[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1105533999756296193?s=20[/tweet]

One of five finalists for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (best shooting guard).  The other four are seniors.

BC

[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1105533999756296193?s=20[/tweet]

One of five finalists for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (best shooting guard).  The other four are seniors.

BC

[2006alum]

Great to see, though it's pretty weird she's being honored as a shooting guard given that she's been playing the point for about 85% of our possessions this year and has far and away the most assists on the team. Essentially the entire narrative around Williams this season has been, "she's been playing the point all year with Sniezek out, not her natural position, she's been doing a great job, Sniezek has been talking over things with her during every timeout."

I like the spirit behind these awards, but they're so 1990s - basketball has moved on from strict PG/SG/SF/PF/C positions. Like, I guess Hebard is a reasonable choice for the PF short list, but if she's the PF, who on the Oregon team is the C? She's spends 75% of her time on offense in the low post. In my mind, the two top PAC-12 players who play most similarly to each other are Hebard and Anigwe - and yet one is a "PF" and the other is a "C." And does it make sense to call 6'0" Jackie Young a power forward but 6'3" KLS a shooting guard? Especially when Jackie Young usually runs the point, and has by far the most assists on the ND team and far fewer turnovers than either Ogunbawole or Mabrey? Like, I get that Young doesn't take many three pointers, so it's harder to call her a "shooting guard," but neither did Marta Sniezek and there's no universe where that disqualifies her from the PG title, nor qualifies her for anything else. Even Notre Dame calls Young a guard!

Tl;dr: I appreciate this accomplishment in spirit but it's kind of just a different way to slice and dice the top 25 players in the country.

[2006alum]

Great to see, though it's pretty weird she's being honored as a shooting guard given that she's been playing the point for about 85% of our possessions this year and has far and away the most assists on the team. Essentially the entire narrative around Williams this season has been, "she's been playing the point all year with Sniezek out, not her natural position, she's been doing a great job, Sniezek has been talking over things with her during every timeout."

I like the spirit behind these awards, but they're so 1990s - basketball has moved on from strict PG/SG/SF/PF/C positions. Like, I guess Hebard is a reasonable choice for the PF short list, but if she's the PF, who on the Oregon team is the C? She's spends 75% of her time on offense in the low post. In my mind, the two top PAC-12 players who play most similarly to each other are Hebard and Anigwe - and yet one is a "PF" and the other is a "C." And does it make sense to call 6'0" Jackie Young a power forward but 6'3" KLS a shooting guard? Especially when Jackie Young usually runs the point, and has by far the most assists on the ND team and far fewer turnovers than either Ogunbawole or Mabrey? Like, I get that Young doesn't take many three pointers, so it's harder to call her a "shooting guard," but neither did Marta Sniezek and there's no universe where that disqualifies her from the PG title, nor qualifies her for anything else. Even Notre Dame calls Young a guard!

Tl;dr: I appreciate this accomplishment in spirit but it's kind of just a different way to slice and dice the top 25 players in the country.

[BostonCard]

Great to see, though it's pretty weird she's being honored as a shooting guard given that she's been playing the point for about 85% of our possessions this year and has far and away the most assists on the team. Essentially the entire narrative around Williams this season has been, "she's been playing the point all year with Sniezek out, not her natural position, she's been doing a great job, Sniezek has been talking over things with her during every timeout."

I like the spirit behind these awards, but they're so 1990s - basketball has moved on from strict PG/SG/SF/PF/C positions. Like, I guess Hebard is a reasonable choice for the PF short list, but if she's the PF, who on the Oregon team is the C? She's spends 75% of her time on offense in the low post. In my mind, the two top PAC-12 players who play most similarly to each other are Hebard and Anigwe - and yet one is a "PF" and the other is a "C." And does it make sense to call 6'0" Jackie Young a power forward but 6'3" KLS a shooting guard? Especially when Jackie Young usually runs the point, and has by far the most assists on the ND team and far fewer turnovers than either Ogunbawole or Mabrey? Like, I get that Young doesn't take many three pointers, so it's harder to call her a "shooting guard," but neither did Marta Sniezek and there's no universe where that disqualifies her from the PG title, nor qualifies her for anything else. Even Notre Dame calls Young a guard!

Tl;dr: I appreciate this accomplishment in spirit but it's kind of just a different way to slice and dice the top 25 players in the country.

Right, these awards are a bit anachronistic, and probably have been since before Nicole Powell was our "point forward".

BC

---

Also, Alana Smith is an Academic all-American.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/StanfordWBB/status/1105231013146386432?s=20[/tweet]

Just me, or is it a bit surprising (in a disappointing way) that we've only ever had 10 academic all-Americans in WBB?

BC

[BostonCard]

Great to see, though it's pretty weird she's being honored as a shooting guard given that she's been playing the point for about 85% of our possessions this year and has far and away the most assists on the team. Essentially the entire narrative around Williams this season has been, "she's been playing the point all year with Sniezek out, not her natural position, she's been doing a great job, Sniezek has been talking over things with her during every timeout."

I like the spirit behind these awards, but they're so 1990s - basketball has moved on from strict PG/SG/SF/PF/C positions. Like, I guess Hebard is a reasonable choice for the PF short list, but if she's the PF, who on the Oregon team is the C? She's spends 75% of her time on offense in the low post. In my mind, the two top PAC-12 players who play most similarly to each other are Hebard and Anigwe - and yet one is a "PF" and the other is a "C." And does it make sense to call 6'0" Jackie Young a power forward but 6'3" KLS a shooting guard? Especially when Jackie Young usually runs the point, and has by far the most assists on the ND team and far fewer turnovers than either Ogunbawole or Mabrey? Like, I get that Young doesn't take many three pointers, so it's harder to call her a "shooting guard," but neither did Marta Sniezek and there's no universe where that disqualifies her from the PG title, nor qualifies her for anything else. Even Notre Dame calls Young a guard!

Tl;dr: I appreciate this accomplishment in spirit but it's kind of just a different way to slice and dice the top 25 players in the country.

Right, these awards are a bit anachronistic, and probably have been since before Nicole Powell was our "point forward".

BC

---

Also, Alana Smith is an Academic all-American.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/StanfordWBB/status/1105231013146386432?s=20[/tweet]

Just me, or is it a bit surprising (in a disappointing way) that we've only ever had 10 academic all-Americans in WBB?

BC

[76lsjumb]

If you want "surprising," look at the Pac-12 MEN'S All-Academic Team.  Stanford had four members, including...

Trevor Stanback!  

Whaaaat?  The GoStanford piece includes this:

"Stanback, majoring in psychology, is averaging 1.2 points in 6.6 minutes per game. He played 14 minutes against Kansas in December, collecting four rebounds. The junior scored a season-best six points in the win at UNC Wilmington in November.
 
To be eligible for selection on the conference's three all-academic teams, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be a starter or significant contributor."

I think it's great for Stanback, and for all four of them [including Kodye Pugh, Oscar da Silva, and Isaak White], but... "Trevor Stanback" and "significant contributor" [let alone "starter"] are words that I never thought would be found in the same sentence this season.

What, exactly, does that say about the academic prowess of the players in the Pac-12 this season?
 

[76lsjumb]

If you want "surprising," look at the Pac-12 MEN'S All-Academic Team.  Stanford had four members, including...

Trevor Stanback!  

Whaaaat?  The GoStanford piece includes this:

"Stanback, majoring in psychology, is averaging 1.2 points in 6.6 minutes per game. He played 14 minutes against Kansas in December, collecting four rebounds. The junior scored a season-best six points in the win at UNC Wilmington in November.
 
To be eligible for selection on the conference's three all-academic teams, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be a starter or significant contributor."

I think it's great for Stanback, and for all four of them [including Kodye Pugh, Oscar da Silva, and Isaak White], but... "Trevor Stanback" and "significant contributor" [let alone "starter"] are words that I never thought would be found in the same sentence this season.

What, exactly, does that say about the academic prowess of the players in the Pac-12 this season?
 

[mbdude]

Looking at the womens all-academic team there are quite a few 4.0's, in some tough majors. It appears Alanna and Mikayla Pivec are the "best known" on the 2 teams

https://academicallamerica.com/news/2019...unced.aspx

[mbdude]

Looking at the womens all-academic team there are quite a few 4.0's, in some tough majors. It appears Alanna and Mikayla Pivec are the "best known" on the 2 teams

https://academicallamerica.com/news/2019...unced.aspx