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.
What was Paige doing for 2.5 quarters??
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psconn
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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.
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.
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Spot on.
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So well said. Paige is fine...actually, better than fine. And so’s everybody else. They’re all learning.
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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.
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.
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.
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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.
For those wondering Maya had 165 points in her first 10 games.
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.
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
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No!
What does that have to do with Paige?
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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
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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.
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
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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.
Not all of the shots but more shots per game than anyone else on average with Evina second.
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Or she pauses too long to change her mind on her move and allows a weak side double.
CocoHusky
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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.
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The young lady scored 27 points, making 2/3rds of her attempts. Not enough?
A very legitimate question but obviously Bueckers is beyond being treated with anything but undying adulation. I get a kick out of Makurat and Muhl getting nothing but grief while trying to play hurt but Bueckers gets nothing but praise and a built in excuse for playing more than half the game pretty passively. She is a tremendous player, tremendous, as good a young player as I have seen, male or female, but the question you asked is perfectly legitimate in my book and frankly, completely in concert with what Auriemma identified as what the team needed from her very early in the season. Obviously, she has it in her to dominate and that’s what she should be doing. She has stated she hates to lose and I believe it, as soon as she realized that might happen last night, boom, she started playing for real. Don’t turn it on and off, play that way from jump street, she is that good.
No, it was not, stats lie and if she had played that way from the start the game would have been much different. You play to win, not to be satisfied with good stats and I believe she would be the first person to agree with that.
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Everyone needs to relax a bit. Last night's game was not the end of the world. The fact to the matter is they're a young and inexperienced team for the most part. This, coupled with the "stop and start" nature of "COVID basketball" has been a challenge. I agree that CW's shot selection and defense are questionable at times and ONO has not played well this season (especially the past few games). But please be patient! Those of you going after Paige Bueckers are WAY out of line. One of the most difficult things for a point guard is the ability to know when to shoot and when to distribute the basketball. The "score first pass later" mentality is not what she is nor what UCONN WBB has been about for the last 35 years. Eventually, this is going to be a fantastic basketball team.
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What others have done is irrelevant. The metric is scoring relative to what she could be scoring. Geno thinks it could be more. Last nights game suggests he’s right — 27 points on 10-15 shooting including 15 in the 4th!
who else on this team is shooting anywhere near 10-15?
Diana used to get others involved but would take over late if needed. I’m sure that’s what Paige would like to do too. Unfortunately that’s not this years team.
We may need her to get 30+ points per game. Fortunately, based on last night, that seems doable.
No one, I repeat, no one is ”going after Paige”. It was a legitimate question on a board designed to ask such questions. Funny I never heard a peep from you about the criticism of other players which is a popular pastime here. And to your basketball point about pass first, Bueckers very easily put that mentality aside when she realized Uconn might lose and she decided to take the game over, so she clearly has it in her. I would go out on a limb and say that is far from the first time in her career she has done that. Personally, I think that was the first glimpse of what she is more than capable of, and something Auriemma has been publicly asking for almost from the start of the season.
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I believe Paige’s nature is very much like Molly Bent. Her favorite way to play is to facilitate the team. She wants to integrate the entire team into a cohesive unit. Her skill set is more DT. I believe she will try to play every game with her heart until Geno finally says to go win the game.
This year’s team needs more DT. But in the next few years we are going to see Paige play her game. Double double in points and assists every night.
This year’s team needs more DT. But in the next few years we are going to see Paige play her game. Double double in points and assists every night.
diggerfoot
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The earlier a player "takes over a game" the more time an opponent has to adjust. As it was Arkansas made damn sure Bueckers was not going to get the last shot. Also, the earlier a player takes over a game the earlier you show a lack of confidence in your teammates. Once upon a time Moore took over a whole game to the tune of 36 points and we lost to Notre Dame in the semifinal while the rest of the team was passive.
We started out well on offense and outscored Arkansas. We scored virtually the same amount of points in the half that Bueckers took over as in the first half; I believe our shooting percentages were similar in both halves. Are people thinking our offense would have scored over fifty in the first half if she had just taken over from the beginning? We scored 43 in the half with Bueckers taking 4 shots; we scored 44 in the second half with Bueckers taking 11 shots; chances are we would have scored in the mid-forties in the first half if Bueckers took 11 shots then.
How can someone see the 31 points Arkansas scored in the third quarter and not think that maybe, just maybe, the crux of our problem was defense? Taurasi's instincts of taking over as late in the game as necessary seemed to pan out pretty well for her. As long as we are outscoring the opposition, as we were in the first half, I'll trust Buecker's similar instincts.
We started out well on offense and outscored Arkansas. We scored virtually the same amount of points in the half that Bueckers took over as in the first half; I believe our shooting percentages were similar in both halves. Are people thinking our offense would have scored over fifty in the first half if she had just taken over from the beginning? We scored 43 in the half with Bueckers taking 4 shots; we scored 44 in the second half with Bueckers taking 11 shots; chances are we would have scored in the mid-forties in the first half if Bueckers took 11 shots then.
How can someone see the 31 points Arkansas scored in the third quarter and not think that maybe, just maybe, the crux of our problem was defense? Taurasi's instincts of taking over as late in the game as necessary seemed to pan out pretty well for her. As long as we are outscoring the opposition, as we were in the first half, I'll trust Buecker's similar instincts.
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My interpretation of the original post was that it was critical of Bueckers. My point was that she's a freshman playing a very difficult position. Having played point guard in HS and coached HS basketball for over 27 years I know how difficult that position is to manage. And having watched UCONN WBB for the past 30 years playing point guard at UCONN is especially challenging. Secondly, her "career" at UCONN has been all of 11 games. Lastly, where do you get off criticizing me for not going after other players? I reserve the right to post when I choose. I usually just read the posts here but felt inclined to respond to what I perceived was an over-reaction and undue criticism of a player.
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An objective list of top Shooting Guards, based on players that appeared on both the Naismith Mid-Season and Ann Meyers Drysdale Pre-Season Lists.
Williams is second best in FG% and eFG%. She also has the second best assist-to-turnover ratio.
Compare her stats to Cooke who has the best 3pt%.
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