alexrgct
RIP, Alex
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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The offseason is already boring. It's time to play all-time starting lineup wars!
The rules are: there aren't really any. Just post what you think a school's all-time starting lineup should be, and discuss who you think comes out on top. Or just dicuss other people's submissions. What would be some of the best matchups, even if they weren't the two best teams?
You don't have to be strict with positions...but if you put five forwards on the floor, you kind of have to acknowledge it could be a problem.
I'll start with the two obvious- UConn and Tennessee.
UConn:
Sue Bird
Diana Taurasi
Maya Moore
Rebecca Lobo
Tina Charles
Hardest to leave off: Svet Abrosimova. I felt like Sue, D, Maya, and Tina were no-brainers, and Svet in many respects would be a better complement to those four. But Rebecca has the NPOY award, and you also have to acknowledge/respect what she meant to the program. She makes the cut.
Tennessee (and feel free to suggest alternate lineups):
Kara Lawson
Tamika Catchings
Chamique Holdsclaw
Bridgette Gordon
Candace Parker
Hardest to leave off: Daedre Charles. She would give us the exciting Charles v. Charles matchup. She was a more traditional center than Parker, who could easily play other frontcourt positions, and the DC-CP would give the LV lineup more size. Unfortunately, the LVs' all-time great player list is very frontcourt-heavy, and Gordon, Holdsclaw, Catchings, and Parker are the program's Mt. Rushmore (excluding the coach, obviously). Can't leave any of them off, even if the positions aren't perfectly aligned.
How would these teams match up?
PG- Sue versus Kara. Kara was all-everything at Tennessee and did just about everything short of winning a NC. Tennessee has had a number of very good PGs, but it's not been a position of relative strength for them. Kara is the best of the bunch. She's also no Sue Bird. Advantage UConn.
SG- Catch is an all-time great college and pro player. Diana has three rings, two NPOY honors, and is the all-time leader in clutch/swagger. Advantage UConn.
SF- You know what? I'm not even going there with this position. There is no way you'll get an LV fan to acknowledge Maya was better than Chamique, and you sure won't get a UConn fan to acknowledge to opposite. They're both all-timers, and I'm just going to leave it at that.
PF- UConn had a little history before Rebecca arrived. Tennessee had quite a bit before Bridgette. But neither program had a championship. Gordon won two, plus Olympic gold as a collegiate. Advantage: Gordon.
C- Body of work-wise, it's Candace. Absolute peak of their powers at the college level? You could make arguments for both. Bottom line, you pair up Maya with Candace, along with Tiff, Kalana, Renee, Caroline, etc. and UConn easily wins two championships and probably goes 78-0. Team Tina with Horbuckle and Anosike, and I don't know for sure that Tennessee wins two titles, or even one. Advantage: Parker.
Overall: UConn has a distinct backcourt advantage. Tennessee has a slight but not huge frontcourt advantage. I'd pick UConn, but I'm sure LV fans wouldn't.
What do you think?
And who else can join the fray? Baylor with Griner and Sims, plus some of the 2005 team? Stanford with the greats from the early 1990s and their current run of Final Fours? La Tech? ODU?
The rules are: there aren't really any. Just post what you think a school's all-time starting lineup should be, and discuss who you think comes out on top. Or just dicuss other people's submissions. What would be some of the best matchups, even if they weren't the two best teams?
You don't have to be strict with positions...but if you put five forwards on the floor, you kind of have to acknowledge it could be a problem.
I'll start with the two obvious- UConn and Tennessee.
UConn:
Sue Bird
Diana Taurasi
Maya Moore
Rebecca Lobo
Tina Charles
Hardest to leave off: Svet Abrosimova. I felt like Sue, D, Maya, and Tina were no-brainers, and Svet in many respects would be a better complement to those four. But Rebecca has the NPOY award, and you also have to acknowledge/respect what she meant to the program. She makes the cut.
Tennessee (and feel free to suggest alternate lineups):
Kara Lawson
Tamika Catchings
Chamique Holdsclaw
Bridgette Gordon
Candace Parker
Hardest to leave off: Daedre Charles. She would give us the exciting Charles v. Charles matchup. She was a more traditional center than Parker, who could easily play other frontcourt positions, and the DC-CP would give the LV lineup more size. Unfortunately, the LVs' all-time great player list is very frontcourt-heavy, and Gordon, Holdsclaw, Catchings, and Parker are the program's Mt. Rushmore (excluding the coach, obviously). Can't leave any of them off, even if the positions aren't perfectly aligned.
How would these teams match up?
PG- Sue versus Kara. Kara was all-everything at Tennessee and did just about everything short of winning a NC. Tennessee has had a number of very good PGs, but it's not been a position of relative strength for them. Kara is the best of the bunch. She's also no Sue Bird. Advantage UConn.
SG- Catch is an all-time great college and pro player. Diana has three rings, two NPOY honors, and is the all-time leader in clutch/swagger. Advantage UConn.
SF- You know what? I'm not even going there with this position. There is no way you'll get an LV fan to acknowledge Maya was better than Chamique, and you sure won't get a UConn fan to acknowledge to opposite. They're both all-timers, and I'm just going to leave it at that.
PF- UConn had a little history before Rebecca arrived. Tennessee had quite a bit before Bridgette. But neither program had a championship. Gordon won two, plus Olympic gold as a collegiate. Advantage: Gordon.
C- Body of work-wise, it's Candace. Absolute peak of their powers at the college level? You could make arguments for both. Bottom line, you pair up Maya with Candace, along with Tiff, Kalana, Renee, Caroline, etc. and UConn easily wins two championships and probably goes 78-0. Team Tina with Horbuckle and Anosike, and I don't know for sure that Tennessee wins two titles, or even one. Advantage: Parker.
Overall: UConn has a distinct backcourt advantage. Tennessee has a slight but not huge frontcourt advantage. I'd pick UConn, but I'm sure LV fans wouldn't.
What do you think?
And who else can join the fray? Baylor with Griner and Sims, plus some of the 2005 team? Stanford with the greats from the early 1990s and their current run of Final Fours? La Tech? ODU?
Figured I would retire the Jayhawk avatar until they can knock UNC out of the tourney again.
