Odd but impressive stat for Napheesa

[Suebird10fan]

I was looking at Napheesa's season stats after yesterday's game and noticed something. She has more assists, blocks and steals than turnovers. And it's not really close. 21 TOs but 32 Assists, 28 Blocks and 33 Steals.

I checked out the other top 10 (per Massey) teams and the only other player to do this was Alexis Prince. Prince does it by basically never turning the ball over. Perhaps equally impressive but different. She has 38A, 9T, 10B, 11S. That's in around 420 minutes. For a guard to turn the ball over so little is kind of crazy.

But back to Napheesa ... These #s illustrate why the name Silent Assassin is so apt. She just destroys an opponent in so many ways. Another statistical thing about Napheesa is that her 651 shooting percentage should not be downplayed. Yes, she gets some layups in transition. But, a lot of the close to mid-range shots that she makes are not so easy. She is very creative in using the backboard and just has a knack for knowing how to get a shot off without a lot of space and get the ball in the hoop. Not as sexy as a lot of three-point bombs but just as valuable, maybe more.

Napheesa is my choice for UConn MVP and #2 on my NPOY list (after Kelsey Plum). Two plus more years of NC and KLS. Wow!!

 

[Oldbones]

Yet her name might not be submitted by UCONN for AA

That does not compute................................

 

[eebmg]

I was looking at Napheesa's season stats after yesterday's game and noticed something. She has more assists, blocks and steals than turnovers. And it's not really close. 21 TOs but 32 Assists, 28 Blocks and 33 Steals.

I checked out the other top 10 (per Massey) teams and the only other player to do this was Alexis Prince. Prince does it by basically never turning the ball over. Perhaps equally impressive but different. She has 38A, 9T, 10B, 11S. That's in around 420 minutes. For a guard to turn the ball over so little is kind of crazy.

But back to Napheesa ... These #s illustrate why the name Silent Assassin is so apt. She just destroys an opponent in so many ways. Another statistical thing about Napheesa is that her 651 shooting percentage should not be downplayed. Yes, she gets some layups in transition. But, a lot of the close to mid-range shots that she makes are not so easy. She is very creative in using the backboard and just has a knack for knowing how to get a shot off without a lot of space and get the ball in the hoop. Not as sexy as a lot of three-point bombs but just as valuable, maybe more.

Napheesa is my choice for UConn MVP and #2 on my NPOY list (after Kelsey Plum). Two plus more years of NC and KLS. Wow!!

It may be true if you add up the combined contributions of offense and defense that Naphessa is the best overall player on UConn. Offensively, I think it is generally accepted that Lou is the offensive leader while defensively Gabby is the most dominant force.
The very term "silent assassin" indicates that her contributions are often unnoticed by fans but it can be argued that these contributions are not "felt" by opponents either. Making it look easy may not hurt the opponent as much as a flurry of high visibility plays

My point is that there is psychological value in creating spurts of offense (a barrage of 3's) or consecutive kamikaze defensive plays that can totally demoralize a team. Of course the fact that Gabby is getting better offensively every day and Lou is getting better defensively
(her footwork and anticipation has really gotten so much better) , makes it even harder to differentiate.

I am glad I do not have to choose among the three since every game, I seem to change my mind. I imagine once Azure joins the mix, we will have even more headaches deciding.

 

[Oldbones]

It may be true if you add up the combined contributions of offense and defense that Naphessa is the best overall player on UConn. Offensively, I think it is generally accepted that Lou is the offensive leader while defensively Gabby is the most dominant force.
The very term "silent assassin" indicates that her contributions are often unnoticed by fans but it can be argued that these contributions are not "felt" by opponents either. Making it look easy may not hurt the opponent as much as a flurry of high visibility plays

My point is that there is psychological value in creating spurts of offense (a barrage of 3's) or consecutive kamikaze defensive plays that can totally demoralize a team. Of course the fact that Gabby is getting better offensively every day and Lou is getting better defensively
(her footwork and anticipation has really gotten so much better) , makes it even harder to differentiate.

I am glad I do not have to choose among the three since every game, I seem to change my mind. I imagine once Azure joins the mix, we will have even more headaches deciding.

So, you're figuring that the mustangs didn't really notice the six shots that Napheesa stuffed back in their faces?