ESPN AA, POY, COY, FOY

[MilfordHusky]

The voters were only Graham, Charlie, and Mechelle. That's a small group, even though they know their stuff, so the selections from much larger groups may differ, perhaps substantially. I was surprised by a few things:

--All 3 of them had A'ja, Lou, Gabby, and Sabrina on the first team. That's a consensus.

--Apparently 2 of the 3 voted for McGowan over Brown. That surprises me.

--McGowan ahead of Vivians. Interesting.

I think there will be real difference of opinion on the 10-player teams.

 

[Lynx23]

Just out of curiosity, to which AA committees do coaches make candidate recommendations to?

 

[eebmg]

I was pleasantly surprised Gabby took Unanimous First team. She is not always as appreciated as she should be.

 

[CocoHusky]

Just out of curiosity, to which AA committees do coaches make candidate recommendations to?

Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Has Baylor make an apperance on ESPN in the past two years? The Game against UCONN from 2017 was not on ESPN. McCowan has been all over ESPN this year. BTW I agree with you. Kalani should be on everyone's 1st team .

She certainly has been getting my HoopsHall votes.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Perhaps because she leads the country in scoring and field goal percentage and is fifth in rebounding.

To me those are just numbers. Don't get me wrong. If I was putting together a team I'd find room for her but I don't think she's 1st team caliber, especially when you look at the field.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Does any of our South Carolina friends no what all the stir on twitter about Aja Wilson is about??? It came out shortly after the ESPN awards were announced.


Lisa Boyer on Twitter

 

[SCspur]

Does any of our South Carolina friends no what all the stir on twitter about Aja Wilson is about??? It came out shortly after the ESPN awards were announced.


Lisa Boyer on Twitter

Some people thought she didn't deserve it. Some even went to an extent saying her character is messed up. To each is own. I think we all know Dawn will go to war for her girls and I love that about her!

 

[MSGRET]

Does any of our South Carolina friends no what all the stir on twitter about Aja Wilson is about??? It came out shortly after the ESPN awards were announced.


Lisa Boyer on Twitter

I think she is worried that she is not going to the WBCA NPOY, she is trying to counter Geno and his believe that Lou should be the WBCA NPOY.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Some people thought she didn't deserve it. Some even went to an extent saying her character is messed up. To each is own. I think we all know Dawn will go to war for her girls and I love that about her!

Thanks. Dawn should stand up for her players. Its what coaches should do. Attacking a kids character seems a tad low to me.

 

[lne001]

To me those are just numbers. Don't get me wrong. If I was putting together a team I'd find room for her but I don't think she's 1st team caliber, especially when you look at the field.

When I 'look at the field' it seems to me she had a better year than any of them. Her numbers are certainly better than anyone else, so what are the other considerations? And by the way, productivity as measured by the numbers are pretty much the be-all and end-all of sports. Kelsey Mitchell will be an all-American solely because she scores a lot (just not as much as Gustafson this year.) As Dawn Staley says above, "numbers don't lie."

 

[happymonsters]

I think she is worried that she is not going to the WBCA NPOY, she is trying to counter Geno and his believe that Lou should be the WBCA NPOY.

Not sure what Dawn is worried about. Wilson will win most, if not all, of the NPOY awards. I don't know what she is getting at with "storytellers", but the narrative was written for Wilson before the season even started.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I think she is worried that she is not going to the WBCA NPOY, she is trying to counter Geno and his believe that Lou should be the WBCA NPOY.

Not sure about that. I think it may be a prelude to something else.

 

[triaddukefan]

Not sure what Dawn is worried about. Wilson will win most, if not all, of the NPOY awards. I don't know what she is getting at with "storytellers", but the narrative was written for Wilson before the season even started.

Same goes for other seasons..... with different players.

 

[browns]

There are a couple of glaring gaffs- Victoria Vivians is the Alpha on MSU and should not be 3rd team nor should be behind McCowan and as such Tiera should not be 1st team. MCCowan at best is 2nd team. I do think VV should be either 1st or 2nd team. Overall, it’s the correct list of candidates.

Sophie Cunningham of Mizzo not even 3rd team is a joke

 

[mbr33ct]

At least Jeff Walz and Muffet should feel somewhat relieved both ("the other player") Durr and Ogunbowale are on the second team. Who knows what Jeff would have done if Durr made the 1st team with Arike on the 2nd team.

 

[happymonsters]

Same goes for other seasons..... with different players.

And so a player wins an award she doesn't deserve. Stewie won the Final Four MOP in 2015 because she was Stewie, not because she had the best performance. Maybe Wilson has had the best season, but it's not as clear as in many years. And again, Dawn doesn't need to write cryptic Twitter posts; her player will win the awards.

 

[UConnCat]

Who are these storytellers of our game and what are they saying? I'm confused. The predominant POY storyline this season is that A'ja will win the awards.

Who are the haters Boyer is referring to?

 

[sharris952]

I think it is the personal attacks against Aja's character. Though their are some players that could rival and play with Aja' like a Lou, or Pheesa, for POY, it seems that some people who are not near this level were taking shots at her and her game. Also, people that would say that Aja has bad character are just being totally bias and Dawn will not stand for that. Boyer is not really prevalent on twitter so to get a reaction from her, means the narrative must have been really biased and unfair. I think any coach of that type of player would do the same. Those Philly coaches, Geno, Muffet, or Dawn for good or bad will speak their mind.

 

[boontonbomber]

Interesting that POY discussion rarely includes Ionescu. Because she's only a soph? With her ability to impact the game in so many ways, AND with her cockiness, I think she is the closest I've seen to Taurasi. She can take over games like nobody else right now.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

But Kia Nurse doesn't even make 3rd team All American? Come on!!!!

Something is very wrong here.

 

[UConnCat]

I think it is the personal attacks against Aja's character. Though their are some players that could rival and play with Aja' like a Lou, or Pheesa, for POY, it seems that some people who are not near this level were taking shots at her and her game. Also, people that would say that Aja has bad character are just being totally bias and Dawn will not stand for that. Boyer is not really prevalent on twitter so to get a reaction from her, means the narrative must have been really biased and unfair. I think any coach of that type of player would do the same. Those Philly coaches, Geno, Muffet, or Dawn for good or bad will speak their mind.

Who are the people making these attacks? It doesn't sound like it's random people on Twitter. Who is saying these things?

 

[mbr33ct]

But Kia Nurse doesn't even make 3rd team All American? Come on!!!!

Something is very wrong here.

It may not be fair IMO, Kia (same for Azura) falls off voters lists when UConn has Lou, Gabby and Pheesa. Voters are not about to select 4 or more from any one team no matter how their stats stack up with others from other teams.

 

[wallman]

This is laughable because the storytellers have been spinning it toward her player from before the season started so she has nothing to complain about. What she should be concerned about is her team and her coaching. If it was all about numbers then Mitchell should get it as neither team won everything and we all know that doesn't mean either are the best players.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

When I 'look at the field' it seems to me she had a better year than any of them. Her numbers are certainly better than anyone else, so what are the other considerations? And by the way, productivity as measured by the numbers are pretty much the be-all and end-all of sports. Kelsey Mitchell will be an all-American solely because she scores a lot (just not as much as Gustafson this year.) As Dawn Staley says above, "numbers don't lie."

For me, the other considerations is who you play and the numbers one puts up against said competition. Iowa a couple of good wins but also several bad losses and to me the numbers can only take you so far. Granted, she wasn't in charge of the out of conference schedule but the losses to some of the in conference opponents typically is used when determining post-season accolades.