St Johns Postgame Thread

[Bama fan]

Azzi Fudd had an unusual connection to this game according to Carl Adamec.

And where does Kevin Bacon fit into the equation here?

 

[hart2hart]

Wingman.....Love that Rocky! So true!
Made me chuckle, but I agree with you 300%!

 

[Woof 101]

Even Megan Culmo during the game , after a Paige miss said she looked un-confident, and at the time Piage was something like 9-12....

Agree I like Megan and Allen Bestwick team as they let themselves and the game breathe a little compared to most. As for Meg, again I like her and she is charming in person but on occasion I have to disagree with her assessment.

I heard this comment and saw what Meg meant on at least three of PB's shots but viewed it differently. What I saw was Paige coming down the floor or in the half court set with the ball and open for a shot. Hesitation was not being unconfident but out of habit looking to see if a team mate had a better shot with her pass first mentality.

Finding nobody with a better shot and quickly coming back to Geno is going to put his foot up my back side if I don't shoot it, there was a hesitation. Not for a minute would I have used a term about confidence. She was surveying the floor and knew she had the time to get her shot off before a defender could close in.

I hope that’s true but let’s wait till she gets here before we anoint her as better than Paige.

AGREE...

 

[hoophuskee]

I've had this thought effervescing around in my head when I first learned she was coming "is Geno hoping she can become his point?" That thought just keeps getting stronger as Nika plays.

I think I've figured out where this idea, for me, comes from.

Our daughter went into Jr Hi and was with all new player and our daughter probably was the 4th option for scoring (as the off guard ). The point was absolutely the best player on the team and considered the best player in the school system we played in. This kid could shake & bake. Score from anywhere. Our team couldn't beat anyone.

Halfway through the season the coach moved our daughter to point and the point to off guard. The team began winning. The best player still got her points, steals, assists, free throws. But instantly, our opponents had to shut down 2 players instead of one. We were twice as hard to deal with. Scoring as well as all the stats went up for every other player on our team. Our daughter appeared "s l o w" which she was, and eventually teams quit trying to steal the ball from the slow kid because it normally resulted in the slow kid having a lay up or an assist or drawing a foul.

Whew. After all that. Granted, Page is SO much better! But the concept still applies. Thinking about how Good Page is. Think about her being the offlGard.(with Azzi, CW, E, Anna) and Nika at point. Don't guard Nika results in a lay up, 3 pointer, or assist.
Page is going to be Page. Page looking to score makes the team better.

Yes I've read all the disparaging remarks directed at Nika. Still in the back of my head I'm thinking that it's possible that in the back of Geno's head is the possibilities that would be created for his team "IF" Nika could be, just good enough to be his point. And what if she becomes more than just good enough. if she's just good enough, you still have Page, Anna, E to fill out the guards and it might be getting better next year.

For someone who isn't crazy about long posts.

What a great story! Congrats to your daughter. Awesome story! What a great analogy!

What your daughter has are the basic basketball fundamental skills it seems: pass, shoot, and dribble. These skills are basic and will always be of high value. Even at the highest levels - it's not the quickest or fastest players. If you have the basic fundamentals - - as long as your weaknesses aren't too extreme - - you will always be a quality player.

If she does have all 3 basic basketball fundamental skills - think of how awesome that is. If one night her shot is off- she could still dribble (get fouled) and pass on that given night and still can be a force. If she only had 1 skill then she'd be so much easier to stop. I love fundamentals. I'd love your daughter's game I think and I love Nika's game.

By the way, what "disparaging comments" did you read regarding Nika? Were they similar to the "disparaging comments" that Meg Culmo made at 1:02 left in the 1st quarter when she said to paraphrase "Hey you know Drake has already realized - hey okay I can get around Nika Muhl . . ." as we saw in that moment Drake commit a turnover? While 20 seconds later we saw Nika stick a 3?

We see more and more that Nika has the 3 basic fundamental skills which will only help UCONN a great deal going forward just as your daughter helped her team a great deal, - - and yet neither are "Michael Jordan/LeBron James!"

I am just soooooooooo thrilled with this freshmen class.

 

[jabstep]

I hope that’s true but let’s wait till she gets here before we anoint her as better than Paige. That is a tall order. I mean, imo Paige is up there with Maya, Dee, and Breanna as the greatest freshmen ever! I truly hope Azzi is that good but .....we’ll see. Paige is currently shooting almost 60% from three! Not questioning Azzi’s status as a potentially great player for us, but better than Paige?

I agree with you on the wait and see about Azzi. But when I started watching USA Fiba teams games to watch Paige there was a girl who was on the team was the best outside shooter on the team. I said to myself who is this girl. What a team it was the best players in College BB right now. They became great friends and Paige finally found someone to challenge her and they became best friends and continue to workout and push each other to be better. As good a shooter as Paige is its true Azzi is just an itsy bitsy better shooter with a killer pull up jumper from the foul line/elbow. Perfect for UConn's offense. But we still have to wait and see and I can't wait.

 

[hoophuskee]

Barring injury Azzi is going to be a star. It doesn't make one bit of difference who is going to be better. No one is wrong. Just as no one was wrong in preseason when they said they wanted to see Paige perform before declaring her a starter. Just as no one is wrong for wanting to see any recruit perform before passing judgement.

But on the flip side, those that knew Paige would be a star were not wrong when she turned out to be. The same can be said for those that think Azzi will be a star. They (me) won't be wrong. I don't need to fight over it either.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I think Nika can be the x factor for the offense as she keeps gaining confidence and experience. Sees the court extremely well, her and Paige would be two of the best passing guards out there. She also adds critical spacing to the floor if she can keep hitting her 3 point shots (I think she has a nice soft shot, and expect her to keep ascending as the season goes).

That spacing will help CW. CW should not be hanging out by the 3 point line, she's not a 3 point shooter. She needs to work inside-out (to a mid range game). She is a very string slasher to the basket and having Niko on the floor with Paige and Evina can really open up the lanes for her to excel. As she does that, there could be opportunities to kick the ball out to the perimeter for some open shots.

Our offense, while stagnant at times, is still already strong. This could take it up a level.

Nice analysis. I wonder about Nika on the inside. In her home country she didn't shoot a lot of 3s, though she could and can. She led her league in steals and did a lot of end to end lay up scoring. She ought to be able to join CW with lay ups.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Watch me work. Great angles:

 

[eebmg]

Watch me work. Great angles:

Like Evina's nasty face (I think after Paige's assist)