How does Paige compare to Diana, Maya, and Breanna? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

How does Paige compare to Diana, Maya, and Breanna?

I completely understand the “National Titles” argument and I realize that it is (for most people) the deciding factor when discussing the question of who is the greatest player. However, that is not always the case as Bill Russell had 11 to Jordan’s six. Moriah has 4 just like Stewie but is not in the conversation for the greatest player.
Of course, Paige (at present has none) so I realize l’ve lost my argument before it even starts. I still believe though, speaking strictly about her play on the court, Paige is the best I’ve seen! The player I would put next to her, would be Maya, who was also a truly gifted player with similar “big moment” abilities to Paige and who (like Paige) I would rather watch play than any other player.
Certainly in terms of championships, Paige will never match up to Stewie, or Dee and will have to be very fortunate to tie Maya. Nevertheless, I will still choose Paige as the best “player” I’ve seen.
 
cgshuskie said:
Paige will be a destroyer in the WNBA. With the open floor and with her speed she will be a killer. She will own the W. Unleashed, I wouldn't want to have to defend Bueckers.
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The WNBA players will batter Paige's thin body.
 
The posters here throwing shade at Paige are off-base. She was put in a unique position of coming in and having to lead the team. And led them to two FF's. The others were welcomed by All-Americans. Taurasi didn't have to worry about leading until she was a junior and as a freshman she blew the Final Four. Paige has been great, even when compared with the other greats.
 
Mdoggie said:
Ridiculous! Paige is a killer! Along the line of Kobe, Jordan, Iverson. ALL killers in Athletics want the Championship above every and anything. FACTS. It’s in their DNA! Why some don’t get that is beyond me. Next time you talk to a high level killer/athlete just ask them away from the cameras. It’s not cherry picking! Good grief. The cotton candy, puppies and rainbows are a little much. She can be proud of the team and at the same time know it’s championship or nothing at UConn.
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What you are saying now is different than what you said before. She wants to win a championship yes. But you think that is the only reason why she cmae ot UCONN? SHe even said when she came to UCONN was to also expand her game. Players like Paige are a killer yes. You seriously don't think she came ot UCONN with also expectations of becoming All_Amercian etc too? That would be ridiculous. Part of being a killer is also wanting to be individually great (ie no one can stop me).
 
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Cedar said:
Many of us know that Paige is a phenomenal basketball player, and we are hoping that she has a complete recovery from her surgery to repair her torn ACL.

How great a player is she?

The charts below show how Paige compares to arguably the three greatest players in UCONN women’s basketball history: in chronological order, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart. I used data from Paige’s first two seasons at UCONN, and data from the four-year UCONN careers of Diana, Maya, and Breanna.

Paige averages more assists per game than Diana, Maya, or Breanna averaged. Paige also has a better A/TO ratio, and she has the highest effective field goal percentage of the four players. Her true shooting percentage is identical to Maya Moore’s. Paige also averages almost 2 steals per game, very close to Maya’s UCONN career average.

Paige has better offensive and defensive ratings than Diana Taurasi had during her UCONN career.

Paige’s numbers would be even more impressive if she had not been hampered by injuries. During her freshman season, she had an ankle injury that required surgery during the offseason. In her sophomore season, she suffered a tibial plateau fracture and a lateral meniscus tear, which caused her to miss 19 games. Her scoring averages dropped from 20 points per game during her freshman year to 14.6 points per game during her sophomore year. Her 3-point shooting percentage also dropped significantly, from 46.4% to 35.3%. In contrast, Paige’s field goal percentage rose in her sophomore season, to 54.4%, from 52.4% in her freshman season.

It will be interesting to see how effective Paige is at scoring when she returns to play for the Huskies next season.

Paige can cement her UCONN legacy by leading the Huskies to a national championship, and many of us are hoping she can achieve this goal. But even if she doesn’t, Paige has already established herself as one of the greatest players in the history of UCONN women’s basketball.



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@Cedar, thank you for taking the time to share this with us. It’s very much appreciated.
Although Paige hasn’t won a championship yet, she did outperform the others as a freshman, in winning all the accolades. Her goal is to win (at least) one ‘Chip, and when she does, she’ll be ecstatic, we the BYers will be euphoric. Again!!!
 
SVCBeercats said:
The WNBA players will batter Paige's thin body.
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Paige continues to get stronger and well developed and this will continue over the next 2 years . There are plenty of players with less upper body mass very successful in the WNBA.
 
visitingcock said:
For a variety of reasons including injury, I think she should qualify with just one title.

She led last year’s team to the championship game and her play was fabulous in that game. She was basically playing against two or more defenders all night - and very good defenders at that. She could not have done more to carry her team one championship and one runner up should do it.,

I realize y’all aren’t accustomed to runner/up but it’s great by everybody else.
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@visitingcock, the standards set at UCONN — where a Nat’l Championship is the team’s goal. Always, every year, no matter what. So although Runnerup isn’t bad (it’s actually a great accomplishment, especially after several injuries), UCONN and its fans aren’t satisfied.

PS: SCar fans know how losing in the NCAAs feels. But that pain is erased, and almost forgotten once the Championship is won, and the trophy is held high by the jubilant student athletes.
 
hoophuskee said:
What you are saying now is different than what you said before. She wants to win a championship yes. But you think that is the only reason why she cmae ot UCONN? SHe even said when she came to UCONN was to also expand her game. Players like Paige are a killer yes. You seriously don't think she came ot UCONN with also expectations of becoming All_Amercian etc too? That would be ridiculous. Part of being a killer is also wanting to be individually great (ie no one can stop me).
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My stance has always been the same. Championships are all that matter to killers. The rest is just gravy, it’s good put not filling.
 
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Waquoit said:
The posters here throwing shade at Paige are off-base. She was put in a unique position of coming in and having to lead the team. And led them to two FF's. The others were welcomed by All-Americans. Taurasi didn't have to worry about leading until she was a junior and as a freshman she blew the Final Four. Paige has been great, even when compared with the other greats.
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I don’t believe anyone is “throwing shade“ at Bueckers in the least by not accepting at face value opinions that rank her with the best of the best. I have been involved in basketball at all levels, player, coach, scout, fan, etc. for 6 decades, which doesn’t make my opinion “right” by any stretch of the imagination but it does give me a lot of experience and history upon which to base my opinion.
I have said on many occasions Bueckers is a terrific player, a legit AA, but an all time great, not even close to being in the argument yet, IMO. If that is ‘throwing shade” so be it, we just disagree.
 
Cedar said:
Many of us know that Paige is a phenomenal basketball player, and we are hoping that she has a complete recovery from her surgery to repair her torn ACL.

How great a player is she?

The charts below show how Paige compares to arguably the three greatest players in UCONN women’s basketball history: in chronological order, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart. I used data from Paige’s first two seasons at UCONN, and data from the four-year UCONN careers of Diana, Maya, and Breanna.

Paige averages more assists per game than Diana, Maya, or Breanna averaged. Paige also has a better A/TO ratio, and she has the highest effective field goal percentage of the four players. Her true shooting percentage is identical to Maya Moore’s. Paige also averages almost 2 steals per game, very close to Maya’s UCONN career average.

Paige has better offensive and defensive ratings than Diana Taurasi had during her UCONN career.

Paige’s numbers would be even more impressive if she had not been hampered by injuries. During her freshman season, she had an ankle injury that required surgery during the offseason. In her sophomore season, she suffered a tibial plateau fracture and a lateral meniscus tear, which caused her to miss 19 games. Her scoring averages dropped from 20 points per game during her freshman year to 14.6 points per game during her sophomore year. Her 3-point shooting percentage also dropped significantly, from 46.4% to 35.3%. In contrast, Paige’s field goal percentage rose in her sophomore season, to 54.4%, from 52.4% in her freshman season.

It will be interesting to see how effective Paige is at scoring when she returns to play for the Huskies next season.

Paige can cement her UCONN legacy by leading the Huskies to a national championship, and many of us are hoping she can achieve this goal. But even if she doesn’t, Paige has already established herself as one of the greatest players in the history of UCONN women’s basketball.



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All I can say is that the chart seems to eliminate any dispute as to who was the greatest Huskie ever and that's MAYA MOORE .... she is at the top or near the top of every one of the categories mentioned .... insofar as national championships, it has a lot more to do with the supporting cast that anyone of these great UConn players has had.
 
Littlemin said:
I don’t believe anyone is “throwing shade“ at Bueckers in the least by not accepting at face value opinions that rank her with the best of the best.
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I’m with you on this. But there is a grain of truth in giving Paige some extra credit, in this sense. She carried a team with 5 freshmen in the rotation to the final four in her first year. And the next year, hobbled, she carried a weakened team to the NC game. Diana didn’t do anything like that as a freshman. She did carry a weaker team to the next two NCs, and that was awesome. But if Paige can come back and lead a charge to a couple more NCs, I’d say she belongs in the pantheon right next to Diana and Maya and Stewie… and maybe Azzi and Caroline. Who knows?
 
When it comes to pure stats, I think that Paige is clearly among the greats, and I doubt anyone would argue that.

For me though, Maya, DT, and Stewie are the cream of the crop for more reasons than just stats. Rings, awards, what they did to elevate UConn to new heights, etc, etc, as everyone else has already mentioned, those simply can't be ignored. While it is important to note that Paige has been hampered by injuries, setting those aside, I have never truly felt like she can be THE player that wills a team to victory every single time. It's not a knock on Paige, I just feel like the other three had a special intangible something that puts them in rare air.

(Edit: clarifying to add that she has certainly been invaluable to her team and they would not be as successful without her, but she needs to definitely ball out and win one NC for me to put her up there. But that's just my $0.02.)
 
Aluminny69 said:
You need to watch this video

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Well 1) of course we've heard of her. And 2) she was good in College, good scorer. But she only won 1 of the NPOY awards (Wade). Riley won the other 3 (Naismith, AP, USBWA). So she wasn't even the best her pinnacle year.
 
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majesdane said:
When it comes to pure stats, I think that Paige is clearly among the greats, and I doubt anyone would argue that.

For me though, Maya, DT, and Stewie are the cream of the crop for more reasons than just stats. Rings, awards, what they did to elevate UConn to new heights, etc, etc, as everyone else has already mentioned, those simply can't be ignored. While it is important to note that Paige has been hampered by injuries, setting those aside, I have never truly felt like she can be THE player that wills a team to victory every single time. It's not a knock on Paige, I just feel like the other three had a special intangible something that puts them in rare air.

(Edit: clarifying to add that she has certainly been invaluable to her team and they would not be as successful without her, but she needs to definitely ball out and win one NC for me to put her up there. But that's just my $0.02.)
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Wow. Paige does not have special intangibles Not THE player that wills a team to victory every game,

New Girl Facepalm GIF by HULU


Oh, and I would add Sue Bird and talk about a Fab Five.
 
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HuskyNan said:
Diana was a point forward.

Geno said Maya would have had more points if she had the ball in her hands as much as Diana.
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Are you confusing the 2? DT was not a point forward. She won the NLC Pt Guard award 2 years.

And Geno is known to exaggerate. Moore took more shots than any other player in UCONN history. And is in the top 10 for assists. She had the ball plenty.
 
meyers7 said:
Are you confusing the 2? DT was not a point forward. She won the NLC Pt Guard award 2 years.

And Geno is known to exaggerate. Moore took more shots than any other player in UCONN history. And is in the top 10 for assists. She had the ball plenty.
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Geno called Dee a point forward, a forward that plays at the point or vice versa.

Found this:

Connecticut primarily uses a four-guard lineup with Taurasi often working as the point forward, which explains why she's UConn's top rebounder.


Bird and Taurasi are great stories who made themselves useful. Bird is a brilliant point guard and organized an offense made of players just learning each others' tendencies. Taurasi played point forward, demonstrating her basketball IQ with her passing.

sports.yahoo.com

Souhan: Reeve in charge, Bueckers at guard? U.S. women’s hoops likely to improve

SAITAMA, Japan — Dawn Staley had just announced, during a gold medal press conference, that she was "done" as the U.S. women's basketball head coach. After she stepped off the podium, I asked her if she would recommend Lynx coach and General Manager Cheryl Reeve as her replacement...
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com
 
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meyers7 said:
Well 1) of course we've heard of her. And 2) she was good in College, good scorer. But she only won 1 of the NPOY awards (Wade). Riley won the other 3 (Naismith, AP, USBWA). So she wasn't even the best her pinnacle year.
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The video was about Jackie being a great player as a relative unknown, considering her accomplishments, not so much about really being the greatest player ever. Coming from a tiny high school and playing college ball at SW Missouri State I believe would qualify her in that regard, at least. Riley played at Notre Dame, in the spotlight, and had a built-in edge in NPOY voting. Jackie also was a very good pro until injuries quickly ended her career.
 
meyers7 said:
Well 1) of course we've heard of her. And 2) she was good in College, good scorer. But she only won 1 of the NPOY awards (Wade). Riley won the other 3 (Naismith, AP, USBWA). So she wasn't even the best her pinnacle year.
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She WAS the best in my opinion but she played for small college with no sports cachet. The sports snobs tried to ignore her. Stiles out did Bueckers by taking Southwest Missouri State (SWMS) to the final four in 2001 after beating the #1 seed Duke in the Sweet Sixteen. SWMS did not have the talent UCONN had in Paige's freshman years. Not even close!
 
Would’ve, Could’ve, and should’ve’s do not equal The actual act of doing. Therefore there is nothing to compare
 
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For the moment, let's put aside the comparative stats. If you were constructing an all-time UConn women's team, who would you have as your point guard alongside, Maya, Stewie, Diana and Tina?

I'll take Sue Bird over Paige, albeit barely. For me, it's akin to Russell vs Wilt. Stats don't win championships.
 
Sue Bird over Paige? I don't think so!!!! Paige is a much better shooter than Sue, even though Sue is a class A shooter. Both have the clutch gene! Paige is a 'once in a lifetime' bucket. Sue Bird was a great WNBA point guard, shooter, play maker, but Paige ( I predict ) will terrorize the W. A better shooter than SI.
 
Paige has more gears than even Sabrina I..... as good an eye for the court, better on defense, as good a passer, foul shooter and all else. Give me Paige....
 
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