Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="Huskee11, post: 4899596, member: 7171"] I am a huge Nika fan as well. During that difficult 2020-2021 season when fans could not attend games and players on the sideline had to sit apart from each other with masks on, Nika introduced herself to us. We didn’t quite know what to make of her. She was dealing with a foot injury, it took her forever to finally make a three pointer, and she seemed to play kind of out of control. But she had a strong endorsement from Popovich, so there was that. And then there was the scene of her on the bench, frustrated, in tears, while Geno appeared to be dismissive, and Kara Wolters was reveling in her caustic “there is no crying in basketball” shtick. All while the other first year point guard, Paige, was simply crushing it. Kara has since repented and jumped to the front of the Nika bandwagon, but at the time I think I was typical of many fans in just feeling for the kid and hoping that something good would come her way. Well it wouldn’t take all that long before that would happen. For example, she had a stellar game at Marquette, and we caught a glimpse of her personality and her close relationship with Paige in that unforgettable “she’s my slime” postgame interview. She has had good games, bad games, ups, downs, but always with her heart on her sleeve, never a dull moment. Her game has developed in a myriad of ways and she is now on the cusp of being the all-time assist leader at UConn. She has all the qualities you could want in a leader. Her interviews, and her interactions with fans and teammates, reveal a truly exceptional personality. Wow, has it been fun watching her. I feel like she became Nika Muhl in front of our eyes. Maybe Popovich would say she was always there, it just took us a bit of time to catch on. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach