McCoy Announces Final 6 (no UConn)

[Orangutan]

Reimer was the fifth piece on the 2013 team ('behind' Loyd, McBride, Achonwa and Allen). She was the fourth piece (after Loyd, Turner and Allen) last year. And she has played like it. Her NCAA tournament numbers the past two years are nothing to write home about, scoring six points in each of the Championship games. Last year, Reimer made the first two ND baskets of the game and then disappeared, shooting 1 for 9 for the rest of the game (with 6 turnovers and 11 rebounds). She has never been the difference-maker you might expect a projected top-4 kid to become. I do agree however, she still has room to grow but half her college career is already done, and the clock keeps ticking.

Right, but being the 5th piece as a true freshman on a 37-1 team and the 4th piece as a sophomore on a 36-3 team is pretty darn good. She has only lost to one team in her college career, UConn. Against all other teams, she is 72-0 (sat out the loss to Miami and win over BC last year).

How about her line in the national semifinal against South Carolina - 16 pts (7-10 FG, 2-2 FT), 6 reb, 4 ast, 3 blk? I take your point that she "has never been the difference maker you might expect a projected top-4 kid to become", but she didn't make the rankings. She doesn't have to justify anything. It's sad that her career will be defined by the narrative of her rankings. If she had been ranked #30, people would see her as a success. Instead, she is seen as a disappointment even though she has been a major contributor to highly successful teams.

I know that isn't responding to what you wrote exactly, but this is one of my soapbox topics.

As for Turner being the best of the four... It depends upon what you want... If you prefer a great interior defender, shot blocker and rebounder who has an offensive range from 4 feet in (at best!), then Turner, yes. But if you want an incredibly versatile talent, extraordinary length, excellent ball skills, dynamite 3-point shooter (who can also defend, rebound, and go to the hoop), and who, if she gets stronger and tougher, may very well develop a game not dissimilar to Breanna Stewart's , then it's Stevens. With a solid, not spectacular kid to play in the paint, I'd take Stevens every day over Turner. And until and unless Turner develops an offensive game beyond 2 ft. putbacks and transition layups, I much prefer the more complete, scary good Stevens with the out-of-sight upside.

Stevens shot 28.3% from 3 last year. That's not "dynamite" to me. As for Turner's supposed 4-foot offensive range, she gets the job done. She scored more (on a per-minute basis) and more efficiently than Stevens (led the NCAA in FG%).

Stevens is more versatile and a better passer, to be sure. Turner is just a straight-up low post beast. Nothing fancy, just blocks, rebounds, and buckets. And she has an offensive game beyond just putbacks and transition. I know this because I saw her post up and score on Breanna Stewart in the NC game. Her post-up game is effective already and will get better and more nuanced with time.

It's certainly possible that Stevens will eventually be better, but Turner was a more effective player as a freshman and the stats back it up.