Wind River Poke
Well-known member
First and foremost, I am a huge fan of Joe and he continues to have the best show in town year after year. However, as I sat in attendance during the Wisconsin and Washington State games, I still struggle with his rotations and bench utilization.
We have 2 really good young point guards that don't start. Bec rotates in sparingly and Chelan rarely. Now I am not getting on a Richardson bash here but she doesn't have the speed, vision, or talent as the other two. She does work VERY hard and seems to be a team leader. But, I think if the Girls are ever going to honestly contend for a MWC championship we need to utilize the bench and the altitude.
Sickles played a great game against the Badgers but if Carlson isn't in foul trouble Sickles doesn't get those kind of minutes. Schlefler is a good baller and a great shooter..when she is on. Unfortunately, she isn't on much. Hate to see her down with an injury but how much of Sewell would we be seeing if Schlefler is healthy? My guess is sparingly.
The Cougars were subbing 5 at a time.....they were fully aware of the elevation. Yet in the second half Joe pretty much stuck to the starting 5 plus a little bit of Bec and Sickles. We walk away with a 20 point win yet not a huge distribution of minutes between 8 or 9 players. We lose 4 of those 5 starters next year and we REALLY need to get some experience for those coming up against teams like the Cougars.
IMHO if we are going to ever get to the top of the MWC we have to utilize bench. Thoughts?
We have 2 really good young point guards that don't start. Bec rotates in sparingly and Chelan rarely. Now I am not getting on a Richardson bash here but she doesn't have the speed, vision, or talent as the other two. She does work VERY hard and seems to be a team leader. But, I think if the Girls are ever going to honestly contend for a MWC championship we need to utilize the bench and the altitude.
Sickles played a great game against the Badgers but if Carlson isn't in foul trouble Sickles doesn't get those kind of minutes. Schlefler is a good baller and a great shooter..when she is on. Unfortunately, she isn't on much. Hate to see her down with an injury but how much of Sewell would we be seeing if Schlefler is healthy? My guess is sparingly.
The Cougars were subbing 5 at a time.....they were fully aware of the elevation. Yet in the second half Joe pretty much stuck to the starting 5 plus a little bit of Bec and Sickles. We walk away with a 20 point win yet not a huge distribution of minutes between 8 or 9 players. We lose 4 of those 5 starters next year and we REALLY need to get some experience for those coming up against teams like the Cougars.
IMHO if we are going to ever get to the top of the MWC we have to utilize bench. Thoughts?