An Observation and Prediction

[diggerfoot]

The fan battle between Samuelson and Collier supporters is more intense than I've seen for any other two UConn players. Because they bring two completely different things to the table I personally do not know, nor care, which one really is "better." However, I can make a prediction about who conventional wisdom will claim is the best at the end of the year based on what I've seen.

I believe Samuelson, because of her, um, photogenic nature, as been overhyped, or Collier neglected, by the media. In contrast, perhaps as a reaction, Samuelson has been unfairly criticized more than Collier. I think Mater Dei must have a special coach, because both KML and Samuelson came in with advanced understandings for how to play within the team framework. Samuelson critics seem to ignore that completely. Collier has one of the best motors and most consistency of any Husky player ever. While neither is in the class of Stewart or Moore, they remind me of a similar contrast.

Freshman through senior year Moore was the best UConn player in terms of individual performance, but Stewart's senior year was the single best year for what she brought both offensively and defensively. Something similar occurs with Collier and Samuelson. Collier is more consistently great, but Samuelson's best, when it occurs, is a little bit better. Consider that the best quarter we played against an elite team, the fourth against Notre Dame, Collier was not even in the lineup. The team's pinnacle depends on Samuelson's pinnacle more than Collier's. We can assume Collier will play great throughout, but we will win it all only if Samuelson is firing on all cylinders.

Here's my prediction then. If we win it all this year, the conventional wisdom will be that Samuelson was our best player this year. If we come up short again, the conventional wisdom will hold that Collier was our best player this year. I know neither end results nor conventional wisdom will sway champions of either player, nor will my mind ever be made up as to who was the better player in a Husky uniform. Nor will this change Collier being underhyped or Samuelson over criticized, but one can hope.

And yes, I tend to be bothered more by errant criticism than being unfairly overlooked, which is why I find myself often defending Samuelson.

 

[Carnac]

I'm not into comparisons in any sport. Who is better, Michael, Kobi or LeBron? Who cares? I enjoyed MJ and Kobi, now I'm enjoying LJ. "Who is best" is an argument that can never be won. MJ’s 6 championships always seems to find their way into the debate.

Some fans like to use them as a measuring stick in determining a player’s accomplishments or greatness. I also find it interesting that Bill Russell and his 11 championships are never mentioned.

In my younger days, the "who's best" controversy in MLB was between Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. Both were great players, and first ballot HOF'ers. Mantle was never the same after he stepped on a outfield water sprinkler during the 1951 world series.

"A cleat on Mantle's shoe caught on a piece of the underground lawn sprinkler apparatus in the outfield. He had to be carried off the field in a stretcher and later it was revealed by Dr. Sidney Gaynor, the Yankees physician, that "the youngster had suffered a sprained right knee that would sideline him for the rest of the Series."

I'm just glad we have Lou and Pheesa on our team. She's become a scoring and rebounding machine. We can't win a NC without MAJOR contributions from both of them. This is their last round up, they're heading for the barn. Hopefully they'll win the NC before they get there. Remember what Master Po said about walking the rice paper without leaving a trace? They've both passed that test.

 

[maccca3232]

I think Collier is our best player and Samuelson is the most versatile however both are essential to the team's success.

Who does everyone think was the best player between Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams?

 

[bbballfan23]

Collier is our best player. Not sure it’s much of an argument this year. People tend to forget the defensive side of the ball when comparing players.

Regardless, we need both at the top of their game to win it all!

 

[bbballfan23]

I think Collier is our best player and Samuelson is the most versatile however both are essential to the team's success.

Who does everyone think was the best player between Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams?

Gabby Williams was better & again, wasn’t much of a comparison. Kia was essential to the teams success, though. Some argued Gabby was the best all-around player in the country.

 

[MilfordHusky]

We miss Gabby more this year than I would have expected in late 2016. She had the ability to take over games almost like Moriah or Stewie. She would grab a one-handed rebound above the rim, lead the break, and throw a 40-foot bounce pass for a layup. No one else in the country could do that.

 

[MainefanSC]

I like reading comparisons but refrain from comparing myself. I'm too worried about leaving out so many attributes that a player such as Lou and/or Pheesa display. I do subscribe to the "we need both at the top of their game to win it all" theory. It's great fun to watch the two of them have fun together and enjoy playing together. The chemistry is so obvious between the two, that you can feel it, sitting at home watching. I do miss being at every home game since moving here, but the commute is a little too much. As today's game approaches, I'm praying for and rooting that the play shown against ECU continues. Hopefully the "doldrums" are behind. This 5 cylinder machine needs to run as efficient as possible for the rest of the season and throughout the NCAAs. All I can say is "go get 'em".

 

[Rb335]

I would say that Samuelson, when playing well, is our most talented and versatile offensive player. Collier is the better two way player.

In addition, Collier has less variability between her good and bad games. Likely a result of taking fewer outside shots. Therefore, it is likely that Lou is the player who can get us a championship. You know what you are going to get from Collier every night. If Samuelson has 6 strong games to close out her career, they could be taking home the trophy.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

BOTH Pheesa AND Lou are important to the ultimate success of UCONN this year. They will carry the team as far as it can go. Love em both!!

 

[Husky40]

The fan battle between Samuelson and Collier supporters is more intense than I've seen for any other two UConn players. Because they bring two completely different things to the table I personally do not know, nor care, which one really is "better." However, I can make a prediction about who conventional wisdom will claim is the best at the end of the year based on what I've seen.

I believe Samuelson, because of her, um, photogenic nature, as been overhyped, or Collier neglected, by the media. In contrast, perhaps as a reaction, Samuelson has been unfairly criticized more than Collier. I think Mater Dei must have a special coach, because both KML and Samuelson came in with advanced understandings for how to play within the team framework. Samuelson critics seem to ignore that completely. Collier has one of the best motors and most consistency of any Husky player ever. While neither is in the class of Stewart or Moore, they remind me of a similar contrast.

Freshman through senior year Moore was the best UConn player in terms of individual performance, but Stewart's senior year was the single best year for what she brought both offensively and defensively. Something similar occurs with Collier and Samuelson. Collier is more consistently great, but Samuelson's best, when it occurs, is a little bit better. Consider that the best quarter we played against an elite team, the fourth against Notre Dame, Collier was not even in the lineup. The team's pinnacle depends on Samuelson's pinnacle more than Collier's. We can assume Collier will play great throughout, but we will win it all only if Samuelson is firing on all cylinders.

Here's my prediction then. If we win it all this year, the conventional wisdom will be that Samuelson was our best player this year. If we come up short again, the conventional wisdom will hold that Collier was our best player this year. I know neither end results nor conventional wisdom will sway champions of either player, nor will my mind ever be made up as to who was the better player in a Husky uniform. Nor will this change Collier being underhyped or Samuelson over criticized, but one can hope.

And yes, I tend to be bothered more by errant criticism than being unfairly overlooked, which is why I find myself often defending Samuelson.

My thoughts exactly, but you said it so much better. Both are great players and people -- so glad they chose UConn!

 

[HuskyNan]

Digger was discussing players’ looks as it relates to media attention, not his feelings about how attractive he finds them. Please follow suit and refrain from going into your thoughts on how pretty or cute you think a player is.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Caught a funny little moment with Phee smiling, pregame interview:

 

[tomcat]

Thank you for that. I was just complaining this week about a professional organization that put out a questionnaire that asked how Thing A complimented Thing B. I suggested we reply, "By saying thank you," but my co-workers would not go along, and I had to complete the document by pretending that it said "complemented."
It's amazing the number of people to whom this means nothing, that any ol' thing will do, as long as the word kinda sorta looks right. Every word means something, and these two mean different things. It's like "uninterested" and "disinterested," among other non-pairs. Two completely different meanings and folks (including professional writers edited by professional editors) screw it up constantly.

 

[Oldbones]

[QUOTE=" In my younger days, the "who's best" controversy was between Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. QUOTE]

In my younger days, it was a three horse race. They starred for three different teams, all world series winner right on top of each other, all same city.

We BYers are blessed to have both Pheesa and Lou, same team, same time. I suspect the only controversy here is generated by us.

Just like the constant 3-23-30 who is best argument by us BHYers,
We who grew up in the early fifties had the 4-7-24 discussion. I prefer comparing players of different teams (4-7-24) or different time periods (3-23-30) Same-team comparisons can be divisive.

By the way, who was the best?

 

[j66kicker]

[QUOTE=" In my younger days, the "who's best" controversy was between Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. QUOTE]

In my younger days, it was a three horse race. They starred for three different teams, all world series winner right on top of each other, all same city.

We BYers are blessed to have both Pheesa and Lou, same team, same time. I suspect the only controversy here is generated by us.

Just like the constant 3-23-30 who is best argument by us BHYers,
We who grew up in the early fifties had the 4-7-24 discussion. I prefer comparing players of different teams (4-7-24) or different time periods (3-23-30) Same-team comparisons can be divisive.
View attachment 39439
By the way, who was the best?

7!!

 

[SVCBeercats]

The fan battle between Samuelson and Collier supporters is more intense than I've seen for any other two UConn players.

The battles are over. Geno has spoken!
“I don't know that there is a better player anywhere that does as much every night. I'm sure people already made up their mind about who the best player in the country is, or who the national Player of the Year is, but I just don't know that there is anyone that on every single night does all the things that Naphessa does."

 

[BobbyJ]

[QUOTE=" In my younger days, the "who's best" controversy was between Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. QUOTE]

In my younger days, it was a three horse race. They starred for three different teams, all world series winner right on top of each other, all same city.

We BYers are blessed to have both Pheesa and Lou, same team, same time. I suspect the only controversy here is generated by us.

Just like the constant 3-23-30 who is best argument by us BHYers,
We who grew up in the early fifties had the 4-7-24 discussion. I prefer comparing players of different teams (4-7-24) or different time periods (3-23-30) Same-team comparisons can be divisive.
View attachment 39439
By the way, who was the best?

I was a fan of #44 and #9. Different positions and cities I know but it was the golden age of baseball.

 

[BobbyJ]

7!!

"If I'd known I was gonna live this long I'd have taken better care of myself."

 

[JonathanXIV]

[QUOTE=" In my younger days, the "who's best" controversy was between Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. QUOTE]

In my younger days, it was a three horse race. They starred for three different teams, all world series winner right on top of each other, all same city.

We BYers are blessed to have both Pheesa and Lou, same team, same time. I suspect the only controversy here is generated by us.

Just like the constant 3-23-30 who is best argument by us BHYers,
We who grew up in the early fifties had the 4-7-24 discussion. I prefer comparing players of different teams (4-7-24) or different time periods (3-23-30) Same-team comparisons can be divisive.
View attachment 39439
By the way, who was the best?

Willie Mays was the best. How is this even a question or debate?

 

[BroadwayVa]

We miss Gabby more this year than I would have expected in late 2016. She had the ability to take over games almost like Moriah or Stewie. She would grab a one-handed rebound above the rim, lead the break, and throw a 40-foot bounce pass for a layup. No one else in the country could do that.

At 6 foot almost nothing, she ruled the boards against reallllllly big players. I rewatched a couple of her games from last year and the final FF against Ms St. She was amazing. She was sooo much better than I had given her credit for them. The Ms St game was lost not because any of Uconn kids lacked energy, effort, hard work--Ms State played more bodies, had some excellent 3 ball shooters, big posts, and itty bitty. A shot at the buzzer in OT, freak shot, lucky shot, unbelievable shot--pick one, the name doesn't matter --the points do.
Gabby gave that and most games everything she had and then some. This would be a guaranteed NC team this year if Gabby didn't graduate to the pro world.

 

[NewCorn]

BOTH Pheesa AND Lou are important to the ultimate success of UCONN this year. They will carry the team as far as it can go. Love em both!!

I agree, a championship, perhaps even getting to the final 4, will require big performances from both Pheesa and Lou. Neither one can do it without the other. And Chrystal will have to keep it rolling.

 

[donalddoowop]

[QUOTE=" In my younger days, the "who's best" controversy was between Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. QUOTE]

In my younger days, it was a three horse race. They starred for three different teams, all world series winner right on top of each other, all same city.

We BYers are blessed to have both Pheesa and Lou, same team, same time. I suspect the only controversy here is generated by us.

Just like the constant 3-23-30 who is best argument by us BHYers,
We who grew up in the early fifties had the 4-7-24 discussion. I prefer comparing players of different teams (4-7-24) or different time periods (3-23-30) Same-team comparisons can be divisive.
View attachment 39439
By the way, who was the best?

NEITHER! Richie Ashburn was. Hahahahaaa

 

[Oldbones]

NEITHER! Richie Ashburn was. Hahahahaaa

Donald, he was #1 in my book, too...…………………………….