31 March 2011
Basketball for the Day
It's weird... The big local basketball news is that Isaiah Thomas, a junior at the University of Washington, is going to skip next season and enter the NBA draft. This is the sort of thing that just doesn't happen in women's basketball. Why? Because the WNBA requires graduation. The only will-she-won't-she story has been Australian Elizabeth Cambage. Anyway....
Remember that Swish Appeal article about point guards? They've published part two, which focuses on the current draft prospects. Just as Sue Bird was the obvious choice for best current WNBA point guard, Courtney Vandersloot is the obvious choice for best draft-eligible point guard.
I love this quote: "Who's the big globe all by itself to the far right of the upper right quadrant [of the graph]? In addition to rescaling the center of this graph, I had to extend it: the 10 PPR maximum on the WNBA graph left Vandersloot's PPR of 11.63 out of sight. And really, that will stand as the most fitting way (today) to describe Vandersloot. There is not currently a point guard in the league that has put up college senior numbers like Vandersloot. Brian Agler compared her to Sue Bird, Ticha Penicheiro is another solid comparison, and John Stockton said she has the savvy of Wayne Gretzky, but there isn't really a strong direct comparison - she is off in her own realm of point guard play and it's really difficult to read these numbers and make any sort of sane assessment of how good she'll be."
And this one: "In short, most video game player creators wouldn't even allow you to make a player that efficient [as Courtney Vandersloot] - to lead a team in scoring and assists for a night is one thing. To do both extremely efficiently is another. To do it for an entire season at about that same level is almost mind boggling."
Yesterday I was envisioning a Tulsa team with both Elizabeth Cambage and Courtney Vandersloot, and comparing it to the Storm's combo of Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird. Others have made similar connections. In the comments to Jayda Evans' blog post about the WNBA draft, "bcdawg04" wrote: It just occurred to me...thank goodness we didn't have to choose between a UConn superstar and a lesser known international kid with potential through the roof. If LJ had waited a year, that would have been our dilemma."
Agreed!
Remember that Swish Appeal article about point guards? They've published part two, which focuses on the current draft prospects. Just as Sue Bird was the obvious choice for best current WNBA point guard, Courtney Vandersloot is the obvious choice for best draft-eligible point guard.
I love this quote: "Who's the big globe all by itself to the far right of the upper right quadrant [of the graph]? In addition to rescaling the center of this graph, I had to extend it: the 10 PPR maximum on the WNBA graph left Vandersloot's PPR of 11.63 out of sight. And really, that will stand as the most fitting way (today) to describe Vandersloot. There is not currently a point guard in the league that has put up college senior numbers like Vandersloot. Brian Agler compared her to Sue Bird, Ticha Penicheiro is another solid comparison, and John Stockton said she has the savvy of Wayne Gretzky, but there isn't really a strong direct comparison - she is off in her own realm of point guard play and it's really difficult to read these numbers and make any sort of sane assessment of how good she'll be."
And this one: "In short, most video game player creators wouldn't even allow you to make a player that efficient [as Courtney Vandersloot] - to lead a team in scoring and assists for a night is one thing. To do both extremely efficiently is another. To do it for an entire season at about that same level is almost mind boggling."
Yesterday I was envisioning a Tulsa team with both Elizabeth Cambage and Courtney Vandersloot, and comparing it to the Storm's combo of Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird. Others have made similar connections. In the comments to Jayda Evans' blog post about the WNBA draft, "bcdawg04" wrote: It just occurred to me...thank goodness we didn't have to choose between a UConn superstar and a lesser known international kid with potential through the roof. If LJ had waited a year, that would have been our dilemma."
Agreed!
Labels: college basketball, Seattle Storm
# posted by mamurd @ 10:15 PM 
