UConnCat
Wise Woman
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I'll be the contrarian - I think we doth protest too much on this particular issue re: Maya
Maya's ballhandling & dribbling is, at the WNBA level, "OK" but certainly nothing special in and of itself, and these skills are much improved since she came into the league. She's gotten especially good at the behind-the-back dribble when utilizing screens on the perimeter or when starting the fast break. And in general she is *much* more assured with the ball now than she was as a rook. But when facing the basket, she makes hay with the size of her first step and the threat of her pull-up, not with her lateral quicknes, change of direction, or out-and-out ball skills. Against many 2's and 3's in the W, she's has neither the handle nor the lateral quickness to break them down off the dribble in the classic sense, the way Seimone Augustus does (both are about 6' tall). This is simply never going to happen. But it's not a big deal. Seimone is never going to do some of the things that (only?) Maya can do, either. Each has their own particular set of athletic gifts, and they have worked hard to maximize them via a particular style of play. Maya has refined a few very good ball-fakes, crossovers, etc. to get space for her jumper. Seimone will more often use these initial moves to get space and then dribble into traffic - which is not Maya's forte. Maya would much prefer to take two power dribbles and then elevate over everyone
Although it would have been fun to watch Maya morph into Marques Haynes while at UCONN (just kidding), it's not terribly surprising that she didn't. For all her 3-point and fast-break prowess, she self-identified as a post (power forward) while in college, plain and simple, *not* a guard in any way, shape or form. As I've said before, I think Maya's ballhandling will continue to improve in the pros.....mostly because at her current position it makes a bigger difference than it used to at UCONN. But Maya Moore is very likely the best player in women's basketball "off the ball." This requires completely different instincts than being a great player "with the ball" (DT would be on the short list here). Why would anyone be surprised that the greatest(IMO) 'off the ball' player is not a super ballhandler?
Having said all this, Candace Parker is a superb ballhandler, full stop, and anyone who thinks that Maya's handle -- taken in isolation -- is anywhere close to CP3's is simply not watching the game very closely...at all. Their games are very different. We diminish the genuine compliments we pay to our own favored players when we understate the level of the competition with such unnecessarily broad strokes.
I don't recall anyone saying in this thread that Maya is a superb ball-handler. She isn't. There's a big difference between saying that -- which I don't think any UConn fan said in this thread -- with saying she can "barely dribble" or left UConn "without handles" whatever the h_ell that means. Ball-handling is not the strongest part of Maya's game though she has improved playing in the WNBA where she plays on the wing instead of the post where she played at UConn. Maya played the power forward in a college offense that emphasized cutting and passing more than taking defenders off the dribble in 1-on-1 play. She's an absolutely superb passer, a skill that was improved at UConn and has carried over to the WNBA. Maya's ball-handling has improved and will continue to do so as she continues to handle it more on the perimeter and learns more about the pace of the game. I heard an interview recently in which she talked about slowing down and not going too fast which has always been one of her issues handling the ball.
No one in this thread said Parker is not a superb ball-handler. She is, particularly for her size, but even she has to give the ball up when pressured by smaller, quicker defenders. I'm not sure what that has to do with this thread, however.
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), but wasn't sure if any of her teammates where Olympians for the Chinese team. But looking at the Chinese roster I don't see any players from Shanxi Xing Rui Flame. So I guess the wake up call works. 
