espnW's countdown of the top 25 players in WCBB

[CTtoSanDiego]

Wilson is probably a lock for #1. The interesting question is where will they place Mitchell in relation to our big 3? If it were up to me, I'd put her after all three of them...

 

[oldude]

So if in fact Z is included in the ESPNw list, UConn will end up with 5 of the top 14 players in the nation, not including Danger & MW???

UConn really is bad for WBB.

 

[chrissaran]

Electric player or best player. Kelsey Mitchell is electric, but she is certainly not the best player. Shoni Schimell was electric, but she was certainly not the best player.

 

[easttexastrash]

#20 from Oregon? Does it pain you to speak her name?

What a JPM move.

 

[Bigboote]

Would seem to be those 10 in some order. I think Samuelson will be the highest ranked UConn player.

At least based on her achievements to date, I think Durr is overrated. She scores prolifically and at acceptable efficiency. She doesn't get assists. She doesn't rebound. For my own entertainment:

Durr - 19.2 ppg, 42.4 FG%, 40.5 3FG%, 78.1 FT%, 3.4 rpg, 64 ast, 64 to, 46 stl
Ogunbowale - 15.9 ppg, 44.9 FG%, 45.4 3FG%, 73.2 FT%, 4.8 rpg, 69 ast, 57 to, 43 stl
L. Brown - 18.3 ppg, 48.8 FG%, 39.9 3FG%, 92.8 FT%, 3.7 rpg, 131 ast, 92 to, 96 stl

Brown has arguably the best stat line. Not much separation between Durr and Ogunbowale. Durr played 19 more minutes and scored 104 more points on 67 more FG attempts.

Durr shot 294 3s! At that volume, 40.5% is darn impressive. But if you're jacking up (and being given the green light by Walz to do so, no doubt) that many treys, you had better score some points.

Compare these with Kelsey Mitchell:

22.6 ppg; .437 FG%; 0.369 3FG%; .818 FT%; 2.8 rpg 137 ast; 84 to; 43 st

Better assist numbers, but beyond that meh compared to the three above. Yes, she's fun to watch, but I'm glad she's not on our team.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Better assist numbers

That's fairly significant though. For a player with a reputation for being a gunner who never passes the ball, she had more assists and a better A/TO ratio than those other 3 listed. That says a lot to me.


edited--plus she scored more, so the total points she directly accounted for are well above the other 3; the goal of basketball is still to put more points on the scoreboard than your opponents, yes?

 

[MilfordHusky]

Is there any chance that they omitted Z, because she didn't play last year? I doubt that they did, but strange things can happen.

 

[cbraarj]

Gabby deserves to be ahead of everyone on this list. She outplayed Aja head to head and it wasnt that close! If she was 6 ft 5 in it wouldnt be close!

 

[Alydar]

You're cherry-picking. Guards are generally expected to be better outside shooters, ball-handlers, and passers than post players. Collier shot 68% from the floor on the season. She also had a lot more rebounds. Not saying I'd pick one over the other, but you can't base it off of one game. There were a number of games where Lou struggled and Collier dominated.

Also, Collier led the team in scoring and rebounding. And she was a much better defender than Samuelson. Find a UConn player that led the team in both scoring and rebounding that wasn't considered the best player on the team.

 

[nwhoopfan]

If she was 6 ft 5 in it wouldnt be close!

Well if Gabby was 6-5 she probably wouldn't have been a guard in HS, so she probably wouldn't have the all around skill package. She probably also wouldn't have been a high jumper and probably wouldn't be as athletic and mobile.

 

[triaddukefan]

13. Sophie Cunningham, Missouri, Jr.
12. Kristine Anigwe, Cal, Jr.
11. Lexie Brown, Duke, Sr.

I thought Lexie Brown would be higher. That means that Ionescu is in the top 10. My revised predictions:
10. Ionescu 9. Canada 8. Stevens 7. Durr. 6. K. Brown
5. Williams 4. Samuelson 3. Mitchell 2. Collier 1. Wilson

I thought Lexie Brown would be higher too.... somewhere in the 7 or 8 range.

Would seem to be those 10 in some order. I think Samuelson will be the highest ranked UConn player.

At least based on her achievements to date, I think Durr is overrated. She scores prolifically and at acceptable efficiency. She doesn't get assists. She doesn't rebound. For my own entertainment:

Durr - 19.2 ppg, 42.4 FG%, 40.5 3FG%, 78.1 FT%, 3.4 rpg, 64 ast, 64 to, 46 stl
Ogunbowale - 15.9 ppg, 44.9 FG%, 45.4 3FG%, 73.2 FT%, 4.8 rpg, 69 ast, 57 to, 43 stl
L. Brown - 18.3 ppg, 48.8 FG%, 39.9 3FG%, 92.8 FT%, 3.7 rpg, 131 ast, 92 to, 96 stl

Brown has arguably the best stat line. Not much separation between Durr and Ogunbowale. Durr played 19 more minutes and scored 104 more points on 67 more FG attempts.

Durr shot 294 3s! At that volume, 40.5% is darn impressive. But if you're jacking up (and being given the green light by Walz to do so, no doubt) that many treys, you had better score some points.

Thanks for the comparison. I'd put Brown ahead of Durr.....in my opinion Brown is a better defender. I'd also put Brown ahead of Mitchell..... but Im biased

 

[Plebe]

I'd also put Brown ahead of Mitchell..... but Im biased

Will be fun to watch them battle each other on Nov. 30.

 

[Plebe]

Well if Gabby was 6-5 she probably wouldn't have been a guard in HS, so she probably wouldn't have the all around skill package. She probably also wouldn't have been a high jumper and probably wouldn't be as athletic and mobile.

I think it's safe to say that if any player were six inches taller it would be a game-changer for them.

 

[Go/huskies]

Since Gabby was picked by ESPN to represent Uconn at ESPN WCBB media day, one would think Gabby will be 2nd or 3rd on the list, but ahead of Lou and Collier.

 

[triaddukefan]

Will be fun to watch them battle each other on Nov. 30.

That falls in the middle of a tough 8 day stretch..... Oregon State, Ohio State, then Baby Carolina. Kinda wish we had scheduled Okie State for that week as well....

 

[Bigboote]

That's fairly significant though. For a player with a reputation for being a gunner who never passes the ball, she had more assists and a better A/TO ratio than those other 3 listed. That says a lot to me.


edited--plus she scored more, so the total points she directly accounted for are well above the other 3; the goal of basketball is still to put more points on the scoreboard than your opponents, yes?

Of course, but it also helps if you don't miss so much.

Lexie has significantly better shooting percentage, 5 fewer assists, 8 more turnovers, 53 more steals, and 1 more rpg. I'll take that over 4.3 more ppg.

 

[bballnut90]

The next five are up:
www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/21290497/espnw-top-25-women-college-basketball-players-2017-18

25. Ruthy Hebard, Oregon, So.
24. Myisha Hines-Allen, Louisville, Sr.
23. Morgan William, Mississippi State, Sr.
22. Monique Billings, UCLA, Sr.
21. Mercedes Russell, Tennessee, Sr.
20. Brooke McCarty, Texas, Sr.
19. Shakayla Thomas, Florida State, Sr.
18. Rebecca Greenwell, Duke, Sr.
17. Tynice Martin, West Virginia, Jr.
16. Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State, Sr.
15. Arike Ogunbowale, Notre Dame, Jr.
14. Kia Nurse, UConn, Sr.
13. Sophie Cunningham, Missouri, Jr.
12. Kristine Anigwe, Cal, Jr.
11. Lexie Brown, Duke, Sr.

I thought Lexie Brown would be higher. That means that Ionescu is in the top 10. My revised predictions:
10. Ionescu 9. Canada 8. Stevens 7. Durr. 6. K. Brown
5. Williams 4. Samuelson 3. Mitchell 2. Collier 1. Wilson

I know Stevens has a lot of hype, but I wasn't expecting Stevens to be top 10 after sitting a year out and being projected to come off the bench. How I'd rank the top 10:
10. Stevens
9. Ionescu
8. Durr
7. Canada
6. Brown
5. Samuelson
4. Mitchell
3. Collier
2. Williams
1. Wilson

How I think it will be:
10. Canada
9. Stevens
8. Ionescu
7. Durr
6. Brown
5. Williams
4. KLS
3. Collier
2. Mitchell
1. Wilson

 

[MilfordHusky]

I thought Lexie Brown would be higher too.... somewhere in the 7 or 8 range.









Thanks for the comparison. I'd put Brown ahead of Durr.....in my opinion Brown is a better defender. I'd also put Brown ahead of Mitchell..... but Im biased

Lexie was 6th in the AP voting.

 

[shizam]

Top 15 no particular order. A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Mitchell, Gabby Williams, Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou, Asia Durr, Lexie Brown, Jordan Canada, Jaime Nared, Kalani Brown, Sophie Cunningham, Kristine Anigwe, Sabrina Ionescu, Arike Ogunbowale, Kia Nurse, Azuré Stephens ... This is 16 so somebody will be left of this list, probably Stephens since she didn’t play last year.

Good list. I was amazed Nurse hit 46% 3 pt. I only caught maybe 6 UConn games and based on that I would have used the Jeff Walz defense and let her shoot anytime. Kia was awful. Obviously I only saw her bad shooting nights. I know early in the year she was dreadful. Cant argue with her great percentage though.

 

[shizam]

I think Billings is underrated, she should be ahead of several of the players she is ranked behind. Anigwe, Canada and Ionescu must be in their top 15. Probably no Stanford players on the list, can't imagine any of them being rated that high.

I thought the same thing on Billings being underrated but she looked nervous and unimpressive vs UConn in sweet 16. Couldn’t match up w Gabby and Collier and she rushed shots. Not close to playing a good game when UCLA needed it most. Canada wasnt her best in that game either. UConn made her earn everything.

 

[YellwJcket999]

What's the over-under that Stevens doesn't make the list at all?

 

[YellwJcket999]

I thought the same thing on Billings being underrated but she looked nervous and unimpressive vs UConn in sweet 16. Couldn’t match up w Gabby and Collier and she rushed shots. Not close to playing a good game when UCLA needed it most. Canada wasnt her best in that game either. UConn made her earn everything.

17pts 16rebs - What does she have to do? I thought that she produced. I agree she is very underrated.
She should be the very next big after Wilson in the draft, then Russel.

 

[shizam]

Would seem to be those 10 in some order. I think Samuelson will be the highest ranked UConn player.

At least based on her achievements to date, I think Durr is overrated. She scores prolifically and at acceptable efficiency. She doesn't get assists. She doesn't rebound. For my own entertainment:

Durr - 19.2 ppg, 42.4 FG%, 40.5 3FG%, 78.1 FT%, 3.4 rpg, 64 ast, 64 to, 46 stl
Ogunbowale - 15.9 ppg, 44.9 FG%, 45.4 3FG%, 73.2 FT%, 4.8 rpg, 69 ast, 57 to, 43 stl
L. Brown - 18.3 ppg, 48.8 FG%, 39.9 3FG%, 92.8 FT%, 3.7 rpg, 131 ast, 92 to, 96 stl

Brown has arguably the best stat line. Not much separation between Durr and Ogunbowale. Durr played 19 more minutes and scored 104 more points on 67 more FG attempts.

Durr shot 294 3s! At that volume, 40.5% is darn impressive. But if you're jacking up (and being given the green light by Walz to do so, no doubt) that many treys, you had better score some points.

All three are very different players. Yes Durr is slightly overrated but played shooting guard most of the time not pg. She plays better D than she gets credit for. Not a great playmaker but she was expected to put it up which hurt her and the team at times. She will improve and find ways to get her teammates more involved this year. If she doesn’t the Cards will continue to be only a Sweet 16 team at best. The team is 0-9 in their last 9 games verse teams who finished ranked in top 15 at end of year. Yes 0-9. They were 0-7 last year and lost last two the year before. Cards need more help. Durr, Hines-Allen aren’t near enough against good competition.

 

[Plebe]

I thought the same thing on Billings being underrated but she looked nervous and unimpressive vs UConn in sweet 16. Couldn’t match up w Gabby and Collier and she rushed shots. Not close to playing a good game when UCLA needed it most. Canada wasnt her best in that game either. UConn made her earn everything.

If 17 points and 16 rebounds (by Billings) counts as a "nervous and unimpressive" performance, this is an even tougher crowd than I thought.

Canada had 20 points and 11 assists as well.

Not sure which game you saw.

 

[shizam]

If 17 points and 16 rebounds (by Billings) counts as a "nervous and unimpressive" performance, this is an even tougher crowd than I thought.

Canada had 20 points and 11 assists as well.

Not sure which game you saw.

Canada had to do too much.

If 17 points and 16 rebounds (by Billings) counts as a "nervous and unimpressive" performance, this is an even tougher crowd than I thought.

Canada had 20 points and 11 assists as well.

Not sure which game you saw.

I follow the Bruins and they played hard but

If 17 points and 16 rebounds (by Billings) counts as a "nervous and unimpressive" performance, this is an even tougher crowd than I thought.

Canada had 20 points and 11 assists as well.

Not sure which game you saw.

You are right. I’m too hard on them. I was pulling for the Bruins and wanting Billings to show more offense and Canada to finish at the hoop more. They did all they could against a better team.

A funny moment after the game Geno shook Canada’s hand and said “good luck at the next level”. Canada said she just went with it and smiled since she was a Junior.