Providence Postgame Thread

[ballerfan]

Paige and Azzi are not better point guards than Nika. Are they better shooters and scorers? Absolutely yes but there is no planet in which Paige will get 12 assists, rebound, defend the best guard, and eventually win Defensive Player of the Year like Nika and continue to score in bunches. Paige can make assists, rebound, and defend but not to the degree that Nika can.

Besides, why would you have your two best scorers tire themselves out defending people like Olivia Miles?

I want to see both Nika and Paige on the floor together, with Nika mostly playing the point. I want to see Nika start. But I do think Paige is a better PG. She’s a better passer, for one. She has better court vision. She plays the point while being a genuine offensive threat, creating defensive problems for the other team. Nika’s high assist numbers are in part from her amazing talents but also from her playing with an improved team—a healthy Azzi, for example, greatly improved AE and Aubrey, and Lou, who is shooting 50 percent from the 3. Paige’s assist numbers would be higher with this team. Nika being the best defender on the team does not necessarily relate to her role as a PG.

I’m a big Nika fan, but if Geno had to choose between Nika and Paige for PG, I’m 100 percent sure he would pick Paige. My hope is that Nika and Paige will be on the floor together sharing the PG role, with Paige spending more of her time as a SG.

 

[sun]

Ah, but she didn't play the whole game, did she? She played 11 against an inferior team already woefully beaten. She won't play 11 again except in perhaps similar blowouts. Extrapolations are some times reasonable. Yours into 20 points is not.

Try as you might. you can't make Amari's performance disappear.
If Edwards is injured this year, Amari's talent will be needed whether you want to admit it or not.
Her talent was displayed last year and continues to be increasingly displayed this year.
It becomes more & more apparent as she gets more PT that she has skills that are yet to be displayed.
And she displayed even more of her talents against Providence.
It's too bad that you chose not to admit it because Gemo does by rewarding her with PT.
13 minutes of PT is about 1/3 of the entire Providence game.
I guess that woe is your burden.

 

[RedStickHusky]

so many fans give their love for a Huskies player so unconditionally

I'm totally down with unconditional love... Not so much with the venom for those less ardent supporters.

 

[#12in21]

Yet what one BYer earlier called the Nika cult is just that... I've rarely seen so many fans give their love for a Huskies player so unconditionally.

Not extending the discussion about next season, but wondering what, this season, has Nika done - or more significantly not done to deserve anything but accolades from Uconn Husky fans? So perhaps terming those who celebrate her performance this season as 'the Nika cult' or 'cultist Nikalytes' could be a bit off putting in the least and provoking of a response at most. If anyone has legitimate criticisms of what she is doing this season they should feel free to air them, inversely those that want to celebrate her performance this season should be able to do so without being classified as cultists.

A few of us on this board had seen something in Nika from day one and have enjoyed her steady progress through to what she is doing this season. Most of those posters have also acknowledged the areas along the way she needed to show improvement. She is at this point in time playing at a great level ( the best of her Uconn career) and is acknowledged as the leader of the team (by both Geno and her teammates). She's also, with this years performance, won over a lot of Boneyarders who weren't as high on her from day one.

Maybe I should just be happy that there are several open "Nika related threads' that have not been locked counter to the historical trend over the last couple years. Her threads have to have the record for player related threads (or for those that end up be hijacked to focus on her) ending in that fate.

 

[sun]

She proved she could play for Providence...

If you get pleasure from insulting Geno as a coach & a recruiter, & Amari as a UConn player then that's too bad for you.

 

[Bone Dog]

Is Caitlan Clark a point guard or a shooting guard? She gets a ton of points and a ton of assists. She seems to be the point of attack in iowa's offense.

I think your question is not completely expressed. It should be “is she a good point guard?” Or even “is she best used this way?” The fact is, she can lead blowouts, get lots of assists (mainly to Czinano) especially when she’s having a hot scoring night. But she hasn’t yet been able to lift Iowa to the highest echelons of the tournament. If anyone else, maybe Gabby Marshall for example, ran the point for them, Clark might be even better than she already is and Iowa might become the NC contender they aspire to.

Paige was excellent running the point last year and freshmen year. But she might have been better at the 2, and we might have been better with her there. Sadly, freshman year, Nika was injured at the start of the tournament and we didn’t get to see how that option might have played out. What we do know is that Geno was interested in playing in that configuration, with Paige off the ball more. I suspect he will continue to prefer this even next year.

I was critical of Nika’s play last season because I thought she’d become one-dimensional on offense. This had made her a liability at the end of close games and led Geno to platoon her at those moments. But the situation seems rather different this year. We’re loaded with scorers, more than last season, and Nika’s fouling seems under control, and her passing is more ambitious, even approaching Paige-like, and her leadership is much improved. And she’s begun taking her own scoring more seriously. Gone is the one-dimensional player. I don’t think Geno will want to give that up even with Paige and Azzi starting next to her.

Also, I think we should avoid specious comparisons like, “is Nika better than Clark or Paige or Azzi?” These are irrelevant. The issue is how to use your assets to greatest advantage. Geno thinks putting Nika at the point instead of Azzi is how to do this now, and I think we can all see why. I suspect he’ll make the same choice next year too.

 

[rvwsleep]

She proved she could play for Providence...

I'll take that. She "proved" she could play with the bottom half of the Big East.
Next step, proving you can play with the top half of the Big East. The step after that ? Confidently, being put into the game regardless who the opponent is. One step at a time please.

 

[RedStickHusky]

If you get pleasure from insulting Geno as a coach & a recruiter, & Amari as a UConn player then that's too bad for you.

Quite the opposite, you're the one questioning Geno's coaching... Recruiting is hit or miss, but if she's been passed by a freshman and can't get minutes with Dorka injured, it's pretty clear what Geno's thinking. As far as insulting Amari as a player? No, my intent was to insult the poster who thought she made a statement with 4th quarter minutes in a 40 point win.

 

[HuskyNan]

We’re no longer discussing the game