RebKell's Junkie Boards

[mercfan3]

Okay, it's now the end of July, only one more month until playoffs. Who is everyone's first and second teams.

Mine are:

guards
Diana Taurasi- Statistically the best guard. She's also in a situation unlike most guards, where she doesn't have another all star on her team, Yes Penny has been playing extrememly well (thank God) but she isn't an All Star. I'm giving her the nod over Deanna for right now.

Nykeshia Sales- She was listed as a guard for the All Star game, so I'm going to list her as a guard. Bottom Line, she's the best player on the best team.

Post
Sheryl Swoopes- Probably the MVP this year, The Comets are excelling and most of it is because Sheryl is playing amazing this year.

Taj- It was a tough choice, for me, between Holdsclaw and Taj, statistically Holdsclaw is better, but Taj's team is better..I think my reasoning with this, is that Taj plays within the team concept, where as Holdsclaw plays individually

Lauren Jackson- She's second in rebounds and third in pionts, she's one of the best players in the league, although it seems to be a down year for her.. a down year for Lauren, is an up year for anyone else with her stats.


Second Team
Guards
Deanna Nolan- She's almost up there statistically with Diana, but she doesn't beat either right now.

Becky Hammon- This one was hard for me, but she's averaging more points and rebounds than Sue, and more points than Lindsay. Becky doesn't have Lauren on her team, nor does she have Sales or Taj. The Liberty need Becky more than the Storm or the Sun need Sue or Lindsay.

Posts
Tamika Catchings- Her stats are down this year, but her effort is always there, She's taken the Fever into second place in the East.

Chamiqua Holdsclaw- You can't keep the league leader in points off the list. But I'm not a big Holdsclaw fan...

Yolanda Griffith-She's the best player on the best team in the west. It was between her and Lisa, the numbers are very close, but Yolanda is the leader of her team, and Sacremento is doing great this year.

[mysticsfan07]

Taurasi
Nolan
Swoopes
Holdsclaw
Jackson

Bird
Sales
Catchings
McWilliams-Franklin
Snow

[chadb]

Snow over Griffith? I dont think so

[Keegan]

Sue Bird always finds some way of making the first team.

_________________
Beware of snarky monotremes...

[barryi22]

[quote="Keegan"]Sue Bird always finds some way of making the first team.[/quote]

I'll be stunned if she does this season. She is a great player but hasn't put up stats that are deserving of first team and her team isn't one of the top 4 in the league. Here are my teams:
First:
G: Nolan
G: Whalen
F: Holdsclaw
F: Swoopes
C: Jackson

Second:
G: Taurasi
G: Hammon
F: Catchings
F: Taj
C: Griffith

The only reason why I'm choosing Nolan over Taurasi is that Taurasi hasn't been the best player on her team except for one time in the last 8 games. Whalen has been the leader for the Sun, so I have her on first team all wnba. Taj hasn't been the star she was at the beginning of the season so I don't think she should be on first team. Holdsclaw has been Holdsclaw and leads the league in points and is 4th in boards. NY has played well and Hammon has been solid this season, so I think she deserves to make all-wnba. Griffith has been solid this season, and she deserves to be on there as much as anybody. Jackson has been Jackson, but IMO she hasn't played as well as she did last season. Swoopes has my MVP vote right now, she has been great. It is hard to leave Catch off of first team, but I think she needs her FG% higher in order for her to get first team. It is hard to leave Bird off there, she is the best PG in the WNBA, but I don't think she is as deserving as some of the other players.

[bullsky]

First team:
Bird
Sales
Swoopes
McWilliams-Franklin
Griffith

Second team:
Whalen
Nolan
Holdsclaw
Catchings
Jackson

[threefrom60]

[Keegan]

[CamrnCrz1974]

If Phoenix is able to make the playoffs and Penelope continues her July performances, she could make the second team.

[mercfan3]

[threefrom60]

I agree that Diana won't be the reason they get to the playoffs, if (when) they do. They didn't get there with her playing great last year. I'm just feeling like, if they do get to the playoffs, she'd have the name recognition to end up on the 1st team. As much of a fan of hers as I am, I won't really think she deserves it, this year, if she does end up on it. Honestly, it probably deserves to be Whalen and Hammon more right now than Bird and Taurasi. I think it's going to end up coming down to whose team is rolling come playoff time, when the votes are cast.

[Keegan]

[mb]

Great discussion...with sound reasoning behind choices.

Looks like I concur with mercfan upon first glance.

PHX's three has changed from DT, PT, and AD to DT, PT, and KV.

[barryi22]

[quote="mercfan3"][quote="Keegan"][quote="threefrom60"]If Diana can get Pheonix to the playoffs, then she [i]could [/i]take it from Sue. [/quote]

It's more like Penny Taylor getting them on the right track to the playoffs but I digress...

I will also point out that positions can be flexible when it comes to first and second teams. Swoopes may be able to qualify as a guard.[/quote]

Or Vodichkova :wink: Penny's played great, especially when Diana couldn't play, Penny really stepped up, but Diana has always been the leader on the floor. When Penny stepped up in the scoring department, Diana could actually be the point guard..and not have to worry about setting other people up, leading and scoring a third of the team's points. So in a since Diana has been leading them towards the right track, Penny's just helped a lot. :D Penny's play has been amazing as of late, but Statistically, Diana is leading the team in points and assists..so that alone would be enough to make the voters say that "Diana led her team to the playoffs.." I mean, come on, it's not like the voters actually watch the games.. :D

(I wanted, really badly, to put Penny Taylor on the second team on my list, but it would be really biased to take off the league leader in points wouldn't it? :twisted: )[/quote]

While Diana is a great player, it hasn't been her play which has been the major reason for PHX's turnaround, it has been the Vodichkova and Taylor stepping up. In the last 7 games, Vodichkova has averaged: 12.1 points and 7.8 boards. Taylor has averaged 19.7 points, 4.7 boards and 3.6 assists. Taurasi has averaged 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists. DT was injured in one of the games(possibly 2, I don't remember), but Phoenix has done much better when Taurasi has become the "scoring but not top scoring" pg. Now DT can focus on distributing the ball instead of taking the shots, she works best in an environment where she doesn't have to be the scorer all the time. Her FG% is up, and her TO's per game is down during the 6 game stretch while she has played. I think this system is best for Phoenix, now they are really playing like a team and everything is falling into place. They are now really in the hunt for the playoffs and they are one of the leagues hottest teams.

[mercfan3]

That was basically my point, because Taylor and Vodichkova stepped up, Diana didn't have to Score most of the points, get everyone involved, and Lead..She can now count on Taylor for the points...which makes Phoenix more of a team..and it still makes Diana "Leading" the team to the playoffs....

It's hard because there is a case for a lot of players to be on the first and second teams..my reasoning for keeping Lindsay and Sue off the teams right now was that its easy to excell when you have Taj and Nykeshia on your team..or Lauren Jackson on your team...It's not that they haven't had good years, they just aren't as valuable..