NIKA Thou Shall Not??

[TeamFirst!]

We have a difference of opinion regarding Nika’s value. It’s not my job to prop up her self esteem while it clearly is Geno’s job and CD’s job etc. OF COURSE they are going to boost Nika and she is doing a great job. The difference is I don’t think this team wins it all with this configuration and apparently most of you think Nika is irreplaceable. Look at lots of great teams with scoring PG. Paige, Clark and Miles for example. Putting the ball in their hands improves those teams and with the right planning and picks putting the ball in Azzi’s hands more would improve this team.

 

[eggfit]

It's pretty simple. Nika has become the most solid, valuable player on this team.

 

[jazz]

We have a difference of opinion regarding Nika’s value. It’s not my job to prop up her self esteem while it clearly is Geno’s job and CD’s job etc. OF COURSE they are going to boost Nika and she is doing a great job. The difference is I don’t think this team wins it all with this configuration and apparently most of you think Nika is irreplaceable. Look at lots of great teams with scoring PG. Paige, Clark and Miles for example. Putting the ball in their hands improves those teams and with the right planning and picks putting the ball in Azzi’s hands more would improve this team.

yep... you are on to something there., PB, Clark and Miles are better players than nika. of course, most people already know this. that doesn't mean that nika isnt a really good player in her own right. with the ball in her hands, she contributes right at 30pts per game for uconn... about 6-7 points behind miles.

Azzi is a great shooter but she can't create opps for others like nika. in fact, few can.

on this team, this year, yes nika is irreplaceable.

GA doesnt blow smoke up his players backsides so if he says NM is a catalysts or whatever he says, I generally think he is being honest. If anything, GA exaggerates when he is criticizing a player, not the other way around.

 

[jazz]

No doubt Nika is having her best year ever but she's still option # 6 or 7 as a scorer. Especially on her drives but she has developed a classic flop manuever no matter what happens on the way in and she's getting those calls. She's a smart basketball player and getting the most from her abilities. She can make some 3's but she can also throw up 4-5 bricks in a row. She's probably a .350 3 point shooter which is decent. On some teams, she'd be a real option but on Azzi and Lou's team she's way down on the list. Nika's weakness still is that she doesn't have to be closely guarded on offense. That may actually be to her advantage though as a passer as she's often unencumbered in executing plays. She's doing a solid job defensively and doing a great job running the team overall.

most of your post is inaccurate…

NM does not throw up bricks and certainly not 4-5 in a row. She barely takes that many shots in a game. 35% is pretty good and better than decent (unless you are the primary shooting guard). No knock on CD, but for comparison, CD shot less than 30% from three last year although I think she is better this year, still less than nika. this year I think nika is closer to 40% but I think she will mostly hover around 35% which is a good percentage considering she is a pass first point guard and not your starting shooting guard.

Classic Flop---can you tell me where she has done this? If you knock NM down, you generally have to earn it and wack her pretty good. But if she is savvy enough to flop her way into a call or two, what exactly is your beef with that?

Not closely guarded...that hasn't worked well for opposing teams lately. Also, teams are finding out that if for nothing else, they better guard her tight to disrupt her passing line of sight.

Unencumbered.... really? So now she doesn't get credit for being a great passer because the other team is just allowing her to do so???

I see something very different than you. I see a magician with the ball. Her no-look passes are exceptional. She draws, even baits the defense to her and then kicks it out for open jumpers. Just ask her teammates. AE in particular. Not to mention the break where she passes the ball where her teammates need to be. The pass is almost always perfect so the shooter can use the least amount of time getting the shot off.

What about her rebounding? Is she unencumbering her way to getting them too??? She's getting close to 5 a game lately (I would guess about 4 on average for the year)...not many point guards do this...on top of everything else she does.

There is a reason why she plays almost the entire game....but maybe it goes over your head...

 

[trisailin]

We have a difference of opinion regarding Nika’s value. It’s not my job to prop up her self esteem while it clearly is Geno’s job and CD’s job etc. OF COURSE they are going to boost Nika and she is doing a great job. The difference is I don’t think this team wins it all with this configuration and apparently most of you think Nika is irreplaceable. Look at lots of great teams with scoring PG. Paige, Clark and Miles for example. Putting the ball in their hands improves those teams and with the right planning and picks putting the ball in Azzi’s hands more would improve this team.

@TeamFirst! seems to be forgetting a fundamental part of Basketball: Defense. Morgan Tuck was quoted saying "They can't win if they can't score" Nika is doing a pretty remarkable job on the defensive side of the court and I suspect would still be on the court big minutes even if she wasn't leading the country in assists.

 

[HuskyNan]

I said “Nika is probably a 35% 3 point shooter which is decent”. In other words I think she probably will shoot 3 pointers at about a 35% rate which is good for most teams. It will fluctuate from game to game but that’s my estimate of her abilities.

Most teams don’t have Azzi and Lou available and would be relatively happy with 35% but Lou and Azzi look capable of shooting 3 pointers at a 45% rate. I’d take the 45% personally but I guess that makes me a “hater”

And if you don’t see her throwing her hands out on virtually every drive maybe some of YOU should watch the video again. She flops just like world class soccer players flop. It’s part of the game and especially the international game. I’m GLAD she flops as it helps her get to the line more often.

I really don’t hate her. I admire how much she has improved and how hard she works. She’s obviously doing a great job leading the team.

As I’ve said at least 3-4 times I just think this team is going to need to be firing on all cylinders to beat teams like SC and to me that means Azzi at the point breaking down the defense in the same ways Paige used to do, with Lou as the shooting guard and Caroline/Aubrey alternating at the 3 providing tons of movement and other strengths. A team like SC is just going to put Beal on Azzi and someone else on Lou to shut them down at the 3 point line and force Nika, Aubrey and Caroline to shoot from the perimeter. SC will win the rebounding battle. We need to convert at a high percentage or we lose. It’s that simple.

Do you want to fix the problem or just ignore it? We have to shoot extremely well to beat teams like SC and Stanford.

Even when I give you a link to the stats, you won’t look at them. You’re using your subjective eye test to determine how well someone is playing. Your use of the words “probably” and “estimate” - when the actuals were hand fed to you - means you stubbornly refuse to accept facts and choose to use your skewed perception instead. That completely negates any faux statistical analysis you present.

Once more, even though it’s been explained many times - Nika’s job isn’t to score, it’s to facilitate. She creates points by passing to the most open scorer. She is literally the best in the country at facilitating.

Have you never noticed Geno shifting Paige from point guard to shooting guard? That’s because it is the shooting guard’s job to shoot. When Paige plays point she - wait for it - passes the ball, the way a point guard is supposed to do. When Geno shifts her, he wants her to take more shots.

And, by the way, you like Caroline better than Nika but at this point, Nika’s fg% is 43.1% overall and 38.2% from three while Caroline is 41.0% and 36.4%. Their points per game are similar at 6.5 and 7.6.

What is “the problem” you want to fix? What, exactly, is your solution? Pull Nika and put in….who? Freshman Ines? If you shift Azzi to point guard, she’s not going to score anywhere near as many points and there would be more pressure on Lou.

Honestly, I’m not sure why I bothered answering. I hope I’m not turning into this guy

 

[Skeets]

We have a difference of opinion regarding Nika’s value. It’s not my job to prop up her self esteem while it clearly is Geno’s job and CD’s job etc. OF COURSE they are going to boost Nika and she is doing a great job. The difference is I don’t think this team wins it all with this configuration and apparently most of you think Nika is irreplaceable. Look at lots of great teams with scoring PG. Paige, Clark and Miles for example. Putting the ball in their hands improves those teams and with the right planning and picks putting the ball in Azzi’s hands more would improve this team.

Not surprised the Deacon is the only one to give you a "thumbs up" on this.

Of course you cannot have the BE DPOY and the NATIONAL ASSIST LEADER playing. That would be a losing proposition, right?