UCONN SGs 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 SG's. The 2's. Here's a list to start with (wall players listed first, then others I thought should 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 other positions.

Bria Hartley
Shea Ralph
Nykesha Sales
Diana Taurasi
Brianna Banks
Caroline Doty
Amy Duran
Tiffany Hayes
Kia Nurse
Mel Thomas

Kelly Faris (I have her as a 3, but some may think of her as a 2)

Have at it.

 

[CocoHusky]

No Kalana Greene?

1. Diana Taurasi
2. Nykesha Sales
3. Bria Hartley
4. Tiffany Hayes
5. Kia Nurse
6. Shea Ralph
7. Amy Duran
8. Mel Thomas
9. Caroline Doty
10. Brianna Banks

 

[j66kicker]

1. Taurasi (will DT be unanimous?)
2. Sales
3. Ralph
4. Hartley
5. Nurse
6. Hayes
7. K. Greene
8. Duran
9. Doty (What might have been!)
10. Thomas

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

1. Diana Taurasi - The greatest "winner" in WBB history
2. Nykesha Sales - One of the few freshmen that contributed big-time to the team's success
3. Tiffany Hayes - Non-stop action for 4 years
4. Bria Hartley - 2x AA
5. Kia Nurse - Should have been named an AA her senior year
6. Shea Ralph - Was robbed of much of her talent by her knee surgeries
7. Mel Thomas - Was much better than she was thought of
8. Caroline Doty - Another that knee injuries robbed her of much of her talent
9. Kalana Greene - Made an amazing comeback from a severe knee injury
10. Ann Strother - So much talent but didn't like being the #1 option, was thrilled when DT was the show

 

[JSB60]

1. Taurasi
2. Sales
3. Ralph
4. Hayes
5. Hartley
6. Nurse
7. Greene
8. Strother
9. Faris
10. Doty

 

[banshee]

1 Taurasi no-brainer
2 Sales
3 Nurse - not an all-american because she was on teams with 3 others. She was better than Hartley
4 Faris - although she was more of a 3
5 Hartley
6 Ralph
7 Greene - she and Faris are so underrated
8 Hayes
9 Strother
10 Duran

 

[bballnut90]

1. Taurasi
2. Sales
3. Ralph
4. Hartley
5. Nurse
6. Hayes
7. Strother
8. Greene
9. Thomas
10. Doty

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

10. Ann Strother - So much talent but didn't like being the #1 option, was thrilled when DT was the show

@RSHERMVIKES 's list made me think of an interesting question. How many games does a player have to play at a certain position to be included on the list for a certain position? Let me explain...

Ann Strother was a wing, who could be a shooting guard or small forward, depending on the lineup and matchups. In 2003 and 2004, Maria Conlon and Diana Taurasi started in the backcourt, so Strother was the de facto SF. In those same lineups, as an aside, Maria Conlon may have been designated the starting PG, but everyone knew that the primary playmaker (for herself and her teammates) was Diana Taurasi. Another aside...Strother's recruiting class was very interesting, as it had taller (especially at the time) guards/wings in Strother and Nicole Wolff and more undersized traditional post players (Barbara Turner, Wilnett Crockett), but all four players had various skills across positions.

A number of years ago, Coach K said that he does not recruit all five positions, but recruits PG, wings/perimeter players, and post players, with the goal being signing kids of have skillsets that work in all positions or who could play multiple positions on the court. And iff you look at several of Geno Auriemma's recruiting classes and signees, you see a lot of versatility - wing players who can be 2s or 3s, but who can post up smaller players; players with the height of a guard who can play in the post; de facto post players with guard skills, etc.

In any event, I am rambling. Back to my point...inAnn Strother's case, is she looked at on the list of shooting guards or the list of small forwards (or both)?

 

[CocoHusky]

In any event, I am rambling. Back to my point...in Ann Strother's case, is she looked at on the list of shooting guards or the list of small forwards (or both)?

Tough question. Gabby Williams is another interesting example she played center for two year yet she won the Cheryl Miller award for best small forward. My solution would be to rate Ann as a SF only and give her bonus points (higher ranking among SF) for being able to play SG.

 

[bbballfan23]

1. DT
2. Sales
3.Hartley
4.Hayes
5. Ralph
6.Nurse
7.Greene
8. Strother
9. Thomas
10. Doty

 

[bbballfan23]

Tough question. Gabby Williams is another interesting example she played center for two year yet she won the Cheryl Miller award for best small forward. My solution would be to rate Ann as a SF only and give her bonus points (higher ranking among SF) for being able to play SG.

I would say Center for her because that’s what she played for us. Not sure why she won SF of the year but I guess it’s better she was up for that award than the C award, which would have gone to Wilson. Lou was in SG category and I’m assuming she’s in SF category?

 

[meyers7]

No Kalana Greene?

You can list her if you want, but she'll come up in the 3's.

 

[meyers7]

@RSHERMVIKES 's list made me think of an interesting question. How many games does a player have to play at a certain position to be included on the list for a certain position? Let me explain...

Ya'll can put people where ever you want. I just put them where they belong. i.e. what they are.

In any event, I am rambling. Back to my point...inAnn Strother's case, is she looked at on the list of shooting guards or the list of small forwards (or both)?

SF's.

The tougher ones are/will be Turner, GWilliams, Faris.

 

[CocoHusky]

I would say Center for her because that’s what she played for us. Not sure why she won SF of the year but I guess it’s better she was up for that award than the C award, which would have gone to Wilson. Lou was in SG category and I’m assuming she’s in SF category?

Because she is a baller supreme!

 

[UcMiami]

What an interesting list as I consider many of these players to be more three than two (Shea for example.) In Geno's system it really is difficult to pigeon hole players into PG, SG, SF, PF and C!

 

[Wally East]

1 DT
2 Nykesha
3 Shea
4 Bria
5 Kia
6 Tiffany
7 Amy
8 Caroline
9 Mel
10 Wendy Davis

 

[Buzzyboy]

1. Taurasi (will DT be unanimous?)
2. Sales
3. Ralph
4. Hartley
5. Nurse
6. Hayes
7. K. Greene
8. Duran
9. Doty (What might have been!)
10. Thomas

I agree almost totally with your list but I would definitely have had Doty ahead of Duran.

 

[Buzzyboy]

1 Taurasi no-brainer
2 Sales
3 Nurse - not an all-american because she was on teams with 3 others. She was better than Hartley
4 Faris - although she was more of a 3
5 Hartley
6 Ralph
7 Greene - she and Faris are so underrated
8 Hayes
9 Strother
10 Duran

I can't believe how you could have diminished Shea Ralph and put Faris ahead of her, of all people. She was a much more talented version of Faris because she was easily as tough and energized. Her skill set fair exceeded Faris! The same applies to Nurse though she is certainly more talented than Faris.

 

[DEpup]

Just type DT and call it a day.

 

[EricLA]

1. Dee
2. Nykesha
3. Shea
4. Bria
5. Tiff
6. Kia
7. Amy
8. Mel
9. Caroline
10. Brianna

This one was particularly hard for me - I initially thought Kia should be near the top - after all, many bemoaned the fact that she won't be on the wall of honor. But... Dee, Nykesha, Shea and Bria are all on the wall so they must be 1-4. It was tough for me to put Shea ahead of Bria - they really could have been tied. Shea barely averaged more PPG and had more boards, but Bria was the better 3 point shooter and assist distributor.

Same goes for Tiff and Kia - both had very similar stats. Tiff was asked to do more as she played with no PG. Tough call...

 

[meyers7]

Just type DT and call it a day.

Well yea, that's the easy part. The point is 2-10.

 

[hoopingcrane]

DT, Kesha, Shea, Tiff, Bria, Kia, Ann, Faris, Doty, Duran

 

[meyers7]

Bump. We'll give it a couple more days.

 

[mdakota]

I can't believe how you could have diminished Shea Ralph and put Faris ahead of her, of all people. She was a much more talented version of Faris because she was easily as tough and energized. Her skill set fair exceeded Faris! The same applies to Nurse though she is certainly more talented than Faris.

I can't believe how you could call out someone for having their own opinion...

 

[meyers7]

Well up to date so far:

DT
Sales
Ralph
Hartley
Hayes
Nurse
Greene
Doty
Duran
Thomas/Hayes tied.

A couple more days. Get your votes in.