Gustafson named AP Player of the Year

[Orangutan]

 

[Orangutan]

Vote totals from the 28-member panel:

Gustafson - 15
Ionescu - 7
Collier - 3
Durr - 2
McCowan - 1

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Vote totals from the 28-member panel:

Gustafson - 15
Ionescu - 7
Collier - 3
Durr - 2
McCowan - 1

Just no. All four of the other players were better than Gustafson.

No.

 

[BroadwayVa]

They got to be kidding!! She never played against KLS or Napheesa the TRUE Players of the year---These kids play Defense, offense, scores, for 40 minutes 35 games --minutes alone they deserve POY . I like Gustavason but she can't carry the jerseys of KLS and Precious. If they want to call this SOY---Scorer of the year--fine. But PLAYER implies all around : Defense, Offense, Motivating mates, Cheering on, Playing while injured--NOW that's a Player for the AGES and MY POY.

 

[DaBball]

They got to be kidding!! She never played against KLS or Napheesa the TRUE Players of the year---These kids play Defense, offense, scores, for 40 minutes 35 games --minutes alone they deserve POY . I like Gustavason but she can't carry the jerseys of KLS and Precious. If they want to call this SOY---Scorer of the year--fine. But PLAYER implies all around : Defense, Offense, Motivating mates, Cheering on, Playing while injured--NOW that's a Player for the AGES and MY POY.

So you have to play against Katie Lou Samuleson or Napheesa Collier to be named POY? Gustafson does play defense, offense, and gets very passionate and loves to cheer for her team during the game.

 

[HuskyNan]

Congratulations to Megan. Well deserved. She almost single handedly brought Iowa to the Elite Eight.

Try to show some class, Husky fans

 

[ConnMotors]

Wow! I am stunned by this. I would have put her fifth. Yes, she is an awesome player but!!!!!

 

[Wbbfan1]

Not Surprised that Napheesa didn't win it, but I am suprised Gustafson won. Thought Sabrina would win the Award.

Kim Mulkey won coach of the Year. Geno has won the award numerous times, when he's had the best or one of the best teams in the Country. Think Coach of the Year, should go to the Coach whose teams have significantly over achieved. This year, that's probably Wes Moore of NC State. There may be an equally deserving Mid Major coach as well that I'm not aware of.

 

[Plebe]

Megan is very deserving in my book. She led the country in both PPG and FG%, which as far as I know is unprecedented. She was the consummate team player and she made all her teammates better. They loved her success, and she loved theirs. She was a joy to watch this year.

It's easy for UConn fans to look down from their tower and scoff at other teams' and other players' accomplishments. For a program like Iowa's, which hadn't won an NCAA tournament game since 2015, getting a top 10 ranking, winning the Big Ten tournament and reaching the Elite 8 are monumental accomplishments.

 

[BroadwayVa]

So you have to play against Katie Lou Samuleson or Napheesa Collier to be named POY? Gustafson does play defense, offense, and gets very passionate and loves to cheer for her team during the game.

How many minutes did she play? Yes, to be Player not scorer, she needs to play against REAL players. I enjoyed watching her play but she just isn't a Precious or KLS. She's like Tamika Williams and as Geno said--anyone can score 40 points shoot 2 ft from the basket.
Honestly, I didn't see much defense from Gustafson. Had she played against Uconn she'd have learned how hard Defense is played and how hard it is to stop a top duo. All your quips won't change she was chosen for scoring not playing a total game as a PLAYER.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Congratulations to her and her program. I am a nobody, but I would have voted for Durr.

 

[HGN]

I have no qualms with the voting outcome.....In my opinion, any of the 5 could have easily been named because they all were deserving and all are outstanding players. Gustafson had a truly outstanding season and took Iowa about as far as a one-woman gang could have. But that could be said about any one of the players. Napheesa had an outstanding season as well but had a lot more help from her teammates. Thus her stats were not as gaudy as Gustafson. But an outstanding season none the less.

Every outstanding player and All American can't play for UCONN. But that doesn't mean that they are non-deserving because they are wearing a different uniform.

 

[VAMike23]

Also, Mulkey is AP COY:

Mulkey AP COY

 

[HuskyNan]

How many minutes did she play? Yes, to be Player not scorer, she needs to play against REAL players. I enjoyed watching her play but she just isn't a Precious or KLS. She's like Tamika Williams and as Geno said--anyone can score 40 points shoot 2 ft from the basket.
Honestly, I didn't see much defense from Gustafson. Had she played against Uconn she'd have learned how hard Defense is played and how hard it is to stop a top duo. All your quips won't change she was chosen for scoring not playing a total game as a PLAYER.

Gustafson’s stats would have been even better if she’d had Napheesa and Lou’s teammates. And she plays in the Big 10, not the AAC.

 

[Charliebball]

think of it this way.............................Ms Collier has one, hopefully two games left to show the voters that they were wrong..............................................get to it Napheesa!!!!!!!!!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Not Surprised that Napheesa didn't win it, but I am suprised Gustafson won. Thought Sabrina would win the Award.

Kim Mulkey won coach of the Year. Geno has won the award numerous times, when he's had the best or one of the best teams in the Country. Think Coach of the Year, should go to the Coach whose teams have significantly over achieved. This year, that's probably Wes Moore of NC State. There may be an equally deserving Mid Major coach as well that I'm not aware of.

All you say is true. But between Mulkey and Geno, Geno took 3 experienced players added two with little or no Div 1 experience. A team many in Nov could not believe would reach the Sweet 16--why? NO bench. The impossibility of 5 kids , 2 underclassmen playing 40 minutes each every OOC game then with significant injury to one Senior who could achieve the sweet 16? Elite 8 an impossiblilty. Yet Geno, some how , some way, is headed towards the FF--IMPOSSIBLE. AND HE ISN'T COACH OF THE YEAR--IMPOSSIBLE.

 

[Shades]

Megan is very deserving in my book. She led the country in both PPG and FG%, which as far as I know is unprecedented. She was the consummate team player and she made all her teammates better. They loved her success, and she loved theirs. She was a joy to watch this year.

PLUS, she was also the leading scorer in the country last year, but all the awards were destined for A’ja Wilson.

PLUS, she scored over a 1000 pts in the season, which has only been accomplished by three other players: Kelsey Plum, Jackie Stiles, and Odyssey Sims. It’s the first such accomplishment by a post player.

 

[Plebe]

Not long ago I rewatched, for the first time in many years, the movie Hoosiers. As I relived the double nostalgia of a movie about a 1950s small-town basketball team that I first saw when I was a high school freshman, it occurred to me that Gustafson this year was somewhat like the female post player version of "Jimmy" in Hoosiers -- the player from a tiny dot-on-the-map called Port Wing, Wisconsin, who put her unheralded team on her back and was nearly unstoppable. Her 45-point performance vs. Maryland in the Big 10 final will be mentioned for many years to come.

I said it several weeks ago, and I'll repeat it: my wish upon a star is that Gustafson wins NPOY and Collier wins Final Four MOP.

 

[Jmsdawg]

Just no. All four of the other players were better than Gustafson.

No.

My take: Ionescu, she, IMHO, is the cream of the crop. No other player this year even close!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Gustafson’s stats would have been even better if she’d had Napheesa and Lou’s teammates. And she plays in the Big 10, not the AAC.

I could not agree more. What irks me is the TERM---POY. Infers an all around player. My assumption, because she was NCAA top scorer , that is why she got POY. That is hard to swallow--looking at Precious and KLS. Geno not Coach of the Year, Impossible.

 

[EricLA]

Congrats to Megan. Glad it wasn't Sabrina - not because she isn't deserving, but becasue I like to see the awards spread out when it's not a UCONN player winning all of them!! I'm sure Sabrina will get her fair share, but congrats to Megan. She had a tremendous season! Easy kid to root for too!

 

[JordyG]

Gustafson’s stats would have been even better if she’d had Napheesa and Lou’s teammates. And she plays in the Big 10, not the AAC.

I agree absolutely that Gustafson is well deserving of the award and I have no qualms whatsoever about her winning the award. But I disagree that her stats would have been better if Lou, Pheesa and her were teammates. There's just one basketball and I think her number of shots would have dropped, as would Lou and Pheesa's. But their chances of winning a championship would have increased exponentially, as long as they had an experienced guard.

 

[DaBball]

How many minutes did she play? Yes, to be Player not scorer, she needs to play against REAL players. I enjoyed watching her play but she just isn't a Precious or KLS. She's like Tamika Williams and as Geno said--anyone can score 40 points shoot 2 ft from the basket.
Honestly, I didn't see much defense from Gustafson. Had she played against Uconn she'd have learned how hard Defense is played and how hard it is to stop a top duo. All your quips won't change she was chosen for scoring not playing a total game as a PLAYER.

She played about 1 more MPG than Napheesa. Real players? Jessica Shepard, Lauren Cox, Kalani Brown, Brianna Turner, Shakira Austin, etc. If those aren’t “real players,” who qualifies as a “real player”? She also had more blocks than Napheesa, so I’m not sure how she didn’t play defense.

Both players are obviously amazing talents. I’m going to say Napheesa has the brighter future (just my opinion), but Napheesa came to UConn to win chanpionships, not individual awards. Megan had the better stats, Napheesa has the better team.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Not long ago I rewatched, for the first time in many years, the movie Hoosiers. As I relived the double nostalgia of a movie about a 1950s small-town basketball team that I first saw when I was a high school freshman, it occurred to me that Gustafson this year was somewhat like the female post player version of "Jimmy" in Hoosiers -- the player from a tiny dot-on-the-map called Port Wing, Wisconsin, who put her unheralded team on her back and was nearly unstoppable. Her 45-point performance vs. Maryland in the Big 10 final will be mentioned for many years to come.

I said it several weeks ago, and I'll repeat it: my wish upon a star is that Gustafson wins NPOY and Collier wins Final Four MOP.

I won't argue any part of that. 45 points against Md was exceptional. That said:
I too saw that Hoosiers recently. As a basketball nut 1950 my era that filled many emotional holes in my psyche. My take was Jimmy was Collier. The one who always (nearly) was called on to score 30 points and defend some top players (never saw Jimmy play defense). Emotionally, like Hoosiers, this team has filled all the holes my emotional self that needed filling. To me they out Hoosiers --Hoosiers. Say what anyone may say: 5 kids no bench save one, long exceptional minutes. Only five against many. Even Hoosiers didn't stay with only 5 for long, soon they had a bench of sorts--that was never true of Geno's team this year.

 

[Plebe]

I won't argue any part of that. 45 points against Md was exceptional. That said:
I too saw that Hoosiers recently. As a basketball nut 1950 my era that filled many emotional holes in my psyche. My take was Jimmy was Collier. The one who always (nearly) was called on to score 30 points and defend some top players (never saw Jimmy play defense). Emotionally, like Hoosiers, this team has filled all the holes my emotional self that needed filling. To me they out Hoosiers --Hoosiers. Say what anyone may say: 5 kids no bench save one, long exceptional minutes. Only five against many. Even Hoosiers didn't stay with only 5 for long, soon they had a bench of sorts--that was never true of Geno's team this year.

Also a valid take.

I would love to see the BY's reaction if Geno were to say, after a player fouls out: "My team is on the floor."