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Message: [QUOTE="Surly1, post: 4933466, member: 11599"] Most of the national media & ESPN have been woken from their slumber on covering Paige Bueckers. ESPN, in particular hitched their wagon early onto Caitlin Clark, and understandably so. She entered the season the season as the face of women's basketball. Then, as the season progressed, Paige & UConn went relatively unnoticed as the narrative revolved around SC, JuJu Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, other members of the freshmen class, and whether Clark & Angel Reese would meet up again for a NC contest, Part 2. For the casual sports fan, numbers tell the story. Clark, Watkins and Hidalgo were putting up huge numbers, and to some, Paige was still good, but not equal to some of the new superstars. Part of the issue is that Paige is a team-first player who is not consumed by personal stats, other than not committing turnovers. Rarely, does she look to score once the game was in hand, preferring her teammates take the mantle. There is limited air time for promotion, so a select few are focused on. SC's unexpected dominance, the stellar play of freshman players like Audi Crooks, Madison Booker, Mikaylah Williams & Milaysia Fulwiley, and most of all, Caitlin Clark's pursuit of the all-time scoring record, left time for little else. While this class of freshmen is indeed special, they have a way to go to compare to the class of 3 years ago. A class that includes Clark, Bueckers, Cameron Brink, Angel Reese & Karmila Cardoso. One from this group has won the last 3 NC's and 3 NPOY awards (I'm assuming Clark will win), with a strong likelihood that one of them will win this year's NC too. Recency bias sometimes makes us forget. Now that the Sweet 16 has been finalized, ESPN must be salivating at the star power for the games ahead. None are shining brighter than Paige. Since their loss to SC, Paige has found a higher gear. In her last 11 games, all wins, she has shot 107-196 from the field for a 54.6%, while upping her shots per game to almost 18 and averaging 26 pts per game. In the postseason, she is 55-102, 53.9%, averaging 28.6, 9.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.2 steals, 2.8 blocks, 1.6 turnovers, while committing only 2 fouls in 5 games. Numbers only tell half the story for Paige. She is that rare player that makes everybody else better. She's cool as a cucumber and a steadying presence for the 4 freshmen in their 7-person rotation. She has the ability to adjust her game based on how the opposing team is guarding her. One game, she is posting up, another, she is driving to the basket more. Last night against Syracuse, she found the hole in their zone around the foul line that she continuously exploited. Many players can hit a basket when wide open, but the great ones make contested shots regularly. Paige seldom forces a shot, and I am hard pressed to remember when she's had a shot blocked. Her midrange game, a thing of beauty was on full display against Syracuse. While SC is the prohibitive favorite and without a discernible weakness, the Sweet 16 offers up some exciting match-ups. The way Paige is playing, anything is possible. Should UConn get past Duke, an Elite Eight contest with USC, featuring the new sensation against the recently rediscovered one would be mandatory viewing. Should UConn come out on top & Caitlin Clark and her Iowa team survive their gauntlet, basketball fans would be treated to an epic showdown, featuring two generational talents. I wonder how much ESPN would pay for this scenario to unfold. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach