Is Griner best ever center? Geno responds....

[HuskyNan]

I'd say without hesitation that Griner is the best collegiate center ever. No one has come close to accomplishing what she did at Baylor. Also worth noting, as great as Leslie was, she never played in a Final Four. Once Griner starts demanding the ball in the post and puts up bigger numbers/continues to win, she'll elevate herself into her own category of centers.

Tina Charles played center for UConn and has four Final Fours and two National Championships, going 78-0 for those two years. She came into UConn with a bad work ethic and asked Geno repeatedly to make her better. He gave her the tools and she worked her butt off to be the best she could be. Tina went on to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, WNBA Player of the Year award and European Player of the Year award.

This takes nothing away from Brittany, who is a terrific player. Brittany will get her awards and accolades, deservedly so, because she still has great upside to her game. But as great as she was in college, I'm not ready to declare her the best collegiate center. That may be Anne Donovan.

 

[bballnut90]

Tina Charles played center for UConn and has four Final Fours and two National Championships, going 78-0 for those two years. She came into UConn with a bad work ethic and asked Geno repeatedly to make her better. He gave her the tools and she worked her butt off to be the best she could be. Tina went on to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, WNBA Player of the Year award and European Player of the Year award.

This takes nothing away from Brittany, who is a terrific player. Brittany will get her awards and accolades, deservedly so, because she still has great upside to her game. But as great as she was in college, I'm not ready to declare her the best collegiate center. That may be Anne Donovan.

Charles had a great career at UCONN but in my opinion her career pales in comparison to Griner. I never saw Donovan play so I can't comment on that, but of centers since 1990ish, I think Griner is far and away in a league of her own.

 

[bballnut90]

Tina Charles played center for UConn and has four Final Fours and two National Championships, going 78-0 for those two years. She came into UConn with a bad work ethic and asked Geno repeatedly to make her better. He gave her the tools and she worked her butt off to be the best she could be. Tina went on to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, WNBA Player of the Year award and European Player of the Year award.

This takes nothing away from Brittany, who is a terrific player. Brittany will get her awards and accolades, deservedly so, because she still has great upside to her game. But as great as she was in college, I'm not ready to declare her the best collegiate center. That may be Anne Donovan.

And a quick correction-Charles has 3, not 4, Final Fours. She lost in the Elite 8 to Sylvia Fowles and LSU as a freshman.

 

[HuskyNan]

Charles had a great career at UCONN but in my opinion her career pales in comparison to Griner. I never saw Donovan play so I can't comment on that, but of centers since 1990ish, I think Griner is far and away in a league of her own.

I respect your opinion although I disagree.

 

[DaddyChoc]

BBall is mixing Griner now with Tina in college

 

[easttexastrash]

we'll see how she does when she doesn't have DT3 any longer

That's when she will sign with Minny.

 

[easttexastrash]

I'll say this: two of the best ever. BG had a bigger overall impact on offense and defense, but Charles has one more title, although with the assistance of Maya, who is one of the best to ever play WBB. Sims was a tremendous college player, but obviously not on Maya's level.

 

[easttexastrash]

Which combo would you choose based on college level talent? Griner/DT or Charles/Maya?

 

[UcMiami]

Which combo would you choose based on college level talent? Griner/DT or Charles/Maya?

Not really a fair choice as I would choose DT and ______ over any other player and ______ in college where you fill the blanks with any combination of two players from quite a list: Griner, Charles, Fowles, Paris, Leslie, and probably others like Moore, Parker, EDD. Except for that flame out against ND, Diana's fire was such that she refuses to lose and she makes whoever she plays with burn with that same fire.
There are other players that exhibit a similar fire including Moore, but it just never quite reaches the DT level.
I don't think I have ever seen quite such a late game display as the Uconn win against TX in the 2003 FF.

 

[easttexastrash]

Not really a fair choice as I would choose DT and ______ over any other player and ______ in college where you fill the blanks with any combination of two players from quite a list: Griner, Charles, Fowles, Paris, Leslie, and probably others like Moore, Parker, EDD. Except for that flame out against ND, Diana's fire was such that she refuses to lose and she makes whoever she plays with burn with that same fire.
There are other players that exhibit a similar fire including Moore, but it just never quite reaches the DT level.
I don't think I have ever seen quite such a late game display as the Uconn win against TX in the 2003 FF.

Agree about DT. Any top player combined with DT has the advantage.

 

[Wally East]

Would you say Brittney Griner is one of the best centers women’s basketball has ever seen?

Where I come from, you’re defined as the best ever by how much you win

This drives me nuts. It's the worst with pitchers but it happens, clearly, with athletes in other sports. Athletes in team sports have teammates. One player can only do so much.

A quarterback could be the greatest quarterback of all time but he needs someone to pass to. A pitcher could be Pedro Martinez + Sandy Koufax but still only win 10 games a year if his team's offense stinks.

A basketball player could literally be Michael Jordan and score 37 ppg and still have his team go two games under .500.

So, in comparing Tina Charles won-loss record while at UConn, one has to keep in mind that she had Maya Moore as a teammate. Did Britney Griner have anyone like Maya Moore as a teammate?

(And, yes, this means that Wilt was a better center than Russell, which is FINE. Russell was obviously no slouch but Wilt was AMAZING.)

Counting rings leads you to the ridiculous like: "Well, Maria Conlon has three, so, she must be miles better than Jen." (Yes, I have heard people assert this very thing.)

 

[CL82]

Would you say Brittney Griner is one of the best centers women’s basketball has ever seen?

Where I come from, you’re defined as the best ever by how much you win, not how many points you score or how many rebounds you get, or whatever. Brittney heard that in college for four years, ‘you’re the best ever, best ever, best ever,’ and they won one national championship. There have been other people that have won, Diana (Taurasi), two, three. And now she’s won her first WNBA championship in just her second year and this is her first opportunity on the world stage to win a World Championship. So, as Brittney’s career moves on and she impacts teams and impacts their ability to win, then we’ll be able to look back and say, ‘Wow.’ But sometimes I think we -- coaches, fans, media, everybody -- we see somebody who’s so unique, who does things that maybe no one else has ever done and we’re quick to jump to, ‘Wow, she’s the greatest ever.’ It’s probably not fair to her. So, I always like to wait and see. And then when they’re finished, you look back and say, ‘Hmm, maybe she was the best ever.’

LINK

Welcome to Geno's world Brittney. He's a master motivator.


@ Wally East: "So, in comparing Tina Charles won-loss record while at UConn, one has to keep in mind that she had Maya Moore as a teammate. Did Britney Griner have anyone like Maya Moore as a teammate?"

Um I hear that that Odessey Sims kid might be okay.

 

[Wally East]

@ Wally East: "So, in comparing Tina Charles won-loss record while at UConn, one has to keep in mind that she had Maya Moore as a teammate. Did Britney Griner have anyone like Maya Moore as a teammate?"

Um I hear that that Odessey Sims kid might be okay.

Yup, she's pretty good. She's not Maya. She's closer to Bria.

 

[easttexastrash]

I hear that Jackie Stiles was not very good. Sure, she has the most points scored in NCAA history, but does she have a title?

 

[Wally East]

I hear that Jackie Stiles was not very good. Sure, she has the most points scored in NCAA history, but does she have a title?

Yup, same with Ted Williams. No titles for him.

 

[easttexastrash]

Yup, same with Ted Williams. No titles for him.

And EDD never had a title. She could not bring her teammates to new heights, I assume.

It's a team sport...you can be one of the best to ever play the game without winning a single title. And the coach also has a little something to do with the success.

 

[HuskyNan]

Yup, she's pretty good. She's not Maya. She's closer to Bria.

One more time - Maya is a forward, not a guard, so she could only impact Tina only so much. Maya could draw defenders to a certain, sure, but Tina usually had 2-3 defenders draped on her when she got the ball anyway. And she still produced.

I am NOT knocking Brittany at all but would like to point out that she's playing alongside Diana Taurasi right now. Does that mean we should assume her stats are inflated because she's playing next to one of the all time greats? Goofy logic.

 

[easttexastrash]

One more time - Maya is a forward, not a guard, so she could only impact Tina only so much. Maya could draw defenders to a certain, sure, but Tina usually had 2-3 defenders draped on her when she got the ball anyway. And she still produced.

I am NOT knocking Brittany at all but would like to point out that she's playing alongside Diana Taurasi right now. Does that mean we should assume her stats are inflated because she's playing next to one of the all time greats? Goofy logic.

Brittney's individual stats would be better if she did not play with DT, as DT is such a great scorer and takes more shots, but her success would not be the same.

Tina was a better rebounder but BG was a better defender.

 

[UcMiami]

Yup, she's pretty good. She's not Maya. She's closer to Bria.

Well based on the stats that you are so high on - Sims was a lot closer to Maya than Bria:
Sims - 2533 pts, Maya 3036, Bria 1994
Sims - 745 assts, Maya 554, Bria 559
Sims - 479 rbds, Maya 1276, Bria 550
Just as an example.

Edited to correct points for Sims - Baylor site is very confusing!!!

 

[easttexastrash]

Well based on the stats that you are so high on - Sims was a lot closer to Maya than Bria:
Sims - 3194 pts, Maya 3036, Bria 1994
Sims - 745 assts, Maya 554, Bria 559
Sims - 479 rbds, Maya 1276, Bria 550
Just as an example.

I am not sure Sims scored that many points. BG, maybe.

 

[UcMiami]

I am not sure Sims scored that many points. BG, maybe.

Thanks - working off the Baylor site which is extremely confusing in terms of player data.

 

[Wally East]

One more time - Maya is a forward, not a guard, so she could only impact Tina only so much. Maya could draw defenders to a certain, sure, but Tina usually had 2-3 defenders draped on her when she got the ball anyway. And she still produced.

Oh, Maya was a forward and not a guard? You don't say?

My point was that Maya was on the team and greatly elevated the team's performance and record not that she directly impacted Tina's performance.

 

[Wally East]

Well based on the stats that you are so high on - Sims was a lot closer to Maya than Bria:
Sims - 2533 pts, Maya 3036, Bria 1994
Sims - 745 assts, Maya 554, Bria 559
Sims - 479 rbds, Maya 1276, Bria 550
Just as an example.

Edited to correct points for Sims - Baylor site is very confusing!!!

Those stats make her seem halfway between the two, give or take, although, and I don't care enough to look it up, per game averages would be better.

 

[sarals24]

Those stats make her seems much better than Bria. And I love Bria, but Sims was a better collegiate player and a better pro.

 

[wallman]

Tolo started really well against BG but has missed a couple bunnies since she went out!