One Way Geno Can Solve the "Minutes" Problem

[Golden Husky]

There seems to be general agreement on this board with the view (which I share) that Geno's biggest problem this year will be finding minutes for all the talented and motivated players on the roster. It seems to me that there is one way that he can solve that, which actually might work.

The players nearer to the end of this year's bench, by most reckonings, are the following:

Kyla Irwin
Molly Bent
Andra Espinosa-Hunter
Lexi Gordon
Mikayla Coombs (borderline)
Megan Walker (very borderline)

Proposal: Designate this group as the "Chaos Monkeys", whose role is to come in at 6-8 minute intervals and play two minutes of full-court-press, two-on-the-ball craziness. If it works as planned, they won't play much half-court offense or even half-court defense; ideally they will produce turnovers and play at a pace that no opponent can match, especially if the opponent has just spent 5 to 6 minutes contending with the "real" team and its precise sets. The regular team will also play at a faster pace than most opponents, but nothing like what this band of hombres can produce if they only do it for a couple of minutes before returning to the bench.

If the Chaos Monkeys can just score as many points as they give up, they will contribute to victory by wearing down the opponent -- who will not have nearly enough talent off its own bench to retaliate in kind.

This kind of play would put a premium on these players' assets: speed, energy, and athleticism -- while making minimal demands for precision or discipline. They would offer a few minutes of Paul Westhead basketball to contrast with the standard Geno approach used by the regulars.

It would certainly get these players involved, with a role that they can take pride in, that allows them to feel that they are making their own special contribution to the team's success.

Say it ain't so, Joe. Surely you jest. (Okay, I won't call you Shirley). You can remove your tongue from your cheek, now.

 

[CocoHusky]

I won't attempt to reply to most of the points made in this thread. It appears that the mere suggestion has created discomfort and possibly chaos in some posters' emotional well-being.
However, let me comment on the use of the term "Chaos Monkey". In the software world, that is actually becoming a well-known term. It started when a prominent firm with a web site whose name you would all recognize decided to test the resiliency of its service by creating software (called by that name) that would, at random, take down servers that were supporting its site. (The site was and is generating millions of dollars of revenue per hour.) The idea was to make sure (by actual demonstration) that the site as a whole was resilient enough to withstand the abrupt and unplanned outage of some of its servers. At first, it wasn't, but the experiment forced the software developers and engineers to make it sturdy enough that the Chaos Monkey software couldn't disrupt it. Now that software is a standard part of its service, and other companies are using the same model for the same purpose.

The UConn women's team has "servers" on which they depend heavily -- this year named Lou, Pheesa, Gabby, and Kia. Is UConn's basketball team resilient enough to withstand the temporary outage of one or more of those "servers"? Chaos Monkey could prove whether or not that is the case.

The use of the term Chaos Monkey is probably appropriate for the software world but you weren't talking about software. The use of the term to describe as women's BB team which includes African American players is at minimum lacking awareness. Lacking awareness should not effect the "emotional well being" of any posters. But once you were made aware and continue to persist, I could see how that might effect a posters emotional well being.

 

[Golden Husky]

There seems to be general agreement on this board with the view (which I share) that Geno's biggest problem this year will be finding minutes for all the talented and motivated players on the roster. It seems to me that there is one way that he can solve that, which actually might work.

The players nearer to the end of this year's bench, by most reckonings, are the following:

Kyla Irwin
Molly Bent
Andra Espinosa-Hunter
Lexi Gordon
Mikayla Coombs (borderline)
Megan Walker (very borderline)

Proposal: Designate this group as the "Chaos Monkeys", whose role is to come in at 6-8 minute intervals and play two minutes of full-court-press, two-on-the-ball craziness. If it works as planned, they won't play much half-court offense or even half-court defense; ideally they will produce turnovers and play at a pace that no opponent can match, especially if the opponent has just spent 5 to 6 minutes contending with the "real" team and its precise sets. The regular team will also play at a faster pace than most opponents, but nothing like what this band of hombres can produce if they only do it for a couple of minutes before returning to the bench.

If the Chaos Monkeys can just score as many points as they give up, they will contribute to victory by wearing down the opponent -- who will not have nearly enough talent off its own bench to retaliate in kind.

This kind of play would put a premium on these players' assets: speed, energy, and athleticism -- while making minimal demands for precision or discipline. They would offer a few minutes of Paul Westhead basketball to contrast with the standard Geno approach used by the regulars.

It would certainly get these players involved, with a role that they can take pride in, that allows them to feel that they are making their own special contribution to the team's success.

An alternative way to solve the "minutes" dilemma would be for Geno to demand that every UConn game be 48 minutes in length. Now we're talkin'.

 

[CL82]

Haven't you learned yet? You gotta use a or a . Posters on here do not pick up real quick.

Or not....

 

[trisailin]

I'm thinking Geno doesn't see this is his problem to worry about.
Lou: Coach I just got my fourth foul!!!
Geno: That's your problem, not mine,

 

[hoophuskee]

The UConn women's team has "servers" on which they depend heavily -- this year named Lou, Pheesa, Gabby, and Kia. Is UConn's basketball team resilient enough to withstand the temporary outage of one or more of those "servers"? Chaos Monkey could prove whether or not that is the case.

UCONN women have superstars that are human beings. They are not "servers" in any fashion.

Your proposing fantasy sports as if the kids aren't human beings and they should accept the style you want to see as you want to also run up the score and couldn't care less who does what in practice. You want a press and win by 90 points - so darn it for one year you get your wish. That's called fantasy sports. These are people. They have emotions. Even the coach has emotions. They are NOT servers.