All time starting 5

[Mdoggie]

Long time fan, first time poster.
New around the forum and I am sure this question has probably been asked before. Has Geno ever listed or named his all time starting 5?

 

[rford53]

Long time fan, first time poster.
New around the forum and I am sure this question has probably been asked before. Has Geno ever listed or named his all time starting 5?

Welcome to the boneyard MDoggie! Geno would never say who they would be however here on the boneyard that question or similar iterations of it pop up from time to time. I will just say the last USA women's team featured the starting five on the same team at the same time (unfortunately Geno never played the five all together) Sue, Dianna,Maya, Tina and Stewie. They could also all be on this summer's Olympic team.

 

[EricLA]

Side note - I think Geno's all time starting 5 might be different than BY'ers - mainly because we are often swayed by how amazing the pro careers are of certain players. For example, Nykesha Sales was a great player in her day and Geno might consider her near the top, but most BY'ers never mention her because her pro and Olympic career was nowhere near that of many other UCONN greats, even players like Cash or Jones.

I suspect that from a college perspective Geno might pick Jefferson over Bird but... UCONN NPOY from the past:

Lobo
Rizotti
Wolters
Bird
Taurasi
Moore (X2)
Charles
Stewart (X2)

Rizotti and Bird are the only 2 PG's to win the award. I'm sure both won the Lieberman award that year too. Point is, one could argue that Geno WOULD go with Bird, Taurasi, Moore, Stewie and Charles. Those are the last 5 UCONN NPOY's... and this is the AP list. Naismith had Roundtree instead of Rizotti and Starbird instead of Wolters.

 

[Bonpland]

Side note - I think Geno's all time starting 5 might be different than BY'ers - mainly because we are often swayed by how amazing the pro careers are of certain players. For example, Nykesha Sales was a great player in her day and Geno might consider her near the top, but most BY'ers never mention her because her pro and Olympic career was nowhere near that of many other UCONN greats, even players like Cash or Jones.

I suspect that from a college perspective Geno might pick Jefferson over Bird but... UCONN NPOY from the past:

Lobo
Rizotti
Wolters
Bird
Taurasi
Moore (X2)
Charles
Stewart (X2)

Rizotti and Bird are the only 2 PG's to win the award. I'm sure both won the Lieberman award that year too. Point is, one could argue that Geno WOULD go with Bird, Taurasi, Moore, Stewie and Charles. Those are the last 5 UCONN NPOY's... and this is the AP list. Naismith had Roundtree instead of Rizotti and Starbird instead of Wolters.

The Lieberman wasn't awarded when Jen played. Sue was the first to ever win it.

 

[j66kicker]

The Lieberman wasn't awarded when Jen played. Sue was the first to ever win it.

And 2nd

 

[j66kicker]

The Lieberman wasn't awarded when Jen played. Sue was the first to ever win it.

And 3rd

 

[MilfordHusky]

Sue is still the only 3x winner. Dee and Skylar are the only 2x winners. Moriah may join them.

 

[RedStickHusky]

How about a four-deep - (pretty arbitrary but for sake of discussion):

Sue, Dee, Maya, Stew, Tina
Mo, Swin, Svet, Rebecca, Kara
Jen, Nykesha, Kerry, Ashja, Tamika
Renee, Kaleena, Steph, Carla, Shea(?)

 

[Buzzyboy]

How about a four-deep - (pretty arbitrary but for sake of discussion):

Sue, Dee, Maya, Stew, Tina
Mo, Swin, Svet, Rebecca, Kara
Jen, Nykesha, Kerry, Ashja, Tamika
Renee, Kaleena, Steph, Carla, Shea(?)

I think you did quite well and my only change might be moving Nykesha from the third team to the second and replacing Swin. It's just my opinion that Geno would start her over Swin though I know Swin would get some serious minutes. Actually, I might be moving Kara down a bit, as well. Her lack of mobility might have been overlooked in the late 90's but with much quicker "big girls" coming afterwards, she might be a less imposing player. JMHO!

 

[dualskeptic]

How about a four-deep - (pretty arbitrary but for sake of discussion):

Sue, Dee, Maya, Stew, Tina
Mo, Swin, Svet, Rebecca, Kara
Jen, Nykesha, Kerry, Ashja, Tamika
Renee, Kaleena, Steph, Carla, Shea(?)

Bria didn't make the cut?

 

[RedStickHusky]

An embarassment of riches for sure... the (?) is for three guards on the 4th team.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Bria didn't make the cut?

Over Shea?

 

[reno tony]

How about a four-deep - (pretty arbitrary but for sake of discussion):

Sue, Dee, Maya, Stew, Tina
Mo, Swin, Svet, Rebecca, Kara
Jen, Nykesha, Kerry, Ashja, Tamika
Renee, Kaleena, Steph, Carla, Shea(?)

It may sound crazy but I want to get Kelly Faris in there somewhere. Not sure where, but I think she would be a great addition to any team.

 

[alexrgct]

PG- Sue
SG- Diana
SF- Maya
PF- Stewie
C- Tina

I think the starting five isn't too controversial, though some could debate where multiple-position players should be classified. I like this starting five, though. I also like the possibility of Moriah grabbing that all-time starting spot at the 1.

 

[EricLA]

How about a four-deep - (pretty arbitrary but for sake of discussion):

Sue, Dee, Maya, Stew, Tina
Mo, Swin, Svet, Rebecca, Kara
Jen, Nykesha, Kerry, Ashja, Tamika
Renee, Kaleena, Steph, Carla, Shea(?)

That's a great list. Not much I can argue with there. I tend to agree that from a college perspective I'd put Nykesha above Swin and I'm not sure about Carla Berube - was she a forward type or a guard? I'd put Strother on the team before her. Annie had great college stats - she's 15th all time in scoring. I also feel like you need Hartley on there somewhere, but it's hard to say she was "better" than Shea since Shea went down with injuries and missed games.

I'd actually take off Tamika Williams and Carla Berube and replace them with Strother and Hartley.

 

[Boreifs]

That's a great list. Not much I can argue with there. I tend to agree that from a college perspective I'd put Nykesha above Swin and I'm not sure about Carla Berube - was she a forward type or a guard? I'd put Strother on the team before her. Annie had great college stats - she's 15th all time in scoring. I also feel like you need Hartley on there somewhere, but it's hard to say she was "better" than Shea since Shea went down with injuries and missed games.

I'd actually take off Tamika Williams and Carla Berube and replace them with Strother and Hartley.

You may look again at career FG% before taking Williams off of that list.

 

[RedStickHusky]

lol - 20 spots aren't enough. Not many sports fans have ever been as spoiled as we have. I was thinking about Bria and Kelly for Shea's spot but hadn't considered Ann Strother. My memory of Ann was great shooter whose career was impacted by injury -- 15th in scoring is tough to overlook though.

 

[Gus Mahler]

That's a great list. Not much I can argue with there. I tend to agree that from a college perspective I'd put Nykesha above Swin and I'm not sure about Carla Berube - was she a forward type or a guard? I'd put Strother on the team before her. Annie had great college stats - she's 15th all time in scoring. I also feel like you need Hartley on there somewhere, but it's hard to say she was "better" than Shea since Shea went down with injuries and missed games.

I'd actually take off Tamika Williams and Carla Berube and replace them with Strother and Hartley.

I'll meet you at least half way, so to speak. I definitely would replace Berube with Hartley. Two-time AA, ~2000 point scorer, top ten in steals (I think), maybe in assists. Hard call on Tamika/Strother. I think they are both underrated, especially Strother, who played one of the bigger money games in UConn history in the 2003 Final.

 

[VAMike23]

Not having followed the Huskies closely for as long as many on this board have, what kind of impact did Tamika Williams and Ashja Jones have in their first three years? I watched them in 2001-02 when the team was unstoppable, but I don't know what their production or play was like in prior years.

Reason I bring this up is that KML was a *huge* part of our offense pretty much from the get go. I distinctly remember (as one example) the first half of the Baylor game in Waco, early in her sophomore year. She was great then, and clearly the best UCONN player on the floor.

On the flip side, TW and AJ were very good rebounders and were efficient scorers if not prolific. TW especially, with her all-time FG% record. And as Geno noted, AJ in particular was a true stalwart defensively against opposing posts of any size.