Nika +13

[uconnfan68]

I'm sorry but I disagree.
First, Nika brings energy to the team and her presence helps keep the team fired up and helps them against a team that was playing physical tough defense.
Second, by the time of her 5th foul, it was clear that when Ice came in, the defense did not have enough footspeed to have any chance of keeping Hidalgo in front of them and/or out of the paint.

Nika's a senior and she should be smarter than she was last night. Once she was out, it became a layup drill for Hidalgo.

It never should have been a layup drill, period.

 

[Zarathustra]

Against Villanova it will be NIKA (and KK) against Lucy Olsen. Lucy is good, but
she is not Hannah Hildalgo. UCONN WINS (IMHO). However, everybody now
has an even clearer blueprint on how to Beat our injure ridden Huskies! GO NIKA!
GO KK! The lesson has been learned, if may not be pretty, but the cup is still
half full. Ok, maybe 1/4 filled!

 

[Rowdy831]

+/- stats are not always very meaningful, but this time it is glaring...

During the 19 min with Nika on the floor, UConn outscored Notre Dame by 13.
During the 21 min with Nika on the bench, Notre Dame outscored UConn by 28.

Read the two lines above. And then read them again. And one more time

Even with Paige banged up, Ash going 0-6 on threes, etc., we would have still won if Nika wouldn't have been pulled out of the second quarter with foul trouble and not playing but the first minute of the fourth after fouling out.

With Nika on the floor, the offense flows and the defense is in synch (btw, Hidalgo was exceptional but she scored 24 of her points when Nika was out...). With Nika on the bench, the offense stagnates and the defense is out of sorts. Geno said it point blank in the post-game presser. She largely got the foul trouble under control the past year and a half. She won't fall into it again this season.

I am not worried. The sky is not falling.

I think it was more about fatigue than Nika being on the floor. ND played very good defense and make UConn work for every look and UConn didn't sub at all. UConn had the same issue late last season when they played too many minutes. On defense Nika struggled to play Hidalgo one on one but more importantly once she got past the first line no one helped at the basket.

 

[Urshurak]

Against Villanova it will be NIKA (and KK) against Lucy Olsen. Lucy is good, but
she is not Hannah Hildalgo. UCONN WINS (IMHO). However, everybody now
has an even clearer blueprint on how to Beat our injure ridden Huskies! GO NIKA!
GO KK! The lesson has been learned, if may not be pretty, but the cup is still
half full. Ok, maybe 1/4 filled!

I would say bottom of glass is wet, but that’s about it.

We need Nika or it goes to heck against elite teams. It’s obvious to me and the data supports it.

It was just a bad bad game. It happens.

 

[Rowdy831]

ND had so many lay ups by their guards I don't know how you can say any player played good defense in that game. Outside of AE it looked like every other player was wearing lead shoes on defense. UConn has absolutely no chance if the other team has a little size and attacks the basket.

In my opinion they will win every league game and win a couple tournament games but unless they make a conscience effort to prepare Amari to play against the giants, that will be where it ends. Right now Ice isn't doing enough on offense or defense to justify leaving your 6'6 player on the bench. UConn wins easily against any team in the league with Paige, AE, Nika and any other two on the team playing. They need to adjust if winning a NC is still a goal.

 

[npignatjr]

Nika is one of our core players, but she has had these sloppy foul issues all year. Suggest that for big games in the remaining schedule, Geno plan for them to continue and manage substitute patterns accordingly. With so few solid subs, there are matchups that Nika is ideal for - Huskies will continue to find it difficult to change on the fly when surprises occur.

Including last night for the year averaging 2 fouls a game.

 

[Redux]

the cup is still
half full. Ok, maybe 1/4 filled!

I keep looking for this imaginary glass everyone speaks of, but I don't see it. Now I'm supposed to find this cup! I have the faint hope I might see a few drops in this mythical container if I could just find it!

UConn will never win a game again in this century unless they pick up a player from Antarctica and schedule a senior homecoming game at the South Pole with some aging scientists.

 

[darkstar1]

+/- stats are not always very meaningful, but this time it is glaring...

During the 19 min with Nika on the floor, UConn outscored Notre Dame by 13.
During the 21 min with Nika on the bench, Notre Dame outscored UConn by 28.

Read the two lines above. And then read them again. And one more time

Even with Paige banged up, Ash going 0-6 on threes, etc., we would have still won if Nika wouldn't have been pulled out of the second quarter with foul trouble and not playing but the first minute of the fourth after fouling out.

With Nika on the floor, the offense flows and the defense is in synch (btw, Hidalgo was exceptional but she scored 24 of her points when Nika was out...). With Nika on the bench, the offense stagnates and the defense is out of sorts. Geno said it point blank in the post-game presser. She largely got the foul trouble under control the past year and a half. She won't fall into it again this season.

I am not worried. The sky is not falling.

I absolutely agree. I did not a +/- stat but it sure seemed while watching the game that with Nika in, UConn just played with more focus and intensity. Without her, ND scored at will. Glad to see my eyes did not deceive me.

 

[JoePgh]

I think it was more about fatigue than Nika being on the floor. ND played very good defense and make UConn work for every look and UConn didn't sub at all. UConn had the same issue late last season when they played too many minutes. On defense Nika struggled to play Hidalgo one on one but more importantly once she got past the first line no one helped at the basket.

Your first claim (about excessive minutes by UConn starters causing fatigue relative to Notre Dame starters) is factually unsupported. For UConn, Aaliyah and Ashlynn played 40 minutes, while KK played 39 and Paige had 37. But for ND, Hidalgo, Westbeld, and Citron all played 40 minutes -- not significantly less than UConn's starters. If Nika had not been limited to 19 minutes by foul trouble, the other starters could have played fewer minutes. Both teams played only 7 players, i.e., ND did not use a bigger bench rotation.

Regarding Nika defending Hidalgo, Geno commented in the postgame presser that the team defense on Hidalgo was much better when Nika was in the game, because the freshmen made errors in team defense that an experienced player would not make.

So I think that most of the defensive problems were rooted in Nika's limited availability. A UConn win would have been possible if she had been able to stay in the game. Although she didn't score, she had 3 assists, 3 steals, and 4 rebounds in her 19 minutes, and the majority of Hidalgo's scoring occurred while Nika was on the bench.

 

[Geesworld]

Two Biggest question

1. How come we get the worse end of foul calls, even at home? To often Aaliyah has to get Mugged and taken to the ground just to get a call? Seriously not liking how we get officiated the last couple of years.

2. Why was Nika still in the game to get her third foul in the second quarter?

Nika has Two Big East defender of the year and second team awards. Yet she gets treated like she is a second rate defender by these refs. She picked up some questionable calls early and wasn't protected by Coach. Think it's pretty harsh to say she wasn't smart or question her IQ.

 

[Conndog]

Well, barring the unlikely scenario where Ines plays more and contributes significantly, Nika is the best point guard that is on the team now. There is a drop-off when someone subs for her because the bench is so limited, both offensively and also knowing defensive assignments. Nika averages about 7 points per game. In the future, there probably will be a point guard with more offensive skills, possibly a great deal more offense. But until then, Nika is the point guard.

 

[Blond D.]

Two Biggest question

1. How come we get the worse end of foul calls, even at home? To often Aaliyah has to get Mugged and taken to the ground just to get a call? Seriously not liking how we get officiated the last couple of years.

2. Why was Nika still in the game to get her third foul in the second quarter?

Nika has Two Big East defender of the year and second team awards. Yet she gets treated like she is a second rate defender by these refs. She picked up some questionable calls early and wasn't protected by Coach. Think it's pretty harsh to say she wasn't smart or question her IQ.

#2...Because Nika has played almost an entire game with 2 fouls many nights. Nika isnt a fouling machine like she has been in the past. Shes done a really great job this year of playing super tight defense without fouling. The ND game was just a bad day at the office.

 

[Zanzman]

Think its pretty weak to blame the refs

 

[Geesworld]

#2...Because Nika has played almost an entire game with 2 fouls many nights. Nika isnt a fouling machine like she has been in the past. Shes done a really great job this year of playing super tight defense without fouling. The ND game was just a bad day at the office.

I agree with that.

 

[JoePgh]

Well, barring the unlikely scenario where Ines plays more and contributes significantly, Nika is the best point guard that is on the team now. There is a drop-off when someone subs for her because the bench is so limited, both offensively and also knowing defensive assignments. Nika averages about 7 points per game. In the future, there probably will be a point guard with more offensive skills, possibly a great deal more offense. But until then, Nika is the point guard.

So you equate "offensive skills" solely with scoring? Assists don't count? Really? What about offensive rebounds?

Nika contributes more to UConn's offense than you give her credit for, and Geno and her teammates know this.

Nonetheless, I agree that it would be desirable (and in my opinion feasible) for Ines to play more as a backup to Nika and KK. However, I don't think that Geno agrees with us about that.

 

[uconnfan68]

Think its pretty weak to blame the refs

Every terrible call was against us.

 

[Skeets]

She scored 0 points so she couldn't have added much to the + number, and her silly fouls per you, contributed to her not being on the floor for the minus number.
She did not have a good game.

She did not have a good game, but you are incorrect that she didn't add much to the +/- number. Hildalgo scored 1 bucket on Nika and a couple more when Nika got switch off and the switch was slow. That added to Nika's + number. When Nika wasn't on the floor, or the primary guard was not Nika, Hidalgo went nuts. That added to everyone's - number. Not being on the floor is on Nika. Not being able to control Hidalgo is on everyone else, including Geno.

 

[oldhusky]

She scored 0 points so she couldn't have added much to the + number, and her silly fouls per you, contributed to her not being on the floor for the minus number.
She did not have a good game.

She probably didn't have a good game, but implying she can't have had much to do with the plus number because she didn't score, and that she avoided the minus score by fouling out, as if her being there would have made no difference during the negative minutes, is an interpretation that I find totally lacking in logic. That is my 2 cents on the subject.

In fact the ability to positively affect the outcome of a game without scoring is a characteristic that Nika could be a poster child for. As the "Queen of the little things" as one opposing coach called her, she has demonstrated that. Would she be a much better player if she was a better scorer? Sure, but you can be a good player on a very good team without being an above average scorer.

She didn't handle the foul situation well and the last one was just stupid. She hurt the team by missing so many minutes and causing the other starters to be overworked. Having said that, the fact that her plus minus stats were by a big margin the only positive ones on the team says a lot about her impact on the team on both sides of the floor, and without scoring a single point.

 

[HuskyNan]

She scored 0 points so she couldn't have added much to the + number, and her silly fouls per you, contributed to her not being on the floor for the minus number.
She did not have a good game.

You would be incorrect

 

[TCC Kid]

Having Nika on the floor is vital, I think that’s obvious.

Which is why she absolutely cannot foul out, especially with an entire quarter left to play. That’s the bigger issue.

Fouling out is a 3 prog effect: The player, How the game is called, the "traps for fouls set up by the opposition: . I.e. They know you turn right when you have the ball--a set up is awaiting your turn. Nika is aggressive at times overly so--opponents whisper in the ear of the Refs--watch for this--and some do.
Some things the players can control, there is much more they can't.

 

[Boreifs]

Every terrible call was against us.

I have never seen the officials booed as they walked off the court at halftime. The last three minutes of the second quarter was the worst officiating I have ever seen live; the whole crew was embarrassing.

 

[TCC Kid]

I'm sorry but I disagree.
First, Nika brings energy to the team and her presence helps keep the team fired up and helps them against a team that was playing physical tough defense.
Second, by the time of her 5th foul, it was clear that when Ice came in, the defense did not have enough footspeed to have any chance of keeping Hidalgo in front of them and/or out of the paint.

Nika's a senior and she should be smarter than she was last night. Once she was out, it became a layup drill for Hidalgo.

I agree with 2/3-s of what you write here. Fouling out is NOT always up to the player, see above. What is the one factor that sets Nika from every other husky? What one factor got her PT as a freshman/soph? --Actually--what 2 factors makes 99 percent of all Uconn WCBB fans love Nika? She is what she is--I like what she is.
Nkia didn't lose this game. Citron and The glowing yelllow head --and a coaching game plan and way off game Ashlynn and Paige. We could say defense by ND took them out--that happens, but My gut says : The last game of Paige had more than a little effect on her mind and body. As the lead dog goes --so go the pups.

 

[blkkirk]

Let's be realistic. In my mind we have three starters on the bench with injury. Two others who would be seeing playing time. Now Nika fouls out. It was obvious that this was more than the team could overcome both offensively and defensively. Personally I feel like we would have fared better with Bettencourt (sp) coming off the bench. However, the reality is if you take 5 significant players off any team It creates an almost impossible challenge. No room for error. It is a hard pill to swallow. If we only had Aubrey we win the game by 15. Makes it very hard to watch.

 

[HopJim]

While I am fully in the camp of "Nika is one of the best defensive guards in the country," I wanted to add another perspective. While a great defender against most guards, Nika has never excelled against quick guards (few do). She often gets called for fouls when she tries to steal the ball and gets to the play a half step slower than her opponent. Geno constantly yells about her tendency to hand check and slap at the ball as the opponent dribbles by. These have been issues all 4 years. We need Nika since we are very thin with subs, but she is not a silver bullet against teams like ND. To me this is a coaching issue where Geno needs to put a game plan based on match ups.

 

[Conndog]

So you equate "offensive skills" solely with scoring? Assists don't count? Really? What about offensive rebounds?

Nika contributes more to UConn's offense than you give her credit for, and Geno and her teammates know this.

Nonetheless, I agree that it would be desirable (and in my opinion feasible) for Ines to play more as a backup to Nika and KK. However, I don't think that Geno agrees with us about that.

Assists do count. But someone else is doing the cutting to get open, or running around a screen, or setting the screen so someone is open to get a pass. Nika is good at making those passes, and she is indeed a good rebounder. UConn has a lot of scoring options (Paige, Aaliyah, Ashlynn and KK), and yes getting the ball to them so they can score is important. But on nights when defense or fouls or bad shooting nights limits the scoring they do, that is when being able to score yourself is important too.