Geno Auriemma gives surprising take on best ways to help Paige Bueckers deal with expectations

Geno Auriemma was honest when he explained the best ways to help Paige Bueckers deal with expectations. She was dynamite again, helping UConn beat Oklahoma 82-59 in the Sweet 16.

Bueckers put up 40 points, six rebounds and one assist in the win. Someone asked Auriemma to clarify if that’s the best he’s ever seen her play.

Auriemma, in his experienced way, propped up his star player and found ways to point out where she can get better. Bueckers scores 40 and it’s not enough? Those are the expectations on the Huskies’ star player.

“Did I really say that, that that’s the best I’ve seen her play,” Auriemma said. “That came out of my mouth? Well, that’s the most I’ve seen her shoot, and she was really bad defensively, so we can’t just let her off the hook that easily. We still got, hopefully, a couple more games to go before she gets canonized.

“We see this every day at practice, right? Every day at practice there’s long stretches of exactly what you saw today and little by little it’s dawned on her, I think, that there is no next year, there is no, you know, I can get this anytime I want. You’re going to have to get it now or it won’t be available anymore.”

But Bueckers having a game like she did against the Sooners is no surprise. Heck at that pace, UConn might be back on top with a national title.

Paige Bueckers dominant again, more to come

“So what she does is not a surprise to anybody on our team,” Auriemma said. “Today was unusual for her because she doesn’t necessarily like to shoot the ball as much as she did today, but circumstances were perfect because of how Oklahoma was playing. But in the big picture — yeah, I said this last week. I think Paige is held to a different standard than a lot of other kids. 

“I think you see this a lot in sports, whether it’s pro or college, where one person becomes the narrative, you know. I saw one thing today, it was in Paige versus Oklahoma or Oklahoma versus Paige and UConn.”

Bueckers has had an amazing career with UConn, but there’s been plenty of adversity. Injuries have derailed seasons for her, one of the best players of this recent generation.

When you talk about the rise of women’s basketball, Bueckers is certainly in the conversation of stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese before her, and with Juju Watkins and others in the current game.

“So it’s almost like, you know, the Trojan war here. We’re going to send out Achilles, they’re going to send out Hector, and we’re going to see who wins. And it doesn’t work that way. But, you know, Paige can do things during the course of a game that most people can’t do,” Auriemma said. “But she’s certainly not going to win tonight’s game or Monday’s game by herself. And if we lose, it’s not because she lost it.

“So we’ve been talking about that a lot these last couple of weeks to just kind of put her at ease because the outside pressure just keeps growing and growing and growing. And then with this performance, people are going to expect 50 on Monday. So, you know, my job is to kind of alleviate that pressure. You’re surprised to hear that, huh?”