When Nika next takes the court for UCONN she will be the most experienced players with the most starts and a Junior. While we all cling to the hope that Nika now finally gets it and does improve her shooting accuracy and volume what I will point out is it should not have taken this long. The calls for Nika to become a better shooter began within her first few practices at UCONN.
"There is this moment I’ll never forget,” Muhl said this week. “It was the beginning of the year, maybe October or something, and we were in practice. I shot the ball maybe two times and I missed both. He completely stopped practice and in front of my face said, ‘You’re the worst shooter that UConn has ever seen.’ He told me, ‘You’re never going to be a shooter.’ "
For Muhl, high energy is a feature, not a bug
Believe it or not this is a kinder gentler but classic Geno. Geno does not throw out that kind of challenge unless her knows that the player has the ability to deliver and as I have written before he does not go to the press to throw out the challenge until he has done so with the player privately.
So what I will actively dispute and continue to harp on is the notion that being surrounded by greater shooters was what has enabled Nika to not individual improve her shooting. The challenge for Nika to become a better shooter was laid down on day 1- that almost two full years ago.
The last sentence is Nika's
“I let him put pressure on me so I could grow my confidence. It was definitely worth it. There’s still a long way to go, don’t get me wrong. But it’s been rewarding to see my progress.”
I think Geno was targeting her 3pt shooting and in particular under open conditions. There was no way around it, she had to be a respectable outside threat and I think she worked her self into that. Then there was the fouling she had to get under control and I think she has also improved alot in that category
Now come the harder issues and deficits in her game, overcoming her enormous desire to pass to players she views as better equipped to score. Mock the idea but this is part of her makeup and it takes alot of work. Unfortunately, it took paige being out to probably make this realistic since if Paige (and in a lesser sense the Senior guards) were playing, she would still defer.
Finally, I want to point out that this is pretty close to how she played in Europe so it should not have been a surprise that her game needed to evolve dramatically . She was never a good 3pt shooter and she always wanted to pass first. True she was a much more explosive driver and finisher but I dont recall any mid range game.
So I say we need to be patient and I expect to be pleasantly surprised by how she takes charge this season.