KK has a fan

[Carnac]

I am in total agreement...KK is special. I look forward to watching her with the rest of the Huskies. I know it's exhibition games, but KK is nice....like ice!!

That's right!!! You tell 'em shorty

 

[Carnac]

How many actual games has KK played for UCONN? Not even gonna wait for an answer. It's zero.

BTW who was 2nd in the entire nation in assists last season? Again I'll answer for you - Nika. Who broke the record for total assists in a season, passing Sue Bird, the greatest PG ever to play the game? Nika.

I continue to be absolutely stunned at the people who seem to want to diminish NIka's contributions. There is zero chance - I'll say it again for emphasis ... ZERO CHANCE that Geno demotes Nika to the bench as a non-starter. Unless she's injured.

Honestly, and this is a small rant not necessarily directed at you, but I'm tired of people not giving Nika the credit she deserves. Paige may be the face of UCONN WCBB, but Nika is the heart and soul. She's the engine that drives the entire team. She BLEEDS blue. We are so blessed to have her.

No problem with wanting to see more from KK against D1 competition BEFORE assessing her potential. That's fair. I vividly remember seeing Paige's first game during her freshman year. I was convinced after watching her that she was (as reported by others) the real deal. Geno and his staff have seen KK in person and on videotape. They would not have offered her if they didn't believe she could flourish in this program, and help them win games. The talent is there! I'm convinced of that.

I looked at her play and compared it to the experienced returning veterans that played in the first two games. IMO, she represented herself well. Of course, like everyone else, I want to see what she looks like in those first 4 games against Dayton, NC St. Maryland, and Minnesota. I'm not in the camp that thinks she should start now. That'll come next year after Nika graduates. I have Nika as one of my starting 5. Nothing will change my opinion on that. KK will get plenty of minutes this year.

I'm reminded of what Geno tells his players every year at the beginning of the season........." give me a reason to play you, or a reason to keep you on the bench." KK is a baller and will get her minutes. That's a branch I'm boldly stepping out on without fear or trepidation.

 

[EricSD]

Umm, I want Nika to start as PG. I’m a fan of Nika’s, and I really enjoy watching her play. I am not part of the BY that worships her and doesn’t recognize her limitations as a player.

One reason that Nika broke the assists records is that she took many fewer shots per game than Sue or Paige.

I was really impressed with KK’s talent, though I have no idea if that will transfer to better competition or how long it will take for her to develop into a college player. If she develops quickly, she could take a lot of minutes from Nika. My opinion.

Paige is more than the face of UConn. She is the best player on the team, a far, far better player than Nika. As is Azzi.

I have no problem with your posts on the BY. I always appreciate them. But you are not Geno, you haven’t seen KK in practice, and you can’t guarantee there’s zero chance that Geno will « demote » Nika sometime during the season. If Geno eventually starts Paige as PG and plays Nika off the bench, « stabbing Nika in the back, » as someone said, I will remind you of your guarantee. Geno will do what he needs to do to win a championship.

Not sure I get your post at all. Caroline Doty was basically playing on 1 good leg and she started her senior year. It took 2 injuries before Maya was made a starter. Diana did not start early in her freshman season, starting 14 games later in the season. The reason? Injury to Sveta. Neither did Nykesha (start her 1st season).

As for the "Nika worship" comment, no idea where that came from, or if you were referring to me, since you replied to my post, but that particular kind of snark is just silly. BTW every player not named Maya has limitations. To be honest, both Paige and Azzi have both been limited by injuries. And I'd rather not drone on about the "limitations" of every player on the roster. Good grief - we have the best team in the nation.

And what difference does it make if Nika "took many fewer shots per game than Sue or Paige"? Just wow... Nika poured in over 7 PPG last season, certainly a solid number when you have scorers on the team like Liya, Azzi and Lou, not to mention Dorka and Aubrey. You WANT your incredible Lieberman nominated PG to DO that. (somehow I missed your comment about how the "Nika worship" apparently spread to the Lieberman nominating committee). BTW know how many points HOF PG Ticha Penechiero averaged her entire WNBA career? 6.1 PPG.

But yeah, please be sure to save my post and bring it up if Nika somehow gets demoted to the bench. I can't say I will do the same when the season ends and she's started every game.

 

[ballerfan]

Not sure I get your post at all. Caroline Doty was basically playing on 1 good leg and she started her senior year. It took 2 injuries before Maya was made a starter. Diana did not start early in her freshman season, starting 14 games later in the season. The reason? Injury to Sveta. Neither did Nykesha (start her 1st season).

As for the "Nika worship" comment, no idea where that came from, or if you were referring to me, since you replied to my post, but that particular kind of snark is just silly. BTW every player not named Maya has limitations. To be honest, both Paige and Azzi have both been limited by injuries. And I'd rather not drone on about the "limitations" of every player on the roster. Good grief - we have the best team in the nation.

And what difference does it make if Nika "took many fewer shots per game than Sue or Paige"? Just wow... Nika poured in over 7 PPG last season, certainly a solid number when you have scorers on the team like Liya, Azzi and Lou, not to mention Dorka and Aubrey. You WANT your incredible Lieberman nominated PG to DO that. (somehow I missed your comment about how the "Nika worship" apparently spread to the Lieberman nominating committee). BTW know how many points HOF PG Ticha Penechiero averaged her entire WNBA career? 6.1 PPG.

But yeah, please be sure to save my post and bring it up if Nika somehow gets demoted to the bench. I can't say I will do the same when the season ends and she's started every game.

For the last time, I want Nika to start. I’m a fan of hers.

Worship is an exaggeration.

I don’t want to get into an extended dispute with you. I really like your posts, and I mostly agree with you about things.

See you in another thread.

 

[Gus Mahler]

This BY Nika debate sure has legs.

Speaking of KK: It looks like she's got all the shots and most of the moves. Her real test will come when a D1 player splats her on the floor after driving for a layup. Will she be able to bounce back? I'll guess yes and hope to see it.

 

[tower1]

KK has been the most impressive freshman on the European tour. She is explosive off the dribble and a relentless defender. Clearly, KK will get a lot of PT this coming season. But let’s be clear. Nika is and will be the starting pg all season long. The great thing about having KK on the team is that Nika won’t have to play 40 mpg this season.

UConn has 4 outstanding guards that they can plug and play right now: Paige, Azzi, Nika & KK. Ashlynn is close to making it 5 and Ines has proven that she can step in if needed. With everyone healthy, UConn’s backcourt is as strong as I have ever seen it.

That brings us to the frontcourt. Right now, Aaliyah & Aubrey start, with Ice and Quadence off the bench. Caroline, Ayanna and Amari are all question marks due to health issues and or their perceived ability to step up in prime time.

If UConn can get quality PT out of every frontcourt player, the Huskies will be formidable. But that still remains to be seen.

I don't think that any good coach in the country would sit KK Arnold she is too good ! And she plays pretty good defense too,

 

[MilfordHusky]

I am in total agreement...KK is special. I look forward to watching her with the rest of the Huskies. I know it's exhibition games, but KK is nice....like ice!!

Special KK!

 

[Skeets]

Nika was 3rd in the nation in total minutes played last year, only slightly behind Van Lith and Amoore. I think Geno plans to give her breaks this season, by using Paige and KK. Look for Nika to keep up the intensity and not wear down as much. I think KK likely will be the 2nd player off the bench, maybe the 1st.

Nika will start. With the guards Geno has at his disposal he'll probably play a 3-guard offense and to start, Nika will be one of them. And why not? The frontcourt is a little thin and the backcourt is nice and fat.

Nika played an outrageous number of minutes last year because she had to. This year there ought to be no need for that. I have no problem with Nika's minutes being reduced to 20-25 per game if 1 or more of the other guards prove effective enough to take those minutes. Geno should have the luxury of plug and play. There are huskies on the bench, but none of them are dogs.

Going to be a fun year. I feel like I've been transported back in time to the years of Sue and Diana, Svet and Shea, etc.

 

[oldude]

I don't think that any good coach in the country would sit KK Arnold she is too good ! And she plays pretty good defense too,

I agree. But Nika will start.

 

[HuskyNan]

Special KK!

View attachment 90853

That name is taken by Kaleena Smith

 

[Rowdy831]

The shiny new object seems to be the talent of KK. Watching the games it is apparent the teams they are playing would be a very bad college teams here. When all your Freshman look good you know you can't base any evaluation of talent on what you are watching. Nika is the two time DPOY and UCONN needs her leadership more than her points so she will be the starter. When will the Q replacing Azzi talk start?

 

[oldude]

The shiny new object seems to be the talent of KK. Watching the games it is apparent the teams they are playing would be a very bad college teams here. When all your Freshman look good you know you can't base any evaluation of talent on what you are watching. Nika is the two time DPOY and UCONN needs her leadership more than her points so she will be the starter. When will the Q replacing Azzi talk start?

Your point is well taken. UConn has faced two less athletic teams and blown them out. In those games, KK has looked fabulous. The proof of the pudding will be when she faces some of the powerhouse teams in UConn’s OOC schedule. Like all UConn freshmen I expect to see good & bad from KK. I also expect to see her improve over the course of the season to the point where she will be a significant factor, off the bench, in the postseason.

 

[Carnac]

That's the consensus so far. She doesn't need to start. She will get close to starter's minutes....IMO. The more she plays....the more she plays. We've seen in just two games how special she is. I could tell Paige was special after that fist game her freshman year. KK has shown me enough. I'm sold. KK will know the system and be a lot more comfortable with the offense come March. All things in time.

To follow up on this earlier thought................I'm not suggesting that I'm an expert on evaluating talent, but........I know a gamer when I see one. A former NFL player who was co-hosting the Good Morning Football show on Friday was asked how long did it take him to tell if a rookie was any good. He said he could tell after one practice. He didn't need a game to tell. He said..."If a guy can play, he'll do things on the field that will demonstrate he can play, and that he knows what he's doing."

My son was the assistant coach for our local high school's girl's JV basketball team for 8 years. They held tryouts twice a year. I would always attend those tryouts just to see the new talent that was coming in that year. There was ALWAYS one or two girls that stood out from the others It was not hard to tell the girls that had played before (and could play) and those that could not. A lot of them could not dribble, pass or shoot, but they wanted to play. You could tell almost immediately those that were going to make the team and those that had no hope. We've been watching UConn WBB long enough to recognize a baller when we see one.

I need 4-5 games at the beginning of the season to tell what kind of team we have, because 1 game does not a season make. I don't need that long to judge if a player can play or not. Again..........I had no problem seeing that Paige was everything she was touted to be and that she was the real deal. I read about her all summer but had never seen her play. I needed to see her play at THIS level against D1 competition. I was sold on Paige after the first game and wanted the ball in HER hands after that. I can't tell at THIS point in the season who will be the starting PG next year, but don't be surprised if it's KK. She's good now. She'll be much better this time next year after she's been around the block once.

 

[MilfordHusky]

That name is taken by Kaleena Smith

Greg Kelser, who played with Magic at Michigan State, was called Special K. So was Larry Kenon, who played with Dr. J. in the pros. I’m not suggesting that we call her that; I was just responding to the post calling her special. But she could be the first Special KK.

 

[oldude]

Greg Kelser, who played with Magic at Michigan State, was called Special K. So was Larry Kenon, who played with Dr. J. in the pros. I’m not suggesting that we call her that; I was just responding to the post calling her special. But she could be the first Special KK.

A few years ago there was an Australian tennis player of Greek heritage by the name of Thanasi Kokkinakis, who attempted to commercialize the use of his nickname “Special K” on a line of clothing and tennis equipment. Alas, Kellogg’s, who has owned the Special K trademark in Australia for 60+ years, sued to halt the use of its trademark.

I don’t think anyone has trademarked “Special KK” yet, although I suspect that if our KK attempts to do so, the folks in Battle Creek, MI would object, pointing out the similarities between Special K and Special KK…..

 

[Bone Dog]

A lot of folks fussed about using Lou as the nickname for our most recent superstar. And then we watched her play for a season, being brilliant, a consummate team player, a Husky, gutting out wins, doing whatever was asked of her, playing injured, and occasionally putting the team on her back to get a win. All the fussing over a nickname died down.

 

[Bald Husky]

A few years ago there was an Australian tennis player of Greek heritage by the name of Thanasi Kokkinakis, who attempted to commercialize the use of his nickname “Special K” on a line of clothing and tennis equipment. Alas, Kellogg’s, who has owned the Special K trademark in Australia for 60+ years, sued to halt the use of its trademark.

I don’t think anyone has trademarked “Special KK” yet, although I suspect that if our KK attempts to do so, the folks in Battle Creek, MI would object, pointing out the similarities between Special K and Special KK…..

Seems good to me. Screw them. LOL. If McDonalds couldn't win their lawsuit against Mr. McDougal for having Golden Arches in the movie "Coming to America" then Special KK should be fine. Like that name.

 

[Cuango]

The shiny new object seems to be the talent of KK. Watching the games it is apparent the teams they are playing would be a very bad college teams here. When all your Freshman look good you know you can't base any evaluation of talent on what you are watching. Nika is the two time DPOY and UCONN needs her leadership more than her points so she will be the starter. When will the Q replacing Azzi talk start?

I’m pretty sure you’re the first to bring up the “Q replacing Azzi talk” so, I guess you’ve started it! Let me be the first to roll my eyes!
As for Nika starting or not, the continuation of Caroline’s unfortunate head injury issues has IMO, essentially settled that debate. The starting five debate, IMO, was really between Nika and Caroline. If Caroline is unable to fulfill that role, then the debate is over! Of course, if Caroline should get past this problem and it is no longer an issue, then it’s back on like Donkey Kong!
A healthy Paige, Azzi, Caroline, Aubrey/Ice, Aaliyah > Nika, Azzi, Paige, Aubrey/Ice, Aaliyah!

 

[Bald Husky]

I’m pretty sure you’re the first to bring up the “Q replacing Azzi talk” so, I guess you’ve started it! Let me be the first to roll my eyes!
As for Nika starting or not, the continuation of Caroline’s unfortunate head injury issues has IMO, essentially settled that debate. The starting five debate, IMO, was really between Nika and Caroline. If Caroline is unable to fulfill that role, then the debate is over! Of course, if Caroline should get past this problem and it is no longer an issue, then it’s back on like Donkey Kong!
A healthy Paige, Azzi, Caroline, Aubrey/Ice, Aaliyah > Nika, Azzi, Paige, Aubrey/Ice, Aaliyah!

NO!

 

[VA Huskie]

Can KK play the 4?? She would get starter minutes then! UConn is filthy talented and rich at the guard position.

Nika will probably start at the beginning of the year because of her past performance and experience. But KK brings a skill set that is unique.

Not to throw water on the fire, but we’ve only seen her against pretty low level competition.

 

[oldhusky]

I think sometimes it is easy to be too focused on the competition at one position. I think Nika will start with Paige and Azzi to cover our three guard positions. Nika is a senior, the incumbent PG starter, and the the assists and defensive player of the year two times running speak for themselves. Nika is a quality starter, not a star by Uconn standards, but a great compliment to two or three other stars.

KK probably has more upside and could be the better player in her first year, or more likely further in her career, but since Nika is a senior incumbent, she has to be significantly better than Nika in her first year to take that starting spot. Could she do that? maybe but it is a pretty high bar. Regardless KK can force Geno to play her, but remember the backup minutes for positions 1-3 also include Caroline and Aubrey in the competition.

Those two will be used mostly at the 3, but Aubrey and Caroline are both proven if healthy (a big if for Caroline). There is enough positional versatility that any one or two from KK, Caroline and Aubrey could be the principle backups for 1-3, although this year Aubrey may be needed more upfront, that might allow KK and Caroline to get close to all the backup minutes behind the starting three.

 

[MilfordHusky]

A few years ago there was an Australian tennis player of Greek heritage by the name of Thanasi Kokkinakis, who attempted to commercialize the use of his nickname “Special K” on a line of clothing and tennis equipment. Alas, Kellogg’s, who has owned the Special K trademark in Australia for 60+ years, sued to halt the use of its trademark.

I don’t think anyone has trademarked “Special KK” yet, although I suspect that if our KK attempts to do so, the folks in Battle Creek, MI would object, pointing out the similarities between Special K and Special KK…..

If I recall correctly, Geno learned much of his English as a youth from Kellogg's of Battle Creek--reading cereal boxes.

 

[jabstep]

I guess I will jump into the fray. Geno will start Nika in the begining of the season for all of the reasons everyone has stated. Paige and Azzi will be the 2 other guards and be the primary scorers. Aaliyah with play the elbow and be a screeners for the two scorers and be the reciever of beautiful roll passes. Aubrey will rebound and run like a gazelle for fast break points, slashing to the hoop and scoring on putbacks.
Iowa defeated the mighty gamecocks being undersized with Ciziano being the same height as Aaliyah. Playing UCLA early with Betts will be a good comparison for us.

KK will play because she brings something that no one else has in the upperclass starters is quickness and penatration. I noticed that when she is on the court they would bring our one big to the top of the key and open the lanes to the left and right for KK to penatrate. If they bring help defense she can kick to Paige, Caroline,Q and Azzi for 3 pointers. This is no knock on other players just a observation of what certain players can do.

 

[meyers7]

Not sure I get your post at all. Caroline Doty was basically playing on 1 good leg and she started her senior year. It took 2 injuries before Maya was made a starter. Diana did not start early in her freshman season, starting 14 games later in the season. The reason? Injury to Sveta. Neither did Nykesha (start her 1st season).

As for the "Nika worship" comment, no idea where that came from, or if you were referring to me, since you replied to my post, but that particular kind of snark is just silly. BTW every player not named Maya has limitations. To be honest, both Paige and Azzi have both been limited by injuries. And I'd rather not drone on about the "limitations" of every player on the roster. Good grief - we have the best team in the nation.

And what difference does it make if Nika "took many fewer shots per game than Sue or Paige"? Just wow... Nika poured in over 7 PPG last season, certainly a solid number when you have scorers on the team like Liya, Azzi and Lou, not to mention Dorka and Aubrey. You WANT your incredible Lieberman nominated PG to DO that. (somehow I missed your comment about how the "Nika worship" apparently spread to the Lieberman nominating committee). BTW know how many points HOF PG Ticha Penechiero averaged her entire WNBA career? 6.1 PPG.

But yeah, please be sure to save my post and bring it up if Nika somehow gets demoted to the bench. I can't say I will do the same when the season ends and she's started every game.

I will though.

 

[ballerfan]

I will though.

Did you read my posts? I want Nika to be the starting PG, and I want her to be the starting PG throughout the season.

Still you gave me an angry emoji.

Why? Because I don’t have blind devotion to Nika, a player I admire and enjoy watching?

I think Nikaworld is getting nervous about KK.

 

[bmayuc]

Nika is rock solid. KK is all talent and flash and upside

Paige is AA POY caliber

Azzi is AA POY caliber

Can we just enjoy that this will be an all-time backcourt that will have zero weaknesses and can cover each other in case of injury rather than argue about silly things like who starts? They will all find minutes. If anything with Paige and Azzi injury concerns, this will take even more stress off of them and let Geno load balance against worse competition. Its allll good people.

 

[Bills Fan]

I think sometimes it is easy to be too focused on the competition at one position. I think Nika will start with Paige and Azzi to cover our three guard positions. Nika is a senior, the incumbent PG starter, and the the assists and defensive player of the year two times running speak for themselves. Nika is a quality starter, not a star by Uconn standards, but a great compliment to two or three other stars.

KK probably has more upside and could be the better player in her first year, or more likely further in her career, but since Nika is a senior incumbent, she has to be significantly better than Nika in her first year to take that starting spot. Could she do that? maybe but it is a pretty high bar. Regardless KK can force Geno to play her, but remember the backup minutes for positions 1-3 also include Caroline and Aubrey in the competition.

Those two will be used mostly at the 3, but Aubrey and Caroline are both proven if healthy (a big if for Caroline). There is enough positional versatility that any one or two from KK, Caroline and Aubrey could be the principle backups for 1-3, although this year Aubrey may be needed more upfront, that might allow KK and Caroline to get close to all the backup minutes behind the starting three.

KK should not be included in a group that can backup positions 1-3. Shge is way too small to play the 3 and after watching her shoot in Europe she has a long way to go to play the 2, which is usually thought to be the SG. She hustles, is aggressive and like to drive into the lane, BUT she has not demonstrated any perimeter shooting talent at this early part of her career, Hopefully she develops that ability but it hasn't been apparent up to this point.

 

[ballerfan]

KK should not be included in a group that can backup positions 1-3. Shge is way too small to play the 3 and after watching her shoot in Europe she has a long way to go to play the 2, which is usually thought to be the SG. She hustles, is aggressive and like to drive into the lane, BUT she has not demonstrated any perimeter shooting talent at this early part of her career, Hopefully she develops that ability but it hasn't been apparent up to this point.

In the three European games, she shot 2 for 5 from the 3. Not enough to go on and against poor competition. Who knows how she’ll play this season. I do like her shooting form, though. I hope she can play the 2 because she will then have an opportunity to play more minutes.

 

[meyers7]

Did you read my posts? I want Nika to be the starting PG, and I want her to be the starting PG throughout the season.

Still you gave me an angry emoji.

Why? Because I don’t have blind devotion to Nika, a player I admire and enjoy watching?

I think Nikaworld is getting nervous about KK.

Yea, they got rid of the thumbs down, so ya have to use the "angry" one now when you disagree.

 

[oldhusky]

KK should not be included in a group that can backup positions 1-3. Shge is way too small to play the 3 and after watching her shoot in Europe she has a long way to go to play the 2, which is usually thought to be the SG. She hustles, is aggressive and like to drive into the lane, BUT she has not demonstrated any perimeter shooting talent at this early part of her career, Hopefully she develops that ability but it hasn't been apparent up to this point.

My rationale is because of the versatility of other players. Could KK come in for Caroline or Aubrey? of course she could, but she would play the 1 and say Paige or Azzi at the 2 and 3.

Similarly Caroline or Aubrey could come in for Nika, but then Paige would move to the point and Caroline or Aubrey could be used at their more natural 3. The player entering the game doesn't have to play the same position as the one exiting. Paige could be very good at all three perimeter positions, and others have two position versatility.

So with 5 or 6 playing 1-3 you can keep Nika and KK mostly at the 1, rarely playing elsewhere, have Aubrey almost all the time when she isn't at the 4 at the 3, Caroline mostly 3 but a little 2, Azzi mostly 2 but a little 3, and Paige all over the place.