Shouldn't have been a surprise

[Wally East]

UConn hasn't won a championship without also having the best player in the country with the exception of 2000 (yes, you could argue 2013, too, since obviously Stewie didn't win any POY awards that year, and you'd have a valid point (even if we started a debate about whether Stewie WAS the best player in the country at the end of her freshman season) but the overall argument still holds).

Obviously, having a POY doesn't automatically equal winning a title, such as 2011, as well as 1996 and 1997, but no POY = no title 9 out of 11 times.

I did really think this was going to be a season that ran counter to that.

Another indicator is having two #1 HS recruits on the team -- only 1995 didn't have this. This team did have that, with KLS and Meg, but Meg had the least best freshman season of any of UConn's #1 recruits by a wide margin.

I'm not going to speculate about what any of this means, just pointing that it's what has happened.

 

[HuskyNan]

UConn hasn't won a championship without also having the best player in the country with the exception of 2000 (yes, you could argue 2013, too, since obviously Stewie didn't win any POY awards that year, and you'd have a valid point (even if we started a debate about whether Stewie WAS the best player in the country at the end of her freshman season) but the overall argument still holds).

South Carolina isn't in the championship game, either.

 

[Wally East]

South Carolina isn't in the championship game, either.

Sorry, I should've been more clear.

No POY = no title applies *only* to UConn.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Ahhh nope.

 

[Wally East]

Some of us here do think we have the 2018 POY, KATIE LOU SAMUELSON.

A'ja was the preordained POY and there was no way she could lose it unless she was seriously injured for a majority of the season and she wasn't.

Yeah, maybe? I'd love for that to happen. But maybe Ionescu? Or McCowan?

 

[Roger G]

Sorry, I should've been more clear.

No POY = no title applies *only* to UConn.

You also did say, "Obviously, having a POY doesn't automatically equal winning a title." So, I got your point.

It is a good point. Almost always in basketball, you need to have a great player to win it all. Hence, Lebron wins a lot of titles, Shaq won a lot of titles, Kobe won a lot of titles, Jordan won a lot of titles. But in this game, UConn did have probably the best four or five players on the court--maybe not on that evening, but taking the season as a whole--which would have led one to believe that UConn would win NPOY or not. As a matter of fact, just before the game, it seemed that both Teira McCowan and Andy Landers momentarily forgot that UConn still had to play ND. They had them already facing Mississippi State in the final.

 

[VidNick]

As Geno used to say: "I've got Di and you don't". Dianna Taurasi is what I call a Transcendent Player. A player whose cobination of talent, competetiveness, personality and leadership made her unique. She had a significant impact on the program immediately. The Dianna Taurasi's of the world are few and far between. With a top level program supporting cast they lead their teams to Championships. After college they will become recognized as among if not the best players in the world. Since 1995 I would classify the following in that category: Jackie Stiles, Chamique Holdsclaw, Taurasi, Candace Parker, Mya Moore, Elena Delle Donne and Brianna Stewart. Maybe I missed someone? Among current college players I think Sabrina Ionescu may be one. Stiles was robbed of professional greatness by injury and Holdsclaw although having a lifetime WNBA average of 20 points per game had inner demons to fight that limited her true greatness. The others have proved how special they are over and over again.

Geno has had the fortune of coaching three of those players and 9 of his 11 championships had one of these players. Pat Summit won five of her championships with these players. It is not a coincidence. Geno is a great coach but he has been fortunate to have three (almost four) of the all-time best players.