You do bring up good points about her performances against top teams. I will say, though, that Tuck isn't being penalized for being on a great team, her stats would be penalized because UCONN plays in such a weak conference. There are definitely strong points that can be made for Tuck. I'd personally vote Wilson to a team over Tuck, but we have differing opinions there.
So let me get this straight, you're discounting a player because of your own bias toward her conference? That sounds like same old tired ridiculous logic that SEC fans have used for years when they want to p-imp their conference over all the others before they implode in the Tournament and shown to be a collection of largely mediocre teams. Couple of points:
1. Rate a player by her team's SOS instead of your own limited valuation of the team's conference. For years during the 200os the SEC fans would come on the BY and say the Big East is horrible and your team plays in a noncompetitive conference, and then the BEast would eventually get 9 teams in the Tourney and win 9 NCs in this millennium to the SEC's 2 while posting a much better winning percentage. But still, the BEast supposedly had that soft schedule. This year certain factually challenged fans of ND and UTenn teams have again decided to bring their RPI numbers over here to support their belief that UConn has had an easy schedule, even if the brainless RPI index has UConn as the #5 rated team. As noted many times previously, the more rational Massey rating has UConn with the #2 SOS, and USCar is at #6. So for a Vol fan to try to pretend that Tuck has played an easier schedule than Wilson is just a crock. The G-c-o-c-ks have had a decent season, but as fans from many teams have noted, they got to do it with a pretty soft and friendly schedule compared to an ND, UConn, or if you want pop in in an SEC team that actually played good teams OOC, then UTenn.
2. A player's stats point up both their strengths and their weaknesses. So comparing Tuck and Wilson head-to-head instead of with me throwing an asterisk next to Wilson's stats for playing a weaker schedule (which I know you would agree is an unworthy tactic), they should be compared at the same level with the understanding that the taller rangier Wilson excels at certain parts of the game while the shorter headier Tuck is better at other things. Obviously the scoring stats ppg (13.4 Tuck and 13.3 Wilson) is as close as you could get, though Wilson's ppm is better, while her shooting is well under Tuck's (52.4% to 58.8%), even though Tuck has lowered her average quite a bit by taking almost 2 3pt-FGAs per game at a low percentage.
When Wilson is in the game, she pulls down far more rebounds and gets a lot of blocks, which is an important stat because for every block there are going to be some altered shots also. Those are her strengths, which are nice, but you could argue that her teammate Alaina Coates has overall better stats except for the blocks and a little less scoring, and I don't see Coates mentioned for AA teams. And the stats also show Wilson's weaknesses, such as 64.9% FT shooting that will definitely make opponents want her to earn her points there with an "Axe an A'ja" strategy rather than giving her an easy layup. She also turns the ball over at a much higher rate than does Tuck along with fouling more, and she averages less than an assist a game, so you know she's not good at finding a teammate when the defense sags in on her. She does not shoot 3s, so teams don't care if she sets up outside at all.
Tuck is Tuck, without the glitz of Wilson but just really solid with better shooting ability and a key part of a UConn offense that often depends on her to open things up. Her 3-pt shooting is still a work in progress, but she's shooting 50% from the arc in the last 10 games, which can draw a post defender out and open up things for Stewie underneath. Tuck is highly proficient in the paint, rarely makes dumb fouls like Wilson does, and plays the role of point forward quite a bit, picking up a lot of assists while still holding the TOs down below Wilson's level. As a 74.2% FT shooter, opponents are far less inclined to foul her on shots underneath, and they don't (just 66 FTAs compared to Wilson's 174).
3. It's cheap to always be making excuses about why your team's player should be given allowances over UConn players. It's getting wearisome to have other teams' fans always trot out some reason why the stats of UConn players should be discounted. It goes from "they're part of the UConn star-maker machine and have baskets basically handed to them," to "our darling's team plays a tougher schedule" (they don't unless they're on the Irish this year, and even then it's a marginal factor), to "my player is the focus of everything on her team and has more pressure on her."
Give it up already! If Jewel Loyd is playing on such a support-challenged team (aren't they #2 in the country?), then that also give her far more chances to get her points and run the team the way she wants it to be run. No one forces these players to take all the shots they take in crunch time, and they could also put more effort into finding a teammate with a pass so that everyone feels involved and they don't think that the princess has to save them every time. Just time to stop the excuses about the stats.
