Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list

[HuskyNan]

 

[Cuango]

In a perfect world they could be co-winners!

 

[WBBZen]

Should be Sarah but we’ll see. They might give it to Hannah

 

[Geew1992]

The fact azzi isn’t on this list is crazy

 

[browns]

Hanna will get it but SS will be the NPOY

 

[oldude]

For what it’s worth, UConn won 4/5 DPOY’s from 2014-2018: Steph, Mo, Gabby & Kia. The Huskies haven’t won it since.

In all honesty, I think either Sarah or KK would be excellent choices. They play on the #2 defensive team in the country behind only McNeese St, by 0.1 pts per game.

Hidalgo will certainly be in the running as she leads the nation in steals. But for my money both Sarah & KK are better all-around defenders.

 

[TheGOAT23]

For what it’s worth, UConn won 4/5 DPOY’s from 2014-2018: Steph, Mo, Gabby & Kia. The Huskies haven’t won it since.

In all honesty, I think either Sarah or KK would be excellent choices. They play on the #2 defensive team in the country behind only McNeese St, by 0.1 pts per game.

Hidalgo will certainly be in the running as she leads the nation in steals. But for my money both Sarah & KK are better all-around defenders.

…without fouling the offensive player. I know. If the refs don’t call it, it’s not a foul. 😆

 

[BBallF]

For what it’s worth, UConn won 4/5 DPOY’s from 2014-2018: Steph, Mo, Gabby & Kia. The Huskies haven’t won it since.

In all honesty, I think either Sarah or KK would be excellent choices. They play on the #2 defensive team in the country behind only McNeese St, by 0.1 pts per game.

Hidalgo will certainly be in the running as she leads the nation in steals. But for my money both Sarah & KK are better all-around defenders.

I agree. I thought the ND game was very telling because you got to see both of them in the same game and at times guarding each other. KK is a classic shutdown defender with the tighest man to man in along time whereas HH is an offensively minded defender in the sense that she is looking to steal first rather than to simply contain and disrupt the offensive flow.

 

[Bone Dog]

Hannah is a great defensive player, arguably the best in the country. But it is also worth facing the cost of her steals. Niele gives her license to pursue back side double teams, which means the rest of the team has to compensate for it. In past seasons they've had the personnel to do this more efficiently than they can this season. It's always a gamble whether Hannah can get the steal before the opposing team finds the open look she's created. Their losses reflect what happens when this gamble does not pay off.

If I compare this style of defense to what KK or Sarah or even Azzi do, the difference is striking. UConn does use double teams sometimes. But these three mainly play defense face up. When they get a steal it comes from picking a pocket from the front or from stepping into a passing lane, not from back side doubles. As Meg Culmo so often says, you have to get down into your stance and keep your opponent in front of you. That's UConn defensive philosophy.

I have a feeling Hannah wouldn't have had such a flashy defensive profile if she'd come to Connecticut... but she'd probably have had more than one NC. On the other hand, Sarah and KK and Azzi would have looked the same on pretty much any team.They are very fundamentally sound.

 

[Vowelguy]

I have a feeling Hannah wouldn't have had such a flashy defensive profile if she'd come to Connecticut... but she'd probably have had more than one NC. On

Nykesha has said something along the lines of: she got so many steals her frosh year was she never knew what defense they were in, so she would just go all out after the offensive player, knowing that she had teammates who would cover if it didn't work.

 

[Gael]

Am I the only one who can't see the rest of the list from the X post (of which I'm not a member)?

I prefer linking or reproducing the original source for all information. Here is the complete list from the Naismith website.

Full Name	Year	Position	School	Conference
KK Arnold	Junior	Guard	UConn	BIG EAST
Raegan Beers	Senior	Center	Oklahoma	SEC
Lauren Betts	Senior	Center	UCLA	Big Ten
Mikayla Blakes	Sophomore	Guard	Vanderbilt	SEC
Madison Booker	Junior	Forward	Texas	SEC
Kennedy Cambridge	Junior	Guard	Ohio State	Big Ten
Talaysia Cooper	Junior	Guard	Tennessee	SEC
Julia Dalan	Freshman	Center	Portland	WCC
Jazzy Davidson	Freshman	Guard	USC	Big Ten
Joyce Edwards	Sophomore	Forward	South Carolina	SEC
Toby Fournier	Sophomore	Forward	Duke	ACC
Madison Francis	Freshman	Forward	Mississippi State	SEC
MiLaysia Fulwiley	Junior	Guard	LSU	SEC
Rori Harmon	Graduate Student	Guard	Texas	SEC
Jordan Harrison	Senior	Guard	West Virginia	Big 12
Hannah Hidalgo	Junior	Guard	Notre Dame	ACC
Uche Izoje	Freshman	Center	Syracuse	ACC
Raven Johnson	Senior	Guard	South Carolina	SEC
Rashunda Jones	Junior	Guard	Michigan State	Big Ten
Latasha Lattimore	Senior	Forward	Ole Miss	SEC
Indya Nivar	Senior	Guard	North Carolina	ACC
Khamil Pierre	Junior	Forward	NC State	ACC
Ny'Ceara Pryor	Senior	Guard	Texas A&M	SEC
Clara Strack	Junior	Center	Kentucky	SEC
Sarah Strong	Sophomore	Forward	UConn	BIG EAST

In terms of advanced defensive stats, Sarah Strong is #1 in DI by significant margins in Defensive Win Shares, Defensive Box Plus/Minus, and Defensive Rating according to SRCBB.

 

[bballnut90]

Fudd should definitely be on here, she's turned into a shut down defender. At this point Strong would be my pick for both NPOY and DPOY. Hidalgo is a great defender and does a pretty good job of recovering after gambling for steals but it does cost the team at times.

A lot of really good players on this list.