Team Comparison - 2013 - 2014 vs. 2020 - 2021 Teams (Player vs. Player)

[GRIFFBIFF20]

Let's take a look at comparing these 2 teams, player vs. player. Please share your thoughts on who is "currently" (and after 4 years, be) - NOTE: This is not a Position vs. Position (ie; Forward vs. Guard) comparison. But rather "Talent vs. Talent"

2013-2014 2020-2021 WHO IS BETTER NOW & IN 4 YEARS AND WH

# 3 - Morgan Tuck vs. # 20 - Evina Westbrook
# 4 - Moriah Jefferson vs. # 10 - Nika Muhl
# 11 - Briana Pulido vs. # 2 - Autumn Chassion
# 12 - Saniya Chong vs. # 44 - Aubrey Griffin
# 13 - Brianna Banks vs. # 11 - Mir McLean
# 14 - Bria Hartley vs, # 24 - Anna Makurat
# 20 - Tierney Lawlor vs. # 4 - Saylor Poffenbarger
# 23 - Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis vs, # 13 - Christyn Williams
# 30 - Brianna Stewart vs, # 5 - Paige Bueckers
# 31 - Stephanie Dolson vs, # 20 - Olivia Nelson Ododa
# 41 - Kiah Stokes vs. # 3 - Alliyah Edwards

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Wow!! Good questions:

Morgan Tuck. But both incurred serious, career-impairing injuries in college. Morgan Tuck always had the vastly better physical skills.
Moriah Jefferson- hands down.
Polly or Autumn?- pass
Aubrey Griffin possesses vastly better physical ability. She's more of a Gabby Williams with tremendous ability to play inside
Brianna and Mir- both talented, but not able to break into the top seven players on the team.
Bria Hartley- hands down.
I certainly hope that Saylor is a vastly better player during her career.
Crystyn has been far more inconsistent as a college player. KML inexplicably disappointed in a big way as a pro.
Breanna and Paige- two completely different positions. Both superstars. Period.
Stephanie Dolson is far and away a better player. Not sure ONO will even be drafted, at least not before the third round.
Kiah v Edwards- Edwards the vastly better college player due to all-around talent. Kiah finally came into her own in the WNBA. Shot-blocking specialist. Edwards has the clear path to WCBB AA, and a banner hanging from the rafters!

 

[UcMiami]

Strange choice of comparison years - shouldn't you be comparing this year to the last phenom freshman class year of 2012-13. Moriah as a soph blows freshman Nika out the water but freshman to freshman it is probably Nika who is better, Morgan as a freshman would beat Edwards as a freshman, Stewart vs Paige is a wash, junior Bria vs Williams goes to Bria, Junior Stef v junior Ono goes easily to Stef, Soph KML blows away Soph Griffin, Senior Faris v S/J Evina goes to Faris, CD2 vs. Anna both injury plagued, Kiah and Heather vs the rest of the bench - a wash.

 

[Kaizen]

6 - 5, 2013/2014 team wins.

 

[diggerfoot]

I second UcMiami. The logic of comparing a one player freshman class with sophomore stars vs a six-player freshman class with freshman stars escapes me.

There is one noteworthy point to this comparison. Much is made of the top players UConn often gets over a quantity of high caliber players. Dolson was a high caliber player coming out of high school but not in the same league as ONO, at least not according to recruiting experts. Yet Dolson ended up being the second most important player on two championships (Jefferson was not second most important until her junior year after Dolson graduated). I believe one of the players in Dolson’s class who was ranked number one for awhile was Samarie Walker.

Yes, getting players like Bueckers and Stewart are important, but sometimes the “top” players do not add as much value as the “right” players.

 

[BfromCT]

The thread comparing the 2013-14 team with the current one is an incorrect one, as CajunHusky has already pointed out. The proper one is 2012-13 when Breanna Stewart was a freshman with 2020-21. The former team featured seniors Caroline Doty and Kelly Faris, juniors Stephanie Dolson and Bria Hartley, sophs Kaleena Mosquera-Lewis and Kiah Stokes, and freshman Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck, and Breanna Stewart and the comparison should be between those of each class.

The national champion 2012-13 team lost four games (3 to Notre Dame and 1 to Baylor) and had senior leadership. Doty was the shell of the player that burst on the Connecticut scene in the fall of 2008 due to numerous knee injuries and Faris was a tough defender. The present team has no seniors, although Evina Westbrook is in her fourth year of college. Juniors Stephanie Dolson and Bria Hartley were both extremely solid players who have had good pro careers. Compare them with Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams. Likewise compare KML and Stokes with Makurat and Griffin. The three 2012-13 and the three 2020-21 freshmen who are part of the rotation.

If one compares class to class, it is clear to me that Breanna Stewart played on a more talented team than the present one. If we exclude the two stars from the equation, the only players on the current team who have had better seasons thus far than their equivalents are Aaliyah Edwards and possibly Aubrey Griffin.

 

[Boreifs]

Strange choice of comparison years - shouldn't you be comparing this year to the last phenom freshman class year of 2012-13. Moriah as a soph blows freshman Nika out the water but freshman to freshman it is probably Nika who is better, Morgan as a freshman would beat Edwards as a freshman, Stewart vs Paige is a wash, junior Bria vs Williams goes to Bria, Junior Stef v junior Ono goes easily to Stef, Soph KML blows away Soph Griffin, Senior Faris v S/J Evina goes to Faris, CD2 vs. Anna both injury plagued, Kiah and Heather vs the rest of the bench - a wash.

It’s possible the years were chosen because of the same number of players.

 

[npignatjr]

Strange choice of comparison years - shouldn't you be comparing this year to the last phenom freshman class year of 2012-13. Moriah as a soph blows freshman Nika out the water but freshman to freshman it is probably Nika who is better, Morgan as a freshman would beat Edwards as a freshman, Stewart vs Paige is a wash, junior Bria vs Williams goes to Bria, Junior Stef v junior Ono goes easily to Stef, Soph KML blows away Soph Griffin, Senior Faris v S/J Evina goes to Faris, CD2 vs. Anna both injury plagued, Kiah and Heather vs the rest of the bench - a wash.

Issues, Hartly Williams and Tuck. Edwards. For most of the year Hartly wasn't starting Williams has more pressure, better numbers. Tuck was playing less than 10 minutes a game, Edwards twice that and now first off the bench.

 

[Littlemin]

Agree, comparing player by player may be interesting to some which is obviously ok, but completely meaningless as to drawing team conclusions. These types of comparisons can never be apples to apples.

 

[mbr33ct]

...and what if we want to swap some players from column A with other players in column B?