Big East WBB Media Day Tuesday, Oct 18 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Big East WBB Media Day Tuesday, Oct 18

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EricLA said:
I think it's a great day for the league. Being in MSG - so historic - and giving all the teams a chance to be part of the publicity - nice to see all the way around.

The selections by the coaches seem to make sense - I would hope that the coaches have a better sense of all the players on all the other BE teams than us fans do - I know there is a lot of knowledge on this board, so maybe we do know better LOL.

Glad to see Butler seems to be on the rise. Obviously hope that all the teams in the BE do well, especially OOC, but the bottom of our league was a real drag on the reputation of the league overall so anything Butler, Xavier, Georgetown, and Providence can start going to lift themselves up will be good for the league.

Congrats to all the players chosen for preseason honors. I was surprised about the BE FOY - Patterson? I would have thought Brady would have been chosen. Good for Ayanna! I think both of our highly regarded freshmen will be terrific (no I have not forgotten about Ines, but her expectations from fans are not as high). But no one knows for sure yet. All we've seen are clips from the weight room and snips from practice.

Side note - hasn't Lauren Park-Lane been at Seton Hall for like 10 years?!! :p Love watching her play - she's such a spark plug for them. And feisty!!
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I was too. She's going to have to play some solid defense and a lot of mistake free BB to earn enough minutes to do it. I think understanding the the timing of the offense and knowing what to do when is going to be an early challenge for her. Skills and effort will be there but it's a big difference from what she was doing in HS.
 
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BobbyJ said:
This is very interesting and should produce some responses.
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Nika is of course a point guard. My guess is that he means this team doesn't have a UConn-type point guard like Renee or Paige or Crystal who can pull up for a jumper off of a pick and roll. That was such a weapon for those guards but it's just not in Nika's skill-set. She's a point guard but not a typical UConn point guard. Her role in initiating the offense will be different than those other point guards. Sounds like Geno will be putting the ball in Azzi's hands to look for shots off of ball screens much like he did with Paige.

That said, Nika will still play a lot. She is great at pushing the ball in transition and will be good at getting the offense organized. She'll hopefully make enough 3s to help spread the floor and keep defenses honest. Her defense and intensity will be much needed.
 
UConnCat said:
Nika is of course a point guard. My guess is that he means this team doesn't have a UConn-type point guard like Renee or Paige or Crystal who can pull up for a jumper off of a pick and roll. That was such a weapon for those guards but it's just not in Nika's skill-set. She's a point guard but not a typical UConn point guard. Her role in initiating the offense will be different than those other point guards. Sounds like Geno will be putting the ball in Azzi's hands to look for shots off of ball screens much like he did with Paige.

That said, Nika will still play a lot. She is great at pushing the ball in transition and will be good at getting the offense organized. She'll hopefully make enough 3s to help spread the floor and keep defenses honest. Her defense and intensity will be much needed.
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I agree. That's what I've been anticipating all along. To beat good teams his offense will need to hum.
 
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eebmg said:
That is very high praise considering how Paige looked after 1 week of practice. So happy to hear she feels so much better.
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When Azzi was in 10th grade, Geno thought that she and Paige were the 2 best players in high school. Paige had a very successful freshman season, though her team did not win the championship. Paige and Azzi are different players, but they are on the same level, in my opinion. The skeptics (and others) here will see the Azzi that I saw in high school, only better.
 
UConnCat said:
Live!

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Thanks Cat. I missed the broadcast. Right as it began, my 3 year old great granddaughter came back into our home office and wanted me to color with her. She has impeccable timing. I couldn't say no. She wouldn't understand why Paw paw didn't want to color RIGHT THEN. :confused: She got right up under me to make sure I colored with her, and not pay any attention to the computer monitor. :(
 
UConnCat said:
Nika is of course a point guard. My guess is that he means this team doesn't have a UConn-type point guard like Renee or Paige or Crystal who can pull up for a jumper off of a pick and roll. That was such a weapon for those guards but it's just not in Nika's skill-set. She's a point guard but not a typical UConn point guard. Her role in initiating the offense will be different than those other point guards. Sounds like Geno will be putting the ball in Azzi's hands to look for shots off of ball screens much like he did with Paige.

That said, Nika will still play a lot. She is great at pushing the ball in transition and will be good at getting the offense organized. She'll hopefully make enough 3s to help spread the floor and keep defenses honest. Her defense and intensity will be much needed.
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And as Geno said in the tweet, the UConn offense often depends on everyone getting touches on many possessions. So whoever's nominally the point guard isn't ball-dominant anyway. I wonder in what fraction of seasons the UConn point guard leads the team in assists. It wouldn't surprise me if it's between half and 3/4. Gabby led the team a couple of times, and did Stef lead them at least once?
 
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Anyone who has watched UConn games closely over the last two seasons knows that that the ball moves very well when Nika is in the game.

She is not the offensive threat that the others are - although I am hopeful that she has upped her game in that regard - but the "flow" seems to work when she is out there.

Her court vision is not talked about much, but it is very good.
 
Huskee11 said:
Anyone who has watched UConn games closely over the last two seasons knows that that the ball moves very well when Nika is in the game.

She is not the offensive threat that the others are - although I am hopeful that she has upped her game in that regard - but the "flow" seems to work when she is out there.

Her court vision is not talked about much, but it is very good.
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If that's all true, then why in the 5 biggest games of the year the NC tournament, did Auriemma only use her for 11 MPG when he needed all the offense he could get?
 
UConnCat said:
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That's exactly what me and the rest of the nation is counting on. You don't dare double team one of our players and leave somebody w-i-d-e open. :cool: I mentioned this in an earlier comment. UConn will not have any problem scoring. The question is how many ppg will they allow?
 
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