Nika Muhl

[Roberto]

Nika Muhl brings the humility, intensity, power, & contagious energy that UConn needs to start games. Paige brings swagger & skill, but not the leadership that jumps from intensity & energy. Auriemma spent time developing all his players without Paige. Auriemma has to focus on the team & not Paige. The road to a championship is through Nika with sharpshooters Fudd & Williams.

 

[Sanka541]

Nika will be a big part of this team going forward in the tournament and is going to be key in how far they can go. Last night just wasn’t the game for her and that’s ok. I know he didn’t use the depth as much last night but I still see Nika and CD having big moments over the next couple of weeks (hoping we get that far)

 

[Eagle4]

Nika is a hard worker and a likeable kid. She brings intensity and defense but her offensive contributions while improving are very very limited. There is no comparision between her and Paige. Nika is a role player and is not as key to the success of the team this year as are Paige, Azzi, Edwards, Williams, and Dorka.

I'm sure there will be opportunities for Nika to contribute but she is not be playing major minutes ahead of the starters and Westbrook is also probably ahead of her in the rotation.

BTW, the two fouls she committed last night were very foolish- with the shot clock running out and far from the basket. Intensity has to be balanced with poise and situational awareness.

 

[Eagle4]

Nika Muhl brings the humility, intensity, power, & contagious energy that UConn needs to start games. Paige brings swagger & skill, but not the leadership that jumps from intensity & energy. Auriemma spent time developing all his players without Paige. Auriemma has to focus on the team & not Paige. The road to a championship is through Nika with sharpshooters Fudd & Williams.

Paige does not bring intensity and energy..and leadership...... REALLY?????????????????? Could not disagree more.

 

[Littlemin]

No they are good on defense at best without her, UCF is seriously offensively challenged, defense wins, offense impresses those who don’t really know the game. It amazes me that so many if you think that strategy last night was a sound one because you ignore that all those offensive players generated no offense. That team that played the 2nd half didn’t even pass the casual eye test compared to the way Uconn finished the year. If you think Uconn is going to just outscore elite teams I think you are kidding yourself.

 

[Littlemin]

Nika will be a big part of this team going forward in the tournament and is going to be key in how far they can go. Last night just wasn’t the game for her and that’s ok. I know he didn’t use the depth as much last night but I still see Nika and CD having big moments over the next couple of weeks (hoping we get that far)

I don’t, that 2nd half begged for both of them and Auriemma ignored them. Not a minute for either and then he says he needed offense when the team he kept on the court generated none, barely a point a minute for the entire half.

 

[UConnCat]

Nika will be a big part of this team going forward in the tournament and is going to be key in how far they can go. Last night just wasn’t the game for her and that’s ok. I know he didn’t use the depth as much last night but I still see Nika and CD having big moments over the next couple of weeks (hoping we get that far)

Caroline played like the moment was a little too big for her last night. If the game were not one in which every possession mattered he probably would have put her back in to get her footing. He went with the more experienced players and his best shooter.

 

[PvP]

With Nika you get raw aggression which results in steals and other turnovers but you also get the lack of basic basketball understanding that bails out teams with fractions of a second remaining and no chance for the opponent to get off a shot, as happened twice last night when every possession was critical.

She gave Geno no choice but to sit her for the remainder of the game before she gifted the entire game to UCF.

She needs to learn to control that aggression to be more of an asset and less of a bull in a china shop.

 

[LarryLegend]

I dont care if Nika scores 0, they are better with her in the game

 

[LarryLegend]

With Nika you get raw aggression which results in steals and other turnovers but you also get the lack of basic basketball understanding that bails out teams with fractions of a second remaining and no chance for the opponent to get off a shot, as happened twice last night when every possession was critical.

She gave Geno no choice but to sit her for the remainder of the game before she gifted the entire game to UCF.

She needs to learn to control that aggression to be more of an asset and less of a bull in a china shop.

agreed, but ill bet she won’t make those mistakes again

 

[Blakeon18]

"Offense impresses those who don't really know the game." When our offense is clicking....players and ball moving....getting good shots...hitting a good percentage...you don't find that impressive?

BTW: I did think he should have tried Nika in the second half to see what would happen. Evina's contributions late in the year have been excellent but last night her running the point wasn't effective...give some of her minutes to Nika...the offense wasn't working with her on the bench...so try her. Her minutes in the first half had the team not exactly on fire but they did play better with her than without her...imo.

 

[CocoHusky]

Really surprised it took until today to start the pity party thread for Nika only playing 6 minutes in the game last night.
When can we expect the thread advocating for more minute for Piath and Amari? - asking for a friend of a friend.

 

[Kevin G]

I would love to see Nika develop her game into learning to drive the ball more towards the hoop (versus hanging outside the arc). She is super quick on her first step and I see her drawing a lot of fouls.

 

[Aluminny69]

Paige does not bring intensity and energy..and leadership...... REALLY?????????????????? Could not disagree more.

I don't care what anyone believes, Paige is clearly NOT 100%. And I mean the whole package - physically, mentally, developmentally, she's just not 100% At best she is just a decoy out there, someone the defense should be aware of. But 1 for 3 on free throws, and the missed open 3 at the end that would have iced the game, that's not Paige, sorry.

Yes, I know this is a Nika thread, but Geno chose to start Paige over Nika, which I predicted.

 

[ballerfan]

Nika Muhl brings the humility, intensity, power, & contagious energy that UConn needs to start games. Paige brings swagger & skill, but not the leadership that jumps from intensity & energy. Auriemma spent time developing all his players without Paige. Auriemma has to focus on the team & not Paige. The road to a championship is through Nika with sharpshooters Fudd & Williams.

Geno has said that UConn cannot win a NC without Paige. You might disagree with Geno, but expect Paige to start for the rest of the tournament. He also said that UConn won’t win if Paige is playing at 50 percent. In my opinion Paige was playing at 50 percent yesterday. The missed free throws were painful to watch.

There is at least one person on this board who thinks that Geno doesn’t believe Paige is essential. That person also said that Geno didn’t mean it when he said Paige would start. She’s starting.

For some reason I’ve wanted to defend Paige on the BY, as some people have become so negative toward her. One post attacked her character, complaining about her « ego. »

I am a big, big fan of Nika (actually a big fan of everyone on the team). She makes the team better, even if she doesn’t score. Nika is the backup PG, but I would also like to see her and Paige on the court together more often.

As for Azzi and CW being sharpshooters, that’s true, for Azzi especially from the three, but Paige is not bad either. Azzi and CW are shooting 48% and 47%, respectively, from the field. Paige, 56%. In her limited capacity since her return, Paige is shooting 54% from the field and 60% from the three, although she has not taken a lot of shots.

Anyway, Go Huskies.

 

[CocoHusky]

I don't care what anyone believes, Paige is clearly NOT 100%. And I mean the whole package - physically, mentally, developmentally, she's just not 100% At best she is just a decoy out there, someone the defense should be aware of. But 1 for 3 on free throws, and the missed open 3 at the end that would have iced the game, that's not Paige, sorry.

Yes, I know this is a Nika thread, but Geno chose to start Paige over Nika, which I predicted.

Maybe Geno is thinking that Paige @ lees than 100% is a better starting option than Nika?

 

[jchusky]

there seems to be a lot of battles of starter, imo Ducharme should start over Fudd. I know people are gonna boxscore and say Fudd had 16, but she went 4-13. And I feel Ducharme brings better defense especially cause she has length and bigger reach.

 

[Aluminny69]

Maybe Geno is thinking that Paige @ lees than 100% is a better starting option than Nika?

You are right. Geno can't really know how Paige is unless he plays her. I'm sure he's hoping that she will play herself into shape. He probably doesn't know why she doesn't shoot more. I wasn't complaining about Paige starting, just pointing out a fact.

UConn could go on a run, and win the next four games by double digits, but I wouldn't bet on it. It's not 2002 anymore.

 

[donalddoowop]

Maybe Geno is thinking that Paige @ lees than 100% is a better starting option than Nika?

And maybe she is not.

 

[msf22b]

I think what this boils down to is this:
You start Nika, you get one thing, you start Paige, you get another.

Nika made some dumb fouling mistakes yesterday, but the team looked more confident with her in

Geno got this team to a #2 with Caroline holding down the fort, then Nika and Caroline creating while Christyn was getting untracked...then the line changes...it worked.

There is more than a subtle difference with Paige playing much of the game and Nika and Caroline sidelined. And at least for yesterday, that change seemed to have not worked especially well.

But Geno may be absolutely correct in that he has to force Paige into game shape in order to win
Or he could be making a huge blunder in sidelining the people who got him there.

We'll be on this issue throughout the Spring and Summer, regardless of the outcome and I sense
unforeseen consequences.

 

[Aluminny69]

I think what this boils down to is this:
You start Nika, you get one thing, you start Paige, you get another.

Nika made some dumb fouling mistakes yesterday, but the team looked more confident with her in

Geno got this team to a #2 with Caroline holding down the fort, then Nika and Caroline creating while Christyn was getting untracked...then the line changes...it worked.

There is more than a subtle difference with Paige playing much of the game and Nika and Caroline sidelined. And at least for yesterday, that change seemed to have not worked especially well.

But Geno may be absolutely correct in that he has to force Paige into game shape in order to win
Or he could be making a huge blunder in sidelining the people who got him there.

We'll be on this issue throughout the Spring and Summer, regardless of the outcome and I sense
unforeseen consequences.

Scary, but I was just thinking something similar. I can foresee the following question being discussed over the summer ( ad nauseum): Was UConn better off with or without a less than 100% Paige playing significant minutes. Of course, if UConn wins it all, this becomes a moot point. But if UConn loses, I can see a split, with both sides having legitimate arguments.

Let's see what happens first.

 

[Littlemin]

Geno has said that UConn cannot win a NC without Paige. You might disagree with Geno, but expect Paige to start for the rest of the tournament. He also said that UConn won’t win if Paige is playing at 50 percent. In my opinion Paige was playing at 50 percent yesterday. The missed free throws were painful to watch.

There is at least one person on this board who thinks that Geno doesn’t believe Paige is essential. That person also said that Geno didn’t mean it when he said Paige would start. She’s starting.

For some reason I’ve wanted to defend Paige on the BY, as some people have become so negative toward her. One post attacked her character, complaining about her « ego. »

I am a big, big fan of Nika (actually a big fan of everyone on the team). She makes the team better, even if she doesn’t score. Nika is the backup PG, but I would also like to see her and Paige on the court together more often.

As for Azzi and CW being sharpshooters, that’s true, for Azzi especially from the three, but Paige is not bad either. Azzi and CW are shooting 48% and 47%, respectively, from the field. Paige, 56%. In her limited capacity since her return, Paige is shooting 54% from the field and 60% from the three, although she has not taken a lot of shots.

Anyway, Go Huskies.

So address this, in the two games Bueckers has started, has Uconn gotten off to anything resembling the starts they had gotten off to in the last month or so? To start the 2nd half last night, when Uconn should have come out intense and focused, UCF came out on a 5-0 run started by a matador defense stand by Bueckers leading to a wide open foul line jumper on their first possession. That UCF start set the tone this would be a dogfight to the end as they did at the beginning of the game. Of course Bueckers is important to the team and needs her minutes, no question, but I read the gloating of people who predicted she would start while not one of them address that the team has come out of the gate palpably without the fire and intensity they had under Muhl. A number of people have “Dislike”d my pointing that out but not one of them has offered an iota of a basketball reason why.

 

[ConnMotors]

Holly crap! Do people here realize what team they played last night. UCF has given UConn fits since their last year in the AAC? Plus, I bet that no one wanted UCF in their brackets either. I know that I didn't. These ladies bang bodies. Like the announcers said it was like Rutgers of old. The game was physical. Our BIGS held their own. Our offense sucked. They couldn't buy a layup. Thankfully we went on a spurt at the end but then had to hold on. I wish UCF my best. Let them fight it out in the Big 12 now. I think that Indiana will be more of an offensive minded game. Lets hope that our guards come to play. Elite 8 lets get there.