Nika now most important player

[HopJim]

Nika could be the most important player during the season but the MOST IMPORTANT UCONN PLAYER to me this year is whoever contributes the most to helping us beat South Carolinia in the playoffs. May be Nika but suspect its a big who helps neutralize Boston.

 

[Beemer]

Nika could be the most important player during the season but the MOST IMPORTANT UCONN PLAYER to me this year is whoever contributes the most to helping us beat South Carolinia in the playoffs. May be Nika but suspect its a big who helps neutralize Boston.

Dorka. IMO she definitely would have been the difference if she hadn't broken her wrist

 

[CocoHusky]

Nika will be returning this season with the most career starts of anyone on the roster and was only be behind Aaliyah in starts last season. She had the most starts last season of any guards except Cristyn in a roster, end of season, of six guards. This season there are four guards listed on the roster, the lowest number in the years that Nika has been at UCONN. So it strikes me as odd that many posters have expressed the view that she will serve primarily as the back up point guard this season rather than the starting point guard. Her freshman season Geno, with Paige available, choose to go with Nika at point for the second half of the season only losing that role due to injury at the beginning of the tournament. Last season, when Paige went down with injury Geno, with other options available, again chose to go with Nika at point. So for her two seasons at UCONN Nika has been Geno's choice behind Paige, a player who's arguably the best player in wcbb, as his point guard. Also it may be noted that Azzi's point production was highest last season during the period that Nika was at point.

The first bolded sentence is demonstrably false and the second is deliberately misleading. In her Freshman season Nika got her first start against Georgetown- a game in which both Paige and Anna ( both starters) were injured. Anna's injury would linger for the remainder of the season and into the tournament.
When Paige went down with an injury it was against ND and Geno did not turn to Nika as her replacement, he initially chose Evina Westbrook as the PG. Nika did not log a single minute of play in the three games (GT, UCLA & Louisville) immediately after Paige was injured. The options available to Geno after Paige was injured also did not include Azzi Fudd because Azzi was shut down after the South Carolina game and would miss the next 11 games. Although you might not want to admit it there is a strong correlation between the number of games missed by Anna, Paige and Azzi and the number of games which Nika has started for UCONN. Geno had a full set of options going into the '22 NCAA tournament. How many start did Nika Make during this last tournament?

 

[oldhusky]

The first bolded sentence is demonstrably false and the second is deliberately misleading. In her Freshman season Nika got her first start against Georgetown- a game in which both Paige and Anna ( both starters) were injured. Anna's injury would linger for the remainder of the season and into the tournament.
When Paige went down with an injury it was against ND and Geno did not turn to Nika as her replacement, he initially chose Evina Westbrook as the PG. Nika did not log a single minute of play in the three games (GT, UCLA & Louisville) immediately after Paige was injured. The options available to Geno after Paige was injured also did not include Azzi Fudd because Azzi was shut down after the South Carolina game and would miss the next 11 games. Although you might not want to admit it there is a strong correlation between the number of games missed by Anna, Paige and Azzi and the number of games which Nika has started for UCONN. Geno had a full set of options going into the '22 NCAA tournament. How many start did Nika Make during this last tournament?

Just wanted to point out that Nika was out during those three games following Paige's injury too. Even though we had 6 good guards we had three out at the same time for those three games, with no backup guards for that stretch. Evina at the point, gassed starters, and Aaliyah having to play some at the 3 were all huge negative factors. If I remember right, UCLA had a number of significant injuries as well or we might have had a three game losing streak.

Anyway knowing we had 6 good guards last year and yet for that stretch, we didn't even have one backup available because of injuries is one reason adding another guard by whatever means makes sense to me now. Not to have a role when our current 4 are healthy, but in the likely event that we have to play a few games without all four. In addition I hope Aubrey and maybe Ayanna can fit in at least somewhat on the offensive end as a 3 on occasion, I know they can get it done on the other end. Still another guard is good insurance IMO.

 

[Bone Dog]

In addition I hope Aubrey and maybe Ayanna can fit in at least somewhat on the offensive end as a 3 on occasion, I know they can get it done on the other end.

I disagree… and agree. Aubrey might be able to occupy the 3 for brief stretches, but not as a perimeter shooter. Ayanna has showed some perimeter shooting ability (which may or may not translate into the college level) but is not as quick as we all remember Aubrey to have been and hope she can be again. Both will probably be effective on D, but Aubrey’s quickness will be more useful than Ayanna’s strength at the 3.

My view is that the two of them can give us a few minutes a game at the 3. But if we need more than that from them, it means we are probably in big trouble with injuries. When we had to play Aaliyah at the 3 it was not effective. We became too slow. We only managed to beat UCLA because of Evina’s heroics, but that was a really close call.

This is precisely why I’ve been saying that with 4 guards, we need at least 20 mins/g from Nika, no matter what the state of her offense may be. The only way around this is if Lou suddenly develops defensive skills she has yet to have had an occasion to show the world. Two big IFs — one of them has to break our way or some combination of compromises involving both Nika and Lou.

 

[Tonyc]

Some questions at this point heading into the season. Where are we with Griffs health? Can she play? How effective can she be? Now how is Dorka Azzi and Carolines health. Same questions. Can they play and how effective can they be? Nika I agree is the key and must be on the floor. She must be healthy and stay out of foul trouble. Yes we have the talent and the players but they need to be able to play like we know they can. There was a post saying we are going to get another player next week. I havent heard anything about that until I read the post and checked with people I know and have no feedback. I hope we get another point guard and not just a band aid but at this point a band aid wouldnt be so bad. We need effective bodies as we enter the season. Our schedule is tuff early on and having players who are not healthy or who are not up to speed will make if a tuff start. Right now Edwards who has been reported as playing well is going to be key. Ice and Ayanna will learn as they go sort of work in process. There will be some surprises this season. I hope its Nika scoring a little bit more and Azzi Caroline and Dorka recovering from their injuries.

 

[oldhusky]

I disagree… and agree. Aubrey might be able to occupy the 3 for brief stretches, but not as a perimeter shooter. Ayanna has showed some perimeter shooting ability (which may or may not translate into the college level) but is not as quick as we all remember Aubrey to have been and hope she can be again. Both will probably be effective on D, but Aubrey’s quickness will be more useful than Ayanna’s strength at the 3.

My view is that the two of them can give us a few minutes a game at the 3. But if we need more than that from them, it means we are probably in big trouble with injuries. When we had to play Aaliyah at the 3 it was not effective. We became too slow. We only managed to beat UCLA because of Evina’s heroics, but that was a really close call.

This is precisely why I’ve been saying that with 4 guards, we need at least 20 mins/g from Nika, no matter what the state of her offense may be. The only way around this is if Lou suddenly develops defensive skills she has yet to have had an occasion to show the world. Two big IFs — one of them has to break our way or some combination of compromises involving both Nika and Lou.

Regardless of where people are on who starts at PG, you are correct that we will need 20 minutes or so from Nika, and from Lou for that matter. We know Azzi and Caroline will get big minutes, probably well over 30. Nika and Lou will be 3rd and 4th in minutes in some order, but even #4 will get close to 20 minutes out of necessity with only 4.

As for Aubrey, Ayanna and a potential 11th hour guard addition, somebody from that group will likely have to be a guard or a 3 for at least 5-6 minutes a game even if we are healthy. It is exceptionally hard to manage a 4 player rotation for 3 positions. You probably make your first substitution earlier than normal, because the first player sitting has to be rested to come back in before you can rest the second starter, who has to be rested before you can give the third starter a blow, long after you normally would have taken them out. Usually minimal use of a 5th player is necessary to help modify those irregularities, more like a 4.5 player rotation, in this case whether they are guards or not.

But throw just one missed game from any of the main four guards into the mix, and all the remaining guards whoever they are, have to start and play major minutes. The player that was getting minimal use from the Aubrey, Ayanna or a foreign guard, now becomes the primary backup to all three guards getting 20 minutes a game, and the marginal use role for 5-6 minutes a game now falls to the second choice from Aubrey or Ayanna, or the foreign guard to be named later if she ever arrives.

The scenario obviously gets really ugly if two guards were injured at the same time, when Aubrey or Ayanna becomes a heavy minutes starter at guard, and the other presumably becomes a 20 minutes a game backup guard, and someone not yet mentioned would need to pick up another 5-6. Maybe that sounds exceptionally pessimistic or unlikely, but remember last year we had three guards out at the same time for three very difficult games.

I think many of our fans say we had 11 great players and now we have 10, we will be fine. If healthy they are probably right. Injuries to our bigs we can adjust for much easier, we are a solid 4 deep at PF for example. But at this point any guard missing time is quite costly and two would be devastating. Last year we started with 6 good guards and had several games with three out at the same time and no backups. The odds of that happening again are very very low. This year we started with one less at 5 after adding Lou, a number that is not ideal but has some cushion, but now at 4 we are pretty much at the mercy of good fortune on injuries to our guards, unless Aubrey or Ayanna become pretty good players on the perimeter. Quite possible but I hope that theory doesn't have to be tested.

 

[Zarathustra]

Lol. I’ll include @BobbyJ , @CocoHusky , and @TeamFirst! in this response and make it my last one.

First, I agree that the “eye test” can uncover things that stats do not. I also know enough about @BobbyJ and @CocoHusky to know they have more experienced eyes than me. Finally, as one who has had to both use and fault stats in my career, I have a pretty good idea when they are being abused.

So, for example, I never pointed at Fudd’s low assist totals as an argument against her. If I did, then the rationale you used that she was not being used in that manner, would legitimately have shot me down.

But I used A/T comparisons instead. While there is good reason to expect post players to have lower numbers than perimeter players, that reason does not apply between perimeter players. There were times in our recent past when Faris and Samuelson were our leading A/T players, well over 2.0, but neither were point guards.

As for the eye tests, while I concede that @BobbyJ and others have better “eyes,” I call BS on witnessing how Fudd and Muhl played this past year and claiming there was an obvious difference in their intuitive passing. Sorry, don’t buy it. Both thread the needle at times, both threw it away. To the extent that one is better than the other by “eye test,” it is a subtle difference at best.

And the same goes for using the “eye test” to compare Fudd’s AAU ball with Muhl’s European ball. I saw some pretty fine passing from both, and would claim BS to claims of obvious differences in both.

So that leaves comparing Fudd’s A/T stats from AAU to Muhl’s from European. I don’t have the foggiest idea what those numbers are, and I’m not inclined to look them up. If Fudd’s are noticeably better, than that raises the question of why they dropped last season. Admittedly it also leaves hope that it could improve substantially with further adjustment.

But this also leads to my final point on the matter. Muhl also had a lot of fine drives to the basket in European ball, but in her early days at UConn she drove to the basket a number of times and missed quite badly. Mind you she was able to get by defenders, that was not the problem, but when you drive for a lay up and toss an air ball that can mess with your mind, kind of the “Chuck Knoblauch” effect. So she stopped driving and, for some mysterious reason, thought her best course of action was always to get the ball to Bueckers.

It’s possible that Muhl can overcome this block and drive to the basket as she did in European ball. It’s possible that Fudd can overcome whatever created her inferior A/T numbers, if they were so much better during AAU ball. It would be consistent for a fan to hope for both to happen, in which case Muhl still should get the nod for PG, because that would work best for the system.

Thinking that giving Fudd a few months of training for the nuances of PG prepares her as well as six years of training for Muhl does not have much basis in either stats or eye tests.

Just a comment about NIKA's European play/videos. My impression is that in the European video ( live action
in games) is that Nika was driving in to score or TO GET FOULED and and go to the charity strip. I saw one clip
where she was fouled time and again and the scoreboard showed her team going from two or three points
down to being gradually furthur ahead on her foul shots and , occasional , assists. Many ways to play the game
of BB!

 

[Zarathustra]

To no one in particular:

PG is a specialized role even in the UConn system. As such it requires both tangible and intangible qualities.

Even when playing off guard Bueckers nevertheless compiles assists and minimizes turnovers, the same could be said for Taurasi. Fudd may prove to be an all time great in terms of talent and value to the team, but it’s already proven she is no Bueckers or Taurasi in terms of facilitating offense from the SG position. You would not think Moore should be considered for PG in a pinch, being great does not mean being great at everything. Nothing has shown to date that Fudd would be great at PG, at least not without some significant coaching.

I agree Muhl has some issues to overcome, and may or may not do so. But I entered this fray once people started faulting her passing, or elevating Fudd’s, as a means of questioning her importance, or whether she will be our PG. Neither the eye test nor the stats favor Fudd over Muhl in the passing department.

Furthermore, Muhl has prepared for the psychological/intangible aspects of being the PG for six years. Indeed, this may be why her assist related stats are so much better than Fudd’s, not because of talent, but because of all the grooming that is behind creating a good PG. Maybe with enough grooming Fudd could facilitate offense as well or better than Muhl, but on the other hand she may not have the right disposition. Anyone can see she does not have the same disposition as Bueckers to facilitate offense while Muhl, because of her years of grooming, does have that disposition.

”Average passer at best?” My Lord, there’s enough eye test material just from UConn to refute that, but I recommend watching some of her European footage. “Average passer?” wtf. Question her value or likelihood to be PG based on missed lay ups, foul shooting, hesitancy to shoot, or propensity to commit fouls. I agree there is plenty of material to work with. But taking her comparative strength and claiming it to be her weakness in comparison to Fudd is straight out of Propaganda 101. We get enough of that these days.

Lol, @Bone Dog , how is that as an impassioned plea for you?

And, referring to Nika and the PG position.... there are a number of nice Croatian videos/FIBA games of
the short/ medium/ and long ball passing skills of both NIKA and her little sister, Hana. For years the
foundation of the Croatian fastbreak and transition game has been predicated on a Muhl attack!

 

[Bone Dog]

I'm ready to look a fool on this, but the post from WER is very likely a red herring. Someone already noted the possibility it really referred to a player for the men's team. I am absolutely not holding my breath on this one.