in another thread (closed) that became centered on paige and the idea that she should be point guard, DEpup wrote
'DT is also a point guard and probably the best PG to never really play the position.....
I personally would like her to mentally keep moving in that direction to develop her scorer's mentality and being off the ball helps that.
i agree, and i appreciate the DT parallel.
paige has all skills needed as a basketball player already. being pigeonholed as point guard is foolish; getting more experience and 'working on it' is crazy for her. she can't get any better as a pg!
at uconn, if she is needed as the pg -- if it's the best way for the team to win -- then she'll do that. but if another player can be a good-enough point (for UConn, that means great) and the team has a weakness elsewhere, then she should fill that gap -- to hell with the limited (though immensely important) pg role.
in the pros, the same would be true. assigning her as the point guard would be foolish -- even if she is the greatest pg ever -- if she would help her team more elsewhere. right? that's the magic of paige -- versatility with primo abilities at multiple spots.
please don't be rigid -- as some here apparently prefer. she's a basketball player, who wants to win, most of all.
one of her weaknesses in the past is mental. she can be too unselfish, as has been said many, many times. that is her major flaw. she's improved but it's something she should work on.
i'm actually afraid of assigning her the point guard role. it would be extremely easy for her to revert to her 'too-unselfish' mode. that would diminish her as magnificent basketball player -- and her value to the huskies.
that's why i'm leery of the azzi-paige theme, BTW. i'm afraid paige would diminish herself by being unselfish to boost azzi. paige has got to avoid temptation to let azzi do the scoring, just as in the past the team fell into the 'let paige do it' trap. the team chemistry is vital, and it's not guaranteed.