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Speaking for BBallnut re: SC/Wilson.. I kinda get where they’re going.. Wilson won NPOY her senior year and while SC was good that year not many of us expected that team to win a title. That team had deficiencies all season. Had Gray and Davis returned instead of leaving early then it’d be a different story. Elite Eight was the ceiling for the ‘17-‘18 team and they hit it.
I got that too. My contention is not that a player needs to be on the national championship team. The votes are cast well before the FF. But it is important that the NPOY be the best player on a conference championship team and have a media narrative that supports their candidacy throughout the season.
Plum won POY when her team was a Sweet 16 team. The game you're referencing too vs Syracuse was when she was a junior (and they got slaughtered by Syracuse).
My point has been that the best team in the nation is not necessarily a factor, and is never really determined until the NCAA championship game, weeks after everyone has voted on NPOY awards. Being the best player on a conference championship team ( P5 + whichever conference UConn is in) does matter. Of the 3 players you cite, only Plum came up short on a 26-9 team.
I never said NPOY had to be the best player. There are many great players and several play positions that are difficult to compare by stats. I just meant she should be the best player on the best team. Or at least one of the best. IMHO, the player that contributes most to their team winning is the best player. And yes much of that cannot be quantified.
I agree when there is a clearcut favorite for POY the importance of a team’s success diminishes. However, if there is not a clearcut favorite then a team’s success will factor in. The same is true for defensive considerations. If there is not a clearcut POY based on offense or stats, then defensive ability matters for granting one an edge. To downplay it as meaningless because of lack of metrics is disputed by players like Dolson being honored with NDPOY. Right or wrong, experts indeed make judgements on defensive prowess in absence of sufficient metrics.
Iowa, SC, and Washington were never serious title contenders the years those players won NPOY, but they were still one of the top teams in their respective conferences. Washington was third in the PAC-12 and was in the 10-15 range nationally. SC and Iowa both finished second in their conference and were top 10 teams, though on the lower end. So all three players were still on teams that were quite good.
Agree with the main points, although I put a lot more weight on a regular season conference champion than winning a 3 day tournament like A'ja did in 2018 when Mississippi State was the clear top dog of the SEC that season. Even if SC lost the SEC tourney, A'ja still wouldve dominated POY awards.
Agree 100% with all that. I wasn't trying to boost up Clark as a POY but just discredit the argument of "best player on the best team = POY, end of story"
If POY was for the best player on the best team, you would expect one of the four candidates to be from Stanford at least, possibly Baylor, and possibly Elissa Cunane of NC State. But to a large degree it's an individual award.
Stanford is balanced. There’s a sliding scale. If you dominate for a team and carry them into the top 10, you can win over higher ranked teams that are balanced. But you historically have to lift your team to a high ranking.
