Nika Mühl: new UConn single-game assists record! | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Nika Mühl: new UConn single-game assists record!

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She is stronger and even quicker than before. Her passing game speaks for itself but it helps to have so many teammates who are constantly moving, cutting, and looking for that pass. They know what to do with it, too.
 
How perfect is it that Nika—player many have questioned—takes over the top assists record? Thinking of all the great point guards in UConn’s history.

Nika has worked so hard and expects so much of herself. It would have been easy for her to settle for being a serviceable or back up point guard. That makes breaking the record even better!
 
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Helps that players are actually shooting well and finishing this year. I think the past two teams got caught up in Paige watching and now they’ve gotten an opportunity to gel without her dominating presence on the court. Nika’s been getting better each year and I’m glad she’s proving herself starting caliber for this team. Still wish she’d score a little more but when the others around you are playing this good, I’ll take it.
 
Did anyone notice Geno's comment in his postgame press conference about how Nika always has her eyes up the court, and knows where her teammates are when she starts the transition game? That is all new this year. Last year, all she ever did was hustle her dribble up the court; she never looked for a touchdown pass. Now she not only looks for them, she often makes them and completes them, as she did today. And the box score shows the result: UConn led the Wolfpack by 22-9 in fast break points.

If there is anyone who still says that Nika's minutes are a problem because the other team can play "5-on-4", her assist totals say otherwise. In four games including the exhibition, I have never noticed that defenses are leaving Nika unguarded to cover other scoring threats, which (apparently) is the meaning of this criticism. They know she can shoot 3's, and they guard her at the 3-point line. As long as they have to do that, defenses will not be able to smother Azzi and Lou on the perimeter.

By the way, in addition to her 15 assists (against only 3 turnovers) and 3 points on 1-for-3 3-point shooting, Nika also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Not too shabby a day at the office.
 
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Right up front…..I was wrong about Nika. Always wanted her on my team for attitude, effort and aggression but thought she was a “6th man” at best. I’ve never been happier to be so wrong.

Strange the way things work out. If Paige is playing, the offense would be different and we probably don’t see the Nika we saw today. Same with Aubrey. She is off the bench if the team was injury free. Aubrey has to be one of the best athletes that UCONN has ever had.

I haven’t gone thru the other topics so sorry if this has already been touched on. There were plenty of situations today (fouls and exhaustion) were we could have used a 6’5” player to step in but it never happened. I don’t what is going on in practices but Amari isn’t even a consideration of Geno’s’ at this point. Not looking good.
 
JoePgh said:
Did anyone notice Geno's comment in his postgame press conference about how Nika always has her eyes up the court, and knows where her teammates are when she starts the transition game? That is all new this year. Last year, all she ever did was hustle her dribble up the court; she never looked for a touchdown pass. Now she not only looks for them, she often makes them and completes them, as she did today. And the box score shows the result: UConn led the Wolfpack by 22-9 in fast break points.

If there is anyone who still says that Nika's minutes are a problem because the other team can play "5-on-4", her assist totals say otherwise. In four games including the exhibition, I have never noticed that defenses are leaving Nika unguarded to cover other scoring threats, which (apparently) is the meaning of this criticism. They know she can shoot 3's, and they guard her at the 3-point line. As long as they have to do that, defenses will not be able to smother Azzi and Lou on the perimeter.

By the way, in addition to her 15 assists (against only 3 turnovers) and 3 points on 1-for-3 3-point shooting, Nika also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Not too shabby a day at the office.
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Nika is playing exceptionally well this season but let's not pretend the criticism was not valid or that it originated here on the BY. Nika has attempted 10 FG this season 6 of which where from behind the 3 point line. All 6 of Nika's 3PT FGA this season where uncontested. Uncontested shots is usually an indication that the defense is focused elsewhere. These are largely the same shots that the defense was conceding to Nika all of last season. This is also almost the identical percentage (60% vs 61% last year) of NIka shots that are coming from behind the arc with the remaining being almost exclusively layup attempts. While her 3Pt FG% is up from last season Nika is still not utilizing the middle of the floor to be a scoring threat. So far Nika's scoring has not been needed as this team is shooting exceptionally well 52% and Nika has become the best facilitator in the country. I would be pleasantly surprised if both of those things to continue but my expectations are somewhat lower: At some point Nika's mid range will be needed because we have ~ 35 more games left in the season . That is why Geno levied the challenge/criticism to Nika during the summer-before Paige was lost for the season.
 
When Nika passes to Fudd, good things seem to happen. The bulk of her assists were just catch and shoot passes on the periphery. She should have 10 assists a game with this team.

 
A few things astonishes me about Nika. First, the way she speaks English so well. Second, the seemingly ferocity she displays while defending other players. Third, then quickness of her hands and feet while on defense. Fourth, the way she can see the floor as she is bringing the ball down court and how fast she sizes up the situation and makes her fantastic passes for scores. She will be NDP of the yeat this year again. She has more than proved she is the Alpha point guard on this team. GO NIKA!! GO HUSKIES!!!
 
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Few teams are going to pack the middle against this team, especially with Dorka and Ice out. The strength of this team has been 3 point shooting since we added Lou. Other teams have to defend our periphery. We are a solid team right now, for sure, but we still need to beat the likes of Stanford and South Carolina, which are both very difficult to score on and out rebound. Stanford getting 6 more rebounds today than SC was an eye opener. We have to hit a high percentage of shots, and maximize our rebounding, to have a chance of beating either team. And that means squeezing every bit of offense we can out of this team while not losing much defensively or turning it over a lot. I think Aubrey, Ayanna and Caroline can help do that, but not if they all play less than 15 minutes while Nika plays 35 minutes. Aubrey has been putting up great numbers so do you want to set her on the bench again as soon as Dorka comes back, or should she be on the floor subbing in for Nika some? 6 steals today against a top 10 team? 6-9 shooting. 16 points compared to 3. Are we going to play Caroline an average of 6-10 minutes a game all year? None of this is that Nika is a bad player. She's having a great year. So is Aubrey. And if you played Ayanna and Caroline more they would be having great years also.

I get that no one wants to "fix" a team that doesn't appear broken. It's like a top striker in soccer. If a top team gives Erling Haaland 3 times as many scoring opportunities, it makes a great striker an other worldly striker. You could put a mediocre striker in his place and still get 20 goals a year and a winning team but you wouldn't have the best team in the world, which is our goal.
 
HuskyNan said:
I think you may be misremembering some of the comments made about Nika this past summer. Some here were saying Nika had developed a mid-range game and was determined to drive to the hoop more and that her scoring would improve this season. My position is that Nika can’t change who she is and how she plays offensively at this point in her life; many disagreed and arguments ensued.

Well, three games in Nika has take 6 shots, 3 of them from the arc. Am I critical? Heck, no. Her effort, energy, and defensive spirit were never questioned. Her point guard skills have improved every year and she’s become a complete team leader. I wouldn’t trade her for anyone for while Nika may not be a perfect point guard, she’s perfect for this team.

I understand the jubilation for the Nika-defenders but before you rub ”critics’” noses in the mud try to remember what the argument was. After all, the critics are fans of Nika too, just in varying degrees
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No Nan, I disagree. Some ugly things have been said. I won't hunt up the posts, but I know who made them (i.e. there would be less angst if it was Nike who blew out her ACL). I have yet to see anything close to a retraction, and I don't expect one because such people are clearly more astute basketball minds than the majority of the people on the BY. Feel free to delete this post.
 
eebmg said:
Morrow, Fudd and Seigrist are viable First Team AA. for BE Siegrist with an amazing 30 pt 16 rebound performance in a come from behind win for Temple
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ESPN stats have Maddie at 41 and 18. Smokin'!
 
eebmg said:
Morrow, Fudd and Seigrist are viable First Team AA. for BE Siegrist with an amazing 30 pt 16 rebound performance in a come from behind win for Temple
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Boston,Clarke, and Haley jones all made it last year so they will probably make it this year..that's only 2 spots left
 
From France said:
I'm a proud european fan, so I like the way it goes
But, if Nika is a pure defender (100%) but for sure not a shooter and that will always be a problem
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Nika is a shooter when she has to be. She shoots enough to keep the defense honest. Why shoot when you have Azzi, Lou, Edwards and Aubrey to shoot for you?
 
TeamFirst! said:
When Nika passes to Fudd, good things seem to happen. The bulk of her assists were just catch and shoot passes on the periphery. She should have 10 assists a game with this team.

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I made a joke on another board about how easy it was to get 15 assists - all you have to do is continuously pass to Fudd all game.

However, I just re-watched the game and I was paying close attention to how many missed assists she had, meaning players missed layups, or they were fouled going for the shot, therefore negating an assist opportunity. There were also several hockey assists. She could’ve easily had 20 assists today, and I will not be surprised if she hits 20 at some point this year, particularly if the three point shooters have an especially efficient game.
 
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Skeets said:
No Nan, I disagree. Some ugly things have been said. I won't hunt up the posts, but I know who made them (i.e. there would be less angst if it was Nike who blew out her ACL). I have yet to see anything close to a retraction, and I don't expect one because such people are clearly more astute basketball minds than the majority of the people on the BY. Feel free to delete this post.
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:eek:I don't think the BY has a retraction button so your expectation is a bit excessive. Paige was the best player in WCBB when healthy and that was as freshman. No real fan wants any of these players to get hurt . But surely you would understand why Piage going down would create more anxiety among us fans than any other player going down. Somehow you manage to personalize this and twist it into someone wishing for Nika to get hurt. I don't believe anyone wished for NIka to get hurt. If they did they the rightoues thing to do is name the names instead of keeping it to yourself because that's not healthy.
 
TeamFirst! said:
When Nika passes to Fudd, good things seem to happen. The bulk of her assists were just catch and shoot passes on the periphery. She should have 10 assists a game with this team.

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Thanks for the link!
I love Azzi! I also love the team and Nika!
Tomorrow I’ll pull up YouTube and check out the team highlights and guess what will be there for everyone to gander- Nika making play after play.
Since Nika has Azzi to pass to, let’s start not counting passes to Azzi as assists.
How come I remember a ton of looking up the floor off the break passes leading to hoops. Crap, I remember a cool lookaway to Lou for an and one.
Not only that, she’s leading the team like an old school point guard, getting the ball to the right people. One reason why the team is shooting better, the right people are shooting the ball at the right times. Nuance: it’s more than hitting the open man. This isn’t MS. Think how few bad shots they’ve taken this year. Or even shots by the wrong person.
 
TeamFirst! said:
Few teams are going to pack the middle against this team, especially with Dorka and Ice out. The strength of this team has been 3 point shooting since we added Lou. Other teams have to defend our periphery. We are a solid team right now, for sure, but we still need to beat the likes of Stanford and South Carolina, which are both very difficult to score on and out rebound. Stanford getting 6 more rebounds today than SC was an eye opener. We have to hit a high percentage of shots, and maximize our rebounding, to have a chance of beating either team. And that means squeezing every bit of offense we can out of this team while not losing much defensively or turning it over a lot. I think Aubrey, Ayanna and Caroline can help do that, but not if they all play less than 15 minutes while Nika plays 35 minutes. Aubrey has been putting up great numbers so do you want to set her on the bench again as soon as Dorka comes back, or should she be on the floor subbing in for Nika some? 6 steals today against a top 10 team? 6-9 shooting. 16 points compared to 3. Are we going to play Caroline an average of 6-10 minutes a game all year? None of this is that Nika is a bad player. She's having a great year. So is Aubrey. And if you played Ayanna and Caroline more they would be having great years also.

I get that no one wants to "fix" a team that doesn't appear broken. It's like a top striker in soccer. If a top team gives Erling Haaland 3 times as many scoring opportunities, it makes a great striker an other worldly striker. You could put a mediocre striker in his place and still get 20 goals a year and a winning team but you wouldn't have the best team in the world, which is our goal.
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It is almost unbelievable that you, after a game that she set the Uconn all time game assist record and is currently leading the nation in assists/game, still are looking to lessen her time on the floor. I guess we should all realize that today’s comments are actually complimentary compared to your recent suggestion that she should play 5 minutes a game.

Do you think that when Nika is constantly talking in the huddles she is suggesting places to eat after the game? I’m guessing that she is letting/reminding her teammates know what they need to be doing next. You may notice they are all listening to her. If you don’t believe me, pick any number of times Geno has pointed this out.

She is the floor general. There may just be some correlation as to players being in position to receive and finish those shots that she is getting assists on. Or maybe, as you suggested anybody could get 10 or so assists with our shooters - so Nika is nothing special. But you would be totally wrong in that assumption. Nika is a very important PIECE of a very talented team!
 
What a great image at the end of the game of her teammate showing her big time love. That being the player who held the single game assist record before she broke it - Paige! These guys have such incredible bonds and love for each other. They will carry that with them throughout there lives which is pretty damn special!
 
browns said:
Boston,Clarke, and Haley jones all made it last year so they will probably make it this year..that's only 2 spots left
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I agree with Boston and Clark but Jones is not playing like a 1st team AA (or second) Her shooting stats so far this year is not good at all. Brink would be the natural replacement. And maybe some others. But I said viable meaning it is in the discussion, not that I guarantee they win it
 
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