Who is the most important player on the team?

[Shades]

Kia Nurse is currently #1 among UCONN starters in:

The fact that you felt a need to qualify it to starters to make a little stronger case for Nurse shows how valuable Stevens has been.

In only 22.1 mpg, Stevens leads the whole team in:
FG% .593
Rebounds 147
RPG 8.2
Blocks 37

In only 22.1 mpg, Stevens is in 2nd place on the whole team in:
FTA 47
FTM 37
FT% .787
Points 266

Statistically speaking, it seems like Stevens would be the most important player on the team if Geno wasn't holding her back to 22.1 mpg.

That being said, I'm not making a case for Stevens as most important. I'm making a case for Gabby Williams.
As the lowest mpg starter (27.1), Williams leads the whole team in:
Assists 85
Turnovers 49 (Okay, this is not a great category to lead. She's probably trying to do a little too much, but she's still close to a 2:1 ato)
What does leading these two categories as a forward tell you? The offense runs through Williams more than you probably realize.
Steals 49 (The next player is at 29.... not even close)

She's not exactly a dog at scoring with a .568 FG%, but she's unselfish as being the leader in assists shows.

And she's doing it all while being hampered by migraine and hip issues.

Chalk me up in Gabby's corner. She was the most important last year and still is.

 

[wallman]

I guess y'all are ignoring what geno thinks. I think he has been pretty honest to the dismay of some fans and thinks Stevens for example is not up to starter quality yet.

 

[hussybulldog]

Note - it's not the best player on the team, but most important to UCONN's overall success.

IMHO it would come down to Crystal, Lou or Gabby - All of them bring something totally different to the table, but you cannot discount the importance of Pheesa, Kia or Azura.

I voted for Crystal because she's the engine that drives the machine, has shown meteoric growth from last year, and is the leader (altho Kia is a tremendous leader too), but one could make an argument for every one of the core 6 players...

Voted for Kia, the most important player is the best player (doesn’t have to be the one who scores the most) yes AZ is very important in the two aforementioned wins, but we need to look at the whole pic, she is still not fully incorporated into the system.

 

[Bronxjeff]

I think the team is very balanced across four to six of them. But Crystal is the main point guard so it’s her team to lead - first among equals.

 

[CMC'72]

HuskyNan?

 

[Los24]

They don’t beat Notre Dame or Texas without Azura!

Also there were earlier moments in both of those games that if it were not for Lou, AZ would not have been in a position to impact the game in the 4th to begin with... not rating one over the other but I see a lot of people emphasizing the end of those games while ignoring points where it felt we were holding on by a thread (or two) with the game swinging in the other direction.

That said I think we win it all with AZ last year but it does not mean we could have not done it without the others, especially Gabby and Lou.

 

[the Q]

IMO Crystal is the most important player on the team with Lou second. Main reason is that everyone else have someone else who could do more or less what they do but the only real PG on the team is Crystal. While Kia plays PG when Crystal takes a break, she is not a PG.

This. Z can fill in and everyone else can slide around.

But there is only one person who is even a Plus ballhandler on the roster. And that’s dangerfield.

Geno would have to play positinless ball to the extreme and get ready for teams to press the absolute crap out the girls if danger was out.

 

[Kaizen]

I vote Kia, the silent one.

 

[housekeys]

Napheesa is the most important player. When she plays a good game two things happen: 1) we score easy baskets inside - causing defenses to collapse and leave our shooters open 2) she stretches the defense by hitting outside shots - causing Gabby, KLS and this year, AZ to get easy points inside.

Napheesa playing well flips the script on how to stop UConn. UCan't.

e.g. Miss St

 

[the Q]

Napheesa is the most important player. When she plays a good game two things happen: 1) we score easy baskets inside - causing defenses to collapse and leave our shooters open 2) she stretches the defense by hitting outside shots - causing Gabby, KLS and this year, AZ to get easy points inside.

Napheesa playing well flips the script on how to stop UConn. UCan't.

e.g. Miss St

I hear what you're saying. But I don't like trying to use Miss St as the example when literally one player played well that game.

 

[housekeys]

I hear what you're saying. But I don't like trying to use Miss St as the example when literally one player played well that game.

Well that's the point. When Napheesa plays well, most others will play well. That is why she is the most important.

 

[TwoCents]

Kia... I'm bias... and I'm not ashamed of it.