Nika - a little trivia?

[BlueSkyGLW]

Nika declined to stay in Croatia to practice with their national team to join her teammates current and new at Storrs for Summer School. What does that say about her?

Love it.

 

[Scud49]

Focused on UCONN and her new teammates.....what a great kid.

 

[DEpup]

I'm sure she did a pros and cons assessment of where her basketball would improve the most.... Also US has better vaccine distribution right now. It's not the same as Aaliyah. The Canadian team is more highly skilled than the Croatian team. It's not like they are in Eurobasket or Olympic qualified so Storrs is the better spot for her basketball development.

 

[Boreifs]

I'm sure she did a pros and cons assessment of where her basketball would improve the most.... Also US has better vaccine distribution right now. It's not the same as Aaliyah. The Canadian team is more highly skilled than the Croatian team. It's not like they are in Eurobasket or Olympic qualified so Storrs is the better spot for her basketball development.

Croatia is currently ranked 31st in the FIBA charts, 19th in Europe, but ahead of Germany.

 

[LoboDays]

I choose country over a foreign school.

 

[bluedevil]

Nika declined to stay in Croatia to practice with their national team to join her teammates current and new at Storrs for Summer School. What does that say about her?

Love it.

Maybe it says she wanted to get ahead of her school work b4 the season starts. But this is the Boneyard and we don't judge anyone's actions.

 

[Cuango]

We have no idea what information she was privy to as she made this decision. Perhaps she was told that she had a very slim chance of making the team? I have no clue as to the roster of players they have over there and I doubt anyone else does on this board either. The material point being that she made (I’m sure) the best, most logical decision for her and that was to be here at UConn for the summer session. I am reasonably sure that Nika loves her country and would have played if she were truly needed. It is even possible she was specifically advised by her national coaches to concentrate on getting the most she can out of her UConn experience in order to play for the National team later on.

 

[Kaizen]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for the Croatia due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country. There are restrictions in place affecting U.S. citizen entry into Croatia. Visit the Embassy's COVID-19 page for more information on COVID-19 in Croatia.

 

[Huskee11]

I`m glad she`s here with her slime Paige and her other slime Geno.

And with everyone else she will be dropping dimes on all day long.

Everyone weighs the pros and cons of every important decision. There are a number of obvious "pros" on the side of the decision she made, including getting ahead on classwork, getting to know new teammates, working out in state of the art facilities, and work on improving various individual skills.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

I suspect she said to herself: we didn't have a real preseason training last year, we have four new players coming in, I hate the fact that we lost in the SFs last year and I wasn't able to help much because of injury. I want to work on my game and with the team to enhance chemistry because, as "Mum Evina" said, 'Unfinished Business!"

Besides, I get better Covid protection at UConn.

 

[CTBballfan243]

She also realizes minutes will be hard to come by this season. Rather be on campus with team and coaches. Doesn’t want to fall into the “out of site out of mind trap”. A lot of new “toys” for Geno and the coaches to tinker with over the summer. You don’t want to be off campus and be forgotten.

 

[awhom111]

I'm sure she did a pros and cons assessment of where her basketball would improve the most.... Also US has better vaccine distribution right now. It's not the same as Aaliyah. The Canadian team is more highly skilled than the Croatian team. It's not like they are in Eurobasket or Olympic qualified so Storrs is the better spot for her basketball development.

To be clear, they are in EuroBasket, although in a tough group that includes Gabby and France.

We have no idea what information she was privy to as she made this decision. Perhaps she was told that she had a very slim chance of making the team? I have no clue as to the roster of players they have over there and I doubt anyone else does on this board either. The material point being that she made (I’m sure) the best, most logical decision for her and that was to be here at UConn for the summer session. I am reasonably sure that Nika loves her country and would have played if she were truly needed. It is even possible she was specifically advised by her national coaches to concentrate on getting the most she can out of her UConn experience in order to play for the National team later on.

Had she accepted the invite, that would have made 18 players for 12 spots. It would have been tough to make the roster having not played any qualifiers, but point guard of the future or at least her UConn role to rumored WNBA target Ivana Dojkic instead of Paige are open positions. Karla Erjavec of Miami seems likely to make the final roster.

 

[Zarathustra]

I give " unconditional positive regard" ( Carl Rogers, Ph.D., and Mr. Roger's stuff!!! ) to NIKA!!
GO HUSKIES!! Blend that team, create Chemistry!! As Geno said : " so competitive" !!!

 

[CocoHusky]

Maybe it says she wanted to get ahead of her school work b4 the season starts. But this is the Boneyard and we don't judge anyone's actions.

 

[Bigboote]

I’d be surprised if she didn’t discuss it with the UConn coaching staff. Same with Edwards. I think they both made decisions that are the best for them and for UConn.

 

[Longtime fan]

Nika declined to stay in Croatia to practice with their national team to join her teammates current and new at Storrs for Summer School. What does that say about her?

Love it.

She is a great " find." And may prove far better than we have seen or imagine.

 

[bluedevil]

She is a great " find." And may prove far better than we have seen or imagine.

She thinks the ice cream is better here.

 

[HopJim]

Nika declined to stay in Croatia to practice with their national team to join her teammates current and new at Storrs for Summer School. What does that say about her?

Love it.

Are we sure Nika received an invitation to try out for the Croatia team and if so, what would her chances have been to make it?

 

[CocoHusky]

Are we sure Nika received an invitation to try out for the Croatia team and if so, what would her chances have been to make it?

Per Geno presser Nika received an invitation to “workout” with the national team but decline to be at UCONN. Workout might be different than trying out. As far as her chances of making the team see @awhom111 post a few back as he or she is in the best position to know.

 

[Biff]

This thread, nor any other thread in this Forum, is not the place to discuss your opinions on Covid.

 

[MSGRET]

This thread, or any other thread in this Forum, is not the place to discuss your opinions on Covid.

Thank you Biff for getting this back on point, with that said. I believe that Nika decided to go with her gut feeling that it would be best to get back to UConn and get the start on the UNFINISHED BUSINESS stated by Mom (Evina) at the end of the season.

 

[BRS24]

Perhaps she wanted to stay local, continue any potential rehab needed after the late season injuries? Lots of reasons.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Or she just wanted to be back in college having fun with her friends.

 

[#12in21]

I remember the summer after my freshman year ( as clearly as I can remember anything from 46 years ago!) I couldn't wait to get back to my friends at school a.s.a.p. and I wasn't with them 24/7 like this group was. It appeared that this group of young women may have bonded to an even greater degree, given the pandemic/protocols and such, than past teams. I'm sure Nika is totally cognizant of what she has to work on this summer, so what better place to do it than in Storrs with her 'sisters'. I'm sure she also wanted to meet her new teammates, get to know their games and begin to bond with them. I doubt she would have been more challenged by the Croatia national team than she will be in Storrs by her returning and incoming teammates. Aaliyah's situation is different IMO as the Canadian team should be in medal contention so she will benefit a great deal from her experiences with them this summer.