Paige Bueckers is known to have a mind of her own and manages to even confidently jest with her college basketball coach, Geno Auriemma. In a recent interview with ‘What Drives Winning’, the 70-year-old head coach for the UConn Huskies spilled plenty of tea on what goes on in the team, with Bueckers.
The coach reminisced about the 2021 Elite Eight game against Baylor. During a certain crucial inbound play, Bueckers almost made a mistake as a result of her impatience. Fortunately, the Huskies managed to win the game with a final score of 69-67. When chastising her later in the locker room, Auriemma was taken aback by her outspokenness.
“We win. That night, walking past Paige, ‘Hey, are you kidding me?” She says, ‘What?,’ I said, ‘We set this thing up and we’ve gone over this and you decide you don’t feel like waiting for that screen and you take off and now, you put us in a position where we’re going to lose.’ I shake my head and I keep walking.” Auriemma remarked.
“She walks seven-eight feet past me, turns around, goes, ‘We won, didn’t we?’ That’s why she missed the next year, I choked her.” Auriemma said on ‘What Drives Winning’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW44lYKuFkA&feature=youtu.be
What Geno Auriemma was trying to say when he quoted Paige Bueckers’ example, was that when a wrong decision leads to positive results, athletes try to take shortcuts in their careers, which may be fruitful or may also lead to a downfall.
Paige Bueckers Releases Special Edition Of Nike Shoes
On another positive note, Paige Bueckers managed to release her own player edition Nike G.T. Hustle 3 shoes. Along with Bueckers, her UConn Huskies teammates also wore the special edition sneakers when the team played Louisville on December 7th. Despite the sneakers being released quite recently, popular sizes have already been sold out.
Bueckers also gave a pair to her dear coach, Geno Auriemma, but apparently he is yet to try the new pair of kicks out. The UConn Huskies guard spoke to reporters and remarked how special she felt when her teammates wore the sneakers. Bueckers also mentioned that the shoes do not only symbolize her, but also those who have invested in her and been around her.
Bueckers seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the process of designing the sneaker with Nike, and mentioned that it was pretty much a back and forth collaborative project. The sneaker is not too pricey since it is not a signature pair, and simply a colorway, making it accessible to everyone.
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