Kibitzer Memorial Badass Award

[Gordo]

Paige

 

[Skeets]

you have a point

but i think liya was -- rightly -- thinking at the start of the game 'my first priority is to set the tone on the offensive glass in this situation. that's key against this team and for my team. i can set an example immediately by getting in position for the rebound. paige is our best scorer and when she has such a clear shot she of course is gonna take it. ... oops. that was a mistake.'

i felt that liya was doing the right thing and the 'oops' was paige's fault. 100%. her 'instincts' are sometimes wrong, and this was a prime example that deserved geno's notice.

paige taking the shot rather than passing would have gotten the team off to a better start than making the pass for a potential liya layup. a missed shot is an acceptable outcome, but the turnover on the first possession is a disaster.

That's how I saw it. Aaliyah looked to be getting in position for a rebound. She had her back to Paige and in hindsight Paige should have taken the shot. Kinda tough to say the turnover should be on Aaliyah.

 

[Zarathustra]

That's how I saw it. Aaliyah looked to be getting in position for a rebound. She had her back to Paige and in hindsight Paige should have taken the shot. Kinda tough to say the turnover should be on Aaliyah.

Sometimes it takes " two" to make a "bad" pass or a turnover! In this case, maybe it
was just a case of " bad things happening to (two) good people !!!"

 

[PacoSwede]

Sometimes it takes " two" to make a "bad" pass or a turnover! In this case, maybe it
was just a case of " bad things happening to (two) good people !!!"

that's letting paige off the hook as i see it: she made the crummy decision, liya not so much.

i don't expect paige to be perfect. anybody could have decided 'i'm gonna pass up this good shot for a better shot.' i hear that preached over and over, by media commentators and i suppose by the uconn coaches. it makes sense. it's a good tactic for the 'team' approach.

but there are some variables. for nika, seeking a 'better shot' is clearly preferable to shooting the 'good one.' same goes for kk and ash, to a lesser degree, etc.

but paige is a special case. paige isn't an ordinary shooter. she is exceptional -- an extraordinary shooter and scorer. what would be a 'good shot' for others is in fact a 'great shot' for her. she should not be passing them up.

yet she can't seem to get past the 'get everyone involved' ethos, which nika adheres to and is admirable -- and sadly missing in many players -- but for paige also is detrimental to the team at times. it's tough to see because she is a great talent as a facilitator, but she is an even better scorer. she needs to embrace that for the good of the team.

geno, the great coach, has been trying to get paige to realize this from Day One -- with limited success. it's tough for paige because in some sense she is attempting to reconcile geno's advice with her core principles. she'll have to do it to become a better ballplayer, but her values as a good person may try to veto it.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Different criteria, but Liya was named BE POW.

 

[AmeriConn]

BUCKETS

 

[Blond D.]

5'11" and 10 rebounds. Youve got to be fighting hard to get those. Pushing, shoving, dodging elbows, and not minding going up against players much bigger than you.
Nika has had to embrace a totally new roll this season and has.

Nika is my badass of the game.

 

[Pharos]

I'm hearing a voice. It's shouting "TEAM!"... with a quiet, strong whisper of "PAIGE!"

 

[JeannoCT]

I loved Aubrey in this game. To me she’s a game changer.

 

[Dogstar]

paige was (not surprisingly) great for most of the game.

but i was cussing her for her terrible, harebrained move to start the game that led to the marquette 10 point edge in the first minutes. thank the lord geno pulled her and set her straight!

i refer to her decision to feed liya in the paint, which resulted in an early turnover. it happens, so ok ... except that she did it when she had an open foul-line jumper available (virtually a gimme for paige). ouch! what the hell was she thinking? as the absolute best player on the court, that should not happen, but it too often does, it seems.

guess geno was aghast. i know i was. that was the failure of paige to be an aggressive scorer that so often gets the huskies off to a lousy start.

BTW, i think paige is great, potentially another DT. please forgive me my opinion.

Paige wants to gets her teammates involved early, if AE sees and catches tht pass ( she thought Paige was taking tht shot) it's a layup which is actually a higher percentage shot, Geno sat her and set her straight, and AE ?....she still went to work and got her usual double double.

 

[Dogstar]

I loved Aubrey in this game. To me she’s a game changer.

Totally agree