Time for Nika to shine!

[eebmg]

I expect everyone including Nika to step up and improve but to make a FF, Azzi will have to be the biggest star in the firmament and one who can give the team that blind confidence you need so the team can play loose and up to their level

Geno said it last year after the NC State game, you need that one player who can instill the team with supreme confidence to get you over that E8 hump.

 

[Stinger92860]

I’m expecting point guard by committee, led by Nika, but she has to stay on the floor. Anyone know if Senechal can play a few minutes at the one? I remember Caroline bringing the ball up at times. I’d prefer not to have Azzi at the one, you want her on the wing. There should be times this year where 5 UConn players on the court are 6-1 or taller.

 

[The deacon]

Nika will be fine. First of all, her fouling has decreased immensely since her freshman year. The point that it is mentioned every televised game is a running joke that Geno keeps going for the media. She is smart, and I think she will rise to the occasion and surprise a lot of people. We know that she can play the position, and her passing skills are above average. Watching past videos of her pre-UConn shows she can shoot the pull-up and drive to the hoop. Per Geno these shooting skills were her homework assignment during the summer, and if she can get past her mental block of always passing it off, she may be a very important, and pleasant surprise to us and our opponents. Let's give her the benefit of the doubt and concentrate on the area that will really need to come through to make us formidable: The front court.

I'd be happy to give Nika the benefit of the doubt if little doubt remained. However, Bald Huskie, she actually committed more fouls per minute last year than during '20-21, one every 11 minutes compared with one every 14 the previous season. That stat was in the range of Aaliyah and Liv, and far more fouls per than anyone else on the team.

My doubts about Nika, as I stated above somewhere, are that I don't believe she has the point guard savvy or the passing skills requisite for a national title contending point guard. She'll make the effort, for sure. 'Serviceable,' to quite HuskyNan, might be the best description for what we've gotten and likely would receive from Nika this coming season.

Clearly the front court has its question marks, especially what the Huskies will get from the freshmen, but if Nika is your best bet for 30 minutes per game at the controls, I'll remain hopeful yet dubious about the Huskies' prospects to go to the top. And, no, I don't have a conspicuous alternative, rather that it'll need to be a 'by committee' approach until someone proves the obvious solution.

 

[Conndog]

I expect everyone including Nika to step up and improve but to make a FF, Azzi will have to be the biggest star in the firmament and one who can give the team that blind confidence you need so the team can play loose and up to their level

Geno said it last year after the NC State game, you need that one player who can instill the team with supreme confidence to get you over that E8 hump.

Don't sleep on Caroline! If both Azzi and Caroline have great seasons, we will be having great success. Key really might be Nika's command at the helm of the offense. And what a wild card Amari Deberry could be!

 

[Argonaut]

I’m pretty sure this was security footage from the locker room on Tuesday.

Nika is ready to take charge.

 

[BobbyJ]

Nika will be fine. First of all, her fouling has decreased immensely since her freshman year. The point that it is mentioned every televised game is a running joke that Geno keeps going for the media. She is smart, and I think she will rise to the occasion and surprise a lot of people. We know that she can play the position, and her passing skills are above average. Watching past videos of her pre-UConn shows she can shoot the pull-up and drive to the hoop. Per Geno these shooting skills were her homework assignment during the summer, and if she can get past her mental block of always passing it off, she may be a very important, and pleasant surprise to us and our opponents. Let's give her the benefit of the doubt and concentrate on the area that will really need to come through to make us formidable: The front court.

1st bolded, this isn't close to accurate. It's made up to support your point.
2nd bolded, her passing skills are no better than average and mostly to open players on the perimeter with no creativity.
3rd bolded, those videos were against competition with a talent level below top level HS AAU teams in the US. Top level D1 college defenses are a different story.

 

[Ozimoto]

Well, you have to dance with the girls you bring to the ball, so we will have to see how it all works out.

I think it's reasonable to have lowered expectations for the team going into the season on the offensive side of things. Nika will have to learn to control her aggression and temper her emotions to stay on the court as several posters have pointed out. She will be a junior this season and suddenly finds herself in a position I doubt she ever expected to be in. I hope she has the maturity to do the work to make the needed changes in her game to maximize her contributions to the team. I think she will.

If she doesn't, Geno will do what he has to do to put the team in the best position to win.

 

[Skeets]

I'd be happy to give Nika the benefit of the doubt if little doubt remained. However, Bald Husky, she actually committed more fouls per minute last year than during '20-21, one every 11 minutes compared with one every 14 the previous season. That stat was in the range of Aaliyah and Liv, and far more fouls per than anyone else on the team.

My doubts about Nika, as I stated above somewhere, are that I don't believe she has the point guard savvy or the passing skills requisite for a national title contending point guard. She'll make the effort, for sure. 'Serviceable,' to quite HuskyNan, might be the best description for what we've gotten and likely would receive from Nika this coming season.

Clearly the front court has its question marks, especially what the Huskies will get from the freshmen, but if Nika is your best bet for 30 minutes per game at the controls, I'll remain hopeful yet dubious about the Huskies' prospects to go to the top. And, no, I don't have a conspicuous alternative, rather that it'll need to be a 'by committee' approach until someone proves the obvious solution.

I disagree. First off, Nnika doesn't foul. Second, Nika has a sufficient skill level to lead UConn up to and through the NC game. Third, Geno likes the way UConn's offense runs when Nika is on the floor. I don't know who to put more faith in, your judgement or Geno. I'll go way out on a limb and say Geno. Having said all that, Nika isn't going to play 35 minutes per game, so yes, something else is needed. If it's a "committee" then that is not a good thing for UConn.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I’m not worried about Nika fouling out. I’m worried about probably having to play her more than 20 minutes a game. If Nika or Azzi get hurt we might as well eliminate the point guard position because we wouldn’t have a backup.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I guess if SC had to play Amihere at PG last year we can make do somehow if Azzi or Nika get hurt but it won’t be easy.

 

[Bone Dog]

I guess if SC had to play Amihere at PG last year we can make do somehow if Azzi or Nika get hurt but it won’t be easy.

Amihere brought the ball up the court. She was not an effective point guard. That's expecting too much of her, even though she is quick for 6'4" and has decent handles.

Caroline can bring the ball up the court, but she too is not really a point guard. Neither is Lou. Aaliyah was occasionally a 'point forward' in high school and probably had better skills for that role than Caroline Lou or Amihere. But she doesn't have that kind of quickness anymore.

If Nika and Azzi have to miss games, of course, we'll have to bite the bullet and let Dorka bring the ball up the court... er, I mean Caroline and Lou. But it will have to be a different offense. For one thing, the team will be noticeably slow. Caroline is no sprinter -- she's just a smart player who doesn't get out of position often. Lou looks to be a little quicker, but I doubt she's going to be as smart as Caroline within the UConn system. That will take time.

What would a lineup without Nika and Azzi look like? Caroline, Lou, Aubrey (for her speed), Ayanna, Aaliyah. We pound the lane and try to open Lou up from the perimeter. It's a huge lineup -- like the lumbering lineups Tennessee sometimes puts on the court -- no one under 6'1", and strong with Aaliyah and Ayanna (or Ice) punishing anyone who tries to drive into the lane. I hope we don't have to run this lineup for long, since it will be so vulnerable to a quick opposing point guard, like Charisma Osborne, who shredded a similar lineup last year.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Heh, SC won a championship with Amihere playing PG for 3-4 games. I don't think they liked it but they did what they had to do. There were a lot of other guards on that team but they put the ball in Amihere's hands. We have to think outside the box sometimes. And this was Dawn Staley's decision, who knows something about being a point guard.

 

[Bone Dog]

Heh, SC won a championship with Amihere playing PG for 3-4 games. I don't think they liked it but they did what they had to do. There were a lot of other guards on that team but they put the ball in Amihere's hands. We have to think outside the box sometimes. And this was Dawn Staley's decision, who knows something about being a point guard.

Sure, but they still had Cooke and Beal available for those games, as well as Grisette and Rivers, and Boston is a bit quicker than our bigs. Their overall team speed was just better than ours would be in such a situation. In effect, they played without a point guard for a few games.

We can do it, too. But we’ll be slower. We may take some losses. Even SC almost lost to Stanford without Henderson at point guard. I hope we don’t have the injuries that put us in such a situation. Still, I’m curious to see what would happen.

 

[TeamFirst!]

The point being that SC had almost all but 2 of their guards available yet they put the ball in Amihere's hands. It may be that Caroline is our best PG option after Azzi and Nika. It's not necessarily a conventionally sized PG.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Magic Johnson?

 

[jabstep]

The point being that SC had almost all but 2 of their guards available yet they put the ball in Amihere's hands. It may be that Caroline is our best PG option after Azzi and Nika. It's not necessarily a conventionally sized PG.

Well I am glad we started to talk about Caroline as an option to run the offense with Azzi staying as one of our two 3 point treats along with Lou. Caroline offers us penatration, size and another 3 point shooter. I think she is a much better outside shooter then she showed last year. I think she rushed a lot of shots because she had too. She was our leading scorer for quite awhile last year. A lineup of Caroline as PG, Azzi as the 2, Lou at the 3. Aaliyah at the 4 and Dorka at the 5 I think is a potent offensive team. We would then have Nika, hopefully Aubrey, Deberry as the first 8. Brady and Patterson might show early and demand playing time. We will be OK but we would have been better with Paige but we will have to learn how to deal with it. Go Huskies

 

[Conndog]

Well I am glad we started to talk about Caroline as an option to run the offense with Azzi staying as one of our two 3 point treats along with Lou. Caroline offers us penatration, size and another 3 point shooter. I think she is a much better outside shooter then she showed last year. I think she rushed a lot of shots because she had too. She was our leading scorer for quite awhile last year. A lineup of Caroline as PG, Azzi as the 2, Lou at the 3. Aaliyah at the 4 and Dorka at the 5 I think is a potent offensive team. We would then have Nika, hopefully Aubrey, Deberry as the first 8. Brady and Patterson might show early and demand playing time. We will be OK but we would have been better with Paige but we will have to learn how to deal with it. Go Huskies

This is an interesting line-up, my first reaction was that this would restrict Caroline from operating near basket which is a nice aspect to her game, but with the motion offense and all it’s movement, Caroline could still be around basket plenty. If Lou is a good shooter, then Caroline would get decent 3 pt attempts too. I’d rather Caroline shoot the 3 than Nika, who while she has made some, seems more reluctant to shoot- maybe Geno is telling her to become more assertive on offense. I like our offense better when the 5 plays up high and Aaliyah sets up down low. Maybe Dorka as PG isn’t so crazy after all?

 

[oldude]

Amihere dribbled the ball up the court as a backup pg during a handful of games in the middle of the season. When the Big Dance rolled around, not only did Amihere not play pg, but she played fewer & fewer minutes when Dawn limited PT, as most coaches do in the Tournament.

In the championship final vs UConn, Amihere played 9 minutes, with a stat line that included 1 basket, 1 rebound, 1 personal foul and 0 assists. I seem to recall Dawn lamenting the fact that she had not done an effective job of integrating Amihere into the lineup, or something to that effect.

Amihere is a talented player. But she is most certainly not a pg.

 

[Bald Husky]

Well I am glad we started to talk about Caroline as an option to run the offense with Azzi staying as one of our two 3 point treats along with Lou. Caroline offers us penatration, size and another 3 point shooter. I think she is a much better outside shooter then she showed last year. I think she rushed a lot of shots because she had too. She was our leading scorer for quite awhile last year. A lineup of Caroline as PG, Azzi as the 2, Lou at the 3. Aaliyah at the 4 and Dorka at the 5 I think is a potent offensive team. We would then have Nika, hopefully Aubrey, Deberry as the first 8. Brady and Patterson might show early and demand playing time. We will be OK but we would have been better with Paige but we will have to learn how to deal with it. Go Huskies

Yes, that line-up you project is pretty potent, but we can't put all of our eggs in one basket. That line-up has no game breaker player coming off the bench, meaning in a close game the starters will be playing too many minutes. This is what happened last year, so Lou has to come off the bench to not give our opponents a reason to pack the paint. I happened to see a highlight video of Lous season last year, and after viewing it I felt a lot better about her talents. Yes, lower competition, but the girl can shoot with pretty good moves. Also has a good handle driving, so if anyone doubts her abilities, check it out. I believe Nika may be the huge piece of the puzzle. If she can play conservatively, her presence on the court means the others will not be saddled with the PG position, meaning they can do what they do best, score. Maybe Aubrey can become the defensive guru that Nika is since she has always been one of our best defensive players.

 

[Zarathustra]

This is an interesting line-up, my first reaction was that this would restrict Caroline from operating near basket which is a nice aspect to her game, but with the motion offense and all it’s movement, Caroline could still be around basket plenty. If Lou is a good shooter, then Caroline would get decent 3 pt attempts too. I’d rather Caroline shoot the 3 than Nika, who while she has made some, seems more reluctant to shoot- maybe Geno is telling her to become more assertive on offense. I like our offense better when the 5 plays up high and Aaliyah sets up down low. Maybe Dorka as PG isn’t so crazy after all?

With our "motion" offensive I don't see that Caroline will be " restricted from
operating near the basket". Remember those shots from the corner and the
backdoor cuts, as well as those high feeds from Dorka and ONO? Caroline is
"SWEET CAROLINE" and the tune she carries will be great to listen to watch!!
Go Huskies!!

 

[TeamFirst!]

I agree that Lou probably comes off the bench to be our scoring threat when Azzi or Caroline are subbed but she may be one of our top 5 in Crunchtime.

 

[Bone Dog]

Can't you just imagine having Azzi Caroline Lou on the court together? Either with Nika in a 4 out, or with Dorka Aaliyah (with Ice and Ayanna subbing in) this would be a potent offensive group.

Run this group for 5 mins early and 5 mins late, and then run the other team ragged with the all D lineup -- Nika Azzi Caroline Aubrey Aaliyah (subbing Ayana in).

And if there's anything left, hit them with the BIG lineup -- Dorka Ice Aaliyah Caroline and either Nika or Azzi, and let Amari and Ayanna sub in for Dorka and Aaliyah.

Oh, the possibilities!

 

[#12in21]

It seems that quite a few posters over several different threads, are discounting what Nika will contribute to the teams success this season. Some have characterized her as 'serviceable' and a decent passer, others have speculated that Azzi or Caroline would be better options at point guard (save for the fact that they would be burdened in doing so as they are needed as scorers - so we have to settle for Nika) and lastly it will have to be 'point guard by committee' this season.

When Geno recruited Nika I don't believe he did so as someone that could simply fill out the roster, but rather as, 'someone who is a basketball player rather than someone who plays basketball', a comment he has made in reference to her and others on the roster. He saw something he liked in her game and I would argue still does. Over her two seasons at Uconn he has called on her to be a significant contributor to the teams success. He has challenged her to come back, this upcoming season, adding some offense to keep the defense honest so they can't play off her. He has said several time that the team is better with her on the floor. I believe she has heard that challenge, understands why it is needed and will have worked at addressing it. She, as much as anyone on the team, post Paige's ACL injury certainly realizes that she needs to step up to help fill the major void left by Paige's absence this season.

Of the five returning players (that played significant minutes) last season, Nika is first in steals and assists and is virtually tied with Caroline, among the three returning guards in offensive, defensive and total rebounds. And then there is what she brings on the defensive end.

She, has expressed on more than one occasion, that she hadn't seen her role as being a scorer with the groups of teammates she has had her first two seasons, but rather as a facilitator and energy/intensity bringer. I have expressed in prior threads that I don't believe Geno shared that view and has expressed that with her. She indicated that she 'gets it now' and before leaving campus earlier this summer indicated 'it was time to grow up some and take a bigger leadership role'. I think she will and expect her to continue to grow in importance to the teams success this year, rather than as some, with seemingly much lower expectations, simply hope for her to be 'serviceable at point' .

 

[TeamFirst!]

No doubt Nika will be an important contributor. As will many others.

 

[Bone Dog]

I haven’t seen anyone discounting Nika’s contributions. But many of us are aware of her limitations as a point guard. Despite this, I (and many likeminded folks) think it’s important for her to get playing time. I see the Tennessee game from last year as a model of Nika at her best, wreaking havoc on their point guard, getting steals and fast break scores, and generally disrupting the other teams game plan. I love her for this.

But, and it’s a big but, we all also remember how Geno used her sparingly in the latter half of tournament games. He knows what we suspect, namely that Nika’s limited offense allows opponents to sag off her and double others. She can pass well in the half court set, but once we’re facing our real competition, she won’t be able to do that if she isn’t also a threat to score off the drive. And currently she isn’t.

She knows all this, and she’s working in it now. I look forward to seeing Nika 3.0. She’ll be awesome, mainly because Nika 2.0 was already pretty great.

 

[#12in21]

Has anyone on the BY done a Nika cameo?

Yes, I asked her to give a birthday shout out to my dad who will be 100 when the season starts. He has joined me over the last decade to become an avid UCONN wcbb fan and I try to get over to his place to watch most games with him. I plan to share the video with him closer to his birthday in October. Nika's video was great she has such an engaging personality which was in full display!

 

[AmeriConn]

Yes, I asked her to give a birthday shout out to my dad who will be 100 when the season starts. He has joined me over the last decade to become an avid UCONN wcbb fan and I try to get over to his place to watch most games with him. I plan to share the video with him closer to his birthday in October. Nika's video was great she has such an engaging personality which was in full display!

That’s so awesome all the way around!

 

[jabstep]

I haven’t seen anyone discounting Nika’s contributions. But many of us are aware of her limitations as a point guard. Despite this, I (and many likeminded folks) think it’s important for her to get playing time. I see the Tennessee game from last year as a model of Nika at her best, wreaking havoc on their point guard, getting steals and fast break scores, and generally disrupting the other teams game plan. I love her for this.

But, and it’s a big but, we all also remember how Geno used her sparingly in the latter half of tournament games. He knows what we suspect, namely that Nika’s limited offense allows opponents to sag off her and double others. She can pass well in the half court set, but once we’re facing our real competition, she won’t be able to do that if she isn’t also a threat to score off the drive. And currently she isn’t.

She knows all this, and she’s working in it now. I look forward to seeing Nika 3.0. She’ll be awesome, mainly because Nika 2.0 was already pretty great.

I completely agreed with you and the South Carolina final was a prime example of matchups and how they can cause you to win or lose against the best competition. In the first quarter with Dorka down I am sure Liv and Aaliyah were told not to foul because we were short handed for bigs. That led to everyone standing with their hands up while and SC crashed the boards with Dawn knowing we were short on Bigs. This caused them to jump ahead and we never came back.
SC also has 5 really good defenders and the shut our team down to 9 points in the first quarter. Paige didnt try and takeover yet. Now our problem was to try and score against this defense. Paige can score on anybody but it is was hard for her just coming back from injury. The only other matchup advantage we had was when Caroline came in the game and scored down low because of her size advantage. Nika didnt help with the matchups and Geno as you have said stayed away from her in the latter part of the tournament.
The point of my previous comment was we have other options such as Azzi and Caroline. Knowing Nika she is working all day on her game because she wants to not let her teamates down as well as her good friend Paige. We all hope Nika version 3.0 comes back and surprises us with penetration and scoring and kicking out and knocking down 3 pointers. Her leadership and intensity has never been a question.!!!!!! Go Huskies

 

[HopJim]

Not sure why some feel the need to constantly defend Nika, commenting that she will play score more this year, be the dominate defensive guard in the US, play the most minutes of any guard, etc. Hope those forecasts are correct but if she plays as well as she did the 2nd half of last year, we will be a top 5 team. Basketball is a game of matchups and we have one of the best mix of guards this year with Nika, Azzi, Lou and Caroline able to mix and match as needed. I view Aubrey as a small forward, but she also can shut down big guards. No one can replace Paige, but I predict this group will shoot 3's more consistently, play better defense, and implement a motion offense that most teams will find difficult to overcome.

 

[#12in21]

Yes, I asked her to give a birthday shout out to my dad who will be 100 when the season starts. He has joined me over the last decade to become an avid UCONN wcbb fan and I try to get over to his place to watch most games with him. I plan to share the video with him closer to his birthday in October. Nika's video was great she has such an engaging personality which was in full display!

Just sent in a request for a Cameo from Dorka for my buddy who graduated from Uconn in the 70's, fan from day one of Uconn wcbb! I'm sure he will get a kick out of her video message.