Collier is on a steep incline in her overall skill set. So to compare anyone to Collier is to track a moving threshold that may be impossible to keep up with. I feel Collier and Wilson are the two to compare. But don't forget Gabby of course.
Azura
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Uconn didn't win the championship last year, and losing Moriah wasn't the reason. Chong was good enough with Kia in the back-court to win. Replacing Stewie, and Tuck with Gabby, and Collier was the reason they lost. Gabby, and Collier are good players, but not in the same league as Stewie, and a healthy Tuck.
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So last year what would you have said about the 2 wing players that transferred to South Carolina? When did they magically turn into championship caliber players? I can probably find games in other years which other players "owned them" similar to what Wilson may have done to Z, right?
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Z normally played with a Big while at Duke. She had Williams for 1 year and then she had Chidom and Belton the following year to play center, so I think her role at Duke was different then what Collier was asked to do. The one thing that's pretty exciting about Z is that she's a big but she's not a big, I expect to see her play a lot on the wing and facing the basket, I'm sure Geno will have her mix it up a little inside but, she's more on the level of Delle Donne then she would be on the level of Stewart, Geno did say that setting screens for a 6'6 player is unusual, so I do see her playing a bit of a guard role for Uconn.
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Collier 20.4ppg 9.1rpg vs Stewart 19.4ppg 8.7rpg
Williams 14.3ppg 8.4rpg vs Tuck 13.7ppg 5.7rpg
Statistics paint a very different picture.
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the scary thing is that Azura playing on the outside will actually open things up for Gabby and Napheesa inside
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While I generally agree with the gist of your post, I would argue that Gabby & Pheesa were great players that were playing out of position last year. When they get to the next level they will play as wings or possibly a guard in Gabby's case. Neither is a true forward and certainly not a center.
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I don't think Collier played out of position at all. Also think Gabby is more of a wing/forward than guard. Not a great ball-handler, not a shooter.
Bill Russell would tell you Statistics are for losers, the only stat is whether you win, and Bill won in College, Olympics, and the NBA.
I agree for the most. Collier can play any position except as true center meaning she can't be expected to guard the apposing true center like as Tuck could. Tuck was physically strong and agile. But Collier has so many post moves allowing her to score on anyone in the post. I saw her six moves on three defenders in one drive. She drove left then right then spun left and right then the turned and faded and banked the scoring basket. If Geno finds someone to guard the true center, then Collier will reek havoc all over the floor. That combination will make her NPOY.
RockyMTblue2
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Hmmmm ... I wonder if Z will feel any pressure walking out on the game court for the first time with a Husky jersey on her back?
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RockyMTblue2- - - I think Azura will be feeling the usual pressure of having "to live up to" perform UP TO the UCONN Huskies WBB standard of play! Once her natural athletic ability kicks in, she'll be fine, better than fine she'll be great!
Having watched her play at Duke several times she's a special athlete! With the help of the best coaching staff in WCBB and her team mates she'll be a quick study and fit in like many of UCONN's greats have done!
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Lets use wins and losses then as our metric.
Losses through sophomore season
Collier 1 vs Stewart 4
Williams 1 vs Tuck 4
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I'm not sure what you mean by the bold in totality. I think I do but not sure. I can see AZ play "guard-like" for a big. But imo there is no way no way no way Geno is going let a 6'6 player not work quite a bit on her inside game UNLESS the 6'6 player is like a "Magic Johnson" or shoots like Katie Lou/ Delle Donne. I don't think she shoots like either. As a result, when there are times as Geno has said about Lou that her shot isn't falling - what can she do? AZ if playing a guard would let the other team off the hook. There is no way IMO Geno is going ot let her do that. IMO Geno "toughens" players. OFC he'll want AZ to shoot from the outside but also she is 6'6 and long. He'll want her to play very well on the inside too. For example, I think she can be a very good offensive rebounder. How many times do we hear Geno say last year "I'd like to see us get more offensive rebounds." IMO AZ's growth as a player will come a lot from how well she can finish inside and rebound inside. We already know she can shoot the ball. For a player like AZ's talent- Geno will not pigeon-hole her to just being a perimeter player with the type of size and athleticism she has. He''ll want her to play tough and that will mean also being a force in the paint.
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In my opinion Coach Auriemma is going to use Stevens in the same way he used Stewart.
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IMO ofc she did. There were reason why she was in foul trouble a lot vs the eltie teams because she was forced to guard consistently more taller players. Collier is a forward that was forced to play against big centers.
Just because she was able to counter it due to her offense doesn't mean defensively that she wasn't playing out of position. The games against Texas and Miss State size really hurt because a player such as Collier was out of position. Notre Dame tried to expose Collier for a reason - because she is smaller. She got into foul trouble vs the bigs such as vs Baylor or ND because she is small. Even inside when you give her the ball to her back ot the basket- she committed offensive fouls to put herself in foul trouble - because she was an "out-of-position" low post who needed to put the ball on the floor inside as a result she could pick up cheap fouls that way too. Though I realize big centers could pick up cheap low post fouls too.
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Yes I agree. Inside and out. What I picture about Stewie is the MD game in her junior year. MD hung around. And late UCONN went inside to Stewie a lot. In order for UCONN to do that in a tight game it meant prior that UCONN would have worked on getting her the ball in those situations in the post. SO IMO there will be many games to start they focus on getting AZ the ball inside.
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That's because in Bill Russell's time they had no clue how a defensive player could be evluated. And as another poster cited- the very thing he slams - is the very thing why he is regarded as an all-time great-- it's his winning. That's a statistic.
Nowadays they would have measured his defensive impact. They wouldn't have played him an average of 45 minutes a season (another stat). Bill Russell TELLS everyone that he WAS a very good offensive player. Yet when we look at his stats nowadays -- he wasn't. But when we DIG DEEPER INTO THE STATS we see that when we compare him vs others of his era -- he certainly was. WE KNOW for a center - he was a terrific passer. We KNOW all of this because we USE stats. So rather than just blindly take someone's word for it -we know this because of stats.
We know for example that Russell was super-great defensively not just because you or others say-so- but we look at the stats. Before Russell came to the Celts their defense was ranked 6th. The moment he came to the Celts their defense "magically" rose to 1st. In his 1st 11 years the Celts defense was 1st in the NBA. Year 12 of Russell's career it was 2nd, then year 13 back to 1st. THE YEAR BEFORE RUSSELL CAME TO CLETS THEY"RE DEFENSE WAS 6th. THE YEAR AFTER HE LEFT IT WAS RANKED 8th. These stats imo prove that Russell "changed the game" within his era. There are other stats too. There's reason why teams employ their own stat departments. There are reason why we know some teams aren't good ft shooters or outside shooters. Coaches use stats to help their players improve their games.
CocoHusky
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Both Gabby and Napheesa played out of position last year primarily because neither has the size or build to defend full time in the post. The fact that both had AA seasons playing in the post is a tribute to their greatness and the UCONN staff ability to develop players well beyond the skills they came into college with. Simply put I am not sure Gabby or Napheesa would be AA at anyplace besides UCONN regardless of the position each played. Speaking of those two, realistic chance of keeping DPOY award in UCONN house for 4 consecutive years by the time Napheesa graduates.
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One of the many things we will get to see-- obviously, Geno saw a replay of Aja eating Z's lunch (hope it wasn't an expensive lunch)--and told her where her weakest point (s) happened to be--another fun event we must anticipate.
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As a human Bill Russell had flaws---none that i saw--Stats are wonderful, but not for me. Bill Russell to me --was a pleasure, plain pleasure to watch him, see him and especially listen to his characterization of the Game--my world if full of favorites--and Bill is right there on TOP.
When Bill spoke--an educated MAN spoke--
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Big difference between a wing and a power forward or center, particularly in the pros. Gabby and Pheesa can get away with playing the 4 or 5 in college because of their athleticism and talent. In the pros they are both wings at best. Each will have to work on their handle and outside shooting in order to make that transition, which I personally am confident they will do.
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You again NAILED-IT--Azura as she appears her first time--may feel a twinge of expectation from her self, coach and Fans. But kids like her, who played lots of ball--especially in Hall of Crazies--the butterfly shall soon flutter away.
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If you consider practices against male practice players--she has.Stevens didn't play with KLS, Williams or Nurse