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Message: [QUOTE="Willowglen, post: 4104418, member: 9659"] Paige has the best midrange game of any college player I have seen. Geno quite sensibly runs the offense around her mid range game, with other players setting screens or double screens for her. It is sublime how automatic she is from 10 to 15 feet. The key is to get other Husky players to react to opposing defenses, which will have 3 to 4 defenders fixate on Paige - understandably so. Christyn Williams reacted to the defense overplaying with an easy bolt to the basket with a layup - and other players will need to do this as well. Williams is the rare ambidextrous player (meaning her off hand is still a quality shot). Her focus should be on those driving layups - they will be there given the triple teams on Paige. And Williams’ ability to score from either side of the basket at the very last moment will break defenses. It doesn’t really matter how much Paige scores. The fact that the opposing team can’t defend her mid range game - and even 6 “5 players can’t do it - is just a huge advantage for UConn. I would think the other talented players on the team will begin to habituate to her dominance, and accordingly it is too early to draw conclusions about future play - except that there is no player in college basketball anyone would want more on their team than Paige. Basketball is a numbers game - and Paige turns all the percentages in her team’s direction. Fudd could be incredibly effective in hitting outside shots at the right time - more important than stats. In frustration, teams are going to pack defenses inside tighter than a drum. Opportune 3 pointers can make for dominance on the mental side of the game. I suspect that all of this causes Auriemma to really drive the defense up several notches. This is hard to do when you know you can score at relative will, but this is why a Hall of Fame coach matters. You never know, but watching this team this year has a different feel. I don’t have the same perception watching South Carolina or Stanford, for example. This puts a different spin too, on a player like Nike’s Muhl. If she plays great defense, and sets picks and screens, it may make a lot of sense to play her more- there is no lack of offensive talent on the team. [/QUOTE]

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