Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: UConn women about to unleash ‘Killer’ Paige Bueckers; future of Huskies on TV; travesty at Travelers and more

STORRS — Paige Bueckers has about a six-week break in the preparation for her fifth year at UConn, and as she continues to train, she’ll be taking a Paige-Across-America Tour.She plans to go to Seattle to see Nika Muhl, to Los Angeles for the ESPY Awards, to spend time with her mother in Montana and father in Maryland, maybe go to the WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, then spend much of August in her native Minnesota, a cool place to be that time of year.It’s not a campaign. Bueckers has the women’s college basketball spotlight, with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in the WNBA, largely to herself. Same goes for the leadership of UConn, with Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards in the pros. Bueckers graduated, but is playing a fifth year to try to gain the experiences she missed due to COVID and injuries. It’s kind of like the unknown extra time in a soccer game, still time for goals to be secured.“I’m just going to continue to be me, be myself, be the best version of myself every single day,” Bueckers said Friday, “and worry about my team and what my team needs me to do. Whatever happens, happens and continue to do what I do.”Bueckers’ plan is to play one more year at UConn, though she has the option to play two. The twists and turns of her time in Storrs have taught her not to think too far ahead.In the here and now, the Huskies have a number of freshmen and sophomores and newcomers, other veterans are recovering from injuries.“It’s crazy because I feel like I don’t have Nika, I don’t have Aaliyah, so it’s all on me,” she said. “It’s mostly responsibility. I’m taking that responsibility and I’m doing it with pride and making sure I’m leading these young guys, being a voice for them, teaching, communicating, also leading by example.”Bueckers first stepped onto the UConn campus in the summer of 2020 as the most hyped high school player of the moment. She was the consensus national player of the year as a freshman, though much of that season was played in empty arenas due to the pandemic. Seems like a lifetime ago, with all that’s happened.Her new teammates were in middle school when Bueckers first became a star, one of the players they wanted to be like. Now, she is their teammate.And the expectations, always through the roof for Paige Bueckers, are about to shoot into the stratosphere. She has had a healthy offseason to work on her strength and skills, rather than rehab from an injury. She has her confidence back after playing a full season on her surgically repaired knees. And she has a better idea than ever of what she needs to do, to win at UConn and move on to the WNBA.Dom Amore: With NBA Draft red carpet rolled up, hard tasks await UConn’s Stephon Castle, Donovan ClinganGet ready for a new version: “Killer” Paige Bueckers 5.0.“I’m enjoying it, being healthy for the entire offseason, just working on getting stronger, that’s a huge thing I’m working on,” she said. “And working on my game. I haven’t had a lot of time in my college career in the offseason to work on my skills, work on my weaknesses and get better in my strengths.”Bueckers, 6 feet, has been a combo guard/combo forward, everything (so far) but center. She had to play a lot of de facto power forward last season, with the Huskies so depleted by injuries, and she averaged 21.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists. As she gets stronger, she’s transitioning her game.“It has been a learning process,” she said. “I never really had this sort of frame and this muscle strength to use my body in this way. I was always like agile and sort of wavy. Now I feel I can play with more force, use my strength on both sides of the ball, play more physically.“At every level, high school to college, college to the pros, the level of physicality rises, so it’s just trying to continue to prepare my body, continue to stay healthy, continue to do everything in my power to be ready physical-wise, muscle-wise. It’s walking the fine line. You don’t want to lose your speed, lose your quickness or lose your agility, but you want to add strength and muscle.”Then there is that longstanding internal and external battle involving coach Geno Auriemma and his desire for Bueckers to take more shots. Now as ever, she will be the scoring centerpiece.“Being more aggressive, being more assertive,” she said. “Not being passive, which is not equal to not passing any more, I love to pass. Looking for my shot, creating for others, finding my shots which leads to me passing. It’s just like a lifelong habit, I love to pass, I’ve been pass-first, an unselfish player, being a killer or being unselfish, it doesn’t have to be one or the other, it can be both and that’s how I’ve gotten here. It’s just more killer, more aggressive, more assertive.”Why Geno Auriemma compares this year’s UConn women’s basketball roster to 2016 national champsKiller Paige. This is a new vision, which includes shooting more and deeper 3-pointers, and a new version of Bueckers the Huskies, and the national fandom that gravitates to the faces of the game, can get behind.And when she gets to the pros, especially if she arrives with that frustratingly elusive NCAA Championship ring, she’ll be ready.“A lot of new eyes are watching and they’re impressed with the level of talent and the level of physicality, but that’s what the league has been,” Bueckers said. “Caitlin has brought so many new eyes to the game and we appreciate that, when people tune in to watch her they leave the game fans of so many more. The game is growing a lot, people are learning about the W.”… Is there anything more pretentious than referring to one’s content by its initials? I think not. More in TSR.UConn women and Big East TV dealThe six-year, $480 million deal the Big East signed with Fox, NBC and TNT will spell the eventual end for UConn women’s basketball on SNY, the New York cable station that has televised games since 2012. Nothing will change this year.“UConn womens games will no longer be on SNY beginning with the 2025-26 season,” according to a UConn statement. “All games will instead air through one of the Big East partner networks. More information will be available at a later date.”Sunday short takes*UConn was the only school with multiple top-10 picks in both the NBA (Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan) and WNBA (Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl) drafts.*Baseball America’s final top 25 had UConn at No. 14, the only non-Power 5 program in the top 15. The Huskies were 15th in D1baseball’s poll, and No. 19 in USA Today’s.*Had to root for Paul Maurice to get the Stanley Cup, not only because he coached the Whalers, but because he had been chasing it so long, has had so many runs at it that fell short. His reaction, remembering his father, was heartwarming, too. Also worth noting here that Panthers GM Bill Zito, who hired him, played for Tim Taylor at Yale in the 1980s.*Would it be a reach for Maurice to stop by Hartford with The Cup for the Yard Goats’ Whalers Weekend July 26?*In other hockey news of note, former Blackhawks star Jeremy Roenick, who was elected to the Hall of Fame this week after a lengthy wait, spent much of his youth in Connecticut, playing for teams in Ridgefield and Glastonbury. As a kid at a Whalers game, he was hit with a playful slushy snowball from Gordie Howe, who skated by again and winked at him.*SCSU and Wallingford’s Jordan Davis came up a few meters short in the javelin throw at the Olympic trials. He’s young enough to try again.*Interesting week for press conferences. After the College World Series, runner-up coach Jim Schlossnagle was asked to address reports he was leaving Texas A&M for Texas. He called the question “selfish,” and launched into a rant about how he planned on the Aggies being his last job. Less than 24 hours later, he was on his way to the Longhorns. … Then there was former TV and internet “engagement farmer” J.J. Reddick, dropping F-bombs as he was introduced as Lakers coach.*The final round of the Travelers drew 2.66 million viewers for CBS, up seven percent from 2023, even though adjustments for weather moved the final holes to an hour earlier than usual. With the top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, poised to win, viewership rose to 4.3 million between 4:45 and 5 p.m. CBS didn’t offer streaming numbers, but said they reached a new high.Once dust cleared, Scottie Scheffler, Travelers Championship concluded successful Signature EventLast wordJust to be clear on this, what happened on the 72nd hole at The Travelers Championship involved more than just disrupting a sporting event at the moment of maximum attention. It was shouting “fire” in a crowded theater, something that could have caused a panic and stampede in which many could have been injured or worse. For this reason alone, I favor throwing the book at the perpetrators, whatever the law allows.

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