UCONN in WNBA stats on 8/31

[SVCBeercats]

UCONN players looking good!!! Phee, Danger, and the Loquacious One filling it up!

Phee had a heck of game WNBA stats-wise: scoring #1, rebounds #3 (tie), assists #4 (tie), steals #1, fantasy points #1. For the season Phee is #5 for rebounds at 6'1"!!! In steals she is #5. She is #11 in scoring. And for what it is worth #4 in fantasy points. On 9/31 Danger was #2 (tie) scoring, #5 assists, #4 (tie) 3pts made, and #2 free throws made. For the season she is #14 in scoring.
Ya think Reeve is now planning her draft strategy around who is graduating from UCONN. I mean she is 3.5 for 4 in a big way - Moore, Collier, and Dangerfield!!!

 

[Geew1992]

Did she draft Renee Montgomery or just bring her back the second time?

 

[SVCBeercats]

Did she draft Renee Montgomery or just bring her back the second time?

Oops! You are right! I forgot she was sacrificed to return Lindsay Whalen to Minnesota. As a Lynx rookie she averaged 22.5 minutes per game and scored 9 PPG with 2.1 APG. OK! So maybe Reeve is 3.5 out of 4 with UCONN draftees.

 

[EricLA]

Great stuff thanks for posting. Was chatting with @MilfordHusky the other day and we were speculating on what might have happened if Danger had been drafted #6 by Minny (assuming they really wanted her). But that would have shuffled the deck and everything below might have gone differently so it's hard to know.

Still, at #16, she seems not only to be the steal of this draft, but possibly of any draft. If this season is any indication, not only can she play at this level, but she can thrive. Assuming she does progress in the league and becomes an all star type player, what other 2nd rounders have had a similar journey (drafted low, but ended up being stars). I'm sure there are a few.

This draft seems particularly strong. 2nd rounders Shook, Odom, Danger, Cooper, Holmes, Mompremier, Doyle, Brewer, Charles... all of them are getting at least decent minutes, several starting, or contributing a lot off the bench.

 

[eebmg]

Already eying MN Paige.

 

[JoePgh]

... [W]hat other 2nd rounders have had a similar journey (drafted low, but ended up being stars). I'm sure there are a few.

There certainly have been a number of such players. From a UConn perspective, Tiffany Hayes (drafted in the second round, about the same place as Crystal) is an obvious choice. Another UConn grad who might fit the description is Charde Houston, who was drafted in the third round (around 30th) by Minnesota, and actually made the WNBA West's All Star team in one of her early years before she flamed out.

Another major example is Allie Quigley out of DePaul, who was drafted in the second round and bounced around several teams and was even out of the league for a season before she found a big place on her hometown team.

But my favorite example is Becky Hammon, who was not even drafted but became a perennial All Star for about a decade in the WNBA. She was not highly recruited out of high school either.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Great stuff thanks for posting. Was chatting with @MilfordHusky the other day and we were speculating on what might have happened if Danger had been drafted #6 by Minny (assuming they really wanted her). But that would have shuffled the deck and everything below might have gone differently so it's hard to know.

Still, at #16, she seems not only to be the steal of this draft, but possibly of any draft. If this season is any indication, not only can she play at this level, but she can thrive. Assuming she does progress in the league and becomes an all star type player, what other 2nd rounders have had a similar journey (drafted low, but ended up being stars). I'm sure there are a few.

This draft seems particularly strong. 2nd rounders Shook, Odom, Danger, Cooper, Holmes, Mompremier, Doyle, Brewer, Charles... all of them are getting at least decent minutes, several starting, or contributing a lot off the bench.

Thanks for the reminder. If Minnesota had taken Crystal in the 1st round, who would they have gotten in the 2nd round? In particular, could they have gotten Kiki and had the same 2 players, but in reverse order?

The draft is impactful partly because several players are out for various reasons: Covid concerns, actual Covid, injury, social change involvement, or playing (or planning to) with their national teams. Note that Minnesota is missing not just Maya, but also Fagbenle, Cruz, and Zandalasini.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Since Sue is the oldest player in the league, I'm looking at the drafts from 2002 forward through 2019. Here is a list of players who were surprises to make a roster or had decent careers drafted in the 2nd round or below. It's hopefully a solid list, but not necessarily complete. Feel free to add those I omitted.

2002: No one I recall

2003: Teresa Edwards (age 38, a ringer in the 2nd round)

2004: Jia Perkins (3rd round, #35)

2005: Erin Phillips, Jess Moore, and Ashley Battle all had decent careers despite being 2nd rounders

2006: Mistie Bass Williams (2nd round, #21)

2007: Camille Little (2nd round, #17)

2008: Allie Quigley (2nd round, #22), Leilani Mitchell (2nd round, #25), Charde Houston (3rd round, #30)

2009: No one I recall

2010: Kalana Greene (2nd round, #13), Allison Hightower (2nd round, #15), Alysha Clark (2nd round, #17)

2011: Jessica Breland (2nd round, #13), Carolyn Swords (2nd round, #15), Sydney Colson (2nd round, #16), Karima Christmas-Kelly (2nd round, #23), Krystal Thomas (3rd round, #36)

2012: Tiffany Hayes (2nd round, #14), Riquna Williams (2nd round, #17), Lynetta Kizer (3rd round, #29)

2013: Alex Bentley (2nd round, #13), Sugar Rodgers (2nd round, #14), Emma Meeeseman (2nd round, #19)

2014: Astou Ndour (2nd round, #16), Theresa Plaisance (3rd round, #27), Stephanie Talbot (3rd round #33)

2015: Natasha Cloud (2nd round, #15), Reshanda Gray (2nd round #16), Betnijah Laney (2nd round, #17)

2016: Julie Allemand (3rd round, #33), Temi Fagbenle (3rd round, #35)

2017: Lindsay Allen (2nd round, #14), Erica McCall (2nd round, #17)

2018: Stephanie Mavunga (2nd round, #14), Monique Billings (2nd round, #15), Myisha Hines-Allen (2nd round, #19), Mercedes Russell (2nd round, #22)

2019: Sophie Cunningham (2nd round, #13), Jessica Shepard (2nd round, #16), Megan Gustafson (2nd round, #17), Natisha Hiedemann (2nd round, #18), Marina Mabrey (2nd round, #19), Bridget Carleton (2nd round, #21), Kennedy Burke (2nd round, #22), Paris Kea (3rd round, #25)

Of those listed above, who had/have had the best careers? I'd list Perkins, Quigley, Mitchell, Clark, Breland, Swords, Hayes, Bentley, and Meesseman. The others are too young to assess.

Which players made the All-Star team? Charde and Tiffany for sure. Quigley? Meesseman?

 

[JoePgh]

We should probably mention Kaila Charles, whom the Connecticut Sun drafted out of Maryland in 2020, and who has done very well thus far in the season. Although she was the Sun's first pick, they actually used about the 20th pick in the draft to get her, having traded away their other draft picks for this season.