UConn's all-time Top 10 players

[Reypl21]

Not at all trying to change the coarse of this thread (others have taken care of that ) just a comment on Tina.
While I think it is nice to see a topic taking the elephant in the room off our minds, top 10 lists are very subject to regardless of statistics be simply opinion.
The word era comes to mind as the women's game has evolved a lot over the last three decades. Surrounding cast has a lot to do with performance along with what the coaching staff desires from each player.

With that I have a vision of Olivia in the same light as Tina. While the writer here states she did not break out until late in her junior year, due to a very talented surrounding cast, I remember something different.
I remember a head coach pushing and prodding Tina at every chance much as he has with "O". Tina's stats were very good but took a turn for even better in that junior year. Looking for the same from "O".

Why don't you just type out ONO? It's the same amount of characters as typing out "O" which is very weird to look at.

 

[Mike_In_Storrs]

I'm one of those Renee Montgomery fans and it saddens me not to see her any list that has "UConn" and ""Best players" in the same sentence.

Re: Renee Montgomery

I have to say that she was probably my favorite Uconn Husky ever. She had fire in her eyes and was an absolute general on that court.

If I had to list my top 5 favorite players they would be in this order.

1. Renee
2. Stewart
3. Diana
4. Gabby
5. Bria Hartley

Didn't say they were the best but just my favorites... All winners too.

 

[Wally East]

9 World Series rings & 3 MVP rings.
How many World Series did Ted win? Right - zero. 1 Pennant. Stuffing stats is great, but I'm sorry - it don't mean a thing if you ain't got that ring!!

"Stuffing stats."



Or, you know, contributing to the offense.

Anyway, rings don't determine a player's worth. That's not how that works.

Maria Conlon has 3 rings. Ann Strother has 2. Barbara Turner has 2. Jessica Moore has 2. Ashley Battle has 2. Jamelle Elliot has 1. Carla Berube has 1. Paige Sauer has 1. Kara Wolters has 1.

Kerry Bascom has 0 rings. Kerry Bascom is better than all of those players.

But.

If you're ready to say that DiMaggio is better than Williams because of rings, you have to be ready to say the same thing about D and Stewie. No ifs, ands, or buts about D's teammates in 2003 and 2004.

 

[JordyG]

"Stuffing stats."



Or, you know, contributing to the offense.

Anyway, rings don't determine a player's worth. That's not how that works.

Maria Conlon has 3 rings. Ann Strother has 2. Barbara Turner has 2. Jessica Moore has 2. Ashley Battle has 2. Jamelle Elliot has 1. Carla Berube has 1. Paige Sauer has 1. Kara Wolters has 1.

Kerry Bascom has 0 rings. Kerry Bascom is better than all of those players.

But.

If you're ready to say that DiMaggio is better than Williams because of rings, you have to be ready to say the same thing about D and Stewie. No ifs, ands, or buts about D's teammates in 2003 and 2004.

On that at least we can agree. Robert Horry won 7 chips and Karl Malone played in only 3 championship series, never winning anything. I don't think anyone would say Horry was in any way, shape or form better than Malone.

 

[uconnfan68]

Well. I would've liked to see Joe play in a stadium with a short left field wall. Much of his power was drained by what was death valley of a leftfield at Yankee Stadium. I also would've liked to see all teams shift more to right against Williams in his lifetime. Yeah, Williams was better. But a lot better is more the debate.

Imagine if he didn’t serve in 2 wars. In his prime.

 

[hoophuskee]

IMHO, as stated in the article, the reason that DT is the G.O.A.T. is Stewie had a much better supporting team than DT did in 2003, & 2004! UCONN won 2 titles on DT carrying her teammates on her back and willing them to the 2 titles!
To this day Geno calls DT, "the greatest WINNER in WBB history!

The ND teams were much better than the teams DT had beaten in 03 and -04. So it's all relative.

 

[Wally East]

I never said anybody was better than anybody else. But if Ted was so great how did he play 19 years in the majors and never win one championship??

Pitching, for starters. Then there's the other seven players in the regular lineup.

 

[JonathanXIV]

I never said anybody was better than anybody else. But if Ted was so great how did he play 19 years in the majors and never win one championship??

Really? Have you ever watched baseball? Willie Mays played in two World Series. Mike Trout has never won a playoff game. This idea of "rings" being the only or primary determinant of greatness (in team sports) has gotten into the territory of absurdity.

 

[Rixxx]

My all time favorite Uconn players in no order:

1. Stewie
2. DT
3. Ann Strother
4. Wendy Davis
5. Briana Pulido

I think all have rings except Wendy Davis.

 

[hart2hart]

Stewie’s my pick. I’m also originally from
Syracuse. Parents had season tickets to Cuse men. Pearl was my favorite. Sad he’s gone. Maya and Dee ties for second, MoJeff for 4th and Anna fifth. Anna will probably move up next year!!

 

[JonathanXIV]

It all counts. You can't decide what counts after the fact, once the championships are handed out. Lawler and Pulido have more championships than Bascom, who never won a championship. But Kerry did take a team that had never been there before and carried it to the Final Four. That counts.

Use baseball as a reference point for a moment. It's a long, long season. 162 games. Even the very best teams lose 60 games. And when it's late August , bottom of the 8th, and your team is 8 games out and down 4 runs, the player who shows up and grinds out a 12-pitch at bat before drawing a walk in a losing effort counts. Showing up for the daily grind, regardless of how good your teammates are, counts. In some ways, it's the thing that counts the most.

 

[BfromCT]

With this discussion of the top ten players in UConn women’s basketball history, here are my two cents worth.

Some context. First, we are all likely victims of the disease of presentism, believing that players we have seen in the last few years are better than those of a generation ago that many never saw play. Few who saw Rizzotti play would leave her out of their top ten. Second, one does not measure greatness by the number of championship rings as some have already pointed out. Who was a better quarterback, Dan Marino or Eli Manning? Manning led his team to Super Bowl championships, Marino never did. Who was a better shortstop, Ernie Banks or Phil Rizzuto? Rizzuoto was on Yankee teams that won numerous World Series, Banks never appeared in one. Third, although statistics like assist to turnover ratios can be important, we cannot totally register the value of a player by raw numbers. Leadership skills and swagger count for a great deal.

With this being said, I would not rank Moriah Jefferson among the top ten players in UConn history. She had two terrific seasons, but lest we forget, the bulk of point guard responsibilities were taken by Bria Hartley when she was a freshman and sophomore.

My top ten is as follows:

Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart rank as the top three.

The remaining seven arranged in alphabetical order are Kerry Bascom, Sue Bird, Tina Charles, Rebecca Lobo, Jen Rizzotti, Nykesha Sales, and Kara Wolters. My honorable mentions are Svetlana Abrosimova, Nepheesa Collier, Moriah Jefferson, and Renee Montgomery.

 

[Wally East]

How clutch was D when she went 1 for 15 (0 for 11 from 3) in the National Semi-Final against ND?

Yes, she was a freshman surrounded by older players and she had to step into a new role.

But, same with Stewie as a freshman and she went 10 for 16 (4 for 5 from 3) and had 29 points in the same game (against the same school, coincidentally).

Who seems more clutch?

 

[FridaFriend]

I think we need to include Moriah Jefferson in the top 10. Only she, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurus, among UCONN players, won the Nancy Lieberman Award more than once. Sue won the first three. Also Moriah was terrific on defense, a skill that does not get enough attention.

 

[Wally East]

Well between the two of them they have 7 more rings than Ted Williams

Did someone mention that team that moved from Brooklyn to LA?

 

[UcMiami]

With this being said, I would not rank Moriah Jefferson among the top ten players in UConn history. She had two terrific seasons, but lest we forget, the bulk of point guard responsibilities were taken by Bria Hartley when she was a freshman and sophomore.

Just a little correction here - Moriah Jefferson as a sophomore had 195 assist (good for seventh best single season at Uconn) and 66 TO for a 2.95 A/TO ratio, shot .575/.418 from three with 106 steals (good for 5th best) in 29.7 min/game scoring 10.0 ppg.

Hartley in her senior year had 173 assist and 83 TO for a 2.08 A/TO ratio and shot .470/.366 with 67 steals in 31.9 min and scored 16.2 ppg.

By her second year Moriah was already playing PG and Hartley had shifted to shooting guard - they were both starters. Moriah was a finalist for the Lieberman Award as a sophomore before winning it her final two years.

Bottom line she had three fantastic years at Uconn after an ordinary freshman year playing behind Faris Hartley Doty and Banks.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Well between the two of them they have 7 more rings than Ted Williams

As if that is a comparison that is in any way relevant or illuminating.

 

[Woof 101]

Why don't you just type out ONO? It's the same amount of characters as typing out "O" which is very weird to look at.

"O" NO...... I apologize for my post offending "U" and possibly others with my improper use of quotations.
That and forcing someone to repost it. In these times of peril, distress and uncertainty where human interaction is needed, I don't want to weird anybody out.
From now on Olivia it will be!

 

[FridaFriend]

I just watched the only Kerry Bascom game I could find: the Final Four game in 1991 against Virginia. Bascom had a mediocre game because of early foul trouble, but Uconn played well and kept it close. The Virginia team included Dawn Staley (POY), Tammi Reiss, Tonya Cardoza, and the 6'5" Burges twins, Heidi and Heather. The game had some memorable moments despite the loss.

Meghan Pattyson "takes it on the chin." in the first half. An elbow to the face puts her of the floor. She's OK after she gets a mouthguard.

A quote from Geno about his team's passing: "We'll throw it to whoever is open, whether it's our team or not."

Best of all: With 20" left in the game, Tonya Cardoza makes two free throws to give Virginia a 4 point lead. Then, as Uconn takes the ball down the court, Tonya goes flying out of bounds and Geno catches her. He hugs her as she laughs and then he tries to guide her to a seat next to him on the bench.

 

[Kaizen]

My all time favorite Uconn players in no order are:

1. Stewie
2. DT
3. Maya
4. Swin
5. Shea
6. Rizzotti
7. Ann Strother
8. Katie Lou
9. Naphessa
10. Chong

 

[tomcat]

I don't think I would disagree with Carl's list. When you get down to #s 9 and 10, you could swap out players for two others, but what kind of argument is it is say Kara or Collier? Two greats? I'd just be inclined to broaden the list to maybe 20 and pick the top 2-0. But them I know, we'd be fighting for the 16-20 spots. Such is life.

 

[hoophuskee]

With this being said, I would not rank Moriah Jefferson among the top ten players in UConn history. She had two terrific seasons, but lest we forget, the bulk of point guard responsibilities were taken by Bria Hartley when she was a freshman and sophomore.

I don't agree with this-- which is why I say MoJeff gets a bad wrap. Hartley was averaging 16.2 ppg primarily because she was the sg. MoJeff led the team in assists primarily because she was the PG.

Further, MoJeff was the best perimeter defender. The one game UCONN was threatened- vs Baylor-- it was MoJeff primarily guarding Sims.

MoJeff arguably the greatest "guard" defender in UCONN History.

The greatest guard defender in UCONN history, that was also an amazing shooter (shot over 40% from 3 for her career) and a terrific assist to turnover ratio. In her soph through senior years -- all 3-- and elite defender, elite shooter and elite passer. The defense at the guard position is "best ever" at UCONN.

 

[Fraz]

1-- Stewart
2-- DT
3-- Maya
4-- MoJeff (She gets such a bad wrap. Her Jr and SR years she was supremely amazing.)
5-- Bird
6-- Lobo
7-- Tina
8-- Sales
9-- Bascom
10--- Rizzotti

Here's the B list
1- Swin
2- Kara Walters
3- Barbara Turner
4- KML
5- Svetlana
6-Jamelle
7-Tiffany Hayes
8-Gabby
9-Stef Dolson
10- Renee Mont.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Williams was a LOT better. It's not even close.

Ted Williams was a much better hitter, obviously, but a very pedestrian defensive player while Joe Dimaggio shined in that category .....

9 World Series rings & 3 MVP rings.

View attachment 52486

How many World Series did Ted win? Right - zero. 1 Pennant. Stuffing stats is great, but I'm sorry - it don't mean a thing if you ain't got that ring!!

9 World Series rings & 3 MVP rings.

View attachment 52486

How many World Series did Ted win? Right - zero. 1 Pennant. Stuffing stats is great, but I'm sorry - it don't mean a thing if you ain't got that ring!!

Mickey Mantle was a better hitter than Joe Dimaggio ever thought about being despite being hampered by his serious knee issues and though Dimaggio was an exceptional defensive player, Mantle had the speed to run down balls Joe Dimaggio would never have gotten to, including that backhanded running catch off the bat of Gil Hodges that preserved Don Larsen's perfect game. Dimaggio's arrogance and ego helped contribute to Mantle's knee issues when, as a rookie, Mantle backed off a ball he was tracking because Dimaggio insisted he didn't want anyone "violating his space in centerfield" and got his cleats stuck in a storm drain, seriously tearing up his knee. As you can tell, although a staunch Yankee fan, I've never had a liking for Dimaggio though I respected his abilities.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Only twice in the history of women’s basketball have all five starters been named as at least an HM all in the same year. Those two teams are the 2002 and 2014 UConn teams. The 2014 team had five starters who were ALL at least a two time All-American. That’s the stat I find the most mind blowing. It never happened before and I don’t see it happening ever again.

Give me Maya Moore any and every day and twice on Sunday .... Maya never was anything but terrific and Stewie was a no show for a big part of her freshman year... The one advantage Stewie had was her length both in height and wingspan but she wasn't as saavy and skilled as Maya was .... Stewie had more blocks but she was the center on the team and rarely does anyone on a team block as many shots as the center, even on ordinary teams .... How many more steals did Maya have and she was more an integral part of the offense, handling the ball appreciably more than Stewie ever did .... Maya was the Magic Johnson type of player who did a whole bunch of everything and one of the classiest ladies, if not THE Classiest, to ever done a Huskie uniform.

 

[tchalla1]

"Stuffing stats."



Or, you know, contributing to the offense.

Anyway, rings don't determine a player's worth. That's not how that works.

Maria Conlon has 3 rings. Ann Strother has 2. Barbara Turner has 2. Jessica Moore has 2. Ashley Battle has 2. Jamelle Elliot has 1. Carla Berube has 1. Paige Sauer has 1. Kara Wolters has 1.

Kerry Bascom has 0 rings. Kerry Bascom is better than all of those players.

But.

If you're ready to say that DiMaggio is better than Williams because of rings, you have to be ready to say the same thing about D and Stewie. No ifs, ands, or buts about D's teammates in 2003 and 2004.

Since this discussion on UConn's all-time top ten has morphed to also include an interesting back and forth on Williams vs. DiMaggio, Q for you baseball aficionados: Which is the greater record, Williams' 406 season batting average in '41 or DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak? And which record do you feel is more unbreakable? Thanks.

 

[Golden Husky]

I think you should expand this discussion to UConn's all-time best roster. Let's say 12 or 13 players. Then compare that roster against the all-time rosters of other historically prominent women's basketball teams such as Tennessee, Stanford, et al.

 

[Wally East]

It seemed as though Maya was always thinking and working as hard as she could.

 

[BIGMAC]

The following is a list of players "not" on my all time favorite UCONN players list













the end

 

[Wally East]

Well, Williams' .406 season isn't a record, it's just the last time someone hit over .400.

The consecutive games hitting streak is difficult to break, obviously, but not actually an impressive record. It's a statistical oddity. It's one of those things that only means something because Joe DiMaggio did it. As a feat, it pales compared to hitting over .400 for the season.