Geno sounds off on Summer Sessions, individual practices etc and a frank assessment of Nika

[eebmg]

What UConn women’s basketball star Azzi Fudd and teammates gain from summer practice sessions

Fudd wound up playing 25 of UConn’s 36 games, averaging 12.1 points and 27.9 minutes, shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 43 percent on 3-pointers.

www.wiltonbulletin.com

Mühl, last season’s Big East defensive player of the year, is working on the other side of her game by simplifying.

“Obviously, we were a different team when Nika was on the floor,” Auriemma said. “Nika has to be better offensively, more consistent offensively. She has to be more of a threat so that people guard her more and there’s less leaving her to go double someone else. She has to be more of a factor, more of a threat, so that’s been her focus this whole postseason, so far: ‘How do I get to the basket more and finish?’ Getting to the basket is not a problem for Nika. Finishing has been.

“If Nika was a baseball player, she’d be put out to pasture because she doesn’t hit home runs. She’d be a singles hitter. We don’t need her to make eight 3’s a game. We need her to make five pull-up jump shots after she penetrates. So it’s the non-glamorous things that Nika’s working on. And she’s improved. She’s better right now than she was at the end of the season.”

 

[Beemer]

That's great to hear. I look forward to watching the new & improved Nika The Gnat this fall

 

[EricLA]

LOVED reading that about Nika. @MilfordHusky and I talked about that a fair amount. And side note, she had a pretty dismal start to her shooting lats year, but ended the season shooting a respectable 34%, just behind Paige (35%) and Azzi (43%). She shot better than Christyn and Evina. Only Aaliyah had better of the rest of the team (40% on 2-5).

I love the pull up jumper. Sue's is a thing of beauty. Steph Curry's floater is incredible. Giving Nika (and UCONN) one more offensive weapon can only make them better.

 

[EricLA]

This period, for Fudd and the team as a whole, is just a feeling-things-out phase. For some players, it’s about fine-tuning. For some, it’s about getting comfortable at a new school. For still others, it’s still about getting healthy. Only five players — Bueckers, Nika Mühl, Lou Lopez Sénéchal, junior forward Aaliyah Edwards and freshman wing Ayanna Patterson — are everyday full-go players at this point. And Patterson banged up her elbow during a workout last Wednesday.

I only mention that quote because some have speculated about Amari - not being able to go 100% every day, or something like that. Sounds like maybe she has a nagging injury of some kind since only 5 are "full-go players at this point"...

 

[eebmg]

This period, for Fudd and the team as a whole, is just a feeling-things-out phase. For some players, it’s about fine-tuning. For some, it’s about getting comfortable at a new school. For still others, it’s still about getting healthy. Only five players — Bueckers, Nika Mühl, Lou Lopez Sénéchal, junior forward Aaliyah Edwards and freshman wing Ayanna Patterson — are everyday full-go players at this point. And Patterson banged up her elbow during a workout last Wednesday.

I only mention that quote because some have speculated about Amari - not being able to go 100% every day, or something like that. Sounds like maybe she has a nagging injury of some kind since only 5 are "full-go players at this point"...

If there was some nagging issue with Amari, Geno would have been more direct in his language like he was with Azzi, His 1/2 description has to point to effort and other intangibles.

 

[Centerstream]

This period, for Fudd and the team as a whole, is just a feeling-things-out phase. For some players, it’s about fine-tuning. For some, it’s about getting comfortable at a new school. For still others, it’s still about getting healthy. Only five players — Bueckers, Nika Mühl, Lou Lopez Sénéchal, junior forward Aaliyah Edwards and freshman wing Ayanna Patterson — are everyday full-go players at this point. And Patterson banged up her elbow during a workout last Wednesday.

I only mention that quote because some have speculated about Amari - not being able to go 100% every day, or something like that. Sounds like maybe she has a nagging injury of some kind since only 5 are "full-go players at this point"...

I believe in an interview last week that Geno said Amari was "come and go" and didn't really elaborate. However, BYers offered many opinions on it.

 

[Huskee11]

I would watch Nika practicing midrange jumpers in warm-ups before the game. She did not take a lot in games, but many more last year than in her first year and with some success.

Watching her, her form seemed a bit rehearsed, not awkward but almost unfamiliar.

I then saw a video of her from a month or so ago in Croatia and her midrange form and approach looked way better, smooth and natural.

On takes to the hoop, her mindset has been to pass. We saw the same with Anna Makurat. In addition to working on the physical aspect, her mental approach should change. There are times when the pass is the play, and times to take the shot.

She didn`t get to the line a lot last year and her percentage was poor, but I expect her to increase both her attempts and her percentage.

 

[Next 12]

Crystal Dangerfield was a defensive force - low scorer. In her last 2 years she became a shooter and scorer. If Nika can do the same, we will win No,12.

 

[CocoHusky]

Crystal Dangerfield was a defensive force - low scorer. In her last 2 years she became a shooter and scorer. If Nika can do the same, we will win No,12.

Crystal Dangerfield had both Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse as NPOY caliber defenders in her first two season at UCONN so she did not have to be much of a defender. Crystal was an adequate defender but hardly a force. She was also not nearly the reluctant shooter that Nika was in her first two season. In fact in only her second game of her UCONN tenure Crystal led UCONN in FGA (14) and scoring (19) to help UCONN take down #2 Baylor.

 

[oldhusky]

In Nika's pre Uconn videos, you could see several traits that translated to her Uconn career and some that didn't. The defense, rebounding, steals off the dribble, and immediately pushing the ball up the court off a defensive rebound, all those abilities came with her.

Even against that weaker competition she was not a volume scorer or a very efficient shooter. The offense was mostly one of two things, a wide open 3, or she would put her head down and drive to the hoop. Very few pull up jumpers, a standstill 3, or take it to the hoop. Of course when she did drive she was pass first, but got a ton of very creative assists. She was not just an asset on the defensive end, but offensively as well, with far more drives to the hoop, more easy baskets for teammates coming off those drives, and many more assists off a fast breaking offense.

With that offensively more aggressive style she usually led her league in assists, but also had a few too many turnovers. It seems to me a couple of things have changed at Uconn and the high Division 1 level of competition. First Nika's ability to finish herself against bigger better players is greatly reduced. Geno has probably toned down her drives to where they almost never happen anymore. Probably because if she was caught without an available pass, she had trouble scoring herself and she was turnover prone.

We also don't run that much unless it is off a defensive turnover. Few fast breaks and limited driving doesn't allow Nika to show her exceptional passing ability. Geno certainly doesn't like turnovers or stupid fouls and Nika tests his patience on both. Geno has said she has no problem getting to the basket. He knows that, but this year he sounds like he is willing to let her try more. I think if he does he may have to cringe occasionally at a failed attempt at the rim, or a turnover, but the trade off will be many easy baskets off her passes, passes to open players that will not happen if she is just a spot up 3 point shooter in a half court offense.

I hope they give that approach a try, along with pushing more fast breaks. There is a slow it down and run the offense Nika, and a push the pace and penetrate whenever you can Nika. Those are two completely different offensive players.

 

[JoePgh]

I remember reading criticisms of Geno's decision-making when he decided to put Paige back in the starting lineup at the end of the season. There were people here who thought that Nika put more pace in the offense than Paige, because when she got the ball in the back court after a defensive rebound, she always hustled it up the floor -- more so than Paige.

But what we never saw from Nika were the "touchdown passes" (especially to Christyn) that Paige threw routinely. A long pass in transition, if it is completed, puts far more pace into the offense than a fast dribble. One doesn't have to be Paige to make those passes -- many UConn guards (Sue, Renee, Kelly, Bria, Moriah, and Crystal) made those passes with greater frequency and accuracy than Nika.

I hope that Nika works on that aspect of her offensive game in addition to her stop-and-pop game.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Nika's best shot is to become a Rori Harmon type player. Drive the top of the key, or on either side of the "T", for pull up jumpers and she can still kick it out for 3 pointers if she's guarded. Ashlynn Shade can take over that role later. I think it could be a major plus.