Azzi Fudd for player of the year? She’s making a strong case for herself

[Cornell Lt]

After Sunday's game, I'm convinced that Caitlin Clark is the best player in women's college basketball. But let's play all the games and see how this pans out.

What leads you to that conclusion ? She shot just a bit over 37% (9-27) from the field, 18% ( 2-11) from 3 pt range and was a non factor in the 2nd half. She's a very good player no doubt, but the best player, that's highly debatable IMHO

 

[CL82]

It will be an interesting race. Boston has the benefit of being an established brand. She is the reigning national player of the year, deservedly so.

Azzi, On the other hand, has the benefit of being “bright, shiny, and new“. Last year, due to injuries, she hid her light under a bucket, so to speak. She was a one dimensional, good, but streaky, shooter. This year, we are seeing the breadth of her skill set. yeah, she can hit it from deep, but she can also take it to the hole, seemingly it will. Oh, and by the way, she’s a pretty good defender as well. Azzi is the whole package. The narrative of her having to step up and put the team on her back when Paige Beckers went down is a easy one for the media to exploit, regardless if it’s not completely accurate.

Caitlin is an amazing player who is going to go on to have a great pro career, but people know about her and that, unfairly, diminishes her shine a bit. She would’ve helped herself if she carried the team to victory in Oregon.

It’s probably too early to have this conversation, but that’s what fans do. Azzi is in the hunt, Which is a good thing, but I’m sure she would gladly trade it for a national championship. That’s where her focus is.

 

[bballnut90]

Actually, I don't think Boston was anointed the NPOY in the pre-season last year. She filled the void after Paige's injury. I think Buckets was the favorite until early December. Boston was considered the NPOY favorite this year, along with Clark, because Paige's injury occurred well before the pre-season polls.

Last season, Paige was hurt and mostly missing. Azzi was hurt and not ready. Boston was the best of the remaining players.

I don't buy that it was in lieu of Bueckers (and especially not in lieu of Fudd). Boston elevated her game and proved she was the best player in the country last year. Aliyah was the frontrunner after she put up 22/15 vs. UCONN and SC established themselves as the clear #1 team.

Stats also don't tell the story for Boston. Her more pedestrian showings last season came against weak opponents where she went to the bench early due to the game being a blowout. All of her lowest scoring/rebounding games last season were in games won by 30-40 points, with the lone exception being the first game of the year vs. NC State. In big time games, she showed up and consistently balled out against the best teams in the country, usually putting up stat lines well above her season averages. Her biggest impact though is on the defensive end, where teams rarely challenge SC in the post due to Boston and only put up 50 ppg last year. Plus compared to Clark, she played 33% fewer minutes per game. If Boston played 36 minutes per game like Caitlin was, her numbers averaged out would be 22/16 with 3 blocks per game. Clark/Iowa started slow last year and finished the year strong, eeking into the last #2 seed with a great push at the end of the year. Pretty much all season long they were ranked in the 15-25 range where SC was #1 wire to wire. Clark would've been a worthy POY as well, as she was brilliant, but I get why it went to Boston. Aliyah cemented any doubt of her being deserving in the NCAA tournament.


Back to this season, it's quite early and hard to definitely say there's a clear cut favorite so far. Boston's numbers are low, but they were low at this point last year too. Realistically I don't think she matches her numbers from last year since I see Dawn keeping her minutes limited aside from big games (which there really aren't any aside from UCONN, LSU and maybe Tennessee). Fudd has emerged as a likely candidate and potential frontrunner from UCONN, especially if she continues to stay hot and put up big numbers. Clark is fully in the mix, particularly if Iowa stays in the top 10-15 all year. Stanford/Ohio State are too balanced to have a realistic candidate. If LSU becomes a top 10 team then Reese could be in the mix. Mackenzie Holmes, Deja Kelly, Olivia Miles, Ashley Joens and Elizabeth Kitley are standouts on teams in the 5-10 range and could work their way into the conversation with big numbers and continued winning. Siegrist/Morrow are big time scorers but I don't see anyone voting them for POY if they aren't on top 20 squads. Lots of season to go.

 

[HopJim]

I agree about Azzi v Caitlin. The NPOY is more like a baseball MVP than a Triple Crown. It tends to go to the person who makes her team win, not the one who has the best primary stats. Caitlin had better numbers than Paige two seasons ago, but the voters wanted Paige because she made her team great that season, and she did it by making everyone around her better. She carried the team when she had to, but she made us win every time.

Yesterday, they both struggled at moments and Caitlin ended up with slightly better stats. But Azzi clearly willed her team to the win. Another way to put it: Azzi struggled in the first half, but when we absolutely needed her in the second half, she poured in buckets. By contrast, Caitlin faded in the second half and as a result we won.

Boston deserved to win it last season because this is exactly who she was to SC. They were a team of great parts last season, but without Boston they might not have come together. Her personality shaped their season just as Paige’s had. I imagine she’s capable of having a similar season again, and if she does she’ll deserve to win again.

Ironically, if things had gone a little differently in the NC game and Paige had manufactured a win — I don’t put it past her — Boston would still have deserved NPOY, and the vote came earlier in any event. But in such a case, Paige would have demonstrated her case for it even in an injury shortened season. That’s what great players are like: you just can’t keep them down.

Good assessment, althought its much simpler than all these stats. The #1 stat is wins and like many awards, the player's perceived contribution to team success. Caitlin is as good or better than anyone in US but unlikely to win the NPOY as long as South Carolina (Boston) and UConn (Fudd) continue to win.

 

[Bone Dog]

Good assessment, althought its much simpler than all these stats. The #1 stat is wins and like many awards, the player's perceived contribution to team success. Caitlin is as good or better than anyone in US but unlikely to win the NPOY as long as South Carolina (Boston) and UConn (Fudd) continue to win.

Yup, and in Paige's case it makes good sense to focus on wins. She didn't beat other teams with her jumpshot. She 'beat' them with her team. That sort of profile is unusual among current players, I think.

 

[oldhusky]

I don't think Geno really means ‘Azzi, I want you to shoot the ball every time.’ I like Azzi the way she is. She gets plenty of touch in the flow of the game. Sure sometimes you wish she is a little more unselfish and not pass up shots she could take but that does not happen that often during a game. I don't want to see Azzi becomes like Caitlin Clark jacking up difficult lower percentage shots. When Azzi shoots the balls you feel like it is going in because she always takes good shots even if they don't go in all the time.

I think it is more than shooting every-time you get the ball in the flow of the offense. I think Geno does absolutely want her to shoot each and every time an opportunity presents itself within the offense. The difference is creating her own shot off the dribble, which she did in the second half over and over again.

I believe Geno thinks she can be effective doing that against not just some, but most defenders and teams, and should look to create her own frequently. Last year she was not healthy, and was more limited to being an open spot up jump shooter. I remember one of her stats on Her Hoop Stats from last year, namely 2pt attempts per 40 minutes.

She was in the 35th percentile of all players in their data base, meaning 65% of Division 1 players attempted more 2pt shots than Azzi did per minute last year. This year she has attempted to be a scorer not just a spot up shooter and I believe she is up to the 80th percentile or so indicating she is creating her shot much more, but she still has periods where she is trying to fit into the system and not create on her own.

It is a fine line but apparently she needs to be constantly pushed to be a scorer not just a shooter. As long as she hits a good percentage, she should look for her own more often. I think Geno and her teammates want her to do that, and believe in her ability to of course knock down open shots, but also create good shots on her own frequently.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Again Azzi is taking about 30% of the shots for the team per game with all the talents around her. For all the talks about Caitlin taking crazy shots and Iowa having a lot fewer support talents, she is taking the same % of shots for Iowa. If you want Azzi to take 40% of the shots (25), forcing more difficult shots, I would think Uconn would be easier to defend than it is now.

Azzi could have taken 25 shots in the flow of the offense, she doesn't have to force them up. And when she did in the 3rd, they all went in. So yes, she should be taking 40% of the team shots because unlike Clark, her efficiency is insane. Im just retweeting Coach Auriemma he wanted her to shoot more in the Iowa game and called her "too nice," after 19 FGA. He said this last year...

“If God ever gave anybody a better shooting stroke in the world, I don’t know who it is,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “So when I say, ‘Every time you touch it, shoot it,’ I don’t know that there’s a basketball player in the world that could misunderstand that, who could misconstrue what I’m talking about.”