DeShields leaving UT, going professional

[Gus Mahler]

Except Sally.

Good one. Took me a minute.

 

[Alydar]

I have no doubts that barring a serious injury DeShields will be a 1st round pick but not among the top 4. Her pro-level skills are limited to offensive moves with the ball in her hands. And she's not a good enough scorer for a lottery team to overlook her lazy defense and under 30% 3 pt shooting . She's the type of player who needs to shoot a lot and her team mates are not going to let her take 15-20 shots a game.

Right now I see her being drafted between 5th & 10th.

 

[Bayareahusky]

I see her as being in the top 3 ...... despite the critique she receives.... the fact remains that her talent is unquestioned..... and the WNBA needs to sell the sizzle, and put people in the seats..... why wouldn't a team having a chance to increase its bottom dollar not draft her and market her to both of their benefit?

 

[willtalk]

The people who follow the WNBA are smart enough to not get sucked into the unfulfilled hype she has received for years. She is no Shoni with a huge built in following. Anyone that has been following WCBB seriously recognizes all her baggage and unfulfilled hyped potential. Those that still believe her talent will win out are really far and few. Hey someone should start a poll!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Never in the course of human events (er, maybe women's basketball) has so much been made for so long over so little.

 

[NOI33]

The people who follow the WNBA are smart enough to not get sucked into the unfulfilled hype she has received for years. She is no Shoni with a huge built in following. Anyone that has been following WCBB seriously recognizes all her baggage and unfulfilled hyped potential. Those that still believe her talent will win out are really far and few. Hey someone should start a poll!

Or...maybe...(just going on a limb here)...the people you think are "far and few" are smart enough to not get sucked into the unwarranted hate she has received for years. It is actually these people who have followed WCBB and the WNBA intently, and they are aware of how well her skill-set and God-given abilities will translate to the next level.

I most definitely agree that Diamond has some growth ahead of her (someone identified this as a lack of "emotional maturity", which I think is more accurate than saying she is generally immature...she's actually quite mature for her age). She seems to have an ongoing mental battle with doing what she thinks others want her to do, and doing what makes her happy. It's normal at that age and we'd all be lying if we say we didn't struggle with such problems even now. The problem with Diamond is that she already has such a dynamic persona, so everything she decides to do is looked at under a magnifying glass by people who want to find fault in her. You can deride someone's game, but I'm disturbed by people on here making sweeping remarks about her as a person. It's just so odd. This isn't directed at you, I'm just speaking my mind...

Oh but I agree with the poll idea

 

[CocoHusky]

Or...maybe...(just going on a limb here)...the people you think are "far and few" are smart enough to not get sucked into the unwarranted hate she has received for years. It is actually these people who have followed WCBB and the WNBA intently, and they are aware of how well her skill-set and God-given abilities will translate to the next level.

I most definitely agree that Diamond has some growth ahead of her (someone identified this as a lack of "emotional maturity", which I think is more accurate than saying she is generally immature...she's actually quite mature for her age). She seems to have an ongoing mental battle with doing what she thinks others want her to do, and doing what makes her happy. It's normal at that age and we'd all be lying if we say we didn't struggle with such problems even now. The problem with Diamond is that she already has such a dynamic persona, so everything she decides to do is looked at under a magnifying glass by people who want to find fault in her. You can deride someone's game, but I'm disturbed by people on here making sweeping remarks about her as a person. It's just so odd. This isn't directed at you, I'm just speaking my mind...

Oh but I agree with the poll idea

Excellent post with the exception of the use of the word "hate". It is really not possible to hate THE person, if you don't KNOW the person. Also not possible to "make sweeping remarks about DD as a person", if you don't know Diamond as a person.

 

[NOI33]

Excellent post with the exception of the use of the word "hate". It is really not possible to hate THE person, if you don't KNOW the person. Also not possible to "make sweeping remarks about DD as a person", if you don't know Diamond as a person.

Yes, exactly, and that was my point. The comments about her as "selfish", "a diva", "a bad teammate", "cancer", etc. are comments which are based off of the little we see and the little we hear. We don't know her, so none of those sweeping conclusions are justified. The same way that I can't sit here and say she is a marvellous person; I don't know her personally. But I do know enough to say that it's not right to drag her down just because she didn't go about her "career" in the manner that the fans saw fit.

You're right though; it's not so much hateful as it is spiteful and nasty.

 

[UcMiami]

Or...maybe...(just going on a limb here)...the people you think are "far and few" are smart enough to not get sucked into the unwarranted hate she has received for years. It is actually these people who have followed WCBB and the WNBA intently, and they are aware of how well her skill-set and God-given abilities will translate to the next level.

I most definitely agree that Diamond has some growth ahead of her (someone identified this as a lack of "emotional maturity", which I think is more accurate than saying she is generally immature...she's actually quite mature for her age). She seems to have an ongoing mental battle with doing what she thinks others want her to do, and doing what makes her happy. It's normal at that age and we'd all be lying if we say we didn't struggle with such problems even now. The problem with Diamond is that she already has such a dynamic persona, so everything she decides to do is looked at under a magnifying glass by people who want to find fault in her. You can deride someone's game, but I'm disturbed by people on here making sweeping remarks about her as a person. It's just so odd. This isn't directed at you, I'm just speaking my mind...

Oh but I agree with the poll idea

Nice. What would concern me with DD as a GM are two things:
1. Shooting percentages - she improved this last year at TN but for her college career she ended up below 30% from three and below 40% from two, I believe. She has never had coaching that helped her identify which shots to take and which to pass up. And professional defenses are a lot better than most of what she saw in college.
2. Assist/Turnover ratio - she is below 1.0 for her college career - she is a willing passer and often led her team in assists but generally led her team in TOs as well. Again, professional defenses are going to be tougher.

When she is on, she is dynamic and can carry a team for stretches and those skills do translate well to the pro ranks. But consistency (not of effort but of results) is not there and she can lose games just as easily as she can win them. Of the 'dynamic scorers' coming out of college with a chance at the pros, DD is near the bottom in both field goal percentage and A/TO - Sims, Mitchell, Eps, Williams, Plum, etc. were all more efficient offensively in college.

 

[NOI33]

Nice. What would concern me with DD as a GM are two things:
1. Shooting percentages - she improved this last year at TN but for her college career she ended up below 30% from three and below 40% from two, I believe. She has never had coaching that helped her identify which shots to take and which to pass up. And professional defenses are a lot better than most of what she saw in college.
2. Assist/Turnover ratio - she is below 1.0 for her college career - she is a willing passer and often led her team in assists but generally led her team in TOs as well. Again, professional defenses are going to be tougher.

When she is on, she is dynamic and can carry a team for stretches and those skills do translate well to the pro ranks. But consistency (not of effort but of results) is not there and she can lose games just as easily as she can win them. Of the 'dynamic scorers' coming out of college with a chance at the pros, DD is near the bottom in both field goal percentage and A/TO - Sims, Mitchell, Eps, Williams, Plum, etc. were all more efficient offensively in college.

1. I've always been confused about this one. She seems to intentionally increase the difficulty of her shots at times, which obviously reduces accuracy. I remember Rebecca Lobo commenting on it once, noting that Diamond takes such "high risk" shots that only she can attempt because of her elevation and body control. It draws oohs and ahs from the crowd, but it's often a missed layup. Sometimes I am at a loss for words watching her maneuver on the court, she's just so damn gifted. But her shooting percentages expose a deep-seeded flaw in her game...great players don't need to showboat in order to score. I think that once she is amongst athletes of equal caliber, we'll see higher percentages.

2. Diamond is a very willing passer. Flashy passer, but very willing. Much like Shoni in that respect. Let me ask you something though...do you think maybe her high TO could have been a product of her teammates? I know she has mental lapses on offense, but when you watch the Vols play, you'll realize how many of those passes are actually within the flow of the offense, and her teammates are just a step too slow, or the ball slips from their grasp. Yes, yes, she should be able to adjust and get her teammates involved, but this goes back to that emotional maturity talked about earlier... lol. Maybe going pro oversees is a good avenue for her to show how her skills truly translate? Maybe she knows she has to redeem herself and this is the way she saw would work best? I don't know.

Thanks for the comparisons btw...didn't know Eps had a higher overall field goal percentage...hmm.

 

[CocoHusky]

The issues with Diamond game the low percentage, unnecessarily hard shot attempts and low assists, high turn over is a by product of a player never being properly coached to understand her strengths as a basketball player.
The analysis and comparisons of Diamond to other players leads to a certain paralysis. For example, Diamonds shooting percentage for the 2016 season 42.3 % overall and 33% from 3pt are similar to Skylar Diggins senior season when Skylar shot 42.3% overall and 36.2% from 3pt land. Similar shooting results but vastly different players and team results. Senior Skylar knew her strength was not shooting, so she adjusted by perfecting the ability to get to the line for easy points. She lead and became a great facilitator who understood her game and how best to combine it with other players. It is not surprising that DD and TN have not excelled because if you don't understand your own strengths, you definitely can't understand that of your teammates.

 

[Volup1]

You are right on in your analysis of DD and her teammates on the court. I have attended all of her home games at Tennessee and agree heartily with your comments. Diamond's court vision and reflexes are phenomenal and her teammates have trouble matching her.quickness. For instance, she can come off the dribble and make a bullet pass between two opposing players in one second or less. And, yes, there is a teammate in position to receive the pass, but that teammate often can't react fast enough. Result: turnover. And that is just one small example. She will go fairly high in the draft because of the crowd pleasing aspects. She will have the fans constantly thinking: "Wow! How did she do that??" In a nutshell, she's great fun to watch and will be a big drawing card for her team. I think team managers know that and will accept the downside. As for maturity--it will come.

 

[msf22b]

1. She will be drafted (pretty to very high)
2. Her skill-set will translate very well to the 'W.'
3. Any attitude probs will be nipped in the bud by vets (imagine D or Sue).

 

[Kaizen]

1. She is extremely talent, will be the queen of W.
2. Anythings bad about her are not justified.
3. She has more deadly fans in BY than in LVNation.

 

[Bernie]

A great deal of Diamond's turnover can't be blamed on teammates. I don't know how many times I've seen her throw bullet passes to the post players, instead of a soft lob or a bounce pass. She's going to have trouble playing the perimeter in the pros, because her ball handling is weak that was a bulk of her turnovers in college.

 

[UConnCat]

A great deal of Diamond's turnover can't be blamed on teammates. I don't know how many times I've seen her through bullet passes to the post players, instead of a soft lob or a bounce pass. She's going to have trouble playing the perimeter in the pros, because her ball handling is week that was a bulk of her turnovers in college.

I agree. I don't get this "blame her teammates" line. Diamond was extremely careless with the basketball, both dribbling and passing. She played 3 seasons of college basketball and committed 340 turnovers.

 

[CocoHusky]

I agree. I don't get this "blame her teammates" line. Diamond was extremely careless with the basketball, both dribbling and passing. She played 3 seasons of college basketball and committed 340 turnovers.

And she only had 284 assists.

 

[oldude]

And she only had 284 assists.

This past season DD had 110 assists and 103 turnovers, an A/TO ratio of almost 1, which is quite frankly awful for a guard that has the ball in her hands more than anyone else on the Vol team.

By comparison, on UConn only Nat and Kyla had a lower A/TO ratio than DD, with no less than 5 players exceeding DD's assist totals.

 

[Waquoit]

Can DD sign with any WNBA team this summer?

No

 

[Waquoit]

DD's moving on can be seen as the mature move. She earned her degree, now she's betting on herself. And based on Holly's happy face tweet, it was the smart move.

 

[UcMiami]

Part of being a good ball handler is making passes your teammate can handle - whoever your teammate is. Making spectacular passes is 'fun' and pleases the crowd, but if half of them end up in the seats the team suffers. Uconn has had some spectacular passers including DT who have had to learn to dial back the spectacular in favor of the completed passes.

People frequently complained about Chong playing it 'too safe' last year with her passing, but she understood the concept of making a series of safe passes to open up the defense rather than attempting a single risky pass - she ended up with 140 assists and 42 TO which is spectacular. (Gabby led the team with 50 more assists at the cost of 44 more turnovers - still better than a 2.0 A/TO so certainly not bad.)

 

[oldude]

Part of being a good ball handler is making passes your teammate can handle - whoever your teammate is. Making spectacular passes is 'fun' and pleases the crowd, but if half of them end up in the seats the team suffers. UConn has had some spectacular passers including DT who have had to learn to dial back the spectacular in favor of the completed passes.

People frequently complained about Chong playing it 'too safe' last year with her passing, but she understood the concept of making a series of safe passes to open up the defense rather than attempting a single risky pass - she ended up with 140 assists and 42 TO which is spectacular. (Gabby led the team with 50 more assists at the cost of 44 more turnovers - still better than a 2.0 A/TO so certainly not bad.)

I am reminded of Lebron's dissertation on passing to his teammates, knowing where they want the ball and even how they want the seams of the ball.

Firing a pass in the general direction of a teammate does not constitute a good pass, unless that teammate is Pheesa, who catches everything thrown in her general direction with her Inspector Gadget arms.

 

[RPM101370]

So many myths here.

"She will put fannies in the seat." No. Did she put fannies in the seats at TBA? No, attendance is down. We're the networks dying to put her games on prime time? No. True superstars are already playing in near empty arenas. The addition of DD to a team might add one fannie, her daddies'.

"The talent is unquestionable" No. she is a career 41% shooter from the floor, 28% shooter from three, 78% free throw shooter and has more career turnovers than assists (every year). On the plus side she is mercurial, inconsistent, had poor body language and has been known to pout. So there's that.

"She will get endorsement deals." Yeah, no again. Endorsement deals for women are few and far between and reserved for the best of the best. Champions. Superstars. DD's claim to fame is a Freshman of the Year award followed by years of making "watch lists" only to be completely absent from those same lists at the end of the year. Replaced by kids with far less "God given talent" but way greater drive, attitude and production.

Sorry, nobody outside of our small little world of college basketball super fans (and her over-involved father) knows or cares about this girl. And most of us only know of her because of the drama that follows her. We certainly are not following her amazing accomplishments ont he court. She, and her teams, have won exactly nothing.

How many times does this duck need to quack? (Hint, it's a duck)