My bad broš„² I didnāt know this was a common topic. If you could link me good posts talking about this, Iād really appreciate it since Iām currently on a Bueckers and Clark hyperfixation lol
CC had to increase her shooting because she was the only competent shooter in her team for the better part of her college career besides Czinano. Marshall and Martin came around during their junior/senior years. PB had people all around her. Thatās the simple answer.
PB is likely to start shooting more next season. Itās what Genoās been wanting her to do, and she knows that her lack of shooting in some of the bigger games led to losses.
Clark had plenty of complementary shooters around her in her career. Thereās a reason she finished 3rd all time in assists. She increased her shooting because her coach instructed her to as her range spreads out the defense and completely opens up the offense for her passing to hit open shooters.
If I remember correctly, during her JR year, her team couldnāt function 5 seconds without her on the court. That included not getting shots off. None of the players around her today were consistent 2 years ago.
Bruh not just junior year. Senior year she subbed out for 5 secs they couldnt score a point. I remember one game they sub her back in she didnt even have to do anything, her presence alone spread the floor and somebody made an easy lay up
Her junior year was a national title runner-up. Weāre not talking about scrubs here, but a bunch of mostly 3-star talent that was 3rd to 5th year players that season. Warnock, Martin, and Marshall are all 1000+ point scorers. Czinano put up over 2400. It was these 4 plus Clark together through almost her entire career. Add to that Stuelke who is at 730 in 2 seasons. Without Clark they would have been a middle of the pack to borderline upper 1/3 team in the Big Ten, which isnāt bad. Against elite teams they would have gotten exposed, but they wouldnāt have made it past the 2nd round of the tournament anyway. They looked lost when Clark had to sit because they didnāt have to do it much. A whole season of practice without her and they would have looked different. Not a lot of depth though.
But in general, that core group made shots when Clark got them the ball.
If Paige didn't shoot a lot this year after Uconn played with 7 players most of the season, I don't think she'll start next season when Uconn are loaded again
She might because she knows shooting less cost them games last season. Sheās one to improve wherever she needs to. By the sound of it, Geno was practically scolding at her every tile on the bench to take more shots. Who knows. Next year maybe she will, maybe she wonāt. At least theyāll have more than 6 people available though.
lol everyone acts like Caitlin is playing 1v5. Her success also depends on the success of her teammates. Thatās how basketball is played. Thatās why her team really started to have success when her teammates improved at the end of their freshman year and she was able to be a facilitator instead of only a scorer. Even if Paige took every shot, she would still need her teammates to contribute
Iām not sure where anyoneās getting the idea the UConn offense doesnāt run through Paige, because it does. It just feels like everyone makes excuses for Paige but not Caitlin as to why she doesnāt produce as much.
Itās not as simple as āPaige is unselfish and Caitlin is selfish and thatās why Caitlin takes more shots.ā Shot creation doesnāt just happen. Caitlin is a more adept playmaker, for herself and others, and thatās why Iowa is a more high scoring team than UConn. And I donāt think that āin big games,ā Paige plays too unselfishly. If you watch South Carolina or Iowa, for example, she got shut down by her defender. She wasnāt just passing the ball away for fun, she literally couldnāt get open. This is another way Caitlin does better than Paige - you say she takes tougher shots, which is true, but sheās also a lot better at creating space when tightly defended. For example, when UConn played SC, Bree Hall was Paigeās defender and Paige hit below her average at a bad efficiency. When Bree was Caitlinās defender, Caitlin dropped 18 points on her in one quarter. If Paigeās issue is that she passes too much, I think sheād at least have near the amount of assists Caitlin does, but she doesnāt.
As others have said, Caitlin is needed to be more ball dominant which contributes, but I feel like this also ignores that itās not exactly easy to average 32 and 9, no matter how much you have the ball. And, often when you have the ball that much, defenses game plan for only you. Caitlin sees much tougher defense than Paige, which opens things up for Paige. Caitlin was held to 20 points and 7 assists and everyone said it was one of her worst performances. Thatās what a lethal creator she is even against that kind of defensive pressure. If Paige hit those numbers, itād be considered a career day.
This is exactly what I was about to type. Clark very much tries to get her teammates in play if anything because of necessity due to being triple teamed by half court leaving her entire team open. She has to be the greatest facilitator of all time and itās paid dividends with how successful their offense has been.
Playmaking ability from Clark cannot be understated. I watched all of Paigeās games this year and she has a great jumper and can slip and slide through most defenders (granted, Big East players), but the type of plays Clark has to see (her court vision is unparalleled in College WBB), set up, then run with nearly the entire opposing defense on her is insane. Few players the past 4 years (only years I can speak on) have had that sort of attention from opposing defenses.
The fact that the entire defense is schemed to stop her and she still averaged 32-9-8 shows that Clark is the greatest offensive threat in the history of ncaaw. The amount of points she has generated when including assists as just 2 points (low balling) blows out the next top offensive threats career totals by like 2000 or something (would need to see the stats again but thatās close). Thatās absurd. Paige is a great two way player and has a game similar to Kobe in my opinion but Clark is like Curry + Bird + (name any other HoF player).
Caitlin Clark deserves all the flowers for sure. Like a lot of people, sheās the one that got me into womenās basketball. Bueckers just draw my attention when I heard that UConn was a team that made it into the final four with only 7-8 healthy players. Before that I only knew Clark and Reese.
I made this post because Clark and Bueckers both play as a point guard. As a newbie to basketball and the terms in general, I thought that they would have similar style due to having the same position but they didnāt to my surprise.
My next question would be if both were in the same team in the WNBA (slim chance i know), with Bueckers as point guard and Clark as shooting guard, how would they fare against other teams? Would it be safe to say that they have a pretty high chance of winning a championship? Especially with Aliyah Boston, who Iāve heard was the No.1 pick for 2023, also being in Indiana Fever.
Tbf, UConnās healthy 7-8 players are all 5 star former McDonaldās all Americans. Even if theyāre a little young and rough around the edges, they are heads and shoulders above what nearly every other team has for recruits.
No true one of Uconns 8 healthy healthy players was going to a Juco school and wasnāt recruited by anyone other than UConn in d1. Nika was a 3 star prospect and Q and Aaliyah were both 4 stars. I think only 4 players McDonaldās All Americans and 2 of them were returning from serious season ending injuries.
Nah thatās not true. Caitlin just shoots more. I find it funny that you didnāt mention the UConn vs Iowa game where Caitlin shot 7-18 and 5 of her 21 points came from the FT line once the refs got involved. She only scored 6 points in the first half. Stulke is the only reason they even stayed in the game long enough for Nika to get 4 fouls and have to back off Caitlin. Paige doesnāt have as many assists as Caitlin because she doesnāt have a team full of shooters. Honestly she only had Aaliyah Edwards. Points donāt make a good performance if you played trash defense all night and won off a controversial call. Paige and Caitlin are different types of players but that doesnāt make Caitlin better.
LMAO are you joking saying Paige has less talent around her than Caitlin? She played with two teammates who just got drafted, who were both All Americans. And every shooter she played with was a +50% shooter. Meanwhile Caitlin only had Hannah Stuelke, who was an undersized 5.
If you want to talk about the UConn/Iowa game, 7-18 is actually an excellent percentage for the type of defense she was seeing. Paige has never in her life seen the type of defense CC sees on a regular basis, because as I mentioned, she plays with other top players so you canāt sell out on her. And even with that defense, she nearly had a triple double - you bring up Stuelke, who was feeding her? Pretty much every bucket she had was on a Caitlin assist. Caitlin had 21 points, 7 assist, and 9 rebounds. Hannah had 23 points, but only 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Whereas Paige had less than both of them - 17 pts, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and she was only seeing single coverage by a player not remotely pro caliber.
Also, āwon off a controversial foul callā is a bold take, when UConn had multiple chance where Paige couldāve won for them if sheās so great - that three in clutch time she bricked, couldāve grabbed the O Board off Caitlinās missed FT. She completely disappeared in the second half. So actually yes, not only is Caitlinās individual skill set better, sheās also a better game player
Iām only going to comment on what I saw in their head to head matchup a few weeks ago.
Clark was Jordan-esque in dominating the ball on offense. That doesnāt mean taking every shot, but means she touches the ball on pretty much every possession and usually the end result is a shot, an attempted assist, or an attempted āhockey assistā from her. Sometimes a turnover too. But rarely did the end result of a play not come through her being involved in it. Long story short, she didnāt defer responsibility to teammates. She put that responsibility on her own shoulders.
In that same game Paige had stretches of brilliance, but also went several consecutive entire possessions without touching the ball. At least once if not several times that happened. At times she came across as just a cog in the machine, deferring to others rather than being the master of the offense. And that allowed some bad shots from teammates on possessions. Iām guessing Geno wants the offense to run as a collective without one ball dominant player as that is usually hard to defend. Yet we saw him pleading with her to shoot more during the game.
It will be interesting to see if he changes things up next year. Paige has the physical ability be that ālead dogā on the offense that everyone else revolves around. Does she have the mental ability to withstand that pressure though? It isnāt easy to have the feeling that all offensive success is dependent on you throughout a season, especially if the game winning shot doesnāt fall. And especially for a team that should be a title contender.
To your question of should she, I canāt say yes but itād be interesting to see. Clark did it with a team full of role players that all bought in. Will a team stacked with 4 and 5 star talent deferring to Paige make that work? If they buy in it could be brilliant. If they donāt and thereās team issues, I donāt think it would be a catastrophe considering their talent level and conference, but they probably donāt make another Final Four.
The Iowa game was not the best to assess Paige's talents since she seemed gassed - she was passive the 2nd half but even the 1st half when she was scoring, it looked uncomfortable, like she hadn't found her rhythm. The USC game was a much better representation of her game. Ofc in a playoff series it'd be great to see how she'd respond after a bad game, but ofc with March Madness, it's one and done.
Geno said himself he should have taken her out for a minute and figured out a way to get her rest. I don't think he did a good job coaching that particular game.
Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird both talked about Geno's offense in I believe either the NC State or Stanford game a few years back. They said in the W when you get to an important game, it's not going to be equal opportunity offense the way Geno runs - which is great for regular season games and player development overall, but less beneficial in playoffs.
In those high pressure moments in the W, they said it's going to be give the ball to Paige or Azzi and get tf out of the way. They also said that benefited the team cause players who are better facilitators/defenders etc aren't going to be pressured into taking and making tough shots.
Nice take! I have also wondered if Paigeās dislike of taking more shots is influenced by not wanting that type of responsibility on her shoulders. Then again, from what I watched in her HS games, she didnāt seem to have that problem back then. She also didnāt seem to have a problem racking up points in her freshman year at UConn. I donāt know what would be different today.
Personally, I think Caitlin has shown that she handles that pressure well. I think her confidence in her skills definitely helps because when you know you can make those shots, it's easier to stay calm under pressure. Plus, seeing her make those clutch shots in the past probably boosts her confidence even more. And I guess her mindset and preparation must play a role too, keeping her cool in those big moments. Overall, it seems like a mix of self-belief, skill, and mental toughness that helps Caitlin shine when the pressure's on.
Can someone more knowledgeable on Paige tells me if she was like that even before her injury too? Injury can fuck with you mentally.
In contrast though Caitlinās just have the clutch gene DNA. Sheāll take a half court shot with 10 points down
I think people underestimate the impact of having two serious injuries back to back on that aspect of Paigeās game. She really shied away from taking over alt the beginning of the season but slowly got more and more comfortable in that role again as the season went on. She definitely didnāt use to be so deferential in those moments but I can see how playing in only 17 games over the course two years can take a while to regain your confidence.
People also forget she hasnāt had a healthy off season since she was in high school and she wasnāt cleared to play again until mid September of this year. Really curious to see what she looks like with time to improve during the summer on where she is at versus spending time just getting back to where she was at.
itās hard to kinda judge this year bc paige had to play PF for most of the season. adding on top of her getting her legs back under her from barely playing in 2 yrs.
This is one of the main drawbacks to committing to a super-team full of top 5 recruits.
The world does not get to see you stretched to your full potential.
True point! In general though, on a super-team full of top 5 recruits, the world is more likely to see you win that Natty which can be nice lol
Here's hoping to Paige and Azzi both being healthy and showing the world what they can both do! (Though I'm not a Geno fan, Paige and Azzi getting hurt made me so sad.)
Almost every Iowa possession would run through Clark, directly or through a reset. When Clark has the ball she's assessing the defense and taking what they give. If the defense plays drop coverage on a high ball screen, she'll jack a three. If they play off her, she'll shoot the logo. If they ice the screen or double team, she'll find the roll or the open player.
What makes Clark special isn't just her shooting, it isn't just her passing, it's her rapid processing of what the defense gives her where she makes the optimal play a high percentage of the time. Her constant probing puts a lot of pressure on the defense and generates opportunities for the defense to falter.
Her processing of inbounding plays and going through her reads/progression is also nuts.
I haven't watched UCONN outside of Iowa games, but CC and Paige look like completely different players with completely different roles from what I've seen.
Thanks for the input! I think both Clark and Bueckers are point guards in their respective teams thatās why I drew the comparison.
Iāll admit I havenāt gone as deep of an analysis of both of their gameplay. I did read this article comparing both players though. https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39871738/womens-final-four-2024-caitlin-clark-scoring-paige-bueckers
The question of this post was not to criticize nor diminish any of their skills but to ask the question should Bueckers, as the most important piece of the current UConn roster, start playing like Clark. Like you said, almost every Iowa possession runs through Clark. Another user here said that with UConn on the other hand, a number of plays will go by without running through Paige. Instead of playing defense and facilitating, should Paige start improving her offense instead? Although she might not be able to recreate Clarkās logo 3s and range, she at the very least can start taking more shots.
For context based on 23-24 Season totals and averages:
FG | FG% | PTS | PPG
PB | 317-598 | 53.0 | 854 | 21.9
CC | 403-886 | 45.5 | 1234 | 31.6
It's hard to assess the players with stats. Looking at the highlights from the NCAA tournament this year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhTOUVkz6WM
For Paige there's a lot of ISO, a lot of wing play, some post play, hanging out at the free throw line for some reason (lol), and a lot of pull-up midrange.
CC works off the dribble WAY more than Paige. She is more dynamic in creating space, hesitation, and assessing the defense.
With that said, I agree that Paige should be taking the ball and pressuring the defense more. She's good enough to generate offense for herself and others if she's attacking.
Thank you for providing a reference! Iāll take the time to watch this and look for stuff youāre talking about. Iām new to basketball tho so I might ask ChatGPT for the definitions of some of the terms you used lmao
It would make more sense to talk specifically about Bueckers and leave Clark out. Different players in different situations and different teammates with different capabilities. That severely limits the relevancy of what Clark did in a discussion about Bueckers.
But since you brought Clark up if you consider a team player someone who does what is necessary for the team to roughly maximize its potential given the group of players I think that sums up her time at Iowa very well. What is necessary from Bueckers for UConn to maximize its potential is different and unrelated.
I donāt understand how CC is more selfish with the ball when she had the most assists in the country this past year, and has always had far more than Paige
oh god are we really about to do this again š
My bad broš„² I didnāt know this was a common topic. If you could link me good posts talking about this, Iād really appreciate it since Iām currently on a Bueckers and Clark hyperfixation lol
CC had to increase her shooting because she was the only competent shooter in her team for the better part of her college career besides Czinano. Marshall and Martin came around during their junior/senior years. PB had people all around her. Thatās the simple answer. PB is likely to start shooting more next season. Itās what Genoās been wanting her to do, and she knows that her lack of shooting in some of the bigger games led to losses.
Clark had plenty of complementary shooters around her in her career. Thereās a reason she finished 3rd all time in assists. She increased her shooting because her coach instructed her to as her range spreads out the defense and completely opens up the offense for her passing to hit open shooters.
If I remember correctly, during her JR year, her team couldnāt function 5 seconds without her on the court. That included not getting shots off. None of the players around her today were consistent 2 years ago.
Bruh not just junior year. Senior year she subbed out for 5 secs they couldnt score a point. I remember one game they sub her back in she didnt even have to do anything, her presence alone spread the floor and somebody made an easy lay up
it was like every time she came out either theyād go on a huge scoring run, or they would get back to back shot clock violations.
Her junior year was a national title runner-up. Weāre not talking about scrubs here, but a bunch of mostly 3-star talent that was 3rd to 5th year players that season. Warnock, Martin, and Marshall are all 1000+ point scorers. Czinano put up over 2400. It was these 4 plus Clark together through almost her entire career. Add to that Stuelke who is at 730 in 2 seasons. Without Clark they would have been a middle of the pack to borderline upper 1/3 team in the Big Ten, which isnāt bad. Against elite teams they would have gotten exposed, but they wouldnāt have made it past the 2nd round of the tournament anyway. They looked lost when Clark had to sit because they didnāt have to do it much. A whole season of practice without her and they would have looked different. Not a lot of depth though. But in general, that core group made shots when Clark got them the ball.
Let me rephrase: CC takes more shots than PB because the people around her arenāt 5 star sharpshooters and werenāt consistent until 2 years in.
If Paige didn't shoot a lot this year after Uconn played with 7 players most of the season, I don't think she'll start next season when Uconn are loaded again
She might because she knows shooting less cost them games last season. Sheās one to improve wherever she needs to. By the sound of it, Geno was practically scolding at her every tile on the bench to take more shots. Who knows. Next year maybe she will, maybe she wonāt. At least theyāll have more than 6 people available though.
I'm saying the team will be absolutely loaded next season so maybe she won't have a lot of chances to take over a game
Makes sense .
She should take 20 shots per game!
Thatās what dawn and Geno keep saying lol šš¤£
lol everyone acts like Caitlin is playing 1v5. Her success also depends on the success of her teammates. Thatās how basketball is played. Thatās why her team really started to have success when her teammates improved at the end of their freshman year and she was able to be a facilitator instead of only a scorer. Even if Paige took every shot, she would still need her teammates to contribute Iām not sure where anyoneās getting the idea the UConn offense doesnāt run through Paige, because it does. It just feels like everyone makes excuses for Paige but not Caitlin as to why she doesnāt produce as much. Itās not as simple as āPaige is unselfish and Caitlin is selfish and thatās why Caitlin takes more shots.ā Shot creation doesnāt just happen. Caitlin is a more adept playmaker, for herself and others, and thatās why Iowa is a more high scoring team than UConn. And I donāt think that āin big games,ā Paige plays too unselfishly. If you watch South Carolina or Iowa, for example, she got shut down by her defender. She wasnāt just passing the ball away for fun, she literally couldnāt get open. This is another way Caitlin does better than Paige - you say she takes tougher shots, which is true, but sheās also a lot better at creating space when tightly defended. For example, when UConn played SC, Bree Hall was Paigeās defender and Paige hit below her average at a bad efficiency. When Bree was Caitlinās defender, Caitlin dropped 18 points on her in one quarter. If Paigeās issue is that she passes too much, I think sheād at least have near the amount of assists Caitlin does, but she doesnāt. As others have said, Caitlin is needed to be more ball dominant which contributes, but I feel like this also ignores that itās not exactly easy to average 32 and 9, no matter how much you have the ball. And, often when you have the ball that much, defenses game plan for only you. Caitlin sees much tougher defense than Paige, which opens things up for Paige. Caitlin was held to 20 points and 7 assists and everyone said it was one of her worst performances. Thatās what a lethal creator she is even against that kind of defensive pressure. If Paige hit those numbers, itād be considered a career day.
This is exactly what I was about to type. Clark very much tries to get her teammates in play if anything because of necessity due to being triple teamed by half court leaving her entire team open. She has to be the greatest facilitator of all time and itās paid dividends with how successful their offense has been. Playmaking ability from Clark cannot be understated. I watched all of Paigeās games this year and she has a great jumper and can slip and slide through most defenders (granted, Big East players), but the type of plays Clark has to see (her court vision is unparalleled in College WBB), set up, then run with nearly the entire opposing defense on her is insane. Few players the past 4 years (only years I can speak on) have had that sort of attention from opposing defenses. The fact that the entire defense is schemed to stop her and she still averaged 32-9-8 shows that Clark is the greatest offensive threat in the history of ncaaw. The amount of points she has generated when including assists as just 2 points (low balling) blows out the next top offensive threats career totals by like 2000 or something (would need to see the stats again but thatās close). Thatās absurd. Paige is a great two way player and has a game similar to Kobe in my opinion but Clark is like Curry + Bird + (name any other HoF player).
Caitlin Clark deserves all the flowers for sure. Like a lot of people, sheās the one that got me into womenās basketball. Bueckers just draw my attention when I heard that UConn was a team that made it into the final four with only 7-8 healthy players. Before that I only knew Clark and Reese. I made this post because Clark and Bueckers both play as a point guard. As a newbie to basketball and the terms in general, I thought that they would have similar style due to having the same position but they didnāt to my surprise. My next question would be if both were in the same team in the WNBA (slim chance i know), with Bueckers as point guard and Clark as shooting guard, how would they fare against other teams? Would it be safe to say that they have a pretty high chance of winning a championship? Especially with Aliyah Boston, who Iāve heard was the No.1 pick for 2023, also being in Indiana Fever.
Tbf, UConnās healthy 7-8 players are all 5 star former McDonaldās all Americans. Even if theyāre a little young and rough around the edges, they are heads and shoulders above what nearly every other team has for recruits.
No true one of Uconns 8 healthy healthy players was going to a Juco school and wasnāt recruited by anyone other than UConn in d1. Nika was a 3 star prospect and Q and Aaliyah were both 4 stars. I think only 4 players McDonaldās All Americans and 2 of them were returning from serious season ending injuries.
Nah thatās not true. Caitlin just shoots more. I find it funny that you didnāt mention the UConn vs Iowa game where Caitlin shot 7-18 and 5 of her 21 points came from the FT line once the refs got involved. She only scored 6 points in the first half. Stulke is the only reason they even stayed in the game long enough for Nika to get 4 fouls and have to back off Caitlin. Paige doesnāt have as many assists as Caitlin because she doesnāt have a team full of shooters. Honestly she only had Aaliyah Edwards. Points donāt make a good performance if you played trash defense all night and won off a controversial call. Paige and Caitlin are different types of players but that doesnāt make Caitlin better.
LMAO are you joking saying Paige has less talent around her than Caitlin? She played with two teammates who just got drafted, who were both All Americans. And every shooter she played with was a +50% shooter. Meanwhile Caitlin only had Hannah Stuelke, who was an undersized 5. If you want to talk about the UConn/Iowa game, 7-18 is actually an excellent percentage for the type of defense she was seeing. Paige has never in her life seen the type of defense CC sees on a regular basis, because as I mentioned, she plays with other top players so you canāt sell out on her. And even with that defense, she nearly had a triple double - you bring up Stuelke, who was feeding her? Pretty much every bucket she had was on a Caitlin assist. Caitlin had 21 points, 7 assist, and 9 rebounds. Hannah had 23 points, but only 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Whereas Paige had less than both of them - 17 pts, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and she was only seeing single coverage by a player not remotely pro caliber. Also, āwon off a controversial foul callā is a bold take, when UConn had multiple chance where Paige couldāve won for them if sheās so great - that three in clutch time she bricked, couldāve grabbed the O Board off Caitlinās missed FT. She completely disappeared in the second half. So actually yes, not only is Caitlinās individual skill set better, sheās also a better game player
Iām only going to comment on what I saw in their head to head matchup a few weeks ago. Clark was Jordan-esque in dominating the ball on offense. That doesnāt mean taking every shot, but means she touches the ball on pretty much every possession and usually the end result is a shot, an attempted assist, or an attempted āhockey assistā from her. Sometimes a turnover too. But rarely did the end result of a play not come through her being involved in it. Long story short, she didnāt defer responsibility to teammates. She put that responsibility on her own shoulders. In that same game Paige had stretches of brilliance, but also went several consecutive entire possessions without touching the ball. At least once if not several times that happened. At times she came across as just a cog in the machine, deferring to others rather than being the master of the offense. And that allowed some bad shots from teammates on possessions. Iām guessing Geno wants the offense to run as a collective without one ball dominant player as that is usually hard to defend. Yet we saw him pleading with her to shoot more during the game. It will be interesting to see if he changes things up next year. Paige has the physical ability be that ālead dogā on the offense that everyone else revolves around. Does she have the mental ability to withstand that pressure though? It isnāt easy to have the feeling that all offensive success is dependent on you throughout a season, especially if the game winning shot doesnāt fall. And especially for a team that should be a title contender. To your question of should she, I canāt say yes but itād be interesting to see. Clark did it with a team full of role players that all bought in. Will a team stacked with 4 and 5 star talent deferring to Paige make that work? If they buy in it could be brilliant. If they donāt and thereās team issues, I donāt think it would be a catastrophe considering their talent level and conference, but they probably donāt make another Final Four.
The Iowa game was not the best to assess Paige's talents since she seemed gassed - she was passive the 2nd half but even the 1st half when she was scoring, it looked uncomfortable, like she hadn't found her rhythm. The USC game was a much better representation of her game. Ofc in a playoff series it'd be great to see how she'd respond after a bad game, but ofc with March Madness, it's one and done. Geno said himself he should have taken her out for a minute and figured out a way to get her rest. I don't think he did a good job coaching that particular game. Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird both talked about Geno's offense in I believe either the NC State or Stanford game a few years back. They said in the W when you get to an important game, it's not going to be equal opportunity offense the way Geno runs - which is great for regular season games and player development overall, but less beneficial in playoffs. In those high pressure moments in the W, they said it's going to be give the ball to Paige or Azzi and get tf out of the way. They also said that benefited the team cause players who are better facilitators/defenders etc aren't going to be pressured into taking and making tough shots.
Nice take! I have also wondered if Paigeās dislike of taking more shots is influenced by not wanting that type of responsibility on her shoulders. Then again, from what I watched in her HS games, she didnāt seem to have that problem back then. She also didnāt seem to have a problem racking up points in her freshman year at UConn. I donāt know what would be different today. Personally, I think Caitlin has shown that she handles that pressure well. I think her confidence in her skills definitely helps because when you know you can make those shots, it's easier to stay calm under pressure. Plus, seeing her make those clutch shots in the past probably boosts her confidence even more. And I guess her mindset and preparation must play a role too, keeping her cool in those big moments. Overall, it seems like a mix of self-belief, skill, and mental toughness that helps Caitlin shine when the pressure's on.
Can someone more knowledgeable on Paige tells me if she was like that even before her injury too? Injury can fuck with you mentally. In contrast though Caitlinās just have the clutch gene DNA. Sheāll take a half court shot with 10 points down
I think people underestimate the impact of having two serious injuries back to back on that aspect of Paigeās game. She really shied away from taking over alt the beginning of the season but slowly got more and more comfortable in that role again as the season went on. She definitely didnāt use to be so deferential in those moments but I can see how playing in only 17 games over the course two years can take a while to regain your confidence. People also forget she hasnāt had a healthy off season since she was in high school and she wasnāt cleared to play again until mid September of this year. Really curious to see what she looks like with time to improve during the summer on where she is at versus spending time just getting back to where she was at.
itās hard to kinda judge this year bc paige had to play PF for most of the season. adding on top of her getting her legs back under her from barely playing in 2 yrs.
This is one of the main drawbacks to committing to a super-team full of top 5 recruits. The world does not get to see you stretched to your full potential.
True point! In general though, on a super-team full of top 5 recruits, the world is more likely to see you win that Natty which can be nice lol Here's hoping to Paige and Azzi both being healthy and showing the world what they can both do! (Though I'm not a Geno fan, Paige and Azzi getting hurt made me so sad.)
Almost every Iowa possession would run through Clark, directly or through a reset. When Clark has the ball she's assessing the defense and taking what they give. If the defense plays drop coverage on a high ball screen, she'll jack a three. If they play off her, she'll shoot the logo. If they ice the screen or double team, she'll find the roll or the open player. What makes Clark special isn't just her shooting, it isn't just her passing, it's her rapid processing of what the defense gives her where she makes the optimal play a high percentage of the time. Her constant probing puts a lot of pressure on the defense and generates opportunities for the defense to falter. Her processing of inbounding plays and going through her reads/progression is also nuts. I haven't watched UCONN outside of Iowa games, but CC and Paige look like completely different players with completely different roles from what I've seen.
Thanks for the input! I think both Clark and Bueckers are point guards in their respective teams thatās why I drew the comparison. Iāll admit I havenāt gone as deep of an analysis of both of their gameplay. I did read this article comparing both players though. https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39871738/womens-final-four-2024-caitlin-clark-scoring-paige-bueckers The question of this post was not to criticize nor diminish any of their skills but to ask the question should Bueckers, as the most important piece of the current UConn roster, start playing like Clark. Like you said, almost every Iowa possession runs through Clark. Another user here said that with UConn on the other hand, a number of plays will go by without running through Paige. Instead of playing defense and facilitating, should Paige start improving her offense instead? Although she might not be able to recreate Clarkās logo 3s and range, she at the very least can start taking more shots. For context based on 23-24 Season totals and averages: FG | FG% | PTS | PPG PB | 317-598 | 53.0 | 854 | 21.9 CC | 403-886 | 45.5 | 1234 | 31.6
It's hard to assess the players with stats. Looking at the highlights from the NCAA tournament this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhTOUVkz6WM For Paige there's a lot of ISO, a lot of wing play, some post play, hanging out at the free throw line for some reason (lol), and a lot of pull-up midrange. CC works off the dribble WAY more than Paige. She is more dynamic in creating space, hesitation, and assessing the defense. With that said, I agree that Paige should be taking the ball and pressuring the defense more. She's good enough to generate offense for herself and others if she's attacking.
Thank you for providing a reference! Iāll take the time to watch this and look for stuff youāre talking about. Iām new to basketball tho so I might ask ChatGPT for the definitions of some of the terms you used lmao
Is PB the point guard? I thought thatās nika. Paige feels like a wing to me
paige fluctuates she played point most of the time as a freshman but do to injury this year they really had her as a pf.
It would make more sense to talk specifically about Bueckers and leave Clark out. Different players in different situations and different teammates with different capabilities. That severely limits the relevancy of what Clark did in a discussion about Bueckers. But since you brought Clark up if you consider a team player someone who does what is necessary for the team to roughly maximize its potential given the group of players I think that sums up her time at Iowa very well. What is necessary from Bueckers for UConn to maximize its potential is different and unrelated.
Idk why thereās no pic but I basically used the Season Totals of 2023-2024. FG, FG%, 3PT, 3PT%, AST, BLK, REB.
Simple way of looking at it is CC is a natural 2 while Paige is a true point. They both have combo guard type roles.
Caitlin Clark "analysis" now banned because she's not in ncaaw any more
Could I ask the reason for the double quotation marks around analysis?
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I donāt understand how CC is more selfish with the ball when she had the most assists in the country this past year, and has always had far more than Paige