The Triple Double

[OldSchooler]

And another to break the old career scoring record.

That was the notorious Nykesha Sales incident in 1998, from which Geno learned an embarrassing lesson.

 

[OldSchooler]

Correction - it’s a milestone according to YOU, not to Bueckers. A bigger milestone for her are probably a Big East Championship and an NCAA title. Not everyone thinks a triple double is as big of achievement as other goals they are chasing.

And Paige -- being Paige -- probably gets more of a kick watching her benchwarming teammates getting their minutes in.

 

[SCNCHuskie]

I have always believed that a triple double, like hitting for the cycle in baseball is only notable because of its mathematical infrequency. In basketball, what would be the better stat line 40/9/9 or 10/10/10? In baseball is it better to hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, and home run) or three home runs and a single? They are both only notable because of the uniqueness.

 

[meyers7]

That was the notorious Nykesha Sales incident in 1998, from which Geno learned an embarrassing lesson.

I don't think so. I think he was happy that he did it. And would have done it again. I think his only regret was the crap Sales got for it. But that was everyone else's problem. Not Sales, Bascom's or UCONN's.

 

[my2cents]

I can only think of one time Geno put a player on the floor in order to get her a stat line achievement, and it was in the closing moments of a blowout win in an NC game.

He started a game with Nykesha sales making a basket to set, at that time , a UConn scoring record.

 

[huskeynut]

He started a game with Nykesha sales making a basket to set, at that time , a UConn scoring record.

And that game was against Villanova. Harry Peretta was the head coach and he was all for it. Nykesha had torn her Achilles tendon and her season was over.

 

[Oldschoolbb]

I had 3 impressions. One, before Paige had her ankle and knee rolled, she had been scuffling for a bunch of games. She just didn't look 100%. Two, she was a lot more aggressive offensively. Three, she seemed to be playing more of a point position than usual, with Chen and Fudd as wings. Fudd had a not-great game, but Chen being off-ball more often seemed to work for her. Her best game at UConn, I think.

 

[PJCLaw]

That was the notorious Nykesha Sales incident in 1998, from which Geno learned an embarrassing lesson.

That lesson looms a lot less important now that several players have eclipsed that mark. It would be different if it was still the UConn scoring record.

 

[Vowelguy]

Juju played 36 minutes this week in a game the other starters played 20. They are clearly leaving her on the court when other players are coming out. Why would they do such a thing? If it was me I would also want to play regardless of the score because I loved to play but the coach does need to trump the player and do what is best for the team.

Do they have a decent backup PG?

Geno can rest his starters this year because he has KK. In some previous years the offense would be a disaster without the lead PG, so he’d have to leave a starter on the floor.

 

[JellyBean]

The Triple Double is and will always going to be huge. No matter if it is points, rebounds, assists. Or points, blocks, steals. The Triple Double is a huge accomplishment for a player. Now I disagree with leaving Paige out there so that she could get a triple double especially when you are up 30-40 points, there is no point in leaving her out there to earn whatever she needed to get that triple double. Every second on that court, she runs the risk of, well you know. If the game was a lot closer, I could see her being out there because you are trying to secure the game and you need your best player on the floor. And yes, I know something can happen at practice or during the early stages of the game or any point in the game. However, when you are in a game, up 30 plus points, it takes on a totally different meaning vs being in practice or sitting in study hall and something happens.

 

[VA Huskie]

And that game was against Villanova. Harry Peretta was the head coach and he was all for it. Nykesha had torn her Achilles tendon and her season was over.

And for you younger folks who may not remember - Geno 1st checked with Bascolm to see if she was ok with what he planned to do. Then, after Sales’ basket, he let a Villanova player get a layup. No harm, no foul!

 

[uconnfan68]

That was the notorious Nykesha Sales incident in 1998, from which Geno learned an embarrassing lesson.

He’d do it again though in similar circumstances.

 

[Dugway]

The Triple Double is and will always going to be huge. No matter if it is points, rebounds, assists. Or points, blocks, steals. The Triple Double is a huge accomplishment for a player. Now I disagree with leaving Paige out there so that she could get a triple double especially when you are up 30-40 points, there is no point in leaving her out there to earn whatever she needed to get that triple double. Every second on that court, she runs the risk of, well you know. If the game was a lot closer, I could see her being out there because you are trying to secure the game and you need your best player on the floor. And yes, I know something can happen at practice or during the early stages of the game or any point in the game. However, when you are in a game, up 30 plus points, it takes on a totally different meaning vs being in practice or sitting in study hall and something happens.

And, it was not just Paige that came out of the game; it was a hockey line change. Every single starter came out together with about 2-min left in the Third. UConn up by 38-pts at the time, 80-42, and on a big run.

Would Bueckers have been able to get another assist and two more rebounds with the second squad; probably, even likely! But, the game was out of reach already. From that point on, leaving the starters in would have been blatantly running up the score, and that just doesn’t seem to be Geno’s mantra against his conference foes.

I think he genuinely thinks of those other coaches as friends, he respects them and their programs. He wants those teams to be competitive, he wants them to succeed. He has no problem coming right out and telling the world that it bothers him that those other programs lose their best players to the transfer portal, etc. In his younger years, he certainly had no problem with adversarial relationships with other coaches. But I just don’t see it in him in modern times, particularly when it comes to the Big East.

 

[Skeets]

Paige getting hurt makes no sense to me. She could get hurt in the first minute against Creighton. ( God forbid). How many minute will she play against Tenn, or South Carolina? 38?

Paige injured her knee with about a minute and a half remaining in a game that was already won. She was gassed at the end of the game and I believe that caused the misstep that led to the injury. So yes, injuries can happen at any time, but exhaustion makes the odds worst. We will never see Paige in the final minutes of a game that is already won, and that is a good thing.

About the discussion concerning personal records please review Sales last 2 points of her career. Geno took so much heat over that, I betcha he'll never do that again. Live and learn, I guess.

 

[Skeets]

IMO, there have been several times this year that had the team been focused on having a player achieve a triple double, there were the opportunities, particularly multiple times for Paige and Sarah.

Personally, I love that Geno & CD are playing the entire bench and giving the starters lots of rest time. I think this has the potential to pay dividends on several levels come tournament time.

Beyond that, given what I expect will be a long arc of success for Paige and Sarah continuing beyond their UConn careers, I don't think NOT achieving a triple double will in any way tarnish their legacies. So far as I can tell, Taurasi, Bird & Moore never accomplished a triple double but I doubt anyone considers this a ding on their overall records.

An NC is worth a whole bunch of triple doubles, in my opinion. Talk about milestones...

A triple double is a rare oddity, as mentioned above. An NC is a lifetime achievement.

 

[Bald Husky]

And for you younger folks who may not remember - Geno 1st checked with Bascolm to see if she was ok with what he planned to do. Then, after Sales’ basket, he let a Villanova player get a layup. No harm, no foul!

All the crap was from outside the university. None of their business as it was a UConn record, not an NCAA record. It's pretty hard to break any records at UConn, as star players don't usually play a lot in the fourth if they are way ahead. There is a reason why there are not UConn players near the top of NCAA scoring records. This was an unusual circumstance, and I thought it was pretty great that Geno, Harry, and of course, Kerry signed off on it.

 

[GoUconn7961]

Paige getting hurt makes no sense to me. She could get hurt in the first minute against Creighton. ( God forbid). How many minute will she play against Tenn, or South Carolina? 38?

It's not just about getting hurt. It's also about rest. Down the stretch the starters will play more and more minutes. When they can rest, the staff should give them every opportunity to do it. Also Geno rarely leaves the starters in when it's a blow out as a courtesy to the opponent. And, it gives the bench an opportunity to get valuable minutes which can also come in handy come March if the starters get in foul trouble. There's a lot of positives to taking them all out, not just Paige. If the bench is really struggling to maintain then he still has the option of putting one or two starters back in to calm the young bench players.

 

[Bigboote]

Paige injured her knee with about a minute and a half remaining in a game that was already won. She was gassed at the end of the game and I believe that caused the misstep that led to the injury. So yes, injuries can happen at any time, but exhaustion makes the odds worst.

Yep, I did a lot of trail running, with exposed roots, knobs, and rocks. I'd take a spill probably a couple of times a year. It was never in the first couple of miles, almost always after 5 or so and heat and fatigue began to set in.

 

[tomcat]

Just think of all the screams of anguish had Bueckers stayed in the game and gotten hurt. I don't know if other BYers saw comments posted on other websites when she went down a few games ago. People criticizing the "old man" for leaving her in too long. Observations that UConn was ahead by a bunch and she was risking her health for no reason. And on and on.

I think that when you make it a binary question: Let her play so she MIGHT be able to achieve a minor milestone of some note or MAYBE get injured, I vote for taking her out every time.

 

[oldude]

I don't believe she'll be around long enough to accomplish that milestone.

?

Where’s she going? She’s 19 years old, required to play 4 years of college basketball before she is eligible for the draft, and currently making some very nice NIL money at USC.

 

[Cuango]

That was the notorious Nykesha Sales incident in 1998, from which Geno learned an embarrassing lesson.

Yeah, I doubt very much he regrets doing that! A little criticism for doing something special for a great kid that did not affect any non UConn records? I’ll take that anytime.

 

[Pmac923]

It would be just another hollow stat line. As a player I wouldn’t be that proud of staying in a 40+ point blowout to do it.

Stats are how you remember players down the road. If it doesn’t mean something I would urge you to watch the UConn Men’s game last year vs Villanova when the team tried to get Tristen Newton his triple double. It’s just as much a team accomplishment as it is an individual one. In the process of building something and becoming a champion it 100% means something.

 

[BobbyJ]

Stats are how you remember players down the road. If it doesn’t mean something I would urge you to watch the UConn Men’s game last year vs Villanova when the team tried to get Tristen Newton his triple double. It’s just as much a team accomplishment as it is an individual one. In the process of building something and becoming a champion it 100% means something.

Stats aren't how I remember players down the road. I remember skills and class, not numbers. Read my second sentence from that post again. UConn didn't leave Newton in to get stats in a 40+ point blowout. Villanova was competitive for most of that game. Numbers in blowouts are for fanboys to get excited about, real players don't. They respect doing it against serious competition.

 

[MSGRET]

I don't think so. I think he was happy that he did it. And would have done it again. I think his only regret was the crap Sales got for it. But that was everyone else's problem. Not Sales, Bascom's or UCONN's.

Yet to this day any player that comes close to breaking that record he takes out of the game, even if UConn hasn't even finished the 3rd quarter.

 

[meyers7]

Yet to this day any player that comes close to breaking that record he takes out of the game, even if UConn hasn't even finished the 3rd quarter.

Well that's one of the reasons he said he did it for Sales. Because she had to come out of so many games in her career. If he'd have played her like most coaches play their players, she'd have broken it long before.

He's always limited players time in blowouts. But Charles broke Sales record and Moore broke Charles record.

So no, he doesn't purposely take players out so they don't break records.

 

[MSGRET]

Well that's one of the reasons he said he did it for Sales. Because she had to come out of so many games in her career. If he'd have played her like most coaches play their players, she'd have broken it long before.

He's always limited players time in blowouts. But Charles broke Sales record and Moore broke Charles record.

So no, he doesn't purposely take players out so they don't break records.

The only player taken out in the 3rd quarter and didn't play in the 4th quarter in the AAC Championship game against USF was KLS with over 2 minutes left in the 3rd after she hit 40 points. She would have broken Sales' record either in the 3rd or early 4th qtr. He also did it to Maya twice when she hit 41 and 40 points respectively.

 

[nutmegger]

Well that's one of the reasons he said he did it for Sales. Because she had to come out of so many games in her career. If he'd have played her like most coaches play their players, she'd have broken it long before.

He's always limited players time in blowouts. But Charles broke Sales record and Moore broke Charles record.

So no, he doesn't purposely take players out so they don't break records.

I have long thought that he does. Too many instances of players removed after getting close.

 

[meyers7]

The only player taken out in the 3rd quarter and didn't play in the 4th quarter in the AAC Championship game against USF was KLS with over 2 minutes left in the 3rd after she hit 40 points. She would have broken Sales' record either in the 3rd or early 4th qtr. He also did it to Maya twice when she hit 41 and 40 points respectively.

The score after 3 quarters was 93-33. 93-33 in a Championship game. KLS played the 2nd most minutes (28). WTF do you want?

He doesn't leave players in specifically to break records, but also doesn't take them out to specifically keep them from breaking records. (I don't think he keeps that close of track of that stuff, to really think about doing it.)

And he did allow Moore to continue to destroy Syracuse long after the game had been decided in that revenge game.

 

[Pmac923]

Stats aren't how I remember players down the road. I remember skills and class, not numbers. Read my second sentence from that post again. UConn didn't leave Newton in to get stats in a 40+ point blowout. Villanova was competitive for most of that game. Numbers in blowouts are for fanboys to get excited about, real players don't. They respect doing it against serious competition.

I don’t think anyone is really questioning her skills or class. Getting a triple double is an achievement and it’s a basketball game. Would it hurt to go after it? If not, why track any stats?

 

[BobbyJ]

I don’t think anyone is really questioning her skills or class. Getting a triple double is an achievement and it’s a basketball game. Would it hurt to go after it? If not, why track any stats?

I see you're having trouble understanding my post. Read it again, your answers are right there.