? As far as I can see that completely unsubstantiated. The reason Geno moved her to off the ball was for strategic reasons. He saw that his team was not a great shooting one a found a way to put the best (by far) shooter in a position where she could focus exclusively on scoring rather than on running the team and scoring. He was able to do this because he had an effective pg in Nika (as well as good to very good passers in Evina, Anna, and ONO. This was a strategic move to maximize one of Paige’s skills without losing a lot on the pg side. This does not mean that Paige is not the best pg on this team! She clearly is and will likely remain so throughout her career at UConn. Now we are in a completely different situation with reportedly the best shooter since KML as well as Caroline Ducharme who actually beat Azzi in a three point contest as well as a more experienced team overall. I think Nika will be a very important backup this year.
This is a very good analysis. Too many want to make this a debate about Paige's best position. I think Geno's decision to move her off the ball was a sound one, and I think Paige's best position is PG, but it all depends on who else is on the court with her. Also if Paige is a 10 as a PG she is at least a 9 as a SG, she could be All American at either position. Nika on the other hand is much much better as a PG than a SG. When they both are in the game together it is an easy decision to make Nika the primary ball-handler.
When Nika is not in the game, clearly Paige should be the PG, no question there. In fact Paige should be more effective there than last year because Geno has two great three point options he didn't have last year in Azzi and Caroline. Remember Paige did not have one very good perimeter option to pass to for drive and dish three pointers last year. If you were a coach trying to figure out how to defend Uconn you would be trying hard to prevent easy baskets inside to Liv or Aaliyah, and also would be scared to death of giving Paige and open three or one on one opportunities. If concentrating on stopping Paige resulted in wide open threes from Christyn or Evina so be it, it was the easy least bad option.
This year if Azzi or Caroline are in with Paige at the point, leaving either of them open for a three will be a major defensive mistake. You can't help off either of those on Paige, making her life when playing the point much easier. If Nika comes off the bench the same issue pertains for her. If she is teamed with Christyn and Evina her ability to drive and dish is limited to so so options, and defenses can take away her penetration in exchange for occasional open threes by Christyn or Evina.
Between positions 1-3 we probably have three so so three point shooters in Nika, Christyn and Evina, and three great three point shooters in Paige, Azzi and Caroline, that the defense cannot afford to leave open. When Paige is playing the point and cannot pass to herself, I think she needs at least one other great shooter with her, making her playing with Christyn and Evina a less efficient unit. They both have good mid-range games that might compliment an outside shooter at the other wing.
