Is there a All-Tournament 2nd Team?
Sorry - but there were some really phenomenal players on the other teams - and ones that put up much larger numbers because they were the best player on their team by a wide margin. While Tuck had a great all around tournament, her shooting % was too low, her rebounding was half of what the leading rebounders were doing in the tournament, etc.
Look at the FIBA stats page:
NDour - 17.9 ppg on 57.1%, and 9.4 RPG
Talbot - 13.2 PPG at 54.8% and 7.8 RPG and 5.3 APG
Weisner - 17 PPG at 54.5% and 6.4 RPG and 2.8 APG
Epoupa - 11.7 PPG at 42.7 and 5.9 RPG and 4.0 APG
Tuck came in at
13.1 at 47.2 and 4.7 and 2.0
This was voted by all the coaches and I actually think they came up with a pretty good team. Weisner was the surprise, but she was also the obvious go to player for Canada and the focus of defenses and she still put up great numbers.
I do agree with that, but then ... most of the USA players padded their stats before the last two games as well - for example Tuck in the last two games shot:The cited stats do not take into full account the total opposition. A team that flamed out early (Canada?) and didn't get to the final round faced mostly very weak opponents. Putting up big number vs. Mali or Senegal is one thing; doing that against the USA or even other finalists is another.
Sort of like an NBA player padding his stats during "garbage time" at the end of a blowout.
I agree on the minutes issue in terms of totals, but in terms of shooting percentage it doesn't matter. And one could say that the players who had to play 30+ minutes per game for 9 games had to pace themselves some and probably wore down a bit as the tournament went along. There is a certain advantage to knowing you can play absolutely flat out when on the floor because there is an very good player on the bench ready to spell you when you need a blow.And how did their minutes played compare.
I am not worried about shooting percentage for posts. That is greatly impacted by the amount of body contact allowed and US players are at a disadvantage to that in international ball since interior contact on shots seems to result in more trips to the line in US college ball. As to fatigue I agree with Geno when he says these 16-19 year old kids if they get tired they probably shouldn't be playing. Many of these kids would play for 4+ on a normal non game day, playing for 35 minutes in a game shouldn't be wearing the out.I agree on the minutes issue in terms of totals, but in terms of shooting percentage it doesn't matter. And one could say that the players who had to play 30+ minutes per game for 9 games had to pace themselves some and probably wore down a bit as the tournament went along. There is a certain advantage to knowing you can play absolutely flat out when on the floor because there is an very good player on the bench ready to spell you when you need a blow.