I am somewhat concerned that Paige’s combination of enormous talent and a lean body will make her a target of opposing teams in much the same way as Stewie and Lou, as they impose a “hack-a-Husky” strategy to knock her off her game.
I don't think Aubrey knows the offensive sets. Several times she came down court into the key then looked around and moved to her spot. She's terrific in the full court where she can use her superior athleticism, but I think she slows down the half court rotations.
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Right now Nika subs in for Evina which is ball handler, passer and playmaker for ball handler, passer and playmaker. You lose that with Aubrey or Mir and you also lose the outside shooting. Both Nika and Evina are very good shooters. They are both getting their sea legs now for different reasons so we have to be patient. You are right that it is different for Evina to be working out and hitting her shots in practice after coming back from double surgery and then doing it in a game.This was only her second game in two years! Evina needs to shoot more but I think that is just a confidence issue. She has a very solid pull up jumper and good form on her 3 and can penetrate. Although she overpasses sometimes, she will get a ton of assists this year. She had 7 last night. Nika needs to hit some 3s and get used to NCAA play but she is a gritty defender. Evina is an excellent defender too but Park Lane had a career night. She did nothing against the zone except for one drive so you will probably see a lot more of that when and if we play them again. Even Mir could not stop Park Lane when she covered her last night so I don't see how that would have changed anything. Imagine the team with Nika and EW being able to contribute offensively with 3s and drives as well. That will happen down the road just like it happened for Anna last year.
Yes, but an important part of Paige’s game is driving to the basket on offense, where she will attract a lot of attention from multiple defenders bent on stopping her anyway they can.
How about Brianna Stewart wasn’t that a concern back then
I noticed she could have taken a couple of shots but chose to pass. Until she starts shooting and making shots probably will limit her playing. Her defense is outstanding , along with rebounding.
Yes as I indicated in my post when I referenced “Stewie.”
Terrible x 100
Evina is used to having the ball in her hands. Also she is used to taking more shots. Once she gets into game shape mentally she will be a big offensive threat. When Anna and Evina start hitting their outside shots and Williams continues to shoot like she did last night, UConn will be hard to stop from scoring.
Totally agree. You will have 5 offensive threats in the starting lineup with 3 offensive players, Paige, Evina and CW, who make plays for themselves and others by driving from the foul line and perimeter and 4 players, (even ONO to a limited extent), AM, Paige, CW and Evina who will be solid 3 point shooters. You also have 3 top shelf passers in Paige, Anna and Evina at the same time. I watched very carefully as Evina would set up the offense when she had the ball bringing it up. We have to remember also that Evina is the oldest player on the team and used to being the go to player as you point out. Honestly, I am reminded of the 2018 Villanova championship team in the respect that everyone on the starting team can shoot the three ball and 4 of them can do it and will do it eventually with proficiency. Add in the bench players and the scoring will not be a problem as you indicate.
Along established BB tradition, you go down the lane expect to get your lumps.
As someone who spent most of my basketball days in the lane, I couldn’t agree more. But even in the lane, there are some limits.
Fairly decent all around. I'm dismayed that people are complaining about referring 2 games into the season. Complaining about refs is like complaining about the rain. Everybody's going to get wet so stop complaining, get out your umbrella and move on.
What are people going to do when we get truly bad refs?
obvious foul committed against CW going to the bucket at some point in the second half...they could have called two on that play..got her low and on the arm....
I think he is being unfair. She did miss a defensive assignment but she wasn't the only one. Geno could have sat the entire team for the second half if that is the barometer. Asking MM to guard LPL was a tough task for a freshie in her second game. I'm not sure she is a great perimeter defender at this point but it would have been nice to see her go at LPL in the second half. The effort she gave deserved some more minutes in the second half. Of course I dont have 1000 wins and 11 championships, but I do have an opinion, for whatever that is worth!
