Athlon 2019/2020 WCBB Pre Season Rankings

[MilfordHusky]

Sabrina is a great player who is very good at most things. What makes her stand out is the combo of points, rebounds, and assists. She has the court vision to drop dimes and the height to grab rebounds. I don’t view her as a traditional point guard, but she is very good at what she does. It appears that she will tie Sue Bird with 3 Lieberman Awards. Her legacy will be greatly enhanced if Oregon can win the National Championship. I still have questions about her foot speed at the next level, but I think she’ll be a star, regardless.

 

[Alydar]

I don't think I understand what this debate is about. For the season that just ended, Ionescu won the Wade Trophy for national player of the year, the Wooden Award for most outstanding player in WCBB, and the Nancy Lieberman Award for the nation's top point guard (for the second straight year - she also won as a sophomore).

Yet despite all these accolades, and despite having better stats than CD, folks are trying to argue (1) that Ionescu is actually a forward; and (2) it's unclear who's better between Ionescu and CD. I don't get it. I like CD a lot - she's the latest rising senior in a long line of UConn women who are well spoken, humble, driven, and do everything the right way. CD is also definitely among the top PGs in the country. But it's comical to argue that Ionescu is neither a PG nor the top PG in the country.

It's beginning to make me think folks are just jealous that for once someone else has the fanciest pony in the stable. (To beat the horse metaphor to death a bit more.) Players come, players go, you always have Geno. I suggest taking a deep breath and enjoying the senior season of the most luminescent player in WCBB since Stewwie. And then next season you'll have her again in the form of one Bueckers, P.

ETA: Also, some of the fact assertions here are just bizarre. For example:


Ionescu shot .420 from long range her freshman year, and .429 this past junior year. So .420 is "didn't shoot well from the field" but .429 is "one of her strengths"??? BTW, CD's 3pt% was .352 last year. So does that make her the stinker of all of WCBB if she's .07 below "didn't shoot well"? Personally, I don't think so, but if that's the metric we're assigning, then CD is even more mediocre than freshman year Sabrina apparently was.

In trying to find facts to support my POV I came across the criteria for the Wade Trophy. Individual stats are not among the factors for the prize? It's team stats.

The Wade Trophy Committee selects the recipient. Selection is based on team statistics, improvement from year-to-year and contribution to the team and the community. The Wade Trophy

Granted you win any individual numbers discussion. But as you see individual numbers are NOT a factor in the Wade Trophy (which surprised me). So the WBCA says pooh pooh to your numbers. LOL Just kidding.
As a UConn fan I've learned to not expect any UConn players to lead the country in scoring or assists. Why? Not because they lack the talent, but because nobody dominates offense at UConn like Ionescu does at Oregon or like others have done elsewhere, except maybe for a game. The UConn system spreads the scoring out and from game to game they find who is hot that night. Take a look at Taurasi's career numbers. She averaged 15pts; 4.5 boards and 4.5 assists. Using your measuring stick she shouldn't have even been in the discussion for POY, ever. And others felt that way too in 2004, awarding the POY to Beard. She had the numbers, playing on the right team. But most would agree in hindsight that UConn still had the best player. Taurasi dragged a young and inexperienced UConn team to the title in both 2003 & 2004, averaging 18 & 16 pts/gm.
I also remember enjoying watching McCaughtry play for Louisville. She wasn't the point guard but she still dominated the offense, even more so in late game situations when her alter-ego would come out and she would become a one-person offense. No UConn player came near to her numbers in her last 3 years. In the 2009 she was the No 1 pick. But it was Maya Moore, who never averaged 20/gm in any of her college years who won POY, doing it all 3 times she was eligible. Now some will say it's because of UConn bias. (Is that jealousy? LOL) But my point is that numbers , while a useful tool, are also a function of the system the player is in. Sabrina is in a perfect situation to shine. And I'm glad she is because Oregon is one of the most entertaining teams to watch in college.

 

[triaddukefan]

Guess I'll have to go to the grocery store to find out the rest of the rankings . I'll report back soon. Until then, carry on.

 

[PAC-12HoopFan]

Guess I'll have to go to the grocery store to find out the rest of the rankings . I'll report back soon. Until then, carry on.

Don't spend the $10.99 plus tax like I did for the four pages of women's coverage. There are 208 total pages in his year's edition, including the four pages devoted (?) to covering the women's game. In addition to the first six teams identified in the first post of this thread before that poster lost interest, the rest of the rankings are as follows:

7) Oregon State
8) Syracuse
9) NC State
10) Notre Dame
11) Kentucky
12) South Carolina
13) Miami
14) Florida State
15) Michigan
16) UCLA
17) Michigan State
18) Louisville
19) Iowa State
20) Mississippi State
21) Iowa
22) BYU
23) West Virginia
24) Gonzaga
25) South Dakota State

 

[donalddoowop]

Don't spend the $10.99 plus tax like I did for the four pages of women's coverage. There are 208 total pages in his year's edition, including the four pages devoted (?) to covering the women's game. In addition to the first six teams identified in the first post of this thread before that poster lost interest, the rest of the rankings are as follows:

7) Oregon State
8) Syracuse
9) NC State
10) Notre Dame
11) Kentucky
12) South Carolina
13) Miami
14) Florida State
15) Michigan
16) UCLA
17) Michigan State
18) Louisville
19) Iowa State
20) Mississippi State
21) Iowa
22) BYU
23) West Virginia
24) Gonzaga
25) South Dakota State

If you read my post you will see that I did not lose interest. I was in a grocery store and I did not have the paper to record the rest of the teams and I was not going to buy the book for the reason you stated.

 

[triaddukefan]

Don't spend the $10.99 plus tax like I did for the four pages of women's coverage. There are 208 total pages in his year's edition, including the four pages devoted (?) to covering the women's game. In addition to the first six teams identified in the first post of this thread before that poster lost interest, the rest of the rankings are as follows:

Thanks. My plan was to just take pics of the pertinent pages with my cell phone. I wasnt going to spend the money, but my gosh ... $10.99 .

 

[donalddoowop]

Thanks. My plan was to just take pics of the pertinent pages with my cell phone. I wasnt going to spend the money, but my gosh ... $10.99 .

Lindy Sports is out now and UConn is ranked ninth. I did not check the price but I know it was more than I wanted to pay. They even had a very short write up on my St. Louis Billikens men's team. Not worth it.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Lindy Sports is out now and UConn is ranked ninth. I did not check the price but I know it was more than I wanted to pay. They even had a very short write up on my St. Louis Billikens men's team. Not worth it.

Ninth?! I think that tells you all you need to know about that publication.

 

[Tonyc]

Fake News LOL Lindy has just lost alot of readers. With Westbrook UConn is the team to beat.