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Message: [QUOTE="bballnut90, post: 4452914, member: 2117"] I interpreted best as meaning either a player who offers the most benefit to UCONN (which I agree, it's early but LLS seems like a perfect fit for this team), but I don't think LLS is a better player than Stevens, or that her season will be better than Stevens was in 2017-18 so I wanted to clarify. In regards to talent level, I'd definitely put Stevens ahead of those 3. Stevens at 6-6 could handle the rock, shoot the 3, and was a very good scorer and rebounder inside with great touch. She was grossly under ranked coming out of HS, to the point of someone here saw her HS highlights and created a thread questioning how she was only the #23 recruit coming out of HS (this was when she was a Duke commit at the time and had no relevance to UCONN). She was great from the get go and panned out to be a fantastic player. Ended up being a #6 WNBA draft pick, though she was as high as #2 on many mock drafts. Westbrook was a #2 recruit in a class that notoriously underachieved, both collegiately and in the pros. She had injuries but her skill never formulated into her being a player close to her HS ranking. In regards to Hunter, she had the HS accolades and good upside, but comparing her to Stevens, I think Stevens had a much more impressive skill set than Hunter. Hunter was more of a traditional physical post with good upside but was riddled with injuries. In regards to Stevens impact on the 2017-18 team, I agree with all of what you say. Stevens was fantastic when she got on the court, and was the difference maker in both ND games. She made herself into one of UCONN's best players and she was a major contributor. Comparing the 2016-17 team to the 2017-18 team though, the chemistry was better IMO in 2016-17. I echo [USER=1673]@diggerfoot[/USER] who outlines it perfectly here, "I totally understand the argument for Stevens based on her individual production, but her role on the roster created a decrease in production from Collier, and the two phenomena were most definitely related. Despite the impressive year we had, the whole was less than the sum of the parts that year. With the potential AA talent we had, both offensively and defensively, we might have been 2016 dominant if the whole was greater than the sum. Sidebar: I do not blame Stevens at all, nor do I fault her for leaving. Chemistry is a tricky thing, even for a program like UConn." Adding in big time players to an already loaded team always comes with risks that can often outweigh the reward. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach