Sarah Strong - Her March to Mt Rushmore | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Sarah Strong - Her March to Mt Rushmore

DRBackup said:
People are really giving this a thumb's down ?! Good lord

Paige is 100% deserving as it is, but then keep in mind she lost a large part of one year to injury and an entire second season. And virtually every team she was on was diminished by significant injuries - including last season when multiple players were working their way back to full health during the season
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Thanks LOL. Only Zanzsman gave it a thumbs down. No idea why but OK. And you are right - Paige really only played 29 games in her first season, and 17 the next season, missing the entire following year due to her injuries. She played 115 college games whereas a player like Sarah will likely play 140-150.

For reference, Diana played 144. Maya played 154. Stewie played 152.
 
DRBackup said:
People are really giving this a thumb's down ?! Good lord

Paige is 100% deserving as it is, but then keep in mind she lost a large part of one year to injury and an entire second season. And virtually every team she was on was diminished by significant injuries - including last season when multiple players were working their way back to full health during the season
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And for me, availability is very important for Mt Rushmore. Along with stats, titles, awards. That's kind of what happened with Bird. She missed most of that Fr year....so only got really 3 years.

It doesn't matter how good you are (or what you "would" have done) if you can't play ( don't actually do it.)
 
At present, ZERO women's basketball players (of any team) have career per-game averages that meet or exceed those of Sarah Strong in Points, Rebounds, Assists, Blocks and Steals.

There are 7 players (including Maya) that meet the criteria if Sarah's averages are rounded down to the nearest whole number.

1769718912362.png

courtesy of https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/.
 
While Mt. Rushmore only includes 4 presidents...I think it is more than fair to have 5 players when doing a 'Mt Rushmore' designation for basketball.

As I see it...at present...

there are 4 UConn players that are 'locks':
  • Paige Bueckers
  • Maya Moore
  • Breana Stewart
  • Diana Taurasi
these are the 5 'strongest' candidates for the 5th spot:
  • Svetlana Abrasimova
  • Sue Bird
  • Tina Charles
  • Napheesa Collier
  • Gabby Williams
Sarah Strong is on pace to be the 5th 'lock'.

Locks statistically defined as:

2,000+ points
500+ rebounds
400+ assists
100+ blocks
100+ steals
 
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EricSD said:
Thanks LOL. Only Zanzsman gave it a thumbs down. No idea why but OK. And you are right - Paige really only played 29 games in her first season, and 17 the next season, missing the entire following year due to her injuries. She played 115 college games whereas a player like Sarah will likely play 140-150.

For reference, Diana played 144. Maya played 154. Stewie played 152.
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Thumbs down for 5 players MT Rushmore
 
maple said:
We might have enough room if we make it the UConn Congress. 😂
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Hardly, since the " Congress" never accomplishes anything. Oh, and when considering accomplishments keep in mind the level of competition each player faced. The Big East was a whole lot tougher conference at one time. Not sure how the numbers of those players who played in the AAC and recent Big East hold up against those who played in the old Big East. Just another thing to consider if you're gonna talk stats.
 
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Sarah is still writing her story and though she makes such a good case, her story is still being written. She shouldn't even be in these convos yet, primacy vs recency has a strong hold on this topic (excuse my pun)

Maya
Diana
Stewart

are there and you can shuffle whomever else you'd like based on whatever criteria you have there but those 3 are the titans that are etched in stone imo.
 
Regarding availability, Maya played in all 154 at UConn, despite a very nasty collision with Tiffany in 1 game.

Maya also played in every high school game.

She played 8 years in the WNBA, plus time in the Chinese and Spanish leagues. She missed 1 game with Minnesota for precaution.

In short, she missed 1 game in 16 years. She was the WBB version of Gehrig and Ripken.
 
.-.
Here are two different questions:

"Who are the 4 with the greatest UConn careers?"

vs

"Who are the 4 greatest players over college and pro careers, that played primarily at UConn?"

I'm always confused, as to which question is being answered to determine Mt Rushmore status.


If the former, it's clearly Taurasi/Moore/Stewart/Bueckers, assuming you in fairness account for Paige's injuries - her pre-injury unprecedented freshman year, and heroic post-injury climb back to greatness. And not sure who to bump for Strong!

If the latter question you throw in Collier and Charles as candidates, and can consider Sue Bird (for solid play, longevity and likeability as the face of the WNBA pre-Clark).

Don't forget that no one had a hotter pro start than Moore. As far as UConn stars anyway, no one else can claim their team going from a sub-0.500 team to a WNBA championship their first year. And then a dynasty. Overall she won a championship 50% of the time in her WNBA career. And she was never, ever a part of a losing team (sub-0.500), college or pro. I don't think any of the other Rushmore candidates can claim that.
 
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meyers7 said:
And for me, availability is very important for Mt Rushmore. Along with stats, titles, awards. That's kind of what happened with Bird. She missed most of that Fr year....so only got really 3 years.

It doesn't matter how good you are (or what you "would" have done) if you can't play ( don't actually do it.)
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I agree with this 100%. If you're giving a hypothetical boost to players who missed significant injury time, in addition to Sue Bird (118 games, missing almost her whole freshman season), you'd have to boost, among others Svetlana Abrosimova (127 games, in contention for POY as a senior when she was injured). Where would she rank if she had helped lead them to back-to-back championships? Might as well boost Morgan Tuck, Shea Ralph, Azzi Fudd, and others.
 
.-.
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