Kelsey Mitchell is not an All American...

[DaddyChoc]

Jessica Shepard

 

[hjoerring]

In judging All-America worthiness, performance against the best teams should count more than gaudy numbers posted against the cupcakes on the schedule. In this vein, neither Davis, Turner nor Mitchell showed me AA chops. The kid from Florida State whose name I can't recall definitely did, however.

While Mitchell is not my favorite player, she seems to have one-speed and seemingly must have the ball to be relevant; I cannot deny her skills-set. I was extremely disappointed in the recent game, as I expected a much higher calibre of play from them. They have the talent (although Calhoun is not dissimilar to Mitchell), but the attitude is ' this is my house and you must not rearrange anything, otherwise I may sulk.'
Personally, I think the AA thing has outlived itself. There are far too many good players today. Which two players on Conn would we nominate for AA. Assuming we can only have two. Isn't Gabby and Nurse really critical for our winnings! (Forgot we had 3 last year)

 

[meyers7]

So the aforementioned Mitchell, Turner, Allen and Davis did not look good against UConn and were at best the 4th best player on the floor.

Wait, what???? The Mitchell that torched UCONN for 19 points in the first half? The Mitchell that Geno had to make major defensive adjustments for in the 2nd half (which luckily worked)? That Mitchell didn't look good against UCONN. Myself and Geno would disagree with you. There are not a lot of players that Geno has to completely revamp his defensive scheme for.

 

[UcMiami]

While Mitchell is not my favorite player, she seems to have one-speed and seemingly must have the ball to be relevant; I cannot deny her skills-set. I was extremely disappointed in the recent game, as I expected a much higher calibre of play from them. They have the talent (although Calhoun is not dissimilar to Mitchell), but the attitude is ' this is my house and you must not rearrange anything, otherwise I may sulk.'
Personally, I think the AA thing has outlived itself. There are far too many good players today. Which two players on Conn would we nominate for AA. Assuming we can only have two. Isn't Gabby and Nurse really critical for our winnings! (Forgot we had 3 last year)

Just think how many points Mitchell could score if she were playing with a Moriah Jefferson type point guard and didn't have to create all her own shots but would be consistently fed the ball on her cuts and for uncontested jumpers! Ohio State hasn't had that kind of PG or that kind of system since she arrived, so she is asked to go out and collect the ball and create on her own, seldom even getting decent screening action to help her work free. Put her on the Baylor team and at least Kim would put plays in to help create space for her like she did for Sims. Or as ND did for Loyd.

 

[CocoHusky]

Just think how many points Mitchell could score if she were playing with a Moriah Jefferson type point guard and didn't have to create all her own shots but would be consistently fed the ball on her cuts and for uncontested jumpers! Ohio State hasn't had that kind of PG or that kind of system since she arrived, so she is asked to go out and collect the ball and create on her own, seldom even getting decent screening action to help her work free. Put her on the Baylor team and at least Kim would put plays in to help create space for her like she did for Sims. Or as ND did for Loyd.

A Moriah Jefferson Type PG is an extremely high standard. What Kelsey Mitchell had alongside her for two years is Ameryst Alston whose honors included:

• Three-time First team All-Big Ten

• Honorable Mention AP All-American (2016)

• All-Big Ten Freshman Team

Alston was more than an adequate player to do what you are suggesting but was largely unutilized. Doss, Calhoun, Mavunga, McCoy , Hart are destined to follow a similar path of being spectators to Mitchell's dribbling exhibition. If you go back and watch the tOSU game Muvunga touched the ball 2 times when you exclude her offensive & and defensive touches.

 

[CocoHusky]

Wait, what???? The Mitchell that torched UCONN for 19 points in the first half? The Mitchell that Geno had to make major defensive adjustments for in the 2nd half (which luckily worked)? That Mitchell didn't look good against UCONN. Myself and Geno would disagree with you. There are not a lot of players that Geno has to completely revamp his defensive scheme for.

Hardly a “complete revamp” and there was nothing lucky about it. Geno made an adjustment to how Mitchell was being guarded in the second half. Specifically he doubled Mitchell on the wings and face guarded her once she gave the ball up. Geno does hate to double anybody but he’s made similar adjustments at the half, as he did last year against Mabrey of ND and Williams of USF.

 

[meyers7]

Hardly a “complete revamp” and there was nothing lucky about it. Geno made an adjustment to how Mitchell was being guarded in the second half. Specifically he doubled Mitchell on the wings and face guarded her once she gave the ball up. Geno does hate to double anybody but he’s made similar adjustments at the half, as he did last year against Mabrey of ND and Williams of USF.

That's a pretty good revamp. Nothing wrong with a little luck.

 

[easttexastrash]

View attachment 17822

Despite being know for friendly fluff pieces, I'm taking a stand against calling players who do little else than score tons of points, All Americans. Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell is one of those talented players who dominates the headlines by scoring, and scoring and scoring. Yes, she single handedly kept Ohio State close against UConn by pouring in 19 first half points. Three of those points came on a near half court bomb as time ran out in the half. She has talent, no doubt. But, how about the 3rd and 4th periods?

Mitchell ended up scoring 4 points the rest of the game, bringing her total to 23. She took 24 shots and made 9. That is 37.5%. Here is a list of UConn players that shot better than that last night.

1. Gabby went 3-5 or 60%
2. Napheesa went 9-19 or 47.4%
3. Katie Lou went 8-21 or 38.1%
4. Crystal went 3-5 or 60%
5. Kia went 4-11 or 36.4% which was almost equal to Michell.

So basically, the WHOLE starting Huskies' line up shot the ball the same or better than Mitchell, in OSU's biggest game of the year.

What else did Kelsey do to beat UConn? Well, she had 1 assist. That's right, 1 and only 1 assist. She also had 2 rebounds and 3 steals vs 3 turnovers and 3 fouls. I'm sorry, not All American statistics.

What to see a real All American..?? Check out the picture above... Collier had 27 points (on fewer shots), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 8-9 or 88% from the free throw line, 1 block, 1 steal and only 1 turnover.

Go Pheesa..!!

I agree that Mitchell is not an AA, however, it is hard to judge a player based on stats against UCONN. Mitchell was playing against UCONN's defense and Collier was playing against OSU's. But I would vote Collier as a first team AA. She is really smooth, smart and can flat out shoot the ball.

 

[easttexastrash]

If Mitchell is an AA based on the first 20 minutes, then she is not even all conference based on the last 20 minutes. She was shut down by Crystal Dangerfield, who face guarded her all over the court. All Americans don't get shut down by freshman, even good ones.

The second half shut-down was not because of Dangerfield, it was Geno's adjustments to prevent Mitchell from getting on the wing by bringing a double team. Dangerfield certainly played a part in the defense but it is not as if she shut her down all by herself. Had Geno continued to play Mitchell straight up she would have continued to score.

 

[Geew1992]

When I say this, I an not talking about one specific player. I believe an AA should be based mostly on what they do against the best teams. I don't care if it's Uconn Aouth Carolina or ND. If these players aren't playing their best against the best, why so they deserve to be an AA??

 

[UcMiami]

When I say this, I an not talking about one specific player. I believe an AA should be based mostly on what they do against the best teams. I don't care if it's Uconn Aouth Carolina or ND. If these players aren't playing their best against the best, why so they deserve to be an AA??

Because Uconn is coached like a pro team with solid scouting and a plan to take away your best player. Very few other teams play that kind of defense and all most posters on this board see is what happens when the player plays against uconn. I don't have a problem with you rating them against other top teams, but Uconn is different. And that theory also would make it impossible for a player like EDD playing on a bad Delaware team to ever be considered - had they ever played top ten teams they would have been slaughtered and EDD would have been left on an island playing against two or three AA quality defenders with no support.

 

[Carnac]

The second half shut-down was not because of Dangerfield, it was Geno's adjustments to prevent Mitchell from getting on the wing by bringing a double team. Dangerfield certainly played a part in the defense but it is not as if she shut her down all by herself. Had Geno continued to play Mitchell straight up she would have continued to score.

The same way he shut down Mitchell, is the same way he can shut down a Maryland player in the 2nd half if they are hot.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I was almost amazed to see Kevin McGuff kiss his Holy Queen's arse - she was on his left - in the presser. Yes, Kevin, she scored 4 points in the second half, but she sure distributed the ball well, and that worked out just super. He, frankly, always has the excuse of his team being in transition. Geno likes him, why shouldn't he; he knows how to whoop his behind.