UConn’s Emotional Exuberance

[MD#12Fan]

You

While I believe that your initial point in this thread is a crucial one, I do wish that UCONN fans would (could?) get off the "better than" bandwagon. I believe that Paige is, in the current parlence, "a generational player," and, if I had a vote, I would certainly chose her as POY. But--to repeat myself one more time--context matters--and in this case Paige's and Sabrina's could hardly be more different. When Sabrina came to Oregon she joined a program that hadn't had a decent WBB team since (about) 2000, had more recently been nearly destroyed by a previous (part-time at best) coach who wanted the team to shoot as soon as the ball passed half court, and whose play left Geno almost speechless when the teams met sometime in the early teens. The next best player on the team (Hebard) was a very raw freshman from Alaska who actually considered redshirting and who likely had not been on, would never have been on, Geno's radar. Everything, and I do mean everything, had to be built from scratch, with Sabrina at the center of it all.

That's not the kind of challenge Paige faced this year, and will face in the years to come. I'm not saying she doesn't have ones of her own and that being at UCONN doesn't bring its own special set of burdens, but they are very different from the ones Sabrina encountered, and Paige has had, and will have, a lot more help: most importantly from a long-established culture that assumes winning is a given and knows how to do that, but also from a wealth of talented teammates (in the current recruiting rankings, #1, #2, #6, #22 ,#25, + Nika, etc.) that Sabrina could hardly have imagined. (Hebard was ranked #40 and considered a major "catch"--as she turned out to be--for Oregon at that time.) Maybe Paige could have willed/led Oregon to the success it had with Sabrina; maybe Sabrina would have looked very different in a UCONN uniform. Who knows? What truly does make them comparable is the impact they have had/will have on their teammates and so the success of their respective teams.

As for your first post with which I agree completely: since the Stewie years the UCONN offense has to me too often looked (for lack of a better word) "cramped" rather than the kind of masterclass in basketball at its best that had been the norm previously. Perhaps too much overthinking and/or worrying about making mistakes, and maybe some passivity as well. But, in any case, it didn't always seem to flow as it had in the past. (This seemed to me one of the major differences between UCONN and Notre Dame during that time.) This year's freshmen (but not the juniors) are, I think, already moving past that--due to Paige mostly, but also to Nika's fiercenesss, and the quiet but very formidable "don't mess with me" aura that Aaliyah exudes. And that, to me, is what makes this class quite different from some (very talented) recent ones, and I believe it will be a major difference maker going forward.

You are right, context matters! IMO you are taking this comparison out of context. I guess you are trying, in a way, to muffle the "exuberance" of the BY after a huge victory led by an epic individual performance.
Unfortunately fans (I've mentioned Larry Bird a few times) like to make comparisons.
Looks like a history of Oregon Women's basketball. Did you leave out the part about Oregon, the huge state school with major support from Phil Knight and Nike and nationally ranked programs throughout the institution such as football and track and field. A women's program with the "hottest" new head coach, recently having moved over to the empire from Gonzaga. (how many times has Mark Few turned down the men's job).
Did you leave out the part about Oregon being affiliated with arguably the strongest conference in America for WCBB?
There are stories every year about teams and players that have helped build a program from next to nothing. I love these stories. In some ways they are more compelling than the great rivalry stories or dynasty stories. There's a great documentary on HBO called, "Women of Troy", in which we are reminded about the greatness of Cheryl Miller and the exploits of her USC teams.
This comparison is totally apples and oranges. I would like to leave it at that. Let's admire and get excited and gush and make crazy comparisons whenever a great, iconic player appears. It's why the word fan is derived from the word fanatic.
Last thing I'll say: Don't forget UConn has "Mt Rushmore level players" in its history. Two of them, basically 40 years old continue to garner awards and records, have just signed new WNBA contracts. Our new phenom is mentioned in the same breath as the best ever. Sabrina, great player, unfortunately not able to compete for an NC, accomplished team, great career. Excellent!
This is different! Let us have fun! Reminds me of 1979-80, when Bird entered the league. My best friend wondered out loud if Larry could play with NBA stalwarts like Elvin Hayes (sorry, I'm from D.C./MD). It didn't take 5 games to see that he was something different. (Remember that's the year Magic's team beat Philly in the finals and Bird led Boston to the greatest turnaround in NBA history, a record that stood for about 25 years)

 

[DEpup]

Is it written in stone that she starts?

Chrystin needs to watch her back and start scoring because Azzi will be stalking her starting role. I could see Chrystin starting most of the year but Azzi will eventually at least come in by the 5 minute mark in the first or even starting by tournament time. I keep saying Azzi is the love child of Maya and KML. She is Maya mobile/body size and has Maya's midrange but shorter in height and she has KML's long range shot and is about her height but in better shape.

 

[DEpup]

As the season progresses, it will become harder and harder to keep Aaliah off the court whether starting or not.

There's not much she can't do now, and continued discipline and sophistication will improve all aspects...possible a bit small for a 5, but goodness, she sure is a bruiser (in the best aspect of that word).

I expect her value to exceed that of Olivia shortly, with the gulf widening.

I think that is why you see Liv moving to the high post so Aaliyah can work down low. I think this will be better for Liv in the long run.

 

[Fore!]

At some point an opponent will decide to double PB whenever she gets the ball, trying to force it out of her hands: it will then be incumbent upon the others to take advantage of any defensive imbalance created by such a strategy.