How special is the 2018 WNBA draft class? An in-depth look

[SVCBeercats]

Women's Hoops World

Half of the 2018 draftees are still on rosters. The ranking according to this article Gabby is at #2, Azure at #3, and Nurse at #12.

 

[VAMike23]

Gabby might be pleasantly surprised that she finished #2 on that list (in statistical impact). In other articles, she sounded nonplussed about her 1st season - neither up nor down about it. Most of the time I think she doesn't give herself enough credit. Of course she has a long way to go before she hits her ceiling but I think she should be proud of the effort this year.

I think next year she'll be better but still working on a lot of things. 3rd year is when I believe she will break out.

 

[Lynx23]

So much for this statistical analysis and being ranked #12 among rookies...Kia makes the 5-women AP WNBA All-Rookie Team. Congrats Kia! Your defensive skills, hustle, and hard play have been rewarded! Finally!

 

[Orangutan]

These rankings are massively flawed.

For starters, for some reason the stats only go up to 7/31, so it doesn't even reflect the full season.

Also, stats like points and steals are given equal weight. What is the value of a steal? It gets you an extra possession. That's worth a little over 1 point. The league leader is Maya with 1.7 spg. So for the very best player in the league in that category it's worth maybe 2 points per game.

And most people aren't getting 0 steals either. So realistically, what's the difference between best in the league at steals and league-average? 1 ppg? The variance between top scorer in the league and league-average scorer is a heck of a lot greater. Those stats simply do not carry the same weight.

Also it's completely dumb to rank players by fouls per game and turnovers per game when that obviously benefits the benchwarmers. Per game stats have their flaws but you can at least be sure that the player with the highest ppg is one of the leagues best scorers. The player with the fewest fouls per game is not necessarily good at foul avoidance. Heck, I have zero fouls per game in my professional basketball career!

I could go on and on...

 

[CocoHusky]

These rankings are massively flawed. Gabby had a solid rookie campaign but Diamond was clearly the more impactful player of Chicago's rookies, so right there I have to object.

Diamond had more points, rebounds, and assists per game than Gabby. But Gabby finishes higher under this system because she had more blocks and steals and fewer turnovers and fouls.

For some reason these stats only go through 7/31. Looking at the final stats, Diamond actually finished with more blocks than Gabby even though the difference is negligible (10 vs. 8). Gabby actually fouls more frequently on a per-minute basis than Diamond (3.0 fouls/36 vs. 2.8). So the areas where Gabby is better are really just turnovers and steals.

For two players who both played a substantial amount, per-minute stats are much more instructive, in my opinion. Now compare:
Per 36 minute stats:
Diamond - 18.2 pts, 6.2 reb, 2.8 ast, 1.4 stl, 0.4 blk, 2.6 tov, 2.8 pf
Gabby - 11.4 pts, 6.7 reb, 2.6 ast, 2.6 stl, 0.4 blk, 1.8 tov, 3.0 pf

Regardless of what the numbers say on this board advocating Diamond over Gabby for anything worthwhile is kind of like:

As much as I agree with you I'm not exactly offerrering help either.

 

[Orangutan]

Regardless of what the numbers say on this board advocating Diamond over Gabby for anything worthwhile is kind of like:
View attachment 33848
As much as I agree with you I'm not exactly offerrering help either.

Well, I did decide to completely re-write that post. But you captured it before I buried the evidence.

Oh well, I stand by what I wrote. They both had promising rookie seasons and I'm really excited for both of their futures. Definitely not trying to tear down Gabby...trying to build up Diamond if anything! Which I'm sure will be met with no resistance in these parts

 

[DallasBUFan]

Without even looking at the stats I would say Wilson, Desheilds, & Atkins. Would be my top 3. Stevens, Vivians, Williams would be my next 3. Again this is my opinion without looking at stats. Just who I noticed making big impacts.