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

[Bone Dog]

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’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?

 

[maple]

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.)

 

[meyers7]

You need to watch this video

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.

 

[eebmg]

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.)

Wow. Paige does not have special intangibles Not THE player that wills a team to victory every game,

Oh, and I would add Sue Bird and talk about a Fab Five.

 

[meyers7]

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.

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.

 

[HuskyNan]

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.

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.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2003-04-08-0304070795-story.html

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.

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

 

[The deacon]

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.

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 Serah Williams 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.

 

[SVCBeercats]

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.

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!

 

[CTBballfan243]

Would’ve, Could’ve, and should’ve’s do not equal The actual act of doing. Therefore there is nothing to compare

 

[Stymie]

INCOMPLETE.

 

[KingKong139]

At this moment in time, she doesn’t compare. Those other three are each arguably a top 5 player in NCAAW history. Paige needs to up her resume to be at that level.

 

[Viet Vet]

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.

 

[cgshuskie]

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.

 

[cgshuskie]

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....

 

[GoUconn7961]

When Paige finishes her career at UConn I’ll circle back. Not ready to dethrone anyone yet statwise or other.

 

[The deacon]

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.

I might agree that it's Sue by a narrow margin over Paige at this point, and Sue's probably my favorite all-time Huskies player. As for that all-time Huskies team, ha, they wouldn't have needed a fifth player... LOL!

Regarding Russell and Wilt, it wasn't about stats. Rather, it was about Russell's remarkable corps of great teammates. Two times Chamberlain had a strong team around him and he won a title.

 

[Viet Vet]

When Paige finishes her career at UConn I’ll circle back. Not ready to dethrone anyone yet statwise or other.

Agreed. I'm not dethroning Paige, just casting my vote today (who knows what tomorrow brings). The other four (Maya, Stewie, Diana and Tina) are, in my opinion, cast in stone.

 

[hoopsfan22]

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 is easily my #4 on the Mt. Rushmore of UConn WBB. Her basketball resume from college to professional and Olympics is ridiculous.

 

[Outrigger]

It's fun to analyze how Bueckers compares to the greatest UConn women basketball players to grace the court while at UConn, by a combination of measuring each player's level of play and the number of individual and UConn team awards that each have received (number of times named ALL this and that and MVP of this and that, plus the number of national championship teams they led, etc.). Most agree (and me too) that Bueckers currently falls well short using those metrics.

But more interesting to me is, which of these UConn women's basketball superstars is overall the best player of the bunch while they played for UConn? The answer is already Paige Bueckers. Her total on-court offensive and defensive skill set is superior to those that Taurasi, Stewart, and Moore (and Bird) possessed at UConn, great as these players were when at UConn.

Bueckers is the best of Taurasi and Bird combined when they played at UConn, but she comes in one package, which in a way says it all.

Delving deeper regarding Taurasi, Stewart, and Moore (plus Bird), I consider Bueckers better than all of them when at UConn in the following categories:
Overall court generalship, court sense, and anticipation.
Passing ability - best at execution of passes that lead or should lead to baskets.
The ability to shoot and score at a high level from anywhere/everywhere on the court under intense defensive pressure (scoring from outside the three-point line, mid-range, and inside (inside includes the array of bank shots, floaters, layups, etc.).
Clutch big game, big moment shooting prowess (shares Number 1 with Taurasi).
Level of destructive defensive presence due to Bueckers' highly aware defensive positioning and anticipatory movement, reflected in her number of steals, blocked shots, and frequent ball deflections that lead to opponent turnovers, and dependably delivered in big-time games too.

Not part of my criteria above, but when you add in Bueckers' innate ability to both raise and settle her teammates play and also supercharge the Husky crowd with her charismatic style, you have the best, whole ball of wax seen to date in Husky WBB Blue.

 

[Littlemin]

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?

Sorry, but I don’t buy for a second that she ”carried” either team to the FF. Was she the best player each year on a FF team? Yes. ”Carried” either team, no. The only game in either tournament she “carried“ the team was NC State. I can make an argument that Bueckers came up lacking in both years FF and NC losses, not that she played poorly, but in using an all time great expectation as a measuring stick. As for comparing Bueckers to Taurasi as a freshman and using that as criteria for an all-time great comparison holds no water for me; let Bueckers approach what Taurasi has done post freshman year and IMO the discussion regarding the two can then begin.

 

[Mdoggie]

I like my iPhone much more than my blackberry. Loved my blackberry when it was new but forgot about it s when the iPhone showed up.

 

[socal613ws]

She is the shiny new toy. Some of y’all have forgotten about what the “greats” accomplished . She has potential ( means you haven’t done anything YET). I said it awhile ago and some posters went on and on about her individual awards in this team sport. Poster tried to hang me out to dry. I imagine, because I truly don’t know, that Paige would give all those awards back for at least 1 championship at this stage in her career.

not to mention we live in a different era, now kids these days think its cool to shoot 3's non stop, makes me not watch basketball like I used too.

 

[Bone Dog]

Sorry, but I don’t buy for a second that she ”carried” either team to the FF. Was she the best player each year on a FF team? Yes. ”Carried” either team, no. The only game in either tournament she “carried“ the team was NC State. I can make an argument that Bueckers came up lacking in both years FF and NC losses, not that she played poorly, but in using an all time great expectation as a measuring stick. As for comparing Bueckers to Taurasi as a freshman and using that as criteria for an all-time great comparison holds no water for me; let Bueckers approach what Taurasi has done post freshman year and IMO the discussion regarding the two can then begin.

Perhaps you misspoke, but Paige’s performance in the NC St game is precisely how we got to the FF game last season. If you concede that she carried the team in that game then by definition you have agreed with me.

Now perhaps you could make a case that she didn’t simply carry us to the FF game the year before when her 28 pts were instrumental in beating Baylor. After all, Christyn had 21 and 7 rebounds in that game and made some clutch plays in the second half. Nonetheless, Paige’s performance seems to me to have been more important. As I remember it, Baylor’s defense plan was focused on stopping freshman Paige, and as soon as Didi went down in the 3rd quarter, she torched them. They eventually made a comeback, aided in part by Christyn’s missed free throws.

If you don’t want to make this case, then you’ll have agreed with me again that Paige carried the team to the FF game.

 

[maple]

Wow. Paige does not have special intangibles Not THE player that wills a team to victory every game,

Oh, and I would add Sue Bird and talk about a Fab Five.

That was just like, my opinion dude.

 

[hoophuskee]

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.

At the pro level; yes.
At the college level; no way.

Unless your "gravy" has a much different meaning than mine. Possible I suppose.