A real Paige-turner
Dazzling debut provides first look at a special player
STORRS — One day she’ll play in front of a sellout crowd and 10,000 fans will ooh and ahh and rise and cheer in a way that makes Gampel Pavilion feel as if it’s levitating or about to lose its roof.
Not many athletes can do that — give such life to an environment, make buildings feel as if they’re swelling or breathing — but Paige Bueckers is going to do so at UConn.
That’s how good Bueckers was Saturday in an empty gym, beginning her college career and setting the stage for something to behold as the Huskies opened the strangest of seasons with a 79-23 victory over UMass Lowell.
Bueckers was the best player on the court, by far. She will be, often, between now and April 2024. It’s not because
there is one particular aspect of Bueckers’ game that leaves one in awe. It’s because the basketball package that she honed in Greater Minneapolis and will further refine in Storrs is already a compilation of everything mental and physical that only special ones possess.
“You hate to say this because she’s so young, but there really isn’t a segment of the game that Paige doesn’t feel comfortable doing,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “From the first week of practice that we had to today, there hasn’t been a time where we would say as a coaching staff that Paige looked really uncomfortable.”
With bright lights finally shining on her new uniform, Bueckers had 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals against the overmatched River Hawks. Her impact will never be measured by numbers alone, though.
She’s confident, smooth and simply brilliant because she plays simply and brilliantly — and so selflessly. She belonged right away. She dictated immediately.
“I think she played great,” Auriemma said. “I think Paige was Paige. Paige did all the things that Paige does — she scored some points, she rebounded the ball, she stole the ball, she passed the ball. She had a feel for our offense. …
“It doesn’t really matter what part of the game you want to analyze. Can she pass the ball? You saw that. Can she shoot it? You saw that. Can she get to the basket? Yeah. She’ll try to play defense and get in the passing lane.
“In baseball they would call that a five-tool player.
When you look at Paige, she’s a five-tool basketball player.”
Auriemma was giddy Saturday afternoon. Maybe it was the joy of finally playing after all the isolation and about a thousand other 2020 complications. Maybe it was that the Huskies performed well.
Or maybe it was because it’s obvious that what takes place over the next four years could be a hell of a fun ride out of a pandemic and into the next chapter of this dynasty.
Bueckers made 8 of 11 shots, everything from a putback that opened the scoring, to a drive for a twisting layup that beat the halftime buzzer, to a soft pullup jumper in the lane and a 17-footer. She never forced a shot. She swatted the ball and stood her ground on defense. She made easy passes and made difficult passes look easy.
Sometimes, she didn’t look at all. She fed Aaliyah Edwards, for instance, for an easy basket that gave UConn a 60-15 lead. Another time, she tried to connect with Piath Gabriel on a pick-androll, but Gabriel didn’t even know the ball was coming.
It was one of Bueckers’ three turnovers. That type of pass, though, will become a post player’s delight.
“I’m just unselfish,” Bueckers said. “If I have a good shot, I want to get my teammates even better shots. I don’t know if that’s just who I am, but I like to see my teammates and everybody else around me do great things.”
Bueckers has vision. She tends to feel something, it seems.
Back at Hopkins High in Minnetonka, Minn., they called it “P Tingle,” an ability to zip the ball to teammates without a hint. And they called her “Olive Oil” — 5-foot-11 and all appendages. Bueckers led Hopkins High to a state championship and a 62-game winning streak.
She came to UConn as the No. 1 recruit in the nation and one of the most celebrated high school basketball players in history.
She came, as Auriemma said Saturday, “advertised as better than any flavor of ice cream ever invented.”
She came into the game a ball of nervous energy — like she always is, not because she’s been called the next Diana Taurasi.
“I can’t live up to anybody else’s expectations, and my expectations for myself are pretty high — I’d say higher than a lot of other people have for me,” Bueckers said. “Just trying to live up to what I know I can do, what my coaches want me to do and what my teammates need me to do.”
Bueckers’ father, Bob, watched on an app in Maryland and her mother, Amy, did the same in Montana. The ball went up in the near silence of Gampel just after 1 p.m., all those cardboard cutouts getting an up-close look at UConn’s future.
“It was really fun,” Bueckers said. “We’ve been waiting to play basketball for nine months. It was just really exciting to get out there and
— no fans, fans — it didn’t really matter.”
It will matter, though. She’ll dazzle those fans, whenever they return.
Look, there are much greater tests ahead, starting Tuesday at Seton Hall. There will be matchups throughout the years against the best the sport has to offer. There will be growing pains like there are for any freshman in any sport.
We can’t ask Bueckers to imitate Taurasi or match any accomplishments posted in another era. But she does model her game after Taurasi and Sue Bird, and she does appear prepared to handle all demands of her new basketball life — mostly because she understands she is not doing anything alone.
“That was Diana’s greatest quality, I thought,” Auriemma said. “If you were on the floor with her, you automatically became a better player. It’s not fair to compare Paige to D because when D was a freshman [in 2000-01], she had four or five legends on her team.
“This is a different scenario Paige is stepping into, but they have similar mentalities of how to play basketball, what’s important in the game. … She’s not out there looking to get 30 [points] every night. She’s out there to make sure that we win.”
If she puts on a show while doing that, so be it.
The kid is going to be great. She is a player who will, eventually, make 10,000 people rise and cheer and spill popcorn and soda.