The AA table is getting crowded. Only five seats. . .

[MilfordHusky]

It's an individual award, not team. Chiney does more for her team. Without her, Stanford would not be top 25. A KML less UConn would still be top 5.

Nah, disagree. Without Chiney, the Cardinal would be about 10-15. You have a lot of talent and a great coach. You'd still be a little better than UCLA.

Without Kaleena, we'd be about 5, given Stewie's and Bria's struggles.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Yea, and she makes it looks very easy, but it's not. It takes a lot skill to have good footwork, post moves and shoot with either hand with players climbing all over you.

Sounds like Stef Dolson too.

Chiney gets a lot of offensive putbacks that are much easier shots. Once she gets rebounding position, most of the work is done. I'm not denigrating that, nor am I saying that CO gets all easy shots, but she does not have Nneka's range yet. I have her as the #2 or 3 player in the country.

 

[cardfan]

Sounds like Stef Dolson too.

Chiney gets a lot of offensive putbacks that are much easier shots. Once she gets rebounding position, most of the work is done. I'm not denigrating that, nor am I saying that CO gets all easy shots, but she does not have Nneka's range yet. I have her as the #2 or 3 player in the country.

Chiney is the best rebounder in the country.

 

[wallman]

Too early to pick but I love how Cardfan keeps insulting her team, priceless!

Here's a thought without Griner and the other Baylor seniors would Sims be in this discussion?

 

[Sakibomb25]

Should EDD be penalized for missing allot which lead her team to lose many times?

Ogwumike has had some questionable losses... And a beat down by uconn.

Which I think negates duke... They got pounded by uconn . No star showed up there.

What questionable losses? UConn is No. 2 in the country and Cal is No. 6.

 

[cardfan]

Too early to pick but I love how Cardfan keeps insulting her team, priceless!

Here's a thought without Griner and the other Baylor seniors would Sims be in this discussion?

I'm not insulting my team. Just being realistic. We'd be no where without Chiney.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm not insulting my team. Just being realistic. We'd be no where without Chiney.

You'd be not far from the teams ranked 8-12. You'd be better than Cuse, UDel, UCLA, and Louisville at least. That's not very good given your recent history, but you give too much credit to the teams outside the top 5.

 

[boontonbomber]

KML and EDD are the 2 best shooters in wcbb. EDD is very good at everything, except at the defensive end. she's the best all-around player . i think KML is the next best all-around player. she's a great scorer , an oustanding rebounder, handles the ball very solidly, and has become a much better passer and defender.
hard to imagine either one of them not making all of the teams named. Chiney, for example, is just not in the same league as either one of them when it comes to being able to do a lot of things really well.

 

[pap49cba]

Unfortunately the voters' attitudes likely will be, well, KML is only a soph so her time will come. I also can't help wondering if there is an anti-Uconn sentiment out in the hinterlands when it comes to stuff like this. Kelly has been totally ignored for 4 years.

 

[turtlespeed]

I just listened to Michelle Smith and Mechelle Voepel discuss their post season award winner, including AAs. No KML. Both chose Diggins, Griner, Sims and Chiney. Smith chose Alyssa Thomas which is remarkable. Voepel chose EDD which is at least defensible.

Alyssa Thomas should not be an AA over KML.

You think it is remarkable that Michelle picked Thomas for the first team AA. I find it remarkable that you find it remarkable. Let me give you a few facts why Thomas should be a repeat first team AA again this year.

Alyssa Thomas stats are 17.4 ppg, 44.6 FG%, 10.4 rbpg, 5.2 apg, 2 spg, According to Debbie Antonelli, who did the research, Thomas is the only player going back to the 1999-2000 season in college basketball that has average over 15 ppg, 10 rbpg, and 5 apg in a year.

Thomas is playing on a team that had their two starting guards taken out for the season with acl's in the beginning of the year. Thus, Thomas took over much of the PG responsibilities. They call her a point forward. She is more versatile than any of the players being considered for first team AA. She can play any position on the team including center.

She is the main reason why MD has stayed in the top ten all year. If you take her out of the team, MD would not be in the top 50 teams in the NCAA. And don't forget how she is double teamed in every game.

Regarding Thomas' poorer play in the beginning of the season, she had her tonsils taken out in September and missed two months of practice before the season started. Shortly after this she dislocated her finger on her shooting hand which caused her poor shooting percentage and ball handling problems in the beginning of the year. Through it all she just played on with tapped fingers most of the time and tried the best she could. However, it did affect her game early on.

 

[Icebear]

Thomas isn't even MVP for MD this year.

 

[turtlespeed]

Thomas isn't even MVP for MD this year.

Really? You would be the only one voting for Hawkins. Thomas has almost the same points as Hawkins, Thomas has more rebounds, way more assists and steals. Without Thomas, MD is not top 50, without Hawkins MD is still top 25. Thomas is doubled teamed, Hawkins is not, which allows Hawkins to play better.

 

[cardfan]

KML and EDD are the 2 best shooters in wcbb. EDD is very good at everything, except at the defensive end. she's the best all-around player . i think KML is the next best all-around player. she's a great scorer , an oustanding rebounder, handles the ball very solidly, and has become a much better passer and defender.
hard to imagine either one of them not making all of the teams named. Chiney, for example, is just not in the same league as either one of them when it comes to being able to do a lot of things really well.

obviously you haven't seen her play.

 

[VAUConnFan]

It's an individual award, not team. Chiney does more for her team. Without her, Stanford would not be top 25. A KML less UConn would still be top 5.

Your reasoning is sound, understandable, and universally accepted: But, why punish someone for being on a better team?

 

[cardfan]

Your reasoning is sound, understandable, and universally accepted: But, why punish someone for being on a better team?

I'm not punishing KML at all. I said she is the best shooter in the game and would pick her over Diggins on my team. My pt was stat wise - Chiney has gaudy stats because she doesn't get much help and comparing a wing to post is not exactly fair. I'd take em both.

 

[easttexastrash]

I'm not punishing KML at all. I said she is the best shooter in the game and would pick her over Diggins on my team. My pt was stat wise - Chiney has gaudy stats because she doesn't get much help and comparing a wing to post is not exactly fair. I'd take em both.

You are right. Chiney is probably more valuable to the Cardinal than BG is to Baylor. I am super impressed with Chiney this year. You can tell she put in a lot of hard work over the summer.

 

[boontonbomber]

obviously you haven't seen her play.

you're correct, in that i've only seen her play on tv. obviously she is a great rebounder, and moves and scores well around the basket, and is a good defender. but her shooting she just does not compare to KML or EDD . Chiney has taken 3 threes all season. KML and EDD score from anywhere and everywhere. Chiney's ballhandling is also suspect, with an assist/ turnover ratio of 0.63. KML is1.73 and EDD is 2.29. perhaps a bit strong for me to say that she is not in the same league , but i just don't think that her all-around game is as solid. and i think that should be a big part of selecting an AA.
all of that said, Chiney, KML,EDD,Griner, and Diggins would make for one of the strongest AA teams we've seen in awhile.

 

[Sakibomb25]

you're correct, in that i've only seen her play on tv. obviously she is a great rebounder, and moves and scores well around the basket, and is a good defender. but her shooting she just does not compare to KML or EDD . Chiney has taken 3 threes all season. KML and EDD score from anywhere and everywhere. Chiney's ballhandling is also suspect, with an assist/ turnover ratio of 0.63. KML is1.73 and EDD is 2.29. perhaps a bit strong for me to say that she is not in the same league , but i just don't think that her all-around game is as solid. and i think that should be a big part of selecting an AA.
all of that said, Chiney, KML,EDD,Griner, and Diggins would make for one of the strongest AA teams we've seen in awhile.

Of course Ogwumike is not as pure of a shooter as KML or EDD - they play different positions. Ogwumike is strictly a post player, where as KML or EDD are more wing players who have the ability to play inside. While Ogwumike doesn't shoot the three, I'd like to see KML or EDD consistently score from the inside while being double or triple teamed and mauled all at the same time. I bet you they won't be scoring at a 58% clip. Why? Because they aren't post players.

Ogwumike may not have the "all-around" game that you crave - but her job is not to hand out assists as a post - it's to score, rebound and play defense. Aside from Griner, give me another post player who can consistently put up the same type of numbers while being the sole focus of the defense.

 

[UConnCat]

You think it is remarkable that Michelle picked Thomas for the first team AA. I find it remarkable that you find it remarkable. Let me give you a few facts why Thomas should be a repeat first team AA again this year.

Alyssa Thomas stats are 17.4 ppg, 44.6 FG%, 10.4 rbpg, 5.2 apg, 2 spg, According to Debbie Antonelli, who did the research, Thomas is the only player going back to the 1999-2000 season in college basketball that has average over 15 ppg, 10 rbpg, and 5 apg in a year.

Thomas is playing on a team that had their two starting guards taken out for the season with acl's in the beginning of the year. Thus, Thomas took over much of the PG responsibilities. They call her a point forward. She is more versatile than any of the players being considered for first team AA. She can play any position on the team including center.

She is the main reason why MD has stayed in the top ten all year. If you take her out of the team, MD would not be in the top 50 teams in the NCAA. And don't forget how she is double teamed in every game.

Regarding Thomas' poorer play in the beginning of the season, she had her tonsils taken out in September and missed two months of practice before the season started. Shortly after this she dislocated her finger on her shooting hand which caused her poor shooting percentage and ball handling problems in the beginning of the year. Through it all she just played on with tapped fingers most of the time and tried the best she could. However, it did affect her game early on.

Well, if you continued reading the thread you will see that I fully acknowledged the missing points guard and then came back and said how impressed I was with Thomas' stats. Still, I think All Americans need to play like All Americans in the biggest games. I didn't see that level of play from Thomas against UConn or Duke.

 

[boontonbomber]

Of course Ogwumike is not as pure of a shooter as KML or EDD - they play different positions. Ogwumike is strictly a post player, where as KML or EDD are more wing players who have the ability to play inside. While Ogwumike doesn't shoot the three, I'd like to see KML or EDD consistently score from the inside while being double or triple teamed and mauled all at the same time. I bet you they won't be scoring at a 58% clip. Why? Because they aren't post players.

Ogwumike may not have the "all-around" game that you crave - but her job is not to hand out assists as a post - it's to score, rebound and play defense. Aside from Griner, give me another post player who can consistently put up the same type of numbers while being the sole focus of the defense.

i don't disagree with most that you say , except: if chiney is being double and triple teamed, it certainly is part of her job to hand out assists to those left open. and, for her part EDD is getting double and triple teamed, and scoring from all over the court.

 

[turtlespeed]

Well, if you continued reading the thread you will see that I fully acknowledged the missing points guard and then came back and said how impressed I was with Thomas' stats. Still, I think All Americans need to play like All Americans in the biggest games. I didn't see that level of play from Thomas against UConn or Duke.

You're right, I posted before I saw your subsequent post. I should have noted that also, my fault.

 

[triaddukefan]

Thomas isn't even MVP for MD this year.

I think she is.....Hawkins is a really good player who is having a great year....... but Thomas is the heart and soul of that team... without her they would be a middle of the pack ACC squad.. Thomas would be on my ten player AA squad... Hawkins would make my 15 player AA squad.