my vote for Maya as best player in UConn history (so far)

[huskyblooz]

Statistically Top 10 in everything.
#1 in scoring. (by 300 points)
#2 in rebounds!!! (behind her teammate Tina Charles)
#4 in steals (great anticipation) i dont see anyone catching Sales
#4 in 3-pointers made
#8 in blocks (at 6'0")
#9 in assists (the highest non-PG on list)

Statistically the closest to her as an all-around player was Pheesa & Breanna.
But aside from that she brought it on both sides of the court.
And dove after more loose balls than any superstar I've seen.
Yes Breanna won 4, DT 3 and Maya only won 2 championships.
Breanna was a good rim protector. But Maya was a good on-ball defender & blocked shots.

With that, I'm more impressed with how Paige goes after every rebound and think she will pepper the stat sheet in more ways than one.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Maya also was the only 4-time All-American and had the best career record of the elite players, 150-4.

Some people point out her losses in 2 Final Fours as the reasons why they have her at #3.

I agree with you.

 

[hoophuskee]

Statistically Top 10 in everything.
#1 in scoring. (by 300 points)
#2 in rebounds!!! (behind her teammate Tina Charles)
#4 in steals (great anticipation) i dont see anyone catching Sales
#4 in 3-pointers made
#8 in blocks (at 6'0")
#9 in assists (the highest non-PG on list)

Statistically the closest to her as an all-around player was Pheesa & Breanna.
But aside from that she brought it on both sides of the court.
And dove after more loose balls than any superstar I've seen.
Yes Breanna won 4, DT 3 and Maya only won 2 championships.
Breanna was a good rim protector. But Maya was a good on-ball defender & blocked shots.

With that, I'm more impressed with how Paige goes after every rebound and think she will pepper the stat sheet in more ways than one.

Stewart was a good on-the-ball defender too. Stewart also blocked shots.

IMO Stewart 1, DT 2, Maya 3.

You know DT didn't score as much because in her frosh year she played with 3 all-americans - and the 3 played her positions Also with arguably the deepest team in UCONN History for quite bit of the season. And her soph year she played with 3 all-americans and Tamika WIlliams. Her jr and sr year - her teams pace of play probably much slower than any of Maya's seasons-- so how can her overall stats be as good if the rest of her team wasn't conducive in running the basketball as much?

 

[bballnut90]

Maya was strongly in contention for POY all 4 years (finished #2 in AP voting in 2008) which had never been done before and hasn't been replicated since. She was also the centerpiece of all 4 teams, and each was the #1 overall seed and title favorite entering the tournament. Her final four numbers are outstanding and she was just so consistently excellent her entire career. The only "short coming" are the 2 titles, but I definitely think she makes a strong case for best Huskies ever.

 

[hoophuskee]

The only "short coming" are the 2 titles, but I definitely think she makes a strong case for best Huskies ever.

All 3 do. Hard to argue against any. While Maya was in contention for POY 4 years - Stewart was POY for 3 years. And Final Four MVP all 4 years. Neither Maya or DT was either.

And Maya's Final Four game as a frosh -while she scored 20 points-- she was 8-19 from the floor (3-11 from 3). She also had very good numbers - 9 rebounds and 3 assists - vs no turnovers. But it wasn't that strong considering she was playing wing and her counterpart (Wiggins) on the opposing team scored more points, had a better shooting %, had more rebounds, had more assists with the same # of turnovers.

Basically at the wing position - albeit they were different players- Maya was outplayed at the wing by Wiggins. Not her fault ofc-- she was just a frosh. And her job was not to defend Wiggins but the fact remains the opposing wing outplayed her. It's a very, very small point but imo the difference between the UCONN BIG 3 is very, very small. How can anyone be wrong with any pick? But the point is-- we're not just talking about being "good"-- we're talking being all-time great.

 

[Sonny44]

Maya should have won 3 championships. In that last championship game she tried to carry the team but the rest of the team was stinking up the place.

 

[jazz]

I think the best way to settle this is assume Breanna or Maya were on the last two championships that DT had and ask yourself if they still win. This way of deciding still has flaws since DT is a guard and that team desperately needed a dominate guard.

I always struggle with this as well since both BS and MM could score and rebound and defend, steal, block shots, etc. DT didn't score as much, but that doesn't mean she couldn't have and I think she set her teammates up a bit better than the other two. When they needed DT to score, she scored. She was also hurt a lot her senior year and was getting the hell beat out of her on cuts through the lane...

Put DT on MM's team her senior year...do you think they win? Does DT win all 4 that BS won?

During DT's freshman year, I think Geno was outcoached against ND and he couldn't come up with a way to stop Ruth Riley. I think he should have played K. Shumacher more in the second half. Also, none of the upper classmen wanted to take big shots so it was up to DT to shot from deep too often. DT had the only real bad game of her career. Uconn was up by 12 or so at the half and then a complete collapse in the second half. Otherwise, Uconn probably wins, DT has 4 championships and we are probably not having a debate over it.

But that is a lot of ifs....

I'm happy with any of the three, but I give it to DT bc of what she did her final 2 years with some good players but no great players.

 

[RedStickHusky]

These discussions are fun but I'm growing to dislike the word 'best'. All three were bestie

 

[meyers7]

You can make an argument for any of the 3. And it would be a great argument filled with stats, awards, etc. If you believe Moore is the best or if you believe DT is the best or if you believe Stewart is the best.....you are correct. That's why those 3 are on UCONN's Mt Rushmore. Still waiting for the 4th.

 

[RedStickHusky]

You can make an argument for any of the 3. And it would be a great argument filled with stats, awards, etc. If you believe Moore is the best or if you believe DT is the best or if you believe Stewart is the best.....you are correct. That's why those 3 are on UCONN's Mt Rushmore. Still waiting for the 4th.

We all think we have 4 and 5 lined up .... Heavy expectations but that's where the best thrive.

 

[bluedevil]

This argument will never be resolved although it is a fun one.

 

[jazz]

You can make an argument for any of the 3. And it would be a great argument filled with stats, awards, etc. If you believe Moore is the best or if you believe DT is the best or if you believe Stewart is the best.....you are correct. That's why those 3 are on UCONN's Mt Rushmore. Still waiting for the 4th.

I like the idea of staying away from 'best' as well as it seems to take something away from other two. So just saying they are the great triumphant at UCONN and the Mt Rushmore at Uconn. We need to come up with a catchy phrase for them. I'm not good at this but I'll say Mt DMB.

 

[ABCDFE]

Maya should have won 3 championships. In that last championship game she tried to carry the team but the rest of the team was stinking up the place.

I distinctly remembering Tiffany having a bad game, lots of missed shots. Tough to see that team lose that year.

 

[hoophuskee]

I think the best way to settle this is assume Breanna or Maya were on the last two championships that DT had and ask yourself if they still win. This way of deciding still has flaws since DT is a guard and that team desperately needed a dominate guard.

I don't think that's a fair question. You allude to it but it' still isn't fair. The team's are built differently. For example take away DT and you're really just left with one guard. DT's team had 4 posts - that's an uneven balance for Maya as a pf or Stewart as a power forward/ center. You'd need to load up on different types of guards the same way UCONN had different types of power forwards and centers in 02-03 and 03-04. How do you do that?

It's so hard-- it comes down to personal preference imo. I'd want DT definitely for a final play but I'd want Maya or Stewart in for a final defensive stand. And then what about the other 39 minutes and 59 seconds?

DT GOAT, Maya GOAT, Stewart GOAT- they are all deserving.

 

[Waquoit]

The problem with these debates is that in the course of making your choice, you can't help but throw shade at others. But the answer is Stewie all day long and twice on Sundays.

 

[Rb335]

IMO Maya was the most dynamically skilled and best individual basketball player to come through the program. The fact that she was so good at virtually everything from day one makes her the best in my eyes. She did more on the floor than anyone else.

She was not the best winner, which has been used as the main talking point against her. If the team won her senior year, we would probably universally rank her ahead of Taurasi. Her 36 point effort just wasn't enough against a hot shooting ND team. But the fact that she carried a team of 2 freshman, offensively challenged sophomore Kelly Faris and senior Lorin Dixon, and streaky Junior Tiffany Hayes to a final four is darn impressive.

 

[huskyd]

Hopeless discussion. After much thought over many eons, I have concluded that the answer to this question should determine the GOAT: If you were starting a team from scratch, which would be the first player you'd draft?
Answer: The best all-around player evah, namely Stewie. Full stop.

 

[jazz]

I don't think that's a fair question. You allude to it but it' still isn't fair. The team's are built differently. For example take away DT and you're really just left with one guard. DT's team had 4 posts - that's an uneven balance for Maya as a pf or Stewart as a power forward/ center. You'd need to load up on different types of guards the same way UCONN had different types of power forwards and centers in 02-03 and 03-04. How do you do that?

It's so hard-- it comes down to personal preference imo. I'd want DT definitely for a final play but I'd want Maya or Stewart in for a final defensive stand. And then what about the other 39 minutes and 59 seconds?

DT GOAT, Maya GOAT, Stewart GOAT- they are all deserving.

Well, that is why I said that DT's team needed a dominate guard.

So simply putting Maya or Stewie on that team might not quite answer the question. Anyway, this debate could take an eternity so if you put forced me, I'd pick DT but I'd rather just say all three were the best, as you seem to say.

You could also argue Stewie or MM for the last shot...both had better FG% than DT IIRC.....

 

[warbler1055]

Over the years I have watched all of the three players games. They were the best when they played. So I tried to remember which of the three gave me the most excitement and wow factor. I came up with 1. DT 2. BS 3. Maya.
Don't get me wrong, They were the very best players ever at UConn.

 

[cferraro04]

How blessed were we the fans to have had the opportunity to see each of these very talented, accomplished women play four years at UConn? We are probably the most spoiled fans in all women's basketball.

 

[ucbart]

Diana is the best player in UCONN history because in 2003 and 2004 her supporting cast was the weakest of all of our championships, yet we still won it. And that isn't even all of it.

**We had 0 business winning that game against Texas in the 2003 National Semifinals, but....."we have Diana and you don't."

**You can give me any UCONN player to insert on any team that didn't win a NC, past or present, and I'm going to pick Diana 99% of the time.

**Geno said it best, "we have Diana and you don't."

**I could go on and on and on and on and on......

 

[Skeets]

Limiting this to a 4 year UCONN career makes this a difficult discussion. Too many moving pieces for a fair apples to apples comparison. Also, the game is more that just statistics. I would want DT to have the ball and take the last shot. So I guess that makes DT the GOAT by a nose (oops, sorry).

If we open this up to lifetime achievement, easily DT is the GOAT until Stewie or someone else proves otherwise.

 

[jazz]

This conversation could be moot by the time PB gets done!!!

 

[eebmg]

This conversation could be moot by the time PB gets done!!!

I do not see how Paige could overtake the DT epic . The surrounding talent will never allow Paige the opportunity to drag a team accross the finish line.