Pre-Season AP Top 25

[jdote33]

Doesn't change the fact that this year, she had a stacked roster. 3 elites (#1 and #2 from 2023, along with Osborne who was drafted) in the lineup. And she blew it entirely vs LSU.

Yeah I hear you, but in context LSU was the defending champions. I don't really think ucla was more talented than LSU. They were about even, and it was a highly competitive game. That regional was viewed at as insane on selection Sunday for good reason. Someone had to lose.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Iowa is a Top 25 team, IMO.

Kentucky is...not.

 

[packwrap]

Well, I‘m not so sure about whether they should be ranked right now, but I do believe they will be ranked at some point this season. (Assuming of course, that the new coach, the longtime key assistant to Lisa Bluder doesn’t let the side down) If Lucy Olson can develop a good chemistry with Hannah Stuelke and the rest of the team, they should certainly be OK on the offensive side. I’m not sure who all is in their rookie class but one player in particular imo, (Ava Heiden) is going to be a star. Perhaps not right away, but I do think she will be a force in the post for them. Stuelke and Olson will be a force to be reckoned with, so if the rest of the team can help on the offensive side, they will be fine. The defensive side is where my concern would be. If they can just be decent defensively, they will be fine.

My guess for Iowa is they will just run the Clark offense with Olsen. Olsen is not CC, but they will be good.

Stuelke is like a poor man's Napheesa Collier, she is an excellent forward at all levels and defense.

They will surprise and be competitive in new Big10.

Tough year to make Elite 8, but they will be ranked come tourney time.

 

[Bone Dog]

My guess for Iowa is they will just run the Clark offense with Olsen. Olsen is not CC, but they will be good.

She’s not the perimeter shooter Clark was. But Olsen is comparable as a creator in the midrange and at the rim. We’ll have to see if she can pass comparably well.

 

[nwhoopfan]

We’ll have to see if she can pass comparably well.

She can't. That's not a knock on Olsen, but Clark is an elite passer. We've seen 3 years of Olsen in college and she's just not anywhere close in that regard.

 

[Stagnant]

Olsen is not the passer Clark is. But tbf. Who was she supposed to pass to last season?

Maybe she can surprise us with her passing now that she has some actual weapons on her team?

 

[visitingcock]

She can't. That's not a knock on Olsen, but Clark is an elite passer. We've seen 3 years of Olsen in college and she's just not anywhere close in that regard.

But, can she pass more efficiently when accounting for turnovers?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Olsen is not the passer Clark is. But tbf. Who was she supposed to pass to last season?

Maybe she can surprise us with her passing now that she has some actual weapons on her team?

Her first two seasons she had Siegrist to pass to, a pretty good option.

 

[nwhoopfan]

But, can she pass more efficiently when accounting for turnovers?

Olsen has a better ATO ratio than Clark, but when you look at Clark's 1144 career assists compared to 386 thru 3 seasons for Olsen, it's just apples and oranges.

 

[WBBTakeover]

My guess for Iowa is they will just run the Clark offense with Olsen. Olsen is not CC, but they will be good.

Stuelke is like a poor man's Napheesa Collier, she is an excellent forward at all levels and defense.

They will surprise and be competitive in new Big10.

Tough year to make Elite 8, but they will be ranked come tourney time.

Ooooo no...I have to disagree, sorry. She's not that talented. She's basically a rim runner and a lay-up maker. Up to this point in her career, she has no game outside of the paint.

Also, her defense is...not Phee-like.

That said, I still think that Iowa will be better than advertised because of Olsen and Affolter.

 

[HuskyNan]

She can't. That's not a knock on Olsen, but Clark is an elite passer. We've seen 3 years of Olsen in college and she's just not anywhere close in that regard.

After Siegrist graduated, Lucy Olsen was expected to both play the point and be leading scorer. In her junior year (2023-24), Olsen averaged 23.3 ppg and the next high scorer was Christina Dalce at 8.3 ppg. Olsen's FG% was 43.8%; her teammates combined were 39.3%. If you remove Dalce's 44.1% average, the others shot 38.1%. Villanova was not a good team despite having a terrific player in Olsen and a pretty good one in Dalce (who transferred to Maryland, btw). I think with more talented teammates, Lucy Olsen will thrive. She's one of my favorite non-UConn Big East players and hope she does was well as I think she can.

 

[nwhoopfan]

After Siegrist graduated, Lucy Olsen was expected to both play the point and be leading scorer. In her junior year (2023-24), Olsen averaged 23.3 ppg and the next high scorer was Christina Dalce at 8.3 ppg. Olsen's FG% was 43.8%; her teammates combined were 39.3%. If you remove Dalce's 44.1% average, the others shot 38.1%. Villanova was not a good team despite having a terrific player in Olsen and a pretty good one in Dalce (who transferred to Maryland, btw). I think with more talented teammates, Lucy Olsen will thrive. She's one of my favorite non-UConn Big East players and hope she does was well as I think she can.

Again, I didn't intend any criticism of Olsen. She was a nice complimentary player while Siegrist was there, then took a huge step forward last season. I'm also interested to see how she does with Iowa.

 

[HuskyNan]

Again, I didn't intend any criticism of Olsen. She was a nice complimentary player while Siegrist was there, then took a huge step forward last season. I'm also interested to see how she does with Iowa.

Understood. I was just posting my opinion, no biggie.

Incidentally, in Maddy Siegrist's senior year, Lucy was only a freshman.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Understood. I was just posting my opinion, no biggie.

Incidentally, in Maddy Siegrist's senior year, Lucy was only a freshman.

I thought they were there for 2 years together--21-22 and 22-23 seasons.

 

[yhun89]

My guess for Iowa is they will just run the Clark offense with Olsen. Olsen is not CC, but they will be good.

Stuelke is like a poor man's Napheesa Collier, she is an excellent forward at all levels and defense.

Did we watch the same player?

Stuelke can’t create shots, which is a huge liability. She was reliant on CC to feed her a pass and open up space for her. She has no midrange as of now. No 3 ball. She’s not really an elite defender.

She was great when someone could open up opportunities and give a good pass. Rarely did I see her try to shoot by herself. She makes layups. That was the extent of her offensive game last season.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Did we watch the same player?

Stuelke can’t create shots, which is a huge liability. She was reliant on CC to feed her a pass and open up space for her. She has no midrange as of now. No 3 ball. She’s not really an elite defender.

She was great when someone could open up opportunities and give a good pass. Rarely did I see her try to shoot by herself. She makes layups. That was the extent of her offensive game last season.

Did you see her 47 point game last year? I just don't think it's possible for a player to score that much if they have a limited offensive game.

 

[yhun89]

Did you see her 47 point game last year? I just don't think it's possible for a player to score that much if they have a limited offensive game.

I did. And she is basically just getting open shots because her defender is focused on CC. I don’t think she took a jump shot once. Her success in that game was mainly thanks to CC and her being a defender drawing magnet.

Not saying Hannah is bad. But comparing her to Phee (the OG poster did this) is ignorance to the highest degree.

 

[packwrap]

I did. And she is basically just getting open shots because her defender is focused on CC. I don’t think she took a jump shot once. Her success in that game was mainly thanks to CC and her being a defender drawing magnet.

Not saying Hannah is bad. But comparing her to Phee (the OG poster did this) is ignorance to the highest degree.

Ignorance? Only kidding everyone has an opinion. I was really comparing Stuelke with Czinano. Czinano was a classic old school down low center, while Stuelke was a more athletic 3-4 type player, in the post by necessity.

I'm not saying she will be an all-american like Phee, just that she is athletic and versatile.

Iowa will be fun to watch, like Tennesee, Kentucky, Va Tech, Miami etc with new teams and styles. Who will surprise and make the top 20?

 

[yhun89]

Ignorance? Only kidding everyone has an opinion. I was really comparing Stuelke with Czinano. Czinano was a classic old school down low center, while Stuelke was a more athletic 3-4 type player, in the post by necessity.

I'm not saying she will be an all-american like Phee, just that she is athletic and versatile.

Athletic, sure, but if you count “versatile” as only being able to make layups (when someone creates the space for her) and lacking an outside shot/shot creation ability, then I don’t know what to say.

 

[Bone Dog]

Athletic, sure, but if you count “versatile” as only being able to make layups (when someone creates the space for her) and lacking an outside shot/shot creation ability, then I don’t know what to say.

I like Stuelke too. Phee isn’t the right comparison. Czinano makes more sense. Like Monika, Hannah has decent low post moves and, in true Iowa style she knows how to receive a pass and put the ball up quickly without dribbling. Plus, she’s strong and knows how to establish herself on the block to receive a pass. She’s also a strong rebounder and defender. These skills alone aren’t enough to succeed in the W, as they haven’t been for Czinano either. She’ll need to develop a midrange and perimeter game for that. But they can be formidable in D1. Hannah also runs the court quite well and can get out in transition, which wasn’t really a part of Czinano’s game.

To return to the related issue, I think Lucy Olsen will find Hannah to be a much more effective passing target than Dalce was. I expect her assist numbers to go up. The no-dribble post partner is a great formula for assists, and it will work for Lucy just as it did for Caitlyn. Also, Iowa’s style of play, with a quick post player and a bunch of spot-up shooters very much played to Caitlyn’s strengths as a passer and also boosted her assist numbers. It would have been different if her teammates were looking to create off the dribble. But this isn’t the style of play Lisa Bluder trained them for. Lucy will benefit from this style as well, and since unlike Caitlyn she hasn’t been prone to seek the “hero pass,” this is likely to help her a/to numbers as well.

 

[oldude]

I like Stuelke too. Phee isn’t the right comparison. Czinano makes more sense. Like Monika, Hannah has decent low post moves and, in true Iowa style she knows how to receive a pass and put the ball up quickly without dribbling. Plus, she’s strong and knows how to establish herself on the block to receive a pass. She’s also a strong rebounder and defender. These skills alone aren’t enough to succeed in the W, as they haven’t been for Czinano either. She’ll need to develop a midrange and perimeter game for that. But they can be formidable in D1. Hannah also runs the court quite well and can get out in transition, which wasn’t really a part of Czinano’s game.

To return to the related issue, I think Lucy Olsen will find Hannah to be a much more effective passing target than Dalce was. I expect her assist numbers to go up. The no-dribble post partner is a great formula for assists, and it will work for Lucy just as it did for Caitlyn. Also, Iowa’s style of play, with a quick post player and a bunch of spot-up shooters very much played to Caitlyn’s strengths as a passer and also boosted her assist numbers. It would have been different if her teammates were looking to create off the dribble. But this isn’t the style of play Lisa Bluder trained them for. Lucy will benefit from this style as well, and since unlike Caitlyn she hasn’t been prone to seek the “hero pass,” this is likely to help her a/to numbers as well.

One other skill that Olsen has which is conducive to dropping dimes to Bigs is her ability to break down defenders off the dribble and penetrate. She’s not CC, but Olsen is pretty good at it. Any guard who can frequently drive by their defender, forcing a defensive rotation will have lots of opportunities for assists.

 

[Bone Dog]

She’s not CC, but Olsen is pretty good at it.

I don't know about that. CC uses the threat of the 3 pointer to get past defenders. Lucy isn't quite the same 3pt threat, so she has to rely more on speed and shiftiness. But she is as good as anyone at getting to the rim and finishing. As for assists, it wouldn't surprise me if her total this season approached 200.

 

[oldude]

I don't know about that. CC uses the threat of the 3 pointer to get past defenders. Lucy isn't quite the same 3pt threat, so she has to rely more on speed and shiftiness. But she is as good as anyone at getting to the rim and finishing. As for assists, it wouldn't surprise me if her total this season approached 200.

Agree that Olsen is not as good from the arc. But she has a really nice pull-up jumper from midrange. One quick dribble to gain separation, as well as a quick release makes her difficult to defend 1on 1, and provides her the option to pull-up or drive to the basket.

 

[BigTenGuy]

I think voters nailed the top 10, though South Carolina deserves to be unanimous #1.

Who is the one voter that voted Southern Cal #1? Mark Story? I can’t see his ballot on the AP site (can see 27 out of 30).

 

[ISUnorth]

Ooooo no...I have to disagree, sorry. She's not that talented. She's basically a rim runner and a lay-up maker. Up to this point in her career, she has no game outside of the paint.

Also, her defense is...not Phee-like.

That said, I still think that Iowa will be better than advertised because of Olsen and Affolter.

The Hawk player I am most interested in seeing is freshman center Ava Heiden. They have had two really good centers in the last ten years and neither started out as ranked recruits like Heiden. Hawk talk is she will be starting from day one.