Paige's Wings Page (merged thread) | Page 6 | The Boneyard

Paige's Wings Page (merged thread)

oldude said:
Paige had a nice all around game, and you can tell that a good part of the large crowd are there because of her. She needs more help from her teammates. Arike was 2-14 tonight.
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Wow, Arike is a problem on the Wings. It's like Paige is running a race with a truck tire around her neck. And I'm not sure any one set a single screen for Paige. It looked like she had to create all her shots out of thin air.
 
Just watched the wings lose to Seattle. Paige had a great game for only her second game. She continues to play to her strengths and is always looking for a teammate with a better shot. My biggest concern for the wings is that ogunbowale and carrington don’t seem to be able to pass the ball once they get it. Wild drive to the basket or they launch a three. I know Ogunbowale was one of the top scorers last year but she needs to share the ball. Also, not seeing a lot of serious picks being set to get shooter open. Too much one on one.
 
Bone Dog said:
Wow, Arike is a problem on the Wings. It's like Paige is running a race with a truck tire around her neck. And I'm not sure any one set a single screen for Paige. It looked like she had to create all her shots out of thin air.
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Paige did hit a nice midrange off a high screen from one of her teammates, and there were a number of other screens set for her. But Seattle was very aggressive on Paige, jumping her off most screens as well as trying to trap her in a double-team.
 
Great game for Paige--glad to see her playing as a true PG in the pros. Arike had a bad game but through 2 game she's averaging 13 FGA which is 6 lower than last year which is a good sign. Most nights she'll shoot a lot better than 2-14. McCowan also with a better showing than her opening game.

For the Storm, a breakout performance for Gabby Williams. Diggins also with a great game and Nneka leading the way with 23/18. Solid win for the Storm.
 
Saw the game tonight. It's going to be a long season for Paige. Hope she doesn't lose her "Joie de vivre." Besides her good stats, she played 36.48 minutes, or almost the entire game. At that rate, she might 'wear out" by mid season. This is just a bad team with a newbie coach. They lost their first two games AT HOME. Now they play four on the road. As you can tell, I m not optimistic.
 
ok…it’s only been two games so I’ll go light here on the wtfs. Interior defense is just awful. Actually, team defense period is awful. Conditioning of some of the players is awful. Look, no one is expecting great things considering the coach is new and the overall roster components. BUT, commit to some consistent identity…defense, hustle, composure…and die on that hill! Bench Smith already, PLEASE. Send a message. She’s a vet and her leadership in any form is non existent. Give Big T ALL of her minutes…lol. I like Siegrest at the first woman off the bench. I think they could get more out of Carrington if they set her up correctly. They don’t have the horses to play uptempo for a full game so slow down or you will lose every game this season.
 
Depressing thought: Just two games into the season and it is already looking like the Golden State series will decide who has the best chance to get the number one pick for next year. Sheesh.... :(
 
Not bad at all for her 2nd game in the WNBA. The team concept on both offense and defense she enjoyed for the last 5 years is not there yet with the Wings but I think it will get there over time.

Sadly, Paige will lose more games in her first season on the Wings than she lost in her entire UConn career so that will be a new reality for her.
 
Out of curiosity, I looked up that obscure statistic of “+/-“ for last nights game and it paints a concerning picture. Paige’s +/- last night was +10. Arike’s +/- was -15. It’s just one game. But how well the Wings do this season will depend in large measure on how well Arike adapts her game to Paige’s game.

Arike was the biggest cheerleader for Paige once Dallas secured the #1 pick in the draft. I have no doubt that she really wants to make the partnership between the two work. But that must involve Arike making fairly significant adjustments in her game, and you have to ask the question, “In her 7th season in the W playing one way, is she even capable of making major adjustments to her game?”

Time will tell.
 
oldude said:
Out of curiosity, I looked up that obscure statistic of “+/-“ for last nights game and it paints a concerning picture. Paige’s +/- last night was +10. Arike’s +/- was -15. It’s just one game. But how well the Wings do this season will depend in large measure on how well Arike adapts her game to Paige’s game.

Arike was the biggest cheerleader for Paige once Dallas secured the #1 pick in the draft. I have no doubt that she really wants to make the partnership between the two work. But that must involve Arike making fairly significant adjustments in her game, and you have to ask the question, “In her 7th season in the W playing one way, is she even capable of making major adjustments to her game?”

Time will tell.
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Arike is already taking fewer shots than she had last season. But, the changes you’re looking for need to come from the coach, not the players. It’s the coach’s job to get the players functioning as a unit rather than a bunch of individual parts.

I think Arike takes a lot of heat for the Wings’ bad coaching. If the (former) coach hadn’t wanted Arike taking so many shots, Arike would have been pulled but she wasn’t. The coach must have been OK with what Arike was trying to do. If Arike was making all the decisions, then what’s the purpose of having a coach? Ifthe coach isn’t in charge, what the heck are they being paid for?
 
oldude said:
Out of curiosity, I looked up that obscure statistic of “+/-“ for last nights game and it paints a concerning picture. Paige’s +/- last night was +10. Arike’s +/- was -15. It’s just one game. But how well the Wings do this season will depend in large measure on how well Arike adapts her game to Paige’s game.

Arike was the biggest cheerleader for Paige once Dallas secured the #1 pick in the draft. I have no doubt that she really wants to make the partnership between the two work. But that must involve Arike making fairly significant adjustments in her game, and you have to ask the question, “In her 7th season in the W playing one way, is she even capable of making major adjustments to her game?”

Time will tell.
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In the meantime hopefully she and Seigrest can join forces and make a difference
 
I also watched the game last night and I'm not sure what I saw can be fixed with the current roster. Arika had a terrible shooting game but she still plays like she is the only scoring option on the team. When Paige brings the ball up the floor you can see the offense get set. If not it becomes one on one and Paige never sees the ball. On two possessions when the game got close Arika took the ball to the rim with Paige as the trailer and she never even thought to pass it and instead drove into 2 defenders just to lose the ball. I hope the team chemistry can improve but have my doubts. Too much dribble, too little pass, and way too little defense.
 
I think there is the potential of trouble brewing in Dallas. Paige played 37 minutes while Arike played 27 minutes. I think a lot of that was because Paige played alongside Ty Harris, who was limited in the first game. This allows Paige to play off the ball, same as when Chen played with Paige. I don't know what will happen, or what the solution will be if the minutes distribution remains like it did last night. It's apparent that the management of the Wings are all in on Paige, so is Arike willing to step back and give the rookie a chance? The problem I see is that for the most part, Arike does not possess the efficiency that Paige has, thus that is why she has taken so many shots in the past. They can work it out, but Paige has to be aggressive to find her own shot to make a difference. If the mindset is right by all the players, it can work out. We will see, but I was very happy with the game that Paige played, she will not back down from anyone. Good for her.
 
HuskyNan said:
Arike is already taking fewer shots than she had last season. But, the changes you’re looking for need to come from the coach, not the players. It’s the coach’s job to get the players functioning as a unit rather than a bunch of individual parts.

I think Arike takes a lot of heat for the Wings’ bad coaching. If the (former) coach hadn’t wanted Arike taking so many shots or running a ragged offense, she would have been pulled but she wasn’t so the coach must have been OK with what she was trying to do. If the coach isn’t in charge, what the heck are they being paid for?
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That’s a point I made sometime back, and last night during the postgame presser Koclanes was asked about Arike’s “tough game.” He gave a very Geno-esque answer saying that, “Arike needs to do other things when her shot is not falling.”

That’s all well and good, but Arike’s greatest achievement in basketball was going 1 on 1, with MM’s blessing, in both the national semifinal vs UConn and the championship game vs MS St, knocking down the game winning shots, leading ND to a national championship. It’s who she is as a player, and that’s not easy to change.

I am reminded of a Doug Collins comment about the great Carmelo Anthony a number of years ago. Collins was then working as an announcer when he described Anthony as, “A ball movement killer” as he was critical of Anthony’s tendency to dribble out the shot clock and shoot the basketball while everyone else stood around.

So yes, the coach has to try to change the way Arike plays. But if he can not, the Wings have two choices: get rid of Arike or lose Paige as soon as she becomes a free agent.
 
A couple of Paige-centric observations from last night's game.
In addition to her points, rebounds, assists, steals and block, she committed 3 turnovers last night (8 assists to 3 turnovers is almost 3:1 ratio). If memory serves, 1 turnover was on a very quick and aggressive double-team blitz on her above the top of the key in the first quarter. The second was an ambitious long bounce pass that she just missed on to a cutter, and the third was a miscommunication between her and a teammate when she passed to the spot where the target was and the teammate decided to cut to the basket. So, the first and third turnovers should probably serve as learning experiences (#1 = anticipating and reacting quicker to traps, and #2 = just getting used to teammates tendencies and cues regarding their off-ball movements).
It was interesting that in 2 quarters Paige was subbed out after about 3 1/2 minutes (albeit briefly, as she played almost 37 minutes).
And, about those 37 minutes... To me, Paige looked pooped during stretches of the fourth quarter. This wasn't surprising, considering that she spent 8 minutes more on the court than any other Wings player (Maddie was second with 29) and just finished her 40? game college season last month. I think that her minutes are an obvious reflection of her importance to Dallas' desire to build a team-first mentality, but, if I'm not mistaken, I thought that the team was going to try to monitor her minutes this season.
I found it good to see that Paige did not shy away from the physicality of the WNBA game, and, for the most part, played good defense (some lapses probably bring due to the team not being on the same page for their rotations).
To conclude, a loss for the team (I wish they had played Harris and McCowan more), but a really good 2nd game for Paige (keep in mind that she had 8 assists in a game where her teammates shot less than 40%).
 
oldude said:
That’s a point I made sometime back, and last night during the postgame presser Koclanes was asked about Arike’s “tough game.” He gave a very Geno-esque answer saying that, “Arike needs to do other things when her shot is not falling.”

That’s all well and good, but Arike’s greatest achievement in basketball was going 1 on 1, with MM’s blessing, in both the national semifinal vs UConn and the championship game vs MS St, knocking down the game winning shots, leading ND to a national championship. It’s who she is as a player, and that’s not easy to change.

I am reminded of a Doug Collins comment about the great Carmelo Anthony a number of years ago. Collins was then working as an announcer when he described Anthony as, “A ball movement killer” as he was critical of Anthony’s tendency to dribble out the shot clock and shoot the basketball while everyone else stood around.

So yes, the coach has to try to change the way Arike plays. But if he can not, the Wings have two choices: get rid of Arike or lose Paige as soon as she becomes a free agent.
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Or they do what Indiana did in hiring a more experienced coach, in addition to making changes to the roster. If my memory is correct the last two coaches didn't have much head coaching experience if any.
 
oldude said:
That’s a point I made sometime back, and last night during the postgame presser Koclanes was asked about Arike’s “tough game.” He gave a very Geno-esque answer saying that, “Arike needs to do other things when her shot is not falling.”

That’s all well and good, but Arike’s greatest achievement in basketball was going 1 on 1, with MM’s blessing, in both the national semifinal vs UConn and the championship game vs MS St, knocking down the game winning shots, leading ND to a national championship. It’s who she is as a player, and that’s not easy to change.

I am reminded of a Doug Collins comment about the great Carmelo Anthony a number of years ago. Collins was then working as an announcer when he described Anthony as, “A ball movement killer” as he was critical of Anthony’s tendency to dribble out the shot clock and shoot the basketball while everyone else stood around.

So yes, the coach has to try to change the way Arike plays. But if he can not, the Wings have two choices: get rid of Arike or lose Paige as soon as she becomes a free agent.
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She went to Notre Dame so she’s no dummy. If the coach told Arike to play within the game plan or she’ll be benched, Arike’s smart enough to do what needs to be done.

But, to your point, I think that up until now the offensive philosophy has been “Give the ball to Arike and get out of her way”. I think half the Boneyarders could draw up a better offense than the previous coach. It may take some time for the chemistry to develop and schemes to become second nature
 
YKCornelius said:
Depressing thought: Just two games into the season and it is already looking like the Golden State series will decide who has the best chance to get the number one pick for next year. Sheesh.... :(
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Golden State can't get a lottery pick. That is figured by a 2 year average.
 
HuskyNan said:
She went to Notre Dame so she’s no dummy. If the coach told Arike to play within the game plan or she’ll be benched, Arike’s smart enough to do what needs to be done.

But, to your point, I think that up until now the offensive philosophy has been “Give the ball to Arike and get out of her way”. I think half the Boneyarders could draw up a better offense than the previous coach. It may take some time for the chemistry to develop and schemes to become second nature
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Let’s hope you’re right. To your point, the fact that Koclanes played Arike 10 minutes less than Paige in last night’s game may have been a not so subtle message to her. On the other hand, coming off a demanding national championship season, I am not crazy about Paige playing bigger mpg than she did in college, when I heard Koclanes talking about “load management” for rookies just a few weeks ago.
 
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