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Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 5337432, member: 12088"] I agree with [USER=120]@PacoSwede[/USER] that Nika made costly defensive errors and sometimes they came at moments that clearly cost the team a win. This seems to have been part and parcel of what you got with her defensive aggressiveness. But, of course, the very fact that her fouling out was disastrous for the team also showed how much they depended on her. She was irreplaceable in those final two seasons, and especially her junior year when there was no Paige or Azzi. When I think of her greatness, on both ends of the court, I’m reminded of how she dismantled Tennessee in the third quarter as a sophomore, or suffocated Caitlin as a junior and spearheaded another victory (yes, Azzi and Carol were instrumental too), or nearly engineered an upset of SC with only Lou as a perimeter scoring threat next to her, no Paige no Azzi and only playing 6; or inspired a defeat of Tennessee at a very unfriendly arena in an intense contest where her ferocity was absolutely key. There were definitely occasional lapses, costly errors, but also a shining brilliance that could lead a team through the fire. And the grace with which she welcomed KK and Ash and took a different role on the team was also inspiring. Paige led the team on an incredible final four run that season, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Nika shepherding the freshmen along to follow Paige. And even then, a costly error and foul out against Syracuse almost caused an early exit from the tournament. In my eyes, those errors are evidence of how great she was. Had it been anyone else, the team wouldn’t have batted an eye. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach