Napheesa Collier should have been MVP, not A'ja Wilson...:) | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Napheesa Collier should have been MVP, not A'ja Wilson...:)

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Seems that "Pheese" is what the other players call her, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what sticks at UCONN.
 
HGN said:
That might be true Triad...... We are just so lucky and fortunate to have a good team and coach. That I will admit that we do get overjoyed at times.
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While I dont think that Stevens should have gotten MVP of the game.........but without her first half scoring.......perhaps the USA would have been in a hole that they may not have been able to dig out of. Azura was hands down the MVP of the first half ;)
 
VAMike23 said:
Seems that "Pheese" is what the other players call her, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what sticks at UCONN.
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Not you too! @PHEEsespieces is her official twitter handle. If you drop the pieces you have a different word. Phee is what the other players call her for short.
 
CocoHusky said:
Not you too! @PHEEsespieces is her official twitter handle. If you drop the pieces you have a different word. Phee is what the other players call her for short.
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From recent news bites:

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Dangerfield and Collier will have three years together in Storrs.

“I love playing with Pheese,” Dangerfield said on the telephone. “She’s high energy and so intense, just a great player on both sides of the ball. This past month I’ve learned from her and she’s helped me, and I can’t wait to get to Connecticut to play with her.”

******
“Pheese (Napheesa Collier) is relentless,” added Staley. “She is competitive. She doesn’t want to lose and she leaves it all out there every time she steps on the floor.”
 
What I'm about to say may be totally off base and unfair, because USA U - coaches are given an impossible task: taking a bunch of talent and turning it into a team in 3-4 weeks. But, what I noticed in the last 2 games was how much the team looked like Staley's college team, both strengths and limitations. Very good D and a whole lot of stilted offense. If I was on the committee picking the next USA prime time players coach after Geno it would not be Staley.
 
If it was an "impossible task", why the condemnation ?
Compared to the Pan Am team, it was a well oiled machine.
 
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RockyMTblue2 said:
What I'm about to say may be totally off base and unfair, because USA U - coaches are given an impossible task: taking a bunch of talent and turning it into a team in 3-4 weeks. But, what I noticed in the last 2 games was how much the team looked like Staley's college team, both strengths and limitations. Very good D and a whole lot of stilted offense. If I was on the committee picking the next USA prime time players coach after Geno it would not be Staley.
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I don't think the committee would have a problem with her 20-0 record as coach of team USA. Actually she should be tops on the list to replace Geno.
 
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As a UConn fan, I have no issue with A'ja winning the MVP award. Congratulations to her, she played well for the USA. Remember, she was the number one recruit in her class plus she's had a year's worth of big time college experience, so I expected that she would play at a high level.

What we UConn fans need to remember and rejoice is that Napheesa is still just a high school kid without the exposure, experience and college level coaching that is all in her future. Though relatively inexperienced, she more than held her own in every way against all comer in the tournament.

Then there's Crystal Dangerfield, a gem who performed mightily in the tourney. With another year of high school ahead of her, she is even less experienced than Napheesa . Think about where these two players could be when they are, like A'ja, approaching their Sophomore season but under the tutelage of Geno and company. The future is bright.
 
VAMike23 said:
From recent news bites:

_________

Dangerfield and Collier will have three years together in Storrs.

“I love playing with Pheese,” Dangerfield said on the telephone. “She’s high energy and so intense, just a great player on both sides of the ball. This past month I’ve learned from her and she’s helped me, and I can’t wait to get to Connecticut to play with her.”

******
“Pheese (Napheesa Collier) is relentless,” added Staley. “She is competitive. She doesn’t want to lose and she leaves it all out there every time she steps on the floor.”
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Reese's Pieces...

and/or Pheese is the *
 
Bestiarius said:
As a UConn fan, I have no issue with A'ja winning the MVP award. Congratulations to her, she played well for the USA. Remember, she was the number one recruit in her class plus she's had a year's worth of big time college experience, so I expected that she would play at a high level.

What we UConn fans need to remember and rejoice is that Napheesa is still just a high school kid without the exposure, experience and college level coaching that is all in her future. Though relatively inexperienced, she more than held her own in every way against all comer in the tournament.

Then there's Crystal Dangerfield, a gem who performed mightily in the tourney. With another year of high school ahead of her, she is even less experienced than Napheesa . Think about where these two players could be when they are, like A'ja, approaching their Sophomore season but under the tutelage of Geno and company. The future is bright.
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The operable word for this is "upside" (formerly "potential").
 
Kibitzer said:
The operable word for this is "upside" (formerly "potential").
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Is there such a thing as " rising" Freshmen? We know that she is done with high school.
 
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At best, it could have gone either way. Based on the statistics give by DavidNaples a solid case could be made for Collier. (And if the coaches had given her the green light or the #1 scoring option she would have scored 30?) She had a diff role. It seems that none of the other American bigs were up to the task of playing the Russians and therefore without Wilson's performance we would have come up short. With the exception of Dangerfield, I was less than impressed with our guards. I think the Russians had a great team, but they may have been outcoached by Dawn and Co.
 
Overall, I found the U19 games much more enjoyable to watch than the Pan American games, despite the fact that my two absolute favorite players, Stewie and Moriah, were in Toronto. The U19s, whether dictated by rules or refs, played a much more flowing, uptempo style with an emphasis on skills and athleticism, whereas the Pan Am games was more often than not a punishing exercise in physicality, grabbing, hacking, and mauling and far less aesthetically pleasing to this fan.

Maybe because I'm accustomed to the US college game and not international women's play, or maybe because teams like Cuba, Brazil et al. resorted to non-stop bruising and roughhousing to compete since they were unable (mostly) to match the much younger Americans skills-wise. Either way, I found the product on the court in Toronto was less about entertaining basketball and more about survive and advance. Literally.
 
Huskies Rule said:
Overall, I found the U19 games much more enjoyable to watch than the Pan American games, despite the fact that my two absolute favorite players, Stewie and Moriah, were in Toronto. The U19s, whether dictated by rules or refs, played a much more flowing, uptempo style with an emphasis on skills and athleticism, whereas the Pan Am games was more often than not a punishing exercise in physicality, grabbing, hacking, and mauling and far less aesthetically pleasing to this fan.

Maybe because I'm accustomed to the US college game and not international women's play, or maybe because teams like Cuba, Brazil et al. resorted to non-stop bruising and roughhousing to compete since they were unable (mostly) to match the much younger Americans skills-wise. Either way, I found the product on the court in Toronto was less about entertaining basketball and more about survive and advance. Literally.
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Hey Rule - You described my feelings exactly. Totally agree that the 18 & 19 yr old players were free flowing and athletic. As you stated the National Teams were bangers and hackers. Reminded me of Philly BB games where the older guys played the young studs and HAD to bump, grab, pull, (I know I did), move the screen, body-up (with those BIG bodies), hang back, cherry pick, etc. This was survive and advance and I was worried and concerned that Stewie and MO were not going to survive the beating. Nothing like a 34 yr old Cuban or Brazilian savvy vet waiting to" lay one on" the top players of America. Not entertaining at all.
 
hjoerring said:
At best, it could have gone either way. Based on the statistics give by DavidNaples a solid case could be made for Collier. (And if the coaches had given her the green light or the #1 scoring option she would have scored 30?) She had a diff role. It seems that none of the other American bigs were up to the task of playing the Russians and therefore without Wilson's performance we would have come up short. With the exception of Dangerfield, I was less than impressed with our guards. I think the Russians had a great team, but they may have been outcoached by Dawn and Co.
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Steven's isnt a big ? :confused:
 
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Huskies Rule said:
Overall, I found the U19 games much more enjoyable to watch than the Pan American games, despite the fact that my two absolute favorite players, Stewie and Moriah, were in Toronto. The U19s, whether dictated by rules or refs, played a much more flowing, uptempo style with an emphasis on skills and athleticism, whereas the Pan Am games was more often than not a punishing exercise in physicality, grabbing, hacking, and mauling and far less aesthetically pleasing to this fan.

Maybe because I'm accustomed to the US college game and not international women's play, or maybe because teams like Cuba, Brazil et al. resorted to non-stop bruising and roughhousing to compete since they were unable (mostly) to match the much younger Americans skills-wise. Either way, I found the product on the court in Toronto was less about entertaining basketball and more about survive and advance. Literally.
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19 yr olds have a lot of energy, it was almost like they were trying out... The PanAm games had vets who are use to posting up and banging on picks and position. Almost like watching HS vs College vs Pros... different styles
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
What I'm about to say may be totally off base and unfair, because USA U - coaches are given an impossible task: taking a bunch of talent and turning it into a team in 3-4 weeks. But, what I noticed in the last 2 games was how much the team looked like Staley's college team, both strengths and limitations. Very good D and a whole lot of stilted offense. If I was on the committee picking the next USA prime time players coach after Geno it would not be Staley.
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I think part of the issue with the U19 team was the no-shows. If Durr and Lou had been available I think they would have gotten a lot of minutes and would have shot well from outside - hard to fault a coach with playing to their strength when the outside shooting was missing.

Triad - absolutely though your Asura had a great game and a really good tournament and she was instrumental in getting USA going in the final.

Loved Collier's game but I was surprised in the final on defense - there were a couple of one on one situations where the Russian player just blew right past her with her barely moving. She had lots of steals and generally played well, but those were very surprising to me.

Thought the reffing in the U19 was far superior to the PanAms and the games were a lot less physical - still international ball, but more like the Olympics and Worlds and not the slugfest that was Canada.
 
Kurtzl said:
A'ja was the main factor US beat Russia. Well deserving of MVP
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Sometimes the BODY of work means more than just one game, albeit the championship game. Maybe without Pheese, the USA doesn't get to play for the championship and A'ja isn't playing against Russia! Throughout the tournament, Pheese was exceptional! It seems that A'ja had an exceptional championship game but does that suggest she should have been the MVP???? It's not like Pheese was chopped liver in the championship game, coming up with a double double!
 
Buzzyboy said:
Sometimes the BODY of work means more than just one game, albeit the championship game. Maybe without Pheese, the USA doesn't get to play for the championship and A'ja isn't playing against Russia! Throughout the tournament, Pheese was exceptional! It seems that A'ja had an exceptional championship game but does that suggest she should have been the MVP???? It's not like Pheese was chopped liver in the championship game, coming up with a double double!
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To be honest... the USA didnt have a close game until the championship. I guess the semis versus Spain was semi-close...
 
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triaddukefan said:
Steven's isnt a big ? :confused:
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Ok! Elsewhere I wrote that she was more than good. Liked her play and compared her seemingly effortless/smooth style to that of Collier- so efficient at what they do. And, if Duke were to get Salvadore(sp)-- look out, a final 4 contender. So triaddukefan, there isn't much to coe after here, unless of course you want to parcel the gold from the dross.
 
hjoerring said:
Ok! Elsewhere I wrote that she was more than good. Liked her play and compared her seemingly effortless/smooth style to that of Collier- so efficient at what they do. And, if Duke were to get Salvadore(sp)-- look out, a final 4 contender. So triaddukefan, there isn't much to coe after here, unless of course you want to parcel the gold from the dross.
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Question for you.... which front line would you rather have...... Collier, Stevens, Wilson.... or Stewart, Reimer, Coates ???? That Pan-Am/U-19 scrimmage would have been interesting to see.
 
triaddukefan said:
Question for you.... which front line would you rather have. Collier, Stevens, Wilson.... or Stewart, Reimer, Coates ???? That Pan-Am/U-19 scrimmage would have been interesting to see.
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Good question - Wilson is better than Coates, Stevens is quicker and more versatile than Reimer. Of course, Stewie is the best. That's two of three for the U-19. Teamwork--that's close, but Reimer and Coates stood around too much and seemed plodding at times. Speed with size wins--I'll take the U-19.
 
PhillyCoach said:
Good question - Wilson is better than Coates, Stevens is quicker and more versatile than Reimer. Of course, Stewie is the best. That's two of three for the U-19. Teamwork--that's close, but Reimer and Coates stood around too much and seemed plodding at times. Speed with size wins--I'll take the U-19.
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Agree with your analysis, just drawing a different conclusion. It is close so I picking the team with the best player which is clearly Stewie in both of our opinions.
 
CocoHusky said:
Agree with your analysis, just drawing a different conclusion. It is close so I picking the team with the best player which is clearly Stewie in both of our opinions.
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Coco - we do think alike. My first impulse was to pick the PanAm team because Stewie is the best player, but I veered off and said--Give Stewie her points, the U-19 team has 2 other player who can dominate their opposition. Nevertheless, it is all conjecture and that's the fun of the BY. Thanks partner!
 
triaddukefan said:
Question for you.... which front line would you rather have. Collier, Stevens, Wilson.... or Stewart, Reimer, Coates ???? That Pan-Am/U-19 scrimmage would have been interesting to see.
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Not exactly fair. My choice- if I'm allowed to pick- would be Stewart, Collier, Wilson and Stevens. Under press I'd go for Collier, Stevens and Wilson. The rational? Better div of labour among Collier et al., not sure that Stewart and co and blend into team play.
 
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