The Kim Caldwell System

Umm... okay, a lot to look at here, but ChatGPT's analysis of substitution patterns in the Kentucky game is startling, and suggests Kim may not be as far away from her system, at least in terms of frequent substitutions, if not wave substitutions as we thought. Keep going until you get to the analysis of Kentucky's substitution pattern to get the real impact.

TL/DR: KY's starting lineup played together for 22:51 and was +10. KY played 7 lineups. TN's longest lineup was 7:42 and -1. We played 21 different lineups - and won with the one-offs.

Here are minutes played (team-clock minutes) for each lineup code I used in the Kentucky wave report, plus each lineup’s cumulative +/- from Tennessee’s perspective (i.e., change in TENN–UK margin while that lineup was on the floor). Totals reconcile to a 40:00 game and a +2 final margin (60–58).

Named lineup codes​

Code
Minutes​
+/-​
Lineup
B
7:42​
-1​
Alyssa Latham, Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson
C
4:40​
+5​
Alyssa Latham, Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper
A
3:08​
-3​
Kaniya Boyd, Lauren Hurst, Mya Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman
S
2:55​
0​
Alyssa Latham, Deniya Prawl, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman
D
2:52​
+2​
Alyssa Latham, Kaniya Boyd, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson, Zee Spearman
CL
2:24​
0​
Alyssa Latham, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman
W
1:29​
-1​
Jersey Wolfenbarger, Kaniya Boyd, Lauren Hurst, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper
E
0:58​
-2​
Alyssa Latham, Jaida Civil, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson, Zee Spearman
A′
0:28​
0​
Kaniya Boyd, Lauren Hurst, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman
Named-code total: 26:36 of game time, net +/- = 0

One-off lineups (X codes)​

These are the “uncoded” combinations that showed up in the substitution log but weren’t part of the main code set.

Code
Minutes​
+/-​
Lineup
X10
3:53​
0​
Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson, Zee Spearman
X11
3:08​
+2​
Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman
X8
1:05​
-1​
Alyssa Latham, Kaniya Boyd, Mia Pauldo, Mya Pauldo, Zee Spearman
X1
0:58​
+1​
Alyssa Latham, Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Kaniya Boyd, Nya Robertson
X7
0:57​
0​
Alyssa Latham, Jaida Civil, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman
X4
0:56​
0​
Alyssa Latham, Deniya Prawl, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson, Talaysia Cooper
X5
0:51​
-3​
Alyssa Latham, Jaida Civil, Jersey Wolfenbarger, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson
X12
0:45​
+2​
Deniya Prawl, Jersey Wolfenbarger, Kaniya Boyd, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper
X2
0:19​
+1​
Alyssa Latham, Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Mia Pauldo, Zee Spearman
X3
0:14​
0​
Alyssa Latham, Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Nya Robertson, Talaysia Cooper
X9
0:10​
0​
Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil, Jersey Wolfenbarger, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper
X6
0:08​
0​
Alyssa Latham, Jaida Civil, Jersey Wolfenbarger, Mia Pauldo, Talaysia Cooper
X-lineups total: 13:24, net +/- = +2

What this says (no sugar-coating)​

  • Tennessee won this game (+2) entirely in the “mixed/one-off” space: the X lineups were +2, while your “main code” lineups netted 0.
  • The best sustained coded unit was C at +5 in 4:40.
  • The biggest coded drag was A at -3 in 3:08.
Here’s the Kentucky lineup unit breakdown (minutes + cumulative +/-) for the 1/22/2026 Tennessee–Kentucky game, computed from the Kentucky “subbing in/out” lines in your play-by-play.

Sign convention: +/- is from Kentucky’s perspective = change in UK − TENN margin while that 5-player unit was on the floor.
So positive = Kentucky won that stretch, negative = Tennessee won it.

Kentucky lineup codes​

  • K0 (Starters): Tonie Morgan, Asia Boone, Amelia Hassett, Jordan Obi, Clara Strack
  • K1: Tonie Morgan, Lexi Blue, Amelia Hassett, Jordan Obi, Clara Strack
  • K2: Tonie Morgan, Lexi Blue, Asia Boone, Amelia Hassett, Jordan Obi
  • K3: Tonie Morgan, Lexi Blue, Kaelyn Carroll, Amelia Hassett, Clara Strack
  • K4: Tonie Morgan, Lexi Blue, Asia Boone, Amelia Hassett, Clara Strack
  • K5: Tonie Morgan, Lexi Blue, Asia Boone, Jordan Obi, Clara Strack
  • K6: Lexi Blue, Kaelyn Carroll, Asia Boone, Amelia Hassett, Jordan Obi (no Morgan, no Strack)

Minutes played + cumulative +/-​

Code
Minutes​
KY +/-​
K0
22:51
+10
K1
6:51​
-2​
K2
4:31​
-5​
K3
2:09​
-3​
K4
1:36​
-2​
K5
1:17​
+2​
K6
0:45​
-2​

What it says (bluntly)​

  • Kentucky’s starters (K0) were +10 in 22:51.
  • Every other Kentucky unit combined was -12 in 17:09.
  • Net: -2 overall, which matches the final (UK 58, TENN 60).
If you want, I can also list every Kentucky stint (start time → end time, score/margin change) so you can see exactly where those -12 bench minutes happened.
 

Advertisement



Back
Top