Diana Taurasi is Michael Jordan/Larry Bird/Jerry West

[easttexastrash]

Well, I'm still on the Dee vs. Maya comparison for the Olympics. I agree completely that Dee ranks as the greatest female b-ball player of all time. No argument. But I do think that, while she was great in 3 pointers and overall team leadership, in the Olympics this year she was weak on rebounding and a liability on defense.
AND: let's not forget that she was often being set up for her threes by her career-long pal, Sue. Of course, other times she did an awesome job of creating space on her own.

Maya was amazing in all parts of the game. Although easttexastrash makes an excellent point that Maya tends to play within herself emotionally and that Dee sets the highest bar for team leadership, Maya got so many loose balls and rebounds and her overall court game was so magnificent, that it is leadership by example.

I know I'm in the very small minority here, but if I were forced to choose the most valuable player on the US Olympic team this year, by a painfully small margin I'd vote for Maya. Ok, I'm ducking....

There is no reason to duck. You make some very good points and Maya's performance was one of the main reasons the US won the gold medal. Maya and DT bring such different skillsets to the team that it is hard to compare the two. I feel much better knowing that Maya will be back in 2020. But overall all, women's basketball is guard oriented. Players who can dribble, control tempo, shoot the rock and make their teammates better will always be the most valuable players, IMO.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Diana just finished shooting 57% on 33-57 from the arc on the biggest stage in the world. That is beyond Curry. She holds the record for most 3-pointers in a single Olympics and the most in an Olympic career. She also provided confidence and leadership. She was Badass #1.

Maya, meanwhile, was the ultimate stat stuffer. She was everywhere, tipping balls, making steals, getting rebounds. Her statistical ranking on Team USA:

Points 96 (2nd)

Rebounds 45 (tie for 1st)

Assists 34 (1st, partly due to Sue's injury)

Steals 16 (1st)

Who leads her team in rebounds, assists, and steals? Only Maya Moore. And maybe Oscar Robertson.

She was Badass #1a.

 

[calpedaler]

Maya is a different type of leader than Diana, but still a leader.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Maya is a different type of leader than Diana, but still a leader.

A very different personality, though Maya has become a vocal leader.

 

[JSB60]

Diana is Bird. Not the most athletic player but the only one you want when you need a big play. Maya is Jordan, does absolutely everything and when you really break it down, it's as much with fundamentals as with flash.

 

[Sonny44]

Maya Moore is the "BIG O " of Women Basketball.Best All-Around Player.Oscar Robertson the only player in the NBA to ever average a "Triple Double "for the entire year.Check Maya's all around stats yearly.

I would have given Mayathe MVP of the Olympic team. Others may have had better stats, but Maya answered the call more than anyone in the few shaky moments we had, both offensively and defensively..

 

[alexrgct]

What Maya does for women's basketball:

• Plays the most beautiful game that the sport has ever seen at the women's "weight class". She's smooth like water, flows like a river.
• Is clutch, plain and simple.
• Has the heart of a champion.

Who is analogous on the men's side? I can't think besides Magic or LeBron. And if Maya's game evolves and remains at a championship level, she may just prove to be a little bit like Mike in that regard.

 

[UcMiami]

It is our perennial argument over the 'greatest' Uconn player - DT or Maya (and Breanna now) - and it is unanswerable for their Uconn careers, or as professionals, or on the national team - they are different in temperament, play different positions, but they both win as individuals and as driving forces on their teams. When they do get together on the NT they defer to each other and combine to create magic. Enjoy them both.

 

[MilfordHusky]

It is our perennial argument over the 'greatest' Uconn player - DT or Maya (and Breanna now) - and it is unanswerable for their Uconn careers, or as professionals, or on the national team - they are different in temperament, play different positions, but they both win as individuals and as driving forces on their teams. When they do get together on the NT they defer to each other and combine to create magic. Enjoy them both.

We've seen Diana play with Sue, Tina play with Maya, and even Stewie play with Sue, but watching the intergenerational talent together on Team USA was a marvel. I loved the Christ the King connection with Sue and Tina. Any combination of Maya and Dee, Stewie and Dee, or Maya and Stewie was just too much for the rest of the world. I knew that something wondrous would happen when they got together. It was almost like a time machine.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

What Maya does for women's basketball:

• Plays the most beautiful game that the sport has ever seen at the women's "weight class". She's smooth like water, flows like a river.
• Is clutch, plain and simple.
• Has the heart of a champion.

Who is analogous on the men's side? I can't think besides Magic or LeBron. And if Maya's game evolves and remains at a championship level, she may just prove to be a little bit like Mike in that regard.

George Gervin. AND she has the finger roll, too.

 

[mauconnfan]

George Gervin. AND she has the finger roll, too.

 

[intlzncster]

I like Larry Bird for a Taurasi comparison. Huge BBIQ, clutch three point shooting, wants the ball when the game is on the line and confidence to the point of arrogance.

FWIW, Bird is probably my favorite NBA player of all time.

And both insanely good and underrated passers.

 

[intlzncster]

. But I do think that, while she was great in 3 pointers and overall team leadership, in the Olympics this year she was weak on rebounding and a liability on defense.
AND: let's not forget that she was often being set up for her threes by her career-long pal, Sue. Of course, other times she did an awesome job of creating space on her own.

Of course she's not going to shine at rebounding. One, she's taking all the shots from three; if your shooting, you're generally not rebounding. And two, she's a guard hanging around on the perimeter, with some really big girls inside doing that dirty work.

I'm also certain Geno told her to not gamble and pick up fouls on D. When you've got all that size inside to block and affect shots, do your best to stay on the floor.

 

[bags27]

Of course she's not going to shine at rebounding. One, she's taking all the shots from three; if your shooting, you're generally not rebounding. And two, she's a guard hanging around on the perimeter, with some really big girls inside doing that dirty work.

I'm also certain Geno told her to not gamble and pick up fouls on D. When you've got all that size inside to block and affect shots, do your best to stay on the floor.

Sorry, I don't buy it. Most rebounding is defensive, and Dee followed her "man" underneath as much as anyone, and I saw her sort of swatting at the ball, rather than crashing the boards. I don't think it was worrying about fouls. She was never in foul trouble to begin with. Dee has never been one to work up a huge sweat on the defensive side of the court. On the offensive side, of course, she's poetry in motion.

 

[intlzncster]

Sorry, I don't buy it. Most rebounding is defensive, and Dee followed her "man" underneath as much as anyone, and I saw her sort of swatting at the ball, rather than crashing the boards. I don't think it was worrying about fouls. She was never in foul trouble to begin with.

That's anecdotal evidence though. I've no idea of the advanced stats, so I can't offer real analysis there. But she played way more minutes than anyone else, and at 34, fatigue absolutely plays a factor. Especially when you are also the nexus of the offense.

From a big picture perspective, you don't play the type of defense (read: phenomenal) that the US played by having one leaky sieve on D. If she was that lackadaisical, the other team would go at her every time and find ways to score.

Dee has never been one to work up a huge sweat on the defensive side of the court.

That's a mythical holdover from when she first came to campus. In fact, many of the great stories of Auriemma/Taurasi revolve around her change in attitude/skill on defense from when she got to campus to when she left. She improved a lot defensively over the course of her career; by the time she left, she was good (stats are out there, I'm just too lazy to collect them). In the W, she became an effective defender, but never great, as the foot speed doesn't quite match up. Rebounded well enough.

She is noted for getting pissed when coaches switch to zone D, calling it "girly defense". If she cared as little as you say, you'd think she'd welcome zone.

 

[bags27]

That's anecdotal evidence though. I've no idea of the advanced stats, so I can't offer real analysis there. But she played way more minutes than anyone else, and at 34, fatigue absolutely plays a factor. Especially when you are also the nexus of the offense.
.

1. Not way more minutes, and certainly not too many minutes, as there was a true 12-man rotation here. And whether she's 34, 14, or 94, she is to be judged by what she does on the court, not given a pass for any reason except injury. It is who she is now. She whiffed at a lot of defense. She's a fantastic player, likely the best ever, but it is what it is, as Bill Belichick would say.
2. I was trying to point out that most of the rebounding comes on defense, and she just didn't get much of that.

I'm a huge fan of hers (who isn't?), but I saw many times when she whiffed at her opponent on defense. It didn't matter. She brings so many intangibles as well as tangibles that you and I are in basic agreement on her overall value, if not some of the details. No player has ever been perfect (okay, maybe Oscar Robertson), and Dee's as good as it gets.

 

[j66kicker]

Diana's bobblehead tour of Rio

Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) | Twitter

 

[MilfordHusky]

Diana's bobblehead tour of Rio

Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) | Twitter

LOL!!

 

[cbraarj]

Diana, Maya and Stewie arguable the best 3 players in Connecticut history. They account for 9 of the 11 NCs. IMO Dee is the greatest player ever to wear a Huskies uniform just for the 2 NCs she won her Jr. and SR. years. If you switched teams and put her on Mayas teams. They still win the 2 NCs. You put her on Stewies teams and they still win 4 NCs. But if you place the other 2 in for her in 03 and 04 they dont win.Taurasi made everybody better players on those teams. She did not have any other AAs playing with her like Maya and Stewie did. Moore for 3 years and Stewie for 4. Diana Taurasi again is the Ali of Uconn WBB The Greatest!!!

 

[skilz]

Pistol Pete!! Diana does everything needed to WIN!!!!

 

[skilz]

Does anyone see Diana Taurasi as a coach after her career is over? Would love to have her at UConn once again!!