to have Paige play off the ball. I would like very much to revert to how Geno used Paige her first two years, on ball creating for others.