PG for this season: Paige, Azzi, KK, Kaitlyn, Morgan

[Bone Dog]

I believe Geno’s many statements to the effect that he doesn’t focus on who the PG is in a narrow way. The most memorable was two years ago when Paige was injured over the summer and he was asked if Azzi would be the PG. He responded by saying when Azzi brings the ball up the court good things often happen.

Now, admittedly, I tend to over-read things. What I noticed in this is 1) he didn’t want to let this be a defining element of Azzi’s role, and 2) he reduced the question to one feature of a the PG role on offense: bringing the ball up the court. I think we all know there’s a lot more to the traditional PG role than this, and I emphasize traditional. In the Texas game that year, it’s clear that Azzi was specifically tasked with being the ball up for much of the game. But after that, she often went to the wing after the first pass. And on defense, she did not primarily cover the opposing PG, Shaylee Gonzalez. Nika and Azzi seemed to share the defensive responsibilities of the PG, though Nika bore most of them. This same pattern was visible in the NC St game and the Iowa game.

Thinking back on Geno’s remark, I took him to mean something like, “For folks who insist on thinking in terms of rigid positions, but mainly focus on offense, I’ll say Azzi can do it. That ought to reassure everyone. But I’ll plant an ‘Easter egg’ for anyone who thinks less narrowly about the game.” This would be in keeping with his tendency to run a positionless offense and a defense that can switch quite freely, often even 1-5, in terms of the old designations.

When I look at the players who could play PG on this year’s roster, I first distinguish between offense and defense. Someone has to defend against the opposing PG and if the other team depends on a traditional scheme, it will matter who mainly does this. In past years this would be Nika. Some switching would inevitably occur, but Nika would tend to return to that player before too long. Also, on offense but with transition defense in mind, Nika would tend not to stray far from the top of the key for long and especially when she expected a shot to go up. She was an excellent rebounder as guards go, but this was mainly defensive boards,

On offense, we know that Paige is typically quite sensitive to court placement. This is why she can play PG at all, and why she is so good at it. Her great drive-and-dish skills also point to this. But her offense also often comes from the wing. There’s a bit of tension here. Make her play like a traditional PG and you put a crimp in her offense.

On defense, we know Paige can cover the opposing PG, as she did brilliantly against Shyanne Sellers in the MD game last season. But she is also a genius at disrupting passing lanes elsewhere, especially on the wing. And last season she showed us how much her shot blocking skills had expanded, and this included a lot blocks in the paint and on the wing.

If I try to think like Geno ( ), I’d look for players who can handle the defensive side and players who can handle the different aspects of the offense. Like Liv in past years, Sarah is likely to spend some time directing the offense from the top of the key. But she won’t guard the opposing PG and she’s too valuable as a rebounder and post scorer to restrict her to this role. Jana may also play a similar role at times.

The players other than Paige who can cover the opposing PG are Azzi KK Kaitlyn Morgan and, eventually, Aubrey. But only Azzi KK and Kaitlyn seem well suited to every dimension of that role, though Azzi is too valuable as a scorer from the wing, much like Paige. Aubrey isn’t great at passing or running the offense, but she is a tremendous rebounder defender slasher and transition scorer. Morgan has all the PG skills but is also a feisty rebounder and low post scorer, and Geno may want to emphasize these for her as a freshman.

All of this points to KK and Kaitlyn sharing this role mostly. I wouldn’t expect to see both of them on the floor at the same time much, unless Geno is running a press. And I’d also expect there to be stretches in every game when neither of them is on the floor. When Geno wants to go big, and have a scoring punch, Paige or Azzi will take over the role. Add a transition scorer to those two, someone like Q or Morgan or Aubrey (eventually) and you have a big scary quick team. Put Ice Jana and Sarah on the floor with Paige and Azzi and they can pummel opponents down low.

The lineup that might be the most entertaining could be Paige Azzi Caroline Morgan and Jana. This would be one of many lineups that would have a terrific inside-outside punch and a lot of cleverness on defense. The versatility of this roster may be its salient feature. Geno will eventually settle on a shorter rotation. But until he gets there, I think we’ll have a lot of fun watching all the experiments.

 

[Bone Dog]

And just a callback to Olivia Nelson Ododa's final two seasons at Uconn. I'm thinking about one of the setups Geno liked to use her in, stationed at the top of the key. He mainly used her this way when Aaliyah was also on the floor in a high-low scheme. It was a weakness in Liv's game that she wasn't more of a perimeter shooting threat. But she was a brilliant passer from that spot. When Dorka arrived, she brought better perimeter shooting skills, and had better ball handling skills for drives down the lane. But she wasn't the passer Liv was. Aaliyah was a good combination of the two of them, with good midrange shooting by her last season, excellent ball handling and finishing around the rim and pretty good high post passing skills. This combination along with her rebounding is what got her into the W.

Who will play this role for Geno this season? Jana, of course, since she has the perimeter shooting and the ball handling skills. But Sarah is a rather better shooter and a brilliant passer. I expect we'll see a lot of her at the top of the key, and teams will have to bring a big out there to guard her or get burned with 3s. Expect to see a lot of opposing bigs tentatively move out to challenge her shot but worried about what is left open down low when they do. My expectation is that Ice won't get as much time at the top of the key, though I suspect she'd prefer this. Not until her perimeter shot improves. But this may come soon enough.

This is one of the main reasons I think the question of the PG in Geno's offense is such a complicated topic. Very few teams have the flexibility in their roster to post a big on the perimeter as a real perimeter shooting threat. Not SC. Not UCLA. Not USC, though Kiki has an excellent midrange shot. Not LSU. Stanford used to be able to do this, and Tara specifically recruited and coached for this, as Geno does. Kevin McGuff at tOSU recruited Dorka, probably thinking of this, and followed her with Rebekah Mikulasikova whom he used in the same way. And just to be clear, it's not just the shooting. It's also the passing and the ball handling. The full offensive package -- shooting, passing, driving -- is what Geno has now assembled with Jana Sarah Ice Caroline Morgan. These kids are too big to leave a small guard to defend at the perimeter, whose offensive skills are too well-developed. They create unique problems that have to be game-planned for specifically.

This is also why I think there will be times when Paige and/or Azzi are the PG -- not KK or Kaitlyn -- but on offense they will mainly be on the wing. Because Sarah or Jana will be stationed at the top of the key. They won't be PGs, but they'll have taken over part of the PGs traditional roles for parts of games. And, of course, on defense they will revert to positions in the paint.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

And just a callback to Olivia Nelson Ododa's final two seasons at Uconn. I'm thinking about one of the setups Geno liked to use her in, stationed at the top of the key. He mainly used her this way when Aaliyah was also on the floor in a high-low scheme. It was a weakness in Liv's game that she wasn't more of a perimeter shooting threat. But she was a brilliant passer from that spot. When Dorka arrived, she brought better perimeter shooting skills, and had better ball handling skills for drives down the lane. But she wasn't the passer Liv was. Aaliyah was a good combination of the two of them, with good midrange shooting by her last season, excellent ball handling and finishing around the rim and pretty good high post passing skills. This combination along with her rebounding is what got her into the W.

Who will play this role for Geno this season? Jana, of course, since she has the perimeter shooting and the ball handling skills. But Sarah is a rather better shooter and a brilliant passer. I expect we'll see a lot of her at the top of the key, and teams will have to bring a big out there to guard her or get burned with 3s. Expect to see a lot of opposing bigs tentatively move out to challenge her shot but worried about what is left open down low when they do. My expectation is that Ice won't get as much time at the top of the key, though I suspect she'd prefer this. Not until her perimeter shot improves. But this may come soon enough.

This is one of the main reasons I think the question of the PG in Geno's offense is such a complicated topic. Very few teams have the flexibility in their roster to post a big on the perimeter as a real perimeter shooting threat. Not SC. Not UCLA. Not USC, though Kiki has an excellent midrange shot. Not LSU. Stanford used to be able to do this, and Tara specifically recruited and coached for this, as Geno does. Kevin McGuff at tOSU recruited Dorka, probably thinking of this, and followed her with Rebekah Mikulasikova whom he used in the same way. And just to be clear, it's not just the shooting. It's also the passing and the ball handling. The full offensive package -- shooting, passing, driving -- is what Geno has now assembled with Jana Sarah Ice Caroline Morgan. These kids are too big to leave a small guard to defend at the perimeter, whose offensive skills are too well-developed. They create unique problems that have to be game-planned for specifically.

This is also why I think there will be times when Paige and/or Azzi are the PG -- not KK or Kaitlyn -- but on offense they will mainly be on the wing. Because Sarah or Jana will be stationed at the top of the key. They won't be PGs, but they'll have taken over part of the PGs traditional roles for parts of games. And, of course, on defense they will revert to positions in the paint.

I agree with your levity-inducing posts. Just some tiny nits:

• part of the reason the offense got stuck in Paige’s freshman year was the ponderous nature of Christine’s and Olivia’s go-to offensive moves; Gabby and Napheesa were smooth and the motion offense flowed much more freely with them than with Christine and Olivia;
• when Coach Reeve (Lynx) remarked that Crystal surprisingly didn’t specialize on the pick-and-roll/pop that is the staple for the NBA/WNBA, it is because point-forwards like the more fluid Gabby and the less-fluid Olivia were the ones making the pass (point) in the read-and-react motion offense that was the traditional purview of point guards in not-positionless offense;
• as you pointed out, Geno has deconstructed traditional roles and has placed players on offense and defense where they can be most effective without costing the team (e.g. Paige can craftily cover Hannah Hidalgo with help from Sarah and Jana, but why?) — which is the way modern basketball is played;
• your previous post on exceptional players like Stewie, Paige, Maya and DT being basketball players not tied to traditional roles is reflected in numerous Geno interviews;
• Geno is not hung-up on traditional notions of basketball.

 

[Bone Dog]

part of the reason the offense got stuck in Paige’s freshman year was the ponderous nature of Christine’s and Olivia’s go-to offensive moves;

I didn’t want to get into criticizing former players. But what you say here is clearly true. I hinted at this in not praising Olivia’s ball handling while praising Dorka’s. I don’t think I ever saw Olivia drive from the high post to the rim though Dorka and Aaliyah had this as a staple move.

But whatever we think about this, today’s roster has some very capable ball handling bigs. And it’s sure to open up the offense.

 

[hoophuskee]

I believe Geno’s many statements to the effect that he doesn’t focus on who the PG is in a narrow way. The most memorable was two years ago when Paige was injured over the summer and he was asked if Azzi would be the PG. He responded by saying when Azzi brings the ball up the court good things often happen.

Now, admittedly, I tend to over-read things. What I noticed in this is 1) he didn’t want to let this be a defining element of Azzi’s role, and 2) he reduced the question to one feature of a the PG role on offense: bringing the ball up the court. I think we all know there’s a lot more to the traditional PG role than this, and I emphasize traditional. In the Texas game that year, it’s clear that Azzi was specifically tasked with being the ball up for much of the game. But after that, she often went to the wing after the first pass. And on defense, she did not primarily cover the opposing PG, Shaylee Gonzalez. Nika and Azzi seemed to share the defensive responsibilities of the PG, though Nika bore most of them. This same pattern was visible in the NC St game and the Iowa game.

Thinking back on Geno’s remark, I took him to mean something like, “For folks who insist on thinking in terms of rigid positions, but mainly focus on offense, I’ll say Azzi can do it. That ought to reassure everyone. But I’ll plant an ‘Easter egg’ for anyone who thinks less narrowly about the game.” This would be in keeping with his tendency to run a positionless offense and a defense that can switch quite freely, often even 1-5, in terms of the old designations.

When I look at the players who could play PG on this year’s roster, I first distinguish between offense and defense. Someone has to defend against the opposing PG and if the other team depends on a traditional scheme, it will matter who mainly does this. In past years this would be Nika. Some switching would inevitably occur, but Nika would tend to return to that player before too long. Also, on offense but with transition defense in mind, Nika would tend not to stray far from the top of the key for long and especially when she expected a shot to go up. She was an excellent rebounder as guards go, but this was mainly defensive boards,

On offense, we know that Paige is typically quite sensitive to court placement. This is why she can play PG at all, and why she is so good at it. Her great drive-and-dish skills also point to this. But her offense also often comes from the wing. There’s a bit of tension here. Make her play like a traditional PG and you put a crimp in her offense.

On defense, we know Paige can cover the opposing PG, as she did brilliantly against Shyanne Sellers in the MD game last season. But she is also a genius at disrupting passing lanes elsewhere, especially on the wing. And last season she showed us how much her shot blocking skills had expanded, and this included a lot blocks in the paint and on the wing.

If I try to think like Geno ( ), I’d look for players who can handle the defensive side and players who can handle the different aspects of the offense. Like Liv in past years, Sarah is likely to spend some time directing the offense from the top of the key. But she won’t guard the opposing PG and she’s too valuable as a rebounder and post scorer to restrict her to this role. Jana may also play a similar role at times.

The players other than Paige who can cover the opposing PG are Azzi KK Kaitlyn Morgan and, eventually, Aubrey. But only Azzi KK and Kaitlyn seem well suited to every dimension of that role, though Azzi is too valuable as a scorer from the wing, much like Paige. Aubrey isn’t great at passing or running the offense, but she is a tremendous rebounder defender slasher and transition scorer. Morgan has all the PG skills but is also a feisty rebounder and low post scorer, and Geno may want to emphasize these for her as a freshman.

All of this points to KK and Kaitlyn sharing this role mostly. I wouldn’t expect to see both of them on the floor at the same time much, unless Geno is running a press. And I’d also expect there to be stretches in every game when neither of them is on the floor. When Geno wants to go big, and have a scoring punch, Paige or Azzi will take over the role. Add a transition scorer to those two, someone like Q or Morgan or Aubrey (eventually) and you have a big scary quick team. Put Ice Jana and Sarah on the floor with Paige and Azzi and they can pummel opponents down low.

The lineup that might be the most entertaining could be Paige Azzi Caroline Morgan and Jana. This would be one of many lineups that would have a terrific inside-outside punch and a lot of cleverness on defense. The versatility of this roster may be its salient feature. Geno will eventually settle on a shorter rotation. But until he gets there, I think we’ll have a lot of fun watching all the experiments.

For me I look at it - there is a pg, sg, sf, pf, and center. Within these categories there is simplicity in calling a sg/sf a possible Wing. Or calling a PF a possible “Stretch 4." I can't imagine it any other way. And every position can be accounted for by UCONN players within this structure in which multiple players can play multiple positions. . The term used to account for a player playing across multiple positions is called being "versatile;" all within the structure of pg, sg, sf, pf, and center. For me identifying Paige as an example a Point-Forward this past year makes logic sense within this simple structure for me.

Possibly some can view this as "positionless" but I refer to it as being "versatile." In my context/ I don't believe in "positionless' when imo it's clear there are easy identifiable positions that fit within a simple structure. Thus when someone says for example that Paige did not play pg, I will always have a problem with that, She was versatile and played different positions and one was pg imo. And the fact she can do both pg and play other positions such as Stretch 4 pretty seamlessly just further highlights her greatness in that you can put her in multiple positions and the team can still remain elite. As a result, allowing others with not as much versatility to more of a defined role/positions that they can succeed at which can give the best opportunity for overall team success.

This point of context "positionless" vs "versatile" is porbably just a question of semantics for me. I'm just more in tune with calling it "versatile."

 

[Bone Dog]

Possibly some can view this as "positionless" but I refer to it as being "versatile."

This is fine by me.

 

[Alydar]

My opinion is that pg, sg, w/sf, pf, c are not positions, they are roles. Players are assigned roles, not positions. And UConn has a number of players that appear at this point to be able to fill multiple roles. We don't have to be told who is filling the roles, for the most part that becomes clear by their play and since roles require different skill sets and size is a factor. Having a pg who can play multiple roles adds many dimensions to the offense. Having a pg who isn't a plus shooter/scorer limits that offense.

In 2021 Bueckers started the season while Muhl sat. Why? Everyone on the team and the coaches knew for certain that Bueckers was the best player and Geno decided that her best position was at the point. At some point Geno moved Bueckers to an off-guard position. Some say that it was because he wanted Muhl on the floor but they don't say why. Bueckers was a much better ball-handler, a much better passer and was faster than Muhl. My recollection was that Geno said in effect that Williams and Westbrook weren't producing from behind the arc and Bueckers was the only consistently effective outside shooter. So Geno moved Bueckers into a sg role, not because Muhl was a better pg but due to needs in other roles.

In the last few seasons injuries have put both Ducharme(2-3) and Fudd,(1/2/3) two elite-level 3pt shooters (IMO) to the bench and once again Bueckers was needed to fill that role. Last season UConn played 4 guards by necessity and Bueckers guarded the opponents' pf on defense. On offense she played a 2/3 role. I remember seeing her defend the opposing 4 on the low block but I have no recollection of her posting up the opposing 4 on the low block. Why? Because her role as a 4 was only on the defensive end. On offense she was guarded by opposing guards, not by opposing 4's. Anyone claiming that her role on offense was at pf needs to provide evidence of that other than who she guarded on defense.

As good a scorer as Bueckers is, she is better as a floor general, and it's difficult run a team while running off screens or setting screens for others. Geno said that he can sit and watch when Bueckers is at the point because her decisions are impeccable, while he had to stand and yell instructions when Muhl was at the point. I can count on a finger or two the players he has had over 40 years that he trusted as much. Bird? Moore?

This year is fundamentally different from the last 4 in that UConn has a host of scorers at every level. The NEED for having Bueckers play away from the point does not exist. Someone here said that if Bueckers was at the point she would "eclipse" the other effective pg players who would lose minutes. My response to that is so what? She would eclipse others at another position too. That's what unicorns do. Having a pg who is a ++scorer is an incredible advantage for any offense since the pg will draw defenders to them and free up other teammates. I expect that Chen will have some of that ability and that Arnold will have improved over the passed summer but not to Bueckers' level. The fact that fans have favorites that they want to see play is the antithesis of "team play" and they are asking Geno to play favorites, the opposite of everything he preaches. Some other fans want Bueckers to surpass what Clark did last season. I'd love to see that but UConn isn't Iowa and in any case I don't think Clark matched Bueckers' POY season as a freshman. Clark scored more but she also shot a lot more



Thanks to those who have responded with a number of thoughtful and persuasive posts on this topic. I believe that practice may have started yesterday (40 days before 1st game) and the players themselves finally get a say.