Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 women's list announced

#1
T

th2421

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2015
Messages
2,618
Likes
8,669
#1
John R. Wooden Award Midseason top 25 women's basketball list announced

Totally fair that Diamond didn't make the cut, but a bit surprised/disappointed that Mercedes is absent. She's having a MUCH better season than several of the players on this list, but I suppose there's either an expectation some of those players will turn it up in conference play (e.g. the Maryland players, as they'll be relied on more after a weak non-conference schedule) or some reliance on past performance in determining these finalists (e.g. Nina Davis).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
#2
#2
travis929 said:
John R. Wooden Award Midseason top 25 women's basketball list announced

Totally fair that Diamond didn't make the cut, but a bit surprised/disappointed that Mercedes is absent. She's having a MUCH better season than several of the players on this list, but I suppose there's either an expectation some of those players will turn it up in conference play (e.g. the Maryland players, as they'll be relied on more after a weak non-conference schedule) or some reliance on past performance in determining these finalists (e.g. Nina Davis).
Click to expand...

Agree with you on both DD and MR.
 
#3
#3
Mercedes is having a great year, but she's on an underachieving team and that hurts her individual accolades.

Coates, Turner, Wilson, and Jones (MD) were all preseason picks and all are having strong seasons. Throw in surprises like Collier and the girl from Cal, and there's not much room to add Mercedes, though I think she's one of the better posts in the country.

I personally think the biggest snub was Williams from UConn.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#4
#4
Amb3096 said:
Mercedes is having a great year, but she's on an underachieving team and that hurts her individual accolades.

Coates, Turner, Wilson, and Jones (MD) were all preseason picks and all are having strong seasons. Throw in surprises like Collier and the girl from Cal, and there's not much room to add Mercedes, though I think she's one of the better posts in the country.

I personally think the biggest snub was Williams from UConn.
Click to expand...

Agreed re: Williams. I feel like Nurse is there over her based on reputation and her experience as a (three-year?) starter. Williams has been incredible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#5
#5
travis929 said:
Agreed re: Williams. I feel like Nurse is there over her based on reputation and her experience as a (three-year?) starter. Williams has been incredible.
Click to expand...

If UConn continues to tear through the field and ends up in the FF or better, I think Nurse would have earned her spot as an AA. But yeah...it is criminal that Williams is not on that list. She may not have the gaudiest PPG stats, but she's the glue for that UConn team and fills a stat sheet like no one in the game right now. I don't think it would surprise me if UConn landed 4 players on the 1st/2nd AA teams (Nurse, KLS, Williams, Collier).

I really did think that Diamond would be there when the season started. She's had a decent year, but I thought that this year would be where she really distances herself from her peers at the G/W spot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#6
#6
DD working hard but too many turnovers and misses too many shots. She has underperformed on an underperforming team.
 
#7
#7
armchair said:
DD working hard but too many turnovers and misses too many shots. She has underperformed on an underperforming team.
Click to expand...

Diamond's stats are very comparable to Victoria Vivians, except Vivians has a lot more steals, fewer blocks/rebounds, and way fewer turnovers. But her team is ranked #4.

If Tennessee was ranked in the top 10, I have no doubt that Diamond and Mercedes would be on this list with their current stats.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
#8
#8
Amb3096 said:
Diamond's stats are very comparable to Victoria Vivians, except Vivians has a lot more steals, fewer blocks/rebounds, and way fewer turnovers. But her team is ranked #4.

If Tennessee was ranked in the top 10, I have no doubt that Diamond and Mercedes would be on this list with their current stats.
Click to expand...

Very true unless you are putting up numbers people just can't ignore. If you have decent stats or comparable stats to others on that list but your team isn't doing well over all it's harder to get on. Plus playing for Tennessee which always is held with higher expectations it's even harder to make the cut.
 
#9
#9
Nuyoika said:
Plus playing for Tennessee which always is held with higher expectations it's even harder to make the cut.
Click to expand...

I think the opposite has historically been true, at least for the days when Tennessee was relevant in the national picture. If Tennessee was a top 2-3 team, then they would have players on the AA list that didn't have the most impressive stats, but they were rewarded for being the best player on an elite team. The same has been true for UConn in the past.
 
#10
#10
Amb3096 said:
I think the opposite has historically been true, at least for the days when Tennessee was relevant in the national picture. If Tennessee was a top 2-3 team, then they would have players on the AA list that didn't have the most impressive stats, but they were rewarded for being the best player on an elite team. The same has been true for UConn in the past.
Click to expand...

That's what I was trying to get at and after rereading I worded it awkwardly. In a down year such as this one currently is for Tennessee the loftiness of the schools history may actually be working against them. If they were on an up and coming team those stats would be enough but on a team that has been historically really good it doesn't hold as much weight with that team faltering.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#13
#13
Why is Nina Davis on the list?

She's only averaging 11.4 points and 4.5 rebounds a game; she only plays 20 minutes.

She's just the third-highest scorer on her own team.

These lists SHOULD go by who is playing the best basketball during the current season but they never do. They're always political and based on past success.

Blah.
 
#14
#14
NoBackBoard said:
Why is Nina Davis on the list?

She's only averaging 11.4 points and 4.5 rebounds a game; she only plays 20 minutes.

She's just the third-highest scorer on her own team.

These lists SHOULD go by who is playing the best basketball during the current season but they never do. They're always political and based on past success.

Blah.
Click to expand...

I agree. She has not had a distinguished season. Her teammate Brown deserves to be on the list over her.

I do think by the time they parents it down to 10, more often than not the selections have merit.
 
#15
#15
Amb3096 said:
I agree. She has not had a distinguished season. Her teammate Brown deserves to be on the list over her.

I do think by the time they parents it down to 10, more often than not the selections have merit.
Click to expand...

Do you feel like Mulkey slightly jobbed Davis by heavily recruiting in the post? Some of the line ups she puts out there make Davis the odd one out.
 
#16
#16
Nuyoika said:
Do you feel like Mulkey slightly jobbed Davis by heavily recruiting in the post? Some of the line ups she puts out there make Davis the odd one out.
Click to expand...

No, because bringing in players like Cox, Mompremier and Brown just makes Baylor a stronger team. Nina has been great for them, but she's a 5'11 PF. She will not bring Baylor a championship. A team more reliant on Brown and Cox can.

Nina also made the mistake of not developing a perimeter game, especially once Brown and Mompremier signed. That could have opened up lineups where she plays alongside the two bigs, and can actually be an offensive threat. She didn't develop game for the next level, and I can't see any WNBA team wasting a roster spot on her.
 
#17
#17
NoBackBoard said:
Why is Nina Davis on the list?

She's only averaging 11.4 points and 4.5 rebounds a game; she only plays 20 minutes.

She's just the third-highest scorer on her own team.

These lists SHOULD go by who is playing the best basketball during the current season but they never do. They're always political and based on past success.

Blah.
Click to expand...
I am just going to quibble with the 'always political' because I agree with the rest of what you wrote - I think there is an inertia in lists like this as there is with the voting on rankings of teams - either people don't want to react too quickly or they aren't putting in enough time or care in their votes to really assess players/teams on recent history. There is a reputation/name recognition aspect of these lists that lags actual performance.

For example, I think Diamond has remain in 'contention' based on her freshman year publicity longer than her last year's performance actually warranted in a similar way that Kia is being preferred over Gabby at the moment or that Davis is being kept in contention based on her last years performance. Or that people aren't looking as closely at what Russell is doing this year based on being a little disappointing in previous years.

I don't see that as 'political' just a manifestation of that inertia.

The same has happened with TN in team rankings - they dropped out of the rankings fairly slowly, and now that they are out of the rankings and performing much better, it is going to take a while for them to climb back in.
 
#18
#18
On this year's AP, Wooden, and ESPN lists, there are a lot of players who are not on the country's top teams. In past years, the Final Four teams were loaded with first and second team All-Americans. Last year, UConn's big three, Kelsey Plum, and Jamie Weisner were at the Final Four, and all five were ESPN All-Americans.

Who are the top ten players projected to be this year, and how many of them will be playing in the Final Four? Wilson (South Carolina)? Jones (Maryland)? Davis (Baylor)? Others?
 
#19
#19
Hoya Saxa said:
On this year's AP, Wooden, and ESPN lists, there are a lot of players who are not on the country's top teams. In past years, the Final Four teams were loaded with first and second team All-Americans. Last year, UConn's big three, Kelsey Plum, and Jamie Weisner were at the Final Four, and all five were ESPN All-Americans.

Who are the top ten players projected to be this year, and how many of them will be playing in the Final Four? Wilson (South Carolina)? Jones (Maryland)? Davis (Baylor)? Others?
Click to expand...

How do you figure? 19 of the top 25 are from the top 13 teams in the country.

UConn - 3
Baylor - 2
MD - 2
MSU - 1
SC - 2
ND - 2
FSU - 1
Washington - 1
Louisville - 1
Ore St - 1
Ohio St - 1
Duke - 1
Stanford - 1
 
#20
#20
But only four of those teams will be in the Final Four and not all of the players on those four teams will be first or second team All-Americans. Anigwe should be top ten, but I don't think Cal will be in the Final Four. South Carolina should play in the Final Four, but I don't think Coates is a top ten player. So to clarify, which top ten players do you expect to be competing in the Final Four this year? First, you have to pick your top ten from the mid-season list. Then you have to decide if the team they play on will be at the Final Four.

The point of this exercise is to show just how difficult it is to make the Final Four without an All-American on the team. Last year, three of the four teams at the Final Four had at least one All-American. Will this year be any different?
 
Last edited:
#21
#21
Hoya Saxa said:
But only four of those teams will be in the Final Four and not all of the players on those four teams will be first or second team All-Americans. Anigwe should be top ten, but I don't think Cal will be in the Final Four. South Carolina should play in the Final Four, but I don't think Coates is a top ten player. So to clarify, which top ten players do you expect to be competing in the Final Four this year? First, you have to pick your top ten from the mid-season list. Then you have to decide if the team they play on will be at the Final Four.

The point of this exercise is to show just how difficult it is to make the Final Four without an All-American on the team. Last year, three of the four teams at the Final Four had at least one All-American. Will this year be any different?
Click to expand...

UConn, Baylor, SC and MD:. Collier, KLS, Aja Wilson, Coates (I consider her a top 10 player), Alexis Jones, Brionna Jones, Shatori Walker Kimbrough.

All those players should be on the WBCA AA team.
 
#24
#24
I think their production for this year, and last, has not qualified either one of them for inclusion. They have had a few good games each, but nothing at all consistently.

The team would not suck so bad if those two were playing like Wooden candidates.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top