UCONN PF Rankings

[meyers7]

Sooo, here's something to do in the Off season. We'll go through and rank the players by position. This is their UCONN career. (under consideration, those that have graduated or have already made the wall) I was going to do a poll, but it doesn't really work for ranking. (it would work for "best" - but I want to go a little deeper - you wouldn't get too many arguments for best at each position, but who's 2nd, 3rd, etc. now there might be some conversations). There might be some arguments about who is what, but that'll give us some more discussion anyway.

Just list them 1-10. I'll compile the results (assign points 10-1). We'll move on to the PF's. The 4's. A lot of great players here. This is a tough one. Here's a list to start with (wall players listed first Alphabetically, then others I thought could be considered), if you feel someone else should be in there, add them to your list. I'll give this a few days and then move on to the posts.

Kerry Bascom
Swin Cash
Napheesa Collier
Rebecca Lobo
Breanna Stewart
Morgan Tuck
Gabby Williams
Jamelle Elliott
Asjha Jones
Azura Stevens
Barb Turner
Tamika Williams

Again, some people may not agree with positions/players and that's fine. Put them where you want. I'm just putting a list of players to think about. Add in anyone you think belongs.

Let's get some votes in. Lot's of people checking out the thread, not that many actually voting. This is being recorded and will be used for/against you in future arguments. Let your voice be heard.

 

[MainefanSC]

Very conflicted with some of my choices. Rebecca is and will always be my favorite. Hate to say Kerry played in a different time and doesn't get her due, at times. Tina "woke up" when she was shamed by Fowles and I loved her determination going forward. Beyond these 3 it's difficult. Oh yeah, Stewie is just Stewie:

Rebecca
Kerry
Stewie
Tina
Jamelle
Gabby
Swin

 

[Zanzman]

Stewart.
Lobo

Bascom
Cash
Gabby
Jones
Collier
Elliott
Tuck
Williams
Turner

 

[JSB60]

Stewie
Lobo
Cash
Jones
Collier
Tuck
Gabby
Tamika
Elliott
Ozturk

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

1. Breanna Stewart - One of the 3 greatest UCONN players, DT, Maya Moore, & Stewie
2. Rebecca Lobo - A very small step behind the Big 3
3. Kerry Bascom - The 1st elite player for Geno & CD
4. Swin Cash - Could take over a game both offensively and defensively
5. Gabby Williams - The best pure athlete ever at UCONN. Can do things other players only dream of.
6. Jamelle Elliott - A 5'11" PF with a desire of a killer, the heart of 1995 team with Rebecca & Jen Rizzotti
7. Morgan Tuck - When healthy was multi talented
8. Napheesa Collier - Makes the hard look simple
9. Asjha Jones - Was better than people gave her credit for
10. Tamika Williams - Had her skill set and did it as well as anyone. Still holds the best shooting percentage at UCONN, about 72+%
11. Barbara Turner - Another 5'11" player with a huge skill set. Played much bigger than 5'11".
12. Azura Stevens - Since she really only played 1 season at UCONN I really couldn't place her over 4 year players. But very talented, and should have stayed 1 more year.

 

[j66kicker]

1. Breanna Stewart
2. Rebecca Lobo
3. Swin Cash
4. Kerry Bascom
5. Jamelle Elliott
6. Tamika Williams
7. Asjha Jones
8. Gabby Williams
9. Morgan Tuck
10. Azura Stevens
11. Napheesa Collier
12. Barb Turner

 

[Phillyconn]

1. Breanna Stewart
2.. Rebecca Lobo
3. Tamika Williams
4. Swin Cash
5. Morgan Tuck
6. Asjha Jones
7. Kerry Bascom
8. Jamelle Elliot
9. Gabby Williams- bottom line, never developed a reliable jump shot. Could’ve been much higher.
10. Napheesa Collier

 

[Wally East]

I don't totally agree with Rebecca as a 4. Oh well

Stewie
Rebecca
Swin
Kerry
Gabby
Morgan
Napheesa
Ashja
Jamelle
Tamika
Azura
Barb

Somehow, it surprises me that this is the deepest position. It's not what I would've guessed off the top of my head. Sure, it's helped by putting Rebecca here but even without her it's still stacked.

 

[huskyblooz]

Lobo was a 5 til her senior year. When Kara earned her minutes.

Bascom was a Stretch-5

Cash-Jones-Williams were all Forwards. That’s why Geno ran a lot of 1-4 high stuff with that team.

Stevie was more of a 3.

Jamelle was a pure PF. I go with her

 

[meyers7]

Stevie was more of a 3.

Jamelle was a pure PF. I go with her

I'd say Elliott was an older school 4. Stewart is a modern prototypical 4. They are both about as pure a 4 as you can find. Just different eras.

 

[diggerfoot]

A reflection on this exercise as a whole. It started with PG and the caveat that this is based on college career only. Thus there can be serious debate as to whether Bird or Jefferson is #1 (if you include pros it's no contest). Yet when we get to SF and PF we are talking about prototypical as opposed to college career. Moore spent much more of her college career as a 4 than a 3, and much more time at the 4 then Stewart, who spent much of the post Dolson years as a 5. Were they prototypical? No, but Moore indeed accomplished what a prototypical 4 is supposed to do, get rebounds. Stewart accomplished what a prototypical 5 is supposed to do, be the defensive anchor in the lane.

Part of what's going on may be avoiding a Moore v Stewart match up. Yet if that's the case, based solely on college career, the avoidance should be more along the lines of Moore = 4 and Stewart = 5, than Moore = 3, Stewart = 4. In that case you have an unfortunate match up between Stewart and Charles, but that's still an easier one than Moore v Stewart.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

In my opinion Stewart and Lobo are both 4s. Clearly Stewart is #1, Lobo is probably #2.

I agree with one statement by an earlier poster, Jones was much, much better than she got credit for. Honestly I would put her at #3.

 

[hoopingcrane]

Stewie, Rebecca, kerry, swin, ashja, tamika, Jamelle, Williams, turner, collier

 

[EricLA]

In my opinion Stewart and Lobo are both 4s. Clearly Stewart is #1, Lobo is probably #2.

I agree with one statement by an earlier poster, Jones was much, much better than she got credit for. Honestly I would put her at #3.

It isn't so much "how much better than they got credit for", he's asking us to rank the 4's during their UCONN careers. Jones was on several US National teams and had a terrific WNBA career. But at UCONN, she didn't really blossom until her senior year and both she and Cash scored over 1,500 (but under 1,600) points in their UCONN careers. Point in fact, Barb Turner scored more than both of them at 1,629 for her career. She was much better at UCONN than she gets credit for.

Her problem, like Annie's, was that she was on teams with no real superstars, or even a plethora of AA's, and UCONN "struggled" during their last few years in Storrs. It didin't help that the class right after Ann and Barb consisted of a trio of 2nd choice players who all transferred out (Sherwood, Robinson, Wright). That was about the last recruiting cycle that Geno waited until after their junior years to recruit high school kids... so... you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!

1. Stewie - one of the GOAT's - not even close as to who was #1 at UCONN in her position
2. Lobo - first blue chipper Geno got and had huge impact at UCONN (#9 on all time scoring list)
   
3. Bascomb - #6 on the all time scoring and doesn't get as much credit because she was not surrounded by other superstars
4. Gabby Williams - people forget she scored 1,582 career points, just behind Cash, and was DNPOY as well as a 2x AA
   
5. Cash - it is really close between the 5-8 spots. Really you could move any of them up or down within that group.
   
6. Turner
7. Jones
8. Tamika Williams
9. Napheesa Collier - after her senior season will probably be at #4
   
10. Morgan Tuck - injuries unfortunately limited this incredibly steady and consistent player
    
11. Azura Stevens - only 1 year at UCONN - would have greatly benefited from a 2nd season

I had to really think about this one a lot. But I really do believe that Gabby belongs near the top. And Collier will most likely become #4 or even #3 after her senior season.

 

[meyers7]

A reflection on this exercise as a whole. It started with PG and the caveat that this is based on college career only. Thus there can be serious debate as to whether Bird or Jefferson is #1 (if you include pros it's no contest). Yet when we get to SF and PF we are talking about prototypical as opposed to college career. Moore spent much more of her college career as a 4 than a 3, and much more time at the 4 then Stewart, who spent much of the post Dolson years as a 5. Were they prototypical? No, but Moore indeed accomplished what a prototypical 4 is supposed to do, get rebounds. Stewart accomplished what a prototypical 5 is supposed to do, be the defensive anchor in the lane.

Part of what's going on may be avoiding a Moore v Stewart match up. Yet if that's the case, based solely on college career, the avoidance should be more along the lines of Moore = 4 and Stewart = 5, than Moore = 3, Stewart = 4. In that case you have an unfortunate match up between Stewart and Charles, but that's still an easier one than Moore v Stewart.

Nah, it's just if you pick a starting 5 for UCONN, it's
1- Bird/Jefferson (your choice)
2 - DT
3 - Moore
4 - Stewart
5 - Charles

So they are where they belong. Others might be able to move around here and there, but those are pretty well set. Course it's still up to the posters willing to make a list to put whoever they want, wherever they want. I'll count what people vote.

I just went with 4 years in college, because it's easier to compare 4 years with 4 years vs 4 years plus 4/6/8/10 years of pro vs 1/2 or in a couple of cases 0 years of pro careers.

 

[meyers7]

Need some more voters. Coco? Fairfield? ConnFaninMI? UCONNCat? Sonny?, bbnut? Bantamlaker?

Give it another day or two.

Right now looks like this.

1. Stewart
2. Lobo
3. Bascom
4. Cash
5. G Williams
6. Elliott
7. Jones
8. Collier
9. Tuck
   
10. T Williams

Elliott/Jones tied. Tuck/T Williams tied.

 

[CocoHusky]

1. Stewie
2. Rebecca
3. Swin
4. Morgan
5. Napheesa
6. Azura
7. Kerry
8. Barb
9. Ashja
10. Jamelle

 

[UConnCat]

1. Maya
2. Stewart
3. Gabby

All the others were really good too.

 

[meyers7]

And we done. A lighter voting turnout at this position. Maybe after the first couple, it was too difficult.

Anyway, the final counts:

1. Breanna Stewart - 88
2. Rebecca Lobo - 82
3. Kerry Bascom - 64
4. Swin Cash - 61
5. Gabby Williams - 44
6. Asjha Jones - 30
7. Jamelle Elliott - 29
8. Napheesa Collier - 27
9. Morgan Tuck - 24
10. Tamika Williams - 17

Up next (and last) the 5's.

 

[UConnCat]

A reflection on this exercise as a whole. It started with PG and the caveat that this is based on college career only. Thus there can be serious debate as to whether Bird or Jefferson is #1 (if you include pros it's no contest). Yet when we get to SF and PF we are talking about prototypical as opposed to college career. Moore spent much more of her college career as a 4 than a 3, and much more time at the 4 then Stewart, who spent much of the post Dolson years as a 5. Were they prototypical? No, but Moore indeed accomplished what a prototypical 4 is supposed to do, get rebounds. Stewart accomplished what a prototypical 5 is supposed to do, be the defensive anchor in the lane.

Part of what's going on may be avoiding a Moore v Stewart match up. Yet if that's the case, based solely on college career, the avoidance should be more along the lines of Moore = 4 and Stewart = 5, than Moore = 3, Stewart = 4. In that case you have an unfortunate match up between Stewart and Charles, but that's still an easier one than Moore v Stewart.

You and I are in agreement on MM. But for a brief stretch during her freshman season (after Kalana and Mel were injured), Maya played the 4 at UConn. It's not an insignificant point when you consider that the 4/PF position has been the most impactful position in Geno's offense (given opportunities to create for themselves and others and moved around to different spots on the floor). I picked Maya as #1 but it was close. Final point, when thinking about why a certain recruit won't be suiting up for UConn, it's important to keep in mind who has played the 4 at UConn during the past decade and the tremendous skill set and athleticism they brought to the position.

 

[CocoHusky]

You and I are in agreement on MM. But for a brief stretch during her freshman season (after Kalana and Mel were injured), Maya played the 4 at UConn. It's not an insignificant point when you consider that the 4/PF position has been the most impactful position in Geno's offense (given opportunities to create for themselves and others and moved around to different spots on the floor). I picked Maya as #1 but it was close. Final point, when thinking about why a certain recruit won't be suiting up for UConn, it's important to keep in mind who has played the 4 at UConn during the past decade and the tremendous skill set and athleticism they brought to the position.

... Also sheds additional light on the "announced" UCONN #1 recruiting priority for the class of 2019:
"Instead, UConn focused its frontcourt recruiting efforts on Aliyah Boston, a 6-foot-4 forward from Worcester Academy and also a junior."

 

[UConnCat]

... Also sheds additional light on the "announced" UCONN #1 recruiting priority for the class of 2019:
"Instead, UConn focused its frontcourt recruiting efforts on Aliyah Boston, a 6-foot-4 forward from Worcester Academy and also a junior."

Hmmm... I see Boston as playing more like Tina in UConn's offense. Who's the next Maya/Stewie/Gabby to play the featured 4 postion? Good question. Brink, though it may be tough to beat Stanford for her. DeBerry (2021) will be a star.