Nika added to Lieberman watch list! | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Nika added to Lieberman watch list!

Unfortunately, it's going to come down to Clark or Miles I would think but to even be nominated is still quite an honor.......

I think there are only four actual candidates on this list: Miles, Clark, Alexis Morris and Nika.
 
Yes I've watched Iowa and I still don't think they play good defense as a team which makes them vulnerable to the weird losses they've taken. I personally haven't seen the improvement for Clark on defense. Hands up, in a stance, and taking on a team's best offensive ball handling guard are not phrases I'd use to describe Clark.
As I said, Iowa is not a strong defensive team, especially compared with South Carolina and UConn, but better than in past years. As for your description of what you feel would be a Lieberman Award winner's qualities as a player, here's what the award is actually looking for:

"The floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Nancy Lieberman during her career." And, I'll opine, scoring is very much an aspect of play-making, correct?

There is no mention of defensive skills, and in particular 'taking on a team's best ballhandling guard.' That said, Caitlin Clark is a better defensive player than you credit her, and certainly is the epitome of one who has the expressed skills sought in the Lieberman award (as has, and hopefully will again, Paige Bueckers).

JMO.
 
Don't get me wrong, Clark is going to be the winner and I think it is really great that Nika got on the list. I doubt we'd be thinking about this if Paige was healthy so good for her to seize an opportunity. Largely Nika isn't in contention due to her lack of scoring but Clark can't guard a chair. It is unfortunate that defense doesn't get equal representation.....
Nika leads A team with no bad losses
 
As I said, Iowa is not a strong defensive team, especially compared with South Carolina and UConn, but better than in past years. As for your description of what you feel would be a Lieberman Award winner's qualities as a player, here's what the award is actually looking for:

"The floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Nancy Lieberman during her career." And, I'll opine, scoring is very much an aspect of play-making, correct?

There is no mention of defensive skills, and in particular 'taking on a team's best ballhandling guard.' That said, Caitlin Clark is a better defensive player than you credit her, and certainly is the epitome of one who has the expressed skills sought in the Lieberman award (as has, and hopefully will again, Paige Bueckers).

JMO.
"
"Playing the playmaker position in basketball requires good court vision and excellent passing skills. The playmaker usually has excellent shooting ability, so being a playmaker can require good shooting mechanics as well.

Being able to see the entire court and make smart decisions under pressure is what makes a great Playmaker. A good Play maker needs to have excellent courtvision which allows them to know where their teammates are at all times on the floor; this is essential for making plays on offense or defense."
 
I think there are only four actual candidates on this list: Miles, Clark, Alexis Morris and Nika.
McKenna Hofschild has far superior numbers (5th in assists, 2nd in A/TO) as a pure point guard than anyone on the list except Muhl.
 
Yes I've watched Iowa and I still don't think they play good defense as a team which makes them vulnerable to the weird losses they've taken. I personally haven't seen the improvement for Clark on defense. Hands up, in a stance, and taking on a team's best offensive ball handling guard are not phrases I'd use to describe Clark.
Gabby Marshal is Iowa's defensive guard. There's no reason to try to shoehorn your exceptional offensive point guard into a defensive specialist role.

Clark makes some really good defensive plays, but she takes plays off too. I do think she's improved this year.

Iowa's defense to me appears better than last year, but I think they're applying less effort to it than they were earlier in the year. They're #133 in Massey, which I think is about where they were last year. You're not going to win the whole thing with that kind of D.
 
.-.
Nika Mühl talks about being a top-10 finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award: "It's definitely an honor but at the same time, I'm not satisfied. I have something that I'm working for that's much bigger than that, in my opinion" Gotta love this kid!

 

Forum statistics

Threads
168,243
Messages
4,559,624
Members
10,447
Latest member
Theuconnguy


Top Bottom