Will Gabby be 1st Team AA this Year?

[psconn]

In recent memory only Maya, Stewie and maybe Moriah have elicited as many gasps and wows from the crowd and the broadcast teams. She is the player to watch whenever she's on the court. I don't watch a ton of games other than UConn and a few of the bigger non-UConn matchups, but to me this is a no-brainer. The problem, as has happened in the past, is that she has 2 or 3 teammates that are AA quality also. Gabby MUST get up on that wall at some point.

 

[TitleTown]

No. Unfortunately, AAs are chosen more for their offensive stats than anything else and while nobody impacts a game more than Williams, she simply does not score enough to garner AA distinction.

 

[Kaizen]

Napheesa and Katie Lou should be first team AA.
Gabby should be second team AA.

 

[CocoHusky]

Gabby First team AA? No.
Gabby AA? Yes, ....well maybe! Gabby is playing better basketball than at least 3 players (forwards) that were listed as pre-season AA. ( Nina Davis-Baylor , Brianna Turner-ND, Myisha Hines-Allen-Louisville).
The maybe part is ironic because the same can be said for KLS, Napheesa Chantel Osahor . I predict that the selections will be creative for the 10 person team consisting of 4 guards, 5 forwards and 1 post/center.
Plum and Mitchell are locks for the Guard positions and A'Ja Wilson is also a lock for a forward spot.
Creative would be 1 Big (center type player) which would be Kristine Anigwe-Cal or Coates-SC, or Jones-MD.
Creative could also be sliding KLS into a Guard spot.
My 10 person team would look like this:
1) Plum-G
2) Mitchell-G
3) Greenwell-G
4) Jones-G
5) Osahor-F
6) Wilson-F
7) Collier-F
8) KLS-F
9) Williams-F
10) Jones-C

 

[UcMiami]

No. Unfortunately, AAs are chosen more for their offensive stats than anything else and while nobody impacts a game more than Williams, she simply does not score enough to garner AA distinction.

Not really true - and you just have to look back at last year for Moriah and Morgan neither of who put up eye popping numbers 'offensively'. Voters are not so focused on scoring that they don't look at other things, and being on the #1 ranked team and exploding in nationally televised games gets just as much attention.

Who knows - there is some inertia on all this balloting but Gabby, Napheesa, and Lou are all making people stand up and notice. If Uconn wins against SC and ends the season undefeated, Uconn could well get three first team AA selections again and a coach of the year to boot.

 

[chrissaran]

CocoHusky, if you're talking about Kelsey Mitchell, forget it. She's a volume shooter who does not make her teammates better.

 

[CocoHusky]

If Uconn wins against SC and ends the season undefeated, Uconn could well get three first team AA selections again and a coach of the year to boot.

Small but important distinction to frame what we are saying more accurately.
1ST. team AA would be top 5 players, as opposed to AA which could be 10 or more????
If you are saying that UCONN will get 3 players voted in top five, I would have to disagree because all three play essentially the same position-forward.

 

[CocoHusky]

CocoHusky, if you're talking about Kelsey Mitchell, forget it. She's a volume shooter who does not make her teammates better.

I am, & I don't disagree with your characterization of her play. That style of play has gotten Kelsey AA honors in the past two season, she would have to fall off drastically this year to not make AA and she hasn't.
I am willing to put a case of my favorite beer on the line. U in?

 

[FASTEDDY]

I doubt that the rest of the country will let there be 3 UCONN All-Americans on the 1st team. Heck, they are all already jealous of UCONN and wont give us any further props.

 

[psconn]

Small but important distinction to frame what we are saying more accurately.
1ST. team AA would be top 5 players, as opposed to AA which could be 10 or more????
If you are saying that UCONN will get 3 players voted in top five, I would have to disagree because all three play essentially the same position-forward.

I want her to be placed up on the "Huskies of Honor" wall. Doesn't that require 1st team AA status? Being up there is WAY more important than being on someone's list or getting a trophy.

 

[UcMiami]

Small but important distinction to frame what we are saying more accurately.
1ST. team AA would be top 5 players, as opposed to AA which could be 10 or more????
If you are saying that UCONN will get 3 players voted in top five, I would have to disagree because all three play essentially the same position-forward.

There is a 10 player 1st team AA which is what I am referring to and has allowed a few HoH to reach the wall - the others do 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, plus honorable mentions with 5 players on each team.

 

[Go/huskies]

Perhaps someone can find the lowest PPG avg of any player who was named All American. If any former player from Rutgers made it for example, I'm sure they weren't putting up big time scoring numbers.

 

[CocoHusky]

I want her to be placed up on the "Huskies of Honor" wall. Doesn't that require 1st team AA status?

Nope. In fact WBCA (which will get you on the wall) does not name a 1st or 2nd team. Just AA team consisting of 10 players. That is the reason I'm asking.
WBCA announces 2016 NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America Team

 

[psconn]

Nope. In fact WBCA (which will get you on the wall) does not name a 1st or 2nd team. Just AA team consisting of 10 players. That is the reason I'm asking.
WBCA announces 2016 NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America Team

Thanks for the info. Ok then, does she make the cut for the WBCA AA this year?

 

[FanHam]

If Gabby doesn't get first-team AA this year or even next year for that matter, I'm sure she will be a v-e-r-y high WNBA pick and will undoubtedly be handsomely compensated if she chooses to play overseas in the WNBA off season.

I'm sure several WNBA coaches (and players) are drooling at the prospect of drafting Gabby.

 

[CocoHusky]

Thanks for the info. Ok then, does she make the cut for the WBCA AA this year?

IMO yes. See rationale below:

Gabby First team AA? No.
Gabby AA? Yes, ....well maybe! Gabby is playing better basketball than at least 3 players (forwards) that were listed as pre-season AA. ( Nina Davis-Baylor , Brianna Turner-ND, Myisha Hines-Allen-Louisville).
The maybe part is ironic because the same can be said for KLS, Napheesa Chantel Osahor . I predict that the selections will be creative for the 10 person team consisting of 4 guards, 5 forwards and 1 post/center.
Plum and Mitchell are locks for the Guard positions and A'Ja Wilson is also a lock for a forward spot.
Creative would be 1 Big (center type player) which would be Kristine Anigwe-Cal or Coates-SC, or Jones-MD.
Creative could also be sliding KLS into a Guard spot.
My 10 person team would look like this:
1) Plum-G
2) Mitchell-G
3) Greenwell-G
4) Jones-G
5) Osahor-F
6) Wilson-F
7) Collier-F
8) KLS-F
9) Williams-F
10) Jones-C

 

[CocoHusky]

Sorry to add to the confusement but the AP picks a 1st 2nd & 3 AA team. I do not know what the correlation is to Wall and AP AA teams, but Gabby, Napheesa, KLS are all virtually assured of making one of the AP three teams. Kia also has a credible fighting chance of making 3rd Team AP AA.
UConn's Breanna Stewart headlines All-America team for 3rd time.

 

[Go/huskies]

Well I did some research and 2012-2013 Chelsea Grey of Duke put up 10ppg and was named an All American, in 2014-2015 Brittany Boyd of Cal 13.4ppg and Samantha Logic of Iowa 13.4ppg 11.5 Career avg were named All Americans, and in 2006-2007 Lindsey Harding 13.6ppg, 9.3career avg was named an All American, so I would say Williams has a pretty good chance, just depends on who the coaches select out of Williams and Nerse.

 

[mntncougar]

I doubt that the rest of the country will let there be 3 UCONN All-Americans on the 1st team. Heck, they are all already jealous of UCONN and wont give us any further props.

You're probably right, but it sure must hurt to have a bunch of ordinary every day players mop up the floor with your flashy AA's.

 

[CocoHusky]

You're probably right, but it sure must hurt to have a bunch of ordinary every day players mop up the floor with your flashy AA's.

I'm pretty sure we are all on the same team & that My AA= @FASTEDDY AA=UCONN AA. I got that from the part where he wrote "they are all already jealous of UCONN and wont give us any further props".

 

[UcMiami]

Sorry to add to the confusement but the AP picks a 1st 2nd & 3 AA team. I do not know what the correlation is to Wall and AP AA teams, but Gabby, Napheesa, KLS are all virtually assured of making one of the AP three teams. Kia also has a credible fighting chance of making 3rd Team AP AA.
UConn's Breanna Stewart headlines All-America team for 3rd time.

To date the wall honor only goes to 'first team AA' and that is from any of the 'reputable' AA lists - typically with a ten player list the WBCA is the most 'inclusive' and is the one where Uconn has placed three players on numerous occasions including the last two years. It is also the one that I know specifically only allows three nominations from any team, hence some annoyance that Tuck was not eligible in 2015 and concern that she might not get the honor in her final year.

NB - I suppose Uconn could nominate for example KML, Moriah, and Morgan for WBCA leaving Breanna off with the certainty that she would make the 5 player AP first team! Though voters might be annoyed enough to then boycott all the Uconn nominees by such a manouver.

 

[JoePgh]

If Gabby doesn't get first-team AA this year or even next year for that matter, I'm sure she will be a v-e-r-y high WNBA pick and will undoubtedly be handsomely compensated if she chooses to play overseas in the WNBA off season.

I'm sure several WNBA coaches (and players) are drooling at the prospect of drafting Gabby.

I'm not so sure about that. I think a WNBA coach would say to himself or herself, "At 5-11, even with great hops, Gabby isn't going to be a rebounding machine at the WNBA level. There are too many 6-3 to 6-5 players who can also levitate. So that means that she would have to play guard or wing, and her jump shot is not really at a WNBA level, so I'm not sure that is a viable option either. Sure, she would be a great defender, but most players find that they can't stay in the WNBA based on defense alone."

Just to take two examples that we are familiar with, how many rebounds do you think Gabby would get against Tina Charles or Kiah Stokes? That's how the WNBA drafters would have to look at it.

By contrast, I think that Lou / Napheesa / Kia Nurse all have excellent prospects in the WNBA, because they can all score as well as pass and play defense.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

a coach of the year to boot.

I think that one is already in the bank.

 

[UcMiami]

I'm not so sure about that. I think a WNBA coach would say to himself or herself, "At 5-11, even with great hops, Gabby isn't going to be a rebounding machine at the WNBA level. There are too many 6-3 to 6-5 players who can also levitate. So that means that she would have to play guard or wing, and her jump shot is not really at a WNBA level, so I'm not sure that is a viable option either. Sure, she would be a great defender, but most players find that they can't stay in the WNBA based on defense alone."

Just to take two examples that we are familiar with, how many rebounds do you think Gabby would get against Tina Charles or Kiah Stokes? That's how the WNBA drafters would have to look at it.

By contrast, I think that Lou / Napheesa / Kia Nurse all have excellent prospects in the WNBA, because they can all score as well as pass and play defense.

Interesting point, but I think Gabby has proved capable of getting rebounds against pretty much anyone, and of getting her shot off and making it against anyone - she is still much quicker than Kiah or Tina and would really bother them 'one on one' with her scoring ability and her ability to get around their attempt to box her out, and challenge at the top of their jump - not necessarily to catch the ball but to tip it from their grasp - she is a faster leaper than either of them.

I agree that she needs to keep working on her jump shot - she is really quite accurate (don't have the numbers but it is not far off 50% for 15-18') but she just doesn't shoot it often enough in games - when she does it is accurate.

 

[CocoHusky]

To date the wall honor only goes to 'first team AA' and that is from any of the 'reputable' AA lists - typically with a ten player list the WBCA is the most 'inclusive' and is the one where Uconn has placed three players on numerous occasions including the last two years. It is also the one that I know specifically only allows three nominations from any team, hence some annoyance that Tuck was not eligible in 2015 and concern that she might not get the honor in her final year.

NB - I suppose Uconn could nominate for example KML, Moriah, and Morgan for WBCA leaving Breanna off with the certainty that she would make the 5 player AP first team! Though voters might be annoyed enough to then boycott all the Uconn nominees by such a manouver.

Sorry but the minutia in my head occasionally needs an outlet and this is a good opportunity. It is actually 3 years running now that UCONN has placed 3 players on WBCA AA list.
2016 Stewie, Morgan, Moriah
2015 Stewie, KML, Moriah
2014 Stefanie, Bria, Stewie
WBCA teams going back to 1975 can be found here. I don't see where any other school besides UCONN has ever placed 3 players on a team in one year and UCONN has done it a handful of times.
WBCA All-America teams: 1975-2015