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

[Alydar]

By PF, I believe you are saying "Point Forward" [Maya & Stewie, and hopefully Sarah Strong] vice Power Forward.

I believe the term that applies to most of the Huskies this season is "outstanding handles" so passing should be crisp, and able to be put through very small windows quickly, and good hands {as well as outstanding anticipation by those receiving the passes} to set new records for assists as they all can "put the ball in the hoop."

Go Huskies!!!

That should only get better as the season goes on and they get to know each other better. .

 

[Cuango]

When Paige is on the floor playing PG, I see Chen as being more of a Chrstyn Williams type of player because she can move, elevate and is a 3 level scorer,.
If Azzi is in the game then she becomes the SG.
That's what makes the most sense to me.
KK would be a sub for Chen or if Paige needs a break.
If Azzi if not ready to go then Allie, Shade, Carol or Morgan can be called on.
But no way do I see 3 PG's in the game at the same time.
That would be too much redundancy.
Paige can play SG but the PG needs to be a 3 level scoring threat and the best decision maker on the team responsible for the offensive flow, decision making & the outcome of the game.
Geno will want to help Paige to showcase her PG abilities because of the WNBA draft & because she's been the backbone of the team for so long,
Paige can best decide who to feed the ball to because UConn can't win with Paige being the only superstar,
Everyone else will need to step up.
Paige will take some of the heat off them by drawing the defense, but they also need to take the heat off of her by making their shots when she feeds them the ball.
Paige can find the weaknesses of the other teams better than Chen.
And when it comes to feeding Jana, Satah, Chen or Azzi or whoever, Geno already trusts her.
A NC winning year requires some new ideas, better shooting & better execution then in recent losing years.
After all, Paige is the ultimate UConn Alpha gal.
She doesn't need to play PG on defense, but UConn will need her to play PG on offense.

I don’t think there will be any “showcasing” of Paige’s talents! There is plenty of film showing what Paige is capable of. Geno will absolutely play her in whatever way that provides this team with its best chance to win a title! If the GMs in the W don’t already know what kind of player Paige is, they are in the wrong business!

 

[Cuango]

Not-so-much for Caitlyn last night vs. the Sun; however, I don't remember the last time Caitlyn was at least slightly off two games in a row....

Well, I’d say that being gouged in the eye might have had something to do with it! Not sure I’ve ever seen a player try to block a shot with her fingers pointing down like a claw! They’re gonna mess around and lose their golden goose!

 

[yhun89]

Well, I’d say that being gouged in the eye might have had something to do with it! Not sure I’ve ever seen a player try to block a shot with her fingers pointing down like a claw! They’re gonna mess around and lose their golden goose!

Their golden goose is just as dirty . ESPN loves emphasizing every time CC gets hard fouled but never when she pushes off somebody (which is every time she has the ball, and literally the way she injured Dijonai yesterday) or tackles them on a drive to the basket. In their their game against the wings a week ago, she sent a girl to the ground after coming behind her and pushing her. No news about that.

I'll respect CC's talent, but not her attitude. It's just as bad as some of the people the media loves to villainize if they so much as breathe on her.

 

[sun]

I don’t think there will be any “showcasing” of Paige’s talents! There is plenty of film showing what Paige is capable of. Geno will absolutely play her in whatever way that provides this team with its best chance to win a title! If the GMs in the W don’t already know what kind of player Paige is, they are in the wrong business!

Paige will be showcased just by being given PG duties.
How else will Paige in her own words be able to be more aggressive & a less passive player if she isn't given more touches with the ball to doi her thing which includes her fabulous passing abilities?
Even though she'll probably be sharing PG duties, no one touches the ball more than the PG or can affect the outcome of a game as much.
UConn's hopes for a NC will be riding on her in a very big way & we all know that Geno wants to help her achieve it using any means possible.

 

[Dogstar]

Their golden goose is just as dirty . ESPN loves emphasizing every time CC gets hard fouled but never when she pushes off somebody (which is every time she has the ball, and literally the way she injured Dijonai yesterday) or tackles them on a drive to the basket. In their their game against the wings a week ago, she sent a girl to the ground after coming behind her and pushing her. No news about that.

I'll respect CC's talent, but not her attitude. It's just as bad as some of the people the media loves to villainize if they so much as breathe on her.

I thought tht she's had a pretty good season so far statistically, but wht the media doesn't mention is...
She's made 242 shots this year and committed 225 turnovers which is pretty hard to do... haha
Had a 41% fgm average per game which is not bad but not great.
Had a 3-point average of 34% per game, and shot 31% from 3-point distance in the clutch, which I'd say is nothing to write home abt. But she puts eyes on the tube and butts in the seats which sell uniforms refreshments and eats.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

Paige will be showcased just by being given PG duties.
How else will Paige in her own words be able to be more aggressive & a less passive player if she isn't given more touches with the ball to doi her thing which includes her fabulous passing abilities?
Even though she'll probably be sharing PG duties, no one touches the ball more than the PG or can affect the outcome of a game as much.
UConn's hopes for a NC will be riding on her in a very big way & we all know that Geno wants to help her achieve it using any means possible.

I guess Diana was not her most aggressive self by playing a position other than point guard?

• End-of-season fatigue — due to playing the 4 with mostly 6-7 players — was a major factor in the drop-off in Paige’s aggressiveness that was noticeable in the Iowa game, no? Something a full roster will fix, no?

As already pointed out, Paige is already very well known:

• expected number 1 draft pick,
• former NPOY as a freshman, and
• an All-American powering a team that was mostly written-off to two points short of last year’s finals.

As to your other points:

Paige can still do point guard duty within the half-court read-and-react shoot-dribble-pass (motion)-pass(point) motion offense:

• without being the point guard that brings up the ball past mid-court;
• without being the point guard that initiates the offense past mid-court.

She can do so:

• by making passes within the motion read-and-react offense once she recognizes offensive opportunities (pass-point);
• in a reset of the possession, after a few fruitless seconds in the possession, where she becomes the point guard.

Effectively thus, in normal-flowing possessions of the motion offense, she becomes one of four off-ball scorers that the defense needs to guard.

All the above minimizes defensive pressure on Paige without sacrificing Paige as a scorer or Paige’s passing abilities.

If Geno follows your seeming suggestions (which he hasn’t in most of Paige’s playing career thus far):

• If Paige has the most minutes of the point guard responsibilities (ball handler, table setter, primary team barker, safety, scorer), the defense will key-in on her. Stop UConn by bodying up on Paige all the time — when she has the ball (most of the time) and when she doesn’t!
• Even when Diana was not the point guard, she still wore down in the long seasons when Sue was not her backcourt mate. Imagine Diana’s aches and pains if she was the main point guard. Diana possibly would not have been able to get her last two championships due to more intense aches and pains.

But we won’t have to wait long to see what Geno will actually do with a full roster.

 

[Bone Dog]

• expected number 1 draft pick,
• former NPOY as a freshman, and
• an All-American powering a team that was mostly written-off to two points short of last year’s finals.

I wonder what Paige's chances for a second NPoY are.

 

[Cuango]

Their golden goose is just as dirty . ESPN loves emphasizing every time CC gets hard fouled but never when she pushes off somebody (which is every time she has the ball, and literally the way she injured Dijonai yesterday) or tackles them on a drive to the basket. In their their game against the wings a week ago, she sent a girl to the ground after coming behind her and pushing her. No news about that.

I'll respect CC's talent, but not her attitude. It's just as bad as some of the people the media loves to villainize if they so much as breathe on her.

I’ll just say there’s a substantial difference between “pushing off” and gouging an eye or hammering someone from their blindside before the ball is even inbounded , or hammering them in the head or tackling them in the open court! I guess we just see things differently!

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

Am I the only one who needs to "know for certain"? This thread is 100% speculation. Even the comments about the past are based on speculation.




I already said that Taurasi played the 2 because she was a far better scorer than Bird. It had nothing to do with their pg skills. They were likely the 2 best pg's in wcbb that year but only Taurasi would have been an AA at the 2. any coach would have played them the same way.



To my eyes, in 2024-2025 UConn has elite level players at every position IF Buckers plays pg. If Bueckers moves somewhere else then they are elite everywhere BUT at pg. Both Arnold and Chen may change my assessment but not yet.
If Geno had had another scorer with a 3pt shot in 2021 then Bueckers would likely have stayed at the point. At this time UConn has a number of elite-level off-guard scorers this coming season but only one at pg, Bueckers. None of the other current pg candidates would be called "elite". Maybe one will emerge but not right now.

Speculation without proffered evidence is an unsupported assertion. (In law, unsupported assertions (called speculation) are objectionable).

Offering unsupported assertions to counter evidence-backed inferences is not conducive to a marketplace of ideas.

Re: Kaitlyn. Geno discussed Kaitlyn — who only has one year of eligibility left and has aspirations for the next level — with Carla knowing he already has Paige and KK.

• Do you think Geno will utilize Kaitlyn very differently from Carla who already made Kaitlyn a much-coveted transfer?
• Do you think KK will not be given extensive point guard minutes by Geno in preparation for next year?
• By elite at every position, who is the Wing — Caroline? Morgan? Q? Allie?
• And you consider Kaitlyn or KK as not as elite as point guards relative to a player (other than Paige) at the wing?
• Do you think Geno’s current calculated use of Paige will be abandoned, per your speculation, and both Kaitlyn and KK will have less point guard minutes than Paige?

That said, my earlier post remains germane to your current post. We will just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Alydar]

• Do you think Geno will utilize Kaitlyn very differently from Carla who already made Kaitlyn a much-coveted transfer?

No idea. I'd guess she would play either guard position.

• Do you think KK will not be given extensive point guard minutes by Geno in preparation for next year?

Based on last year I would expect her to play pg for less minutes than last year. She may have added more offense which would expand her role and her minutes. I don't think the 2025-2026 season will have any influence.

• By elite at every position, who is the Wing — Caroline? Morgan? Q? Allie?

The wings are Ducharme, Cheli and Strong. There will often be 3 guards and no wings. It's impossible at this point to say what combinations will emerge from practices.

• And you consider Kaitlyn or KK as not as elite as point guards relative to a player (other than Paige) at the wing?

Right. As of last April neither Shade nor Arnold were elite. I expect them to be better as sophomores but neither has shown to be an elite 3pt shooter. Players like them have been the reason Bueckers had to focus on scoring instead of being the quarterback. Ducharme, despite her stats, proved her worth from behind the arc before she was injured as a freshman. Bueckers and Fudd are elite guards.

• Do you think Geno’s current calculated use of Paige will be abandoned, per your speculation, and both Kaitlyn and KK will have less point guard minutes than Paige?

What current calculated use? Do you mean pf? Last year was necessitated by injuries. Do you think that Geno had Bueckers pencilled in as a 4 before El Alfy and Patterson were lost? I think there is more chance that Strong will play the 2.

If a pg isn't a major threat to score the defense can focus on guarding the other 4. With someone like Bueckers who is almost as good a 2 as a 1, the defense has to help on them and that leaves 3 defenders on 4 teammates. And if 2 of those teammates are elite 3pt shooters then scoring becomes much easier. That's what I think will happen this season.

I'm going to see two practices in about 10 days. That should answer a lot of questions for me.

 

[Skeets]

Will Geno play Paige differently this year? Maybe, he appears (fingers crossed) to have more players and options available to him. However, I think we'll see Kaitlyn and KK more often at PG than Paige.

If Paige isn't at the point, then she's probably reducing the minutes for Shade which would be unfortunate.

 

[Stagnant]

I have thought about it a bit more. And I have come to the conclusion that Chen will play a lot of point guard.

The big east is down. The team is healthy. Another weaker team was added to the schedule (Oregon state). So, I think UConn will blow out a lot of teams. And that means garbage time.

Even during garbage time. Geno has to watch the game. So, he doesn’t watch disorganization and poor play. Last year. He played a lot of Nika during garbage time. And she was a stabilizing force with Q, Deberry, Ines, and others. I see Chen being in that role a lot. She’s the one with experience. KK is probably 1A or 1B point guard with Paige. So, I don’t see him wanting to risk those two. It will be Chen imo.