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| Who Would Win Player of the Year today? |
| Paige Bueckers, UConn |
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14% |
[ 5 ] |
| Nia Cooke, South Carolina |
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2% |
[ 1 ] |
| Elissa Cunane, NC State |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Dana Evans, Louisville |
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8% |
[ 3 ] |
| Rhyne Howard, Kentucky |
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29% |
[ 10 ] |
| Haley Jones, Stanford |
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20% |
[ 7 ] |
| Aari McDonald, Arizona |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA |
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11% |
[ 4 ] |
| Ashley Owusu, Maryland |
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2% |
[ 1 ] |
| NaLyssa Smith, Baylor |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Someone Else |
|
8% |
[ 3 ] |
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| Total Votes : 34 |
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| Author |
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SDHoops
Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 1183
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 Posted: 01/12/21 12:09 pm ::: |
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| I'm surprised that Cunane doesn't get any love from NC State! I love her game...correct me if I'm wrong, but she's one of the key cogs who's brought the Pack back to national relevancy in the past few years?!
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 16358
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: 01/12/21 12:13 pm ::: |
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| At this point, I find it hard to vote for anyone other than Naz Hillman. Top 10 in points and rebounds in the country for undefeated major conference team? That's very hard to argue against.
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mzonefan
Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 4878
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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| Posted: 01/12/21 7:09 pm ::: |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
| At this point, I find it hard to vote for anyone other than Naz Hillman. Top 10 in points and rebounds in the country for undefeated major conference team? That's very hard to argue against. |
Thank you! I don’t watch enough outside of the B1G to make a qualified comparison nationally, but she’s pretty darned special. Each year her game grows tremendously. This year she’s improved her free throw shooting by 10% and added more range.
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Conway Gamecock
Joined: 23 Jan 2015
Posts: 1900
Location: Here
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| Posted: 01/13/21 8:48 pm ::: |
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| myrtle wrote: |
| Howee wrote: |
I haven't been following SC too closely, but....isn't Boston in that mix, yet? And is Haley Jones Stanford's best? |
IMO Boston really hasn't performed up to last year's standards yet.
I think Jones is our best, but she will be hampered in terms of national honors because of the way Stanford plays - they play very unselfish ball, which is good for w/l, but not for personal glory. |
Boston seems to be ramping up her effort as the season moves along. Would be nice if the team can go on a run of games and not have any major interruptions, but we'll see.
In the first 4 games, Boston shot 17-40 (.425) and averaged 10.5 pts, 8.5 rebs, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. In the next 5 games, she's shot 33-65 (.508) and averaged 16.0 pts, 12.4 rebs, 2.0 steals and 3.4 blocks in those games.
In the 9 games she's played thus far she's surpassing her averages from last year in all categories with exception of FG % and FT %, and she's improved substantially in both categories over the last 5 gms (9-12 - .750 - at the FT line), so we'll see if those trends continue....
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ucbart
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: New York
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| Posted: 01/14/21 7:04 am ::: |
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| Conway Gamecock wrote: |
| myrtle wrote: |
| Howee wrote: |
I haven't been following SC too closely, but....isn't Boston in that mix, yet? And is Haley Jones Stanford's best? |
IMO Boston really hasn't performed up to last year's standards yet.
I think Jones is our best, but she will be hampered in terms of national honors because of the way Stanford plays - they play very unselfish ball, which is good for w/l, but not for personal glory. |
Boston seems to be ramping up her effort as the season moves along. Would be nice if the team can go on a run of games and not have any major interruptions, but we'll see.
In the first 4 games, Boston shot 17-40 (.425) and averaged 10.5 pts, 8.5 rebs, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. In the next 5 games, she's shot 33-65 (.508) and averaged 16.0 pts, 12.4 rebs, 2.0 steals and 3.4 blocks in those games.
In the 9 games she's played thus far she's surpassing her averages from last year in all categories with exception of FG % and FT %, and she's improved substantially in both categories over the last 5 gms (9-12 - .750 - at the FT line), so we'll see if those trends continue.... |
While I'm no SC fan, I do appreciate their superb and obnoxious amount of talent. I think what might be lost on some people is that alllllllll these players are so young. Boston was just a great player on the team last year with two seniors that had a ton of experience and won a NC. All she had to do was show up, Harris and HH took care of the rest. Not only is Boston young and playing during Covid, but the SC guards are also young.
Not to turn this into a UCONN thing, but we also lost a senior PG, but Crystal was a quiet leader and is just not an alpha, whereas Paige Bueckers is. You could just tell from the opening tip of the season that this is her team, much like Sabrina in 2017. I specifically remember hearing Kara Lawson talk about the 2017 young Ducks and that it was evident that Sabrina was the alpha.
I promise, I'm coming back to SC now, ha! is Henderson or Cooke an alpha type leader?
Sorry for that rollercoaster, don't want to be seen as a hi-jacker of threads. It's early and my coffee hasn't kicked in yet
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ucbart
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: New York
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| Posted: 01/14/21 7:22 am ::: |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
| At this point, I find it hard to vote for anyone other than Naz Hillman. Top 10 in points and rebounds in the country for undefeated major conference team? That's very hard to argue against. |
Not that this should be a deciding factor, but when is the last time a POY came from a team outside the top 10 that wasn't Kelsey Plum? I do not think she should've won National POY that season, FWIW-but she was chasing the NCAA scoring record and she was a senior guard, coming off a trip to the FF.
I think that's what could hurt all the B1G candidates for individual awards. The media focuses on the top teams in WBB because they think that's where ratings will come from. Is it fair? No. Is it reality? Yes.
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 16358
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: 01/14/21 10:23 am ::: |
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| ucbart wrote: |
| PUmatty wrote: |
| At this point, I find it hard to vote for anyone other than Naz Hillman. Top 10 in points and rebounds in the country for undefeated major conference team? That's very hard to argue against. |
Not that this should be a deciding factor, but when is the last time a POY came from a team outside the top 10 that wasn't Kelsey Plum? I do not think she should've won National POY that season, FWIW-but she was chasing the NCAA scoring record and she was a senior guard, coming off a trip to the FF.
I think that's what could hurt all the B1G candidates for individual awards. The media focuses on the top teams in WBB because they think that's where ratings will come from. Is it fair? No. Is it reality? Yes. |
You're right. I don't think Hillman will win, but I do think it is where my vote would go now.
If Michigan starts losing games, I might change my mind. If they don't, they'll keep climbing the rankings on her back and it will work itself out.
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Conway Gamecock
Joined: 23 Jan 2015
Posts: 1900
Location: Here
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| Posted: 01/19/21 12:32 am ::: |
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| ucbart wrote: |
| Conway Gamecock wrote: |
| myrtle wrote: |
| Howee wrote: |
I haven't been following SC too closely, but....isn't Boston in that mix, yet? And is Haley Jones Stanford's best? |
IMO Boston really hasn't performed up to last year's standards yet.
I think Jones is our best, but she will be hampered in terms of national honors because of the way Stanford plays - they play very unselfish ball, which is good for w/l, but not for personal glory. |
Boston seems to be ramping up her effort as the season moves along. Would be nice if the team can go on a run of games and not have any major interruptions, but we'll see.
In the first 4 games, Boston shot 17-40 (.425) and averaged 10.5 pts, 8.5 rebs, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. In the next 5 games, she's shot 33-65 (.508) and averaged 16.0 pts, 12.4 rebs, 2.0 steals and 3.4 blocks in those games.
In the 9 games she's played thus far she's surpassing her averages from last year in all categories with exception of FG % and FT %, and she's improved substantially in both categories over the last 5 gms (9-12 - .750 - at the FT line), so we'll see if those trends continue.... |
While I'm no SC fan, I do appreciate their superb and obnoxious amount of talent. I think what might be lost on some people is that alllllllll these players are so young. Boston was just a great player on the team last year with two seniors that had a ton of experience and won a NC. All she had to do was show up, Harris and HH took care of the rest. Not only is Boston young and playing during Covid, but the SC guards are also young.
Not to turn this into a UCONN thing, but we also lost a senior PG, but Crystal was a quiet leader and is just not an alpha, whereas Paige Bueckers is. You could just tell from the opening tip of the season that this is her team, much like Sabrina in 2017. I specifically remember hearing Kara Lawson talk about the 2017 young Ducks and that it was evident that Sabrina was the alpha.
I promise, I'm coming back to SC now, ha! is Henderson or Cooke an alpha type leader?
Sorry for that rollercoaster, don't want to be seen as a hi-jacker of threads. It's early and my coffee hasn't kicked in yet |
Actually I feel that BOTH Henderson AND Cooke are alpha leaders, but they do it from different angles. Cooke is NOT a Ty Harris type alpha: Harris was right off the bat as a freshman a player that deferred to other stars on the team - like Wilson, Alaina Coates, Kaela Davis, and Alisha Gray. She hung back and maintained player separations on the floor, led the others with passes, played defense and then picked and chose her own shots when she could.
As a result, throughout Harris' career at USC, she was a strong consistent ball handler (owns the program career record for assists), an above-solid defender, and a career scorer of around 11 ppg. Her best scoring year was last year as a senior, and she only scored around 12 ppg then.
Zia (NOT "Nia" as listed above) is more of an attack the lane and score points player. She will most likely never have really strong numbers in assists. She showed her alpha nature last season as a freshman - she played more minutes than any other freshman (including Boston) and only 2nd to Harris, took more shots from the field, more 3-pt shots, and more free throws than any other Gamecock. She's a bit up and down in her efficiencies, but will be a top shooter and play-maker for the team as long as she's in the program.
Henderson is more of a Harris type alpha, but even better when it comes to offense. She was designated from the start as Ty's heir apparent at PG, and she's learned well: in her first season as the established PG1, she's averaging 6.0 assists per game through 11 gms thus far - Ty only had 1 season where she averaged 6+ apg. In SEC play through 5 gms, Henderson has 36 assists (7.2 apg) and only 14 turnovers. In the 5 SEC games played thus far, Henderson set her career game high of 9 assists (Florida), tied it again (Vanderbilt) and then reset it at 10 assists (Arkansas).
Both Cooke and Henderson are fast guards, but Henderson being the smaller of the two is the fastest - almost Cuevas-Moore lightning quick, but in more control of herself. She is not as good of a defender that Harris was - she doesn't gather near as many steals per game - but she is surprisingly a stellar rebounder, with the innate sense for the carom that most forwards have, and she gets to the ball before anyone else can.
In the 5 SEC games thus far, Henderson is averaging 14.0 ppg, 7.2 apg, and 6.4 rpg. For the season (11 gms), she's at 13.2 ppg, 6.0 apg, and 5.8 rpg. She shoots at a better FG % and 3-pt FG % than Harris typically did, and is right on her heels at the FT line (79%).
So after all that, I would say that both Cooke and Henderson are alpha type leaders for the Gamecocks - they just do it in different fashion.....
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SDHoops
Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 1183
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| Posted: 01/19/21 12:00 pm ::: |
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| Has a player ever won POTY while sitting out two games for discipline and one for injury? In the W, missing such amount of games would disqualify a player regardless of reason. Jones from Stanford.....now numero uno?
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WNBA 09
Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Posts: 12535
Location: Dallas , Texas
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| Posted: 01/20/21 10:23 am ::: |
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| SDHoops wrote: |
| Has a player ever won POTY while sitting out two games for discipline and one for injury? In the W, missing such amount of games would disqualify a player regardless of reason. Jones from Stanford.....now numero uno? |
Jones also would be my #1 at this point , but i believe the max a player can miss is 4. IN a covid year that may be even smaller !!
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CamrnCrz1974
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 18371
Location: Phoenix
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| Posted: 01/20/21 11:08 am ::: |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
| At this point, I find it hard to vote for anyone other than Naz Hillman. Top 10 in points and rebounds in the country for undefeated major conference team? That's very hard to argue against. |
Thank you for mentioning her name, Matty. It made me look back at her previous games and will pay greater attention to her and Michigan going forward.
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PickledGinger
Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1364
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| Posted: 01/21/21 5:05 pm ::: |
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| Naz Hillmon just put up 50 POINTS and 16 rebounds against Ohio State. They lost by 4 (her teammates shot 10-40 from the field) but she hit 20 of her 30 shots and 10 of her 14 free throws. Crazy impressive despite the loss.
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 16358
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: 01/24/21 12:29 pm ::: |
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| And now Hillman won't play for at least two weeks. She won't be able to build on that performance and start getting the national attention she deserves.
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Iluvacc
Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 4167
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| Posted: 01/26/21 7:05 pm ::: |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
| And now Hillman won't play for at least two weeks. She won't be able to build on that performance and start getting the national attention she deserves. |
X________
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PG4ever
Joined: 14 May 2020
Posts: 429
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| Posted: 01/26/21 7:27 pm ::: |
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| Naz Hillmon (Go Blue!) is MY player of the year so far!
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ucbart
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: New York
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| Posted: 01/27/21 7:16 am ::: |
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| PG4ever wrote: |
| Naz Hillmon (Go Blue!) is MY player of the year so far! |
How long has it been since POY has been this wide open? Or even the AA teams.
Hillman is a strong candidate, but I think it'll be Alliyah Boston when all is said and done.
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Stormeo
Joined: 14 Jul 2019
Posts: 4701
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| Posted: 01/27/21 12:49 pm ::: |
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| This is the year that they can get away with simply giving the honor to the best player on whichever team ends up as the #1-ranked team.
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FrozenLVFan
Joined: 08 Jul 2014
Posts: 3514
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| Posted: 01/27/21 2:20 pm ::: |
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| We need a midseason poll, with a few additions/deletions.
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Shades
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 63770
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| Posted: 03/03/21 12:06 pm ::: |
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Me back in early January.....
| Shades wrote: |
No freshman has ever won the Naismith College Player of the Year on the women’s side, and only 4 sophomores have done it: Cheryl Miller, Clarissa Davis, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart.
With the even older Wade Trophy, again no freshman has ever won the award and only one sophomore, Maya Moore (only three time winner), has ever won the award. In 2014, Odyssey Sims disrupted Breanna Stewart’s attempt to match Maya. |
Voepel in early March....
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No freshman has ever won the Wade (started in 1978), Naismith (1983), AP (1995) or Wooden (2004) honors. The only sophomores who've won any of those awards are Southern California's Cheryl Miller, Texas' Clarissa Davis and UConn's Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021
Posts: 2864
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| Posted: 03/03/21 12:55 pm ::: |
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| Shades wrote: |
Me back in early January.....
| Shades wrote: |
No freshman has ever won the Naismith College Player of the Year on the women’s side, and only 4 sophomores have done it: Cheryl Miller, Clarissa Davis, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart.
With the even older Wade Trophy, again no freshman has ever won the award and only one sophomore, Maya Moore (only three time winner), has ever won the award. In 2014, Odyssey Sims disrupted Breanna Stewart’s attempt to match Maya. |
Voepel in early March....
| Quote: |
No freshman has ever won the Wade (started in 1978), Naismith (1983), AP (1995) or Wooden (2004) honors. The only sophomores who've won any of those awards are Southern California's Cheryl Miller, Texas' Clarissa Davis and UConn's Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
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Are you implying something?    
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GlennMacGrady
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
Posts: 8227
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| Posted: 03/03/21 4:09 pm ::: |
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Maybe someone already has said this, but freshman are not eligible for the Wade.
I don't think Boston or Haley Jones have done enough scoring this year to have earned any POY, plus it's harder for a soph to win than a junior or senior. Rhyne Howard is very good but somehow doesn't really float my boat as an elite player. Same with McDonald and Onyenware, both short at their positions. Naz Hillmon hasn't played that many games, but is a senior who scores lots of points.
There's no obvious standout to me, but I'd give the best chances to seniors Dana Evans and Naz Hillmon with Paige Bueckers having the best chance for non-Wade POY among the underclassmen, if only because she's clearly the best player on the #1 ranked team. Cutting against Bueckers is that her shooting and related value stats have fallen off the past four games or so.
While I think seniority and related politics will favor Evans over Bueckers and Caitlyn Clark, my eyes tell me both those frosh are actually better all-around guards than Evans right now. |
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ucbart
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: New York
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| Posted: 03/03/21 9:14 pm ::: |
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| GlennMacGrady wrote: |
Maybe someone already has said this, but freshman are not eligible for the Wade.
I don't think Boston or Haley Jones have done enough scoring this year to have earned any POY, plus it's harder for a soph to win than a junior or senior. Rhyne Howard is very good but somehow doesn't really float my boat as an elite player. Same with McDonald and Onyenware, both short at their positions. Naz Hillmon hasn't played that many games, but is a senior who scores lots of points.
There's no obvious standout to me, but I'd give the best chances to seniors Dana Evans and Naz Hillmon with Paige Bueckers having the best chance for non-Wade POY among the underclassmen, if only because she's clearly the best player on the #1 ranked team. Cutting against Bueckers is that her shooting and related value stats have fallen off the past four games or so.
While I think seniority and related politics will favor Evans over Bueckers and Caitlyn Clark, my eyes tell me both those frosh are actually better all-around guards than Evans right now. |
I expect Evans to win them because she is a senior, but I'm willing to bet that every WNBA GM would pick Bueckers/Clark as the 1 & 2 in the 2021 draft if they were eligible.
I'm a UCONN fan, yes, but to me, Paige should win NPOY.
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ClayK
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
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| Posted: 03/04/21 10:03 am ::: |
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| To bang my drum again, Clark's horrid defense is an issue ... there's more to the game than scoring.
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robertoclementeforever
Joined: 18 Dec 2020
Posts: 31
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| Posted: 03/04/21 10:30 am ::: POY |
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| Bueckers breaks the Glass Ceiling for POY. She's the best player on the Top Ranked Team with seven Freshman and zero Seniors. The UConn greats that preceded Paige were never called on to shoulder the responsibilities that traditionally reside with the upper classmen(wo). Geno historically has never relied on Freshman to lead his Teams, without exception, until this season. That the Huskies are this good is due to the exceptional talent that is Paige Bueckers. Morover, whereas Kaitlin Clark is a prolific scorer, she has a scorers mentality, unlike Paige that is all about Team first passing and cohesion. How many times has Paige passed up open shots in favor of her teammates? Geno has only one legitimate complaint about Paige....and it's simply that she doesn't take enough shots. Paige is the unquestioned leader of the Huskies. Everyone knows it including Azzi Fudd. No freshman in the history of the UConn Program has ever been asked to shoulder its Legacy from day one. Paige has responded in a way that has exceeded our expectations. We are the best because of her skill set and character. Without her or her leadership, we don't win even a Big East Conference Title.[/b]
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