All time UConn WBB starting 5 as of today...

[ktuck911]

Not sure if anyone started a thread like this, but I'm doing so now...
Any takers on an ALL TIME starting 5 for UConn WBB?

I got:

PG: Bird
SG: Taurasi
SF: Moore
PF: Collier
C: Stewart

 

[visitingcock]

Not sure if anyone started a thread like this, but I'm doing so now...
Any takers on an ALL TIME starting 5 for UConn WBB?

I got:

PG: Bird
SG: Taurasi
SF: Moore
PF: Collier
C: Stewart

add two please. Who would be the first BIG off the bench and the first guard off the bench?

 

[ktuck911]

add two please. Who would be the first BIG off the bench and the first guard off the bench?

It's that hard, right? (LOL) ... Soooo many great players over the last 30 years came through this illustrious program...

To me, first BIG off the bench: Rebecca Lobo ... 1st guard off the bench (extremely difficult) - I'll go with Moriah Jefferson (her last year at UConn she showed OUT as a complete PG)

 

[HuskyNan]

add two please. Who would be the first BIG off the bench and the first guard off the bench?

Tina Charles, Paige Bueckers

 

[Kaizen]

I will put Tina Charles as the PF and,
1st BIG off the bench: Collier ...
1st guard off the bench: Paige ...

 

[Bone Dog]

Paige isn’t done yet “as of today,” so can she really be considered? If she can, then we ought to weigh her per game impact. She got to 1000 pts last season with Maya-type efficiency in terms of total number of games played. I think that puts her into the starting lineup.

I guess that makes my starting 5
Paige
Diana
Maya
Tina
Stewie

With Sue and Phee coming off the bench.

 

[meyers7]

Based on UCONN (college) career. I'd go with

Jefferson
Taurasi
Moore
Stewart
Charles

then

Bird
Lobo

next would be Abrosimova.


If we went on totality of basketball career (NCAA/WNBA/Olympics/Europe), then it would be different.

 

[yhun89]

Paige isn’t done yet “as of today,” so can she really be considered? If she can, then we ought to weigh her per game impact. She got to 1000 pts last season with Maya-type efficiency in terms of total number of games played. I think that puts her into the starting lineup.

I guess that makes my starting 5
Paige
Diana
Maya
Tina
Stewie

With Sue and Phee coming off the bench.

Too bad for those injuries, Paige very well could’ve reached 1000 PTS earlier in her career had the injuries not gotten in the way.

 

[yhun89]

I gotta feeling a lot of the all time 5 will be very similar. Mine would probably be:

PG: Bird
SG: Taurasi
SF: Maya
PF: Stewie
C: Lobo

Bench: PB, Phee

 

[faninwisc]

PG - Sue Bird
SG - Katie Lou Samuelson - Diana is the obvious choice but nobody could match KLS's combination of size and shooting ability
SF - Maya Moore
PF - Brianna Stewart
C - Stefanie Dolson - There are others that have more name recognition than her but I don't think anyone can match her passing and screening ability.

Bench - Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

First Five:

• Sue Bird
• Diana Taurasi
• Maya Moore
• Breanna Stewart
• Tina Charles

Plus Two:

• Paige Bueckers
• Rebecca Lobo

UConn can field 5 quality starting fives based on Huskies of Honor list + 1 player.

 

[ucbart]

Sue
DT
Maya
Stewie
Tina

Off the bench-
Paige & Phee

Although, Svetlana was simply awesome and so versatile

 

[ucbart]

Ok, let's take this in a side direction.

All time starting 5, as of today, of players who DID NOT make the Huskies of Honor:

Rita Williams
Tiffany Hayes
Asjha Jones
Jamelle Elliott
Dorka Juhassz

Off the bench:
Azura Stevens/Kia Nurse

 

[EricLA]

Great topic for debate. I think people will need to decide between individual accomplishments (Wade, NPOY, AA) vs. NC's. Unfortunately for Pheesa, who I think will be an all time great pro, she doesn't quite stack up for college accolades. Sue "only" one 1 Wade and one NPOY (2002), but won the Lieberman award 3 times, compared to Moriah's 2.

Sue
Diana
Maya
Stewie
Tina

Not only did Tina win 2 NC's, but she is a 2X AA and a 2X NC, and NPOY once.

Sveta was so good the year she was injured that she was an AA even tho she missed a host of games. She was a 3X AA. After this season, I have no doubt Paige will be added as 1st guard off the bench. For many Lobo is a shoe-in, but I checked - "only" 1 NC and 1 NPOY. Did they not have AA's back then? Pheesa was "only" a 2X AA. KLS was a 3X AA. So for my bench:

Jefferson (replace with Paige after this season)
Sveta
Lou
Pheesa
Rebecca

There really are very few "wrong" answers! How blessed are we to have so much historical talent that we get to have this debate??!!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Some thoughts in terms of a list, using UConn career only:

Some form of NPOY:

Lobo
Rizzotti
Wolters
Bird
Taurasi 2x
Charles
Moore 3x
Stewie 3x
Bueckers

AP All-American (top-5, starting in 1995):

Lobo
Rizzotti
Wolters 2x
Shea
Sveta
Bird
Taurasi 2x
Moore 4x
Montgomery
Charles
Stewie 3x
Moriah
Lou 2x
Phee 2x
Megan
Paige 2x

 

[Bone Dog]

Just one more reflection: the phrase "all time UConn WBB starting five" is a bit vague.

• Is it seeking a comparison of awards and stats?
• Or is it asking who could best run together as a pack (Husky pun)?

If I take the latter sense of it, then I think we'd all have to agree that Paige could run with all the greats. She has the same ferocious will to win that characterized anyone on the wall of honor, but was especially true of Diana and Maya.

 

[Skeets]

Ok, let's take this in a side direction.

All time starting 5, as of today, of players who DID NOT make the Huskies of Honor:

Rita Williams
Tiffany Hayes
Asjha Jones
Jamelle Elliott
Dorka Juhassz

Off the bench:
Azura Stevens/Kia Nurse

Well, if not being on the wall (yet) is the criteria then Paige has to be on the non-wall team.

 

[meyers7]

Great topic for debate. I think people will need to decide between individual accomplishments (Wade, NPOY, AA) vs. NC's. Unfortunately for Pheesa, who I think will be an all time great pro, she doesn't quite stack up for college accolades. Sue "only" one 1 Wade and one NPOY (2002), but won the Lieberman award 3 times, compared to Moriah's 2.

Sue
Diana
Maya
Stewie
Tina

Yeah, it's the defense that puts Jefferson ahead of Bird for me. (and the availability). Bird was a better 3pt shooter, shot more. Jefferson was a better 2 pt shooter, better assist/to ratio (significantly). So they are pretty close, but Jefferson was a lock down defender you could put on the other teams best player (guard wise).

Now, beyond college, completely different story.

 

[meyers7]

Ok, let's take this in a side direction.

All time starting 5, as of today, of players who DID NOT make the Huskies of Honor:

Rita Williams
Tiffany Hayes
Asjha Jones
Jamelle Elliott
Dorka Juhassz

Off the bench:
Azura Stevens/Kia Nurse

Mine would be

Dangerfield (way better numbers than R. Williams, Muhl would come before Williams for me too)
Nurse
Hayes (let her play the 3)
Elliott
A. Jones

Bench
Strother
T. Williams

Then probably C. Williams

 

[hoophuskee]

PG - Bird
Wings: Paige and DT.
PF: Maya
C: Stewart.

I took this thread for what we feel would be our best starting 5- not "the greatest all-time players."

The only issue with this team is no bulk inside. Though at the other end the bulkier player has no shot to defend this lineup.

 

[hoophuskee]

Yeah, it's the defense that puts Jefferson ahead of Bird for me. (and the availability). Bird was a better 3pt shooter, shot more. Jefferson was a better 2 pt shooter, better assist/to ratio (significantly). So they are pretty close, but Jefferson was a lock down defender you could put on the other teams best player (guard wise).

Now, beyond college, completely different story.

I was considering putting MoJeff ahead of Bird. I go back-and-forth a lot with them. While Bird missed 1 year - Mojeff's frosh year wasn't much. And her soph year I still p[icture Stanford deliberately leaving her wide open in FF. And on that team she was the 5th best player. So, one year she is a bench player worse than 5/6 combined with her soph year she is 5th best player and both years not A/A -- vs Bird being spectucular for 3 years - I gave slight nod to Bird. But I get it either way.

I do beleive she gets underrated. I couln't believe Meg and Kara didn't feel she was top 10 several years ago on that tv show they did for UCONN all-tiem great top 10.

 

[Cuango]

Paige
Dee
Maya
Stewie
Tina

Sue
Phee

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

Just one more reflection: the phrase "all time UConn WBB starting five" is a bit vague.

• Is it seeking a comparison of awards and stats?
• Or is it asking who could best run together as a pack (Husky pun)?

If I take the latter sense of it, then I think we'd all have to agree that Paige could run with all the greats. She has the same ferocious will to win that characterized anyone on the wall of honor, but was especially true of Diana and Maya.

I took it to mean both as reflected in my chosen filter# which led me to choose Sue over Paige or Moriah and Rebecca over Napheesa or Svetlana.

# Filter:

• Sort Huskies of Honor by position (Paige and Aaliyah have satisfied the key requirement);
• By position, apply successive filters: (1) is the player the key player on a NC/FF team? (NPOY is a great proxy); (2) did the player’s team win a NC?

But if I only use your latter condition on the Huskies of Honor list with an eye toward Geno’s modern WBB coaching, I would end up with @hoophuskee ‘s lineup:

First Five:

• Sue Bird
• Diana Taurasi
• Paige Bueckers
• Maya Moore
• Breanna Stewart

Plus Two:

• Napheesa Collier
• Svetlana Abrosimova

 

[Spaceman213J]

I gotta feeling a lot of the all time 5 will be very similar. Mine would probably be:

PG: Bird
SG: Taurasi
SF: Maya
PF: Stewie
C: Lobo

Bench: PB, Phee

You picked the exact 7 I had picked in my head.

 

[meyers7]

I was considering putting MoJeff ahead of Bird. I go back-and-forth a lot with them. While Bird missed 1 year - Mojeff's frosh year wasn't much. And her soph year I still p[icture Stanford deliberately leaving her wide open in FF. And on that team she was the 5th best player. So, one year she is a bench player worse than 5/6 combined with her soph year she is 5th best player and both years not A/A -- vs Bird being spectucular for 3 years - I gave slight nod to Bird. But I get it either way.

I do beleive she gets underrated. I couln't believe Meg and Kara didn't feel she was top 10 several years ago on that tv show they did for UCONN all-tiem great top 10.

They were both AA their Jr/Sr years. Jefferson struggled her Fr year, somewhat. Bird was injured most of her Fr year. Sooo, let's compare the Soph years.

Jefferson: 40 games / FG 157/273 (.575) / 3pt 33/79 (.418) / FT 53/69 (.768) / 136 rbs / 196 assists / 66 t/o / 2.97 a/to / 9 blocks / 106 steals / 400 points

Bird: 37 games / FG 140/279 (.502) / 3pt 72/145 (.497) / FT 53/59 (.898) / 94 rbs / 160 assists / 80 t/o / 2.0 a/to / 1 block / 69 steals / 405 points

You're right, we do underrate Jefferson (college). If Bird had 3 spectacular years, what did Jefferson have?