AA s

[bballnut90]

11 Naismith Semi-Finalists

Boston
Bueckers
Clark
Collier
Cunane
Evans
Hillmon
Howard
McDonald
Onyenwere
NaLyssa Smith

Feel like Dungee and Owusu are the biggest omissions.

Semifinalists for Naismith Women's Player of the Year award announced

The award honors the best of the best in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. This year's semifinalist list is longer than usual due to a tie among voters.

www.ncaa.com

I'd hand down put Owusu on here over McDonald/Onyenwere. Dungee is more borderline since she doesn't do much besides score but she's darn good at that.

Looking at numbers you have:

Owusu-18.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.27 A/TO, 1.3 steals, 49% FG, 29% 3 (has only hit 9 all season), 78% FT. Preseason team was #11/12, currently is #8

Dungee-22.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.6 A/TO, 1.5 steals, 43% FG, 39% 3pt, 80% FT. Preseason team was #14, currently is #13.

McDonald-19.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.4 A/TO, 2.7 steals, 39.5% FG, 30.4% 3pt, 79% FT. Team was preseason #7, currently is #11.

Onyenwere-18.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.9 A/TO, 1.0 steals, 41.8% FG, 40.4% 3pt, 79% FT. Team was preseason #9/10, currently is #9.


Owusu has spearheaded the offense for the top scoring team in the nation and has been by far the most efficient of the 3 while matching the others statistically across the board. Her team is also outperforming expectations, and Maryland has accomplished this while playing without Angel Reese most of the season. I think she should be a strong candidate for 1st Team AA honors along with players like Evans, Clark, Bueckers, Howard and Hillmon.

It's a wash among the other 3 IMO. McDonald has name recognition and plays the best defense so I'd probably choose her over the other 2, but she's just not an efficient guard and doesn't have strong decision making skills.

 

[topogigio]

Watched most of the above player this past year; not sold on McDonald or Collier. All other picks seem legit.

 

[donalddoowop]

I've watched a lot of Maryland and Awusu is so good. She is smart and does exactly what her team needs.

I would take her over Ari McDonald all day and twice on Sunday.

Yes! Owusu is one of the best players in America, imo. I don't think McDonald compares to her at all. I think it is wrong for Owusu to be left off the list. Well, Napheesa was left off one year also.

 

[Dokey]

I think the idea here is that, right or wrong, if a player is truly that good, she will bring her team into national discussion. That doesn’t mean the team needs to be a title contender (Kentucky isn’t, but Howard’s presence has put them under a small spotlight of sorts).

In Hollingshed’s case, she plays for a 10-9 team that is not wholly likely to make the tournament barring a few PAC-12 tourney wins. She is a good player who is deserving of her league recognition, but AAs are for the best players in the country who elevate their teams to a level of competition.

I never said she should be first team, just mentioned. But I strongly disagree that it should be limited to teams in contention for top finishes. That is lazy. Besides 10-9 in PAC 12 is great. If this were the Big East, Colorado would be 15-4. And scaring the bleep out of UConn, just as 1.4 seconds and a ridiculous Hail Mary are the only reasons why Colorado isn’t three and one against Stanford these past two years.