ESPN - top title contenders and other stuff

[Vowelguy]

Watch any sporting event (especially college) and you will find a large number of fans on both sides who are 100% sure that the announcers were biased against their team in favor of the other.

 

[Bone Dog]

Watch any sporting event (especially college) and you will find a large number of fans on both sides who are 100% sure that the announcers were biased against their team in favor of the other.

… the damn refs too.

 

[DEpup]

I cannot think of another team that lost the NPOY, one of the best players and leaders in the history of the program, and was, or will be better the following season…..with the exception of UConn this coming season.

Hmm. Didn't UConn experience that after 2002 with Bird?

 

[oldude]

Hmm. Didn't UConn experience that after 2002 with Bird?

That’s a really interesting question. So I’ll split a few hairs. The 2001-02 UConn team is considered by many to be the greatest WBB team ever. They went 38-0, winning the national championship. In addition to NPOY Sue Bird, the Huskies had 3 other top 5 draft picks: Swin, Tamika & Asjha.

The next year UConn won another national championship. But they only went 37-1. They were lead of course by NPOY DT, who carried a less talented team than the year before to the national championships in both 2003 & 2004.

So my hair-splitting conclusion is that after losing NPOY Sue Bird, next year’s UConn team was not quite as good, although, “We had DT and you didn’t.”

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I cannot think of another team that lost the NPOY, one of the best players and leaders in the history of the program, and was, or will be better the following season…..with the exception of UConn this coming season.

Are you counting Paige as the POY based on the Wade Trophy? It's a great honor but I think the two they gave Watkins are seen as more of the pure POY awards.

 

[oldude]

Are you counting Paige as the POY based on the Wade Trophy? It's a great honor but I think the two they gave Watkins are seen as more of the pure POY awards.

Paige won both the Wade trophy voted on by D1 HC’s and the Honda trophy, voted on by over 1,000 D1 AD’s and administrators. Those awards considered her play during the Big Dance. The Wade Trophy is the oldest WBB NPOY award and generally considered the most prestigious.

Watkins had a great year, until it prematurely ended. The awards she won were voted on by sportswriters and groups of businessmen in Atlanta and LA respectively. All were voted on before the Big Dance.

You tell me which POY awards were more prestigious?

 

[hoophuskee]

Watch any sporting event (especially college) and you will find a large number of fans on both sides who are 100% sure that the announcers were biased against their team in favor of the other.

Just curious, using your logic above then how can you ever make a determination that some writer or analyst or announcer is bias based on what you've just said? No one is ever bias because both sides complain?

 

[Molisanos]

Nothing. I was just channeling all the excitement around the prospect of Blanca’s contributions to the team. Sorry for the confusion.

Two letters DT

 

[DEpup]

That’s a really interesting question. So I’ll split a few hairs. The 2001-02 UConn team is considered by many to be the greatest WBB team ever. They went 38-0, winning the national championship. In addition to NPOY Sue Bird, the Huskies had 3 other top 5 draft picks: Swin, Tamika & Asjha.

The next year UConn won another national championship. But they only went 37-1. They were lead of course by NPOY DT, who carried a less talented team than the year before to the national championships in both 2003 & 2004.

So my hair-splitting conclusion is that after losing NPOY Sue Bird, next year’s UConn team was not quite as good, although, “We had DT and you didn’t.”

I hear what you're saying. For me, I'll be super happy if Azzi and Sarah combined can make a DT and win another title.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

You tell me which POY awards were more prestigious?

Naismith, AP

 

[oldude]

Naismith, AP

We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.

 

[triaddukefan]

That’s great! Make sure you give them the correct spelling-UCONN

 

[JellyBean]

For me, I am always interested in seeing which team becomes the next "big time" program. I noticed that Michigan was on the list. Being in Big Ten country (Minnesota) and attending a lot of Michigan games over the years (family connection), Michigan has been an interesting program. Going into its 45th season, Michigan has 0 Big Ten titles. 0 Conference titles and only 13 trips to the NCAA tournament. It has been a slow build and Coach Barnes-Arico is doing a decent job of building, recruiting, and developing talent. I do hope that Michigan can make that jump into that "Big Time" program conversation. Same with Oklahoma, UCLA, USC, and the rest of the ranked teams.