Paige Bueckers of UConn in numbers

Paige Bueckers’ immense talent is no secret.

The freshman at UConn joined the most awarded college basketball program this season as the nation’s No. 1 recruit. She quickly started to exceed those high expectations while leading UConn to a record of 26-1, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and now a spot on Sweet 16.

It did not take long for the conversations to emerge speculating about his eventual place in the historic pantheon of UConn of great players among names like Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Maya Moore. Obviously, it is not fair to put it next to those names – yet. She didn’t win a championship. These big ones – and others at UConn – have won several titles.

It is similar to the debates about Patrick Mahomes’ eventual place among the great defenders of all times in the NFL. Is it at the beginning of the game for these discussions? Right. Are they irrational? Absolutely not.

The Bueckers box score is impressive, but …

Bueckers cash score statistics jump off the page. In 26 games, she averaged 19.9 points, six assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals. She shot 53.9% of the field – as a guard – 85.7% of the free-throw line and 46.7% of the 3-point distance.

These numbers, along with the success of the UConn team, earned the Associated Press’s Bueckers First-Team All-America Honors and the Big East Player of the Year award.

And she has done great things before she did not.

With a 31-point effort against South Carolina on February 8, Bueckers became the first UConn player to score three consecutive 30-point games. She set the record for most assists in a single UConn game with 14 against Butler on February 27. His 156 assists – and counting – are the biggest ever for a freshman from UConn.

She is an elite gunner. She can be an even better guard.

Check out the advanced statistics

But to really appreciate what Bueckers is doing, it’s best to take a look at your Synergy statistics. Synergy compiles basketball data to provide advanced analytical feedback for coaches, scouts and executives. It breaks the player’s performance in very specific game situations, such as single-coverage pick-and-roll handling and non-post-up shots around the basket.

The story continues

It then ranks players in these categories in relation to the competition. And this is where Bueckers’ numbers really stand out.

Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports – who analyzes a lot of basketball data – calls it “the most impressive stats page I have ever seen of any college basketball player”.

Although the data is advanced, a column here facilitates digestion – the classification column. This shows where Bueckers ranks in percentile versus all other female college basketball players in the country.

The chart in the tweet above shows the Bueckers’ ranking in the 90th percentile or better in 10 of the 16 broad offensive categories. Further analysis of 94 categories that also include the specific game situations mentioned shows the Bueckers’ ranking in the 90th percentile or better in 34 categories.

Bueckers are alone

In five categories related to one-off moves, Bueckers is in the 100th percentile. This means that no one in college basketball is as statistically good as the Bueckers in accurate shots, pitchers without dribbling and drives to the left in certain situations.

In short, Bueckers is the best stand-alone player as an outstanding player. In about a third of the categories analyzed, Bueckers is elite – in the 90th percentile – including most of the categories that analyze the general attack.

In areas where it does not rank in the 90th percentile, it stands out merely, ranking in the 80th percentile or better in 60 categories.

While this kind of in-depth analysis of basketball demonstrates how special Bueckers are, it is not the best way to enjoy their game. It is better to leave it to the tape.

Such that:

This is it:

Or better yet, watch it live with in-game bets. His next chance is this weekend in a confrontation with the freshman phenomenon Caitlin Clark, when UConn faces Iowa in Sweet 16.

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