Preseason All-American List

[ScottCT]

I don't know why people are this high on Haley Jones. She has a consistency problem and can disappear more than an All American should.

 

[eebmg]

Small but nice piece on Sports Center (around 3 minutes in) about Paige being named to the Unanimous First Team AA Preseason List. Got a few action clips in, a few 'well deserved' and a few, 'she is fun to watch' (Elle Duncan).

 

[MD#12Fan]

UConn is too stacked to get more AA notice. Remember UNC and Dean Smith, the only person that could hold MJ under 20 was Dean Smith". I'd love to see Geno copycat Dean this year and play a lot of people. Leave the hot hands on the floor and give everyone opportunities. No one's old enough here to remember Dean Smith's "Blue Team". He would insert a group of 5 and they would stay on the floor as long as they could maintain. Huge morale booster for the team, subs, starters, and

 

[MD#12Fan]

Cut me off, sorry.
Great chance to build leadership on the young squad with a "Blue Team" too. Gotta have a leader. "Build it and they will come..."

 

[gophers1995]

Kierstan Bell deserves to be an all american if she replicates last years stats. If she was on any P5 team, she would have been one last year.

 

[eebmg]

UConn is too stacked to get more AA notice. Remember UNC and Dean Smith, the only person that could hold MJ under 20 was Dean Smith". I'd love to see Geno copycat Dean this year and play a lot of people. Leave the hot hands on the floor and give everyone opportunities. No one's old enough here to remember Dean Smith's "Blue Team". He would insert a group of 5 and they would stay on the floor as long as they could maintain. Huge morale booster for the team, subs, starters, and

Thanks but no thanks to copying anything from Dean Smith the popularizer of the 4 corner offense. Geno will play whoever is the best (that is what fuels real morale knowing that you earned your minutes) and can maintain a style of excellence that not only wins but makes the final team product attractive to fans.

 

[Orangutan]

I don't know why people are this high on Haley Jones. She has a consistency problem and can disappear more than an All American should.

Probably because she was the best player on the national champions during the most recent Final Four.

If I had to guess.

 

[bballnut90]

Jones on first team is a major stretch....she was brilliant in the Final Four but wasn't on anyone's radar for All American honors last year. She has the talent but can play passively and hasn't emerged as a go to player.

Howard is a stud but hasn't been able to elevate her team's level of play. Considering she's a 2x first teamer and 2x SEC POY, I can't argue with her being selected for a preseason spot but I'm guessing Hillmon was right on her trail and probably would've selected Hillmon over her.

 

[bballnut90]

Williams has a shot. Westbrook wasn't selected as one of the top 15 players in the Big East last year, so to expect her to become one of the best 10 players in the country is a major stretch. ONO, Fudd or Edwards are more likely choices but I don't see any team getting more than 2 players on WBCA this year considering how much talent there is in the country right now. I mean just look at all of the standouts coming back

Paige Bueckers-reigning POY
Caitlin Clark-returning AP All American
Aliyah Boston-returning AP All American
Naz Hillmon-returning AP All American
Rhyne Howard-returning AP All American
Elissa Cunane-returning AP All American
Ashley Joens-returning USBWA All American
Nalyssa Smith-returning AP All American
Haley Jones-returning Final Four MOP
Ashley Owusu-returning AP All American

That's at least 10 players who earned an All American honor coming back, not to mention other standouts like Diamond Miller, Diamond Robinson, Christyn Williams, Rae Burrell, Shakira Austin, etc.

 

[jchusky]

I think the 7 ppl that didn't vote Caitlin Clark should probably never be trusted for cbb analysis. Also I expect Brink to take a huge step this season and be in the top 10 running.

 

[triaddukefan]

Did they list all the other vote getters or just the top 5?

UConn is too stacked to get more AA notice. Remember UNC and Dean Smith, the only person that could hold MJ under 20 was Dean Smith". I'd love to see Geno copycat Dean this year and play a lot of people. Leave the hot hands on the floor and give everyone opportunities. No one's old enough here to remember Dean Smith's "Blue Team". He would insert a group of 5 and they would stay on the floor as long as they could maintain. Huge morale booster for the team, subs, starters, and

Obviously you are unaware of the demographics of this board.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Did they list all the other vote getters or just the top 5?




Obviously you are unaware of the demographics of this board.

Was it something I said?

 

[triaddukefan]

Was it something I said?

Nothing bad, just that 70% of the board is old enough to remember Smith's blue team.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Nothing bad, just that 70% of the board is old enough to remember Smith's blue team.

Comment seemed to have a high degree of snark in it. Not possible to be a basketball fan and not respect something about Smith. Heck, on the basketball evolutionary tree (oops, we don't believe in that either), he's a branch or two from the man himself- Naismith. At least respect his innovativeness. (Tom Landry- NFL)
Geno's gunna have 5 high school all-americans gathering splinters this year if he doesn't break from character. In my illustrious DIII "career", I was one of those guys elevated to playing time on a "Blue Team". Made all the difference. Never forget those experiences.

 

[BBallF]

Here’s my way out on the limb proposal. UConn will have 2 players on the season-ending AP AA 1st team….

If we win the NC, not necessarily running the table to do it, I can see CW and Paige. Clark and Boston, barring injuries, are locks in my mind. Smith more so than Howard but a great year from Squeaks, which I truly expect after last year, can easily do it. I think definitely WCBCA top ten for her at the least.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Probably because she was the best player on the national champions during the most recent Final Four.

If I had to guess.

Going out on a limb...

 

[Centerstream]

UConn is too stacked to get more AA notice. Remember UNC and Dean Smith, the only person that could hold MJ under 20 was Dean Smith". I'd love to see Geno copycat Dean this year and play a lot of people. Leave the hot hands on the floor and give everyone opportunities. No one's old enough here to remember Dean Smith's "Blue Team". He would insert a group of 5 and they would stay on the floor as long as they could maintain. Huge morale booster for the team, subs, starters, and
great chance to build leadership on the young squad with a "Blue Team" too. Gotta have a leader. "Build it and they will come..."

I remember the UNC Blue teams that Dean Smith used. In fact in some of the "starting 5" and "which players will get the most minutes" threads that appeared this offseason, I suggested that Geno could possibly do the same thing, and not give up a thing. Needless to say, my posts were not received very well. And I don't think it was because of my age group...

 

[DEpup]

NaLyssa Smith I have questions about. With no Mulkey, I just don't know what Baylor is going to be and therefore how Smith will perform. The team performance has a lot to do with these awards. Same with Rhynne Howard. Kentucky as a team is a big question mark.

 

[ScottCT]

Probably because she was the best player on the national champions during the most recent Final Four.

If I had to guess.

So she put up a few good games in a row. But can she do it for an entire season? She hasn't shown she can do that her entire college career and yet people think she should automatically get first team All American?

 

[oldude]

NaLyssa Smith I have questions about. With no Mulkey, I just don't know what Baylor is going to be and therefore how Smith will perform. The team performance has a lot to do with these awards. Same with Rhynne Howard. Kentucky as a team is a big question mark.

Smith had some outstanding games last season. Unfortunately for Baylor, one of them was not the Elite 8 game vs UConn. During the 19-0 UConn run, the Wade Trophy winner was practically invisible, largely taken out of the game by Aubrey.

 

[oldude]

So she put up a few good games in a row. But can she do it for an entire season? She hasn't shown she can do that her entire college career and yet people think she should automatically get first team All American?

Tara experiments more with her lineup than any coach I know. She’s willing to take a loss or 2 during the regular season while she figures out her best lineup for the conference tournament and the Big Dance.

Late in the season, Tara began to utilize Jones as a “point forward” upping her PT and letting her run the offense. Jones was great in that role and the Cardinal walked away with a championship.

This year I don’t expect a lot of experimentation by Tara. This will be Jones’s team to run from day 1.

 

[D J B]

Tara experiments more with her lineup than any coach I know. She’s willing to take a loss or 2 during the regular season while she figures out her best lineup for the conference tournament and the Big Dance.

Late in the season, Tara began to utilize Jones as a “point forward” upping her PT and letting her run the offense. Jones was great in that role and the Cardinal walked away with a championship.

This year I don’t expect a lot of experimentation by Tara. This will be Jones’s team to run from day 1.

Let the games begin.

 

[hoophuskee]

UConn is too stacked to get more AA notice. Remember UNC and Dean Smith, the only person that could hold MJ under 20 was Dean Smith". I'd love to see Geno copycat Dean this year and play a lot of people. Leave the hot hands on the floor and give everyone opportunities. No one's old enough here to remember Dean Smith's "Blue Team". He would insert a group of 5 and they would stay on the floor as long as they could maintain. Huge morale booster for the team, subs, starters, and

I do remember. I didn't think much of the blue team at all. Later in his career his championship teams were with a shorter bench. He was more successful when he went away from it.

His first title beating GTOWN as an example. In 81-82; not one of the 3 bench players played more than 7 minutes in title game. And in 1992-1993 it was 8 players with players 6-8 getting between 11-18 minutes in title game.

 

[MilfordHusky]

HaJo did have a bit of an up-and-down season, but people best remember what they last saw, and she was by far the best scoring option in the NC game and scored the winning bucket, as I recall.