Courtney Ekmark, Sabrina Ionescu, POY thoughts

[FanHam]

I watched almost the entire Arizona State v. Oregon WCBB game last night. It was on the PAC network.

The announcers commented several times that Courtney Ekmark is in her second year of law school. Wow. Did not know that. Good for her.

Regarding her game, she started, played 30 minutes. She had a typical Courtney Ekmark game: lots of hustle, a few good defensive plays and solid defense overall, a couple of nice baskets, some good passes, but very little to show for it in the box score: six points, one rebound, three assists, one steal. Bless her heart, I always loved her hustle but she is sort of the antithesis of Napheesa Collier, who hits all the stat columns hard.

The game was a good one. Oregon lead most of the way but ASU never gave up. Every time ASU got closer than ten points, Sabrina Ionescu would do something Larry Bird-like. As much as I love KLS and Pheesa, Sabrina Ionescu may be a slightly lesser version of Diana Taurasi and POY. I see her as a step ahead of Asia Durr with Pheesa and Katie Lou a shade behind.

I'm sure others have different opinions...

 

[Los24]

Nice write up... I can agree with what you wrote about Sabrina. I watched a few of her games, like to catch a couple more. Its the "it" factor that many of us talk about we need to see more of ... She also contributes in many ways consistently and at a high level. Unless something significantly changes I think its her award to lose this year.

 

[LoTrader]

In the PAC-12, Alana Smith woud get my vote as POY. Check out this article from Ben Dull, a very good sports writer: Pac-12 12 Things: Cal drops to 1-3; OSU/ASU’s halfcourt precision


Smith’s staggering efficiency and workload
15 games into the 2018-19 season, let’s put some numbers to how impressive Alanna Smith’s senior campaign has been. She’s up to 66.0% true shooting with a 30.7% usage rate per Her Hoop Stats. She’s shooting 48.8 percent from deep on 5.3 3-point attempts per game. And her block rate has ballooned to 8.9 percent after Sunday’s block party in Tucson.
Smith has the highest usage of anybody in the top 50 nationally in true shooting. Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (72.0% TS and 28.9% USG) and Oregon’s Ruthy Hebard (69.5% TS and 24.6% USG) are the only Power 5 high usage players in that ballpark.
We can keep saying the Cardinal won’t be as daunting of an opponent if some of Smith’s 3-pointers stop going in the basket. That shouldn’t get in the way of appreciating this level of production. Few Power 5 players in the country carry this big of a scoring load for their teams. Smith does and remains one of the most efficient scorers in college basketball.
https://the-boneyard.com/javascript:void(0)

 

[nwhoopfan]

Pac 12 POY will be very interesting this year.

 

[NWHoopFan2]

In the PAC-12, Alana Smith woud get my vote as POY. Check out this article from Ben Dull, a very good sports writer: Pac-12 12 Things: Cal drops to 1-3; OSU/ASU’s halfcourt precision


Smith’s staggering efficiency and workload
15 games into the 2018-19 season, let’s put some numbers to how impressive Alanna Smith’s senior campaign has been. She’s up to 66.0% true shooting with a 30.7% usage rate per Her Hoop Stats. She’s shooting 48.8 percent from deep on 5.3 3-point attempts per game. And her block rate has ballooned to 8.9 percent after Sunday’s block party in Tucson.
Smith has the highest usage of anybody in the top 50 nationally in true shooting. Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (72.0% TS and 28.9% USG) and Oregon’s Ruthy Hebard (69.5% TS and 24.6% USG) are the only Power 5 high usage players in that ballpark.
We can keep saying the Cardinal won’t be as daunting of an opponent if some of Smith’s 3-pointers stop going in the basket. That shouldn’t get in the way of appreciating this level of production. Few Power 5 players in the country carry this big of a scoring load for their teams. Smith does and remains one of the most efficient scorers in college basketball.
https://the-boneyard.com/javascript:void(0)

Well between Ionescu and Smith, their scoring average is about the same, their rebounding average is about the same even though Smith is 6 inches taller, but Ionescu leads the country in assists and has an assist to turnover ratio over 3. It’s a close race at this point and may just come down to the head to head game between their teams. But, at this point I think Ionescu gets the nod because she makes the whole team better with her skills as a distributor. It’ll be fun to follow the rest of the season.

 

[azfan]

Courtney Ekmark continues to epitomize the type of player Charlize Turner Thorne recruits and merges into a team concept focusing on defense, solid offensive play, and playing the entire roster. That said Courtney's physical attributes limit her ability to compete individually at the top level of D1. Her role on the current lady Devils team is that of a leader. The demands of law school, her community service, and the rigors of D1 Athletics present a challenge that she has managed magnificently. That said her shooting both from the three point line, the interior and and free throw line have all suffered. Against Oregon she was 2 of 6 from the field, 2 of 5 from the 3-point line with one rebound.. While she is a leader in minutes for the team she's not in the top five in any of the shooting categories. In the game against Oregon the difference makers that allowed ASU to hang was and to stay close in the second half was the play of Jamie 'point a minute' Ruden and Ibis. While battling a leg injury Jamie has been less than fully effective this year. Against Oregon she scored 12 points in 11 minutes. Kianna Ibis the best player on the team had another excellent game with 22 points on 10 of 14 shooting and 8 rebounds.

Courtney is a leader on the team and has overcome her lack of quickness and slender build to contribute minutes to the team. As I said in a thread before conference play began she would be challenged by the much quicker and athletic players in the Pac-12.

For some reason ASU was listed in the top 16 teams in the last bracketology which means they would host two games in the tournament. Frankly I don't see how this will continue at season's and. The swing through the Pacific Northwest and the home stand against Stanford and Cal show that ASU will be a second-tier team behind the two Oregon schools and Stanford. As the 4th or 5th best team in the Pac-12 I don't see the Devils hosting in the tournament. That said while they'll likely win their first-round game depending on the matchup in the second round the Devils will again go home early.

Courtney is a role model reflecting a true student-athlete and a character that is exemplary. These are the type of athletes Charlie Turner Thorne constantly recruits and works with and Courtney has been a meaningful contributor in this system probably the best for her at the D1 level.

 

[Plebe]

Well between Ionescu and Smith, their scoring average is about the same, their rebounding average is about the same even though Smith is 6 inches taller, but Ionescu leads the country in assists and has an assist to turnover ratio over 3. It’s a close race at this point and may just come down to the head to head game between their teams. But, at this point I think Ionescu gets the nod because she makes the whole team better with her skills as a distributor. It’ll be fun to follow the rest of the season.

It's my understanding that conference awards are supposed to be based on performance in conference play.

If we look at stats for conference games, Smith has the edge there: 23.0 ppg, 48.3% FG, 11.0 rpg. Compared to Ionescu's 19.8 ppg, 32.3% FG, 6.0 rpg. Smith is also leading the conference in 4.2 blocks per game in conference play. Ionescu is leading the conference in 6.8 assists per game in conference play.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Really happy to see Ekmark doing so well. She left UConn, but she made a good move, and I think everyone who supports UConn WBB wants to see these kids succeed.

Wishing her a strong season, and a long and successful legal career. And political? With her name recognition in Arizona, will she be in line for Congress or more?

 

[j66kicker]

Really happy to see Ekmark doing so well. She left UConn, but she made a good move, and I think everyone who supports UConn WBB wants to see these kids succeed.

Wishing her a strong season, and a long and successful legal career. And political? With her name recognition in Arizona, will she be in line for Congress or more?

Haha - try to find an article on WBB in any Arizona paper. I think she better move back to CT and run for office there, as there may be more than 200 people in CT who have heard of her.

 

[NWHoopFan2]

It's my understanding that conference awards are supposed to be based on performance in conference play.

If we look at stats for conference games, Smith has the edge there: 23.0 ppg, 48.3% FG, 11.0 rpg. Compared to Ionescu's 19.8 ppg, 32.3% FG, 6.0 rpg. Smith is also leading the conference in 4.2 blocks per game in conference play. Ionescu is leading the conference in 6.8 assists per game in conference play.

The voting criteria does not specify only conference games. If you look back at past player of the year annnouncements coming out of the conference office they site season long statistics as opposed to conference only statistics.

 

[Plebe]

The voting criteria does not specify only conference games. If you look back at past player of the year annnouncements coming out of the conference office they site season long statistics as opposed to conference only statistics.

You're certainly right there. I guess I've long considered it one of those unwritten understandings. Are there actually specific "voting criteria" for the coaches to follow?

I think at the start of the season most people considered the P12 POY award to be Ionescu's to lose. But Smith's performance thus far in conference play has turned a lot of heads. Lots of season left to play, though. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[NWHoopFan2]

You're certainly right there. I guess I've long considered it one of those unwritten understandings. Are there actually specific "voting criteria" for the coaches to follow?

I think at the start of the season most people considered the P12 POY award to be Ionescu's to lose. But Smith's performance thus far in conference play has turned a lot of heads. Lots of season left to play, though. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

The only voting criteria are that coaches can’t vote for their own player and are asked to choose the ‘Most Outstanding Player’. I agree that Smith has been great and will get serious consideration, and as I said earlier, the head to head match up on Feb. 10 will be fun to watch.

 

[Ron and Vida]

Courtney Ekmark continues to epitomize the type of player Charlize Turner Thorne recruits and merges into a team concept focusing on defense, solid offensive play, and playing the entire roster. That said Courtney's physical attributes limit her ability to compete individually at the top level of D1. Her role on the current lady Devils team is that of a leader. The demands of law school, her community service, and the rigors of D1 Athletics present a challenge that she has managed magnificently. That said her shooting both from the three point line, the interior and and free throw line have all suffered. Against Oregon she was 2 of 6 from the field, 2 of 5 from the 3-point line with one rebound.. While she is a leader in minutes for the team she's not in the top five in any of the shooting categories. In the game against Oregon the difference makers that allowed ASU to hang was and to stay close in the second half was the play of Jamie 'point a minute' Ruden and Ibis. While battling a leg injury Jamie has been less than fully effective this year. Against Oregon she scored 12 points in 11 minutes. Kianna Ibis the best player on the team had another excellent game with 22 points on 10 of 14 shooting and 8 rebounds.

Courtney is a leader on the team and has overcome her lack of quickness and slender build to contribute minutes to the team. As I said in a thread before conference play began she would be challenged by the much quicker and athletic players in the Pac-12.

For some reason ASU was listed in the top 16 teams in the last bracketology which means they would host two games in the tournament. Frankly I don't see how this will continue at season's and. The swing through the Pacific Northwest and the home stand against Stanford and Cal show that ASU will be a second-tier team behind the two Oregon schools and Stanford. As the 4th or 5th best team in the Pac-12 I don't see the Devils hosting in the tournament. That said while they'll likely win their first-round game depending on the matchup in the second round the Devils will again go home early.

Courtney is a role model reflecting a true student-athlete and a character that is exemplary. These are the type of athletes Charlie Turner Thorne constantly recruits and works with and Courtney has been a meaningful contributor in this system probably the best for her at the D1 level.

Thanks for the input.
We wish her well

 

[azfan]

Haha - try to find an article on WBB in any Arizona paper. I think she better move back to CT and run for office there, as there may be more than 200 people in CT who have heard of her.

You identified one of my major complaint s of the media here in Arizona. None of the media sites provide decent coverage of women's Athletics whether it's the high school college or professional level. Very frustrating as a lady Devils fan it is virtually impossible to find relevant analysis or information. iIts ironic that here on the boneyard website I see more thoughtful engagement about the lady Devils that I do on any of our local media outlets.

 

[azfan]

Really happy to see Ekmark doing so well. She left UConn, but she made a good move, and I think everyone who supports UConn WBB wants to see these kids succeed.

Wishing her a strong season, and a long and successful legal career. And political? With her name recognition in Arizona, will she be in line for Congress or more?

As I said before on the board commenting on Courtney she is of the highest character. I believe her calling may well be public service through an institution other than the political one. I know she's very active with her church and it may be her legal career will take her in the direction to provide support and advocacy outside of the government.

 

[Longtime fan]

I watched almost the entire Arizona State v. Oregon WCBB game last night. It was on the PAC network.

The announcers commented several times that Courtney Ekmark is in her second year of law school. Wow. Did not know that. Good for her.

Regarding her game, she started, played 30 minutes. She had a typical Courtney Ekmark game: lots of hustle, a few good defensive plays and solid defense overall, a couple of nice baskets, some good passes, but very little to show for it in the box score: six points, one rebound, three assists, one steal. Bless her heart, I always loved her hustle but she is sort of the antithesis of Napheesa Collier, who hits all the stat columns hard.

The game was a good one. Oregon lead most of the way but ASU never gave up. Every time ASU got closer than ten points, Sabrina Ionescu would do something Larry Bird-like. As much as I love KLS and Pheesa, Sabrina Ionescu may be a slightly lesser version of Diana Taurasi and POY. I see her as a step ahead of Asia Durr with Pheesa and Katie Lou a shade behind.

I'm sure others have different opinions...

Anyone recall the name of the UCONN player who transferred to USC a few years ago? Did she ever do anything there?

 

[rford53]

Anyone recall the name of the UCONN player who transferred to USC a few years ago? Did she ever do anything there?

Sadie Edwards. She played three years for USC and had respectable numbers.

 

[Longtime fan]

Sadie Edwards. She played three years for USC and had respectable numbers.

Many thanks. I saw USC beat UCLA this past week-end and it made me think of her.