Paige Most Outstanding Player of Regional

[RockyMTblue2]

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Not.

Anyway I hope I'm not being redundant. Have not seen it elsewhere. A freshman, but you'd never know it.

Source: https://www.courant.com/sports/ucon...0210330-ouovpy6fbvaepndihfyf4vy7gy-story.html

And here is another beaut of an article: https://thenext.substack.com/p/how-connecticut-reached-its-13th

“Paige does a lot of things that you can’t explain,” Auriemma said. “And believe me, there’s a lot of things that Paige has to learn to do… but like all great players, Paige can sense the moment… and she has the ability to fill that moment.”

 

[Rb335]

I said in a thread before the Big East Tournament, that Maya had the best freshman regular season, and Stewart had the best freshman post season.

I think Bueckers had good enough stats, the conference POY, and AA honors to match the regular season accomplishments of Moore.

She has now collected the BET MOP and the NCAA regional MVP with a huge elite eight performance. Last night reminded me a lot of Stewart against Notre Dame. She has the opportunity to match Stewart's postseason brilliance in this final four.

If they win the championship, she cements herself as the best freshman at Uconn. But I think she already has laid claim to that honor.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I said in a thread before the Big East Tournament, that Maya had the best freshman regular season, and Stewart had the best freshman post season.

I think Bueckers had good enough stats, the conference POY, and AA honors to match the regular season accomplishments of Moore.

She has now collected the BET MOP and the NCAA regional MVP with a huge elite eight performance. Last night reminded me a lot of Stewart against Notre Dame. She has the opportunity to match Stewart's postseason brilliance in this final four.

If they win the championship, she cements herself as the best freshman at Uconn. But I think she already has laid claim to that honor.

It may be a short lived honor though.

 

[Rb335]

It may be a short lived honor though.

Fair point, if Azzi comes in and steals that honor I'd be thrilled! The thing working in Paige's favor is that she joined a team that lost their two best players from an arguably down season. Not so sure the FF streak would be alive if we had a tournament last year. Azzi will be joining a team that returns every player from at least a FF run. They will already have a full season of chemistry and 3 important freshman making sophomore jumps.

 

[bluedevil]

Can Azzi do all the things Paige can do? The ony thing I know about her is her great shooting skills?

 

[MilfordHusky]

Azzi is a complete player who has been well coached. She and Paige are fairly similar. The differences are small: Paige has better court vision and passing, and Azzi is the better shooter.

 

[Cuango]

Fair point, if Azzi comes in and steals that honor I'd be thrilled! The thing working in Paige's favor is that she joined a team that lost their two best players from an arguably down season. Not so sure the FF streak would be alive if we had a tournament last year. Azzi will be joining a team that returns every player from at least a FF run. They will already have a full season of chemistry and 3 important freshman making sophomore jumps

It is almost inconceivable to me that people think Azzi is going to waltz in next year and have a better season than Paige’s, a season that many basketball experts are touting as one of the best freshman seasons ever. Even if you think that Azzi is a better player than Paige (which I don’t) it is going to be very difficult for her to put up a better overall season than the one we have just witnessed from Paige. First, the one part of Azzi’s game that may be superior to Paige’s game is her shooting (again, we’ll see). She’s not better at passing, I doubt she will even approach Paige’s assist numbers, I doubt she’ll beat Paige’s rebound numbers significantly, she isn’t likely to be a better “clutch’ player, and Imo it’s unlikely she will have a better instinct or deep knowledge of the game. So she would probably have to score 25-30 points a game and shoot 50+% on 2s and 3s. However, the biggest reason she is unlikely to have a better season than Paige is because she is not going to have nearly the same opportunities as Paige. Paige is the unquestioned best player on a very young and inexperienced team. Azzi will join a team that is incredibly deep, experienced, and loaded with talent. I don’t care how well she shoots, she is simply not going to get enough usage in the one area of possible superiority to Paige to allow her to have that kind of season. I will be shocked if Azzi is even able to beat Paige’s scoring average and it’s even more unlikely she’ll beat her in other areas. I am super excited to have Azzi but I just think it’s a bit much to expect her to come in (off a knee injury, no less) and put up a better season than the historic one we are now witnessing!

 

[DefenseBB]

It may be a short lived honor though.

As noted by @MilfordHusky Azzi for all her greatness and projected greatness will have a tough act to follow as Paige isn't going away so maybe just like Maya where Tina Charles was already on the team and earned the POY honors her Senior Year (Maya's Junior year), where as Maya only got the Soph and Senior year awards, Azzi and Paige will have to split accolades....

 

[RockyMTblue2]

He did it without crib notes:

 

[Rb335]

It is almost inconceivable to me that people think Azzi is going to waltz in next year and have a better season than Paige’s, a season that many basketball experts are touting as one of the best freshman seasons ever. Even if you think that Azzi is a better player than Paige (which I don’t) it is going to be very difficult for her to put up a better overall season than the one we have just witnessed from Paige. First, the one part of Azzi’s game that may be superior to Paige’s game is her shooting (again, we’ll see). She’s not better at passing, I doubt she will even approach Paige’s assist numbers, I doubt she’ll beat Paige’s rebound numbers significantly, she isn’t likely to be a better “clutch’ player, and Imo it’s unlikely she will have a better instinct or deep knowledge of the game. So she would probably have to score 25-30 points a game and shoot 50+% on 2s and 3s. However, the biggest reason she is unlikely to have a better season than Paige is because she is not going to have nearly the same opportunities as Paige. Paige is the unquestioned best player on a very young and inexperienced team. Azzi will join a team that is incredibly deep, experienced, and loaded with talent. I don’t care how well she shoots, she is simply not going to get enough usage in the one area of possible superiority to Paige to allow her to have that kind of season. I will be shocked if Azzi is even able to beat Paige’s scoring average and it’s even more unlikely she’ll beat her in other areas. I am super excited to have Azzi but I just think it’s a bit much to expect her to come in (off a knee injury, no less) and put up a better season than the historic one we are now witnessing!

I’d tend to agree. I think a lot of people get so excited over Azzi because she was so good at such a young age. I haven’t seen enough of her post injury to really know how she’s progressed. She should be healthy though by the time she is at uconn, her injury was quite a while ago now.

I think the one area she may be better is at long range shooting, but even that might be a stretch. Paige has shot incredibly well from deep. I more see Azzi having a KML type impact. A player who comes off the bench for a scoring punch by hitting a myriad of jump shots. They just won’t need her to be a NPOY type player next year.

 

[j66kicker]

I will be shocked if Azzi is even able to beat Paige’s scoring average and it’s even more unlikely she’ll beat her in other areas. I am super excited to have Azzi but I just think it’s a bit much to expect her to come in (off a knee injury, no less) and put up a better season than the historic one we are now witnessing!

Don’t know about records, but I‘ve seen Azzi play and she really is that good. She’s not just a shooter, but her shooting is Steph Curry good. I suspect Paige will move back to PG with Azzi and CW at the 2/3 spots. Paige will feed Azzi all she wants to eat. 2 killers on the perimeter. And if the opponents actually guard the two of them out there, then the middle will be wide open for CW, ONO and Edwards. We will be an unstoppable offensive machine.

 

[JoePgh]

Don’t know about records, but I‘ve seen Azzi play and she really is that good. She’s not just a shooter, but her shooting is Steph Curry good. I suspect Paige will move back to PG with Azzi and CW at the 2/3 spots. Paige will feed Azzi all she wants to eat. 2 killers on the perimeter. And if the opponents actually guard the two of them out there, then the middle will be wide open for CW, ONO and Edwards. We will be an unstoppable offensive machine.

So you have just kicked Evina and Nika out of next year's starting lineup (assuming they are both still on the roster)? You may be right, but that would be a big decision of the sort that Geno tries to avoid.

 

[j66kicker]

So you have just kicked Evina and Nika out of next year's starting lineup (assuming they are both still on the roster)? You may be right, but that would be a big decision of the sort that Geno tries to avoid.

Evina will be in the WNBA. Nika will be invaluable as a backup point guard for Paige. It would be a big decision if it wasn’t Azzi Fudd. Even so, it may take a couple games. But you will see that decision is a no-brainer.

 

[fomalhaut]

And here is another beaut of an article: How Connecticut reached its 13th straight Final Four

The Next article has a rare picture taken during the game at a moment when Paige Bueckers wasn't being fouled.

 

[diggerfoot]

Evina will be in the WNBA. Nika will be invaluable as a backup point guard for Paige. It would be a big decision if it wasn’t Azzi Fudd. Even so, it may take a couple games. But you will see that decision is a no-brainer.

You mean like Sales, Ralph, Taurasi and Moore started as freshmen? The latter two started only after injuries. Though Ralph was arguably the best player as a freshmen she never started. Over the years there has been enough evidence now to refute either premise of freshmen not starting or the most talented always starting. The situation dictates either.

Bueckers came into a ripe situation for a freshman starter. Fudd, not so much. I won’t bet my house that Fudd won’t start until an injury occurs, but I will bet you a large pizza. ?

On a wholly unrelated note, I just searched through the first three pages of Google to find out who was on the River Walk all tourney team without success. I’m not going to scroll through all 6 million plus results. I’m guessing Bueckers, Williams, Smith, Carrington and Clark. Can anyone confirm?

 

[Bald Husky]

Azzi is a complete player who has been well coached. She and Paige are fairly similar. The differences are small: Paige has better court vision and passing, and Azzi is the better shooter.

In an interview with both players, they were asked what they would do at the end of the game if they had one last shot to win. Azzi said she would do a pull-up, Paige said she would pass it to Azzi.

 

[npignatjr]

Can Azzi do all the things Paige can do? The ony thing I know about her is her great shooting skills?

And coming off major injury. And wearing a boot.

 

[CL82]

Azzi will join a team that is incredibly deep, experienced, and loaded with talent.

True, but she’s also joining a team with a pass-first point guard, with incredible vision in the ability to put the ball in the perfect place to make scoring easy. This particular point guard has already played with her and knows where she wants the ball. And the incredibly deep team will make it very difficult to double any player.

I think Azzi will do just fine.

 

[oldude]

While I’m reasonably sure Azzi will be great at UConn, her first challenge will be a battle to become a starter, which is anything but guaranteed, particularly if Evina decides to return for another year. But even if Evina declares for the draft, I think you can count on Liv, Christyn, Paige & Aaliyah as starters, and I’m certain that a fierce competitor like Nika isn’t going to give up her spot without a fight.

I think it is likely that Azzi doesn’t start at UConn from day 1. She’ll get lots of PT off the bench, but she will most definitely have to earn her minutes. By tournament time next season, it is my hope and expectation that Azzi will be the 5th starter.

 

[Bald Husky]

While I’m reasonably sure Azzi will be great at UConn, her first challenge will be a battle to become a starter, which is anything but guaranteed, particularly if Evina decides to return for another year. But even if Evina declares for the draft, I think you can count on Liv, Christyn, Paige & Aaliyah as starters, and I’m certain that a fierce competitor like Nika isn’t going to give up her spot without a fight.

I think it is likely that Azzi doesn’t start at UConn from day 1. She’ll get lots of PT off the bench, but she will most definitely have to earn her minutes. By tournament time next season, it is my hope and expectation that Azzi will be the 5th starter.

You are correct. The fight will be between Nika and Azzi. I believe that Azzi will start with Paige at the point. Nika will get a lot of minutes spelling Paige, Azzi, and possibly Christyn. I think Geno will be a lot more liberal in his substituting next year, using Amari and Aubrey up front, and Caroline, Anna, and Saylor on the wings. It will be a lot of fun watching these players develope, and if things work out, we may see the beginning of another super team rivaling the Stewie, Sue, and Maya teams.

 

[eebmg]

While I’m reasonably sure Azzi will be great at UConn, her first challenge will be a battle to become a starter, which is anything but guaranteed, particularly if Evina decides to return for another year. But even if Evina declares for the draft, I think you can count on Liv, Christyn, Paige & Aaliyah as starters, and I’m certain that a fierce competitor like Nika isn’t going to give up her spot without a fight.

I think it is likely that Azzi doesn’t start at UConn from day 1. She’ll get lots of PT off the bench, but she will most definitely have to earn her minutes. By tournament time next season, it is my hope and expectation that Azzi will be the 5th starter.

When Azzi drains 30 straight 3pt shots in her first practice, done deal.

 

[oldude]

When Azzi drains 30 straight 3pt shots in her first practice, done deal.

Practice? I think it may have to wait until Azzi demonstrates she can do it in games coming off the bench. Then it will be a done deal.

 

[Urshurak]

Azzi is a complete player who has been well coached. She and Paige are fairly similar. The differences are small: Paige has better court vision and passing, and Azzi is the better shooter.

Hard to imagine a "better" shooter. Wow, UConn is going to be really bad for Women's basketball again............

 

[Childhood]

Practice? I think it may have to wait until Azzi demonstrates she can do it in games coming off the bench. Then it will be a done deal.

Azzi is a weapon. I dont see Geno would let her sit in bench and wait.

 

[Gurleyman]

Azzi seems like a natural for an offensive spark plug off the bench role if we choose to go that route. If Evina is back that may be a wise strategy rather than disrupting our starting unit (Azure Stevens came off the bench in a similar situation as a junior). We can just let her come off the bench and focus on scoring. Paige averaged 9 assists her senior year of HS and Azzi averaged 2.5, so we know Azzi has more of a scoring mindset. She did play some point on the U17 team so she can handle it - which means we can rest Paige a little more than this year. Maybe try to play more uptempo, press a little, and go 8-9-10 deep for the first time in a while - we‘ll have the personnel for it, but Geno will have to trust more players.