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| Who will be the best center next season? |
| Adut Bulgak, Sr, 6-4, FSU |
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21% |
[ 13 ] |
| Ruth Hamblin, Sr, 6-6, ORSU |
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8% |
[ 5 ] |
| Ashley Rininger, Sr, 6-4, LIB |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Alaina Coates, Jr, 6-4, SCAR |
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24% |
[ 15 ] |
| Brionna Jones, Jr, 6-3, UMD |
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6% |
[ 4 ] |
| Sadie Stipanovich, Jr, 6-3, SLU |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Natalie Butler, So RS, 6-5, UCONN |
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9% |
[ 6 ] |
| Mercedes Russell, So RS, 6-6, TENN |
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14% |
[ 9 ] |
| Rebekah Van Dijk, So, 6-5, UTA |
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1% |
[ 1 ] |
| Kristine Anigwe, Fr, 6-3, CAL |
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1% |
[ 1 ] |
| Kalani Brown, Fr, 6-5, BAY |
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1% |
[ 1 ] |
| Someone else (who?) |
|
9% |
[ 6 ] |
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| Total Votes : 61 |
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| Author |
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GlennMacGrady
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
Posts: 8225
Location: Heisenberg
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 Posted: 07/03/15 12:19 pm ::: Who will be the best center next season? |
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Pure speculation and guesswork at this point, but what do you think?
The definition of "center" is based on the Sr, Jr and So players who have a sole "C" next to their names on wbbstate.com, and those Fr players who have a sole "P" on ESPNW. |
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#Occasionalwnbafan
Joined: 01 Mar 2012
Posts: 1380
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| Posted: 07/03/15 12:26 pm ::: |
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| Breanna Stewart |
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summertime blues
Joined: 16 Apr 2013
Posts: 7822
Location: Shenandoah Valley
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| Posted: 07/03/15 12:31 pm ::: |
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| And you left out Imani McGee-Stafford (Texas) exactly WHY? (While putting in a bunch of nobodies from places like Liberty?????)
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NoDakSt
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
Posts: 4929
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| Posted: 07/03/15 12:32 pm ::: |
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| I voted for Someone else if for no other reason than to trumpet the emergence of Emma Wolfram of Gonzaga. The red shirt frosh came on strong during the Zags NCAA run even though she was a back up for starter Shelby Cheslek. In the three NCAA tourney cames, she averaged 11.6 points, 5.6 reb.and 2. 6 blocks per game. Very much came into her own last season. With Cheslek set to return, Zags have a pair of 6'5" bookends to anchor their team but I expect Wolfram to have a great season.
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GlennMacGrady
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
Posts: 8225
Location: Heisenberg
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| Posted: 07/03/15 12:33 pm ::: |
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| #Occasionalwnbafan wrote: |
| Breanna Stewart |
I probably should have entitled the poll question "other than Breanna Stewart" because, if center is where she primarily plays, she will surely be the best at that position.
I'm eliminating her from the poll on the technicality that she is not a pure center, that she's a center+++, that she can play power forward or small forward. In any event, let's assume she's not a center for purposes of the poll. |
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GlennMacGrady
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
Posts: 8225
Location: Heisenberg
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| Posted: 07/03/15 12:48 pm ::: |
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| summertime blues wrote: |
| And you left out Imani McGee-Stafford (Texas) exactly WHY? (While putting in a bunch of nobodies from places like Liberty?????) |
The methodology was of necessity arbitrary. I didn't want more than three choices for each class, but did want each class represented. Other than the red shirt sophs and freshmen, the choices were based on my own combination last season stats for "C's" from wbbstate.com, primarily: AVE EFF, PPG, RPG,and TS%. McGee-Stafford fell short of the other players in her class in those stats.
Just vote for someone else and name your preference if you don't like any of the choices. |
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summertime blues
Joined: 16 Apr 2013
Posts: 7822
Location: Shenandoah Valley
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| Posted: 07/03/15 3:39 pm ::: |
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| GlennMacGrady wrote: |
| summertime blues wrote: |
| And you left out Imani McGee-Stafford (Texas) exactly WHY? (While putting in a bunch of nobodies from places like Liberty?????) |
The methodology was of necessity arbitrary. I didn't want more than three choices for each class, but did want each class represented. Other than the red shirt sophs and freshmen, the choices were based on my own combination last season stats for "C's" from wbbstate.com, primarily: AVE EFF, PPG, RPG,and TS%. McGee-Stafford fell short of the other players in her class in those stats.
Just vote for someone else and name your preference if you don't like any of the choices. |
And your rationale for choosing a senior nobody from Liberty over McGee-Stafford was.....? Really?
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Jlcarter
Joined: 03 Jul 2013
Posts: 461
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| Posted: 07/03/15 8:38 pm ::: |
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| if Russell is fully healthy she will be real good.
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Nixtreefan
Joined: 14 Nov 2012
Posts: 2539
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| Posted: 07/04/15 10:19 am ::: |
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Make your own poll if you don't like it.
I picked Brown. This is an out there pick for me and I am just basing it on the view of several friends of mine who think she has turned the corner and is ready to put in the work.
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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
Posts: 14550
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AJMMs
Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 139
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SueFavor
Joined: 20 May 2013
Posts: 387
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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| Posted: 07/04/15 10:41 pm ::: |
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Ruth Hamblin._________________ hoopism.blogspot.com
womenshoopsworld.com
twitter.com/hoopism
whoopsworld@aol.com |
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PhillyCat
Joined: 18 Jun 2012
Posts: 226
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| Posted: 07/04/15 10:44 pm ::: |
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McCall is a great athlete and runs the floor like a gazelle. She struggles in half-court sets as she doesn't have a face-up game and her back-to-the-basket moves are limited. She averaged 3 and 5 points/gm in her first 2 seasons at Stanford which is hard to believe even w/ the more guard-oriented offense last season.
If healthy, I think I'd take Russell but I hope I'm wrong.
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AJMMs
Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 139
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| Posted: 07/05/15 1:10 am ::: |
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| PhillyCat wrote: |
McCall is a great athlete and runs the floor like a gazelle. She struggles in half-court sets as she doesn't have a face-up game and her back-to-the-basket moves are limited. She averaged 3 and 5 points/gm in her first 2 seasons at Stanford which is hard to believe even w/ the more guard-oriented offense last season.
If healthy, I think I'd take Russell but I hope I'm wrong. |
I think McCall's strength is that she's a major workhorse out on the floor. Saw flashes of this in her first couple of season's with Stanford. She goes after the ball relentlessly, but hasn't been very consistent in college. I love the way she moves on the court and she's just physically strong. Tara will have her ready to lead them next season. As for Russell, she doesn't have great hands, gets the ball stripped or knocked away from her when trying to grab a rebound, doesn't make great decisions with the ball once she gets herself in trouble and gets out of the batters box much too slow if you know what I mean. At times, she does something that looks real impressive for a player her size, but never consistently. I'd heard comparisons to Griner before I ever had a chance to watch her play, but not even close. Maybe all this time she's been dealing with those feet issues and now that she's had surgery to correct the issues, she'll blow my socks off this coming season. Going by this game tonight, I saw a really tall baller for the USA that did a few nice things but never used her size to totally dominate the much smaller Italians, while McCall was a beast all night. I hope this is a new Erica McCall. I really like her potential.
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PhillyCat
Joined: 18 Jun 2012
Posts: 226
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| Posted: 07/05/15 5:54 am ::: |
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| AJMMs wrote: |
| PhillyCat wrote: |
McCall is a great athlete and runs the floor like a gazelle. She struggles in half-court sets as she doesn't have a face-up game and her back-to-the-basket moves are limited. She averaged 3 and 5 points/gm in her first 2 seasons at Stanford which is hard to believe even w/ the more guard-oriented offense last season.
If healthy, I think I'd take Russell but I hope I'm wrong. |
I think McCall's strength is that she's a major workhorse out on the floor. Saw flashes of this in her first couple of season's with Stanford. She goes after the ball relentlessly, but hasn't been very consistent in college. I love the way she moves on the court and she's just physically strong. Tara will have her ready to lead them next season. As for Russell, she doesn't have great hands, gets the ball stripped or knocked away from her when trying to grab a rebound, doesn't make great decisions with the ball once she gets herself in trouble and gets out of the batters box much too slow if you know what I mean. At times, she does something that looks real impressive for a player her size, but never consistently. I'd heard comparisons to Griner before I ever had a chance to watch her play, but not even close. Maybe all this time she's been dealing with those feet issues and now that she's had surgery to correct the issues, she'll blow my socks off this coming season. Going by this game tonight, I saw a really tall baller for the USA that did a few nice things but never used her size to totally dominate the much smaller Italians, while McCall was a beast all night. I hope this is a new Erica McCall. I really like her potential. |
No doubt McCall moves well but her struggles so far at Stanford have been her lack of offensive skills. She hasn't shown the ability to make shots consistently and she's also not a good passer out of the post (8 assists all of last season). Russell doesn't move as well as McCall but I think her offensive skills are more polished.
It'll be interesting to see how TVD uses McCall in the upcoming season. I assume it'll be the same guard-oriented offense as McCall and the other posts lack the offensive skill to run the triangle. I hope McCall is able to figure out a way to find some success. Running the floor in transition won't be a problem; scoring in the half-court likely will continue to be.
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ClayK
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Posts: 11140
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| Posted: 07/06/15 10:11 am ::: |
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I remain baffled at the high estimation of McCall. In the end, it's about production, and in two years in the Pac-12, McCall has produced at the level of a borderline recruit, and not even close to that of an elite player.
Now, maybe she'll break out, but can anyone recall a player who started half her games as a sophomore and averaged 5.6 points (and not stuck behind an elite post) becoming an all-American?
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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
Posts: 14550
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| Posted: 07/06/15 10:57 am ::: |
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| ClayK wrote: |
I remain baffled at the high estimation of McCall. In the end, it's about production, and in two years in the Pac-12, McCall has produced at the level of a borderline recruit, and not even close to that of an elite player.
Now, maybe she'll break out, but can anyone recall a player who started half her games as a sophomore and averaged 5.6 points (and not stuck behind an elite post) becoming an all-American? |
Natalie Achonwa only averaged 7.6 ppg as a sophmore. She had a breakout junior year.
I'm not saying McCall will do the same. And I think the "high estimation" in this thread is just a commentary on her (suprising) performance in the first WUG game. But she did look impressive in that game. I think my comment here was that it was the best game I've ever seen her play.
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ClayK
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
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| Posted: 07/06/15 1:18 pm ::: |
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| ArtBest23 wrote: |
| ClayK wrote: |
I remain baffled at the high estimation of McCall. In the end, it's about production, and in two years in the Pac-12, McCall has produced at the level of a borderline recruit, and not even close to that of an elite player.
Now, maybe she'll break out, but can anyone recall a player who started half her games as a sophomore and averaged 5.6 points (and not stuck behind an elite post) becoming an all-American? |
Natalie Achonwa only averaged 7.6 ppg as a sophmore. She had a breakout junior year.
I'm not saying McCall will do the same. And I think the "high estimation" in this thread is just a commentary on her (suprising) performance in the first WUG game. But she did look impressive in that game. I think my comment here was that it was the best game I've ever seen her play. |
Achonwa is a good call ... though Devereaux Peters was the starting center in a small lineup. McCall was playing behind Kaylee Johnson, who I doubt will be a first-round choice in the WNBA draft.
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Conway Gamecock
Joined: 23 Jan 2015
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| Posted: 07/06/15 2:39 pm ::: |
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| There are quite a lot of very talented centers in wcbb these days, but I am highly excited about South Carolina's Alaina Coates' potential. She will most likely get starter's minutes and looks next season, and she is an athletic freak of nature. As far as quickness, running the court and leading the pack on fast breaks, rebounding and shot-blocking abilities she pretty much check off all the boxes. And she can add more quality weight in muscle without losing that athleticism and become even more of a physical beast in the post....
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WNBA 09
Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Posts: 12528
Location: Dallas , Texas
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| Posted: 07/06/15 2:58 pm ::: |
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| Conway Gamecock wrote: |
| There are quite a lot of very talented centers in wcbb these days, but I am highly excited about South Carolina's Alaina Coates' potential. She will most likely get starter's minutes and looks next season, and she is an athletic freak of nature. As far as quickness, running the court and leading the pack on fast breaks, rebounding and shot-blocking abilities she pretty much check off all the boxes. And she can add more quality weight in muscle without losing that athleticism and become even more of a physical beast in the post.... |
Coates Game Reminds Me Of Kara Braxton I Just Hope Her Mindset Is A Bit More Polished.
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thepullup
Joined: 25 Aug 2014
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| Posted: 07/07/15 2:44 am ::: |
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| Is Kacy Swain a 3,4,or 5? I think she has more athleticism and skill on the perimeter and in the paint than all the above. I really don't know if you can label her as just a 5. But if so, She's my bet!
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Jlcarter
Joined: 03 Jul 2013
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| Posted: 07/07/15 7:06 am ::: |
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| Russell is looking real good at WUG.
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Rock Hard
Joined: 02 Aug 2010
Posts: 5376
Location: Chocolate Paradise
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| Posted: 07/07/15 9:42 am ::: |
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| I really do not have an answer on which player will be the best center. I would hope that it is a senior because I would like to see my favorite team draft a good center in next year's WNBA draft.
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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
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| Posted: 07/07/15 10:53 am ::: |
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| thepullup wrote: |
| Is Kacy Swain a 3,4,or 5? I think she has more athleticism and skill on the perimeter and in the paint than all the above. I really don't know if you can label her as just a 5. But if so, She's my bet! |
If you're going to start adding in forwards who play all or some of the time in the post, then that also includes Brianna Stewart, Brianna Turner, Azura Stevens, Alexa Hart, A'ja Wilson, Stephanie Mavunga, etc. I doubt Swain wins in that pool.
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Ladyvol777
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
Posts: 248
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| Posted: 07/07/15 11:03 am ::: |
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| Mercedes Russell sure is making a good case for herself, last night she had 18 points 12 rebounds in 24:56 playing time.
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