What was Paige doing for 2.5 quarters??

[BobbyJ]

Mrs. Gigio, who is not a sports fan, but will watch UConn women with me, and also has no background or basic knowledge of the game, but has a very keen insight into women has been telling me this from the first game; Paige does not want to disrupt the team hierarchy, and piss off the upper classman by shooting too much. She continually says, "women can be brutal to each other, despite what they outwardly exhibit", hence too much Paige deferral to her elders. I told her she doesn't know what she is talking about - but I have changed my mind.

Mrs. Gigio understands women athletes much better than the original poster.

 

[GoingPostal]

Agree. But isn't it time for the upperclassmen (and Geno) to recognize who should be leading this team? And I'm not just talking about her scoring and assists. Paige is a leader. The upperclassmen aren't except for maybe for Westbrook. Any emotion shown last night came from Bueckers, late in the game. The rest are great players but they are followers.

To a lesser extent last nights game, reminded me of the Georgetown-Villanova championship game. The Hoyas played a great game but Easy Ed was unconscious and the Wildcats shot about 70%.

Geno has said on more than one occasion that when Paige becomes more selfish and starts looking for her shot first and passing second Uconn will become a much better team. It will take her time to become comfortable with that, but once she does, and last night was a preview, watch out.

 

[Zinethar]

Our bigs need to catch and go back up to score without bringing the ball back down where those pesky guards can get their hands on it. AE was especially guilty with UConn losing the ball about 50% of the time on jump ball and even more when the just took it away from her. Liv does that also.

 

[Alydar]

Geno has said on more than one occasion that when Paige becomes more selfish and starts looking for her shot first and passing second Uconn will become a much better team. It will take her time to become comfortable with that, but once she does, and last night was a preview, watch out.

I hope Bueckers stays a pass first player. She recognizes shooting opportunities and takes them already.

 

[jabstep]

What I dont get was Paige was practically invisible for 2.5 quarters. Most thought her ankle was bothering her, so why is she on the court to begin with? Then, out of nowhere, she takes over the game & just dominates. So, why wasnt she doing this from the beginning of the game? Makes no sense. If she's on the court, then she needs to be shooting & much more involved. Period. If she's hurting, dont play her. Very confusing.

She is trying to integrate herself to her teammates as a facilitator and we had the lead or were even until the third quarter early run by Arkansas. She starting to shot more in the third quarter and along with Nika and Evina, we got back and then another run by Arkansas. At the beginning of the 4th, she said here we go, we are gonna come back and win this game. So she learned she can do it and has to do it. She didn't try and dominate in 8th grade in HS even though she could. Her teammates respected her then and they do now. They are OK Paige is going off just like Arkansas does with Dungee. Let's see what happens against Depaul and South Carolina

 

[jabstep]

Our bigs need to catch and go back up to score without bringing the ball back down where those pesky guards can get their hands on it. AE was especially guilty with UConn losing the ball about 50% of the time on jump ball and even more when the just took it away from her. Liv does that also.

Liv has been doing it for 3 years. Watch DeBerry, she catches high and the ball stays high. She has a great touch up to the elbow already.

 

[psconn]

Lemme boil down the various truths already written here:
1) Paige is an 11-game freshman whose mindset has always been "pass-first"
2) Geno has said that your best shooters (Paige) need to shoot most of the shots - Paige has been slow to embrace this.
3) Her ankle is not 100% based on the subtle limp she showed at times.
4) At crunch time Paige went all She-Hulk and (with Evina) almost bailed us out. They came up just a bit short.

There is a very clear lesson for Paige here illustrating that Geno is 100% right... when Paige is "selfish" and looking for her shots the whole team is better (IF they keep moving and don't become spectators at the Paige show). I hope she internalizes it and continues to attack like she's the best player on the team... 'cause she is.

 

[Blueconn]

Yeah. Paige is the problem ?.

Spot on.

 

[Blueconn]

Lemme boil down the various truths already written here:
1) Paige is an 11-game freshman whose mindset has always been "pass-first"
2) Geno has said that your best shooters (Paige) need to shoot most of the shots - Paige has been slow to embrace this.
3) Her ankle is not 100% based on the subtle limp she showed at times.
4) At crunch time Paige went all She-Hulk and (with Evina) almost bailed us out. They came up just a bit short.

There is a very clear lesson for Paige here illustrating that Geno is 100% right... when Paige is "selfish" and looking for her shots the whole team is better (IF they keep moving and don't become spectators at the Paige show). I hope she internalizes it and continues to attack like she's the best player on the team... 'cause she is.

So well said. Paige is fine...actually, better than fine. And so’s everybody else. They’re all learning.

 

[my2cents]

First of all the problem last night was not the offense, but defense.
Geno's has had a lot of players who could have scored way more points ( Nykesha Sales maybe?) But would like more ball movement and involvement form everybody so every player stays involved in doing the "dirty" work.
But at the end of the day, its nice to know we can release a "Kraken" when we are down and need a comeback.

 

[da60]

Paige........I am an oldtimer who has never seen a kid with the attributes of Paige Bueckers. She is, like in the baseball movie, 'The Natural' The kid, again, is a generational player. One the the 4 terrific coaches should probably communicate a little better, as what to do in the games. Geno is the greatest women's head coach of all time, but he has 3 wonderful women to lean on. Please do not criticize this lovely, spirited young lady in the slightest....how many coaches would give a fingertip to get her? Our team should come together and be playoff ready. I saw many nice things last night from our younger kids. Go girls.

 

[maccca3232]

A little perspective for those people who think Fr. Paige isn't scoring enough.



For those wondering Maya had 165 points in her first 10 games.

 

[BostonBay]

Sigh...Many of you missed my point. I think Paige is the best Frosh in the country & probably Top 3 to 5 player in the country. Given that (!), it was just baffling to me why she wasnt involved more for such a long part of the game. Is there a problem with UConn's pre-game strategy, execution, in-game adjustments, etc? It's a bigger question that I'm calling out - not Paige's ability or faults.

 

[BBallF]

Agree. But isn't it time for the upperclassmen (and Geno) to recognize who should be leading this team? And I'm not just talking about her scoring and assists. Paige is a leader. The upperclassmen aren't except for maybe for Westbrook. Any emotion shown last night came from Bueckers, late in the game. The rest are great players but they are followers.

To a lesser extent last nights game, reminded me of the Georgetown-Villanova championship game. The Hoyas played a great game but Easy Ed was unconscious and the Wildcats shot about 70%.

An important element though is who the team is looking to for leadership. I think that is Evina now in general by what some of them have said but that is different from who is being deferred to on shots. I would hope we would see Paige being deferred to primarily with Evina next but that is a different dynamic than what is happening now. I think CW is being deferred to and that includes 3 point shots as well and we all know her difficulties with them.

 

[CocoHusky]

Is there a problem with UConn's pre-game strategy, execution, in-game adjustments, etc?

No!
What does that have to do with Paige?

 

[Alydar]

Our bigs need to catch and go back up to score without bringing the ball back down where those pesky guards can get their hands on it. AE was especially guilty with UConn losing the ball about 50% of the time on jump ball and even more when the just took it away from her. Liv does that also.

One one possession ONO had a player leaning on her from behind when a pass came inside. Immediately 2 munchkins started to close on her so ONO made the brilliant decision to dribble the ball and was almost immediately stripped. It's like it's an improv show where they make it up as they go along. ONO seems to never know what to do and so she hesitates. Part of it may be that she isn't given the ball at the right moment. She sometimes slides over the middle all alone but whoever has the ball didn't see it or didn't expect it and is late with the pass.
It's all part of players who just haven't played enough together to anticipate each others moves.

 

[BBallF]

I think ONO is very mechanical with her moves and pauses before she starts them as if she is deciding what to do. This allowed a double or triple. As has been said many times before, she has to quickly give it back out and then reset. The doubling defender will not be fast enough to get back in time.

 

[HuskieDawg]

I think Paige is doing a great job! In the end for all her talent and skill she's a freshman, and you are on the court with upper classmen who are all very skilled players and have been in the program for multiple years. Not too mention they are all older than her, and in the teenage world age older players means something from a respect standpoint and a deferral standpoint.The switch to ignore that so you can get "more of yours" doesn't automatically just happen.

You can see she is starting to get a better feel, sense and comfort on when she needs to look more for her shot and when she needs to control the ball and offensive set. Personally I think her learning curve on all this is pretty accelerated.

 

[huskyd]

Hope you are kidding !! She is the best player we have and she is only a freshman. We have to give Arkansas credit they were unstoppable and made very difficult shots. They hustled all game.

Yes. Buckets is our best, full stop. What some of you are missing is that Paige's game is passing, and there wasn't anyone to whom she could pass. That's why Liv did so little; she seldom had the ball. The few options for Paige were on the perimeter because Geno had all of his quick smaller players on the court to offset the Razorback guards. Sadly, only Paige and Evina can score reliably from the arc, so Aubrey and Nika were open to shoot--not a dream scenario. CW had a (way) off night. She had little to add, even missing short, open jumpers in the lane.
According to some of you, Buckets should take all of the shots. This is a team sport. Paige alone is not going to do it. She needs help. She got very little.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Geno has said on more than one occasion that when Paige becomes more selfish and starts looking for her shot first and passing second Uconn will become a much better team. It will take her time to become comfortable with that, but once she does, and last night was a preview, watch out.

I agree with both of you. I am a bit puzzled over Paige's reluctance to assume the role she has earned, particularly when demonstrably it is a necessary tonic for this team.

 

[BBallF]

No!
What does that have to do with Paige

If the Op though this was the problem it should have been expressed in the title of the thread or in the post itself. Paige is not the problem! CW might be. To answer the OP question paige spend the first couple of minutes getting her ankle loose and getting het teamates involved. It was working. She HAD TO take over the game because the other Players on the floor were ALL FRESHMAN.

She took over the game because she can because she is a gifted player and because she wants to win so desperately. She had 15 points in the fourth quarter on 5-6 shooting and was perfect from the line. She had Nika, Mir, Evina and CW with her when we went small ball and almost pulled it out. Geno has been saying all along she should be shooting the most. I think that is irrefutable and that Evina should be next with shooting. The statistics are very compelling and so is the eye test.

 

[CocoHusky]

One one possession ONO had a player leaning on her from behind when a pass came inside. Immediately 2 munchkins started to close on her so ONO made the brilliant decision to dribble the ball and was almost immediately stripped. It's like it's an improv show where they make it up as they go along. ONO seems to never know what to do and so she hesitates. Part of it may be that she isn't given the ball at the right moment. She sometimes slides over the middle all alone but whoever has the ball didn't see it or didn't expect it and is late with the pass.
It's all part of players who just haven't played enough together to anticipate each others moves.

The three major problems with ONO is that she has pre-determined what she is going to do often before she even catches the ball, too easily moved off her spot and cannot finish through even slight contact. The strips last night were perfect examples of that and she compounded the mistake by looking down at the floor. She is in too much of a hurry to be an effective post player.

 

[BBallF]

Yes. Buckets is our best, full stop. What some of you are missing is that Paige's game is passing, and there wasn't anyone to whom she could pass. That's why Liv did so little; she seldom had the ball. The few options for Paige were on the perimeter because Geno had all of his quick smaller players on the court to offset the Razorback guards. Sadly, only Paige and Evina can score reliably from the arc, so Aubrey and Nika were open to shoot--not a dream scenario. CW had a (way) off night. She had little to add, even missing short, open jumpers in the lane.
According to some of you, Buckets should take all of the shots. This is a team sport. Paige alone is not going to do it. She needs help. She got very little.

Not all of the shots but more shots per game than anyone else on average with Evina second.

 

[BBallF]

The three major problems with ONO is that she has pre-determined what she is going to do often before she even catches the ball, too easily moved off her spot and cannot finish through even slight contact. The strips last night were perfect examples of that and she compounded the mistake by looking down at the floor. She is in too much of a hurry to be an effective post player.

Or she pauses too long to change her mind on her move and allows a weak side double.

 

[CocoHusky]

She took over the game because she can because she is a gifted player and because she wants to win so desperately. She had 15 points in the fourth quarter on 5-6 shooting and was perfect from the line. She had Nika, Mir, Evina and CW with her when we went small ball and almost pulled it out. Geno has been saying all along she should be shooting the most. I think that is irrefutable and that Evina should be next with shooting. The statistics are very compelling and so is the eye test.

Yea Yea Paige is all that and a bag of chips. This OP cited "UConn's pre-game strategy, execution, in-game adjustments, etc" in a thread questioning where was Paige. I don't know what constitutes etc. but last time I checked Geno was responsible for the pregame strategy and making in game adjustments and the execution of the game plan. Did Paige get promoted are we just looking for someone to blame here.