When Arizona guard Paulina Paris decided to transfer, she was looking for a place where she could develop into the player she knew she could be. It wasn’t just a matter of time on the court. She wanted to feel important to the team’s success.
Paris played over 20 minutes per game in 48 appearances in her two years at North Carolina. She started 12 times in two seasons before getting hurt last year. She just didn’t feel integral to what the Tar Heels were doing.
“I didn’t have a role at UNC,” Paris said. “I was kind of just there in case people got hurt. Pretty much, that’s how I felt. So obviously, I have a big role here. I’m a starter. I’m playing the one and the two. Playing significant minutes. So yeah, I like my role here, but it’s gotten bigger. I could finally play like I want to.”
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes was pleased to hear that Paris has found what she was looking for as far as having a role on her team.
“They don’t tell me that stuff,” Barnes said. “I think she knows that she’s gonna come in and play some one. Yeah, maybe that helps.”
Having a role she’s comfortable in has certainly helped Paris improve her statistical game. She’s hitting 45.5 percent of her shots from the field, and her 3-point shot is successful 32.5 percent of the time. She is good for 15.8 points per 40 minutes and 10.3 points per game. Her rebounds have increased to 6.6 per 40 minutes and she gets 3.6 assists per standard contest. All of those are career highs.
Advanced stats at career highs include her 20 percent usage rate, 0.91 points per possession, 1.08 points per scoring attempt, 52 percent effective field goal percentage, 20.3 percent free throw rate, 9.0 total rebound percentage, and 17.2 assist percentage.
That’s not to say all her stats have gone up, but even some that have decreased aren’t hurting her overall game. She is taking a lower percentage of her shots from 3-point distance this year but is more successful on the ones she takes. She is also getting fouled more because she drives more often. Her free throw percentage has dropped to a career low, but she spent several games shooting with a mask on due to a broken nose.
Her win shares are down from her freshman season when she was good for 2.0 win shares. However, she’s actually improved relative to her peers in that stat, too. The 2.0 WS she was responsible for in 2022-23 had her in the 69th percentile of Division I women’s basketball. Her 1.2 WS in the early part of this season place her in the 94th percentile.
The coaches may not have known that Paris feels more valuable to her team now than she did at her previous school, but they see improvement in her ability to do what they are asking. That’s especially true on the defensive end.
“She has already improved defensively, not only on the ball but also off the ball, because our defense requires a lot of rotations,” said assistant coach Salvo Coppa. “What she was used to there was successful. I’m not saying it was bad. It was a good defensive system. It was just different. We trap a lot, need to rotate. And, of course, it’s normal. She had a hard time denying, and she was instead more used to staying in the gap. Now we’re asking her to deny, to be aggressive on ball screens, things that probably weren’t required (at UNC), but now it looks like it’s better.”
Paris knew she had to focus on those defensive improvements to get the minutes she wanted. She now averages a career-high 25.9 mpg with the Wildcats playing both the point and off-guard positions.
“I wasn’t playing the amount of minutes I wanted to at UNC,” Paris said. “And obviously here, if you want to play, you have to play defense. So my defense has shifted.”
Being a successful player isn’t just about the physical skills and stat sheets, though. Leadership and communication are vital, especially for a team with as many young and new players as Arizona. Paris joined a team that had some established leaders, although they were young. She is becoming more vocal, which is especially important when she plays the point.
“I think it’s hard,” Barnes said. “She was really quiet at first because also she wasn’t sure what to do. So she was learning a new team and learning the system. So I think that made it more challenging. I think she’s done a good job. I think she’s more comfortable. I think she’s more confident. I think she’s just getting better as a player. I hope she feels that way.”
Paris wants to add her voice, but she recognizes that it needs to blend with the important voices that were already here. Jada Williams and Skylar Jones have more experience in the system than she does, so she’s not trying to take their roles. Instead, she wants to complement them.
“Guard-wise, I think I’m the most experienced guard because I’ve been in college the longest, but I mean, Jada is a great leader,” Paris said. “We have other great guards that know how to play their roles, and then obviously I have a lot of experience. Just adding my experience to the guard group that already has experience with Jada and Sky.”
The Wildcats have one more game before they jump into Big 12 play. Weber State comes to town on Monday, Dec. 16 to wrap up nonconference play, and then Arizona goes on the road to face BYU on Saturday, Dec. 21.
“We got to win out nonconference,” Paris said. “Got a little break at home and then come back and try to win all of our Big 12 games that we can. Get back on track for postseason.”