Nika myth should be dumped | Page 2 | The Boneyard
.

Nika myth should be dumped

NycUcWbbFan said:
By the end of that year, according to Geno, Nika was indispensable. “I’m not as happy as if we had Nika 100 percent, … If we had Nika 100 percent, we’re a different basketball team. Much different basketball team.”

Expressed in the language of analytics, Nika is a multiplier, kinda like the umami ingredient in a recipe. By itself, it is under appreciated. But without it, a recipe is not the same.
Expand ...
Nika wasn't a force, she was a force multiplier. Everything was better when Nika was on the court. And it's not just assists. It's energy, attitude, leadership, and a bunch of other stuff you're not going to find on the stat page.
 
MSGRET said:
I honestly believe that Geno would've won #12 and Paige would've gotten her first NC ring as a Freshman if Nika had not gotten hurt in the Tournament.
Expand ...
Our team was playing short handed during much of Nika's time. She got extra minutes on the court but it also limited our offense or what we could throw at opponents.
 
MSGRET said:
I honestly believe that Geno would've won #12 and Paige would've gotten her first NC ring as a Freshman if Nika had not gotten hurt in the Tournament.
Expand ...
The problem in that Final Four game was Aari Macdonald’s offense… and her ball deny defense on Paige. Nika played in that game but was visibly slowed from the ankle injury. She might have helped against Aari’s offense. But her defense would have been a different story. It looked to me like Liv and Aaliyah didn’t give Paige and Christyn enough help, scoring but also setting screens.
 
freshler40 said:
Our team was playing short handed during much of Nika's time. She got extra minutes on the court but it also limited our offense or what we could throw at opponents.
Expand ...
I think there is a significant argument that can be made that Nika’s and Paige’s freshman year was a very potential championship year (see Net Rating in attached / pic).
  • The team also beat (eventual champion) South Carolina that year in OT on 2/8/2021 with Nika in the starting lineup.
It was not as if Nika stumbled into her starting job. Geno experimented with starting lineups. Nika’s starting lineup was the longest (and without a loss) and probably would have been the final starting lineup. The chronology was: “Nika tears game” on 1/19, benching in TN game, and then replacing Aubrey as a starter two games later (after the loss to AK).

Imagining “What If” for the AZ game is not simply extrapolating from the actual game played. The Nika team that would have played against AZ would have played much differently (per Geno) from the one that did.
IMG_0339.jpeg
 
freshler40 said:
Our team was playing short handed during much of Nika's time. She got extra minutes on the court but it also limited our offense or what we could throw at opponents.
Expand ...
It did limit because as you say UCONN was playing short-handed.

If they weren't playing short-handed then you would probably have seen more like the beginning of Nika's jr year.

That’s when they wiped out Texas, Duke and NC State. The Texas coach spoke after that game and said no one had torched his defense the way Azzi did in a long long time. And we know who was running the offense to get the ball to Azzi. - Nika

And the 4th game was vs a good opponent was Iowa. The same team that later on went on to beat SoCar. UCONN put the game away with about 3 minutes left. In the 4 games UCONN put up 338 pts vs high quality coached teams; an average of 84.5 ppg.

So yes I agree that when UCONN got destroyed by injuries, the pg Geno recruited as a primary passer, defender, and work-in-progress to hit open shots, Nika Muhl; if the rest of her team built with perimeter scorers got wiped out with injury; sure,- Nika would struggle to score. Some players do have limitations. If players such as Edwards and Griffin were required to go out of their zone and be required to become 3pt shooters, then that would have been a limitation too.
 
oldude said:
Even in the national semifinal loss to Iowa, Nika held CC to a pedestrian 7/18 shooting, 3/11 from 3pt range. In fact Nika made just as many 3-pt shots (3) as CC on 5 fewer attempts (3/6).
Expand ...
Problem was that CC scored 8 points in the 4th to send Iowa to the championship game
 
oldude said:
Your take on Nika offensively is spot on. But as to her defensive abilities, your take is a bit confusing. It appears that you are intimating that despite some “exceptional” plays on the defensive side, Nika was overrated. That idea, if that is what you are expressing, doesn’t square with the fact that Nika was named the BE DPOY not once, but two times.

All defenders foul, get beat occasionally and complain about foul calls. The strength of Nika defensively is that she would defend the opposing team’s top guard by getting into their “hip pocket” and hounding them all over the court, denying them the ball, speeding them up when they had the ball and forcing turnovers.

It’s a “high wire act” if you can pull it off. Not everyone can, and certainly there were games when an overly aggressive Nika put herself on the bench in foul trouble early in the game. On balance, Nika was an outstanding defender who was absolutely relentless. She wasn’t a perfect defender. But then again, no one is a perfect defender.
Expand ...
I think this poster has it best. But more importantly what is the injury update?
 
Best way to remember Nika is that she was a perfect fit for UConn in the years that she played. Particularly in her first years, Huskies were short on guards and needed more leadership. While I often wondered if Nika would have played such a key role for other Top 10 teams, she lit the fuse when UConn had some of its least talented teams.
 
HopJim said:
Best way to remember Nika is that she was a perfect fit for UConn in the years that she played. Particularly in her first years, Huskies were short on guards and needed more leadership. While I often wondered if Nika would have played such a key role for other Top 10 teams, she lit the fuse when UConn had some of its least talented teams.
Expand ...
If you sat close enough to the court to hear the players, no one was louder than Nika. Is this leadership? I don't know but it's better than being a wall flower. Nika was the perfect round peg in the round whole.
 
MSGRET said:
I honestly believe that Geno would've won #12 and Paige would've gotten her first NC ring as a Freshman if Nika had not gotten hurt in the Tournament.
Expand ...
I believe we should have won anyway. That’s a rare championship that got away from UConn.
 
I put Nika's impact ahead of any player that ever suited up for Uconn who was neither an All-American or left with a championship. Not discounting her contributions of her first two seasons, her contributions to her teams success in both her Junior and Senior years were extremely significant. Junior year she was unquestionably the floor general on both ends of the court. Senior year she remained that on the defense end and deferred to and/or shared that role with Paige on the offensive end. After her 'breakfast with Geno' during the summer preceding her junior season, when he told her if she didn't change he would sit her ass on the bench even if she was his only guard but then added if you do the things we need you to do you will have an incredible season. Well she did what the team needed her to do and she had an incredible season. Another thing Geno said about Nika's assist records is that if you look at what she did given who she was playing alongside it was remarkable. He noted that all the top assist leaders that she surpassed were passing to multiple All-Americans and in most case future Olympians.

To support my opening comment, who else dominated a major statistical category as much as Nika? Nika left Uconn as the all time assist leader holding the top two positions, also being the only player to have two 200+ assist seasons (remember her senior year she shared the point position with both Paige and KK), she holds the single game and season assist records, had the most double digit assist games consecutively and in a career (17), of the nine times a Uconn player had 13 or more assists Nika was 5 of them and 4 other players had one game each, has the highest two season assist/game averages and the highest career assist/minute of any Uconn player. Both Junior and Senior years she led the team in min/gm and of teammates playing with her over her four years she had the most starts (70 followed by Aaliyah, 69, Paige 42).

I have no doubt in my mind if she had stayed for her covid year she would have left with that allusive ring and quite certainly would have added a third season surpacing Sue Birds old record for assists ( passing to a healthy Paige and Azzi with the phenomenal freshman Sarah as targets). I loved watching Nika play the game, every moment she was on the court at UConn and can't wait to see her comeback this fall for Sopron Basket and during her to the W next season. As Geno said she was unique and he's only coached a few players like her during his career.
 
Dixiedog said:
I put Nika's impact ahead of any player that ever suited up for Uconn who was neither an All-American or left with a championship. Not discounting her contributions of her first two seasons, her contributions to her teams success in both her Junior and Senior years were extremely significant. Junior year she was unquestionably the floor general on both ends of the court. Senior year she remained that on the defense end and deferred to and/or shared that role with Paige on the offensive end. After her 'breakfast with Geno' during the summer preceding her junior season, when he told her if she didn't change he would sit her ass on the bench even if she was his only guard but then added if you do the things we need you to do you will have an incredible season. Well she did what the team needed her to do and she had an incredible season. Another thing Geno said about Nika's assist records is that if you look at what she did given who she was playing alongside it was remarkable. He noted that all the top assist leaders that she surpassed were passing to multiple All-Americans and in most case future Olympians.

To support my opening comment, who else dominated a major statistical category as much as Nika? Nika left Uconn as the all time assist leader holding the top two positions, also being the only player to have two 200+ assist seasons (remember her senior year she shared the point position with both Paige and KK), she holds the single game and season assist records, had the most double digit assist games consecutively and in a career (17), of the nine times a Uconn player had 13 or more assists Nika was 5 of them and 4 other players had one game each, has the highest two season assist/game averages and the highest career assist/minute of any Uconn player. Both Junior and Senior years she led the team in min/gm and of teammates playing with her over her four years she had the most starts (70 followed by Aaliyah, 69, Paige 42).

I have no doubt in my mind if she had stayed for her covid year she would have left with that allusive ring and quite certainly would have added a third season surpacing Sue Birds old record for assists ( passing to a healthy Paige and Azzi with the phenomenal freshman Sarah as targets). I loved watching Nika play the game, every moment she was on the court at UConn and can't wait to see her comeback this fall for Sopron Basket and during her to the W next season. As Geno said she was unique and he's only coached a few players like her during his career.
Expand ...
CORRECTION: on Starts Nika 109 (4 seasons), Aaliyah 106 (4 seasons), Paige 85 (3 seasons) Took incorrect numbers above as totals thru their junior year.
 
Looks like Sopron opens up for real tomorrow against Vasas Akademia in the Hungary league. Good luck Nika!

She is also on the cover of the most recent Elle magazine Croatia. Our favorite cover girl/point guard.

Eurobasket.com is a decent site for information on European pro teams.
 
Last edited:
Nika is probably the only player who Geno ever told her that, "I hate you." 🎃
 
Good news - Sopron won easily, 103-48. Nika had 10 points in 17 minutes including 3 of 4 from three and one of two from the line. Also 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Welcome back, Nika!

FYI this information comes from the box score that I found on flashscoreusa.com
 
Huskee11 said:
Good news - Sopron won easily, 103-48. Nika had 10 points in 17 minutes including 3 of 4 from three and one of two from the line. Also 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Welcome back, Nika!

FYI this information comes from the box score that I found on flashscoreusa.com
Expand ...

That's the Nika we know and love.....! No wonder Geno said the team was always better when Nika was on the floor. 😀
 

Online statistics

Members online
211
Guests online
15,754
Total visitors
15,965
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
164,410
Messages
4,394,973
Members
10,208
Latest member
jskwrite


.
..
Top Bottom