AP All-America Team Announced

[Alydar]

And Arike averages 5.5. rebounds per game and had accumulated 101 assists (versus 3.1 rebounds and 86 for Durr). This is not to make a one to one comparison with Durr but more to show the overall value that Arike is bringing to an Irish team that plays three guards. And remember, Arike is 5'8" getting those bounds and driving that lane.

I've seriously got to wonder who or what the AP voters were looking at to have one slot for the Irish, vis a vis multiple choices for most other top teams. Maybe Mabrey, Jackie Young and Jess Shepard cancelled each other out. Or maybe the voters just think Muffet took her Gryffindor wand out and make it all happen.

I usually don't get too bent out of shape on these type of things but I've got to wonder how two Oklahoma State players make honorable mention over a Mabrey or Young.

Personally, I think Mabrey has been killing it since she's gotten more used to her role as a "lead" guard, both as a leader and a scorer. Just speak to Gary Blair and Kelly Graves on whom they were worried about/are worrying about.

Lastly, the honorable mentions may say more to me about the voters than whom they're voting on....Geesh.

I notice that you avoid commenting on Arike's defensive prowess ( or lack thereof). A 5 hour highlight video could be created of opposing players blowing by her for layups or being left uncovered for open looks. But to be fair I rarely see any mention of defensive performance for any AA or POY.

 

[nwhoopfan]

That's technically true but very short sighted. Mercedes was class of 2013. By the 2014-15 which would have been here sophmore year Oregon State would win the regular season Pac 12 Championship. For the next seasons two season Oregon State would win either the regular season and/or the Pac 12 tournament championship and played in the FF against UCONN in 2016. Oregon of course made it to sweet 16 last year and are on the verge of making the FF this year. At either school Mercedes could have developed along the lines of Ruth Hamblin, Marie Gulich, or Ruth Hebard.

I have no doubt she would've developed as a player more if she had gone to OSU or UO. I was trying to give her a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. I don't think anyone anticipated how rapidly Rueck would turn OSU around.

 

[HopJim]

Cross matching this against the 2014 HS rankings (my composite):

View attachment 30106


NO 2014 HS RANK
Tashia Brown, Western Kentucky; Tinara Moore, Central Michigan;

HS 2013
3rd - Lexie Brown
HM - Natalie Butler, Loryn Goodwin, Teana Muldrow, Imani Wright

HS 2015->
1st Team - Lou, Ionescu, Durr
2nd Team - Kelani Brown, Megan Gustafson, Ogunbowale
3rd Team Pheesa, McCowan
HM - Chennedy Carter, Lauren Cox, Sophie Cunningham, Bridget Carleton, Ruthy Hebard

Cross matching this against the 2014 HS rankings (my composite):

View attachment 30106


NO 2014 HS RANK
Tashia Brown, Western Kentucky; Tinara Moore, Central Michigan;

HS 2013
3rd - Lexie Brown
HM - Natalie Butler, Loryn Goodwin, Teana Muldrow, Imani Wright

HS 2015->
1st Team - Lou, Ionescu, Durr
2nd Team - Kelani Brown, Megan Gustafson, Ogunbowale
3rd Team Pheesa, McCowan
HM - Chennedy Carter, Lauren Cox, Sophie Cunningham, Bridget Carleton, Ruthy Hebard

Thanks. Interesting post.

 

[HopJim]

So you’re saying Kia should be an AA over Pheesa or Gabby??

Another piece of info that didn't help Kia. Some seem to forget that she missed parts of last year and was a relative non-entity in the playoffs due to ankle/foot injury. Rightly or not, many saw her as average player at end of 2017. Likely left impression a great 2017-18 couldn't change.

 

[CocoHusky]

This actually isn’t true. There’s been 2 winners of DPOY since 2010 I believe that weren’t on the AA team.

Realize that this is the AP AA team we are talking about but WBCA standards the statement: The DPOY has ALWAYS been an WBCA all american is correct.
Past Teams - NCAA Division I
WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year

 

[CocoHusky]

I have no doubt she would've developed as a player more if she had gone to OSU or UO. I was trying to give her a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. I don't think anyone anticipated how rapidly Rueck would turn OSU around.

True but Mercedes should have anticipated how quickly Holly would turn TN into a dumpster fire though.

 

[jonson]

I have no doubt she would've developed as a player more if she had gone to OSU or UO. I was trying to give her a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. I don't think anyone anticipated how rapidly Rueck would turn OSU around.

And saying that Oregon was a complete mess at that time would be a massive understatement. This is only Graves's fourth year in Eugene.

 

[CocoHusky]

And saying that Oregon was a complete mess at that time would be a massive understatement. This is only Graves's fourth year in Eugene.

LOL and remembering in sympathy.
Oregon Ducks will not renew Paul Westhead's contract as women's basketball head coach

 

[Bronx23]

The reality is, maybe unfortunately, that scoring and offensive #'s, have always been given, more value than defensive ones, in almost any team sport where players play both ends. In a perfect world they would be equally weighted.
Yes, all the comments by Geno and here, clearly indicate it's not fair, when your team is almost always better than everyone else and plays team ball and often wins by good margins.
The reason I am as engaged as I am in women's sports and particularly U Conn women's bb is just because of those things. Most sports fans would rather watch the big scorer, the dunks, the homers, the goal scorer or the quarterback or wide receiver all do something that has a WOW factor excel than see the finer points of those games and what it takes for a team to excel beyond individual accomplishments. It's part of why women's basketball is not significantly more appreciated than it is and should be.
Even myself, who adores Kia and Gabby, is more aware and troubled by their offensive limitations than many others players defensive ones.
I actually think it's pretty amazing that our so-called core four all got honored on one of the teams and one could argue that AZ & CD, in many ways should have been recognized.
One can always argue or quibble with some of the placements but I'm sorry to say from my perspective, these choices in general were not way off. I'd say Gabby should have been first team and maybe Pheesa the 2nd team and maybe Kia third team. But there were other players from other teams, who were also slighted in some way. Maybe as someone else mentioned Monique Billings didn't get mentioned at all.
As to Kia and her likely not being named an AA, although she may well be the best defensive player in the country or maybe 2nd best to Gabby. She in many ways is a substantial part of the glue on this team, but might be the 4th, 5th or 6th best player on the team.
I personally don't think Kia is amongst the best ten players in college ball even though she's a lock down defender and a good offensive player. I know that's not a popular opinion here as all of us love everything she has brought for the last four years.
The U Conn rules are meant to assure that only the very, very best of the players in its history are recognized. Unless they change the rules which probably ain't happening, she won't be on the wall. But if all goes well she will have been a significant part of three NC teams and a favorite of many U Conn fans. Maybe that's still not fair, but it sure ain't too shabby.
Bronx23

 

[bbballfan23]

Realize that this is the AP AA team we are talking about but WBCA standards the statement: The DPOY has ALWAYS been an WBCA all american is correct.
Past Teams - NCAA Division I
WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year

Jennifer Risper from Vanderbilt won DPOY and didn’t make it. So again, that’s incorrect.

 

[bballnut90]

1st Team
A’ja, Lou, Ionescu, Durr, Vivians
2nd Team
Kelani Brown, Kelsey Mitchell, Gabby, Megan Gustafson, Ogunbowale
3rd Team
Pheesa, McCowan, Canada, Lexie Brown, Hines-Allen
Honorable Mention
Kia was among the 15-20 other names

Voters did a great job with teams this year. Can't complain about any of those picks. If I'm getting nitpicky I would have put Hebard or Gulich on 3rd over Hines-Allen, and I would've put McCowan on 2nd team over Gustafson, but overall I thought voters picked the right players.

As a side note, looking at all of these names...next years draft should be quite loaded once again. Off hand you have:
-Kalani Brown
-Teaira McCowan
-KLS
-Collier
-Stevens
-Durr
-Gustafson
-Arike
-Mabrey
-Brianna Turner
-Jessica Shepard
-Anigwe

 

[Oldbones]

Who said life is fair?

If it were all about defense, Oriole Shortstop Extraordinaire Mark Belanger would be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

[boontonbomber]

they selectors can't be serious! can't have Vivians ahead of Gabby. as Geno says, nobody impacts the game in as many ways as Gabby. the draft will bear that out.

 

[bballnut90]

Definitely agree. I am surprised Mabrey did not make Honorable mention. While her season average numbers may be an issue, she comes out for the biggest games.

Take out Mabrey's first several games where she couldn't throw it into the ocean and her stats would be AA worthy. Regardless, she is definitely one of the more dangerous players in the country though. She does everything well and is a gamer.

 

[Los24]

Kelsey Mitchell. She's a throw-it-up-and- hope player. Kia is far superior.

My gosh, 2nd all-time scorer in history .... up and hope huh? If everyone on UConn was 1st team as many here act lile we would not have lost last year. Lets consider that if Kelsey was on UConn and was able to pass to Lou, Pheesa, etc... her talent would show differently. Lou has the option to let others score when the other team is focusing on her, Mitchell does not.

I think both Gabby and Pheesa could be one team higher but not going to.put down another player because they are not.

 

[bballnut90]

they selectors can't be serious! can't have Vivians ahead of Gabby. as Geno says, nobody impacts the game in as many ways as Gabby. the draft will bear that out.

Vivians deserves 1st team. 20ppg for a 35-1 team and she's had her best games against the best teams. Gabby could wind up being a better pro, but Vivians has had a better season.

 

[Centerstream]

Who said life is fair?

If it were all about defense, Oriole Shortstop Extraordinaire Mark Belanger would be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Great analogy...Mark and I are from the same hometown.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Last year, Gabby, KlS and Napheesa has somewhat of an advantage. Many thought it would be a down year for UConn and then what does the team do? They are undefeated, Ranked #1 and in the process extended UConn's unbeaten streak to 111 games before the Final Four. All this publicity and the Players stats led to three UConn players being named to the WBCA All American team. This year, most thought going into the season UConn was the best team, so individual UConn players didn't get the publicity that las years team got. Also not winning the National Championship last year, probably cost KLS or Gabby a chance at National POY. If UConn had won the National Championship , maybe ESPN hypes GAbby or KLS as the presumptive POY instead of A'ja.

 

[bballnut90]

Last year, Gabby, KlS and Napheesa has somewhat of an advantage. Many thought it would be a down year for UConn and then what does the team do? They are undefeated, Ranked #1 and in the process extended UConn's unbeaten streak to 111 games before the Final Four. All this publicity and the Players stats led to three UConn players being named to the WBCA All American team. This year, most thought going into the season UConn was the best team, so individual UConn players didn't get the publicity that las years team got. Also not winning the National Championship last year, probably cost KLS or Gabby a chance at National POY. If UConn had won the National Championship , maybe ESPN hypes GAbby or KLS as the presumptive POY instead of A'ja.

I disagree. The reason why they won the AA awards last year is they had better numbers and played more consistently than this year. Collier just didn’t make the same impact she did last year. Gabby was more up and down this year. KLS was improved this year, but Wilson also had an outstanding POY worthy season. FWIW, all either of them care about is winning tonight and UCONN is up by 15 in the 1st quarter.

 

[dogfan96]

Gabby > Vivians

No.. just no. LOL. Gabby is a better athlete and defender.. she's not a better basketball player. Vivians is one of the more gifted offensive players in women's basketball. She scores effortlessly. 50/40/83 shooting splits.. 23 ppg vs ranked opponents

 

[Kevin G]

No.. just no. LOL. Gabby is a better athlete and defender.. she's not a better basketball player. Vivians is one of the more gifted offensive players in women's basketball. She scores effortlessly. 50/40/83 shooting splits.. 23 ppg vs ranked opponents

Yes yes yes. Last time I checked a good basketball player is good on both sides of the game, offense and defense. Vivians has a better shot than Gabby but Gabby is not a bad offensive player herself. Gabby is definitely the better Defender. And Gabby's a better passer and Gabby has less turnovers....so Gabby is better overall.

 

[Plebe]

Voters did a great job with teams this year. Can't complain about any of those picks. If I'm getting nitpicky I would have put Hebard or Gulich on 3rd over Hines-Allen, and I would've put McCowan on 2nd team over Gustafson, but overall I thought voters picked the right players.

As a side note, looking at all of these names...next years draft should be quite loaded once again. Off hand you have:
-Kalani Brown
-Teaira McCowan
-KLS
-Collier
-Stevens
-Durr
-Gustafson
-Arike
-Mabrey
-Brianna Turner
-Jessica Shepard
-Anigwe

Hines-Allen was the only pick of the 15 I was even mildly surprised about. But I can't say she's not deserving; I just figured a few others to be slightly more deserving.

So the 15-player AA team consists of:

• 7 seniors
• 7 juniors (Samuelson, Durr, K. Brown, Gustafson, Ogunbowale, Collier, McCowan)
  
• 1 sophomore (Ionescu)

And the 23 honorable mentions consist of:

• 17 seniors
• 3 juniors (Bell, Carleton, Cunningham)
  
• 2 sophomores (Cox, Hebard)
• 1 freshman (Carter)

 

[boontonbomber]

Vivians deserves 1st team. 20ppg for a 35-1 team and she's had her best games against the best teams. Gabby could wind up being a better pro, but Vivians has had a better season.

well, she did score a lot of points, but, c'mon, that doesn't make for the better season. Vivians obviously is a very good player, but she just can't do all the things that Gabby can do. of course, she's not the only one.

 

[Roger G]

Phessa should be in the 2nd team, at least.

Once again, underrated!

 

[bballnut90]

well, she did score a lot of points, but, c'mon, that doesn't make for the better season. Vivians obviously is a very good player, but she just can't do all the things that Gabby can do. of course, she's not the only one.

Vivians does a lot more than just score points. And she isn’t as unique as Gabby (no one in college basketball is), but she’s had a better season, hence why she earned 1st team over Gabby. The awards are voted for who has had the best season, not who is the best player.