The Alleged Flaws of Bueckers

[diggerfoot]

I support keeping expectations down for players and Bueckers has the most hype I have seen since Stewart. However, neither do I support default narratives that are based more on generalities than specifics. In Bueckers case the caution about her defense and strength seems to be based out of boiler plate generalities.

You can fault the defense of almost any high school player. There are exceptions, such as Nurse whose defense was hyped even before she got to college. I see a little of that hype for Muhl as well. If nothing else it looks like we have a perimeter stopper in our future once again, but back to Bueckers. She has incredible quickness and anticipation on both offense and defense. She also has great length for her position. I could see her being used at the point of a press, a la Stewart and Samuelson. Ultimately, the head and the heart will determine how well a player will develop on defense. That seems to be in Bueckers favor as well. Apparently there are people watching her on defense and thinking that is as big a question mark as for any typical star coming out of high school. It may be a question mark, but with promise.

As for her strength I present two considerations. It was reported that during her senior year Stewart was the second strongest player on the team. This should not be surprising, as one would expect increases in strength every year. I do not know for sure, but I suspect fellow senior Tuck was likely the strongest player on the team that year. The point remains that strength is something that can and will be improve.

Decades ago I went to a high school wrestling match championship in which a relative was competing (state of Washington). As one can imagine he was very strong, very well built. When we saw his opponent in the finals we thought we had it in the bag, for the boy across the mat was this tall string bean that could not possibly prevail against our stocky, muscular champion. But the tall thin wrestler did win, much to our chagrin. Fairly easily I might add. Now if they separated classes by height rather than weight, I doubt that wrestler would have had a chance, but against a shorter, stockier opponent of similar weight he was the champion.

Bueckers is tall and long for a guard, not average height or small for a post. She needs strengthening for durability, but in no way is her strength going to be a negative factor in her performance for the position she plays. Plus, there is always Makurat, who plays positional defense pretty well already, and hopefully Muhl, the next Faris in waiting perhaps. Sure, Auriemma will get on Bueckers for her defense, but I do not hear alarm bells when I watch her defense in high school.

 

[Kaizen]

I like Paige not only she is a young DT but her enthusiastic heart to be a UConn Husky ....

 

[pvdoggy]

Paige leads her team in steal per game by a WIDE margin. She can't be that bad of a defensive player. She is also a close second in defensive rebound per game and a close third behind Taylor Woodson in total rebound per game. I will take those flaws any day of the week.

 

[EricLA]

Just one thing to add - these kids not only are still only in high school, but most of the time competing against players who are (to one degree or another) simply not as good.

FYI when I watched Ice Brady play in person, my aggressively enthusiastic observations of her skill set were with the realization that she's just finishing her sophomore year. Not only does she have 2 more years to develop in high school, but she will have probably a whole summer at UCONN and then 2 months or so with the coaches before she even suits up for her first game.

My point is that I agree with digger in that she's already really really good at almost everything, and should definitely get better once she's on campus doing workouts and practices with her teammates and coaches...

 

[BobbyJ]

Plus her coach is a smart guy. He knows how easily HS kids get confused and throw sloppy passes. Instead of having her focus on one kid he lets her float and jump passing lanes, generating a lot of extra possessions and getting Bueckers the ball in the open court where she's lethal. Her footwork and hands are very good and she'll learn UConn's defense quickly IMO.

 

[Moose]

The highlight videos of Paige are so impressive: she looks like the second coming of DT and it's so so fun to watch.... but also, I can't help thinking that the highlight videos of Moriah Jefferson in HS were probably similar, but MoJeff didn't get the same coverage of it, and also played for a weaker HS team (that sophmone post player on Hopkins is really something too). I felt like I saw a report on here from someone who had seen a game of Paige in person, that said along with the spectacular plays, there are some terrible plays/turnovers, that you don't see in the highlight videos. So, I wonder, is the uniform just going to change and Paige will be doing those things with Uconn on her chest instead of Hopkins, or more likely, there'll be the typicall frosh adjustment period to needing to make the right decisions and take care of the ball. I kinda hope there's no adjustment period because Paige is just so fun to watch!

 

[oldude]

In watching full game videos, the one area of Paige’s game that needs to improve at the next level is her defensive effort. While she makes plays on D, particularly when she poaches passing lanes or picks an opponent’s pocket, Paige doesn’t always play hard on defense. I am not particularly concerned about Paige’s defensive lapses in HS. She will play defense at UConn or she won’t play.

I had the same concern about Aubrey Griffin after watching her last 4 HS games, where she scored 30+ in each game, but her defensive effort was spotty at best. Much to my surprise, Aubrey has demonstrated an ability as a relentless shutdown defender in college. Now if Aubrey could only find her offensive game.....

 

[HopJim]

I support keeping expectations down for players and Bueckers has the most hype I have seen since Stewart. However, neither do I support default narratives that are based more on generalities than specifics. In Bueckers case the caution about her defense and strength seems to be based out of boiler plate generalities.

You can fault the defense of almost any high school player. There are exceptions, such as Nurse whose defense was hyped even before she got to college. I see a little of that hype for Muhl as well. If nothing else it looks like we have a perimeter stopper in our future once again, but back to Bueckers. She has incredible quickness and anticipation on both offense and defense. She also has great length for her position. I could see her being used at the point of a press, a la Stewart and Samuelson. Ultimately, the head and the heart will determine how well a player will develop on defense. That seems to be in Bueckers favor as well. Apparently there are people watching her on defense and thinking that is as big a question mark as for any typical star coming out of high school. It may be a question mark, but with promise.

As for her strength I present two considerations. It was reported that during her senior year Stewart was the second strongest player on the team. This should not be surprising, as one would expect increases in strength every year. I do not know for sure, but I suspect fellow senior Tuck was likely the strongest player on the team that year. The point remains that strength is something that can and will be improve.

Decades ago I went to a high school wrestling match championship in which a relative was competing (state of Washington). As one can imagine he was very strong, very well built. When we saw his opponent in the finals we thought we had it in the bag, for the boy across the mat was this tall string bean that could not possibly prevail against our stocky, muscular champion. But the tall thin wrestler did win, much to our chagrin. Fairly easily I might add. Now if they separated classes by height rather than weight, I doubt that wrestler would have had a chance, but against a shorter, stockier opponent of similar weight he was the champion.

Bueckers is tall and long for a guard, not average height or small for a post. She needs strengthening for durability, but in no way is her strength going to be a negative factor in her performance for the position she plays. Plus, there is always Makurat, who plays positional defense pretty well already, and hopefully Muhl, the next Faris in waiting perhaps. Sure, Auriemma will get on Bueckers for her defense, but I do not hear alarm bells when I watch her defense in high school.

I am a strong Bueckers supporter and this comment is not meant as a negative. To use your points, in games against top competition, she will be coming in competing with players equally as athletic with several years of strength training. Agree with your first point - let's not set unrealistic expectations.

 

[augustaTC]

Nice post. Like everyone else I'm excited about Paige's arrival in Storrs, but it's my nature to tamp down expectations. However, I have noticed a fair amount of "new" muscles in the young lady's arms in the past year and she just seems a more rugged string bean. I'm sure it will continue.

 

[CL82]

I hear that she is vulnerable to Kryptonite.

 

[oldude]

I hear that she is vulnerable to Kryptonite.

 

[meyers7]

I hear that she is vulnerable to Kryptonite.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

In this year of a team that does not click like your typical UConn team I watch the Royals games and high light reels (have you noticed there are 2 or 3 different productions per game?) as a form of multivitamin. Those who want to be among the first to criticize Paige's game I understand, because we see it season after season. For instance a couple of months ago we had a cadre saying Anna would ride the pine next year. No wonder Geno keeps refusing our invitations to breakfast!

 

[DefenseBB]

If I may go off on a tangent and ask @diggerfoot where he has acquired the view that Nika was an elite defender ala Kia Nurse as I haven’t seen that written anywhere nor in the brief snippets of the 3 games I have watched on the Nika thread here have I seen it. I am not saying she isn’t, just that in my reading and limit viewing, I haven’t found any evidence. Would you be kind enough to advise? Thanks, and this was a great post!

 

[Husky fanatic]

FLAWS!!! FLAWS!!!! She ain’t got no stinking flaws

 

[Centerstream]

FLAWS!!! FLAWS!!!! She ain’t got no stinking flaws

Amazing what posters can come up with to basically add threads that are based entirely on opinion and have been posted in other threads.
But hey, that's why I come to the BY several times a day, to read the opinions of others.

 

[Steelerone]

I have a friend who works at the West Farms Mall who has a cousin who knows a guy out in L.A. that told him he heard that LeBron has been whispering in her ear and that she might decide to forego college and enter the NBA draft.

 

[eebmg]

Only flaw is that she likes Kyrie. But so does Sue Bird.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

If I may go off on a tangent and ask @diggerfoot where he has acquired the view that Nika was an elite defender ala Kia Nurse as I haven’t seen that written anywhere nor in the brief snippets of the 3 games I have watched on the Nika thread here have I seen it. I am not saying she isn’t, just that in my reading and limit viewing, I haven’t found any evidence. Would you be kind enough to advise? Thanks, and this was a great post!

In 2019 FIBA Tournament Nika was named one of the All Star Starting 5 and averaged 3.5 steals per game. this season she is averaging 3.2 steals per game. Whether you look at whole games or highlights she has very quick hands and will steal from the dribbler either face up or coming from the rear. I don't know if that makes her Elite or merely promising. She's got quick feet and is tenacious to put it mildly. These are encouraging. They do play with the shorter FIBA shot clock. How that cuts,if at all, I don't know.

Here are some highlights from last summer, which naturally focus on offense, but any excuse to show video of a favorite recruit.

 

[diggerfoot]

If I may go off on a tangent and ask @diggerfoot where he has acquired the view that Nika was an elite defender ala Kia Nurse as I haven’t seen that written anywhere nor in the brief snippets of the 3 games I have watched on the Nika thread here have I seen it. I am not saying she isn’t, just that in my reading and limit viewing, I haven’t found any evidence. Would you be kind enough to advise? Thanks, and this was a great post!

I used the word "hype" not "elite," though that may be an overstatement. To clarify, I did not mean to suggest "many sources" when in reality it was our European scout azwhom (sp), who is intimate with the basketball world over there, that "hyped" Muhl's defense. As for my own impression, watching her play reminds me of Rizzotti, so I would say there is some evidence embedded in the tapes, but I am not offering that up as "hype."

 

[diggerfoot]

I am a strong Bueckers supporter and this comment is not meant as a negative. To use your points, in games against top competition, she will be coming in competing with players equally as athletic with several years of strength training. Agree with your first point - let's not set unrealistic expectations.

Not sure if we are in agreement or not, based on the qualifier you bring up. What you literally wrote, when translated, is that Bueckers will be facing equally athletic seniors (seniors being the ones with "several" years of strength training). In other words you bring up such an obvious obstacle that applies to every single recruit (even Moore, who struggled a little as a freshman against Stanford's upperclassmen posts) that it begs the question of why.

Given that every incoming freshman faces the challenge of gaining strength, learning new systems and playing against upperclassmen, one can look at a prospect and conclude "the evidence suggests this particular person is going to have more of a problem with that than the typical recruit." My original post probably overreacts, in that there probably are only one or two BYers who expressed that. My counter is that I look at this particular prospect and I think she will have less problem with adjusting to the strength (for her position), learning the system and playing against athletic upperclassmen than the typical recruit.

 

[Alydar]

. I felt like I saw a report on here from someone who had seen a game of Paige in person, that said along with the spectacular plays, there are some terrible plays/turnovers, that you don't see in the highlight videos. So, I wonder, is the uniform just going to change and Paige will be doing those things with Uconn on her chest instead of Hopkins, or more likely, there'll be the typicall frosh adjustment period to needing to make the right decisions and take care of the ball.

In watching full game videos, the one area of Paige’s game that needs to improve at the next level is her defensive effort. While she makes plays on D, particularly when she poaches passing lanes or picks an opponent’s pocket, Paige doesn’t always play hard on defense.

First, the above excerpted quotes are not reflective of the posts they come from which also had positive points.

I have watched Bueckers in at least 7 or 8 complete Hopkins games over the last 3 years and about 4 USA games and if I were using my fingers and toes to count her terrible plays/turnovers I wouldn't need my toes. I have seen her get stripped a couple of times this year, once on a drive and once out on the perimeter. Certainly some of her to's have resulted from her passing but I look at turnovers caused by attempting a great play as different from errors due to sloppiness. And I never saw her throw away a pass attempting something flashy. In fact the only time I ever saw her miss on flash was a drive this season where she tried to elude a jumping defender by putting the ball high and left off the glass with a lot of side spin.
It's high school and played at a different speed but her execution has been exemplary.
As for defensive effort, I agree it doesn't match her offense but only because the magic she displays with the ball makes it look that way. Her on-ball defense needs work certainly. That was most apparent in her USA games. But the Hopkins coach doesn't play tight denial defense. They are an up tempo team that presses and will give up baskets to maintain that pace. And Hopkins' inside size takes care of a lot of drives in the half court. I have also read a current HS/AAU coach say that many high school coaches want their stars kept safe from foul trouble and specifically instruct them to play softer defense.
Bueckers may never be a Tiff Hayes or Kia Nurse defender. But she is a lot more athletic than she appears and could become an outstanding disruptive force on defense like Gabby Williams and Griffin (and hopefully Muhl and McClean). There's a video of her getting above the rim for a "girl dunk" and she is very very fast with hands as quick as a pair of rattlers. I have no doubt that in her goals of being the best she can become there is a column for defensive basketball. For all her flash the thing that I fell in love with about her 3 years ago was the absolute joy and confidence she displays playing the game. She is totally focused in every possession regardless of the score or the pressure of the situation. She makes a basket and runs to find her defensive assignment. She's always trying to make something happen.
A great example of her executing under pressure was her inbounds pass to Van Lith in a USA game with USA down and a second or so left. She was on the left sideline above the key and as Van Lith circled to the right and got free she tossed a perfect lob that Van Lith was able to catch at the basket in the air and lay in. And of all his roster, which included several rising college sophomores, Walz gave her the job of making that pass. It looked easy as pie for both players but to pull it off showed me a lot.

 

[CocoHusky]

@diggerfoot several months ago I predicted that Paige's defense on her arrival at UCONN will be "adequate" and took some flack for it. Adequate to me means her defense will not be what prevents her from being the starting PG. I stand by that assessment.

You mention that Paige has great length for the position and I agree. When it comes to perimeter defense that length is not nearly as important as the feet and the ability to move those feet (fast twitch style). Before she arrived at UCONN I also predicted that KLS would have to improve her defensive technique significantly and she did. Although KLS maxed out on defensive technique her defensive ceiling was limited by lack of fast twitch and the ability to move her feet faster than some very good offensive players at that position. Paige defensive ceiling is higher than KLS not because of length but because Paige has more of those fast twitch fibers.

Regarding paige's strength I'm not nearly as concerned primarily because Paige as the PG will never have to carry a load of 35 MPG as Crystal has had to do for the last 3 seasons.

Regarding NIka and the "hype" my memory is not what it used to be but my recollection was not one of hype it was one of complementary as in : UCONN is getting two very good guards that are both going to play because Paige's offense is ahead of her defense, which is pretty good and Nika whose defense is ahead of her offense which is also pretty good.

Paige's HS team runs beautiful offense but perimeter and post defense has a long way to go. The perimeter defensive part of that assessment definitely applies to paige but not to worry because I know Paige is a much more capable defender than she shows on most nights in her HS games. I know this because in the summer of 2018 at a showcase event Paige went up against the best defender (prior to her injury) in the 2020 class-Leilani Kapinus. Kapinus was the equivalent of HS Gabby Williams, same freakish athleticism & PG skills Some of the tapes were post in the old recruiting thread but it was both players at their defensive best.

 

[Scud49]

With all the attention Paige is getting, I think Nika Muhl is way under the radar right now. She could be the most pleasant surprise of the 2020-21 season.

 

[diggerfoot]

@diggerfoot several months ago I predicted that Paige's defense on her arrival at UCONN will be "adequate" and took some flack for it. Adequate to me means her defense will not be what prevents her from being the starting PG. I stand by that assessment.

You mention that Paige has great length for the position and I agree.

For the record, my reference to Paige's height and length has more to do with her strength (as in my anecdote where the string bean wrestler was the champion). Though her height also helps in other ways.

I never saw Samuelson in high school so I would not know how much or how fast she had to learn at UConn. I will say, as I often have, that she did understand positional defense as a freshman when neither Williams not Collier had yet to do so (or at least perform it). That's not to say she was the better defender, merely that she knew how to get beat the right way.