Dom Amore on the eye test

[Skeets]

No, Paige doesn't have to be the best player. But it would be easier if she was. I'd be happy if she was the 2nd or 3rd best player.

 

[RedStickHusky]

The beauty of this team is that "best player" can be an "any given night" scenario. Paige being on the floor opens up her teammates, she doesn't have to go off.

 

[Bald Husky]

No, Paige doesn't have to be the best player. But it would be easier if she was. I'd be happy if she was the 2nd or 3rd best player.

I agree, but does Paige have to change her game? Probably since grammar school to High School, AAU, and last year during her freshman year at UConn, Paige has been the player who ran the show, scored most of the points, and was the go-to person if her team was going to win. That is the way she has always played, because the results of a game usually fell on her shoulders. Now, she has more than 1 or 2 options, but maybe 4 options on each possession. Although her mind set was to pass, Geno made a point of encouraging her to shoot more, because she was the best shooter on the team. I think Paige realizes that and is on board with that, but will it keep her from trying to make a play for herself? She is the best player on the team, so will her willingness make us weaker or stronger? To be effective, Paige still has to play her game, so once she gets back into shape, she must return to her previous form and mentality. The difference now is that she doesn't have to force shots, but make no mistake, she has to get her 10-12 shots in. Not only will it help her, but by being aggressive it will open things up for the rest of the shooters. She cannot change, but with her new options, she can become a better player, a player that she envisioned when she first came into the program. I believe she can do this, and if she can adapt to her "new" team, we will be extremely hard to beat.

 

[oldude]

I agree, but does Paige have to change her game? Probably since grammar school to High School, AAU, and last year during her freshman year at UConn, Paige has been the player who ran the show, scored most of the points, and was the go-to person if her team was going to win. That is the way she has always played, because the results of a game usually fell on her shoulders. Now, she has more than 1 or 2 options, but maybe 4 options on each possession. Although her mind set was to pass, Geno made a point of encouraging her to shoot more, because she was the best shooter on the team. I think Paige realizes that and is on board with that, but will it keep her from trying to make a play for herself? She is the best player on the team, so will her willingness make us weaker or stronger. To be effective, Paige still has to play her game, so once she gets back into shape, she must return to her previous form and mentality. The difference now is that she doesn't have to force shots, but make no mistake, she has to get her 10-12 shots in. Not only will it help her, but by being aggressive it will open things up for the rest of the shooters. She cannot change, but with her new options, she can become a better player, a player that she envisioned when she first came into the program. I believe she can do this, and if she can adapt to her "new" team, we will be extremely hard to beat.

The one thing to keep in mind about Paige is that she has an extremely high basketball IQ. For all intents and purposes, she is a coach on the floor. If she needs to score she does. If she needs to get the ball to a teammate who’s open, she does. If she needs to play off the ball, she will.

There was a basic inbounds play late in the Nova game. One of UConn’s Bigs set a screen for Caroline that appeared to be for a short curl to the basket. But instead of curling to the basket, Caroline flashed out to the corner.

Paige, who was inbounding the ball, sold the play to Nova’s defenders by looking like she was going to pass under the basket, even faking a pass, before firing the ball to a wide open Caroline in the corner. Even before the ball went through the net for a 3, Paige was celebrating, running back down court with her arm extended.

 

[Happydad745]

It is going to be an exciting National Tournament...I can hardly stop smiling when I think about UConn's new found team bond.

 

[Bald Husky]

If we are going to be a 2, I wish that Tennessee would be the 3 in our region.

 

[VaConnFan11]

It was obvious to me in the BE tournament that Paige was not in game shape, which was to be expected because of all of the lost conditioning time. Hard to do cardio with a bad knee. Can she get back into game shape in 10 days? Yes.

With that said, IMO, Geno would like Paige on the floor for 35 minutes. She is the floor general. This would also give him a good rotation of 8 players for the other 4 spots on the floor. There is no doubt that when she plays just her normal game, she makes everyone else better.

The Eye-Test was good in the BE tournament, but it still wasn't 20-20. I believe UConn underperformed by about 10 points per game. With 10 uninterrupted days of practice with a full team, they should be able to get everything dialed in just right.

 

[Stymie]

I disagree with that preposition

 

[RedStickHusky]

On a team that can hit 90 with nobody going over 15, the concept of 'best player' sounds so 20th century...

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

If Paige can’t return to the player from last year and UCONN cuts down the nets, this will be a team that should be up there with the greatest teams.

Whether Paige returns to last year's form or not, doesn't matter. Paige's basic nature will take over and sharing the load becomes more important to her. The team playmaking will improve a notch (there were moments when the ball zipped around much more crisply when she was on the floor).

Paige has to get used to playing with this changed team some more to improve their synchronicity.....there have been a few moments when their movements from the way they had been paying or when there was lack thereof that Paige took time to redirect a few of them.....I think a significant portion of the 11 days break time will be spent with Paige and the changed team getting to know each other better.

Knowing her, Paige also learned a lot watching from the bench....so that will help her both in reintegrating and in playmaking....

 

[BBallF]

Boy Geno doesn't pull any punches. No love lost here:

“There was this perception early on at one point that without Paige we’re not very good, you know?” Auriemma said. “An ex-coach, [Muffet McGraw] who doesn’t know [much] about anything, said that recently. And I think we proved her wrong.”

Nice quote from Evina tho:

“To be able to adjust and sacrifice things for your team, especially this team is kind of easy because we all love each other. It’s kind of easy in that aspect,” said UConn senior Evina Westbrook, who embraced her bench role in January. “I think it’s pretty special. And honestly, it’s kind of fun to play like that, when you have whatever five are out there, and then subs are coming in. They can’t relax on who we’ve got coming in because everyone is really dangerous.”

Yes Evina is just the best. Incidentally , Geno did not use the word "much". He was much more scatological.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

The one thing to keep in mind about Paige is that she has an extremely high basketball IQ. For all intents and purposes, she is a coach on the floor. If she needs to score she does. If she needs to get the ball to a teammate who’s open, she does. If she needs to play off the ball, she will.

There was a basic inbounds play late in the Nova game. One of UConn’s Bigs set a screen for Caroline that appeared to be for a short curl to the basket. But instead of curling to the basket, Caroline flashed out to the corner.

Paige, who was inbounding the ball, sold the play to Nova’s defenders by looking like she was going to pass under the basket, even faking a pass, before firing the ball to a wide open Caroline in the corner. Even before the ball went through the net for a 3, Paige was celebrating, running back down court with her arm extended.

Because she successfully fooled Nova......

 

[CL82]

And the coaching job will be considered to be one of the greatest in the history of sports.

It should be, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that narrative isn’t pushed.

 

[CL82]

. Maybe he was trying to justify her being in the game at the end when it had already been decided. Or maybe the resurgence of this team surprised him as well.

Or maybe, and I’m just spitballing here, the other players and the team rose to the occasion in consequently the entire team is now playing at a higher level?

 

[CL82]

It was obvious to me in the BE tournament that Paige was not in game shape, which was to be expected because of all of the lost conditioning time. Hard to do cardio with a bad knee. Can she get back into game shape in 10 days? Yes.

With that said, IMO, Geno would like Paige on the floor for 35 minutes. She is the floor general. This would also give him a good rotation of 8 players for the other 4 spots on the floor. There is no doubt that when she plays just her normal game, she makes everyone else better.

The Eye-Test was good in the BE tournament, but it still wasn't 20-20. I believe UConn underperformed by about 10 points per game. With 10 uninterrupted days of practice with a full team, they should be able to get everything dialed in just right.

Something was off for her, no doubt. I’m not entirely sure it was cardio, though. My wife and I speculated that her knee may have been sore or stiff. That’s some thing that she has to expect. Some days it’ll feel better than others. She just needs to learn to trust it.

 

[Ct Dog]

Boy Geno doesn't pull any punches. No love lost here:

“There was this perception early on at one point that without Paige we’re not very good, you know?” Auriemma said. “An ex-coach, [Muffet McGraw] who doesn’t know [much] about anything, said that recently. And I think we proved her wrong.”

Nice quote from Evina tho:

“To be able to adjust and sacrifice things for your team, especially this team is kind of easy because we all love each other. It’s kind of easy in that aspect,” said UConn senior Evina Westbrook, who embraced her bench role in January. “I think it’s pretty special. And honestly, it’s kind of fun to play like that, when you have whatever five are out there, and then subs are coming in. They can’t relax on who we’ve got coming in because everyone is really dangerous.”

Apparently someone didn’t get the memo!

 

[cancontent]

Thanks for posting this.

I love this quote:

"A team that was thought to be all about Bueckers is now all about everyone. The Huskies are not only playing for one another but willing to sit for one another."

Perfect.

If there was a chef's kiss emoji, I'd use it for the quote.

This sentence caught my attention specifically. I've been of the opinion that the team has never had a "Paige and everyone else" mentality and that media attention, for their own purposes, gave the public a different impression. As Geno said Monday night, the team is unselfish and it's shining through right now at the right time.

 

[JoePgh]

Something was off for her, no doubt. I’m not entirely sure it was cardio, though. My wife and I speculated that her knee may have been sore or stiff. That’s some thing that she has to expect. Some days it’ll feel better than others. She just needs to learn to trust it.

For the Villanova game specifically, the FS1 sideline reporter said during the early part of the game that Paige had not participated in that day's shootaround because of knee soreness, although she had warmed up normally prior to the game. Geno had told the reporter that whether she would play at all against Villanova would be a game-time decision.

So it is confirmed that the previous two games had indeed irritated her knee to the point where it was problematic for the Villanova game.

That is consistent with Geno's statement about the physical limitations being real, but the big problem was Paige's mental unwillingness that she was not physically back to 100%. He said she could play at 85% (and still be effective) if she accepted that there would be some limitations on what she could do -- but she hasn't done that yet.

 

[Huskyfan63]

If we are going to be a 2, I wish that Tennessee would be the 3 in our region.

I'd rather have Notre Dame in the same region, and get a chance to play them firing on all cylinders.