DT3 v. Maya

[wallman]

It's starting to sound like the male counterpart arguments. Enjoy them all I say. It's hard to compare when each have played with different teams and against different opponents. Each player is guarded by different opponents.

 

[iamcbs]

Diana and the Mercury have won two championships. Maya and the Lynx have won two championships in Maya's three years. Diana is 32. Maya is 25. If not for Phoenix tanking and getting Griner, I don't think the Mercury would have won another championship.

I believe you have grossly misrepresented the situation in Phoenix two years ago. Penny Taylor, DT3 and Candice Dupree all missed significant portions of the season with injuries. Penny missed the entire season with a knee injury. #1 draft pick Samantha Prahalis, whom everyone predicted would thrive in the WNBA turned out to be a colossal bust and then Dewanna Bonner got tired from carrying the load and she got hurt as well. Injuries and failed draft picks are part of the game, but I'd not call that 'tanking'. Minnesota was in a similar situation with Seimone Augustus and Rebekah Brunson suffering significant injuries the year before they drafted Maya.

 

[iamcbs]

It's starting to sound like the male counterpart arguments. Enjoy them all I say. It's hard to compare when each have played with different teams and against different opponents. Each player is guarded by different opponents.

That's the beauty of sports, being able to argue about something that can't be objectively or definitively proven!! It's all opinion, all the time, LOL!!

 

[RadyLady]

What I remember is the pitiful performance that Dianna had in her freshman year in the semi-finals of the NCAA tournament. She KILLED the Huskies changes of winning a championship with one of the most woeful shooting performances in the history of the tournament and it cost the Huskies a title. I realize that she was only a freshman but Maya had an appreciably better result in her freshman year against Stanford though that also resulted in a Huskie loss. The only reason I bring this up is that some people make Diana up to be some infallible person who just wills herself to do anything she wants and that isn't quite the case. She's great and her 3 titles at UConn speak to her talent, particularly the latter two where she carried the team on her back. She has fallen short from time to time, as does everyone. I think they're both incredible but I am much more of a Maya fan because she doesn't come across as smug and arrogant as does Diana. Maya lights up the court when she performs and

Wow Buzz - this is almost an exact quote of a post you wrote in another thread which I think also included a mispelling of Diana's name.

FOR THE RECORD:
That "pitiful performance" was nothing less than Diana as a freshman taking on the scoring responsibilities of a injury ridden team and likely with Geno's green light. I seem to recall a tearful Diana at the end of that game being comforted by a sympathetic Geno - and I believe that there was also something about Geno's coaching of that game....I remember Sue Bird alluding to it in an interview, but I am not privy to the story. Nevertheless...shooters shoot. And sometimes, because they are human, they have off days, including to quote you, "one of the most woeful shooting performances in the history of the tournament".

I do believe that Diana's track record of winning and in some cases, taking her team on her back, encouraging them and LEADING them to victory speaks for itself.

It's clear to me that you have some dislike for Diana's personality so I will agree to disagree with you on that point. She is not perfect, yet her what have been described as "joie du basketball" is there for all to see if they chose to do so. She is a competitor and a leader and - she appears to really enjoy playing the game.

 

[RadyLady]

As good as DT and Maya are I now think that Britney Griner should be the MVP.

Really? Are you just throwing that wrench into the works, or do you have something to support your statement?

Griner is growing into her game, there's no doubt. She is in a great situation,d fun to watch, and having great success. But I don't understand how she could be considered as an MVP over Maya or Diana. Curious to know your points....

 

[easttexastrash]

Really? Are you just throwing that wrench into the works, or do you have something to support your statement?

Griner is growing into her game, there's no doubt. She is in a great situation,d fun to watch, and having great success. But I don't understand how she could be considered as an MVP over Maya or Diana. Curious to know your points....

Griner is as valuable to her team as any other player. I don't think she has a chance at the MVP title this year, but her defense puts her in the conversation.

 

[wallman]

My works are all bunged up right now don't think BG is in that conversation yet.

 

[RadyLady]

Griner is as valuable to her team as any other player. I don't think she has a chance at the MVP title this year, but her defense puts her in the conversation.

I believe that MVP is hers down the road...but she is not there yet.

 

[iamcbs]

Buzzyboy, I think your first point is valid. Those who claim that DT is the best UConn player ever point to her three NCs compared to Maya's two. Though Maya won "only" two NCAA championships with UConn, it is also true that she never LOST a championship, as DT did with her 1/15 shooting performance vs. Notre Dame in 2001. In Maya's two college season-ending losses, she scored a total of 56 points. In 2008, Renee Montgomery tried to win the game from the three-point line; in 2011, the other UConn players seemed to prefer watching Maya win the game all by herself - both strategies failed. By the end of her Junior year, Maya had already passed DT's college career totals for points scored, rebounds, steals, and blocked shots. I give Maya a strong edge over DT as the best to play at UConn.

3 consecutive NC Banners hanging in Gampel Pavilion dispute that premise!!

 

[iamcbs]

What I remember is the pitiful performance that Dianna had in her freshman year in the semi-finals of the NCAA tournament. She KILLED the Huskies changes of winning a championship with one of the most woeful shooting performances in the history of the tournament and it cost the Huskies a title. I realize that she was only a freshman but Maya had an appreciably better result in her freshman year against Stanford though that also resulted in a Huskie loss. The only reason I bring this up is that some people make Diana up to be some infallible person who just wills herself to do anything she wants and that isn't quite the case. She's great and her 3 titles at UConn speak to her talent, particularly the latter two where she carried the team on her back. She has fallen short from time to time, as does everyone. I think they're both incredible but I am much more of a Maya fan because she doesn't come across as smug and arrogant as does Diana. Maya lights up the court when she performs and

Seems like your dislike of DT3 stems from what you perceive her attitude to be, not her on-court performance. Not being a teammate, Coach or anyone affiliated with any program she's ever competed for or knowing her personally, I believe that to be unfair. No one associated with her at any level has ever criticized her attitude or competitive spirit and ALL of her teammates present and former love her and extoll her attitude on and off-court. There was never an assertion that she's perfect or that she never fails. There is an assertion that her record of success at every level at which she's competed is unmatched in Women's BB and her attitude is a large part of that.

 

[blackbird]

Diana and the Mercury have won two championships. Maya and the Lynx have won two championships in Maya's three years. Diana is 32. Maya is 25. If not for Phoenix tanking and getting Griner, I don't think the Mercury would have won another championship.

Maya's on just as much of a stacked team as Diana is on, if not more so. You have to have talent to win in the WNBA. Heck, Maya's first WNBA chamionship, she was, at best, the third best player on the Team.

In college, I don't even think the Maya vs. Diana debate is close. To me, Diana wins in a landslide. Just look what happened to our National Championship team after she left versus what happened after Maya left.

 

[RadyLady]

Seems like your dislike of DT3 stems from what you perceive her attitude to be, not her on-court performance. Not being a teammate, Coach or anyone affiliated with any program she's ever competed for or knowing her personally, I believe that to be unfair. No one associated with her at any level has ever criticized her attitude or competitive spirit and ALL of her teammates present and former love her and extoll her attitude on and off-court. There was never an assertion that she's perfect or that she never fails. There is an assertion that her record of success at every level at which she's competed is unmatched in Women's BB and her attitude is a large part of that.

I guess it's a matter of what you like. No matter how many people like hot fudge for example, if you don't like it, you don't eat it. Same goes for personalities.....

I use hot fudge as an example because I couldn't think of an ice cream flavor that I have tried I didn't like - and believe it or not, I am not a fan of hot fudge.

 

[wallman]

Each to their own as they say. Everyone likes the game played a certain way, but I think everyone can agree that we are seeing some really good basketball.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Maya's on just as much of a stacked team as Diana is on, if not more so. You have to have talent to win in the WNBA. Heck, Maya's first WNBA chamionship, she was, at best, the third best player on the Team.

In college, I don't even think the Maya vs. Diana debate is close. To me, Diana wins in a landslide. Just look what happened to our National Championship team after she left versus what happened after Maya left.

Your opinion may very well be right, however your logic here is faulty.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Seems like your dislike of DT3 stems from what you perceive her attitude to be, not her on-court performance. Not being a teammate, Coach or anyone affiliated with any program she's ever competed for or knowing her personally, I believe that to be unfair. No one associated with her at any level has ever criticized her attitude or competitive spirit and ALL of her teammates present and former love her and extoll her attitude on and off-court. There was never an assertion that she's perfect or that she never fails. There is an assertion that her record of success at every level at which she's competed is unmatched in Women's BB and her attitude is a large part of that.

I admit a bias. I am flawed, what can I say!