Husky Practice

[DEpup]

Geno didn't use her because he had better options. Muhl is who she is and she is not a great scorer, she's a facilitator and a defender. That is as hard to quantify as the way the team responds to her energy when she is in the game. She likely won't ever be the MOP in a FF but she won't be the reason we lose either.

She just has to score when she is open and be able to get to the rim on occasion. That will limit the double teams on Fudd and Ducharme which is all we need scoring wise from her.

 

[Bone Dog]

I know how important it is for a player to score to be a real force for a team.

Didi Richards never scored much.

Her career stats at Baylor:

games - 129 (98 starts)
pts/game- 6.7 ( made zero 3's in 4 years)
rb's/game - 4.1 (meh)
as/game - 4.4 (meh)

Not very impressive. And yet in a huge NCAA E8 game, she played 30 min, scored but 4 pts and yet her team was out-scored by their opponent by about 20 when she was on the bench for 10 min.

How is that possible that her team scored so much with a non-scorer on the floor and so little with that non-scorer on the bench? I mean she only had 2 boards and 2 assists in that game?

Apples and oranges. Didi could finish at the rim and she had a midrange jump shot off the dribble, two things Nika currently lacks. What they share is great energy and their teams relied on this. So, yes, Baylor was a good team that didn’t win an NC with Didi playing those minutes and only scoring 6.7/g. I think we expect more than that from Nika and the Huskies.

And just to head off the naysayers who think Nika is just fine the way she is — in other words, that she’s unable to improve — I believe she can be more than she has been, and is doing everything she can to make herself a better offensive player. I don’t want to see her on the bench in the 4th quarter in March. I want to see her energy on the floor at those moments, disrupting opponents and putting us over the top. Let’s not cheat Nika of this opportunity.

 

[Alydar]

Apples and oranges. Didi could finish at the rim and she had a midrange jump shot off the dribble, two things Nika currently lacks. What they share is great energy and their teams relied on this. So, yes, Baylor was a good team that didn’t win an NC with Didi. I think we expect more than that from Nika and the Huskies.

And just to head off the naysayers who think Nika is just fine the way she is — in other words, that she’s unable to improve — I believe she can be more than she has been, and is doing everything she can to make herself a better offensive player. I don’t want to see her on the bench in the 4th quarter in March. I want to see her energy on the floor at those moments, disrupting opponents and putting us over the top. Let’s not cheat Nika of this opportunity.

How can you say that? She averaged 2.7 baskets a game in her 1st 2 years? Would those who worry about Muhl be happy with Didi Richards' 3rd year numbers?
I'm trying to show that scoring isn't the only way a player can be a starter and a star. I've read endless comments that unless she can score 12-20 pts a game Muhl is a liability on the floor. Richards is a recent example of why that is simply not true. She wasn't a prolific rebounder nor did she have great assist numbers. Her stats were bad except for her shooting % and that was probably because most of her shots were layups.
I was watching a replay of the NCSt game last night and when Muhl entered the game she had a steal, an offensive rebound and a basket in the first minute or 2. It was a huge emotional lift for the team. She does things in bunches and psychologically that is huge. Richards was an outstanding defender in her last 2 years. Muhl has 2 more years to get that good. Muhl is a defender first. That's what she's good at. She can still get better too. My advise to her would be to work on all phases of your game but focus on what you are naturally good at. My opinion is that great shooters are born like that. If you are a great defender and that's where your talent lies, become an all-time great defender.

 

[Bone Dog]

How can you say that? She averaged 2.7 baskets a game in her 1st 2 years? Would those who worry about Muhl be happy with Didi Richards' 3rd year numbers?
I'm trying to show that scoring isn't the only way a player can be a starter and a star. I've read endless comments that unless she can score 12-20 pts a game Muhl is a liability on the floor. Richards is a recent example of why that is simply not true. She wasn't a prolific rebounder nor did she have great assist numbers. Her stats were bad except for her shooting % and that was probably because most of her shots were layups.
I was watching a replay of the NCSt game last night and when Muhl entered the game she had a steal, an offensive rebound and a basket in the first minute or 2. It was a huge emotional lift for the team. She does things in bunches and psychologically that is huge. Richards was an outstanding defender in her last 2 years. Muhl has 2 more years to get that good. Muhl is a defender first. That's what she's good at. She can still get better too. My advise to her would be to work on all phases of your game but focus on what you are naturally good at. My opinion is that great shooters are born like that. If you are a great defender and that's where your talent lies, become an all-time great defender.

No one’s saying Nika doesn’t do some awesome things. We just need her to do even more awesome things. And that doesn’t mean she has to become a great shooter. She just needs to become a shooter. It’s too tedious to go through this all again. I have no idea who thinks she needs to score 20. Don’t blame me for that thought. I don’t even have a specific number. I just want her to score off the dribble enough to be the threat a pg needs to be.

Your comparison to Didi really highlights the challenge for Nika. Let’s not look only at the Elite Eight game two years ago where Paige torched them. That was a season when I didn’t think they had a chance at an NC, not only because Didi’s production had tailed off from two years earlier, though that had something to do with it. But in their title run, she was much more of a scorer. Just look at the box scores and you’ll see it clear as day. They were a more well rounded team and Didi was a more well rounded player. The notion that UConn won’t be a better team with a more well rounded Nika is about as reasonable as saying the Baylor team that lost to UConn was better than the one that won the NC.

 

[Alydar]

No one’s saying Nika doesn’t do some awesome things. We just need her to do even more awesome things. And that doesn’t mean she has to become a great shooter. She just needs to become a shooter. It’s too tedious to go through this all again. I have no idea who thinks she needs to score 20. Don’t blame me for that thought. I don’t even have a specific number. I just want her to score off the dribble enough to be the threat a pg needs to be.

Your comparison to Didi really highlights the challenge for Nika. Let’s not look only at the Elite Eight game two years ago where Paige torched them. That was a season when I didn’t think they had a chance at an NC, not only because Didi’s production had tailed off from two years earlier, though that had something to do with it. But in their title run, she was much more of a scorer. Just look at the box scores and you’ll see it clear as day. They were a more well rounded team and Didi was a more well rounded player. The notion that UConn won’t be a better team with a more well rounded Nika is about as reasonable as saying the Baylor team that lost to UConn was better than the one that won the NC.

My comment were pointed at anyone in particular, just a response to the constant stream of scoring scoring scoring.
If Muhl was expected to take 12 shots a game she would need to be a better shooter but she isn't, she won't and she doesn't have to in order to be a key part of a title run.

 

[Majic Hands]

I'm one of the crazy Nika fans who gets really irritated when she is disregard as an important player for UConn.

Glad to see posts expressing that Nika needs to improve aspects of her game just as we hope every player will.

Ya, I'm the fan who would loose his mind when Nika would be 2-5 steps inside the Arc, no one close to her and she didn't take the open shot.

Oh Boy! I want Nika to do everything she has always done. And yes. I want her to calmly knock down the shot when the opponent decides to leave her to double team her teammates.

 

[Bone Dog]

My comment were pointed at anyone in particular, just a response to the constant stream of scoring scoring scoring.
If Muhl was expected to take 12 shots a game she would need to be a better shooter but she isn't, she won't and she doesn't have to in order to be a key part of a title run.

I hear you. And yes, she can just be a great defender and not worry about her scoring. It won’t be a disaster. But it probably means she won’t be on the floor in the 4th quarter of big games. And as a consequence, Azzi will probably play pg more and Nika will become her backup. She may start games, especially in the first half of the season. But she’ll effectively have been reduced to a sub who plays 15-20 mins mainly in the first and third quarters. Maybe this is inevitable. I just think she could be more than this.

 

[Alydar]

I'm one of the crazy Nika fans who gets really irritated when she is disregard as an important player for UConn.

Glad to see posts expressing that Nika needs to improve aspects of her game just as we hope every player will.

Ya, I'm the fan who would loose his mind when Nika would be 2-5 steps inside the Arc, no one close to her and she didn't take the open shot.

Oh Boy! I want Nika to do everything she has always done. And yes. I want her to calmly knock down the shot when the opponent decides to leave her to double team her teammates.

Look at it this way. If Muhl is unguarded then if she sets a screen it's a 2 on 1 situation, right? No one to switch with since Muhl's man is on the other side of the court doubling on another UConn player.

"Always look on the sunny side of life"

 

[Bone Dog]

I was just watching tape of the Creighton game from last February and was reminded how impossible it was to get the ball away from Christyn. Her handle was just too strong.

 

[Bald Husky]

I've been watching a lot of last year's games and have noticed many things that I did not pick up on originally. As far as Nika, she CAN hit the pull-up, she CAN drive to the basket, and she is not as slow as some have mentioned. All she has to do is change her mind set to be more aware of her abilities around the basket. I think it is more mental with her, so if coach Paige can remind her at game time, we may eventually have a different opinion of her going forward. I still love what she does for the team, but I think she has a little more in the tank than what she has shown us previously. Go Huskies.

 

[Mdoggie]

I was just watching tape of the Creighton game from last February and was reminded how impossible it was to get the ball away from Christyn. Her handle was just too strong.

I just watched Christyn in the biggest game of her college career. They forgot to give her more than 2 points for those handles. So there that.

 

[Skeets]

I've been watching a lot of last year's games and have noticed many things that I did not pick up on originally. As far as Nika, she CAN hit the pull-up, she CAN drive to the basket, and she is not as slow as some have mentioned. All she has to do is change her mind set to be more aware of her abilities around the basket. I think it is more mental with her, so if coach Paige can remind her at game time, we may eventually have a different opinion of her going forward. I still love what she does for the team, but I think she has a little more in the tank than what she has shown us previously. Go Huskies.

I agree with you and they are slime sisters. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Centerstream]

Swerve - have practices started yet?

 

[Going4Natty]

She no doubt needs work but her fundamentals are reported to be great. Here's a video. Ignore the dunking and listen to the coach describe how she has been trained. (about :20 into the video)

love it! thanks for posting. I believe in her individual skills. I don't think she will integrate immediately Maybe January and February which would be terrific.

 

[Going4Natty]

Dunks is all we wanna see. Pages of comments say so.

LOL! I know you know better. But we could be seeing rise of the distaff version of showtime!

 

[Going4Natty]

Wasn't there another player who played the point??? I'm sure there was, but I don't see her at practice now. I imagine the other teams won't be able to defense against a team with a defense-only point guard. Another thought is that you seem satisfied with last year's results. Good, I am happy you are happy.

 

[Going4Natty]

Let’s not look only at the Elite Eight game two years ago where Paige torched them.

Wasn't that the game where Baylor was leading or tied until Didi pulled a hammy? Then Paige took off, if my debilitated grey matter is correct.

 

[Bone Dog]

Wasn't that the game where Baylor was leading or tied until Didi pulled a hammy? Then Paige took off, if my debilitated grey matter is correct.

I seem to recall something like that.

I may even remember some whining after the game about how Baylor should have won but for a bad call. But no one on Baylor seems to think letting Paige score 28 had anything to do with it, including 3 clutch daggers from 3, or letting CW score 21, or letting Evina shoot 60% from 3. Nope, it was all a blown call on an Ill-advised drive to the hoop right into Liv and Aaliyah rather than taking an open 15 footer.

 

[AmeriConn]

 

[CocoHusky]

How can you say that? She averaged 2.7 baskets a game in her 1st 2 years? Would those who worry about Muhl be happy with Didi Richards' 3rd year numbers?
I'm trying to show that scoring isn't the only way a player can be a starter and a star. I've read endless comments that unless she can score 12-20 pts a game Muhl is a liability on the floor. Richards is a recent example of why that is simply not true. She wasn't a prolific rebounder nor did she have great assist numbers. Her stats were bad except for her shooting % and that was probably because most of her shots were layups.
I was watching a replay of the NCSt game last night and when Muhl entered the game she had a steal, an offensive rebound and a basket in the first minute or 2. It was a huge emotional lift for the team. She does things in bunches and psychologically that is huge. Richards was an outstanding defender in her last 2 years. Muhl has 2 more years to get that good. Muhl is a defender first. That's what she's good at. She can still get better too. My advise to her would be to work on all phases of your game but focus on what you are naturally good at. My opinion is that great shooters are born like that. If you are a great defender and that's where your talent lies, become an all-time great defender.

Lots of reasons. 1) Did Richards Freshman and Sophomore numbers at Baylor are significantly better than Nika's no matter which way you want to parse them. For example you point out that Didi made 2.7 baskets per game in her first two season while Nika has made only 1.6 or 90 FG in 56 Games. 2) Sophomore Didi Richards was a NCAA champion and scored 7.2 PPG which is almost twice what Nika has put up in her best season thus far. 3) If your proposal is that Nika is going to play like Didi Richards did as a junior then sign me up for that all day long.

Since you mention the NCSt game and in support of @Bone Dog earlier point about critical late game situations, this was a double OT game in which Nika logged at total of 8 minutes of game time and Zero minutes combined in the overtime periods of the game. As you correctly point out Nika played well in those 8 minutes of game action and she was on the floor when UCONN need a critical stop at the end of regulation. What this also illustrates is what @#12in21 is struggling with (Nika's value to the team not being recognized) and I tend to think is way out of proportion. In this same game UCONN had 3 guards that played 45, 48 & 49 minutes respectively.

BTW great shooters are not born great shooter.

" Parents ask me: What’s the key to getting my son to shoot like yours? Repetition. You have to have confidence you can do it, and that only comes by putting in work, and then doing it when the game’s on the line.”

--------Dell Curry

 

[Cuango]

How can you say that? She averaged 2.7 baskets a game in her 1st 2 years? Would those who worry about Muhl be happy with Didi Richards' 3rd year numbers?
I'm trying to show that scoring isn't the only way a player can be a starter and a star. I've read endless comments that unless she can score 12-20 pts a game Muhl is a liability on the floor. Richards is a recent example of why that is simply not true. She wasn't a prolific rebounder nor did she have great assist numbers. Her stats were bad except for her shooting % and that was probably because most of her shots were layups.
I was watching a replay of the NCSt game last night and when Muhl entered the game she had a steal, an offensive rebound and a basket in the first minute or 2. It was a huge emotional lift for the team. She does things in bunches and psychologically that is huge. Richards was an outstanding defender in her last 2 years. Muhl has 2 more years to get that good. Muhl is a defender first. That's what she's good at. She can still get better too. My advise to her would be to work on all phases of your game but focus on what you are naturally good at. My opinion is that great shooters are born like that. If you are a great defender and that's where your talent lies, become an all-time great defender.

I’ve followed this Nika discussion pretty closely, and I can’t think of a single post that mentioned 20 points in relation to her. I think I would remember that, as it would be breathtakingly delusional to think she could be a 20 point scorer (especially on this team) Now, I concede I may have missed an occasional post but “endless comments”? There may have been some with a 10-12 goal but most simply want her to be a legitimate threat to score so that she will occupy the defense enough to prevent double teams on our primary scorers.
Last time, (Do I hear a sigh of relief?) I am (and I believe almost everyone is) super happy she is a Husky! She is a big asset for this team. She contributes in many ways and is an important part of the team. She is not, however, a good free throw shooter or a consistent, threatening scorer. If she can improve, particularly in those two areas of her game, we will be a much better team. Not because she will hugely increase her scoring average (though that would be nice) but because our opponents will be forced to pay more attention to her and thus will be less able to double or help on defending our more productive scorers.
That’s it, in a nutshell. Nika Muhl? Love her! Could she be better? Yes!

 

[tkaes]

It’s surprising that we have to say this. But by the time we were in the tournament clawing our way back to the NC game, we had Paige and Nika was not a contributor at the end of close games. Why? Because having her on the floor in the final quarter meant we were playing 4 on 5 on offense.

Now that we don’t have Paige, we want to be able to rely more on Nika in those crucial moments. But this means she has to make the same transition MoJeff made in her junior year and become a half court scoring threat. I think she can do it.

This isn’t rocket surgery. We can pretend Nika doesn’t need to develop offensive skills and thereby consign her to a bit part in the important games. Or we can root for her to become a more complete player the team can depend on at the end of games. It’s not defending her to talk as though she’s not capable of developing.

"Rocket surgery"? Is that something astronauts do from the Space Station?

No offense intended; sometimes mixed metaphors become funnier the more you look at them.

 

[Alydar]

I’ve followed this Nika discussion pretty closely, and I can’t think of a single post that mentioned 20 points in relation to her. I think I would remember that, as it would be breathtakingly delusional to think she could be a 20 point scorer (especially on this team) Now, I concede I may have missed an occasional post but “endless comments”? There may have been some with a 10-12 goal but most simply want her to be a legitimate threat to score so that she will occupy the defense enough to prevent double teams on our primary scorers.
Last time, (Do I hear a sigh of relief?) I am (and I believe almost everyone is) super happy she is a Husky! She is a big asset for this team. She contributes in many ways and is an important part of the team. She is not, however, a good free throw shooter or a consistent, threatening scorer. If she can improve, particularly in those two areas of her game, we will be a much better team. Not because she will hugely increase her scoring average (though that would be nice) but because our opponents will be forced to pay more attention to her and thus will be less able to double or help on defending our more productive scorers.
That’s it, in a nutshell. Nika Muhl? Love her! Could she be better? Yes!

The only reason I put 20 up was in response to the endless posts saying in essence that "Nika needs to replace Bueckers".

 

[Alydar]

BTW great shooters are not born great shooter.

" Parents ask me: What’s the key to getting my son to shoot like yours? Repetition. You have to have confidence you can do it, and that only comes by putting in work, and then doing it when the game’s on the line.”

--------Dell Curry

They may not have been born great shooters but unless you are born with a great deal of talent no amount of work will turn you into a great player. I offer myself as an example. I averaged about a dozen hours a week for over 30 years trying to become a great putter and chipper. I enjoyed every minute of it. But except for a handful of memorable moments over those 30 years I never achieved greatness, near greatness or anything hinting at greatness. I would leave the practice area filled with confidence but my talent always betrayed me sooner or later.

You seem to be implying that Nika simply doesn't work hard enough on her shooting. Got anything to support that view?

 

[Alydar]

Nika didn't play much in the NCSt game because she isn't as good as Bueckers and/or Fudd, not due to her lack of hard work. Neither is any other guard in wcbb in my humble and somewhat biased opinion.
And furthermore, once Juhasz was hurt Geno needed some size at the 3.