My point is that swapping a point guard for a shooting guard makes no sense since they have different skill sets and different roles. A better question would have been “would you have swapped Lou Lopez for Hailey?”. Speaking for myself, the answer is “Hell no”. Lou is a far better shooter
Well said. It’s really difficult to average anywhere near 20 pts/g on UConn. The points are much too broadly distributed for that and it’s often a different player who steps up from one game to the next.
I got your point and still don't agree. Van Lith is so much the superior player that "roles" and "skill sets" are less important. The trend is to positionless BB and last year's team needed scoring. And as far as your "better question" goes, who cares? I was responding to another poster who asked about the swap. And I'm not sure she wouldn't score 20 in the big game, Aaliyah and Azzi weren't any good that last game. But back to the OP, who do you think is the better offensive player? Van Lith or Nika?
I have no interest in the question whether Hailey is better offensively, whether it's yours or the other poster's. It's too broad and abstract. Does it refer to playing 1v1 or 3v3, or are we talking full D1 5v5 basketball?
I’ll take 729 points against 256 points any day. Last year Nika had 3 games where she scored zero points, in one of those games she played 35min, in the other two she played 40min. She also several games where she scored 2, 3, or 4 points. Her high for the season was 16 points against St. John’s.
Cuango, I agree with most of your points, but on this one, we differ. CONN78SEJ brings a valid point about her Hailey Van Lith's scoring average. Even though Hailey is a volume shooter, she does make a difference and has been clutch many times for Walz' team.
More important... did UCONN "win" those games???
There were also few she didn't score at all. The they lost only one of those games, sadly it was against Ohio State.
You might as well be knocking Deniis Rodman. C'mon.
Before a shot it is quite different, but once a Bulls player from those teams released a shot, the best offensive player on the court for that possession was Dennis Rodman by a huge margin. Why? Because the shot either goes in or it doesn't and none of the players can affect that after it is released. If it is good the possession is over with success, if not only way to score after a miss is by getting the offensive rebound, and Rodman was in a class by himself in that regard, often allowing Jordan, Pippin or another Bulls player and extra chance.
Yes, but the issue on the table is whether she is a better offensive player than Haley Van Lith. What do you think?
I think the issue goes beyond that. The question should be which player is more likely to pass up an open shot? The answer to that clearly is Nika. Another question concerning these two players is which one tries to pass it first or look for an open shot first? Clearly Nika will invariably try to pass it first rather than shoot it. If the defense is expecting that, which was what Ohio State was doing in that UConn loss, they have a huge advantage. It’s almost like 4 on 5.
If you were being sarcastic, you are beating a dead horse. Last year she only fouled out of 1 game I believe, and that was an intentional foul against Maryland to put them on the line. That is a great accomplishment since she played between 36 and 40 minutes every game. She is not a foul maven anymore, and anyone who doesn't realize that is just looking for controversy.The major difference between the two: Nika does not foul. Like, ever.
Excellent chart, @HuskyNan. It shows why many of us often suspect, that the way stars perform against ranked teams is often quite disappointing.
Aah Contrar: I am a defense first kind of guy, as the UCONN mantra is that the tough DEFENSE feeds the offense.
I would key the Meatloaf music of "two out of three ain't bad" for my agreement and reply, as any 3 of your four would be an outstanding improvement to ensure 5 vs. 5 is required each time down the court. But with Geno's (tongue in cheek, imo..) statement of "get the ball to half-court and dish it to a scorer," I would say #2-4 would be in order, as I have not seen any attempt to be a mid-range scorer.
