UConn Chemistry Class

[nastynatty]

I would like one reasonable explanation as to why people believe starting her and disrupting that great team chemistry was so necessary.

Starting Paige put her on an accelerated timeline for getting back to her old self which the coaching staff knew the team would need to make it past the regional final. Geno consistently said that making it to a Final 4 requires an exceptional performance from (at least) one player. We do not win the NC State game without Paige’s performance and she doesn’t give that performance without getting those starting minutes to begin the NCAA tournament.

Regarding Nika and Caroline:
While Nika’s minutes obviously went down quite a bit, her impact on the game did not. It was still clear that the coaches trusted her to play in key momentum moments and she continued to deliver. I don’t think the number of minutes she played is reflective of the level of trust the team & staff had with her. As for Caroline, I would have loved to see her play more but I agree with Coach’s assessment about her skiddishness following the head injury. When every game is win or go home, playing a freshman (even one who carried the team through the middle of the season) on such a big stage is a going to be a gamble. You can’t really to give her the time to figure it out like you would someone like Paige because what she is capable of on the big stage is still an unknown. Paige proved that she can come up big for this team when they need it most and on the biggest of stages last year. She earned the right to figure it out on the court rather than on the bench. Again, love Caroline and can’t deny that she was a massive part of everything the team accomplished this year. But if there is only enough minutes for 1 of 2 recovering players to find their footing, I’m betting on Paige and Auriemma did too.

 

[nastynatty]

A few more pairings I’d like to throw out there:

• Azzi & Dorka
• Nika & Evina
• Azzi & ONO

Thoughts?

 

[Littlemin]

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.

Fudd and Bueckers were the backcourt playing 5 on 5, not 2 on 2; assists and assist/TO ratio for your backcourt are an important stat when playing 5 on 5, not so much 2 on 2.
And please explain to me why Bueckers could take over against NC State only because she started, but not if she came off the bench? I NEVER said she shouldn’t have gotten her minutes, not once.
What I have said is that Auriemma chose to break up a team operating on all cylinders prior to the tournament and that made no sense to me. And with all due respect your argument as to it being a positive holds as much water to me as all the others I have read, none.

 

[SVCBeercats]

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

Dorka and Caroline

 

[Littlemin]

Starting Paige put her on an accelerated timeline for getting back to her old self which the coaching staff knew the team would need to make it past the regional final. Geno consistently said that making it to a Final 4 requires an exceptional performance from (at least) one player. We do not win the NC State game without Paige’s performance and she doesn’t give that performance without getting those starting minutes to begin the NCAA tournament.

Regarding Nika and Caroline:
While Nika’s minutes obviously went down quite a bit, her impact on the game did not. It was still clear that the coaches trusted her to play in key momentum moments and she continued to deliver. I don’t think the number of minutes she played is reflective of the level of trust the team & staff had with her. As for Caroline, I would have loved to see her play more but I agree with Coach’s assessment about her skiddishness following the head injury. When every game is win or go home, playing a freshman (even one who carried the team through the middle of the season) on such a big stage is a going to be a gamble. You can’t really to give her the time to figure it out like you would someone like Paige because what she is capable of on the big stage is still an unknown. Paige proved that she can come up big for this team when they need it most and on the biggest of stages last year. She earned the right to figure it out on the court rather than on the bench. Again, love Caroline and can’t deny that she was a massive part of everything the team accomplished this year. But if there is only enough minutes for 1 of 2 recovering players to find their footing, I’m betting on Paige and Auriemma did too.

Except Muhl‘s greatest impact was at the start of games where she was key in establishing that Uconn was there to play their game, that Uconn was the aggressor dictating the tempo, not having the game dictated to them. They ran roughshod from jump street over some teams in the BE tournament that proved much better nationally than anyone gave them credit for and Auriemma foolishly chose to give away that advantage for no positive reason IMO.
We will obviously never know what would have happened had he left the team that rolled through the BE tournament intact.
One last point, I disagree big time about your description of Bueckers coming up big last year. She had a great year but her reluctance to play as Auriemma asked is well documented. The fact is she played passively against Arizona in the biggest game of the year and Uconn lost with her having a lot of bullets left in her gun; she should have hunted shots and taken twice as many as she did, again, my opinion. And no player “earns the right” to figure anything out on the court, it is a team game and a coaches job is to play the team he thinks will win, period. Now there is no question in my mind Auriemma did that but I don’t understand his reasoning to do what he did and I think he was dead wrong.

 

[DrummerDee]

AE, CD, DJ

ONO and whoever got a chance to cut to the basket.

 

[sun]

Except Muhl‘s greatest impact was at the start of games where she was key in establishing that Uconn was there to play their game, that Uconn was the aggressor dictating the tempo, not having the game dictated to them. They ran roughshod from jump street over some teams in the BE tournament that proved much better nationally than anyone gave them credit for and Auriemma foolishly chose to give away that advantage for no positive reason IMO.
We will obviously never know what would have happened had he left the team that rolled through the BE tournament intact.
One last point, I disagree big time about your description of Bueckers coming up big last year. She had a great year but her reluctance to play as Auriemma asked is well documented. The fact is she played passively against Arizona in the biggest game of the year and Uconn lost with her having a lot of bullets left in her gun; she should have hunted shots and taken twice as many as she did, again, my opinion. And no player “earns the right” to figure anything out on the court, it is a team game and a coaches job is to play the team he thinks will win, period. Now there is no question in my mind Auriemma did that but I don’t understand his reasoning to do what he did and I think he was dead wrong.

I'm sorry that you're distraught.
However, the reason why I don't agree with your criticism is because of the proof in the box score.
Paige played 39 minutes and was the highest scorer.
Meanwhile CW scored 2, Azzi scored 3, and so on.
If you think that someone else should have started, that would not be instead of Paige.
Your complaint about Paige is trying to prove a negative, that something about Paige should not have occurred or she failed to do something, that she should not have started and played less.
Instead, you should look at who the weak links were in this year's NC game and figure out who else to criticize because Paige wasn't the reason for the loss.
Paige actually led the team in rebounds too.
Please study the box score and try to assess the blame for this year's NC loss on someone else besides Paige because quite frankly your argument doesn't hold water.

Women's Basketball vs South Carolina on 4/3/2022 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official box score of Women's Basketball vs South Carolina on 4/3/2022

uconnhuskies.com

 

[PacoSwede]

I'm sorry that you're distraught.
However, the reason why I don't agree with your criticism is because of the proof in the box score.
Paige played 39 minutes and was the highest scorer.
Meanwhile CW scored 2, Azzi scored 3, and so on.
If you think that someone else should have started, that would not be instead of Paige.
Your complaint about Paige is trying to prove a negative, that something about Paige should not have occurred or she failed to do something, that she should not have started and played less.
Instead, you should look at who the weak links were in this year's NC game and figure out who else to criticize because Paige wasn't the reason for the loss.
Paige actually led the team in rebounds too.
Please study the box score and try to assess the blame for this year's NC loss on someone else besides Paige because quite frankly your argument doesn't hold water.

Women's Basketball vs South Carolina on 4/3/2022 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official box score of Women's Basketball vs South Carolina on 4/3/2022

uconnhuskies.com

think he/she was referring to the ariz game last year ... i saw no criticism of paige's game this year

 

[sun]

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.

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.

Fudd and Bueckers were the backcourt playing 5 on 5, not 2 on 2; assists and assist/TO ratio for your backcourt are an important stat when playing 5 on 5, not so much 2 on 2.
And please explain to me why Bueckers could take over against NC State only because she started, but not if she came off the bench? I NEVER said she shouldn’t have gotten her minutes, not once.
What I have said is that Auriemma chose to break up a team operating on all cylinders prior to the tournament and that made no sense to me. And with all due respect your argument as to it being a positive holds as much water to me as all the others I have read, none.

Since Paige played 39 minutes, how could she possibly come off the bench without reducing her playing time.
That argument makes no sense, and it's pretty obvious that LIttlemin has an ax to grind with Paige & Geno.
A lot of fans may be distraught, but that's no reason to take it out on Paige after she courageously battled her way back onto the playing court in time for the post season.
Geno made a decision that Paige should start over Nika.
The same type of decision that led to Azzi starting over Evina.

Folks just can't seem to admit that UConn didn't play good enough as a TEAM to win a NC.
It doesn't need to be any single individual's fault, that's just the way the ball bounces.
The team wins or loses as a unit and they came up short.

 

[nastynatty]

And please explain to me why Bueckers could take over against NC State only because she started, but not if she came off the bench? I NEVER said she shouldn’t have gotten her minutes, not once.
What I have said is that Auriemma chose to break up a team operating on all cylinders prior to the tournament and that made no sense to me. And with all due respect your argument as to it being a positive holds as much water to me as all the others I have read, none.

It takes time and practice to get someone re-integrated into the team’s offense and it takes a coordinated team effort to get Paige open (something the team hadn’t had to do for 3 months). Everyone knows that the starters get the most minutes so it was necessary to re-insert Paige to give her and the team the reps they needed to re-acclimate her with the offense.

Do I think Paige is capable of taking over a game coming off the bench? Yes. Do I think it helped Paige’s confidence and comfort level being in the starting lineup? Also yes. Why add another challenge of forcing her to adapt to a reserve role when she’s already facing the mental challenge of coming back from injury? When you come off the bench, you’re expected to maintain or elevate a level that has already been established. When you start, there may be expectations about how you come out but you ultimately are given the time to figure it out and adjust. I just don’t comprehend how you can see inserting the best player on the team into the starting lineup as a net negative.

Also, consider the level of competition in the games where it seemed like the team was clicking on all cylinders with Paige coming off the bench. With the exception of maybe Mercer, every team they played in the tournament was a step above. So you can’t directly compare what the team looked like then to how that same team would’ve looked against the likes of competition like NC State or Stanford.

 

[nastynatty]

One last point, I disagree big time about your description of Bueckers coming up big last year. She had a great year but her reluctance to play as Auriemma asked is well documented. The fact is she played passively against Arizona in the biggest game of the year and Uconn lost with her having a lot of bullets left in her gun; she should have hunted shots and taken twice as many as she did, again, my opinion. And no player “earns the right” to figure anything out on the court, it is a team game and a coaches job is to play the team he thinks will win, period. Now there is no question in my mind Auriemma did that but I don’t understand his reasoning to do what he did and I think he was dead wrong.

There were definitely times where she wasn’t as aggressive as the team needed her to be but you can’t just deny the fact that they wouldn’t have won many of their big games without her. No way they beat the likes of South Carolina or Baylor without her performances. She’s not perfect but she is not to blame for the Arizona loss either. Everyone played uncharacteristically.

It is clear the coaching staff has a lot of trust in Paige and rightfully so. So yeah, she has earned the right and leeway to figure things out on the court (especially coming off injury) because the staff trusts that when she does it will benefit the entire team. Paige is the ultimate team player and the best way she could help her team was to get back to her old self as quickly as possible. The coaching staff gave her the time to do that.

 

[nastynatty]

AE, CD, DJ

ONO and whoever got a chance to cut to the basket.

Gonna miss ONO’s high post passing ability. One of the best passing bigs in the country, no doubt.

 

[nastynatty]

Dorka and Caroline

Most popular answer on the thread and I don’t disagree. Dorka’s absence in the NC game cannot be understated.

I noticed Dorka & Caroline’s chemistry in the Louisville game back in December. Dorka kept getting excellent position down low and they kept missing her. Girl was working her butt off. Then on a later play, she was in the high post and found CD with excellent position for easy bucket. That’s called leading by example right there! I think they both are just work horses and their skillsets mesh really well together. Can’t wait to see more of it next year! (Probably in the starting lineup too!)

 

[sun]

Here's the highlights of the Arizona FF game.
UConn was 5 points behind with about 1 minute left in the game.

 

[JellyBean]

Gonna miss ONO’s high post passing ability. One of the best passing bigs in the country, no doubt.

Yes! On many of those back door plays, Liv passes were solid and on the money. She just had a gift.

 

[oldhusky]

Instead of the good pairings which have been well described here, I wanted to talk about a more problematic one, partly because it will not be an issue this year, but was last year.

By Uconn standards we were not a very good 3pt shooting team last year, and when Paige and Azzi were both out we had a real weakness there. Without Paige and Azzi, Nika frequently did not have a dangerous 3pt shooter to pass to. A three guard lineup of Nika, Christyn and Evina had no synergy, and was easy to defend. Opposing coaches packed it in, making our bigs far less effective and giving up a three to that group was better than a high percentage shot inside.

Nika needs outside shooters with her, and the bigs need at least two players you can't leave alone outside to give them room inside. Last year we had some combinations because of injuries that were not that good together, when we couldn't stretch the floor. This year with Paige, Azzi and Lou all great 3pt threats, and Caroline likely in my opinion to improve to that level, when Nika is in she will have shooters to pass to and the bigs should have way more room to operate as well.

PS- When Nika and Paige are on the floor, Nika should be the point guard. Paige could be an All-American at PG or SG, but Nika is way way better at the point than off the ball.

 

[meyers7]

Fudd and Bueckers were the backcourt playing 5 on 5, not 2 on 2; assists and assist/TO ratio for your backcourt are an important stat when playing 5 on 5, not so much 2 on 2.
And please explain to me why Bueckers could take over against NC State only because she started, but not if she came off the bench? I NEVER said she shouldn’t have gotten her minutes, not once.
What I have said is that Auriemma chose to break up a team operating on all cylinders prior to the tournament and that made no sense to me. And with all due respect your argument as to it being a positive holds as much water to me as all the others I have read, none.

Since you don't like any of the explanations so far, how about this one?

Geno didn't want to get fired or taken to a mental hospital.

Any coach who sits a NPOY isn't going to be coaching very long. Also if he sits the NPOY, how's the team (players, coaches) going to react?? They are going to think he's lost his mind. They'll be calling the men (and women) in the white coats to come take him away.

 

[nastynatty]

PS- When Nika and Paige are on the floor, Nika should be the point guard. Paige could be an All-American at PG or SG, but Nika is way way better at the point than off the ball.

Agreed! Paige is more of a combo guard while Nika is more of a true point guard. That’s also why you have the option to play them together rather than being limited to them subbing off for one another. When Nika is in, Paige can play more off the ball and is relieved of some ball handling duties.

 

[TCC Kid]

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?

Edwards and Muhl, Paige and the TEAM, Caroline and many but Edwards stand out. Obviously, Caroline holds a special spot for me because I think Caroline is one the whole team and Geno likes.
Nika, got the short straw a lot this year, from fans. She was much more important to this team. Especially to physical, heter skelter defense teams. Of the top 9 each was very important.

 

[TCC Kid]

Since you don't like any of the explanations so far, how about this one?

Geno didn't want to get fired or taken to a mental hospital.

Any coach who sits a NPOY isn't going to be coaching very long. Also if he sits the NPOY, how's the team (players, coaches) going to react?? They are going to think he's lost his mind. They'll be calling the men (and women) in the white coats to come take him away.

Meyers--you demean Geno. With the Fan draw he has, the national image he brings to Uconn, sitting or standing Paige would not get him fired. The 15 FF's 12 NC appearances winning 11. A dispute between Geno and management may get the management fired.
Sitting Paige may have been the right approach--but she played, not because of Geno being fired or sent to the old Mental facilities in Middletown or Southbury but because Paige and the Medical staff cleared her to play/ Personally, I believed SC would win and in that case Paige shouldn't play. Full recovery is for her life time not just a game. .

 

[Javafan]

Yo Yo Ma and Manny Ax.

How about Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau and Gerald Moore ?

 

[Longtime fan]

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 want to see DeBerry feeding it to everyone. And Ducharme, as the "feedee," seems really interesting ( because she breaks to the hoop so well without the ball ). DeBerry could get it to her or shoot on her own. I do tend to agree that, so far, AZZI plays better when Paige is not the go-to scorer on the floor. However, they are so elite that they can figure out a way to both thrive. And I can't wait to see the new recruits get comfortable. Only a year to wait

 

[Boreifs]

How about Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau and Gerald Moore ?

Also great! Particularly with Schubert.

 

[Javafan]

Also great! Particularly with Schubert.

Complete Schubert Lieder and others !

 

[ballerfan]

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.

Curry is back in the starting lineup. As with Paige and Uconn, GS played Curry off the bench until he became reacclimated, physically and otherwise, to the team.