Green Street: Leaving some in reserve?

Jul. 24—What made last February’s upset win against Indiana all the more impressive — it was the most significant single victory of the 2023-24 season for Illinois before the Illini went on a run to the WBIT title — was that coach did it by playing only six players.

That shortened bench had varying degrees of success last winter, but Illinois put together its most complete performance of the regular season by playing a mix of , , , , and for all 200 minutes in an 86-66 beatdown of then-No. 14 Indiana that no one saw coming.

The subject of her team’s depth — or lack thereof — is something Green has freely addressed when asked directly about it. The third-year Illini coach would be the first to admit it’s been a problem in her first two seasons in C-U.

The question is whether the offseason roster moves Illinois made will make that a moot point during the 2024-24 season.

— especially if the Mississippi State transfer’s three-point shot has improved, as has been the word out of Ubben Basketball Complex — could provide a key spark in that regard. And the fact is Illinois simply hasn’t had a post presence like 6-foot-7 Baylor transfer .

The Illini, at least on paper, should be capable of going nine-deep with a rotation featuring the four returning starters (Bostic, Bryant, Cook and McKenzie) and some variation of Dolan, , , Brown-Hagger and Vasconcelos. There’s also some optimism around the likes of and .

Mostly, though, Green has options.

“That’s where having these (summer) practices, and more time on the floor, where we can scrimmage and play, I’m able to put people together and different lineups together and really just get to see who can do what and put people at different positions,” the Illinois coach said. “Someone like a Berry, who’s a freshman, I have her playing some wing and then I have her playing some (at power forward), and she’s picked that up really quickly. Some of those kids that flex, K.B., Brynn (at center) … it’s been nice to have those…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/green-street-leaving-144700010.html

Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Publish date : 2024-07-24 14:47:00

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