Not sure I agree. Sometimes in any sport when a player received intense oversight, observers tend to pick at the issues. In any case, why would this have mattered to her?
@HopJim 's comment was in response to
@vowelguy 's statement that Stevens would have been selected #2 or #3 had she stayed another year at UConn.
MY TAKE:
-- I understand Indiana taking Mitchell. The Fever were last in the WNBA in scoring and now have a vacancy in the backcourt with January being traded to Phoenix. Plus, Indiana had been scouting Mitchell for a lot longer.
--Indiana's roster has some very nice complementary parts - Candice Dupree (on the downside of her career, but still has a great face-up game at the four), Erica Wheeler (can pass and can get hot scoring the ball), Shenise Johnson (can all do things well - scoring, passing, rebounding - but not great), Tiffany Mitchell (athletic SG who can score), etc.
--But there is no STAR. There is no alpha player. And while there are players like Tiffany Mitchell and Wheeler who can create their own shots, they are not efficient at making them. Indiana, as TEAM, shot 42.9 percent from the floor and 30.9 percent from three. Those are bad numbers.
--Kelsey Mitchell provides the ability to create her own shot better than anyone on the Fever's roster. She and Wheeler would be combo guards who both can pass, which should help get more open shots for other Fever players (given the fact that Tiffany Mitchell and Shenise Johnson both hit at least 92 percent from the line, it suggests that they have the ability to become better shooters overall from the floor and from three).
AS TO STEVENS:
-- Azura has as much upside as anyone in the draft, right up there with Diamond DeShields (DD has all of the raw gifts, but has not had any coaching for skills improvement whatsoever since high school; Stevens had two years in UConn's system, one as a player).
-- I am STUNNED that Chicago did not take Stevens at #3 or #4. I said it on this forum that Chicago's ideal draft would be to get Gabby Williams and Azura Stevens in the first round.
-- The Sky have the best three-point shooting backcourt in the WNBA, with Vandersloot and Quigley. What they need (among other things) is a wing who can slash, defend, and be a secondary facilitator/passer. That *IS* Gabby Williams.
-- Stefanie Dolson is the physical post with three-point range whose game will best complement Stevens; Dolson and Stevens can run the high/low, can step out for mid-range and three-point shots so the paint is clear for a player like Williams to slash. Plus, Gabby and Stevens have built in familiarity and chemistry having played in Geno Auriemma's system, with which Stef Dolson has plenty of familiarity as well.
-- Amber Stocks is a relatively young head coach and GM, turning 40 last year. This is her first head coaching gig. She spent 6 years as an assistant with Xavier, but left in 2009. She was not coaching in college or the WNBA until she spent two years as a Sparks assistant (during the latter of which, LA won the WNBA title). DeShields is a player that will require a forceful hand, as she did not have the Xs and Os, individual instruction, or best training on how to play within the team concept at UNC and Tennessee. In many ways, she is as raw in that department as she was when she entered college, though she claims her year in Turkey on the professional level helped her develop.
-- But DeShields will need to adjust to the possibility that she is not the first, second, or even third best player on the team coming out of the gate. Can she be effective when the ball is not in her hands? She is not a great rebounder at her height, and she has never shown a commitment on the defensive end of the floor.
-- Not only am I stunned that Chicago passed on Stevens (especially because the team lost Jessica Breland in free agency and Stevens would have been PERFECT for the Sky), but I am stunned that Seattle did as well. NOW, this could have occurred due to a lack of scouting, in the sense that teams were not focused on Stevens thinking she would not be entering the draft. But that is the fault of the franchises.
-- Seattle took Jordin Canada. Yes, Seattle needs a backup point guard to replace Sue Bird. But Canada is undersized, and she is not the best fit next to Jewel Loyd, who is a more ball dominant shooting guard. Lexie Brown is bigger, a more consistent shooter, and a better defender. But Stevens was the best overall prospect on board.
-- Seattle started 6-2 Crystal Langhorne at center last year, and she will be 32 this year. Yes, Seattle got Courtney Paris and Natasha Howard in the offseason. But Paris turns 31 this year and is coming off an injury-plagued season. Howard is a great athlete who has shown flashes, but she was losing minutes to 36 year old Plenette Pierson last year. And Howard is best as a four, not as a five, which makes her a not-so-great fit next to Breanna Stewart.
FINAL POINT:
-- Dallas got a STEAL in Stevens - the steal of the entire 2018 WNBA Draft. Teams may not have been prepared, from a scouting standpoint, for Stevens to declare early, but they should have been (need to scout players not just in their senior seasons).
