UConn Chemistry Class

[nastynatty]

Stealing this thread title from the Seattle Storm media team lol.

My question is: Which pairing on the UConn team (this year) had the best on-court chemistry?

I feel like the obvious answer is Paige and Azzi. Two dynamic scoring threats who are able to use each other to get open. Elite shot-making abilities and elite decision making.

Soooo...who are some of the overlooked pairings that really worked well together when they were on the court?

I saw a tweet of someone talking about Paige & Caroline's chemistry. Obviously it's a small sample size but I think they could potentially be a really interesting offensive duo. Caroline has stellar movement off the ball and Paige has superb vision. Match made in heaven for PB to rack up the assists and CD to get easy buckets.

Another duo that I think might have been a little overlooked is Azzi and Nika. This is a hot take but I actually think Azzi played better when Nika was out there as opposed to Paige. Nika elevates everyone's defense intensity when she is on the court. It seemed like Azzi did a lot better in the press when Nika was at the head of it. Also, when it's Nika out there and not Paige, I think Azzi takes more responsibility on the offensive end because she becomes the primary scoring option on the floor. She looks for her shot a bit more and hesitates a bit less.

Any other duos you guys would like to see more of?

 

[Boreifs]

Yo Yo Ma and Manny Ax.

 

[sun]

IMO AE didn't get her act together until after Paige recovered and started playing again.
Then AE found a higher gear and was able to take it up a notch.

 

[nastynatty]

IMO AE didn't get her act together until after Paige recovered and started playing again.
Then AE was able to take it up a notch and found a higher gear.

I could see why you would say that. However, I think the switch came a tad bit before Paige's return. AE played really well against Tennessee, then badly against Villanova, then came back with a great game against DePaul. I think after DePaul she was pretty consistent and that was elevated by Paige's return a few games later.

 

[Littlemin]

Stealing this thread title from the Seattle Storm media team lol.

My question is: Which pairing on the UConn team (this year) had the best on-court chemistry?

I feel like the obvious answer is Paige and Azzi. Two dynamic scoring threats who are able to use each other to get open. Elite shot-making abilities and elite decision making.

Soooo...who are some of the overlooked pairings that really worked well together when they were on the court?

I saw a tweet of someone talking about Paige & Caroline's chemistry. Obviously it's a small sample size but I think they could potentially be a really interesting offensive duo. Caroline has stellar movement off the ball and Paige has superb vision. Match made in heaven for PB to rack up the assists and CD to get easy buckets.

Another duo that I think might have been a little overlooked is Azzi and Nika. This is a hot take but I actually think Azzi played better when Nika was out there as opposed to Paige. Nika elevates everyone's defense intensity when she is on the court. It seemed like Azzi did a lot better in the press when Nika was at the head of it. Also, when it's Nika out there and not Paige, I think Azzi takes more responsibility on the offensive end because she becomes the primary scoring option on the floor. She looks for her shot a bit more and hesitates a bit less.

Any other duos you guys would like to see more of?

I disagree with your “obvious” answer. I saw little chemistry between Bueckers and Fudd as evidenced by both the eye test of Uconn’s offense through the tournament and factually by their low assist numbers and poor assist to TO ratio.
Many disagree but Uconn had tremendous TEAM chemistry with the nine players leading up to the NCAA tournament and Auriemma chose to break that up.
It is certainly not a direct parallel but it is a bit ironic to me that Steph Curry, who many have cited here when discussing Fudd’s shotmaking ability, continues to come off the bench for the Warriors even though healthy as evidenced by the minutes he is playing. That is only the best player on the planet understanding and accepting it is still very much a team game.
A cardinal rule in coaching is don’t fix what ain’t broken, don’t mess with success. IMO, if the goal was a NC, Auriemma took an unnecessary gamble and lost. Others may certainly disagree.

 

[Bald Husky]

I believe there was very good chemistry between Caroline and Dorka. Dorka always seemed to find Caroline under the basket and vice versa. They should be on the floor together with Nika or Paige.

 

[huskeynut]

I'm going to second Dorka and Caroline. No question they were on the same wave pattern. Unfortunately, both got injured and that chemistry was lost for the final run.

 

[Inthepaint]

Even going back to their freshman season, it seemed that AE and Nika really clicked.
Feeding off each other’s energy and aggressiveness, it looked for all the world that they were REALLY enjoying themselves.
Maybe I’m a bit biased since they are my two favorites.

 

[Biff]

Ha! I saw the title and thought I was going to see something like :

DC4 + ANP = NC12

 

[64Zcode]

Another vote for Dorka and Caroline. It appeared to me that Dorka was 'better' at finding Caroline when Caroline made her cuts to the basket, and Caroline was pretty good at converting those feeds into points.

 

[fan4eva]

Amari is a great passer and I think she and Ice or Patterson will fit nicely the same way she always looked for Piath her ability to pass and shoot will make her very effective when they play the high low offense and her ability to put the ball on the floor will only open up the floor more..I can her pick and pop with Paige going to the basketball and making an inside pass to Ice or Patterson or hitting Azzi in the corner for the 3

 

[Argonaut]

While it wasn't the best chemistry, I was usually pretty impressed when Piath and Amari got minutes together. Amari seemed to know exactly where Piath worked best with the ball, which led to some easy points. I think not being able to see that connection develop another year was one of the things I was most bummed about when Piath announced she was transferring.

 

[meyers7]

A cardinal rule in coaching is don’t fix what ain’t broken, don’t mess with success. IMO, if the goal was a NC, Auriemma took an unnecessary gamble and lost. Others may certainly disagree.

So this "chemistry" that Geno messed up got UCONN a BE Tourney title. Got us past (upsets) NC State and Stanford to the NC game.

The NC loss wouldn't have anything to do with Juhasz out, ONO playing injured, Fudd sick, The Kid and CFD not at 100%. That didn't mess up any chemistry....but Geno did huh????

Some interesting takes, some people have around here.

 

[Kaizen]

Geno and Chris have the best chemistry for over 30 years.

 

[HopJim]

I believe there was very good chemistry between Caroline and Dorka. Dorka always seemed to find Caroline under the basket and vice versa. They should be on the floor together with Nika or Paige.

When UConn got on a roll later in the year, one of keys was the 2-4 layups Caroline got via back cuts. Never understood why, but Dorka was one of the few that consistently made these passes. Once other team started defending against these lay ups, it opened the floor up for everyone else.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Ha! I saw the title and thought I was going to see something like :

DC4 + ANP = NC12

I had the same impression as I teach dual credit Chemistry, and "Wow, a thread in my Wheelhouse!!!!"

My thoughts: Paige & everyone; Nika & everyone, hopefully Lou & everyone.... etc. & everyone.

Have a Great NC #12 everyone in 2023!!!!

 

[HopJim]

I disagree with your “obvious” answer. I saw little chemistry between Bueckers and Fudd as evidenced by both the eye test of Uconn’s offense through the tournament and factually by their low assist numbers and poor assist to TO ratio.
Many disagree but Uconn had tremendous TEAM chemistry with the nine players leading up to the NCAA tournament and Auriemma chose to break that up.
It is certainly not a direct parallel but it is a bit ironic to me that Steph Curry, who many have cited here when discussing Fudd’s shotmaking ability, continues to come off the bench for the Warriors even though healthy as evidenced by the minutes he is playing. That is only the best player on the planet understanding and accepting it is still very much a team game.
A cardinal rule in coaching is don’t fix what ain’t broken, don’t mess with success. IMO, if the goal was a NC, Auriemma took an unnecessary gamble and lost. Others may certainly disagree.

Have to agree that once Paige came back as starter, the motion offense stalled, affecting everyone but in particular Fudd and Caroline. Few give and go passes for layups, virtually no back cuts, etc. Bet this was one of Geno's toughest decisions - do you continue one of the best offenses UConn has seen in several years or give more minutes to last year's best player in the US. Unlike some, I have no issues second guessing Geno but not in this case. I still believe our loss in the finals was more a factor of playing a great team with Azzi being sick and ONO injured.

 

[Bama fan]

Geno and Chris have the best chemistry for over 30 years.

So is Geno the reactant, and Chris the reagent? Catalyst?

 

[Littlemin]

So this "chemistry" that Geno messed up got UCONN a BE Tourney title. Got us past (upsets) NC State and Stanford to the NC game.

The NC loss wouldn't have anything to do with Juhasz out, ONO playing injured, Fudd sick, The Kid and CFD not at 100%. That didn't mess up any chemistry....but Geno did huh????

Some interesting takes, some people have around here.

Well, some people understand the game, some don’t.

 

[Littlemin]

Have to agree that once Paige came back as starter, the motion offense stalled, affecting everyone but in particular Fudd and Caroline. Few give and go passes for layups, virtually no back cuts, etc. Bet this was one of Geno's toughest decisions - do you continue one of the best offenses UConn has seen in several years or give more minutes to last year's best player in the US. Unlike some, I have no issues second guessing Geno but not in this case. I still believe our loss in the finals was more a factor of playing a great team with Azzi being sick and ONO injured.

IMO, if Fudd and Ono were that compromised they shouldn’t have played. As for Bueckers this is this year not last year. I understand many disagree with me, that is more than okay, but this is the thing no one answers; Bueckers was playing fine off the bench and getting her minutes that way. I would like one reasonable explanation as to why people believe starting her and disrupting that great team chemistry was so necessary.
How did essentially benching Muhl and Ducharme make Uconn a better team? Fudd, Williams and Westbrook certainly had their moments but all 3 were inconsistently good, bad and/or non factors yet Auriemma never turned to the conference DPOY or a player who had carried the team for a good spell. His turning to Ducharme out of desperation in the championship game after she essentially hadn’t played much in 3 weeks accentuated, IMO, the hole he dug for himself. The so important intangibles and toughness Muhl obviously brought and Auriemma so lauded just as obviously became quite inconsequential to him.
Yes, Uconn beat NC State and Stanford, and making the championship game was certainly an accomplishment but it does not change my opinion one iota that Auriemma erred going into the tournament. The vaunted depth Uconn had developed prior to the tournament was gone by the SC game and it showed big time.

 

[meyers7]

Well, some people understand the game, some don’t.

 

[JellyBean]

I thought towards the end of the season AE and Caroline was starting to develop some chemistry with their "Hi-Lo" game.

 

[jdote33]

I thought ONO and Paige had great chemistry. Not only ONO feeding PB but I felt like Paige trusted ONO and gave her touches in the post. I agree with everyone about CD and Dorka. I think Dorka and AE had great chemistry as well.

I agree Azzi and Paige are still working on their chemistry. There were a couple games where I thought they found each other well. The South Florida game early in the season, also the Georgetown game in the BE tournament I remember Azzi finding PB a lot. I'm more so looking for both to feel like they can count on one another and lead the team. Kind of like the NC State game. Like did Sue and Diana assist each other a lot? I feel like they both just had trust in one another controlling and running the team and playing in the big moments.

 

[nastynatty]

I disagree with your “obvious” answer. I saw little chemistry between Bueckers and Fudd as evidenced by both the eye test of Uconn’s offense through the tournament and factually by their low assist numbers and poor assist to TO ratio.
Many disagree but Uconn had tremendous TEAM chemistry with the nine players leading up to the NCAA tournament and Auriemma chose to break that up.
It is certainly not a direct parallel but it is a bit ironic to me that Steph Curry, who many have cited here when discussing Fudd’s shotmaking ability, continues to come off the bench for the Warriors even though healthy as evidenced by the minutes he is playing. That is only the best player on the planet understanding and accepting it is still very much a team game.
A cardinal rule in coaching is don’t fix what ain’t broken, don’t mess with success. IMO, if the goal was a NC, Auriemma took an unnecessary gamble and lost. Others may certainly disagree.

Majority of the good looks that Paige & Azzi get came from screening for each other. They use the threat level of the other to create offensive chances. I’d classify that as good chemistry and I don’t think that shows up in assist numbers.

If the “unnecessary gamble” you are referring to is Paige’s return to the starting lineup, I seriously disagree that it was a useless change. Obviously, the team is going to look different when you insert Paige and you have to take into account that the level of competition ramped up in conjunction with her return…but if you don’t get her those kinds of minutes starting with the Mercer game then Paige’s takeover against NC State to get us to the Final 4 never happens. I’d say that performance is enough evidence that Coach made the right move.

 

[nastynatty]

My thoughts: Paige & everyone; Nika & everyone

Valid. Signs of 2 excellent PGs.