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Message: [QUOTE="hoophuskee, post: 5062596, member: 3535"] So in one breath you make a prior post that Paige was playing the forward spot. But in another you say she wasn’t a forward? If someone is playing the forward sport which you even stated Paige was – then that’s a Forward to me, And she did it at 1st team All-American Level and yet you suggest she doesn’t have the Forward skills? In part what good are the Forward skills that she supposedly doesn’t have if Paige is generally kicking butt at that Forward spot that she is soo supposedly playing out of position? So much as she takes a team with no business getting to FF and is seconds away from The Finals? This imo this is the type of example that you imply that massively underrates Paige. If you want to refer to no Forwards but just 4 Guards okay, but then if you aren’t giving Paige credit for some of her PG play in that 4-guard set then it highlights how some of you have so little respect for her game. Because if there are 4 guards, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the guards are doing different things? So Paige was that limited this year that she never played at all pg – she only played “off-the-ball?” To say Paige doesn’t have back to the basket play or post moves as back-to-the basket is just wrong. Because if she has back to the basket moves/play but doesn't show it a lot then why would we disqualify her from being a Point-Forward???? Why should she have to show it a lot? LeBron James early in his career rarely low posted. A Point-Forward can be predominantly inside or out. We’ve heard the term before “Wing.” By its definition “Wing” includes a Forward and the term “Wing” also refers to someone primarily on the outside. Ergo using the terminology “point-Forward” is also a Forward that can also play as a Wing. Why can’t a Point-Forward play predominantly on the Wing? So why are you so focused on back-to-the-basket? And to add to this, we’ve heard the terminology “A Stretch 4.” That’s a Power Forward playing outside. They are still defined as a Power Forward despite that they rarely if ever produce low post moves. So why should we underrate Paige as not being more than just “an only off-the-ball guard” because she doesn’t score as often on the inside when Forwards such as Wings and Stretch 4’s don’t as well? This would imply one rule for Paige and another for everyone else. And in regard to Paige only plying off the ball and Nika being the dominant pg is just completely false. First off saying Paige only plays off the ball is like saying that’s all Larry Bird was as well. Secondly, I’d ask anyone to watch SOCal vs UCONN the entire 4th qtr. – a close game – and then decide if Paige wasn’t also having pg responsibilities. Just as we term things like ‘There are team that have 2 pg’s” or “This team has Twin Towers;” why ism’t that the same with UCONN and Paige? Nika was not dominant as a pg if we want to look at close games giving the example of the entire 4th qtr I mentioned. They split about 50-50 bringing the ball up the floor. Then you had times Nika would bring it up give the ball to Paige then set herself 25 feet away while Paige ran from the start. And other times Paige would hunt for the ball even after a few passes then look to make a play while Nika would do that much, much, less. Allowing another player to run plays late in the shot clock or even to start the half court as often as Nika “allowed” is in no way a characteristic of a dominant pg. In addition when UCONN was pressed Paige and Nika shared the ball. Thus to say Paige was only “off the ball” just highlights how underrated she is actually thought of by some. . And by the way, in the 4th quarter Paige did score on a back to the basket move. And incidentally she was fouled but they didn’t call it. All these are examples of why Paige can be so massively underrated to pigeon-hole her as only off-the-ball and minimize her other skills and imply no pg play imo is so wrong. [/QUOTE]

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