WNBA rookie stats leaders | The Boneyard

WNBA rookie stats leaders

I was curious about this so I searched for the rookie stats yesterday. If I'd only waited a day, I could have saved myself the trouble! Of course, I did finally get a deep dive on every stat for every rookie.
 
MVPaige LOL.

She's acclimated faster and been better in the league than I thought. I was worried that her more "slight" frame (less strong than Clark) would leave her susceptible to getting manhandled, or even injured. However one good thing for Paige is that she does not drive to the basket in traffic nearly as much as Clark, and doesn't hunt contact for fouls.

Paige is following in the footsteps of others, like Courtney Williams, showing off how deadly the mid range pull up jumper can be. I also think this rookie class is a strong one and there are a bunch of players who should have staying power and last years in the league.

I'd also like to add that I've watched Malonga - and while her stats are not eye-popping at this time, you can see the potential for how good she will be. Good pick at #2. And Washington totally scored with Iriafen and Citron.
 
EricLA said:
MVPaige LOL.

She's acclimated faster and been better in the league than I thought. I was worried that her more "slight" frame (less strong than Clark) would leave her susceptible to getting manhandled, or even injured. However one good thing for Paige is that she does not drive to the basket in traffic nearly as much as Clark, and doesn't hunt contact for fouls.

Paige is following in the footsteps of others, like Courtney Williams, showing off how deadly the mid range pull up jumper can be. I also think this rookie class is a strong one and there are a bunch of players who should have staying power and last years in the league.

I'd also like to add that I've watched Malonga - and while her stats are not eye-popping at this time, you can see the potential for how good she will be. Good pick at #2. And Washington totally scored with Iriafen and Citron.
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Paige is doing ok when compared to Caitlin’s rookie season :)

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EricLA said:
MVPaige LOL.

She's acclimated faster and been better in the league than I thought. I was worried that her more "slight" frame (less strong than Clark) would leave her susceptible to getting manhandled, or even injured. However one good thing for Paige is that she does not drive to the basket in traffic nearly as much as Clark, and doesn't hunt contact for fouls.

Paige is following in the footsteps of others, like Courtney Williams, showing off how deadly the mid range pull up jumper can be. I also think this rookie class is a strong one and there are a bunch of players who should have staying power and last years in the league.

I'd also like to add that I've watched Malonga - and while her stats are not eye-popping at this time, you can see the potential for how good she will be. Good pick at #2. And Washington totally scored with Iriafen and Citron.
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Malonga looks as if she could have used some college experience. jmo
 
HuskyNan said:
Paige is doing ok when compared to Caitlin’s rookie season :)

View attachment 110195View attachment 110196
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Similar to Clark, her team started out very poorly but appears to be turning things around. I wouldn't be shocked if Paige develops great chemistry with Arike by mid season, similar to Clark developing chemistry with Mitchell last year.
 
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Bigboote said:
Paige is third in the W in minutes per game at 35.4 . Coach Koclanes is “managing” her minutes carefully by not playing her 40.
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It’s probably self preservation. Job security for coaches in pro sports is usually based on winning games and Koclanes has quickly figured out that his only chance of winning games is having Bueckers on the floor as much as possible.
 
She's feasting on what they call defense in the W. If someone gets tight she introduces them to her fall away jumper.
 
bballnut90 said:
Similar to Clark, her team started out very poorly but appears to be turning things around. I wouldn't be shocked if Paige develops great chemistry with Arike by mid season, similar to Clark developing chemistry with Mitchell last year.
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Paige is averaging about the same minutes that Caitlyn Clark did last season as a rookie last year for Indiana. Clark as a rookie averaged for the whole season 35.4 min, 19.2 pts, 5.7 rbds, 1.3 stls, 0.7 blk, and 5.6 t/o a game. In all three Dallas wins Paige led the team in scoring, averaging 20.6 pts, by scoring 21 points twice in their wins against Connecticut and 20 points in their win against Golden State.
 
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Most in points assists and steals per game. 2nd in blocks and 4th in rebounds.

Talk about a complete player!
 
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AmeriConn said:
Curious. Are minutes played a factor in the numbers?
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?

To the extent that you play more minutes per game, you would clearly have the opportunity to post higher stats per game.

FYI, Paige is 3rd in the W at 35.4 mpg, behind only Rhyne Howard and Kelsey Plum. So much for Chris Koclanes load management plan…..
 
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oldude said:
?

To the extent that you play more minutes per game, you would clearly have the opportunity to post higher stats per game.

FYI, Paige is 3rd in the W at 35.4 mpg, behind only Rhyne Howard and Kelsey Plum. So much for Chris Koclanes load management plan…..
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The alternative is probably losing every game plus Bueckers is the main reason for the increased fan interest and revenue and that's who the fans want to see on the floor, not sitting. Without her a lot less will show up to watch last year's disaster all over again.
 
BobbyJ said:
The alternative is probably losing every game plus Bueckers is the main reason for the increased fan interest and revenue and that's who the fans want to see on the floor, not sitting. Without her a lot less will show up to watch last year's disaster all over again.
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Agreed. But it’s interesting just how quickly the idea of load management for Paige disappeared once it became clear how mediocre the talent was around her.
 
oldude said:
Agreed. But it’s interesting just how quickly the idea of load management for Paige disappeared once it became clear how mediocre the talent was around her.
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That should have been obvious to them before they ever played a game. Load management is just a popular term being thrown around today. It means we'll think about giving her a game off if we've won 4 or 5 in a row and we know the law of averages is catching up to us anyway. But that ain't happening for Dallas. ;)
 
BobbyJ said:
That should have been obvious to them before they ever played a game. Load management is just a popular term being thrown around today. It means we'll think about giving her a game off if we've won 4 or 5 in a row and we know the law of averages is catching up to us anyway. But that ain't happening for Dallas. ;)
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I don’t know. Injuries to Siegrist & Harris haven’t helped. I think the GM & HC thought they put together a competitive team at the start of the season. They didn’t expect Arike to struggle. They had high expectations for Carrington who hasn’t been the defender they thought she would be and is often out of control driving to the basket. I’m not sure what to make of Smith & Hines-Allen, both of whom are inconsistent.

Some of Paige’s high usage with the Wings strikes me as self-preservation for the HC & GM, neither of whom will be around if they don’t put a good product on the court. You can make all kinds of excuses about the team being young and inexperienced. But that falls apart when you look at the expansion Valkyries who have a legitimate shot at the playoffs.
 
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oldude said:
I don’t know. Injuries to Siegrist & Harris haven’t helped. I think the GM & HC thought they put together a competitive team at the start of the season. They didn’t expect Arike to struggle. They had high expectations for Carrington who hasn’t been the defender they thought she would be and is often out of control driving to the basket. I’m not sure what to make of Smith & Hines-Allen, both of whom are inconsistent.

Some of Paige’s high usage with the Wings strikes me as self-preservation for the HC & GM, neither of whom will be around if they don’t put a good product on the court. You can make all kinds of excuses about the team being young and inexperienced. But that falls apart when you look at the expansion Valkyries who have a legitimate shot at the playoffs.
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I agree. I don't think any of the additions this year are an upgrade over losing Sabally, Sims, Sheldon, and Natasha Howard. Mediocre replacing mediocre added to mediocre, still a mess.
 
I could be wrong, but I believe that Paige's minutes have spiked since she returned from the concussion/illness. I think that her minutes have ranged from 37 to 39 minutes per game from that point on (I understand the reasons, but its still dangerous for any yoing athlete who very recently completed a season reasonably equivalent to a full WNBA season).
 
AmeriConn said:
Curious. Are minutes played a factor in the numbers?
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I guess you are implying that better comparative information will be gained by normalization — i.e. convert the per-game statistics (above) into per-game-minutes statistics for comparison.

For most players, that is the case. But for a “basketball player” “stat-stuffer” quadruple -efficient (EFFICIENCY, efficiency in shooting accuracy and shot selection, low turnovers) scoring versatile point guard like Paige, one would lose information by normalization.

Geno’s “basketball players” are possession-efficient — they impact every basketball possession, sometimes without scoring and sometimes in ways not captured by boxscores. They don’t take possessions off. They make other “basketball players” better, in part by allowing them to play to their strengths. The offense and defense thus become optimized to win games.

There are few players in the WNBA like Paige and she is performing (as above) on a currently mediocre team (granted, the season is still young) with players who currently frequently cannot be, even remotely, mistaken as “basketball players”, unlike Caitlyn last year. At least there’s next year with the new CBA, if this one cannot be redeemed.
 
Paige now has 5 games with 20+ points and one game with 19 - out of 11 games played

Basingstoke said:
I could be wrong, but I believe that Paige's minutes have spiked since she returned from the concussion/illness. I think that her minutes have ranged from 37 to 39 minutes per game from that point on (I understand the reasons, but its still dangerous for any yoing athlete who very recently completed a season reasonably equivalent to a full WNBA season).
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Minutes have been pretty consistent

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