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Message: [QUOTE="TeamFirst!, post: 4321297, member: 11538"] I try hard to stay positive but as much as I like and admire Nika as a person, she's #4 or 5 on the guard depth chart to me. Her defense is good, not the sensational she's been given credit for so many times. She hustles a lot and that's terrific. She has quick hands but she can also be posted up pretty easily and she doesn't block shots much. I love how she is willing to hit the floor for loose balls and respond more quickly than almost anyone but I don't rate defenders by how determined they look and how much they growl. They also need size and anticipation skills. Paige steals more balls overall when she's healthy. And Nika's offense is not up to Uconn standards. If she gets more than 15 minutes PT on average we are not optimized. If the team has some injuries she's great to help cover for them. If we are playing another Big East team we probably win no matter who is in that slot anyway, and she's had a ton of success against mediocre teams, but we want to beat the top teams don't we? A black hole on offense is a problem against top teams and they will exploit it. She doesn't drive down the middle much because she gets stuffed in the paint regularly. She is a great player but not great enough to get a lot of playing time with Uconn unless someone is injured. There is nothing wrong with that role. That's better than 99% of the women basketball players in America. If she can develop a 3 point shot with regular knock downs, and I think she can, then her playing time can increase but she cannot be a black hole on offense. I'm not giving up on her and wish her the best. [/QUOTE]

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