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Message: [QUOTE="nastynatty, post: 4275868, member: 11900"] Tough loss but it’s nice to see PB get a little recognition. It’s been a tough season for her and while individual accolades are obviously not her goal, it’s still good to see her get little wins after everything she has personally had to overcome this season. Maaaannn Paige was at maybe 75-80% all tournament but was still able to snag a regional MOP and Final Four All-Tourney. I feel like they’ve slowly been giving more information on the severity of her injury and everytime it makes it seem even more miraculous that she was able to get back. I mean plates and screws still in the knee & a stitched-up meniscus tear? Just remarkable that she was able to play, let alone, carry the team at key points in the tournament. I also think she got annoyed with constantly being asked if her knee was still bothering her cuz in the post-game presser she kind of gave a smart remark when asked about how healthy she was heading into the game. She just said she was “good enough to play.” Like Sue Bird said, with her it’s an endless ceiling. And where Paige goes, this team goes. Also was anyone else surprised that they gave Final Four MOP to Boston and not Henderson?! Neither stood out tremendously to me in the semi-final but Henderson definitely did in today’s game so I thought they’d give it to her. Anyways………… Paige is coming back as an upperclassmen with a vengeance. I also think she will benefit from being in a more significant leadership role. At times she can still start off not being assertive and I think it had to do with wanting to get other players (especially the seniors) more involved and trying to let them have their moment. She didn’t try to take over this game or the NC State game until she realized that they couldn’t get anything going without her forcing the issue. Let’s be honest, this current senior class was far too reliant on underclassmen to carry them through. First it was Paige, then Caroline, then Azzi, then Paige again (to a lesser degree). With this current sophomore class moving up in the ranks, I like the idea of them taking more control and forcing the issue because they have the talent and competitiveness to do it. The current freshmen class should provide excellent secondary scoring options to Paige as sophomores and hopefully they can stay healthy (). Can’t overestimate the impact of having a shell of Azzi in tonight’s game. There is no way any team can smother Paige the way SC did when Azzi is on the floor with her the entire time. That’s why Paige wanted Azzi to come to UConn so bad because she needs the consistent secondary scorer to help make her life a little easier. They’re both capable of creating their own shots but typically rely on the screen action to get them good looks. Having them screen for each other is so important because they each garner so much defensive attention. I think they come back with a vengeance next year and I’m looking forward to it. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach