Who will be Geno’s starting point guard in the NCAA tournament?
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Same as to begin the year, Paige and Nika. The mistake everyone makes is thinking there can only be one starting point guard.
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This thread is different because it is structured as a poll.We just had almost exactly the same thread.
The other thread asked about the starting point guard on day 1. This thread asks a different question, namely, who will Geno select as his starting point guard in the NCAA tournament after he has has had a chance to experiment with different point guards and lineup combinations during the regular season.
The NCAA tournament is when Geno will pick a primary point guard to lead him to national championship #12.
Some posters in the other thread expressed the sentiment that they would like to be able to place bets on the starting point guard. Because betting is disallowed on the Boneyard, I thought it would be interesting to set up a poll so that people could see how many votes are tallied for the various candidates.
If you feel the thread is too duplicative of the other thread, feel free to delete it.
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I agree with you that there can be more than one starting point guard. I structured the poll so that a poll respondent would have to make one choice. If you allow a poll respondent to select two choices, say Paige and Nika, it becomes harder to differentiate the candidates in the cumulative vote tallies because they both are receiving votes from a given poll respondent.
CL82
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It will be Nika, on a technicality. I predict Nika Paige Azzi will start and share the task of bringing the ball up the floor — which is only part of the pg’s role. The technicality is that if Nika is on the floor, she can only be a pg. She can’t be an sg or a w.
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Based on pretty much nothing, I checked the box next to Nika.
Of course she might just play her way out of the starting lineup or someone like Caroline or Aubrey might play their way in.
Assuming that Paige is in good health for the entire season and plays up to her capabilities, Nika’s minutes at PG will be seriously curtailed.
Having said that, does anybody believe that there is anyone (with the possible exception of Geno) who will be happier than Nika to see Paige return to her former place in the scheme of things?
Much as the “Croatian Sensation” has not shirked from assuming the mantle of leadership and hearing EVEN MORE of Geno’s pungent criticism, the burden on her shoulders since Paige went down must have been dreadful. All the additional injuries and the extra minutes added on to her because of them could not have helped.
No pity party here. Is there anyone you ever felt less sorry for than Nika?
If things work out the way that should Nika can get a little more of a breather and focus a bit more on being “The girl in your face” defensively.
With Paige and Azzi on the floor her chances to distribute, pass, assist and run her mouth will not diminish.
Add Caroline into the mix, and Nika just might feel comfortable and confident enough to attack the rim a little more and maybe even attempt some jumpers.
Oh my G-d!! What a &@/$ing nightmare!!
Of course she might just play her way out of the starting lineup or someone like Caroline or Aubrey might play their way in.
Assuming that Paige is in good health for the entire season and plays up to her capabilities, Nika’s minutes at PG will be seriously curtailed.
Having said that, does anybody believe that there is anyone (with the possible exception of Geno) who will be happier than Nika to see Paige return to her former place in the scheme of things?
Much as the “Croatian Sensation” has not shirked from assuming the mantle of leadership and hearing EVEN MORE of Geno’s pungent criticism, the burden on her shoulders since Paige went down must have been dreadful. All the additional injuries and the extra minutes added on to her because of them could not have helped.
No pity party here. Is there anyone you ever felt less sorry for than Nika?
If things work out the way that should Nika can get a little more of a breather and focus a bit more on being “The girl in your face” defensively.
With Paige and Azzi on the floor her chances to distribute, pass, assist and run her mouth will not diminish.
Add Caroline into the mix, and Nika just might feel comfortable and confident enough to attack the rim a little more and maybe even attempt some jumpers.
Oh my G-d!! What a &@/$ing nightmare!!
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I don't think NM's going to play her way out of the starting lineup, she's gotten better every year. I also don't think Paige is taking her minutes directly as you say. They complement each other. I don't think she'll be playing anywhere close to 32 minutes a game again though, not with all the qualified players on this team. Maybe 20-ish. Looking forward to seeing what aspect she's improved this year, hopefully that midrange pull-up jumper that's been on the wish list for a while.
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Assuming everyone is healthy I expect team to go undefeated leading into tthe NCAA's. So if that were to happen, Nika would not lose her starting job which I assume she will have from the start.
If they lose one game I slightly lean toward Paige starting becuase I believe Caroline Ducharme if healthy is a potentially special player (though not as much as Azzi or Paige). But I can see Nika as pg still anyway. It's 50.1 vs 49.9. for Paige
If they lose more than 1 game (if healthy) leading to NCAA's, imo Geno will figure he has a probllem and because I believe Caroline is potentialy special, he'd then make the move. to start Paige at pg and CD is the SF.
The major caveat from above and the thread in general is "if healthy."
If they lose one game I slightly lean toward Paige starting becuase I believe Caroline Ducharme if healthy is a potentially special player (though not as much as Azzi or Paige). But I can see Nika as pg still anyway. It's 50.1 vs 49.9. for Paige
If they lose more than 1 game (if healthy) leading to NCAA's, imo Geno will figure he has a probllem and because I believe Caroline is potentialy special, he'd then make the move. to start Paige at pg and CD is the SF.
The major caveat from above and the thread in general is "if healthy."
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AgStatesman
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Nika is awesome and starts the season. IF KK ends up as the starter that means she is really really special and her starting would be a really nice problem to have. Having said that, who's on the court at the start isn't nearly as important as who is on the court at the end. I think Geno has no issue rewarding Nika's loyalty with his own to her. Nike starts wire to wire.
oldude
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It doesn’t really matter. The player with the ball in her hands down the stretch of BIG games will be Paige. Geno doesn’t need her to get 30 pts and 15 assists every game.
In similar fashion, MJ played with John Paxson, Steve Kerr and several other pg’s. Early in games he would often defer to them. But down the stretch, when things got tight, MJ had the ball, took the shot, attacked the basket and, on occasion, passed the ball to a usually wide open teammate.
In similar fashion, MJ played with John Paxson, Steve Kerr and several other pg’s. Early in games he would often defer to them. But down the stretch, when things got tight, MJ had the ball, took the shot, attacked the basket and, on occasion, passed the ball to a usually wide open teammate.
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I totally agree with the bolded sentence. This past season is the first in which Nika would be on the floor at the end of big games. This was in part because of who was injured. But she was also no longer the offensive liability she’d been the first two years. Plus her scrappy rebounding was a sort of X factor at key moments. When the pressure was on, and when everyone else was tired, Nika got even fiercer.
Geno kept her out of the closing moments the first two years or platooned her for offens-defense. He had to do this to keep opponents from doubling Paige everywhere. I don’t see that being necessary now. And if Nika develops her offensive skills even more this summer, just like she did last summer, she will be a terror at the end of games. Geno will want her in at those moments to keep up the defensive pressure but also to keep the team roaring along on offense. Azzi and Aaliyah will keep the defense from keying too much on Paige, but especially if Nika is on the floor and able to find any of them.
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Last year they instituted "just go" but then Azzi got injured.
They'll be doing that again at times making it "PG by committee" regarding which ball handlers brings the ball up the court including Azzi.
But Paige will have primary playmaking responsibility as the defacto "captain of the offense" when she's on the court.
Geno said that he's not ready until Paige is ready which indicates that he's relying on Paige to run the offense & lead the team.
All of the other PG's will be Paige's back ups & assistants.
They'll be doing that again at times making it "PG by committee" regarding which ball handlers brings the ball up the court including Azzi.
But Paige will have primary playmaking responsibility as the defacto "captain of the offense" when she's on the court.
Geno said that he's not ready until Paige is ready which indicates that he's relying on Paige to run the offense & lead the team.
All of the other PG's will be Paige's back ups & assistants.
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This whole thread is like asking who should’ve been the starting point guard in Taurasi’s junior year? Diana or Ashley Valley or Ann Strother?
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