AP All-America Team Announced

[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.

 

[Dillon77]

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.

Thank you for being fair

She's actually gotten better at that...as long as Muffet and Marina are urging/coaxing/threatening her. She actually worked hard during the third quarter of the game tonight when the Irish held Oregon to 9 points.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'd have Ogunbowale on my team any day, but not Mitchell. Ogunbowale is a team player and takes coaching.

I continue to think that Sabrina is setting herself up to be NPOY in 2019 and 2020. I haven't seen a talent like that since Maya nor a pure guard like that since D. Sabrina will soon be the best player in the world, pro or amateur (whatever that is).

Sabrina was fabulous in the first half tonight, but not especially effective in the second half.

 

[boontonbomber]

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.

but she didn't do those "other things"(rebounds, assists, steals, disruption of other team's offense) as well as Gabby. so considering everything that goes into someone's "season", I think Gabby was more deserving. and I also think she was more deserving than Durr. my opinion, there's nothing more to say.