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Message: [QUOTE="NycUcWbbFan, post: 5086692, member: 13453"] I guess it was inevitable that some in this thread will dredge up Nika again — substituting their preference to how Geno actually feels (below #2) to somehow prove their premise — while not being open to other premises. For example: premises underlying Geno’s decisions these past few years, including in point guard recruits and transfers. Quick Google searches #3 for Geno and Nika before 4/1/2021 yielded the following: [LIST] [*]8/19/2020: [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ljzesOWmg']Nika, like Paige, is a basketball player[/URL] [*]1/31/2021: [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O3eTHM9pxI']Nika gives what the team is lacking in most players: energy level, toughness, grit[/URL] [*]2/5/2021 #1: @10:54: [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgzwG2Dxbbk']Nika is a big reason why defensive communication vastly improved[/URL] | before South Carolina game (which UConn won 63-59); Paige [URL='https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/paige-bueckers-1/gamelog/2021']posted scoring[/URL] of 27, 22, 32, 30, 31 from 1/28/2021 - 2/8/2021; in this interview, Geno expressly says what he means for Paige to be more aggressive as an off-ball scorer — shoot more because she was making almost all of them in practice. [/LIST] #1 The UConn vs Marquette game was the [URL='https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut/women/2021-starters.html']first game[/URL] that featured the 4-guard line-up spurred by the Geno’s experimentation after an earlier 1/28/2021 loss to Arkansas. #2 Nika was injured in the first game of the tourney. “No, I’m not happy [with the rotation]. I’m not as happy as if we had Nika 100 percent,” he said. “If we had Nika 100 percent, we’re a different basketball team. Much different basketball team.” [URL='https://www.courant.com/2021/03/31/nika-muhls-status-for-the-final-four-is-uncertain-why-geno-auriemma-thinks-the-uconn-womens-basketball-team-needs-her-back/']Hartford Courant[/URL] UConn lost to Arizona in the Final Four. === #3 I have no appetite to sift through post-game Geno interviews. I know there was/were interview(s) of Geno talking about Nika setting pace and about Geno saying players were Paige-watching. Geno’s statement above #2 is a good enough proxy. [/QUOTE]

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